Taking the Sith...

...extracting urine or large wodges of cash via marketing? I'm not a Star Wars devotee, but have always remembered my five-year-old impressions at the cinema as well as the Darth Vader poster from The Empire Strikes Back that would scare me witless when the lights went out. Well, I was not impressed by Episode 1 with that blasted Binks thing, but thought that Episode 2 brought back some of the tension - what a disappointment Episode 3 was then. Don't get me wrong, some of it was good from a story perspective, but some of the lines were appalling and I got the impression that the effects were pulling the strings, not the plot. The problem with these prequels has been that they never captured the gung-ho enthusiasm of Star Wars onward (as embodied by Han Solo) - what a shame.

Eastern Europe or Central Europe?

I'm not really sure what we're supposed to say now (where is Eastern Europe if Hungary is Central Europe?)...anyhow...

I'm just back from a road-trip holiday with my wife in Hungary and Croatia, and was really surprised at how like "Western" European cities the Eastern European cities like Budapest actually feel. Munich and Geneva don't feel too different, and it's not just the Art Nouveau architectural influence of the Austro-Hungarian empire either. It's made me come over all European at a time of increased euro-scepticism (anyone for referenda?). It probably sounds a bit dense to anyone who lives in one of the former Eastern Bloc countries, as I guess it must be about 15 years or so since most of the iron curtain finally rusted, but I was really surprised.