meme Archives - Page 5 of 10 - Ramblin' with Roger

A STAR WARS quiz

I’d like to be a Rebel librarian.

This was completed by Jaquandor and SamuraiFrog. I’m going to do it anyway!

1. Which film is your favorite of the Original Trilogy?

I’ll steal Jaquandor’s answer, in part: “The one that started it all, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. I know, most people consider The Empire Strikes Back to be the greatest of the Star Wars films, but for me, it’s the first one that always has that special something, the one that took us into that amazing universe for the first time.”

BTW, I HATE the retronym numbering and naming of the first film released.

2. If you enjoy the prequels, which one is your favorite?

I saw Episode 1 and was bored to tears. Never saw the other two. And while I wasn’t thrilled by Jar Jar, he wasn’t as offensive as I thought – or more likely, I was told beforehand how TERRIBLY offensive he was, and the actual wasn’t as bad as the anticipation. BTW, Arthur didn’t like Episode 1 either.

3. How old were you when Episode 1 came out?

I was 46.

4. Which of the movies have you seen in the theater?

Four, five, six and one, i.e., every one I saw. I want to say I saw the original at the now-defunct FOX Theater in Colonie, NY, but have no idea about the others.

5. Did you go to any of them on opening night?

The original I saw MONTHS after it opened, but it was still playing first run. I doubt I saw any of the others opening night since the number of films I’ve seen opening night, or in preview, is about five.

6. Who is your favorite character from the Original Trilogy?

Yoda. He’s green. And wise.

7. Who is your favorite character from the prequels, if you have one?

Obi-Wan Kenobi.

8. Have you read any of the books or comics?

I read the Marvel series when the original films were coming out. They were, as I recall, quite entertaining in that they filled in holes that the movies left.

I have at least one novel, still, but it was long ago since I read it, and don’t specifically remember it.

9. Favorite book or series? Favorite SW author?

Archie Goodwin, probably.

10. Favorite comic?

I remember the first few dozen issues of the Marvel series than the latter ones.

11. Favorite character from the Expanded Universe (EU)?

n/a

12. Favorite villain from the EU?

n/a

13. If you had your own ship from the Star Wars Universe (SWU), what would it be? It could be a mash-up/ugly.

“The Millennium Falcon. Is there another possible answer?”

14. Would you rather be Sith or Jedi?

Jedi.

15. Would you rather be a Rebel or a member of the Imperial Navy? What would your role be?

I’d like to be a Rebel librarian, looking up strategies.

16. If you could be any species from the SWU which would you be?

Wookie.

17. If you could date any species from the SWU which would you pick?

n/a

18. If you could date/marry any character from the SWU who would you pick?

n/a

19. If you were going to bone just one Star Wars character and you never had to see them again, who would you pick?

“Oh, come on.” Hmm. Finding out that you’re not the Rebel Alliance, you’re actually part of the Empire and have been all along.

20. If you could BE one SW character, EU or not, who would you be?

Han Solo.

21. What would your SWU name be?

Roger Bookbinder.

22. What color would your lightsaber be, what kind would it be (double-bladed, single blade), would you dual-wield, and what kind of grip would it have?

How about green?

“As for grip…just a standard straight grip, I guess.”

23. Do you own SW merchandise?

Possibly, but not sure.

24. How much, to date, do you think you’ve spent on SW merchandise?

Mostly the comics, when they were brand new and cheaper and I was getting a work discount. Maybe $40.

25. What is your favorite SW possession?

n/a. But you might be interested in The Collector’s Show episode with Mark Bellomo, who “has written hundreds of articles about toys from the 1980s and a whole library full of books on vintage action figures and pop culture. Most recently, he wrote The Ultimate Guide to Vintage Star Wars: 1977-1985, a book that covers every action figure, accessory, creature, mail-away, playset, vehicle, and weapon system from Kenner’s original Star Wars toy line, along with a wealth of flavor text discussing the history of the characters, spaceships, and settings within the Star Wars universe.”

