Yes, the Retrospective is done, but that doesn’t mean that the last couple of days of the year don’t have news to share.
First off was the evening that we had with Steven and Krisztina on the 29th. We hadn’t visited with them since September of 2014, partly because they live in Mackenzietown, which is on the other end of Calgary. We spent time with them at the Esri Christmas party, and they invited us for an evening after Christmas. They served schnitzel, which Ian thinks was his favourite meal ever now. We had a good time, if we did eat way too much. Ian played ping pong with their daughter Anniko, and I got to play pool with Miranda on the pocket-sized table in their living room. Tammy took an apple cake, which was delicious.
Second, I’m happy to report that the remainder of Tammy’s Christmas presents arrived. They both came on the same day, which made for a very happy 30th of December. First was her Trevor Linden Canucks jersey.
I ordered that one on the 2nd of December, and the seller information said it would arrive between the 7th and 14th. So much for that! 🙂
The second was a German National Cycling Team jersey for when she’s on her bike. She’s wanted one of those forever, and I couldn’t get one through Bow Cycle, they did direct me to Best of Bikewear, where I could.
That one I ordered late, and it was backordered at the time, but it still arrived on the same day. With a free water bottle to boot!
The last news item is that Miranda and I went to see Rogue One: A Star Wars Story this morning. Literally, this morning: it was a 9:45 am showing. I think there were eight people in the theatre in total. I was excited to see the movie, and I’d been largely unspoiled on its details.
I enjoyed it a lot. My comment to Miranda on exiting was: “Well, that was fantastic.” It was very unlike other Star Wars movies, but now that I think about it, it makes sense. The original Star Wars also feels different from the other Star Wars movies, and Rogue One is as direct a prequel to that movie as you could ask for.
I don’t want to spoil anything (unlike how Miranda blurted out in front of Tammy when we were home afterwards – she got sent to her room), but I will say that it’s got a weird Cold War movie vibe, but also a Vietnam War movie thing. I really would like to watch it back to back with Star Wars, because my impression is that they now make a two-part movie. The title “A New Hope” really rings true now, whereas it always seemed abstract and tacked-on to me before.
It’s weird not having the crawl to start the movie, but that was a creative decision to try to break these new “Star Wars Story” movies away from the main movies. All in all, two thumbs up.
Now it’s New Years’ Eve. Canada-US WJHC is on the TV, and Miranda’s birthday is tomorrow.
