So, the biggest question in the universe has been answered by George Lucas: “How did Anakin Skywalker become Darth Vader?” So… what’s left to care about in the worlds of Star Wars? Plenty if you’re a true Star Wars fan.

In the latest offering from Lucas Animation (the first ever from this new division) we’re treated to a look into the Clone Wars. If you’ve seen the very first movie that came out in 1977, (I saw it at least 10 times in the theatre alone!) you might remember the quiet discussion that Luke and Obi-wan have after he rescues Luke from the Sand people attack on Tatooine. In this conversation Luke asks Obi-wan if he fought in the Clone wars. Since 1977 we’ve always wondered what the clone wars were. Now, that things have been hashed out in the prequels and we know things like Boba Fett’s father was the seed for the clones, that the Storm troopers are actually all identical clones, and that Obi-wan is there on Tatooine because he was forced into hiding at the beginning of the clone wars and to specifically watch over Luke! It’s now time to get into the real guts and action of the clone wars which turn out to be a major part of the Star Wars story. That’s where Lucas takes us this time around. Onto the battle field and into the lives of new characters and deeper into the relationships of old characters.

Some may think that it’s unfortunate that the decision was made to present this part of the Star Wars history as an animated film, but lets face it, Star Wars was made to be animated and they’ve done a great job. I’d love to say that it’s the best Star Wars film or even animated film that I’ve ever seen, but unfortunately it’s not. It’s good. Sometimes it’s great. But it’s not up there with the live action Star Wars films and as far as the story goes and the quality of the character animation it just doesn’t reach the heights that other animated film companies produce. Again, let me stress, it’s good, but the stylized animation style that’s used in the film seems to conflict at times with the overall, high, HIGH, quality environments and for me it was distracting and hard to get past.

Another part of the film that was hard to get past was the flamboyant, evil uncle of Jabba the Hut. This character ranks right up there with Jar Jar Binks on the irritation scale and seriously degrades the feel of the film. Why this character is presented as a purple - possibly gay - member of the Hut mob clan is beyond me. It seems that this character would have been much more believable as an evil mobster (much more evil than Jabba it turns out) if he was portrayed as dark, dirtier than the original, older, extra greasy and, well, darker. This flamboyant character is just out of place and it’s one of the truly bad parts of this film in my opinion.

In the movie there are some tremendous battle scenes, death and mayhem. There were some touching and deep scenes that added depth to the characters and the story. Most importantly though, overall, the film felt like Star Wars which is what ultimately won me over. You can tell that even though this film was directed by someone other than Lucas, you feel that he was a part of it and guiding it. So, I must say that even though this is an animated film, it still stands up nicely as another great chapter in the Star Wars saga. Let’s hope that they can keep the same quality going forward in the new animated series and in the new live action TV series that’s rumored for the future.

NOTE: I drew this picture of R2-D2 when I was 7 years old. Yes, I am an old and true fan. I should also note that I took great pleasure in taking my two sons to see this film (7 yrs old and 5 years old respectively) and they loved the movie just about as much as I loved the first one.

Overall rating: B- (but could have been higher if they chose to improve the character animation)

Overall kids rating: A+

We had a party recently and my wife put me in charge of building a list of wine and alcohol trivia questions. It was a lot of fun and I actually learned a few things. Here is the list of questions for your enjoyment.

Chianti is considered an inexpensive, commercial wine T/F - Answer: False
The majority of Chianti wines (at least in major export markets such as the U.S.) are high quality wines. Chianti Classico, the type of Chianti most commonly found outside of Italy, is particularly fine.

Pinot Grigio is one of Italy’s best wines T/F - Answer: False

The average quality of Pinot Grigio wines is . . . well, average. They’re dry and refreshing, they don’t clash with most foods, and they’re perfectly fine if you want an inexpensive wine — but they lack the character and intensity that the French Pinot Gris grape (in Italy, Pinot Grigio) is capable of, and they are not Italy’s answer to great white wine.

Spumante means “sweet” T/F - Answer: False

The word spumante means “sparkling” — just that. Because Asti Spumante (the sweet, sparkling wine of Asti) is so famous, however, wineries in California and Italy have borrowed the term spumante for sweet bubblies that imitate Asti, and millions of people now think that the word applies only to sweet, sparkling wines.

