the sixth and final star wars movie is nigh, and i have been watching genndy tartovsky’s fabulous take on the star wars universe with cartoon network’s clone wars microseries.

the stories of the star wars universe resonate with me. they are tales of heroism, coming-of-age, and of destiny. objectively they are not exceptionally high quality, but like all tales heard as children their relative simplicity invites you into the story and they become a part of you.

i think all of us want to be heroes to some extent, to face the challenges of life and emerge triumphant, to have a tale worth telling.

i have always identified with the heroes of the star wars story – wise obi-wan kenobi, bored and frustrated luke skywalker, charismatic and mercenary han solo. these characters influenced archetypes in my mind of what forms heroism can take. i don’t completely understand those who ascribe a religious truth to the force or live their lives according to the precepts of a film, but i do understand the search for meaning. i understand the desire to be special, to be part of something bigger than oneself. i think that desire underpins the attraction of the star wars films.

well, i didn’t win but i didn’t show up last, and i did make all five stops. i also came close to the best hand – a shame two pair beats out a pair of kings. for my effort, i earned my first spoke card.

check out the map. the route went roughly clockwise around the points.

taken from wolf’s blog. how many of the top 250 movies on imdb have you seen?

i have 99/250. a great many are thanks to fifteen credits worth of willis’ fine comparative literature courses, i assure you i would not have watched barry lyndon of my own volition. nor francois truffaut. still, i now have a great many ideas for movies to watch in the future.

my list can be found at the new wackacon wiki i set up. thank you instiki!