Baby Yoda Rocks The Mando - SPOILERS

I have joined the millions in becoming a big fan of the Disney+ Star Wars spinoff, The Mandalorian. And yes, today I'm gonna get my geek on and rave about this best thing from the Star Wars universe in decades (that's my feeling, anyway). Beware, though: there are show spoilers ahead, so if you still haven't watched The Mandalorian, better get to it before reading this post.

Awwww...

I've watched the first season twice through, loving just about every minute of it (the Bill Burr episode was probably the weakest link, but still good enough). And every scene with Baby Yoda  makes me laugh in delight... whether he's purring and squealing cutely, or using "the magic hand thing" (The Force, duh), he is undeniably cute. 

But the cuteness factor of the Child (he is never actually called Baby Yoda; that name was coined by fans of the show) aside, the show is serious and violent. Not for little kids. Which is curious given the cute baby thing, which will definitely be a hit with young fans. But I don't know if youngsters would enjoy the sort of slow, quiet pacing of the show, and they might even be frightened by some of the fights and kills. The tone of The Mandalorian tells me the show is aimed at older kids and adults.

The Mandalorian, the character, is frequently referred to as Mando, for short. Though he is a bounty hunter, he belongs to a creed of armoured warriors who live by a strict code of honour. Our Mando of the show seems to have a very real human side that emerges when he first lays eyes on the Child. And he has so far demonstrated a belief in good, and that killing innocents isn't part of his way. I am not aware of everything in the extended Star Wars universe (the books and the many animated spin-off shows), so my knowledge of the Mandalorian people is limited to what I've seen in this new show. But I did get the jist of things here at starwars.fandom.com.

And isn't Mando the coolest Star Wars character we've seen in a long time? He truly rules every scene he is in, and even when he gets thrown around in combat, he remains composed and unleashes one of his many battle gadgets or responds with his superior hand-to-hand and non-firearm fighting skills. Besides his standard-issue blaster pistol at his side, Mando carries and wears some snazzy weaponry. That two-pronged zapper/disintegrator (like Boba Fett's) is a wonder to watch in action, and his armed gauntlets can raze opponents with a flamethrower or knock 'em flat with small guided missiles called "whistling birds". And when all else fails, Mando's got a fancy blade or two tucked away for close-quarters combat.

In addition, Mando wears a helmet/visor that is wired with tactical displays... we get to see through his eyes sometimes, and then we understand just how prepared this guy is for battle. And we can't forget the jetpack, which our man must earn toward the end of season one. 

It is true that the Mandalorian outfit was based on ol' Boba Fett's gear... remember bounty hunter Boba from the original trilogy? Fett was perhaps the most popular character from the old movies, mainly because of his weapons, gadgets, jetpack, and ultra-cool helmet and armour. Mando borrows from that look, but of course, their is lore behind the reason for his appearance. Once the young Mando swore to the creed, he was required to never remove his helmet-visor and reveal his face before any human. And as we have seen in season one, he even gets a spiffy upgrade to his physical shielding. His imposing appearance commands respect from most onlookers.

I'd like to show more images from The Mandalorian, but since Disney is such a stickler for copyright, I don't want to take risks. So just do a Google image search if you want to look up anything I'm talking about here.

The show has already spawned some catch-phrases that'll be resounding around the world for a while. "This is the way" is the Mandalorian credo, stating their core believe. We hear this more than a few times in season one. The likable if gruff character Kuiil (pronounced Queel) has a habit of getting in the final word by saying "I have spoken". A bit pompous for such an otherwise humble guy. But it's endearing.

There are so many great characters in The Mandalorian, both villains and friends to our hero - or anti-hero. I won't get into all the actors' names here, so I'll stick with a handful of main characters, like Greef, the leader of the bounty hunter guild; the Client, with a contingent of stormtrooper guards, who hires Mando; Kuiil, the moisture farmer who befriends Mando; Cara Dune, an ex-Rebel trooper-turned-mercenary who signs on with Mando; and bounty-hunter droid IG-11, who joins the cause after some friendly reprogramming. And there's the big baddy Moff Guideon, ex-Imperial Secret Police, who makes life difficult for our protagonists.