26. Do you have a favorite SW artist? If so, who?

Howard Chaykin.

27. Are there items you do not own but covet? What are they?

Nope.

28. Are there items that are not made but that you wish were made? What are they?

Nope. Off-topic, I like this issue of Brevity. And this one.

29. Did Han shoot first?

Of course. And George Lucas’s revisionism is unnecessary.

30. Did Boba Fett, in your opinion, ever leave the Sarlacc, or did he die there?

One of those mysteries.

31. Are there things about the movies you wish you could change? If so, name three.

Lucas has been doing too much fixing that I haven’t thought much about it. Jaquandor, of course, has been fixing the prequels at length.

32. Which era would you want to live in?

“There doesn’t seem to be a huge difference between the eras in the films (and why would there be, they’re only separated by about twenty years), so sometime in there would be fine. Preferably on one of the outer worlds where the Empire hasn’t quite got ‘round to totally taking over yet.”

33. What SW games have you played?

Possibly one years and years ago.

34. Do you play/own Star Wars Miniatures?

No.

35. Favorite SW costume for men?

Maybe some Lando Calrissian outfit.

36. Favorite SW costume for women?

I can’t visualize any save Princess Leia, and the gold bikini is a classic.

37. Have you ever dressed up as an SW character? Who/When/Why?

No.

38. Do you ever have SW sex fantasies? If so, have you ever acted them out?

No.

39. Do you Ship any SW characters who aren’t together? Who/why?

To break up this string of “No” answers, check out the Hello Internet podcast, with Star Wars interviews for episodes 26 and 27, and possibly others.

40. Have you ever written SW fan fiction? Can we read it?

No.

41. Have you been to a Celebration or plan on going to one?

Haven’t, but I might.

42. Have you ever been to Star Wars Weekends at Walt Disney World?

No.

43. Do you wish they had Star Wars Weekends at Disneyland?

Not particularly.

44. Best section you’ve experienced on Star Tours?

n/a

45. What initially brought you to the SW fandom?

I saw the original when I was 24 or 25, during a period I was also reading the comic books. I just enjoyed that first picture, thought it was entertaining.

46. Do you consider yourself a SW Fanboy or Fangirl?

No.

47 Have you seen Fanboys? Favorite character and/or quote?

Nope.

48. Do you wish they would make 7, 8, and 9 or do you think they should be done with it?

“Obviously this quiz originated before the Disney sale and the announcement of Episodes VII, VIII, and IX. I’m fine with it.” I’ll probably see #7, and decide from there.

49. If they ever made 7, 8, and 9, do you think it should continue the Skywalker Legacy or use entirely new characters? Or something different?

“As long as there are Star Wars stories being filmed under that include “Episode [number]” in the title, they should be about some generation of Skywalkers. Other tie-in movies? Fine. But I want Skywalkers. They’re totally central.”

50. Do you watch The Clone Wars?

I have not.

Proust-like answers

I hate it when honesty is done nastily, and people say, “I’m just being honest.”

Blame Dustbury; I do. He posted about the Proust Questionnaire. And because I apparently have ADHD, I decided to tackle the questions Marcel Proust reportedly answered at gatherings when he was 13 and 20. Some are duplicated, but of course, I didn’t copy them.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

The lack of a moral compass.

Where would you like to live?

In a compassionate land. Someplace near flowing water.

What is your idea of earthly happiness?

To live in contact with interesting people, listening to a wealth of music, and have access to a good cinema and a good Internet connection.

To what faults do you feel most indulgent?

To too much curiosity.

Who are your favorite heroes of fiction?

Any of those folks who help the oppressed: Zorro, Robin Hood, for two. And Spider-Man.

Who are your favorite characters in history?

Thomas Jefferson, Mohandas K. Gandhi

Who are your favorite heroines in real life?

