May the Fourth be With You, Star Wars Day 2014
What’s May the Fourth without Star Wars videos?
Star Wars Day Greeting from J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan
Posted on May 4, 2014
“Straight from London, Star Wars Episode VII director and writer, J.J. Abrams along with writer Lawrence Kasdan have a quick video message for Star Wars fans this May the 4th.”
A Star Wars Day Message from NASA
Published on Apr 28, 2014
“In celebration of Star Wars Day, NASA flight engineer Rick Mastracchio hopes to deliver a special message from the International Space Station. Little does he know, however, that the Empire plans to jam his transmissions. Thankfully, R2-D2 is on the case.”
And in the following, R2-D2 collides with Disney culture. Is this the shape of things to come?
R2-D2’s Secret D23 Star Wars Day Message
Published on May 2, 2014
“R2-D2, ever the custodian of secret messages, heads to the Disney D23 offices to deliver a special Star Wars Day transmission.”
http://youtu.be/uwpF9UN9tcY
The Big Bang Theory
“The Proton Transmogrification,” S7 Ep22
As the gang celebrates Star Wars Day, Sheldon has difficulty dealing with the death of Professor Proton (Bob Newhart).
Click here to see the episode.
Star Wars Rebels: Full Trailer (Official)
Published on May 4, 2014
“The rebellion has begun. This Star Wars Rebels full trailer offers an extended look at the upcoming animated series.
“Starring a small band of heroes — Sabine, Kanan, Hera, Ezra, Zeb, and Chopper — Star Wars Rebels is set in a time where the Empire rules through fear and shrouds the galaxy in darkness. This trailer offers many new glimpses at sequences from the show, including the starship Ghost chased by TIE Fighters; young Ezra watching as a Star Destroyer looms overhead; Stormtroopers marching; a zero-g fight between our heroes and Imperials; and Kanan, a secret Jedi, assembling his lightsaber and preparing for battle. It ends, however, with an Imperial officer reporting to the Inquisitor — the Empire’s Jedi hunter, seen and heard here for the first time.
“Star Wars Rebels takes place between Star Wars: Episode III and IV as the Empire tightens its grip on the galaxy and a rebellion begins to form. The series, executive produced by Dave Filoni, Simon Kinberg, and Greg Weisman, is scheduled to premiere in fall 2014 as a one-hour special telecast on Disney Channel and will be followed by a series on Disney XD.”
The Cast of Star Wars VII
It’s official. The cast of Star Wars VII has now been announced. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Kenny Baker will be reprising their roles for the new film. Joining them will be John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow.
The press release also announces: “Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.”
May the force be with them!
April 29th, Pinewood Studios, UK – Writer/Director/Producer J.J Abrams (top center right) at the cast read-through of Star Wars Episode VII at Pinewood Studios with (clockwise from right) Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Producer Bryan Burk, Lucasfilm President and Producer Kathleen Kennedy, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Adam Driver and Writer Lawrence Kasdan. Copyright and Photo Credit: David James.
Pal Tiya in the News, April 28, 2014
The New Zealand paper Cook Strait News published an article about Kim and Warren Beaton’s new sculpting material, Pal Tiya, which they’ve developed to be durable, non-toxic, inexpensive and has other fine attributes which are listed here.
More is revealed in the newspaper report. Read on:
Are Adverbs Evil?
In literary circles, the use of adverbs in stories is seen as a “no-no.”
Best-selling author Stephen King makes a compelling case for their non-use in his worthwhile book, Stephen King on Writing.
“The adverb is not your friend,” he writes, comparing them to dandelions spreading in a lawn.
“With adverbs, the writer usually tells us he or she is afraid he/she isn’t expressing himself/herself clearly, that he or she is not getting the point or the picture across.”
Note the adverb in that sentence.
Yes, adverbs exist. They do have a function. They’re even used in best-sellers.
Here are examples from Chapter One of an extremely popular book:
“Shoo!” said Mr. Dursley loudly.
Mr. Dursley tried to act normally.
“No,” she said sharply. “Why?”
“I suppose so,” said Mrs. Dursley stiffly.
“Oh, yes,” said Mr. Dursley, his heart sinking horribly. “Yes, I quite agree.”
“My dear Professor, I’ve never seen a cat sit so stiffly.”
Professor McGonagall sniffed angrily. “Oh yes, everyone’s celebrating, all right,” she said impatiently.
“You can’t blame them,” said Dumbledore gently. “We’ve had precious little to celebrate for eleven years.”
“I know that,” said Professor McGonagall irritably.
“No, thank you,” said Professor McGonagall coldly, as though she didn’t think this was the moment for lemon drops.
Dumbledore reached out and patted her on the shoulder. “I know — I know –” he said heavily.
Dumbledore nodded glumly.
“A letter?” repeated Professor McGonagall faintly, sitting back down on the wall.
“Exactly,” said Dumbledore, looking very seriously over the top of his half-moon glasses.
She eyed his cloak suddenly as though she thought he might be hiding Harry underneath it.
“I’m not saying his heart isn’t in the right place,” said Professor McGonagall grudgingly, “but you can’t pretend he’s not careless.
“For a full minute the three of them stood and looked at the little bundle; Hagrid’s shoulder shook, Professor McGonagall blinked furiously, and the twinkling light that usually shone from Dumbledore’s eyes seemed to have gone out.”
“Well,” said Dumbledore finally, “that’s that.”
***
Stephen King includes Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in his Recommended Books list.
Alive!
From now till April 21, LAPD homicide detective and Cold Case Christianity author J. Warner Wallace has made his 22-page tract, Alive: A Cold-Case Approach to the Resurrection, available for free on Amazon Kindle.
Wallace applies the techniques he uses in “cold case” investigations to the accounts of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. His discusses his investigation in the following work:
“J. Warner Wallace is a cold case homicide detective, a missions leader, and a church planter. As a result of his work on cold cases, Wallace has been featured on numerous television programs including Dateline, FOX News, and Court TV. Wallace’s visual presentations in the courtroom have revolutionized how capital offense trials are presented in Los Angeles County and across the country. A vocal atheist for many years, Wallace is now an apologist for Christianity and the founder of the ColdCaseChristianity.com Blog, Podcast, and Website. He has a master’s degree in theological studies. He and his wife have four children and live in southern California.”
For your copy of Alive!, click here.
Through the Eyes of Superman
What’s it like to be Superman, to see the world through his eyes? Corridor Digital produced a video that shows us:
Since its posting on YouTube on March 17, 2014, the video has had over 12 million views as of April 15, 2014.
Credit where due, in their words:
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Superman played by Will Sterling.
Damsel in distress played by Karin Lee.
Criminals played by the guys at Mars Rising films.
How did the production team do it? Watch:
Posted online on March 17, 2014.
They say:
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Hollywood Reporter‘s coverage can be found here.
