Darth Maull's mind dump: May 2005

Matchstick Fleet

International Festival of the Sea 2003

This page has some images of that matchstick fleet I was talking about!

It would happen at the start of summer wouldn't it!

That bit that goes over your nose sheared off my sunglasses today - prescription ones at that! I really liked these frames. Oh well more expense, as I need new glasses as well. Balls.

ARC 170 Fighter

Front elevation

Side elevation

Head on shot - I had to scrape the wear and tear myself - pre-painted indeed!

Close up shot detailing pilots - which oddly enough are rubber!

Bank Holiday Weekend

Wow - has to be the fullest weekend I've had in a long time!

Saturday -
10:00 Car Boot, Singleton - rubbish
12:00 Collectors fair, Mumbles - rubbish
4:00 Town
6:00 My House
8:00 Alex's House, Mumbles
10:00 Beach with food for about twenty, booze for about 40 and two barbecues. There were 4 of us. And no matches(!)
11:00 Lit Barbecues after much drinking and running to pub and petrol station by Al
12:00 Ate food, got drunk, laughed until I fell off my miniature chair
03:00 Reading hilarious personal ads from the Guide - love and slaughter anyone?
04:00 Bed!

Sunday -
10:00 Woke up with surprisingly little hangover
11:00 Wash up
12:00 Breakfast at Trams and victory at Air Hockey
2:00 Wander round castle and park
3:00 Walked home across the bay (and the mud)
4:00 Got home and died(!)
6:00 Got very middle aged and pruned my sage
..Then watched a lot of TV

Monday -
12:00 Got up
1:00 Went into town to buy a kit ARC 170 fighter
3:00 Made ARC 170 and repainted it
6:00 Watched Robin Hood again
8:00 Did some work

I think I aged during this weekend - from partying on the beach to pruning and building kits!

Oh, we did see the cool matchstick fleet in Mumbles though - a guy makes replica ships, aircraft carriers, aircraft etc out of only matchsticks and wooden matchboxes. It was amazing! I will post some pics when I get them!

A Palitoy Christmas

Oh dear - what a mistak'a to mak'a

I volunteered us for the Christmas Party in December - without realising we would be expected to play stuff people actually knew or liked! I mean what sort of band does that!

Now I have to convince Steve its a good idea and come up with a set list that wont make me vomit over my bass.

Hmmm....

Blondie?
Slade?
REM?
Talking Heads?
Thin Lizzy?
Beach Boys?
he Doors?

I reckon we can get away with Teenage Kicks, Hand in Glove, Last Nite, Friday I'm in Love, Subterranean Homesick Blues, Losing my religion..

If only I could play half of those?!

Any requests?

Friends Reunited ruined my life!?!?!?

Channel 5, Thursday 26th May 2005

WHY let idiots out in the community? I mean "I couldn't help but look up my old boyfriend from school and shag him, its all friends reunited's fault I'm a skanky bitch" would never hold up in court.... unless you have Michael Jackson's jury.

Since when did the population of the UK become so utterly retarded and lose all sense of personal responsibility?

What was that? When they voted in Maggie Thatcher? I suppose. Or Tony Blair. Or supported the War in Iraq....

What I'm saying is basically - what a load of WANKERS!

PALITOY

New band name - for all of about 2 days no doubt. Or maybe "The Palitoys" to satiate Steve's cravings. Tonight we recorded a passable rendition of Up the Bracket, worked some more on the song we're writing (which seems to have three different time signatures and vaires between rock and regaae!) and then MURDERED The Drowners so horribliy that Mart and I were struggling for breath through laughter.

Steve is still quaking about the thought of playing the Xmas party with thoughts of "we can't play stuff noone knows " etc etc. I say screw that - we're not getting paid so we play what we want to - no corporate sell out!

Revenge - The Final Verdict

Revenge of the Sith - 00:31, Thursday 19th May 2005, UCI Cinemas, Swansea.

Point of order - its tricky to take a photo with a PDA in a dark cinema when your hands are shaking with excitement. By this stage, our bladders couldn't be any more drained.

Then the music blairs, and you can't help but lean forward in the chair, barely able to breathe with anticipation. And does Revenge deliver all that was promised, and all the hype we have attributed to it? YES!!

It is without doubt the greatest film I have ever seen at the cinema (if you exclude Empire SE). In fact it almost overtook Empire in being the best Star Wars film, but had to settle for second best. Despite that, there wasn't a single moment I'd change.

