Month: January 2005

Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi

Finishing my Star Wars education, I watched the last missing bit – “Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi“. This part was done in 1983. It was closer and easier to watch than the previous two that I have mentioned recently.

This film is better paced for my taste, with a good mix of action, comedy, and romance. It also opened my eyes at origins of few ideas that I have seen elsewhere. For example, “Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000” just became an even worse movie than it was.

It is interesting to see the progress of ideas, technology, acting and cinematography through the Star Wars series. If I wasn’t so tired from them as I am now, I would really want to watch the two most recent episodes that I have seen in the cinema. Purhaps, I will do so in the future.

I’ll rate this one as 9 out of 10. Outstanding work in all departments.

Next stage of Perl mastery – pack()/unpack()

I have seen many ways to measure someone’s Perl skills. Most of these ways are based on usage of certain Perl concepts. Today I have stepped on the next level according to some skill measurements. I have used the unpack function very naturally, and without much hussle. Here is the snippet:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w
use strict;
my ($year, $month, $date, $hour, $min, $sec) = unpack("a4a2a2a2a2a2", 20040102200534);
print "$date/$month/$year $hour:$min:$sec";

I could have done it before surely, but today it came to me naturally – without any thinking or manual reference. I will have to expand and polish this skill now. pack and unpack are very powerful functions and can simplify life a lot. It’s time I start using them.

The Big Bounce

Watched “The Big Bounce” on DVD.

It is a very light movie with bits of crime, comedy, and romance. The events pictured take place in Hawaii and thus avoid anything remotely serious in nature. There are no car chaces, impressive fights, or lots of swearing. Even the “The Big Bounce” title is a bit off, with the target of the main crime being about $200,000USD, which is close to nothing in the movies nowadays.

Good cast, good acting, good photography, light soundtrack and a simple story with some plot holes – is all there is to this film. It does provide a good entertainment though for those who seek it while resting from holiday celebrations.

6 out of 10.

R.I.P. Lucky

My all time favourite dog of all times has been killed by a car. :( These are really really sad news. Lucky was a truly adorable dog. Noone who saw him could stay away. Everyone wanted to pet him and play with him. He was very kind, fun, and full of life. I am really going to miss him…

My condolences to Martin, who I know feels totally screwed now.

Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back

I continued with the Star Wars saga and watched “Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back” on DVD today.

This one seemed to have much more action than Episode IV. It was all busy with happenings, characters, and location changes. It was still difficult to watch being in 21st century and having to set back the measurements 20+ years back.

Still recommended for all the sci-fi and space wars fanatics. 9 out of 10.