Would You Go to Westworld If It Were Real? Would I Go to Westworld?

This is a piece I wrote awhile back but never posted.  I’d planned to use it to help fill the quiet on the blog as I was writing my book (yay!) but, well, I just kinda forgot.  What can I say?  Life was busy.  But with Westworld Season Four arriving this weekend, I figured it was the perfect time to share it!  Enjoy!

This last HBO show I became completely obsessed with was Westworld.  As I started it just months after I watched (and raved incessantly about) The Leftovers,[1] my brother was worried I’d fall into the “HBO Cult” and become one of those people who ONLY talks about HBO shows.  Granted, this fear was more prevalent and the reality more pervasive in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s before the rise of streaming services changed our experience of TV.  But David’s fear/warning was valid all the same and I agree; “those HBO people” can be SO ANNOYING.  Thankfully, while I spent a lot of time thinking and talking about Westworld, HBO never fully consumed me.  There are still plenty of things I like to think and talk about.  So, let’s think and talk about HBO’s Westworld, shall we?

Disney, Galaxy’s Edge, and the End of “Canon” Being Relevant in Star Wars

I haven’t written about Star Wars in a looong time.  When I began blogging, Star Wars was a regular topic for me, whether writing about it here or for Jeff’s site The Imperial Talker.  But it’s been almost an entire year since I’ve written anything about Star Wars.  It’s not like I’ve stopped thinking about Star Wars or talking about Star Wars (as the countless hours I’ve spent in conversation with Jeff discussing the galaxy far, far away can attest).  But I haven’t been inspired to write anything (save a few discarded drafts) about Star Wars since last July.  Well, lately I’ve been thinking about how Disney’s use of “canon” in regard to Star Wars has neutered the term of any shred meaning. The final nail in canon’s coffin comes care of Disney’s new Star Wars theme park, Galaxy’s Edge.  With this evolving revelation, I’ve found something Star Wars-related worth writing about again!