I did have to watch it a second time (at 10:15 the next morning) to satisfy myself over a few scenes, but the second time around they worked perfectly. Even Anakin/Vader's "NOOOOOOO" hissy fit is great for bridging the Anakin/Vader gap - and when we see vader 18 years later it all fits together brilliantly.

What was so different about this film, and so unexpected, was the level of emotional involvement from the audience, not just on the "good" side, but on Anakin's side, as he hovered over the dark side, Palpatine twisting his mind with promises of saving Padme from an intagible threat (Anakin himself, as it turns out), and of ultimate power. Hayden Christiansen acted brilliantly throughout, as did all the cast, and his exit and reemergence as Vader was awesomely conveyed, scripted and scored. In fact the score in this film probably hit perfection, if it wasn't there in the original trilogy!

Obi-Wan also came to the fore, and the other 2 films clicked into place for him, and then when you watch ANH, Alec Guinness's past is played out perfectly on his face, and it meshes seamlessly with Ewan MacGregor's acting.

The execution of order 66 is the nearest I've ever been to getting emotional in a film (Star Wars or otherwise), again supported by John Williams' masterpiece, but seeing the execution of heroes we have known for the last 6 years at the hands of Clones and Anakin really tugged at the heart strings. The battles raging throughout the galaxy, instead of breaking the film up too much, brought everything together in a galactic size crescendo, which built up perfectly to the immense lightsaber battles and the fate of Padme and Anakin in their guise as star-cross'd lovers.

The lightsaber fights, flicking between the battles of master and former apprentice, and the ultimate symbols of light and dark, Yoda and Sideous, are truly spectacular. Palpatine is played perfectly by McDiarmid and we really get to see more of the characters of both the Emperor and Yoda (which we now understand his reactions and sense of helplessness he has on Dagobah). Yoda is given the depth which he as deserved all along, as 800 years of battling the Sith are ended by Sideous (who has resumably waited 800 years for that to happen!).

The Anakin/Obi-Wan fight has to be seen to be believed, so I won't even start! Needless to say its just how I'd imagined it and then some! Particularly the 'ignition point'!

All in all it is the masterpiece Lucas has been searching for since the completion of Empire in 1980. There are so many other bits to look at that its impossible to write about all of them - just go and see it! And if you find it dull or boring then you obviously haven't seen it enough times!

And yes it would have been nice to see Mon Mothma, but it was hardly vital to the plot, and she'll be on the DVD extras anyway!

PS - the Guardian is a newspaper for Sun readers - one star my ass!

...And More

Obi Wan focuses on the far distance as noone takes any notice

More shots

More shots of the ARC and Obi-Wan leading the squad

Clone Brigade!

"General Kenobi, years ago..." All that's missing is an Anakin. I was going to buy a clone wars one, but I want this platoon to be a later Clone Wars one, with armour and equipment changes just coming in, so I'm going to buy a EPIII Anakin and make a few mods. It's possible I may have gone over the top...

Duck!

I wasn't expecting to see this when I left work last week. Still, it seems they'll let anyone study medicine these days!

Custom Madness

Super Poseable ARC Trooper - S.P. body from my newly arrived and opened S.P. box set - with pauldron and skirt from EPIII Clone commander and scratch built rangefinder. I'm pretty happy with this.

A Jedi Knight!?!?

I want some Jedi Robes - thanks to ROTS the price has hiked to double the original price this company in the states was charging!

I figure they would be a great answer to my coat dilemma (ie whether to buy a new one!). Maybe I'll ask my mum!

Viewing number 3

It only gets better! I watched A New Hope last night as well and it fits perfectly - Ewan McGregor's Obi-Wan blends seemlessly into Alec Guinness - the way he reacts when he sees Leia's message not has a new meaning. Genius!

Incidently, whilst looking for a footpath back into town from the Marina, we got picked up by the police for walking under a tunnel - they were very nice and even gave us a lift back to town! Would have been handy if they'd shown us where the footpaths (of which there are "hundreds") actually were, but they were nice anyway. Glad to see the cops still helping people rather than just beating ethnic minorities!

Shame on Cardiff City Council for failing to provide adequate signs for pedestrians who are fat idiots who drive everywhere and can't get a bus because a) it costs money and b) all the routes are shut because of the football. How doies it encourage people to leave their cars at home if every facility is expressly designed to be reached by car!! Fools!

Sith Review

I will write a review, I promise

And I will try not to use "lush" too often.

Or start a sentence with "And"

Every Saga has a beginning...

