Star Wars: The Last Jedi - A Hit with the Critics, but a Hit-or-Miss with the Fans

Article Preface...

For those of you who have not seen Star Wars: The Last Jedi yet, do not worry, I will keep all spoilers far away from this article.

This last Thursday night the moment that Star Wars fans have been waiting for arrived and the first showings of Star Wars Episode VIII came into theaters all across the United States. After the release of Star Wars Episode VII came out two years ago to the applause of both Critics and long-time fans people have been anxiously awaiting this new chapter in the franchise. The critics seem to mostly agree that the new film is a great film and is a good step forward for the series, however the fans seem to be divided, either saying it is one of the best films in the series or that it is a great disappointment.

Currently on the website Rotten Tomatoes the new Star Wars film has been certified Fresh with 93 percent of the critics giving it high praise (based off of 291 reviews) while only 57 percent of the fan reviews have been positive (based of of 84,274 reviews). After seeing the film myself I find myself going along with the critics in giving the movie high praise, yet I can see why there are people out there who are disappointed with it.

The Last Jedi, written and directed by Rian Johnson, is not at all what everyone expected it to be. From the very beginning the movie seems to take plot points that were set into motion by the previous film and just completely run off with them in completely unpredictable ways. For the most part, I feel that this really helped the story stay fresh and appealing. That being said I will say that there are some story elements from Episode VII that Rian Johnson seems to just throw away without much thought, leaving a great deal of possible character exploration and questions from the previous movie ignored, which I personally found disappointing.

Where Rian Johnson's strengths really shine, in my opinion, is in the further development of the main characters. Poe Dameron shows a great deal of character development as he is forced to make decisions that have both negative and positive effects on the future of the Resistance movement. There is also a part of the story that I personally found interesting where Rae and Ben Solo (A.K.A. Kylo Ren) come together in a way that I found unexpected, which led to an even more unexpected result. For me though, the most satisfying character to watch on the screen was Luke Skywalker. We get a lot of revelation on why Luke disappeared when he did. Without giving anything away, I will say that Luke's side of the story is the my personal favorite part of the movie, but I think it is also one of the main disappointments that some fans have with the film.

Even though I thought The Last Jedi is a great film, I can understand why the fan base seems to be so greatly divided in their appreciation of it. Rian Johnson takes the series in an almost abrupt u-turn from what most viewers expected, which I am sure is a dissapointment to some people. There were even some moments where it felt to me that Johnson was almost making fun of some of the theories that the fans had made concerning the franchise's direction.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed Star Wars: The Last Jedi. I think Rian Johnson did a great job moving the franchise forward in a new direction while paying respect to the previous films. It will be interesting to see where the films go from here and particularly what will be the fan's reactions to them will be.

For those of you who have seen the movie, what did you think of it? Did you enjoy the new take on an old story or were you overall dissapointed with Rian Johnson's plot decisions? Please feel free to comment.

Healing Amongst Loss.

Hello everybody.

This is a little more solemn of a post than my previous ones, but I feel like this is something that should be shared and I now feel like I am ready to share it. I want to preface this post by saying that this is not intended to be a pity party, nor is this an attempt at getting attention. Rather, I hope that what I write will be full of meaning and encouragement for others.

Many of you have not heard yet, but around 10 weeks ago my wife and I found out that we were pregnant. We had been trying for over half a year so we were very excited about it. Six months later we came to the moment that my wife and I were had been looking forward to, our first ultrasound/the moment when we could hear our baby's heartbeat. However, what was expected to be a moment of joy quickly turned into a moment of sorrow as the doctor informed us that he was not seeing what he should be seeing for that point in our pregnancy and that he was 100% certain that we had miscarried.

The grief was instantaneous. Even though our baby had not been in our life that long, and so far had only a minimal affect on our lives at that point, the news that our baby had died proved to be pretty devastating for us. The last four weeks have been a time of emotional healing as we have struggled to sort through our feelings of grief. 

Even though this has been a hard time for us we have found that even in these times God's love for us has found a way to shine through the dark clouds of our despair. My parents, who had been with us to be present for the ultrasound, took time out of their lives to stay an extra day in order to provide emotional support. We received a large amount of support from our bible study who not only offered up their prayers, but surprised us by providing meals for us. We even received a beautiful bouquet of flowers from my wife's orthodontic office after they heard about our situation. Through these and many other words of encouragement and signs of love from those around us, I feel that God has given us the strength to continue on and not get lost in our grief.