Currently: Elizabeth Warren. Clara Barton, Margaret Sanger, Shirley Chisholm, Barbara Jordan, Gloria Steinhem (I had a subscription to Ms. Magazine when it was brand new), lots more

Who are your favorite heroines of fiction?

Amelia Louise McBride. Or Sue Ann Nivens on the Mary Tyler Moore Show.

Your favorite painter?

Gaughin or Van Gogh

Your favorite musician?

The Beatles, if that’s a singular entity, John Lennon if not.

The quality you most admire in a man?

Intelligence, moral sense, common sense, compassion

The quality you most admire in a woman?

Intelligence, moral sense, common sense, compassion

Your favorite virtue?

An honesty honed by compassion

Your favorite occupation?

Singing, looking up stuff

Who would you have liked to be?

Methuselah – saw a lot of history.
***
Your most marked characteristic?

A desire to be loved, and especially, understood

What do you most value in your friends?

Steadfastness

What is your principal defect?

Impatience

What is your dream of happiness?

I don’t dream of happiness. I live my life in hope that happiness arises; sometimes, it does.

What to your mind would be the greatest of misfortunes?

To be mistreated as a child.

What would you like to be?

Another year older and less in debt.

In what country would you like to live?

This one (United States), necessarily idealized.

What is your favorite color?

Aquamarine – oh, something on the green-blue spectrum.

What is your favorite flower?

The lily.

What is your favorite bird?

The cardinal, which I have seen more often in my yard in recent years.

Who are your favorite prose writers?

Russell Baker, Garrison Keillor, Paul Grondahl

Who are your favorite poets?

Frost, Whitman, Shafarzek

Who are your favorite composers?

Mozart, Beethoven, Lennon-McCartney, Smokey Robinson, Bob Dylan

What are your favorite names?

Isabella. Surnames, almost anything long and Italian or Polish or Russian or French.

What is it you most dislike?

Arrogance, especially when it’s unwarranted.

What historical figures do you most despise?

Joseph Stalin; I’m terribly pleased that he died just before I was born. Josef Mengele, Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Eichmann and sure, Hitler. Kim Il Sung, and his descendants. Idi Amin.

What event in military history do you most admire?

The US/UN control of Iraq in January 2003, with inspectors on the ground looking for those “weapons of mass destruction.” And then we had to spoil it all by saying something stupid like, “Let’s go to war.”

What reform do you most admire?

Much of FDR’s New Deal.

What natural gift would you most like to possess?

Willpower.

How would you like to die?

In my sleep. Failing that, saving someone.

What is your present state of mind?

No more muddled than usual.

What is your motto?

To quote the great philosopher Kenneth Ray Rogers:

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em
Know when to fold ’em
Know when to walk away
And know when to run

***
There’s a “modern” version, questions found here.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

A daily massage to soothing music.

What is your most marked characteristic?

Iconoclasm

What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Being married 15 years.

What is your greatest fear?

Losing people.

What historical figure do you most identify with?

Frederick Douglass

Which living person do you most admire?

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg

Who are your heroes in real life?

People who see wrongs and try to right them.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Being prone to melancholy

What is your favorite journey?

Riding on a boat up and down the Hudson River.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Honesty, when it’s done nastily, and people say, “I’m just being honest.”

Which word or phrases do you most overuse?

“Well,” when I’m formulating an idea.

What is your greatest regret?

Failure in marriage.

If you could change one thing about your family, what would it be?

Maybe a little more play before work, now and then.

What is your most treasured possession?

It’s this very incomplete family tree of my maternal grandmother’s family.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Suicidal despair.

10 books that affected me

It’d be pretty easy to come up with ten more books…

Like the other lists, these do not necessarily represent my FAVORITE books, which might be reference books such as Top Pop Singles or The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, or the World Almanac. Pretty much off the top of my head:

The Complete Grimm’s Fairy Tales. They weren’t called the brothers grim for nothing.

Growing Up by Russell Baker (1982). I used to love to read Baker’s columns in the New York Times, and this book, which I have signed by the author, captures this wonderfully. Funny, though, I don’t remember WHERE I was when I got it signed.