Wine was discovered by a man T/F - Answer: False

According to Persian mythology, wine was discovered by a woman. She drank the fermented juice from grapes stored in a jar, went to sleep, and surprisingly woke up cured of a headache, instead of suffering from the world’s first hangover

Who said “Give me a bowl of wine. In this I bury all unkindness” - Answer: Shakespere

1. Noah in the bible
2. William Shakespeare
3. George Bush

In medieval times there were written punishments for monks who got drunk T/F - Answer: True

Their punishements were fifteen days on bread and water if one drank so much that one vomited; thirty days on bread and water if one, when drunk, encouraged others to get drunk; and forty days on bread and water if, through drunkenness, one vomited the communion wine and sacred host.

How many grape varieties are there? 125, 600, 1250? - Answer: over 600

The average number of grapes it takes to make a bottle of wine is 40, 250, 600? - Answer: 600

phylloxera is a grape variety T/F - Answer: True

Noah in the bible was the first recorded drunk. T/F - Answer: True

“The sons of Noah who went forth from the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was peopled. Noah was the first tiller of the soil. He planted a vineyard; and he drank of the wine, and became drunk, and lay uncovered in his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and toook his two brothers outside.”

What sweet wine originally from Germany and Canada is made with frozen grapes? - Answer Ice wine or Eiswein

1. riesling
2. ice wine
3. cube wine

Ice Wine began as “eiswein”, created in Germany in the 1800s.

What is White Zinfandel made from? - Answer: Red Zinfandel grapes

1. Red Zinfandel grapes
2. White Zinfandel grapes
3. None of the above

Red Zinfandel grapes are what you start with to make a White Zinfandel wine. The skins are removed after an extremely short period of time

This wine is made from the leftover skins and seeds of grapes: - Answer: Grappa

1. Brandy
2. Port
3. Grappa
4. Marsala

Grappa is a traditional Italian drink. It’s around 90 proof and clear in color.

Established in 1823, the first commercial winery in the U.S. was in which state? - Answer: Missouri

1. California
2. New York
3. Missouri

The descending streaks of wine seen on the inside of a glass after it has been swirled are called? - Answer: Legs

1. tears
2. legs
3. ribbons
4. butts

Which country produces the world’s largest supply of cork? - Answer: Portugal

1. France
2. Italy
3. Portugal

The largest cork tree in the world is in Portugal. It averages over one ton of raw cork per harvest. That’s enough to cork 100,000 bottles

Who was suspected of suffocating from a bloody nose after passing out from alcohol at his ‘bachelor party’. - Answer: Attila

1. Attila the Hun
2. John Bryant (official inventor of the bong)
3. Samuel Adams

The saying ‘Mind your P’s and Q’s’ comes from the time when alcoholic beverages were served/sold in Pints and Quarts. T/F - Answer: True

Thus, to mind your P’s and Q’s meant to be careful how much you drank.

How long is the longest bar in the world? 265 feet, 684 feet or 1325 feet? - Answer: 684

The longest bar in the world is 684 feet (or about 208.5 meters) long and is located at the New Bulldog in Rock Island, Illinois.

Who was elected President of the U.S. in 1932 on a pledge to end National Prohibition. - Answer: Roosevelt

1. Franklin D. Roosevelt
2. Hoover
3. Eisenhower

Fermentation within the body is essential for human life to exist. T/F - Answer: True

Who after being informed that his general drank whiskey while leading his troops,
reportedly replied “Find out the name of the brand so I can give it to my other generals.” - Answer: Lincoln

1. Washington
2. Lincoln
3. Jefferson

Being intoxicated had desirable spiritual significance to the ancient Egyptians. They often gave their children names like “How Drunk is Cheops” or “How Intoxicated is Hathor.” T/F - Answer: True

Alcohol is considered the only proper payment for teachers among the people of Nigeria. T/F - Answer: False

(It’s customary in Tibet)

The shallow champagne glass originated with Marie Antoinette. It was first formed from wax molds made of her breasts. T/F - Answer: False

The corkscrew was invented in the year… - Answer: 1860

1. 1860
2. 1465
3. 500 B.C.

