Star Con

I still am irritated about trying to record my (that is, the ones I paid good money to own - my personal) VHS tapes of the Star Wars trilogy onto a (that is, my personal) DVD-R disk and being told by an officious computer chip that the tapes were "protected" from evil people like me who want to preserve my property in a less obsolete form.

But that didn't prevent me from plunking down $51 (or, to be more precise, going into debt for 51 more federal reserve notes plus future interest) to buy the latest DVD release of George Lucas' intellectual property, which actually goes my VHS tapes one better - it really seems to be the original trilogy as seen by a dazzled young B.W. in the theaters eight times in 1977. None of this "Chapter IV - A New Hope" crap - It's just a movie called Star Wars. The little Flash Gordon synopsis at the beginning begins "It is a period of civil war ..." Not "Episode IV ..." Ah, near-bliss.

It did feel good to see the opening scene exactly the way I remember it again, with the dazzling effects made with models and light. Then I turned off the DVD player and went back to whatever I was doing.

It does feel good to have a DVD copy of the memory. But $51 good? When I grew up able to make as many cassette copies of a vinyl record as I needed to enjoy those songs? for the cost of the record and the blank tape? and John Fogerty didn't go broke because I wanted to listen to "Born On the Bayou" in the car and couldn't afford the professionally made copy?

No. Not that good. I really love Star Wars, the original un-"improved" movie. But, I think, not that much. Next time I'll save my money - errr, won't increase my debt.