"Gently used."

This month's West Coast Speculative Fiction Association newsletter arrived in my In box early in the morning of September 2nd, and mixed in with the other event announcements was a promo for the annual four-day Friends of the Vancouver Public Library Gently Used Book Sale, running from September the 4th to the 7th. 

One of the advantages of retirement is having the free time to attend things like this on a weekday, so on the morning of the 4th I geared up, selected a suitably sturdy shopping bag, and headed downtown to the Central Vancouver Library to see what was for sale.

When I arrived just five minutes after the start time of the sale, I initially thought that for some reason there had been an unexpected delay. There was a line that stretched up the stairs from the lower level sale location, proceeded down the length of the main library, and looped back around the atrium.  I joined the line, expecting a brief wait while they solved whatever the issue was. 

Eventually I deduced that the sale room must have reached capacity the second that the doors opened, and that the line was being fed into the room piecemeal as the initial wave of shoppers finished up and left.  The line edged forward in ten or fifteen foot increments, and after about a 30 minute wait, I was ushered into the sale room. 

Once inside, I felt a bit of pressure to do my shopping and clear the way for someone else in line.  The selection was impressive - there were an estimated 50,000 books in the sale - and as such, it was easy to find some interesting options.  That being said, I wish that I'd felt that I had more freedom to browse, I suspect that I missed some good opportunities in the two-for-a-dollar paperback tables.

Regardless, it was certainly a shopper's paradise. When I reached the point that my stack of selections was becoming difficult to balance, I decided that discretion was the better part of valour, and called it, as they say.  The checkout system was interesting, in that one pair of volunteers was doing nothing but calculating the cost of books, and another set was just taking payments.  I settled my bill, bagged my books, and made my way out the door and past the still impressive waiting line.

The results?  Five hardcovers, four trade paperbacks, and five mass market paperbacks: total cost, $26, which seems incredibly reasonable for a bag of books whose weight made a bit uncomfortable to carry one-handed.   It was a good mix of new and old texts, although as it turned out I already had a copy of Neal Asher's The Voyage of the Sable Keech*, this is what happens when you rush through things - although, with two dollar pricing on trade paperbacks, it was hardly the end of the world. 

I'd never heard of Mur Lafferty** until Worldcon, another bonus for attending; I was pleased to pick up a 1969 copy of Poul Anderson's Beyond the Beyond for three dollars; I really should read the first two books in The Locked Tomb series before I pick up Nona the Ninth; and I was surprised to find out that Terry Carr's Universe short story collections were printed in hardcover, I somehow thought they were only available in paperback. The only real departure in my selections was the Black Spire/Galaxy's Edge novel - I don't normally buy Star Wars Expanded Universe/Legends novels, but how could I not buy a book that takes place in my favourite part of Disneyland?

TLDR: if you're a reader and like to own your books; if you're looking for affordable book options, if you're looking for something a little bit older or from the classics, or any combination of those three options, I strongly recommend that you keep an eye out for the next Friends of the Vancouver Public Library Gently Used Book Sale. 

- Sid

* I passed over a copy of Asher's The Skinner because I thought I owned it, and chose The Sable Keech and Polity Agent instead.  As it turned out, I was at least correct about already having The Skinner and not owning Polity Agent, so at least I'm two for three.

** Apparently not related to the late R. A. Lafferty, master of the science fiction short story.

Disney 2025: "That's no moon."

As I've discussed previously, Galaxy's Edge is my favourite part of Disneyland, but sadly, I have some mild concerns regarding Black Spire's longevity.  Outside of its immersive environment, Galaxy's Edge has only two ride options:  Smugglers Run and Rise of the Resistance. Rise has certainly remained a popular ride since its Disneyland debut in January of 2020, with wait times frequently reaching 90 to 120 minutes.  However, during our 2025 visit, wait times for Smugglers Run rarely rose above five minutes, and I've heard rumours that the local Disney community in Anaheim is a bit done with the ride.

However, I think that there's an opportunity for Smugglers Run to undergo a revival that would be both economically practical by preserving as much of the current infrastructure as possible, but newly exciting for visitors at the same time.

I realize that Galaxy's Edge is set in a very specific time period between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, but what if Disney shifted Smugglers Run back in time to the timeline of A New Hope, when we're first introduced to the Falcon?  Instead of doing a cargo raid for the Resistance, you take flight from Mos Eisley after a confrontation with Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett. You evade pursuit by an Imperial Star Destroyer, only to discover that the gigantic sphere in front of you is not a moon...

Briefly pulled aboard the Death Star by tractor beams, you manage to successfully break their hold, escape the hangar, and hyperspace to Yavin 4.  Once there, you leave the Falcon, receive a dramatic and emotional briefing from Princess Leia, then board a battered X-wing fighter and head back into space.  

