An Open Letter to the People Behind Me At the Symphony Concert

You know? This was the first time I had the opportunity to enjoy the free concerts given by the Houston Symphony in the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion. Just because of my love for all things Star Wars related. I had the opportunity to enjoy a similar concert in January at the Jones Hall, paying for a ticket in a indoor venue. I totally loved it. It was a tribute to the musical genius of John Williams, not limited to Star Wars only, also including suites from other works he has done along his extensive career - Harry Potter, The Patriot, Indiana Jones, E.T., etc. So obviously it was quite a good concert to be at.

This time I was somehow hesitant to attend. The concert would start until 8 pm, on a weekday, and I would be facing a long commute from Houston to the Woodlands - 45 to 50 minutes, some of them literally sitting in the traffic - but I decided to go at the end. We had a break from the rain and thunderstorms we had for a week, thus driving in the sun was a good reason to join my friends and to enjoy a walk along the beautiful Woodlands Waterway and a delicious early dinner at my favourite pizzeria, Grimaldi's.

When I walked to the best seats we could find by the mezzanine - free! - I noticed this time the symphony would be playing other themes from one of the music genius of our era, Mr. John Williams. This time the repertoire would be shorter than the one at Jones Hall, but they would be starting the "Star Wars - Main Title" instead of one from the Harry Potter movies; for Harry Potter, they would be playing "Hedwig's Theme" - my favourite piece from the movies - instead of "Harry's Wondrous World". Last time my friend and me arrived late to the venue, so the orchestra were already playing that theme by the time we arrived to our seats. And the surprise was that they would favor suites from the new Star Wars movie - "The Force Awakens" - instead of the better known from the Original Trilogy. So I felt happy to be there, since a different set of themes would be played this time. When they played the first suite, "Star Wars - Main Title" (actually the version from "A New Hope") I was truly excited as well as when listening "Hedwig's Theme". I was literally playing the notes in my head with the orchestra. I enjoyed as well the introductions Mr. Brett Mitchell, the conductor, would give for each of the performances. For example, I totally agreed when he introduced the piece from "The Schindler's List" talking about how John Williams said to Steven Spielberg that he could find a better composer than him for it, and Steven replied: "I know, but they are all dead." A film genius acknowledging a music genius.

However, at the moment this piece was being played, with the subtle yet powerful sound of the violins and of course the violin solo, enhancing the deeply tragic and emotional nature of the movie, I started noticing a whispered, yet loud conversation behind me. I briefly turned around, and I saw you two sitting with a wine glass in your hand, talking about non-sense gossip completely ignoring the powerful performance given onstage. I just shook my head in total disapproval but took my eyes and my ears back to the piece being played.

Then Mr. Mitchell talked about the pieces chosen from "The Force Awakens" and yet, you would not stop talking. I limited myself to make a brief comment to my friends but forced myself to ignore you and focus on the oncoming performances. And I was not disappointed. I had my eyes focused on the instruments being played, and my ears on the notes and silences, but yet in my head I could picture the scenes in the movie. I felt goosebumps at the moment in the piece "Jedi Steps and Finale" where a solitary French Horn played the notes of "The Force Theme" marking the moment when Rey hands old Anakin's lightsaber to Luke Skywalker. It was a "right in the feels" moment. By then, I literally had to place my right hand behind my ear and to lean my body to the front of my seat, to avoid your conversation from disturbing my experience.

Maybe you thought, "these Star Wars fans"! Well, a year ago, I wasn't one of them. So I can sort of understand your prejudice. But this is more than just a mere fascination about a 40 years old epic space opera. I simply love music. I acknowledge that my musical knowledge is more limited than I wish it was, but that does not refrain me from loving music and appreciate it. And I could have understood better your disruption if you were children: I was a hyperactive girl myself, and I know what's like to be bored and in need of conversation or physical activity. But you both were grown-ups, with some level of education, I presume. I must confess I would have expected more from you.

