Well, the morning dawned as bright as any other I suppose. I wouldn't
know because I slept in for the first time in a week. ;) My stereo, preset to wake
me up by playing DOTF, greeted me that fine morning. I could tell it was going to
be a great day. It was Sat. the 19th of June 1999 aprox. one month since Episode 1
opened and I was going to see The Phantom Menace for the 4th time. The THX theater I
would view it in was about 101mi. east of my location. It would be a long trip, but
hey, this is Star Wars we're talking about. To this steadfast heart a hundred miles
are but a foot. :D
I used a Jedi mind trick to get my mom to let me borrow her car(with it's
kickass sound system) instead of using my usual transport, an old, clunky, red
Festiva. This would also be the first time I'd seen a movie without wearing glasses
for about 4 years(having purchaced contacts recently). The Force(the wind) was with
me saving me both time and gas. So I popped in one of my SW tapes that I'd recorded
off my soundtrack CDs and was off to the sound of the main Star Wars theme.
I dodged and weaved at a heady 100mph(tmarie has a lead foot when listening
to music, doubly so with the SW soundtracks :) through a dangerous asteroid field
(heavy weekend freeway traffic) constantly on the lookout for imperials(cops). At
last 40mi. into the trip with the Imperial March blaring on all 6 speakers, I
reached Ritzville, imperial headquarters for eastern Washington state(state patrol).
Slowing, I managed to sneak past undetected by acting casual. ;)
Resuming my former speed I then came upon the dreaded Tokio exit, another
deadly imperial outpost and notorious speed trap. A great debate raged inside me: to
speed or not to speed? I decided to throw caution to the wind(was listening to the
Imperial March again) and I barreled down the slope to meet my destiny...
The others ahead of me slowed, as they were fearful of imperial reprisal,
thwarting my plans and forcing me to check my speed also. We passed the dreaded
Tokio without incident.
Rewinding the tape to play the Imperial March yet again, I discovered I'd
taped Anakin's theme on the other side at about the same time position, and got
quite a kick out of switching between the two. :D I was listening to Ewok Parade
when I reached the Sanctuary moon of Endor(a forest that spans the Spokane county
border and marks the climactic change between desert and arid forest) about 30mi
from my destination. I passed several Ewoks on the side of the road, no doubt
mangled beyond recognition from an encounter with Stormtroopers or crazed SW fans
(roadkill).
At last, I reached the decent into Courscant(Spokane Valley) to the choral
wails of DOTF. First, I went to the eye doctor(two week check up) to make sure my
new contacts weren't melting my eyes. On the way there I listened to poor Qui Gon
Jinn's funeral song when suddenly I heard the Imperial March in there. My eyes
quickly teared up. Afterwards, I set off to a well established rebel hangout, the
Spokane Valley 12 theater ajacent to a fairly new mall. This is the best theater in
eastern Washington state, and the also the only THX theater. A brief trip to Tatooine
on the way to whomp Sebluba at pod racing(went to TRU to play the Ep 1 racer, buy a
couple packs of Topps Ep 1 widevison trading cards, and to break a $100 bill)and I'm
finally at the theater. A path was then placed before me: which show, the
4pm playing immediately or the 6pm in the larger auditorium?
I chose the 4 pm showing. I go in and the theater is packed! Franticly, I
search for a good seat. Ah, there's one but it's right next to a mom and her little
boy on one sode and a pair of lovers on the other. Hmm. The temptation is too great.
Oops, grabbed somebady's head instead of the chair back, excuse me, etc. until
finally I'm home free in my seat. Argh, I hate these stupid movie trivia slideshows
esp. since it was the same one that was playing 2 weeks ago before on opening
day. ---> that brings back some memories: of waiting in the cold and rain and wind,
sleeping in curled up in a little ball on the sidewalk in front of the theater
garbage bin...
The movie starts, no wait, it's the previews. Some thoughts I had: Hmm, Drop
Dead Gorgious looks kinda funny...Mighty Men looks interesting...gee G Rush looks
like an evil Dr. Who...Wild Wild West, I really want to see that one...Anna and the
King looks interesting...Fight Club looks good...hmm, need more info on Titan
A.E...The Fox Fanfare...
Here we go, the opening crawl. Suddenly the words appear and the mom to my
left begins reading them to her small son.../me grins Wow, it was much better
watching it the 4th time around. I noticed many more details. Back to excerpts from
my brain: Obi Wan and Qui Gon Jinn are so handsome...I really wish I had a
lightsabre...Jar Jar isn't that bad at all...hmm, "you assume too much" is said
twice...ok, relax the eyes so I can view the pod race better, whoa there we
go...dang, missed silent Bob...dang, missed DV's shadow...wow, Darth Maul is so
cool...
Hey, there's the dark probe droid...Damn yo Ric Olie, damn you to hell...
omgosh, was that the MF coming into Courscant?...Senator Palpatine you, sly bastard
...dang, missed the wookies...strong chancelor my ass...dang, I want a real Naboo
fighter...go capt. Tarpals and Jar Jar...Obi Wan you slow clod, run dang you run!
...Watch out Qui Gon, noooooo.../me cries...Maul, you jerk, you've ruined everything
now...omygosh, there's the Imp. March followed by the Emperor's theme /me cries
again...watching your career with great interest, yeah I bet you will you evil sob
...ok, theater people, I just want to hear Vader's breathing at the end...End of
segment.
After I finished watching the movie I went to the mall, ate dinner, and played
the Star Wars Special Edition, pinball game(the Force wasn't with me then, because
I sucked at it). As Binary sunset played I got in my car leaving Cloud City and
riding off into the double sunset(it really looked two suns setting yesterday)...
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