I want to thank our family and friends who have been there for us. We still feel a great sadness over the loss of our baby, but we have also experienced a great amount of healing during these last few weeks. I greatly appreciate all of you and am blessed to have you in my life.

A Little Bragging About My work (Huricane Harvey)

Hello everybody!

One thing you will learn about me while you follow this blog is that I LOVE the place that I work and that I like to share some of the amazing things that my work does.

I have been working for Schweitzer Engeneering Laboratories for over a year now and I am constantly surprised at just how much our company works hard to go meet the needs of our customers. Thus last weekend is a prime example. While many people were at home enjoying their Labor Day weekend over 60 of my fellow employees (myself included) volunteered to come into our manufacturing plant to help our customers in Texas.

With the destruction that has taken place because of Hurricane Harvey the demand for our relays and other energy monitoring devices have come into very high demand. The volunteers worked hard to build the units that will replace those destroyed in the storm. Schweitzer has also dropped their price by half for any of our customers who have been affected by Harvey.

It is great to be doing work that you know is having a major impact in bringing safe and reliable energy back into the hands of many people in their time of need. It is great to know that what I am doing is making a differance in the world and that I am working with people who will do whatever they can to make that difference.

BTW: If you are looking for a career with a company that truly values their employees as well as their customers and in which you too can make a difference in the world then check out Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories. Their main branch in Pullman Washington (where I work) is currently hiring 35 entry level Assemblers with a starting wage of $13.50 per hour with amazing benefits including stock in the company as an employee owner given to you after your first year of being an employee. Feel free to ask me any questions and learn more about Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories at http://www.SELinc.com.

Washington State's New Distracted Driving Law: A Warning for all of my Washington Friends

Picture from smartsign.com

Starting today in Washington State, a new bill will go into effect concerning distracted driving. While texting while driving was already illegal while driving this new law makes it illegal to hold your phone at all or read/look at text messages or pictures while behind the wheel. For those of you who say that you only look at your phone when at a stop light, that is no longer a valid excuse. The law specifically says that this too is a ticketable offense.

One thing that makes gives this bill more of a bite is that the offenses mentioned above are considered to be primary offenses. That means a police officer can pull you over and give you a ticket for these offenses alone.

Another thing that is tacked on to this bill that many people may not be aware of is that cell phone use is not the only thing being looked at in this bill. Any action that is considered not part of normal operations of a motorized vehicle is now a ticketable offense. This includes eating, drinking, any type of grooming, or other possibe distracting behavior when behind the wheel. Unlike the part about cell phone use, these other forms of distraction can only be enforced if you are caught doing them while commiting a separate driving offense.

Things that you can do under this law is use your phone in a completely hands-free fashion, use your phones for music/gps as long as you set it up before hitting the road or pull over to the side of the road before operating. Another exception to this law is in cases of emergencies where you are allowed to call 911.

If you get caught operating an electric device while driving (with the exception of quick taps/or swipes) you will get fined $136. For a second offense situations the fine increases to $234.

For those of you who live next door in Oregon State your time is coming as well. Your state congress is working on a very similar bill, however the fines will be higher, as in between $1,000 and $2,000.

As of today, July 23, 2017, this new law goes into effect in Washington State. So, becareful my friends and stay off of your phones when behind the wheel.

The Long Awaited Post

Hello everybody! It has been over a month since I unofficially got off Facebook. I promised everybody that I would be taking this opportunity to actually do something with my blog. Now, a month later, I am finally posting something.

First off, I want to thank everybody who sent me their birthday wishes on Facebook. I did make it on there to see your posts and I feel very blessed to be able to call you all friends.

Now,  I want to give you all an example of the kind of posts that you can expect from me in the future.

-     -     -

For thousands of years competetive sports have played a large part in societies across the world. From such events as the Olympic sports in ancient Greece and the Gladiator fights of the Roman Empire to today's Basketball and Football competitions the world has always found entertainment in pitting two or more people against each other. Unfortunately a lot of people are becoming more hesitant to get involved in these activities because of the physical injuries that are often associated with these sports. Thankfully, Finland has found an alternative for all those who want to compete without the fear of getting hurt. Today, I present to you the world of competitive HobbyHorse.

Believe it or not, this is not a joke. Within the past ten years the completely serious sport of Hobbyhorse riding has grown in popularity and is now practiced in France, Germany, and Sweden.

If you still don't believe me, below you will find videos of those competing in races and in show competitions.

And, just like in any other sport, training for these competitions is a must.

With the popularity of this sport growing who know what the future of Hobbyhorse riding will be.