The longest recorded champagne cork flight was? - Answer: 177 feet

1. 177 feet
2. 192 feet
3. 210 feet

Bubbles in Champagne were seen by early wine makers as a highly undesirable defect to be prevented. T/F - Answer: True

What is the name of the phobia for the fear of alcohol? - Answer: Methyphobia

1. Methyphobia
2. Alcophobia
3. Dipsomania

Dipsomania is the abnormal or insatiable craving for alcohol actually and I just made up the other one.

In ancient Babylon, the bride’s father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead (fermented honey beverage) he could drink for a month after the wedding. T/F - Answer: True

Because their calendar was lunar or moon-based, this period of free mead was called the “honey month,” or what we now call the “honeymoon.”

Wine has about the same number of calories as an equal amount of grape juice. T/F - Answer: True

White wine gets lighter as it ages while red wine gets darker. T/F - Answer: False, it’s the other way around

What U.S. president’s mother said “I’m a Christian, but that doesn’t mean I’m a long-faced square. I like a little bourbon.” - Answer: Carter

1. Carter
2. Reagan
3. Clinton

Who was one of the world’s best known abstainers from alcohol? - Answer: Hitler

1. Hitler
2. Sir Winston Churchill
3. Jesus Christ

The soil of one famous vineyard in France is considered so precious that vineyard workers are required to scrape it from their shoes before they leave for home each night. T/F - Answer: True

• More Americans now die from misuse of prescription drugs (anti-depressants, painkillers, and sleeping pills) then from heroin and cocanine. - The Center for Disease Control and Prevention
• Democrats have been outnumbering Republicans at the 2008 primary polling places by a rate of two to one. - Time
• Only 4 U.S. Army soldiers are officially classified as missing or captured in Iraq compared to 2,600 during the Vietnam War.
• A strange new breed of palm tree has been discovered in Madagascar. It flowers every 100 years and then dies a few months later. Botanists say that the discovery is equivalent to finding a new kind of elephant and have given the tree the name “suicide palm”.
• 28% of Americans rate George Bush as one of the best presidents or “better than most”.
• The New York Times recently commissioned a study of the mercury content of sushi sold at 20 random New York City restaurants. It found that in most of them, mercury levels in bluefin tuna were so high that a regular diet of six pieces a week would exceed the levels considered acceptable by the EPA.
• The median price for all homes sold in 2007 fell 1.3% to $218,900, the first annual decline since records have been kept in 1968.
• Out of $97 billion dollars in gift cards purchased in 2007, nearly $8 billion have gone unused.
• For those that are unhappy with the lobbyists and special interest that dominate our government and political system, you better turn your efforts to the politicians because lobbyists are protected in the constitution and you don’t have to look much further than the first amendment for the details (unfortunately). Read more >
• A man in China recently put a chicken (that he thought was dead) into the freezer. Two days later he opened the freezer to find that the chicken was still alive and pecking. He removed the chicken from the bag and the chicken stood up. The man is now keeping the chicken as a pet claiming that the chicken is full of magic.
• A man who jumped off the Empire State Building with a parachute is suing the building’s owners for $12 million dollars, claiming they defamed him. Charges of reckless endangerment have been dismissed against the man because there is no existing law saying you can’t jump off a building with a parachute. (I bet there is now!)
• The FDA has approved cloned animals for food.
• Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan suffering from depression, combat trauma, and other problems have been charged with 121 homicides in the U.S.
• As of 2005, Americans have stashed away more than 500 million cell phones in drawers, never to be used again.
• Telecommunications companies are shutting down FBI wiretaps because of the FBI’s chronic failure to pay its phone bills on time. One office owed $66,000 in late payments.
• Since 9/11, the U.S. has spent over $100 million dollars to secure Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. We’re still not allowed to know where they’re stored since they suspect that the aid is just a ruse to learn the location. Pakistan has at least 50 nuclear warheads and possibly as many as 120 according to U.S. sources. The arsenal is big enough to threaten the planet if the weapons fell into the wrong hands.

• Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) recently announced a new strategic initiative to develop electricity from renewable energy sources that will be cheaper than electricity produced from coal. The newly created initiative, known as RE<C, will focus initially on advanced solar thermal power, wind power technologies, enhanced geothermal systems and other potential breakthrough technologies. In 2008, Google expects to spend tens of millions on research and development and related investments in renewable energy. As part of its capital planning process, the company also anticipates investing hundreds of millions of dollars in breakthrough renewable energy projects which generate positive returns.
• The number of people in U.S. prisons has risen eight-fold since 1970, with little impact on crime but at great cost to taxpayers and society. More than 1.5 million people are now in U.S. state and federal prisons, up from 196,429 in 1970. Another 750,000 people are in local jails. The U.S. incarceration rate is the world’s highest, followed by Russia. In 2003 the average cost per inmate, per year is $25,327. That’s um… $37,990,500,000 a year. The prison population is projected to grow by another 192,000 in five years, at a cost of $27.5 billion to build and operate additional prisons. On top of this cost, In 2003, the President made a commitment to mentoring children of prisoners by calling for grants for faith-based and community organizations to provide mentors to children of prisoners. This three-year initiative will cost taxpayers $150 million. It’s for the kids though, right?
• On a lighter note… THIS is really funny if you think about it. Click here (PICT)
• This week, 16 U.S. intelligence agencies published a report that “in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program.” Turns out the White House was aware of this shocking assessment for a few months, but reportedly worked to delay its public release.
• In a troubling reversal, the nation’s teen birth rate rose for the first time in 15 years, surprising government health officials and reviving the bitter debate about abstinence-only sex education. Some experts said they have been expecting a jump. They blamed it on increased federal funding for abstinence-only health education that doesn’t teach teens how to use condoms and other contraception. Some key sexually transmitted disease rates have also been rising, including syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia.
• In a December issue of The Journal of Theoretical Biology, a group of scientists announce they have solved the riddle of the appendix. The organ, they claim, is in reality a “safe house” for healthful bacteria — the stuff that makes our digestive system function. When our gut is ravaged by diseases like diarrhea and dysentery, the appendix quietly goes to work repopulating the gut with beneficial bacteria.“In essence,” says William Parker, a chemist who co-wrote the paper, “after our system crashes, the appendix reboots it.”
• This July, when Jorgi Wu was laid to rest in central California, she became the first American to be buried in an Ecopod — a 100 percent biodegradable coffin made of recycled paper. The seedpod-shaped coffin is designed to be planted in the ground, dissolve and replenish the earth with its nutrient-rich contents.
• When the Japanese architect Shigeru Ban was asked to build a footbridge over the Gardon River he constructed it from locally available materials and based its geometry on the nearby Pont du Gard, a historic Roman aqueduct. But instead of stones or concrete, Ban used a mixture of cardboard tubes, recycled labels and creative engineering. It can withstand the load of at least 20 people and the 72-foot-long frame was made primarily from 281 cardboard tubes — each four and a half inches in diameter and about three-quarters of an inch thick.
• Nichole Marie Blackwell, 28, posted an ad on Craigslist inviting users to come to the Tacoma, Wash., home of her aunt Laurie Raye and “take what you want. Everything is free. Please help yourself to anything on the property.According to Jim Buckmaster, C.E.O. of Craigslist, the ad was up for less than two hours before users flagged it as false. But that was plenty of time for carloads of Craigslisters to arrive at Raye’s unlocked house, from which Blackwell’s mother had recently been evicted, and haul off pretty much everything, down to the front door and the baseboards and the kitchen sink.
• In October, according to a police report, Paul Zurschmit and Darrin Bolin sneaked onto the football field of Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, Ohio, and stole several metal bleachers, which they cut into pieces and hauled to a scrap yard 100 miles away in West Virginia, receiving $600 for the aluminum.

