[Music| Edwin Starr - War]

Star Wars. With the mention of those two words, Googlers have no doubt come running. Good. Sit down. Stay for a while. Can I get you anything?

Of course, the movie is about to start for the first time over on the East Coast now. The first set of die-hard fans will poor into the theaters from Boston on down to Miami in five minutes, and if you're in the group of people doing just that, you'll no doubt see it tomorrow as well. And the day after that twice. And again on Sunday. And of course you'll buy the DVD, and the VHS as a backup. And then you'll hook up two TVs in your living room and watch the DVD and the VHS at the same time and point out the differences on your Star Wars Geocities website.

Eh. I kinda went off there, didn't I? Anyway.

I don't plan to see this movie; I'm not big on movies. Actually, no. I am big on movies. I just don't see many. Will I see Episode Two? Unlikely. If I see any movies, I want to see "Sum Of All Fears" first. The commercial looks cooler than any other movie commercial. "Spiderman" (I refuse to put in the hyphen. No one put in the hyphen before the movie.) comes second. Not big on superheroes, but I figure if I don't see it, I will be forever outcast by society, shunned off until I regain another chance when the next uber-movie comes out. Which I won't see either. Then comes Episode Two.

I'm not big on Star Wars, no. I think it's far too over-hyped, and far too commercialized, even for a movie. I mean, between Return Of The Jedi and Episode One, what was it living on? Re-releases and video games. Endless video games. And other assorted crap. And it's not even a good movie.

Anyway, for all you Star Wars fans who did come via Google, thanks for staying. If you really sat through my rant, you deserve some goodies:

Instant poll: Will you see 'Episode II' on Day One?
Review: 'Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones' leaves us hanging

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

A visit to StarTribune.com and an unlikely story for me to click on gives me something to actually say tonight. The link: Electronic bingo bill is unplugged.

Now they haven't voted on this yet, and it won't be voted on this year, in favor of more important issues with just a week left in the legislative session here in the gopher state. But I found the arguments against this bill pretty stupid.

The House already had voted to approve "linked bingo," but senators raised concerns about the possible size of pots and feared that people might be inclined to spend more than they normally would to win the cash.

"It just seems to me this is just going to entice people to play bingo," said Sen. Charlie Berg, R-Chokio. "It's designed to relieve more people of their money."

Oh, yes. Damned is the day that a bingo hall makes money. The thing that I notice far too often about politicians is that they have no faith in the American public. Of course, yes, there will be a few people in a bingo hall that go overboard and go into debt because they dream a little too big. But there'll be those people anyway. If not in bingo halls, but in casinos or online. Unless you're going to ban gambling all together, there's no way to solve that problem, and certainly no way for the government to. So do I support casino halls to link together? I'm indifferent. Why, I can't even go in one. If it's passed, I shrug. If it's not, I shrug. But if they don't decide to pass it next year, they had better have come up with a better reason than that.

[Music| None]

It's a sunshine day today. Which means, of course, I was in the house all day. Sick. Stomach ache, head ache, dizzy. And I still am sick, so I don't expect I'll be in school tomorrow either. My sister is sick as well, and she went to the doctor yesterday, so I suppose whatever verdict he comes to when the test results come back will be the same for me. The forcast for tomorrow is good. I expect to be in bed until 11:00.

[Music| Ryan Adams - When The Stars Go Blue]

Yesterday I whined about the cloudy, rainy weather. So today I get a bit of a mix: It's completely sunny right now, but it's been raining off and on all day. And I had a bit of small hail five minutes ago. But at least it's sunny and warm.

Correction from yesterday: I said I was getting a permission slip to Twins/Angels. I didn't. I got a permission slip to Twins/Texas Rangers. Just as well. I've been trying to see the Twins play teams I've never seen before. The Yankees were one, and Texas is another. A-Rod and I-Rod? And Carl Everett? I can't wait. Next Wednesday.

[Music| Goo Goo Dolls - Name]

There is something missing. I don't know what. But I haven't had much enthusiasm lately. True; it's been raining and cloudy for a week or so now. But beyond that, there's a lot of great things coming up, but they're just a tad out of reach. Twins game field trip, school dance, 8th grade lock-in, Valley Fair trip, graduation, summer vacation. Just weeks away. The problem is getting through those weeks.

So tonight I'm bored. Tired with the Internet, tired with life. What I need now is a change. A vacation. But my next vacation lies the day after graduation. Well.

I went to the Twins/Yankees game last night. People booed the Yankees; no surprize there. I probably would too if I were 21, stupid and drunk. Doug Mientkiewicz and Torii Hunter Gold Glove presentation ceremony before the game, which was great. Their defense last season was brilliant, and the number one reason I tuned in every night to the Twins games. It was a great game until the top of the 9th, when Eddie Guardado gave up the game-winning home run. 4-2 Yankees. Oh well. It's just one game I went to; I plan on going to at least six this season. I have tickets to the Twins and Milwaukee in Milwaukee (hence my trip after graduation), which will be excellent, since not only will I tally on another Twins game, but I'll get to tally on a new ballpark I've been to. Tomorrow I'll get a permission slip to Twins/Anihiem. I also have a plethora of free tickets from Applebee's promotions and TwinsFest. Am I worried that I won't make my goal of six? No.

Side note: Crowd of 43,000 out of 52,000 at the Dome last night, which made me a very happy person. Contract a team that can nearly sell out their ballpark? Sorry, Mr. Selig. You wanna be looking in that direction. *Points to Tampa Bay*