I don't judge you. Not everyone is wired the same way. Some people consider classical music to be boring, and think of it as just background music. But this was not a jazz bar, or a concert pub when you feel like talking with your peers even when the sound of the music is loud enough to discourage a proper conversation. Even if it is a free concert, perhaps you would prefer to seat in the lawn where you can seat farther from adjacent concert attendees who really want to enjoy the experience, rather than seat and talk loud enough to get angry stares from others. And it's not about your freedom of speech: it is about the behaviour you are expected to have at a performance like this, to allow others to truly enjoy the experience.

Anyhow, I loved the experience and I am totally grateful towards the fantastic performance by the Houston Symphony, the amazing job of Mr. Brett Mitchell, to the sponsors who made this event possible, and to Mr. John Williams just for existing and creating such superb pieces. But you, casual concert-goer, please take this as a plea from me to you: next time you are sitting at a free open-venue symphony concert, if you notice someone looks back with a disapproving stare, while you are talking about non-sense during the performance, please either try to lower the volume or simply shut up. The music-lovers out there like me will be definitely grateful if you do.

Sincerely,

A Pavilion Concert-Goer

Mirrorbright (Chapter One)

I've resumed writing some fiction - and started with this my incursion on what it is called "fan-fiction" - thanks to the Star Wars saga. Not so long ago I've read the book "Bloodline" by Claudia Gray, which talks about events on a galaxy far, far away six years before The Force Awakens movie, using Princess Leia as the main character. One of the main scenes inspired me to write this. Those who liked Episode III The Revenge of the Sith will find this sort of familiar... Hope you like it! 

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters, material mentioned on this. All rights reserved to Lucasfilm.

Chapter 1

"So this is how liberty dies... with thunderous applause."

Bail Organa remembered the last words Padme said to him. He could still see the disappointment in her young and beautiful face. Next time he saw the Senator of Naboo, both of them were in an asteroid medcenter, away from Coruscant and the Senate, and she was giving birth before exhaling her last breath. A heartbreaking last breath, used to remind Master Kenobi that there was still good in Anakin Skywalker, the great Jedi Knight from The Clone Wars, who had turned to the Dark Side and now was known as Darth Vader. He had betrayed the Jedi Order and the Republic, to help Chancellor Palpatine to implement the Galactic Empire.

And now she was gone. The courageous child Queen who fought for her people of Naboo against the corrupt Trade Federation, the brave Senator who fought arm by arm along the Jedi Knights in the Battle of Geonosis had passed away. All she left was her memories to all those who knew her, and two newborn babies who would have to be separated to hide them from the Emperor and Darth Vader, their father.

The ship was descending toward surface, marked by the breath-taking view of the beautiful snowy mountains of Alderaan. Their destination – the Royal Palace – was getting closer, while Bail was thinking of his last encounter with the remaining Jedi.

"Split up, they should be", said Master Yoda.

"My wife and I will take the girl", replied the Senator. "We've always talked of adopting a baby girl. She will be loved with us".
As soon as Captain Antilles landed his ship, the Tantive IV, on the grounds of the Alderaanian palace, Senator Organa started walking towards the exit of the ship with the little baby girl bundled safely in his arms.

He approached the palace balcony, where his wife, Queen Breha Organa of Alderaan, was sitting with the beautiful view of the lake and the mountains, while there was a soft, crisp breeze caressing her royal head-dress.

"She's beautiful", said Queen Breha, visibly holding the tears at the sight of the little girl in her arms, while her face was beaming with a sincere smile.

Bail saw the little one's face. She was awake, with a serene expression on her little face. Would she look like her mother, or would she get her looks from the fallen Jedi knight?

"Her name is Leia." Senator Organa remembered the name given to the little girl by her dying mother.

"I like it. Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. I like the sound of that." And then, Queen Breha, holding tenderly her baby girl, started humming an old lullaby she had known since she was little.

"Mirrorbright, shines the moon, its glow as soft as an ember
When the moon is mirrorbright, take this time to remember
Those you have loved but are gone
Those who kept you so safe and warm
The mirrorbright moon lets you see
Those who have ceased to be
Mirrorbright shines the moon, as fires die to their embers
Those you loved are with you still-
The moon will help you remember"

"Our little princess...", said the Queen, with a voice deep filled with emotion. They had been trying for a long while to have children, with no success.