There's an acrobatic dogfight with TIE fighters, you fly your ship into the Death Star's equatorial trench, follow Obi-Wan Kenobi's guidance to launch missiles that destroy the battlestation's reactor, and make a triumphant flight back to the rebel base - the end. 

The good news is that the existing infrastructure from Smugglers Run remains intact: new animatronics of Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett replace Hondo Ohnaka at the beginning of the ride, and an updated simulation has to be created for the Falcon, but really, that's it for the existing front end.  Then, all you need is a conveniently located exit into the newly constructed Rebel base on Yavin 4, which contains a large hangar full of X-Wings, and a flight simulator motion-platform program, none of which would be a challenge for current state-of-the art - and voilà, Smugglers Run is now The Battle of Yavin 4. They would need to figure out some kind of safe and simple gangway system for quick access and egress for the X-Wings, but that's a minor issue.

After formulating the above plan, it occurs to me that the climactic events of The Force Awakens aren't all that different from A New Hope, and it's a lot closer to the existing Galaxy's Edge timeline - it would be just as easy (or hard) to recreate the destruction of Starkiller Base instead of the battle of Yavin-4.  Well, who cares, say I.  If you ask me, the Death Star battle is iconic, and, no offense to Oscar Isaac, but I'd much rather be Luke Skywalker than Poe Dameron.

- Sid 

Disney 2025: A Love Letter to Galaxy's Edge.

It's probably not a surprise that my favourite part of Disneyland is Galaxy's Edge - after all, I'm a science fiction fan. But there's more to it than that - every time we visit the park, I fall in love with Black Spire Outpost yet again, thanks to its unmatched ability to take me away to a different time and place.

Fantasyland, Adventureland, Frontierland and Tomorrowland are all conceptual umbrellas for a wide range of source material, which prevents them from being too specific in their overall look. For example, Adventureland hosts attractions based on Indiana Jones and Tarzan, along with the Jungle Cruise, none of which have any connection outside of their shared location, and as such it has to be somewhat generic in its style.

 

 

Galaxy's Edge doesn't have to compromise -  and the result is brilliant.  Radiator Springs runs a close second, but there's nothing that really ties together its storefront elements, whereas Black Spire is a perfectly conceived community from the Star Wars universe, with every part designed and decorated so as to completely evoke the feeling of being in an alien locale in a galaxy far, far away. 

 

 

The outpost's buildings*, archways and storefronts share an aged, distressed aesthetic, marked with the occasional pitted memory of a blaster bolt impact, whereas the port buildings surrounding the central plaza have a more formal, industrial look and feel.  

 

 

 

The attention to detail is impressive and effective. Set decorators for the first Star Wars movie referred to the props used for layering and detailing of the film's sets as greebly dressing, and Black Spire Outpost beautifully maintains and extends that original design philosophy throughout the venue.

 

 

Even the bathrooms have a rough and ready outpost vibe.

To add to the illusion, Smugglers Run and Rise of the Resistance both cleverly extend Black Spire's reality with storylines that logically transport guests away from the outpost's location on Batuu for adventures in space, and then returning them to the surface as part of each ride's continuity.** 

 

I have no idea what lies behind the various facades in Black Spire - logic says that there would be real-world storage spaces, dressing rooms for cast members, coffee rooms and lockers, meeting rooms and so on, but in my hopeful imagination all the backstage spaces maintain the Star Wars look and feel from the exteriors. How great would it be to work in an office space that looked like it belonged to Han Solo?

- Sid

* The building in the above photo is a nod to the colony's Disneyland home - the two circles and the beaklike canopy are an abstracted portrait of Donald Duck.

** The strange thing about Radiator Springs is that you walk through the town to get to Radiator Springs Racers, which then duplicates many of the town's landmarks within the ride itself. 

Disney 2025: "You insult my honour!"

"And believe me, I have very little honour to insult."

Hondo Ohnaka, Smugglers Run

 - Sid 

May the 4th: Welp, there it is.

"You know, I called him Mr. President, he said, "You can call me Joe".  I said, "Can I call you Joe-bi-Wan Kenobi?"  He liked that..."

Mark Hamill, White House Press Briefing.

If you were looking for an indicator of the massive degree to which Star Wars has penetrated the cultural matrix, look no further. 

- Sid

(And, as a bonus, here's Mark Hamill following up at the White House press briefing.) 

"Apology Accepted, Captain Needa."

It was announced today that veteran British actor Michael Culver passed away on February 27th at the age of 85, ending a career of over 50 years of stage, television and motion picture performances - the best known of which was perhaps his brief 1980 appearance in The Empire Strikes Back as an apologetic Imperial Captain.  Thank you for your service, Mr. Culver.

