Sentential Links #125

Click these links or the puppy gets it.

:: I find myself somewhat grieving the fact that I will never, ever be back at that time of my life again. And terrified that I’ll never really be ready for the future I’m preparing myself to begin....

:: Because what I realized was this: fans of movies immerse themselves in the fictional world they imagine the movie takes place in and become obsessed with the minutia. I'm a different kind of film buff, I guess. And if that's fandom today, I'm glad I stopped participating in it around that time. It's not fun anymore. It's not about liking things anymore; now it's about not liking things. And I think that's just too bad. (A great post on the ugly side of Star Wars fandom, which has, to my eyes as well as SamuraiFrog's, become the main side of Star Wars fandom. There's some stuff that I disagree with in the comments -- Lucas's recent comment about TESB being "the worst one" was a joke he made at a tribute for someone, and not meant seriously; Lawrence Kasdan always seems to get the credit for TESB but none of the "blame" for ROTJ, to whatever extent blame is deserved -- but still, good stuff.)

:: Still, I can say that there are very few to whom I can more sincerely say "Rest in Peace," than Bobby Fischer.

:: I want a film that is faithful to Star Trek's pioneer spirit and Star Trek's swashbuckling heart. If I get that, but Kirk never served on the Farragut, well...so be it. (I get the sentiment, and I wish I could say that I agree. I think it should be possible to do both. That Rick Berman rarely figured out how to do it shouldn't mean that it's time to toss everything -- baby, bathwater, tub, and towels -- out the window. But here's the thing, really: Trek has so much baggage behind it that if rebooting it means totally starting over from scratch, why not really start from scratch and do something completely new? Why does it have to be Trek at all? Via.)

:: After completing his symphony, Beethoven confided to a friend: "I am at last learning to compose." (Good post on the second movement of Beethoven's Seventh Symphony. The thing is, as great as that movement is, I think it works best in its intended context, as the second movement of a four-movement work. Coming after the fairly dance-like first movement, the Allegretto is shattering. As for the poster's surprise that the Allegretto has been described as "folk dance", why should that be surprising at all? Wagner called the entire Symphony the "apotheosis of the dance". Via.)

:: See, this is how you gracefully retcon stuff, Spider-Man. You don't make a magical deal with the devil. That's just retarded. The way you do it is you get a man from the future to travel through time with his robot friend and another time traveler. Then you get him to team up with three other versions of a dead character and save the dead friend's life. (Good tip, thanks! And congrats on the wedding planning.)

:: Consider this a literary experiment. (Jayme attempts a blog-serial. May the Force be with him.)

All for this week. Next week, maybe something different. Or not. I'm a free spirit!