• A civil engineer, Mike Strizki, lives in and constructed the first ever solar hydrogen house that runs completely from “homemade energy”. By using solar panels, hydrogen fuel cells, storage tanks and an electrolyzer, he’s able to convert electricity generated from renewable sources into hydrogen. This amazing setup provides year around power to his home, yielding an utility bill of zero. Total cost was $500,000 to produce the system and half of the cost was paid by a grant from the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities.
• More than four times the number of natural disasters are occurring now than did two decades ago. The world suffered about 120 natural disasters per year in the early 1980s, which compared with the current figure of about 500 per year. The number of people affected by extreme natural disasters, meanwhile, has surged by almost 70 percent, from 174 million a year between 1985 to 1994, to 254 million people a year between 1995 to 2004. The number of geothermal events, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, has barely changed while floods and wind-storms have increased from 60 events in 1980 to 240 last year, with flooding itself up six-fold. - Oxfam (The Oxfam study was compiled using data from the Red Cross, the United Nations and specialist researchers at Louvain University in Belgium)
• The city of San Francisco has decided to omit gender from ID cards it will issue to city residents so as not to offend the transgender community. Activists argue that it’s highly inconvenient  for people who change genders to make their legal documents match their new identity.
• A French chef set a world record this week for barbecuing the largest animal - A 1,213 pound camel. Three tons of wood were needed to roast the beast.
• Dutch police this week arrested a teen for stealing $5000 of virtual furniture from a virtual hotel in an online game.
• The worst city in the U.S. is Detroit in my opinion. According to the Congressional Quarterly’s analysis I’ve been proven right. Detroit is the most dangerous city in the U.S., followed by St. Louis and Flint Michigan.
• Soldiers weary of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are deserting their posts at the highest rate since 1980. Nearly 4700 soldiers deserted this year - a 42% increase over last year. - Assoc. Press
• A massive volcano under Yellowstone National Park is stiring, exuding enough magma beneth Earth’s crust to lift the park about 3 inches every year. - National Geographic

• Sfumto means blending in Italian and the Mona Lisa is one of the first paintings to use this realistic effect. The Mona Lisa background was also one of the first portraits to use an imaginary background as well as a background that became less detailed as you went farther back - an important innovation that added to the realism. What was the woman’s real name in the painting? Experts disagree but the best guess is Madonna Lisa di Antonio Maria Gherardini, the wife of a wealthly Italian.
• The number of Americans in prison has risen eight-fold since 1970, with little impact on crime but at great cost to taxpayers and society, researchers said in a report calling for a major justice-system overhaul. It recommends shorter sentences, alternative punishments, more help for released inmates and decriminalizing recreational drugs.
• The earliest episodes of “Sesame Street” are available on digital video! Just don’t bring the children. According to an earnest warning on Volumes 1 and 2, “Sesame Street: Old School” is adults-only: “These early ‘Sesame Street’ episodes are intended for grown-ups, and may not suit the needs of today’s preschool child.” - New York Times
• Former WH flack Scott McClellan has a new book coming out wherein he reveals that people in the Bush Administration had him fronting out lies to the public about the WH leak of Valerie Plame Wilson’s CIA ties. ”The most powerful leader in the world had called upon me to speak on his behalf and help restore credibility he lost amid the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. So I stood at the White house briefing room podium in front of the glare of the klieg lights for the better part of two weeks and publicly exonerated two of the senior-most aides in the White House: Karl Rove and Scooter Libby. “There was one problem. It was not true.
• You can now order The Genuine Lost In Space® B-9™ Robot. This is the 6 1/2-foot, animatronic remote-controlled version of the B-9™ Environmental Control Robot from the classic Lost In Space® television series that ran from 1965 to 1968 has a 240-w att audio system, and speaks 511 pre-recorded phrases performed by Richard Tufeld, the original voice of the robot from the television series. Cost: $24,500
• The 2008 elections are still a year away, but this morning outgoing Homeland Security Adviser Frances Fragos Townsend told CNN that al Qaeda may target the presidential elections. She said that while there is currently no “specific information,” “we know that Al Qaeda views these periods as being a particularly vulnerable period.”
• Two groups of scientists have successfully transformed human skin cells into stem cells, potentially granting unlimited access to the foundation cells which can replace diseased or damaged tissues and organs, it was announced Tuesday.
• A week ago, a Saudi appeals court increased the punishment for the female victim of a gang rape. The woman, who had been appealing her original sentence of 90 lashes, was sentenced to six months in prison and 200 lashes after her appeal. Asked to offer the administration’s position on the court ruling, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said on Monday that the administration was “astonished,” but had “nothing else to offer“. Bush quoted in his second inaugural speech “We will persistently clarify the choice before every ruler and every nation: The moral choice between oppression, which is always wrong, and freedom, which is eternally right. America will not pretend…that women welcome humiliation and servitude.”
• The decline in the number of Americans smoking has stalled at 20.8 percent. It has dropped every year for almost 40 years.
• As of November 2007 there is only one person alive that served in World War I. His name is Frank Buckles.
• The tallest man alive in the U.S. according to the Guinness Book of World Records is 7 foot 8 George Bell.
• Liberals are more likely than conservatives to tune into political commentary programs with which they philosophically disagree. 22% of conservatives say they never expose themselves to opposing views. - Zogby/Lear center poll
• It’s now official - breast feeding is superior to formula feeding. A recent study of 3000 babies showed that babies that we’re breast fed had an IQ 7 points higher than those of bottle fed babies.
• Claim: The day after Thanksgiving is the biggest shopping day of the year in the U.S. - False (Snopes.com)

