Musings & Thoughts for Tuesday, May 24, 2022, or: Will the Force be with Me on the Real ‘Star Wars Day’?

Hi, there, Dear Reader. It is midday/early afternoon in Lithia, Florida, on Tuesday, May 24, 2022. It is a hot late spring day in the Tampa Bay area. Currently, the temperature is 87°F (31°C) under mostly cloudy skies. With humidity at 65% and the wind blowing from the southeast at 9 MPH (14 KM/H), the feels-like temperature is 91°F (33°C). Today’s forecast calls for scattered rain showers and a high of 93°F (34°). Tonight, scattered rain showers will continue. The low will be 72°F (22°C).

Well, tomorrow, Wednesday, May 25, 2022, marks the 45^th anniversary of the premiere of Star Wars (aka Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope). To me, May 25 is the true “Star Wars Day,” even though Lucasfilm and its corporate parent, The Walt Disney Company designated May 4 because of the Star Wars-related pun in the phrase “May the 4^th Be with You.”

In happier times – before the double whammy of my breakup and the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 – I often celebrated Star Wars Day by watching mini-marathons of the Star Wars films that I owned on home media, starting with VHS videotape in the early 1980s and continuing with DVD, Blu-ray, and 4K UHD Blu-ray.

I say “mini-marathons” and not “marathons” because when a Star Wars fan says that he or she had a “marathon,” it means that the fan watched all the Star Wars films in one session. When there were only three films available on home media – by 1986, when Return of the Jedi was released on VHS – I could easily pull the marathon thing off, although usually not on Star Wars Day itself because of school or work obligations.

And even when George Lucas returned to the Star Wars franchise and released Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 1999, I could still watch the four Star Wars films that I had on VHS[1] in one day. But once the Skywalker Saga comprised five Episodes, the logistics of watching over 10 hours of Star Wars content posed many time-management issues.

Consequently, I have never attempted to do a proper Star Wars Marathon, which would entail – at least for me – watching:

1. Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
2. Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
3. Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith
4. Solo: A Star Wars Story
5. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
6. Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
7. Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
8. Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
9. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakes
10. Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi
11. Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker

That’s quite a bit of movie-watching to do in one day, and I am sure that there are fans who can pull it off. Make enough popcorn, nachos, and hot dogs, have enough soda handy, plan several bathroom and “stretch your legs” breaks, and if you have the stamina and determination, it can be done.

Just not by me.

The most I can do – if I want to – is to break that list up thusly:

• Day 1: Episodes I-III
• Day 2: Solo, Rogue One
• Day 3: Episodes IV-VI
• Day 4: Episodes VII-IX

In happier times, I might have done this had I owned all the 11 Skywalker Saga-related films. Unfortunately, even though I had all nine of the Episodes by the spring of 2020, that’s when my relationship – which was already foundering due to compatibility issues – morphed into what it is now. And when that happened, my enthusiasm for long sessions of movie watching – not just Star Wars – diminished.

 What will I do tomorrow to commemorate Star Wars Day?

If Disney+ had been able to release Lucasfilm’s Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries on time rather than on a two-day delay (it premieres on Friday with two of the six episodes airing back to back), I definitely would have celebrated the franchise’s 45^th anniversary watching that.

Alas, things did not work out that way, so I might just watch the original film at some point tomorrow. I do have an annoying habit of planning activities and then changing my mind when the appointed time arrives, so we’ll see how that goes.

I don’t have much else to report; I was going to write a new book review today, but I have a dull nagging headache and can’t get my thoughts together, so I will do that review another day. It’s also getting dark outside – I noticed that the light that manages to pass through my blinds is dimmer and dimmer, so I am betting that those scattered showers in the forecast are heading this way. 

And with that note, Dear Reader, I’ll take my leave of you. Until next time, stay safe, stay healthy, and I’ll catch you on the sunny side of things.

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[1] I stopped buying VHS releases in 2001 and focused on growing my DVD collection. Of the five home media formats I’ve used – including digital – videotape was my least favorite due to the limitations and issues of the medium. As a result, I gave my complete VHS collection (90-100 titles overall) away in 2003.