He couldn't help but think of the little boy who had been taken by Master Kenobi to be delivered to Tatooine. He felt somewhat troubled on separating both twins, but made himself to believe that it was for the best, as Master Yoda had said. A pang of guilt went through him anyway. While Leia would grow up as a Princess, treated as royalty and loved by a family and the Alderaanian people, the little boy to be named Luke was to grow up in a moisture farm, living in an Outer Rim planet with two scorching suns and a hostile weather, controlled by the Hutts. He wished he could have taken both children under his protection. But that would be dangerous for the twins, especially if they were to be Force-sensitive as their father. He found consolation in the thought that Obi-Wan would be keeping an eye on the boy. In the meantime, he would raise this little girl to become a Princess, and to be part of the Rebellion against the Galactic Empire once she grew up.

With the soft sound of the lullaby sung by her adoptive mother and the warmth of her arms holding her, Leia fell asleep. Bail looked at her, totally captivated by the serenity of the little one that from that day on, would be known as his daughter. With her innocence and few hours being part of the galaxy, this little baby would not be able to imagine all that the future had in store for her. But at the specific moment, surrounded by the peace of the mountains and the lake, she would have nothing to be worried about, at least for the here and now. He thought of Padme and felt sad that Leia would not be able to meet her. Her daughter would not know of the courage and virtues of the former Queen of Naboo. But he and Breha would do their best to mold her at the image of her biological mother, and personally he would keep working in the shadows to give her a better future, to overcome the dark times that could be foreseen with the Empire governing the Galaxy.

And for her father... he'd rather keep her as much as possible away from the sight of the Dark Lord of the Sith. At least, they have arranged Padme's funerals to make her look as if she was still pregnant when she died, so the former Anakin Skywalker would not know of any living offspring with her, and would hopefully stay away from his daughter.

Random thoughts: Claudia Gray's "Bloodline" (SPOILERS)

Welcome to a new section of this blog: my first impressions about the book "Bloodline" that was released last week on May 3rd. I finished the book shortly afterwards, but I had some hectic days that prevented me to post this.

My immediate reaction after reading this book (Spoilers are coming):

 

OMG. Finally finished reading this book. And if my own personality was not as similar as Leia's I would be crying my heart out right now.

I have no words. Perhaps it was more my prior admiration for Leia that compelled me to read the book as soon as I could, turning page by page with the hope of finding out what happened 6 years before "The Force Awakens" on a galaxy far, far away.

But Claudia Gray does a great job developing Leia Organa's character. She is the same feisty, duty-bound Princess we met back at the Tantive IV in "A New Hope". I could write two pages worth of the events we do know from her taking place, but the point is that she portrays her same as stoic, but with her own flaws as a human being. And one of those flaws is the way she handles the fact of being Vader's daughter. When "The Force Awakens" came out, I was already suspecting she had not come to terms with her inheritance the same way as the old Expanded Universe (now called Legends) books had portrayed - see "Truce at Bakura", "Tatooine Ghost" and the "Thrawn Trilogy" - which it is interesting per se since we could take this as a proof of what Yoda said: "Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future.". Had she publicly acknowledge this in the early stages of the New Republic changed something? Being a Game of Thrones fan, it reminded me of the following quote by Tyrion Lannister:

"Never forget what you are. The rest of the world will not. Wear it like an armor, and it can never be used to hurt you."

 

I had been holding my tears in most of the chapters, recognizing passages from the new canon - like "Vader Down" comics reference to Vrogas Vas - or the sole mention of Padme being an inspiration for her daughter, made me feel a big lump in my throat. But the keepsake box was too much for me to handle - I could hear the soft voice of Jimmi Smits as Bail Organa in my head, talking to his adopted daughter, with a background music piece being a mix of "Across The Stars" and "Princess Leia's Theme", while snippets from Episodes II and III would show as a background for the revelation being given, and I could not hold the tears anymore. Especially since a lot of SW fans that hate the prequels consider Padme a weak character, which she might end up being by the end of the trilogy, but not during the first two episodes - as a courageous child Queen and a impulsive yet brave Senator.