- Sid

Disney 2024: Kuqqa Kulaa?

My previous posting told a slight lie. I did in fact purchase another souvenir item during our time at Disneyland - I finally succumbed to temptation and invested in the Black Spire outpost version of a Coke.  Hmmm...I wonder how much it costs Disney to have the Coca-Cola Company manufacture a custom product which is presumably only for sale at two refreshment carts on opposite sides of the United States?

- Sid

Disney 2024: "I am no Jedi."

No light sabers this trip, no helmets (although I noticed that there was now an alternate version of the X-Wing pilot's helmet that I purchased on our last Disneyland visit for sale) - my only souvenir shopping was the impulse buy of an Ahsoka t-shirt from a vendor located in one of the underpass tunnels that lead to Galaxy's Edge. 

I hate to say it, but after watching the Ahsoka series on Disney+ that provided the graphics for the t-shirt, I found myself siding with Team Ashley regarding the casting for the titular character.  

No offense to Rosario Dawson's performance, but after you've painted someone orange, stencilled marks on their face, and covered their hair with montrals and striped lekku*, their voice suddenly becomes a strong point in the character's presentation. In this case, Ashley Eckstein's extended run as Ahsoka's voice in the Clone Wars and Star Wars: Rebels series would have cemented the connection in the character's transition to live action, much as with Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy's move from the animated Batman series to video games.  

And who knows, she might not have been so grim all the time - I know that Ahsoka's history weighs her down, but I also think of the adult version of the character in Rebels as having achieved some emotional balance, although perhaps through the Force rather than weekly counselling sessions.

- Sid

* In case you'd been wondering what the horns and fleshy head-tails were called.  (Never forget, in the Star Wars Universe, EVERYTHING has a name.)  

Disney 2024: Games Without Frontiers.

As you get older, it's harder to really play, or at least play publicly in the way that children do. A lot of that desire gets sublimated into activities with a sort of grown-up veneer of acceptability: cosplay, paintball, tabletop and video gaming, D&D, LARPing, and all the other loopholes that allow us to say "let's pretend" as adults.

For a lot of people, Disneyland is that urge to play writ large, and for me, Galaxy's Edge is the perfect venue to fully experience that. It's a testament to the detail and consistency that Disney's creative people have put into this little alien outpost so that, when I'm there, I feel like I'm actually on another planet, even when surrounded by people in mouse ears and sweat pants. 

Part of me wants to explore Galaxy's Edge all on my own, because it would leave me free to enjoy it as if I were part of that world, to quote Ariel. As it is, Karli sometimes worries that I’m not having fun when I'm there, whereas the joke is that I couldn't be enjoying myself more.  However, being a dangerous rebel who could be in a life-or-death confrontation with storm troopers at any moment tends to make me look a bit grim - after all, we're not playing around here, this is serious stuff.

Smugglers Run is another good example.  I tolerate the lines and waiting and so on in order to get to where I want to be, but when I sit down at the controls of the Millennium Falcon, I'm not having a simulated experience, I'm flying a starship. As such, when the controls prompt me to perform an action such as take off, go to hyperspace, or steer the ship through an asteroid field, I do it with a certitude, confidence, and gravitas that's appropriate to what I'm doing.

And, hopefully, with a certain degree of style - after all, even if you're just playing at being the Falcon's pilot, you're still playing in the big leagues.

- Sid

P.S. Welcome to the future - the boots and background alien heads in the above photo were created by the Photoshop AI. However, the AI won't accept certain prompts, so I had to do the gun belt and weapon the old-fashioned way.

Disney 2024: Ridin' dirty.

 

Maybe not the perfect ride for a rainy day on Batuu (or in Anaheim), but I like it.

- Sid

Disney 2024: Silver Lining.

For Karli's 50th birthday this year, she decided that there was no place she would rather go than Disneyland. Planning was simple - Karli has become a seasoned veteran in terms of Disney visits - and we invited Karli's best friend John and her sister Stefanie to join us.  John had never been to Disneyland, so he was eager to take advantage of our collective experience to introduce him to the park.

We had all been checking the forecasts for the weather during our upcoming visit, but it was only when I took a look at CNN the day before we left that I discovered that California was currently in the midst of the most serious storm that it had experienced for quite a long time. Record-breaking rains closed airports and caused flooding and mudslides, there had been four fatalities, and a state of emergency had been declared in Los Angeles and seven of the surrounded counties.  Even more ominously, Disneyland had experienced closures due to the emergency.  Obviously not an ideal time for travel, but it was too late to cancel, so we decided to carry on and hope for the best. 