• A South Korean man who is best known for his campaigns for clean public restrooms has officially taken the lavatory life to a new level and built a house that looks exactly like a toilet.
• Kent Hodgson is a 22-year-old New Zealand student/inventor that has unlocked the secret of the known universe: how to ice-out a warm beer. Dubbed the Huski, his invention is a portable device (no larger than a pen) that you drop into a bottle of beer. Once Huski hits the bottle it works in an instant, bringing your barely-drinkable beer to a crisp, cool temperature four-times colder than ice.
• Barack Obama has said an employer has a greater chance of being struck by lightning than of being prosecuted for employing an immigrant who’s in the U.S. illegally. That turns out to be pretty close to the truth. - FactCheck.org
• A 106-year-old man has married an 81 year old woman. The groom Pan Xiting has set the Guiness World record beating the previous record of an 103 year old man marrying. It’s never too late for love.
• Of every 1000 seniors that move to Florida to retire, 481 eventually move back to where they came from. - Marketwatch.com
• The U.S. has so far (2007) spent twice as much in inflation adjusted dollars to rebuild Iraq as it did to rebuild Japan following the destruction of 67 Japanese cities by fire-bombing and Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic bombs.
• Between 2001 and 2005, 2570 teachers in the U.S. were punished for sexual misconduct.
• Philadelphia, Washington D.C. and Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas have the least attractive residents of any U.S. city. - Travel/Leisure/CNN
• With third-quarter shipments of 1.3 millions computers, Apple has moved into third place among U.S. computer companies.
• The Ohio State Buckeyes $109 million athletic budget provides an average of $110,000 for each of it’s 980 atheletes, about triple what the school spends to educate each student.

• Only 37 percent of 18 to 24 year-olds in the U.S. are daily coffee drinkers, compared to 60 percent of adults 40 to 59, and 74 percent of those 60 and older. BusinessWeek.com
• Federal officials estimate that fully three quarters of all farm workers in the U.S. are here illegally. - LA Times
• This year California will spend $3.3 billion on its state university system and $9.9 billion on its prison system. - LA Times
• The opening of the massive new U.S. Embassy in Baghdad which was scheduled for September 2007, has been delayed until well into the next year because of shoddy workmanship, poor planning, and internal disputes. The fortress-like, 21-building compound is expected to exceed its projected cost of $592 million by $144 million. - Washington Post
• Did I mention that this U.S. Embassy is so large that you can see it from space?
• 55% of Americans say they often come into contact with people who speak mostly Spanish. By a 66% to 33% margin they are not bothered by encounters with people who speak mostly Spanish. - ABC Poll
• Recently a 4-year-old English child who attached a letter to a balloon has received an answer from a man in southern China, nearly 6000 miles away.
• The city council of Belmont California has voted to ban residents from smoking in their own apartments.
• An anti-immigration group recently charged that the hologram in the new North Carolina driver’s license is the work of a globalist cabal. They claim it’s a plan in the works to forcibly integrate the economics of this continent.