I'm glad the show isn't drenched in cuteness, otherwise it would grow tiresome very quickly. Too much of anything is a turn-off, as we can attest with the Star Wars prequels. Use restraint and keep the cute bits to a minimum, and we can appreciate the world of The Mandalorian in its entirety. So far, so good. The spagettin-western gunslinger approach, blended with the Seven Samurai influence, makes for an intriguing character and story.

C'mon, Season Two!

2019 in Movies

2019 didn't feel like a very big year in movies for me. For one thing, I avoided the cinemas - completely - yet again. It is very rare that I ever set foot in those money-grabbing auditoriums full of yapping, seat-kicking, cell-phone-tapping numbskulls. And this year's film offerings were so slight that nothing warranted a trip to the multiplex.

The Wandering Earth, the Chinese sci-fi blockbuster that nobody knows about

As I examined my fleshed-out list of 2019 movies viewed, I noted that I saw pretty much everything on internet streaming services. The way of the future, right? At home viewings, I can move around as much as I want, sit in my chair, lie on the floor, stand, exercise, stretch, eat and drink with frequent breaks, pause for bathroom duties, and so on. But to be bound to a cinema chair for two to three hours... well, the thought doesn't sound one bit appealing to me. 

This was the year of Netflix, and to a lesser extent, Amazon Prime, for my viewing needs. I occasionally rented a new release on Youtube, and a friend or two loaned me things now and then. Netflix in particular put out a lot of stuff worth watching over the past year, some of the content produced by Netflix, some of it picked up for presentation on the service

When I first considered how many 2019 movies I'd seen, I figured it wasn't very many, but after examining my activity on Letterboxd (a social network for film fans), I realized I'd actually viewed 27 movies that were released in 2019, out of a total of 220 movies for the year (which isn't over quite yet, but I don't see things changing by much). Both numbers are down from the previous year, and yet I'm still a bit surprised with the results. Like I said, there weren't many outstanding flicks to check out this year, so instead I found myself falling into the streaming binge-watch trap more often than not. Netflix and others seemed to have more to offer in the way of shows (both new and old) than in movies.

Having said all that, there were some nice surprises, some of the best seen earlier in the year. Stuff like John Wick: Chapter 3, Yesterday, The Dirt, The Highwaymen, and I Am Mother. Along with compelling films like The Wandering Earth and In The Shadow of the Moon, there were fun - if second-rate - movies like Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Rocketman, and Triple Frontier.

The fun and wacky Dolemite is My Name, starring

a rejuvenated Eddie Murphy

Some odd, and sometimes flawed, documentaries that were still engaging and/or entertaining were: Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks (a colourful and comprehensive history of kung fu cinema), Hail Satan? (a look at the Satanic Temple and its fight for justice and equality), and Tell Me Who I Am (a young man lost his memory in an accident, and is brought up to speed by his brother).

More sophisticated fare included Marriage Story (emotionally charged performances by  Adam and Scarlett) and Midsommar (a low-key horror along the lines of the classic The Wicker Man). Not at all high-brow, The Breaking Bad Movie exceeded my hopes, feeling like a very natural continuation of the gritty TV series. 

But not everything was a winner. The highly regarded Us failed to impress me, though that might have just been a case of too much hype and too-high expectations. The Beach Bum was a big let-down, too, looking like yet another tired vehicle for McConaughey to act outrageous and grow a beard.

Once the year is officially over and done with, I will compile a Top Ten or Twenty. But for now, here is my list of 2019 movies I've seen, not in any particular order:


Brittany Runs a Marathon
Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Marriage Story
Midsommar
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
Hail Satan?
Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks
Tell Me Who I Am
In The Shadow of The Moon
Dolemite is My Name
The Red Sea Diving Resort
Deadwood: The Movie
Rocketman
John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
Yesterday
The Dirt
The Highwaymen
Us
The Beach Bum
Triple Frontier
Triple Threat
Beneath the Leaves
The Wandering Earth
I Am Mother
Polar
IO
Only Mine

More 2019 movies added January 4, 2020:

Crawl
Long Shot

Cue the Jingle Music, Mr. DJ

It's that festive time of year again, and along with the egg nog and gifting there must be some appropriate seasonal music. I'm not a fan of pop and rock artists dashing off original songs that barely sound Christmas-y at all. These often limp tunes sound like everything else the artists do, but with a passing reference to Christmas. If the music doesn't sound holly jolly and the lyrics don't reflect the holiday season, then I don't want it.

