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So all I’m gonna say is there’s more to Star Wars than Lucas and the Skywalker Saga, and people like Dave Filoni know far more what to do with Lucas’ creation than Kathleen Kennedy and Lucas himself did.

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For sure. Did you watch Clone Wars (the series, not the movie) and Rebels? The former is still somewhat geared towards children, but both do a lot more to flesh out these characters that the main saga couldn’t be bothered with.

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1. I posted a little thing about Lander's passing on my Facebook page, and in the comments, I included a link to a YouTube video where someone cut together a slew of Lenny and Squiggy entrances, with the set ups from L&S. A friend said she showed it to her 11-year-old son and he thought it was hilarious.

2. It's also worth watching this Lenny and The Squigtones clip from American Bandstand, especially for the band introductions, as a familiar face is on lead guitar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS5qlEcttEw

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Guest is also billed as such on the Lenny and the Squigtones album. And the keyboard player is Murphy Dunne, i.e. Murph from The Blues Brothers.

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Okay, I’ll take the Boba Fett bait. You said yourself that he was an unfinished character. We didn’t see him suck, we saw him dispatched in a dumb and flukey way. But do you know who else was way more hype than actual shown badassery? That’s right, Darth Vader. His combat and piloting skills in the original trilogy were underwhelming to say the least. He danced around an old Kenobi who was trying to get dead. He let the Falcon get the drop on him in the trench. He let a barely-trained Luke get a lick or two in on him at Bespin, and then he was completely overwhelmed on the second Death Star. It wasn’t until the prequel trilogies that we saw Anakin as an ace pilot, and it wasn’t until the end of Rogue One, thirty-nine years after the character first appeared on screen, that we actually got to see full-on reign of terror badass Vader. That was a much more central character, and they still needed to go back and show us what we had originally been told. Nothing wrong with allowing the same for Fett.

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Never mind that the joy of fan fiction for thousands, maybe millions of fans, is to have fun fleshing things out. That some of those fan fic writers became professionals is something to celebrate, not to deride. Never mind that many Star Wars fans would argue that Dave Filoni is a better keeper of the flame than Lucas ever was.

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Oh, don’t get me started on the alternate timeline where The Force Awakens only dropped last year, and everything they’re doing in The Mandolorian right now is building towards a far superior ultimate big bad in Episode IX. You could take TFA and TLJ as they are, warts and all, and then save them by swapping out Palpatine Reincarnate for what Filoni and Co. are setting up every Friday.

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founding

Give your kids a job, and have them do the packing and shipping...

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This is exactly what I thought, too. If Anna included personally autographed copies of her map, you couldn't keep enough of these mugs in stock.

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I was thinking something similar, although it seems like the kids might sneak some unwanted things into each mug. Hard-boiled egg? Cat poop from the litter box? One of Craig’s old socks? Anything would be in play here...

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Forget the old man's mug sales. Put her map on the mug and go into business on her own.

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Craig is really pushing that sale by upping the sex appeal of the newsletter. Shameless. :)

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"If you’re old enough to remember 1994-95..."

Ouch. Nothing like a cold slap in the face reminding you how old you are to start the morning.

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Guessing this will get some play on the next Dylan podcast - Bob Dylan Sells His Songwriting Catalog in Blockbuster Deal https://nyti.ms/36Q0brc

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Subhead in the Guardian's article: "Deal covers 600 songs including Blowin’ in the Wind and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door". The former I can understand--it's famous, if about #500 qualitatively in the catalogue. The latter--whaaa? Headline by a Sam Peckinpah fan?

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- I never cared much for Citizen Kane. I get how important it is in terms of technique, and I am in general a huge fan of Welles. But Kane leaves me cold. I don't care for the main character, or for most of the cast. I would rather watch The Stranger, or The Lady from Shangai, or Chimes at Midnight, or F for Fake. I would, however, rather watch Kane than the other contender for "best movie of all time," Vertigo, since that one is out and out misogynistic.

- I do, however, utterly agree about Wildflowers and Highway Companion. I think I will listen to the latter today. It is such a wonderful and lyrical album, maybe the most poetic of Tom's career.

- When I saw Wheeler might be available, I was not the only Mets fan to think "now we can fix that mistake." I doubt that would happen, but I would love to have him back, and his contract might be easier to afford than Bauer's. And Wheeler is not a known jerk.

- I wasn't aware that David Lander had MS, which might explain why he never went on to have the career his long time comedy partner Michael McKean did. If you want to see them work together in something besides Laverne and Shirley, look for them as a couple of proto-hackers in Used Cars.

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Lenny & Squiggy deserved their own spinoff series. Those two could have easily carried their own show.

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“By the time the Rangers are back in the playoffs he may be Chris Old.”

Hey-oh! Try the veal, he’s here all week! Folks, even the jokes are 20% off!

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Somehow, stil workshopping the line about Ivy League GMs, but this one is ready for primetime as-is!

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As a current commercial P&C adjuster and former agent, I love to see you talk about the specifics of iso forms and the like. Also, I work for a large insurance company in Ohio and I've seen some other companies trying to do what MLB is doing, it didn't end well.

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Loved Mank. Great look and feel to the film.Love just about everything I've seen Oldman inyes, even Lost In Space.

Let the mocking begin.

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Crap. Missed a space. Where's my edit button? *shakes fist*

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Dec 7, 2020Liked by Craig Calcaterra

I saw Particularly Odious open for Industrial Shithouse at Wembley.

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Rudy Giuliani is going to take on the case for MLB.

He is planning to sue the virus itself.

#tiredofwinning

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I was going to make a crack about how amusing it is to envision Craig handling the whole process of handling the shipping of the mugs and all that but then I pictured myself doing it. I realized that I would probably end up losing sleep over all the minutiae involved and thought "the hell with it, that's what third-party vendors are for." No, I don't overthink other things in my life, why do you ask?

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I'd like to thank Star Wars and Lord of the Rings for turning their trilogies into franchises as it now makes Back to the Future the greatest trilogy of all time.

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