ALT.SF4M

  Amusements 5/14/99

   • j********o@***.com
     16/05/1999 00:00:000 UTC

     DS9 should have put Major Babe Kira in a Star Fleet uniform years ago:
     her

     figure flaws dissappear and she looks damn fine. "Man, sure wish we
     could some

     more of that Bajoran p-tang!" (Seven of 36C benefits nearly as much from
     a

     regular uniform - she looks trim and professional, as opposed to merely

     trim...) DS9's been pretty good lately: having Gul Dukat tossed out on
     the

     streets of Bajor as a blind beggar was most amusing. E:FC has steadily

     recovered from the disasterous errors made at the beginning of this
     second

     season - it's not too much inferior to last season's very impressive
     quality.

     I read an interview with Ewan McGreggor (Obi-Wan Kenobi in the new Star
     Wars

     movie) where he said that his uncle played a Rebel pilot in all three
     original

     films - presumably this was Wedge... The new movie's music (from what
     I've

     heard) sounds pretty lame. In fact, the whole movie promises to be too

     childish - one internet reviewer griped how he winced every time Jar-Jar
     the

     Space Picaninny came on screen ("Massa Luke, Massa Luke, theya burnin'
     da

     farm!")

     I finally replaced my ancient and degraded tape of the Star Wars
     soundtrack.

     For some reason, I dug it out of my box o' stuff, and listening, was
     seized by

     the desire to rerecord the score from its out-of-order and amalgamated
     studio

     arrangement into the proper arrangement matching the film. To prepare, I

     listened closely to the tape until I had identified the correct editing

     required, which was extensive! After much soul-searching (and physical

     searching for a cheaper alternative at the local music shops and
     library) I

     plunked down the 35$ for the complete trilogy CD boxed set: I haven't
     bought

     an album at full price in so long that my concept of "expensive" is
     rather

     out-dated (I already had the second and third film on LP, so I could
     have

     bought merely the Star Wars Special Edition for 24$ - the going rate for
     a

     double album it seems - but I figured it was worth the relatively small

     marginal cost to get the whole set on CD and without any "Special
     Edition" B.S!

     I am well satisfied: the score is already rearranged to more closely
     match

     the film and an extra disc contains both items missing from the studio
     set

     (like Standing By, which accompanies the launch of the assault on the
     Death

     Star) plus some of the edits I need (e.g., the Main Title on the album
     carries

     through what would be the title scroll, but instead of turning into the

     Imperial Attack of the star destroyer, launches into the theme that I
     label

     "Cascade of Victory," interrupting the narrative). I am also pleased by
     the

     validation of my discernment about the required edits by the
     accompanying text.

     The boxed set also includes a very interesting and informative booklet
     on the

     music (illustrated with concept drawings of the characters - Obi-Wan
     started

     out looking like a space pirate from Flash Gordon, C3-P0 like the robot
     from

     Metropolis, and Chewbacca like a leering hobgoblin!) It's easy to
     wrongly

     conclude that the film turned out so well by accident. Lucas was very

     definite about wanting a classical score, given that the visual content
     of the

     film would already challenge the audience (contrast this with THX-1138).
     Lucas

     and composer John Williams considered using existing classical music,
     like

     Wagner's Ring and Holtsz's The Planets, but felt they needed a fresh
     approach.

     Bought myself some cheap CD's at the little alternative shop opposite
     Borders,

     including a used New Order's Substance album for $14 ($10 less than
     new). Not

     economical by my bargain-basement standards, but they're a special case,
     like

     U2 and The Cure. Found some other worthy CD's at the local library,
     which I

     will promptly dupe - I may very well tape and donate my new CD's, as
     they're

     more of a pain in the butt than cassetes (I like to just be able to toss
     a tape

     aside and grab another, which is unwise with CD's, also my
     (theoretically my

     Mom's) CD player is less ergonometric than the tape player and has no
     radio).

     Gorno

     34 anything is more my speed...