While I'm not a major fan of Christmas music, there are some traditional carols and songs that translate quite nicely with the right treatment. For instance, I can listen to Elvis singing anything along these lines. His voice and his delivery suit the season perfectly... tasteful and soulful. I've got his 1957 Christmas Album around here somewhere, and it'll come out soon for some spins on the CD player. There are plenty of standards, like White Christmas, Santa Claus is Coming to Town, and I'll Be home for Christmas. And there are some of the religious-oriented tunes, too, which the King approaches with his soothing baritone: O Little Town of Bethlehem, Silent Night, and (There'll Be) Peace in the Valley. You've got the rockin' and the chillin' all in one package. Perfecto!

I also dig the martini-soaked sounds of Christmas With Dino... that's Dean Martin, in case you're too young to know who Dino was. On opening track Let it Snow, it sounds like Dean was already into the sauce... yet he's got such a friendly and expressive voice that you can't help but love it. There's a nice light touch to his renditions of White Christmas, Silver Bells, Winter Wonderland, and Jingle Bells... and more. Fun and nostalgic, even if you were born decades after this music was recorded.

If I could only pick one Christmas album to play, that would be the soundtrack to the 1965 TV special A Charlie Brown Christmas. Performed by the Vince Guaraldi Trio, this light and jazzy music is instantly recognizable to almost everyone on the planet, even if they don't know who did it or where it's from. There are traditional songs as well as originals by pianist Guaraldi, all rendered with reverence and some with a sense of whimsy. The best known are Linus and Lucy, and Skating... and I've always loved Linus' version of Beethoven's famous piano piece Für Elise - not exactly a Christmas tune, but sophisticated and melodic enough to fit the mood.

When I was at a fall record show, I found an LP of Liona Boyd's classical guitar album A Guitar For Christmas. Boyd's mastery of the instrument works amazingly well with the accompaniment on this all-instrumental recording of traditional pieces like Silent Night, Little Drummer Boy, and Away in a Manger. I played that for the first time just the other night, my first taste of Christmas on vinyl. 

Since I get an earful of the brash and brassy renditions of Christmas music all day long at my workplace, it's nice to come home to something more pleasing and definitely more my taste.

December "New" Used Additions to the Record Shelf

What a week for music... I got some stuff in the mail that I had ordered as sort of early Christmas gifts to myself, and today I traded in some old videos for records. I've yet to get to all of the albums but I have nothing but praise for what I have heard so far.

Some of the far-out artwork by Voivod drummer Away

on The Outer Limits album

First up, I decided to dig deeper into the Voivod back catalogue and got a Japanese import copy of The Outer Limits at a very reasonable price. I had test-listened this one for the first time several months ago on Youtube, and was suitably impressed with the Quebec band's 1993 prog-thrash release. The sci-fi theme throughout was weird and fun, and the music itself just floored me. The opening track, Fix My Heart, is very uncharacteristically catchy - almost poppy - and quickly ear-wormed its way into my brain for several days. I just couldn't get it out of my head... day and night, that simple riff drilled away long after I'd turned off the CD player. Yeah, I resorted to the CD format for this one. This almost completely unavailable vinyl record commands hundreds of dollars on Discogs, and even the CD on Amazon.ca goes for over fifty bucks! What the...? But I found it from a third party seller operating through Walmart, of all places. Anyway, so many strong tracks on here, including Le Pont Noir, The Nile Song (a Pink Floyd cover), The Lost Machine, and the epic Jack Luminous (which runs over 17 minutes, not a moment of it boring). Yet again, I was dazzled by Piggy's incredibly unique guitar pyrotechnics (his last appearance before his passing, RIP), Away's hot drum rhythms, and even the stand-in session bassist's work (sadly, original 4-stringer Blacky left the band before recording the album).