If you recall some chave Post Office worker had stolen my batteries. I am in the process of lodging an official complaint. At this exact point three things happen.

1. Royal Mail announce huge profits of some £500m (!!!!) and promised their employees £1000 extra!

2. My Amazon order, containing my Clone Wars DVD, Episode III soundtrack and Weezer album, delivery estimate 12-16 May STILL hasn't arrived

3. Now my EBay purchase of Super Poseable Clone Troopers hasn't arrived yet either!

How can Royal Mail justify charging so much for such appalling service. Role on the collapse of the monopoly!!

Win a Prize

Prize for more overuse of the word "lush" on a single page

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Its here. I've seen it twice. It's lusher than I'd even dreamed. I've had 3 1/2 hours sleep.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Clone Commander #2

A shot with the Macrobinoculars lowered. I've got 4 S.P. Clone Troopers on the way for my gunship assault squad - I will be getting another of these to make a S.P. ARC Trooper. LUSH.

Clone Commander

Lushest figure except for perhaps the Super Poseable Clone Trooper. Comes with 2 lush holsterable pistols.

I can almost taste it....

Hopefull once I've got this essay done I will be a bit more active on here - recent developments:

4 new figures including the awesome clone commander
Less than 50 stickers needed to complete
Super poseable clone trooper mutipacks on ebay
Some cool conversions loom

Also 3 days 10 hours and 44 minutes left to go...

Roll on wednesday...and thursday...and saturday

Weezer set list

An example setlist from the current tour:

Setlist:Tired Of Sex - In The Garage - No One Else - Pardon Me - Buddy Holly - Photograph -Hold Me - Getchoo - Say It Ain't So - We Are All On Drugs - Island In The Sun - My Name Is Jonas - PeaceBeverly Hills - Hash Pipe - Haunt You Every Day---Undone: The Sweater Song - The Good Life

Woo Hoo!! Not long now.

5 days 12 hours to go to the new dawn.

Closer........

I didn't miss the crusing 7-0 Arsenal win - I spent ages writing an entry only to find it didn't publish!

Anyway, the main business at hand:

5 days 15 hours to go....

Theiving Post Office Bastards

I can't believe it!! I bought my parents 2 3310 batteries off ebay, received them and sent them on in the same bag through first class mail, sealed with tape to prevent them falling out - and if I can send packages to the States perfectly well I know I can send one to Swindon - only to find by the time they got there no batteries were enclosed!

I can only surmise this: CHEATING THEIVING CHAV SCUM POST OFFICE WORKERS

Not happy!

REVENGE....

7 Days, 14 Hours to go

Life will change beyond recognition.

...and it's had good reviews!!

Party Review

A healthy turnout meant the 7-hour cooking session with associated demanding mood swings from yours truly did not go to waste. Annoyingly I forgot to take any food pics, but it looked ace. Champagne was duly served to mark the formal end of Darth's reign of terror, using a vintage Return of the Jedi tray, and food was served on vintage Return of the Jedi Final Duel party plates (much to Alex's disgust). I now have 8 bottles of assorted wine, 3 bottles of Cava, a bottle of Buck's Fizz, 5 bottles of Bud Ice and 1 can of Castlemaine (the latter 2 confiscated by Cath for some rugby celebration in Cardiff) and half a tub of ice cream - and 1 can of Pringles which won't last long. Thanks to everyone who contributed!

For anyone interested the food list went something like this:

Buffet:
Vine leaves stuffed with wild rice and herbs
Vine ripened cherry tomatoes stuffed with cottage cheese and chives
Roasted vine ripened cherry tomato and basil filo tartlet
Roasted Garlic and Rosemary filo tartlet
Mixed Salad with citrus dressing and croutons
Lemon and Coriander Cous-Cous
Tortillas, Crudites and assorted dips
Roasted red peppers stuffed with Gaelic cheese (soft cheese with wild garlic leaves) on sticks
Caramalised onion chedder with pineapple on sticks
Innkeepers Choice (cheddar with pickled onions and chives) with a pickled onion on sticks, served with a Branston pickle dip
Mahon (Paprika rind cheese) with apple on sticks served with a wholegrain mustard mayonnaise
Honeydew melon wrapped in Prosciutto on sticks (for the carnivors)

Desserts (all donated):
Madarin Cheesecake
Chocolate Roulade
Fairy cakes
Ice Cream

Recipes available on request

Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate this momentous event, and special thanks to Charlie's Deli for supplying the cheese - go visit the website for all your cheese needs at www.charliesdelicatessen.com