No, I'm not being A cute

 This morning's random thoughts centered on Star Wars -- true fact.

I kept wondering about the scene at the end of The Empire Strikes Back when Darth Vader explains to Luke that Obi Wan lied. He says that Luke's father isn't dead, but indeed, Darth IS Luke's father.

Cue music sting! Right?

But then I asked myself -- when did Darth Vader realize this? Was it some sort of nebulous Force-feeling? After the fiasco at the Death Star, did Darth look up the rosters of rebels? Darth was the ONLY survivor of the Death Star explosion so whom did he have to compare notes with?

At some point, and I don't know when, Darth must have stumbled upon something that mentioned Luke by name because, as has been pointed out, Obi Wan hid this kid with his own family so his name had not changed. If nothing else, this shows a lack of familial spirit by Darth -- had he even once picked up the phone to call his own brother, he would have found out that there was a kid in the house and Aunt Beru never sent out a pregnancy announcement! So he must have been adopted. Uncle Darthie (as he likes to be called) would go and visit and realize that Luke was actually his son and they would end up on an episode of Maury entitled "You raised my son like he's yours, and now I want him back so I can turn him to the Dark Side!" Riveting television.

But I digress. Did hearing Luke's last name conclusively convince Darth that Luke was his son? Maybe "Skywalker" isn't an uncommon name. It could be like the "Smith" of that galaxy. I mean, think about it -- our galaxy is far, far away and yet we have a Skywalker Ranch on this planet so the name clearly exists beyond that one star system.

So Darth figures it out and works towards capturing Luke, but on Cloud City, he doesn't say "Hey, wait Luke, let's not fight -- I just wanna have a sit down!" He waits until he has cut off his own son's hand before breaking the news because, you know, that might help Luke forget about the pain of losing a hand. Then Luke lets go of the platform and instead of catching him via the Force and lifting him back up (like Yoda did with an ENTIRE SPACESHIP) Darth just watches his kid get flushed down a space toilet.

Yeah, so I have questions, the first being "Why can't I think of normal things in the morning?"

Random 9/11 Thoughts at 21

Today, we are to mark, mention and mourn as the 21st anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. And if only that was simple, and "it" was just that simple.

If we were to commemorate every day on which there, historically, was a massacre, would there be any days on which there was no commemoration?

When does the recent past become history? When does pain become the memory of pain?

The “never Forget” of 21 years is part of a tradition of similar commands dating back to the bible. But when does “not forgetting” become the essence of the day instead of the “remembering”?

I wonder if the opposite happens with celebratory anniversaries – we move quickly from “never forget” into “remember”. Sure, we can set off fireworks when we remember the 4^th of July but we have stopped worrying about the “Never forget” of monarchic tyranny. We remember a birthday, less and less concerned about the “never forget the birth.”

And when did “dealing with the aftermath of” turn into “remembering”, anyway?

Then a bizarre sense of moral indignation sets in – “Hey, what gives you the right to only know the day as history? You’re an American and we all hurt.” Except maybe that’s when “remember” becomes “never forget”: when we no longer all and automatically hurt even though we know we have to “never forget.”

So today, when people are getting married and football is being played, when the calendar reminds us that 21 years ago, too many died, and since then, even more, today as we put an X in the box on the calendar because this is just another small bit of printing on a wall reminding us, let’s make sure that we remember and don’t only “never forget”.