I Spy: Message from Moscow novelization I read as a tween several times, and learned the phrase, “Hoist by his own petard.” Alas, do not have this book anymore. I Spy was a TV show in the mid-1960s starring Robert Culp and Bill Cosby.

In Critical Condition: The Crisis in America’s Health Care by Edward M. Kennedy (1972). Those who think that Obamacare is the best or worst thing to happen to health care seem to have short memories about inadequate insurance policies, selective availability, and the pain of pre-existing conditions. I mentioned that it was my near-death experience in 1979 that defined my feeling about the American way of health, but even earlier, it was more likely this book.

The Methodist Hymnal (1935). This was the black book that I grew up with, which a former girlfriend of mine still refers to as the “real” Methodist hymnal. Holy, Holy, Holy is the first hymn.

O Albany! by William Kennedy (1983). While I never really got into his novels, Kennedy’s non-fiction treatise on New York’s capital city is marvelously insightful, and a great read.

Play the Game: the Book of Sport, edited by Mitchell V. Charnley (1931). This was an anthology of sports stories from American Boy magazine from 1923 to 1931, stories which I read over and over. STILL have the book.

The Sweeter The Juice by Shirlee Taylor Haizlip (1994). I wrote about this HERE.

The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb by Eric H. F. Law (1993). This book is about multiculturalism, written shortly after the Los Angeles riots. My future wife and I attended a conference in Maryland to learn more about the author’s techniques. I think mutual invitation in meetings is definitely the way to go. The mutual invitation explained at length or in brief.

Your Erroneous Zones by Wayne Dyer (1977). I read this in 1978. REALLY helped me in dealing with a particular individual, maybe a bit heavy-handedly, but the book definitely made an impact on me at the time.

It’d be pretty easy to come up with ten more…

Yer basic book meme

“I don’t feel guilty about pleasure.”

I’m not doing this because SamuraiFrog did it. I’m not even attempting it because Jaquandor completed it. I’m doing it because I haven’t written a blog post in five days, and MAYBE it’ll jump-start the process. And what I have determined is that sometimes, my answers change, so I find that interesting.

1. Your favorite book:

I used to say the World Almanac, and it was probably even true. I used to devour it, at least the year in review section. But now… Haven’t reread it in over a decade, but my longtime favorite book to read was Growing Up by Russell Baker, the New York Times columnist I used to read avidly. I even have a signed copy when I saw him speak somewhere in Albany in the 1980s. (The book was published in 1982.)

2. Your least favorite book:

I used to say none because I gave up on a lot of books if I didn’t like them. But Jaquandor reminded me of one I actually DID read, all the way through – I think I was in California visiting one of my sisters, and someone lent it to me, and I didn’t have much else to do – was The Celestine Prophecy. Not sure it was my LEAST favorite book; that would be almost anything that was REQUIRED READING in junior high school such as Johnny Tremaine or Ivanhoe. (Always thought I should give Ivanhoe another chance, but never did.)

3. A book that completely surprised you (bad or good):

I read The Fate of the Earth by Jonathan Schell, which was about avoiding nuclear annihilation, a real policy wonk piece. And somewhere in the book, and I’d have to look through it again to find it, was some hopeful narrative that was almost poetic in its verbiage, and it made me smile. I even used it at a ceremony once.

4. A book that reminds you of home:

Bartholomew and the Oobleck by Dr. Seuss, the first of his books that really spoke to me beyond what his previous books had.

5. A non-fiction book that you actually enjoyed:

This is a problematic question in that MOST of the books I’ve read ARE non-fiction. I’ll pick one that’s closest to where I’m sitting: Finishing the Hat by Stephen Sondheim.

6. A book that makes you cry:

I’m sure there are some, but none come to mind.

7. A book that’s hard to read:

I haven’t even tried to read a half dozen books in this category, but it’d include some Shakespeare histories.