Surprisingly, we experienced no delays as a result of the chaotic weather conditions.  Our flight left on time and landed without any problems, our Uber seamlessly delivered us to our Disney-adjacent hotel, and Disneyland was scheduled to be open over the course of our three-day passes (although rain was on the forecast for the first day and part of the second day).

Fortunately, Karli had the foresight to purchase rain ponchos for the group just in case, which turned out to be the ideal garment for the weather.

As forecast, rain was definitely the theme for our first day at the park - not quite torrential, but certainly a steady solid downpour.

The result?  Limited attendance at the park, and far shorter lines than the norm. 

We all got a bit wet - even the best rain gear will only keep you so dry over the course of a full day - and we obviously couldn't go on any outdoor rides, but we were generally comfortable, and the lack of crowds allowed us to visit favourite rides like Smugglers Run and Indian Jones multiple times.

It was one of those rare occasions when clouds actually had a silver lining.

- Sid

Anangong Miigaading.

Obi-Wan: Anakin, Chancellor Palpatine is evil!
Anakin Skywalker: From my point of view, the Jedi are evil!

Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

Lucasfilm has announced that they have come to an agreement with the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council and the University of Manitoba to release a dubbed Ojibway version of A New Hope, the original Star Wars movie. (If you happen to be a fluent speaker of Ojibway and have theatrical ambitions, now is your chance: you can apply at http://starwarsojibwe.com/)

The producers chose Ojibway because it is one of the most widely spoken indigenous languages, with approximately 320,000 speakers in North America.  The Ojibway version of the film will see theatrical release across Canada, and will eventually be broadcast on Canada's Aboriginal Peoples Television Network.

It's interesting to imagine an indigenous re-write of the entire series, with the Empire recast in the model of a colonial power that has undertaken a program of ruthless conquest across the galaxy. In this version, Anakin Skywalker becomes a Lost Generation child, swept up in the equivalent of the 60s Scoop and stripped of his aboriginal identity.  His romance with Amidala then becomes a double secret, not just due to the strictures of the Jedi code but because of prejudice and discrimination against his indigenous background.

But where do the Jedi fit in this retelling of the story?  It's an easy out to have the Sith stand in for the Catholic Church, but a stark examination of the prequel trilogy makes it just as easy for the Jedi to be guilty of the same sins - let's face it, Qui-Gon Jinn essentially takes Anakin away from his mother and drops him into residential school at the Jedi Temple.  

With the narrative changed to an indigenous perspective, Anakin turns out to be correct when he tells Obi-Wan that the Jedi are evil, and his conversations with the Supreme Chancellor about similarities between the Sith and the Jedi gain a new resonance. The good news is that in the aboriginal retelling, Anakin is no longer guilty of killing the younglings that he encounters at the Jedi Temple - instead, he rescues them.  And after that, it's a whole new story...

- Sid

May the 4th: A Star Wars Trilogy, Episode 2.

The Phantom Menace.

We were recently heading out to Steveston with Karli's sister Stefanie on a covert fish and chips run, and the topic of COVID-19 vaccinations came up.  During the conversation, Stefanie mentioned her concerns about getting sick from being vaccinated.

It's an understandable concern, but misplaced in this case.  In the case of traditional vaccines, they do work by injecting a small piece of the target virus, called an antigen, into your body.  Your immune system recognizes that it's been infected, albeit in a minor fashion, and produces virus-specific antibodies that give you resistance in case you're exposed to the full version of the virus.  

RNA based vaccines, like the Pfizer product that I've recently received, provide the body with instructions on how to build the antigens, so that the immune system can prepare T-cell and antibody responses all on its own that provide resistance without being infected.

Extremely simplifying something that I'd seen on the XKCD webcomic,  I offered the following by way of explanation:

 "No, it's more like the injection gives your body the plans to the Death Star."

A short silence ensued.

Karli, sensing the problem, said, "It's from Star Wars - you know, the big globe thing."

"Well, maybe if it was more of a pop culture reference."

Another short silence ensued.

I cautiously said, "Ummm...Star Wars isn't pop culture?"

"Well, okay, maybe if it was more of a family drama."

"It's literally nine movies about one family," said Karli. 

More silence - and by the time we'd arrived at Steveston, by unspoken mutual agreement we'd moved on to less sensitive topics. 

Regardless of the relatability of the simile, it pleases my science fiction fan heart to imagine tiny little X-wings preparing to do battle with the evil coronavirus - perhaps even a little Luke Skywalker, and the tiny voice of a miniature Obi-Wan Force ghost directing him to turn off his targeting computer and trust his feelings.  And when the pandemic's finally all over, I think that we will all definitely deserve a medal from a princess.

- Sid