The Millennium Falcon – What a Piece of Junk

The minute I saw the Millennium Falcon at the 1977 opening showing of Star Wars: The New Hope, I knew this was my version of a space vehicle. No NASA Mercury, Apollo, Right Stuff spit and polish stuff, but a working man’s freighter, or in the case of Han and Chewbacca, smugglers.

The introduction to the Falcon:

TATOOINE CANTINA

Strange creatures play exotic big band music on odd-looking instruments…Han is a tough, roguish starpilot about thirty years old. A mercenary on a starship, he is simple, sentimental, and cocksure.

HAN
Han Solo. I’m captain of the Millennium Falcon. Chewie here tells me you’re looking for passage to the Alderaan system. 

BEN
Yes, indeed. If it’s a fast ship.

HAN
Fast ship? You’ve never heard of the Millennium Falcon?

BEN
Should I have?

HAN
It’s the ship that made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs!...I’ve outrun Imperial starships, not the local bulk-cruisers, mind you. I’m talking about the big Corellian ships now. She’s fast enough for you, old man. What’s the cargo?

DOCKING BAY 94
Chewbacca leads the group into a giant dirt pit that is Docking Bay 94. Resting in the middle of the huge hole is a large, round, beat-up, pieced-together hunk of junk that could only loosely be called a starship. 

LUKE
What a piece of junk.

HAN
She’ll make point five beyond the speed of light. She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts, kid. I’ve added some special modifications myself.

Chewbacca settles into the pilot’s chair and starts the mighty engines of the starship. 

Imperial cruisers fire at the pirateship

COCKPIT
The ship shudders as an explosion flashes outside the window. 

HAN
Here’s where the fun begins!

BEN
How long before you can make the jump to light speed?

HAN
It’ll take a few moments to get the coordinates from the navi-computer.

The ship begins to rock violently as lasers hit it. 

LUKE
Are you kidding? At the rate they’re gaining…

HAN
Traveling through hyperspace isn’t like dusting crops, boy! Without precise calculations we could fly right through a star or bounce too close to a supernova and that’d end your trip real quick, wouldn’t it? 

The ship is now constantly battered with laserfire as a red warning light begins to flash.

LUKE
What’s that flashing?

HAN
We’re losing our deflector shield. Go strap yourself in, I’m going to make the jump to light speed. 

The galaxy brightens and they move faster, almost as if crashing a barrier. Stars become streaks as the pirateship makes the jump to hyperspace. 

At the time, I drove a 1956 VW Bug. It didn’t look like much, but it had real metal in the body and a small oval back window. It had been across country at least five times. One of the most dependable and easiest to repair cars I’ve ever owned. A Star Wars-type of vehicle. When the Millennium Falcon blasted its way out of Tatooine, we were in for a very long ride.

Where Did You See “Star Wars: A New Hope” in 1977?

On May 25, 1977, Star Wars opened with a galactic explosion. I was a newly-hired congressional assistant in Washington D.C. and joined a long line for an opening show. The theater was packed, and I ended up in the front row center.

And then the opening crawl began.

“A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away. It is a period of civil war. Rebel spaceships, striking from a hidden base, have won their first victory against the evil Galactic Empire. During the battle, Rebel spies managed to steal secret plans to the Empire’s ultimate weapon, the DEATH STAR, an armored space station with enough power to destroy an entire planet. Pursued by the Empire’s sinister agents, Princess Leia races home aboard her starship, custodian of the stolen plans that can save her people and restore freedom to the galaxy…”

As the text disappears in eternity, an Imperial Starship quietly fills the screen. In the front row, you are impressed and lean back to absorb the new world of computer animation. As soon as the show was over, around midnight, I joined the line again to see the next show.

I saw Rogue One with my grandkids Christmas weekend. It ends with a digital recreation of Princess Leia. The kids loved it. I felt we were a family on a four decade, three generation adventure.

L to R: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford in the
Denver Post lunch room at 15th and California on June 14, 1977
Photo: Steve Larson, Denver Post

Read Denver Post: The story behind the Denver Post Star Wars photo of Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford

Dow End of Year – 19763 – Trump Bump

The driving force for much of the recovery from the 2008 Great Recession was low interest rates. Most recently, starting about mid-year and accelerating in November, oil prices have moved more securely above $50 per barrel due to the OPEC (plus Russian and other non-OPEC producers) cutback of about 1.8 million barrels a day.

But the Trump bump of 1400 points since the election is mostly a reflection of investor optimism about:

• Lower taxes
• Less regulation
• Fiscal stimulus

Compared to the approach to January 2016, today there is more confidence the American recovery will continue and China will manage its slow-down without a crisis. It contrasts with the 1000-point Dow drop in 5 days in January, culminating in the year’s low of 15660 on February 11. Crude oil was $26 at that point. It’s been a 16.5 percent climb, or 2160 points (17603 start).

But the last week of the year the Trump rally stalled. The index shed more than 200 points from December 22. The dark cloud in 2017 will be additional Federal Revenue interest rate hikes, return of wage inflation and more polarizing domestic political conflict.

Christmas Meatballs

Christmas dinner is a family event. I get to make meatballs and spaghetti sauce. Sinatra, Prima and Martin are on the iTunes, especially “That’s Amore” (When a moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie/That's amore). The grandkids think it’s pretty funny (or a little weird), but they missed Dino in 1954.

Watch Dean Martin - That's Amore here

Christmas Ravioli

Making Christmas ravioli comes from a tradition of my sister Donna and her family in Pueblo. Ours don’t look as good as hers, but everybody from the two to the 13 year old likes to make them and eat them. Buon Natale, e mangiare!

Trump on Safe Ground Picking Military Leaders

Since the War on Terror began, the military has been on the top of the list of American institutions people have confidence in. Donald Trump selecting several military leaders for his cabinet is likely to be well-received.

More than two-fifths of Americans (41%) have a great deal of confidence in the military. That number was in the 20s throughout the 1970s and 1980s. It improved during the Clinton presidency and then jumped to 40 percent and stayed there from 2002 on (Gallup, June 2016).

Obviously, the question of the right person, right job and total number will be factors the public and Senate interrogators will weigh, but in general, the military has become one of the country’s most respected institutions.

Castro and Scalia Deaths Made Biggest Impact

Fidel Castro and Antonin Scalia were two of the most prominent political leaders to die in 2016.

Fidel Castro’s long-awaited passing (90 after a decade of illness) helps free up Cuba for its inevitable evolution into a more modern economy and less oppressive regime. Antonin Scalia’s sudden passing (79) changed the balance of the U.S. Supreme Court. Senate Republicans stalling on picking a replacement helped motivate conservative voters for Trump.

Castro’s totalitarian socialism is mostly an anachronism (North Korea), while Scalia’s originalism and legal preferences are likely to be the future of the court.