8. An unpopular book you believe should be a bestseller:

The Nearly Complete Essential Hembeck Archives Omnibus.

9. A book you’ve read more than once:

I used to do so a lot, and now I feel like there are so many books that I need to go to the next one. I read the Bible at least thrice all the way through. There are any number of Beatles bios, notably Shout!, I’ve read more than once.

10. The first novel you remember reading:

Some novelization of an I Spy TV episode. A real novel, without being assigned? A Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood.

11. The book that made you fall in love with reading:

Green Eggs and Ham. (It’s the Green thing.)

12. A book so emotionally draining you couldn’t complete it or had to set it aside for a bit:

There have been one or two, lost in the mists of my memory.

13. Favorite childhood book:

This is probably a cheat, but besides the ones mentioned, The Methodist Hymnal that came out in the 1920s. I used to read all the liturgical stuff in the front and the back. I can tell you without looking that the first hymn is Holy, Holy, Holy.

14. Book that should be on a high school or college required reading list:

I have no clue. Someone once suggested I run for the school board, and I declined because people might ask me questions like that.

15. Favorite book dealing with foreign culture:

The World Is My Home by James Michener, which may be the only one of his books I ever read all the way through, though I’ve read sections of his novels.

16. Favorite book turned movie:

The Bridges of Madison County, which really is one of those movies that is WAY better than the book.

17. Book turned movie and completely desecrated:

I have no clue. I went to look at the Oscar-nominated adapted screenplay, and of the ones taken from a book (as opposed to a play, or something else), the only ones I’ve both seen the movie and read the book were The Godfather, The Color Purple, and To Kill A Mockingbird. The only other book-to-movie that comes to mind is Catch-22, and I saw the film first.

18. A book you can’t find on shelves anymore that you love:

That first book by Jaquandor. Can’t find it anywhere. (Oh, he hasn’t finished it yet…)

19. A book that changed your mind about a particular subject (non-fiction):

I’ve mentioned it before, but Jesus for President has changed my understanding of a lot of the Jesus parables, that this was a guy speaking to the power elite in a language they understood. And I think a lot of the message has been watered down over the centuries to please the power structure and especially the church elite.

20. A book you would recommend to an ignorant/racist/close-minded person:

The Sweeter The Juice: A Family Memoir in Black and White by Shirlee Taylor Haizlip.

21. A guilty pleasure book:

Jaquandor: “I don’t feel guilty about pleasure.”

22. Favorite series:

The Marvel Masterworks of the Amazing Spider-Man.

23. Favorite romance novel:

Love Is Hell by Matt Groening. OK, not that. No idea. (But talk about something I read more than once…)

24. A book you later found out the author lied about:

Isn’t that why writers write, to tell truth? So if the facts are not 100% accurate, does that negate the greater truth? Oh, I don’t know.

25. Favorite autobiographical/biographical book:

Growing Up.

26. A book you wish would be written:

And I’m not going to write it…

27. A book you would write if you had all the resources:

And I’m not going to write it…

28. A book you wish you never read:

Not applicable.

29. An author that you completely avoid/hate/won’t read:

Also not applicable. I wasn’t going to read Orson Scott Card anyway.

30. An author that you will read whatever they put out:

No one. I’m very catholic within my genres. Although there was a time when it was Russell Baker and Garrison Keillor.

Lisa thinks I’m a Liebster?

Honesty, integrity, and sleep.

So Lisa decided that I “deserve an award for being darling; beloved, liked very much, favorite, preferred above others, liked or loved above others.” And who am I to argue with her?

The rules are simple … post 11 random things about myself, and answer 11 questions the sender asks, then ~~torture~~tag 11 bloggers and give them a set of 11 questions to answer. The goal is to ~~drive each other crazy~~ help others discover new bloggy friends. And we all need more friends, right?

