Every Friday I share 5 things that brought me joy this week. Also, high fives are inherently cool, and I think we can all agree Friday is the bestest day. Hence the Friday High Five. đđ»
5 Things I Enjoyed This Week:
Ahsoka
Winning Time
UFO Stuff
Starfield
Deadwood
Ahsoka
Iâm enjoying Ahsoka. Itâs a bit uneven, and I really wish Lucasfilm would be more intentional about putting people in lightsaber fights if it doesnât have the stomach to finish them. Activating a lightsaber should be a matter of last resortâsomebody shouldnât be walking away. As Raylan Givens once said, âYou make me pull, I'll put you down.â The Disney+ shows treat lightsabers like rave glow sticks.
Maybe Iâm the problem for bringing logic to a fantasy universe, and hoping for things like meaningful stakes. But on the whole, Ahsoka is good. More Star Wars is always a net positive.
Rosario Dawson is Ahsoka, I couldnât have imagined a better realization of the character. And Iâm a fan of seeing a story centered almost entirely on female characters. My favorite character is the Dark Jedi / maybe Sithâitâs not clear but it doesnât matter, he has a red lightsaber and we all know what that meansâBaylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson). Baylanâs the most interesting character because heâs complex, with unknowable motives. Frankly, Iâm not used to seeing Star Wars villains who arenât outright evil.
Baylan is what Count Dooku couldâve been with better writing.
On a related note, hereâs an interesting piece I ran this week at Fanfare: Lucasfilmâs Disregard for the O.G. Heir to the STAR WARS Empire Is Part of a Larger Entertainment Industry Problem
Winning Time
This HBO series has been on my list for a long time.
I recently borrowed When the Game Was Ours, a book about Magic Johnson and Larry Birdâs rivalry of the 80s. I decided it would be fun to watch this series alongside the book. It is, but the book pales in comparison. Granted, the book is factual and the series plays with the facts for dramatic effect. But Winning Time is a winner.
I canât say enough about how well the show cast Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. Just look at the image above. Itâs almost uncanny. John C. Reilly steals the show as owner Jerry Buss, a playboy in every sense, but somehow still a good guy. Kareem is an absolute tool, which is a delight.
Itâs super weird watching a biopic of something I can kind of remember. Shit, am I getting old?
UFO Stuff
I tend to be a believer when it comes to paranormal stuff. Not blind belief. Iâm a healthy skeptic, but I keep an open mind. So the U.S. House Oversight Committee hearing last month on freaking UFOs(!) immediately demanded my attention.
Dave Grusch, the UFO whistleblower at the center of the hearing, recently popped up on YouTube and talked further about what he knows. The conversation was wide-ranging and delves into pure speculation, but as someone who grew up watching Unsolved Mysteries, I ate that shit up.
Anyway, Iâve now fallen down a UFO rabbit hole. Even if some of this stuff is far-fetched, itâs interesting to think about.
Starfield
I didnât want to talk about Starfield againâfine, I didâbut itâs still occupying an outsized piece of my mind and also has colonized my free time. Iâm planning on writing another piece about it. The game is just so rich and interesting.
What I did not expect is how much I enjoy the photo mode. Itâs actually changing how I play. As I traverse the universe, Iâm always looking for interesting vistas and places that would make for fun pictures. Lots of games have photo modes, but I have never used it as much as I do in Starfield.
Anywayâhereâs the potential title of my next story on the game: Mamas, Donât Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Space Scientists. If you know, you know.




Deadwood
I dropped like 1000 words on Deadwood last Friday, so Iâm going to keep this succinct.
Iâm midway into season two of my latest rewatch, and am increasingly amazed at the fact that Al Swearengen (Ian McShane)âthe murderous, duplicitous saloon owner and frontier pimpâis actually the Hero of the story. Seth Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) is the traditional hero. He wears the badge and gun. But heâs a small âhâ hero.
Al is the hero Deadwood deserves. Heâs the only one with the foresight and the fortitude to recognize what needs to be done and to see it done. Itâs easy to overlook, given Alâs coarse manner and rough handling of everyone. Heâs morally bankrupt. But he also employs a woman with severe birth deflects, who otherwise wouldâve starved long ago. Heâs one of the most complex characters ever brought to life.
Your turn! Where do you stand on UFOs? How are you liking Ahsoka so far? Are you interested in reading my Starfield fan-fic? Drop a comment like itâs hot.
Interesting. I was under the impression that your view of Ahsoka was a lot more negative. I take it you found more to like?
We might be getting old, but I think wanting to revisit & relive the Lakers/Celtics rivalry is okay.