I agree that "Lost Stars" - the Star Wars canon book written by the same author - might provide us with an enhanced perspective since we are getting to know characters that are not familiar to us, on a timeframe of events we already know, but that we end up liking them. In this case we know Leia, surrounded by our favourite scoundrel - I'll be talking about that relationship in a minute - and mostly new characters, some of them recently acquainted in "The Force Awakens". It helped a lot following Claudia Gray's Pinterest to get her mental casting for most of the characters we don't know previously from Episode VII, but I found myself really engaged after reading about them. Maybe the one I ended up most infatuated with was (oh surprise) the Centrist Senator Ransolm Casterfo. Here Gray does one of the things I found more endearing from "Lost Stars": she portrays her characters as sentient beings, whose political allegiance should not be used as a base for prejudice. At first I thought Casterfo was a Empire-worshipping fanboy, but getting to know him could help me understand why he was like he was and why he did what he did. But Gray proves a point: not because you are a Centrist that means you are despicable. (Well, I cannot talk about the new character Carise Sindian. I utterly despise her.)

Another thing of the book I loved was the mention of the Jabba the Hut incident from "Return of the Jedi". I'm definitely getting a shirt with the image "Huttslayer" on it (like this one):

I liked newcomers Greer and Joph a lot. Having not seen them included in "The Force Awakens" as part of the Resistance led by Leia could mean a lot of things, but part of me thinks their history might have taken a tragic turn, due to her condition. Could they make a spin-off story for them??? Just wondering. Anyhow, I liked Leia interacting with them, when watching the races and sipping on jet juice - lol, with this and the Sabacc game I can tell a certain Corellian scoundrel has been a bad influence for the Alderaanian princess lol.

And well... talking about that one, Han Solo. For some of us, the simple fact of having them apart, in love but apart by the time "Bloodline" occurs might sound not like the best thing we might have foreseen for these two, but we have to face it: they are maybe two of the Galaxy's most difficult, stubborn people. Her nature was to be a politician and to serve; his was flying. Both had really strong characters - we knew it from the time they met at the detention block shootout. It reminded me of a quote by Mexican painter Frida Kahlo about her husband, Mexican painter Diego Rivera: "Perhaps you might expect to hear from me tales of suffering about my life with a man like Diego. But I do not think the margins of a river suffer for letting it flow." (Small license: she might have been talking about his extra-marital affairs, but in this case we can use it for the two strong-headed characters of Han and Leia lol).

I would have wanted to hear more about Luke and Ben. Their absences and the way Luke is described make it sound like Luke followed the Jedi way to the extreme: not to mess with the New Republic business, and living a life apart with his Jedi Academy. In some way, after the exhilaration of the Victory Celebration in Endor, makes me feel like Luke ended up living like what Gary Kurtz mentioned it was going to be originally the end of "Return of the Jedi": Luke as a lone Jedi Knight, walking off into the sunset alone.

And I could not imagine what was coming to Tai-Lin. (Insert shocked and sad face here.) In some way, I'd love to find out later that Casterfo was not actually sentenced to death and that he might make it to later episodes - only if they cast Tom Hiddleston, pleaseeee! That was why seeing Tom Hiddleston and Carrie Fisher together at the White House Correspondants Dinner two weekends ago was really nice for the people like me waiting for "Bloodline" release (and for Claudia Gray too, based on the mention she made on her Twitter account):

Anyway, I feel like I'm pouring my thoughts in a random way and that later I might have a greater picture of everything. However, I confirm what I have said previously: Leia is the strongest and most tragic character of the entire saga. And by the effect of his inheritance, both this post-"Return of the Jedi" material and the Sequel Trilogy are still the extended Tragedy of Anakin Skywalker - just hope it's not because there is a reincarnation in the future! (I am talking to you, Reddit rumored plot leaks for Episode VIII!)