11 new random facts that haven’t already been covered (as far as I know):

1. I know lots of odd facts. But The Wife will almost always ask something about it and I’ll have no idea. For instance, I read about a couple married 81 years, and my wife will ask, “Where are they from?” I have not a clue. But I remembered he was over 100 and she under. (He’s 102, she’s 98, and they are from Connecticut.)

2. I don’t complain about the cold. But I don’t put myself in situations of being out in the cold – skiing, sledding – beyond the necessary stuff, such as shoveling snow, clearing the car off.

3. The Wife, the Daughter, and I like living near the bus route, even though we do have a car. When we got snowed in one Sunday, we got to church anyway.

4. I hate doing webinars. Talking in front of people is OK, but talking to headphones with no sense of how people are reacting is not my thing. Probably why I won’t do a podcast, besides my inability to learn the technology.

5. I try to seek out people at parties and similar events who seem not to have people to talk with.

6. I prefer having a watch to looking up the time on some electronic device I have to pull out of my pocket. Faster, more elegant, IMHO.

7. Having been on food stamps in the late 1970s for a few months – back in the days they had the actual paper coupons, not a plastic card – cuts to food stamps, leaving the food pantries even more to do, rather ticks me off.

8. I tore the meniscus in my left knee 20 years ago. STILL hurts.

9. My work computer was replaced in October, and it was disastrously installed by some techie, and I had buggies that made work hellish for a few months until our internal techie fixed it.

10. When I get back to a database I haven’t used in a while, I can never remember the password.

11. In fact, there are databases I’ll join and forget I’ve done so until I try to register for it again.

11 questions to answer from Lisa

1. What’s been your biggest surprise about blogging?

People I know personally don’t read my blog. People from halfway around the world DO read my blog.

2. What is your favorite book and why?

Top Pop Singles from Billboard. I read the titles and I can recreate the tunes in my head.

3. What do you do to relax and recharge your internal batteries?

On the last Monday of the month, I take off from work. I pay my bills, catch up on the newspaper and/or TV, write a blog post or three, then go to the monthly meeting of the Friends of the Albany Public Library. If I’m caught up, see a movie. Actually, when that is disrupted, as it has been too often recently, I feel like I’m constantly behind.

4. What do you miss about being your childhood?

I miss very little about my childhood. The geographic closeness of a couple of friends, and my sisters, but I wouldn’t want to go back.

5. What is your most favorite smell in the world and why?

Baking bread, and that does not need a reason.

6. Have you ever done a random act of kindness? If so, what was it?

Ever? I hope that I do so regularly, whether it be a surprise back massage, or help push someone’s car that’s stalled out of the middle of the street, or buy some hungry guy a slice of pizza. But I’m not really keeping track; I hope that it has become second nature.

7. If you could design a tee-shirt/coffee mug/bumper sticker saying, what would it say?

Happiness runs in a circular motion.

8. What did you learn about yourself last week?

That, at least on Facebook, I can avoid being baited by some schmuck.

9. Are you a planner or more spontaneous in your approach to your day?

Well, ya know it depends. I like to plan to get to the movies, take public transportation on time, or early. But I don’t plan out much else, except as it applies to other people i.e., the schedules of The Wife and The Daughter.

10. What is the biggest obstacle you’ve overcome in life?

Don’t know that I’ve overcome it as much as learned to fake it, but acute shyness

11. What are the three most important things in your life?

Honesty, integrity, and sleep.

I’m supposed to come up with questions for other people and tag those others. Ain’t doing the latter – but do it if you would like – and I have no inspiration of questions. So hey, YOU, answer the questions Lisa answered.

1. What is your dream vacation spot and why?
2. Where did you come up with the name of your blog?
3. How do you define blogging success?
4. What is your favorite type of “going out” entertainment?
5. How many states (name them) have you lived in?
6. What is your favorite holiday and why?
7. What’s your favorite number and why?
8. What would be your dream vehicle to own?
9. What is your favorite hobby?
10. How do you try and keep your blog fresh?
11. Where do you do your best thinking?