So I wailed away on The Outer Limits for much of the week, not having found such a musical gem in a long, long time. Then late-week, another CD came in the mail. Again I opted for a compact disc, since the vinyl version of Rammstein's 2001 album Mutter was priced well into the stratosphere. Damn! I would really much rather add to my record collection than my already busting-at-the-seams CD shelves. Oh well, at least after just one listen, I can safely say that I really enjoy this heavy electro-industrial metal album. And I don't mind one bit that it is all (is it all?) in German. The CD was playing in the background while I did some computing, so my attention wasn't 100% on the music. But still... very cool stuff.

Then today I finally decided to take a pile of my old and unwanted DVDs to a used media shop. Thank the gods that these places still exist, since the big chain music/movie stores have pretty much vanished (only Sunrise Records remains here). So I give the little independent places my business, buying and trading semi-regularly. In exchange for my old crap, I walked away with the Thievery Corporation 2002 double-album, The Richest Man in Babylon. This record set looks like brand new, and though I haven't spun it yet, I can't wait to hear it. I have a few Thievery albums on CD buried away here somewhere, but just haven't been in an electronic music mood in years. I am pretty sure I have Richest Man on CD, probably a ripped copy, but when I saw the vinyl today, I figured if I got it, I'd easily re-vitalize my interest in both Thievery Corp. and electronic music in general. These guys (and gals) were favourites of mine back in the 90's, when I was obsessed with their atmospheric Sounds From the Thievery Hi-Fi album. Their music can best be described as an exotic blend of dub, acid jazz, reggae, electronic dance, Indian, Middle Eastern, hip hop, and Brazilian. Great for chillin' at a cocktail party for the modern crowd. 

At that same store, I found an inexpensive copy of Canadian progressive rock band FM's 1977 album Black Noise. This is an upgrade to my very shabby existing record - the outer sleeve, that is. I'll test listen this new disc to see how the sound compares, but my goal was to simply replace the heavily worn cardboard jacket with this very clean one. I don't always do this sort of thing, but this FM album is among my absolute favourites, so I felt it would be worth the few bucks to make my play copy look much nicer. If you're in the mood for jazzy space-prog without guitars, this could be for you... in lieu of rock's usual six-strings, Nash the Slash incorporates the eerie, otherwordly sounds of electric violin and mandolin, plus a myriad of other synthesized effects. Black Noise is pretty common in the used shops, and I recommend it for any vinyl enthusiast.

Multi-instrumentalist Nash the Slash... here he sports his

now-trademark mummy bandages, which actually came about

in the late 70's, after he left FM

A quick visit to another used record store yielded a purchase that I'm still scratching my head over. As the counter staff looked through the remainder of my old videos to trade, I flipped through the new record arrivals. All that caught my eye was a pristine LP of Rush's 1985 release, Power Windows. Now back in the day, I was an avid fan of that album - on cassette tape, that is. In fact, I'd say this was, and still is, my favourite Rush offering from the 80's. And these days, I prefer it to the played-to-death Moving Pictures album. I love the big lush, textural instrumentation on Territories, Middletown Dreams, Emotion Detector and Mystic Rhythms. And unlike so many haters of that period of the band's synth-experimentation, I have always enjoyed that hard rock-pop punch of the hit tune Big Money. At least the guitar has a large, fat presence, whether thick bright power chords or jangly arpeggios. Oh, and the reason I have mixed feelings about buying this is that I made the decision long ago not to re-buy more than one or two key Rush records. I mean... I owned everything to date on tape up until the CD revolution, when I re-bought everything (which is a lot of Rush)... and do I really want to accumulate these same albums yet again on vinyl? I very rarely hanker for Rush's music now anyway, so my trusty A Farewell to Kings and even Fly By Night would have done me just fine in a pinch. But the price was right, and Power Windows just looked so inviting at the store today. So I guess this was a bit of an impulse buy. Maybe once I crank it up later, all my reservations will disappear.

All in all, a productive shopping trip, and overall, a very satisfying week in "new" old music. Which is the way to go when you're my age and re-discovering the magic of vinyl. And occasionally slumming it with CDs. 

Cheers!