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Thursday, June 30, 2005

Two Wolves

Cherokee wisdom that is easily Jedi wisdom...

Two Wolves: a Cherokee "Lesson"
One evening, an old Cherokee told his grandson about a
battle that goes on inside people. He said, "My son,
the battle between two 'wolves' is inside us all.

One is Evil. It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow,
regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt,
resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride,
superiority, and ego.

The other is Good. It is joy, peace, love, hope,
serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy,
generosity, truth, compassion, and faith."
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then
asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"
The old man simply replied: "The one you feed."

LM

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

Star Wars References

Hello!
Since I can't get my site updated yet I'll make a few little additions here at the blog and add them later to the site.

* The Force. I read this morning that a parish (somewhere in the UK) had started services with talk about good and evil, making an effort to resist the Darkside of the Force and what it means to have God as a Force in ones life.It seems that Vicars across an increasingly secular UK have taken a cue from the interest of their flocks' children. In this case they had been discussing Star Wars in catechism classes preceeding the services, by several weeks.

* Indiana Jones Adventure (Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye - Disneyland ride) While riding the adventure this go around (this past Sunday) I noticed something I'd not recalled last time I rode the adventure.As Indy hangs on to a rope suspended from the ceiling of the "cave" you can see the huge round boulder behind him and it's rumbling. He says, "I got a baaaad feeling about this"

*Troy sent a big list of musical additions to me a couple of days ago:
Adam Selzer - It Used To Be A Cantina
B.A. Dandelion - Star Wars And Me
Brad Montague - Chewbacca
Carla Ulbrich - The Force Is The Force
Cooper Stimson - Darth Vader Dear
Double You Dee Forty - Star Wars 2
Ethan Lipton - Jedi Mind Trick
Great Luke Ski - Both Sides Of Star Wars NowGreat Luke Ski - Grease WarsGreat Luke Ski - Just Say No To Midichlorians
Hedrock Valley Beats - Imperial March
Herbert Midgley - I'm A Nerd (Star Wars Version)Hexnut - Just The Facts
High Adventure - Farm Boy
Jared Boehm - My Star Wars Will Go On
Justin Wales - Back In '77 (This is a cover of the song by Center Divide)
King - She's Into Star Wars
K.R.O. - Rocking The House In A Boba Fett Mask
LeoZ - Ballad Of Star Wars Nerd
Mary Beth Magallanes - Han Solo's Song
Michael Pickett - Wannabe Jedi
Nuclear Family (Sweden) - Jedi Mind Trick
Rob Balder - Sympathy For George Lucas
Rob 'Iceman' Izenberg - Attack Of The Clones

Rob Stangroom - The Jedi Song
Robert Lund (Spaff Dot Com) - I Got Crabs From Darth Vader
Russell Bither-Terry - Sith Lov'n'
Shoegazi - R2-D2
Sifl & Olly - Star Wars Tribute

Stacek The Wise - Star Wars Elements
Steven Cavanagh - Forbidden Love
Sulkin & Jessup (from The Late Late Show) - Because We Love Him
Tony Fabris - Fifty Ways To Change The Movie

Tripod - Star Wars
UFO Phil - Dear George Lucas
Warpigs - Luke's Dream
Wild 95.5 Morning Show - Star Wars Geeks Tribute
Worm Quartet - R2-D2 (This is a cover of the song by Shoegazi)
Y98FM Kevin The Intern - Did It All For The Wookiee

TV
* Empire (mini series) 2005 - Star Wars similarities. Octavius (Cabrera) is told, "Your path is dark and dangerous, young Caesar." Tyrannus (Cake) and Octavius are like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker..both offer training in swordplay and survival, then there's Cicero (Byrne) who's like Yoda...except not green and a bit taller.

_________________________
We had a terrific weekend - a good family reunion (first time in California) and Disneyland (a cousin works there).
I saw no less than 75 people in Star Wars t-shirts of one sort or another, one guy holding a small, plastic X-Wing (not sure if he got it at the Star Trader in Tomorrowland or brought it from outside the park), and two persons behind me (separate people) talking about Star Wars...once at Indiana Jones the other at It's a Small World. :D
I bought a small wrist band (the colored rubber/plastic ones that some people are wearing these days) from the Star Trader, it said "REBEL" on it. I handed it to the clerk, she looked at it and said, "thank you for not choosing the Darkside" She must've watched me mull it over for those ever so brief couple of moments...LOL
Disney sells what looks like a lightsaber but it's gold and has a rainbow or yellowish green "blade" that telescopes out. Saw kids all over with those. My son kept noticing as well spotting the "**Zshoo Zshoo's" at quite a distance. (**that's the sound they make ;))

__________________________
Comic Con's looking to be a good visit this year. Plenty of Star Wars to fill a day and a lot of other great stuff too. Certainly can't wait to go. :D See you there!!


LM

Saturday, June 18, 2005

NHA.n Updates - a few references

Don't forget to watch Liam Neeson host Saturday Night Live tonight!!


COMICS or Dork Tower sports a new reference in this weeks comic strip. (Look under "D" in Comic Strips)
FILMS G-J I Heart Huckabees has a reference, allbeit rather subtle. (Look under "I")


STAR WARS ACTORS DATABASE
Liam Neeson (update - TV)
Simon Williamson (update- Bio/character pic; Film Director; Film Puppeteer; TV)

LM

Thursday, June 16, 2005

FoxTrot and Star Wars

These are the Star Wars references I've collected for the funny comic strip series FoxTrot, enjoy! FOXTROT

LM

More quakin'

Originally posted at Blogs.StarWars.com on June 16, 2005:

ok, ENOUGH shaking!!!
This time 5.3, this one jiggled us more than anything. The previous quake was more jerky.

LM

Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Dobby evening, droogs, bratties, and malenky sisters. Zasnoot your gulliver, give a smot into this eve's dobby blogiwog...

Originally posted at Blogs.StarWars.com/NHAn on June 15, 2005:

There were five film experiences which clenched a spot in my heart for the more classical approach to music over the years, and subsequently my love for the classics themselves. (arranged more by date than by importance)

1) 2001: A Space Odyssey. I was nearly 4 when my parents took me to see this at the drive-in, summer of 1968, and I was enthralled (I cannot say the same for Love Story that we saw later that year.) It wasn't only the look and feel of the picture itself but more importantly the feeling of the score. I had been exposed to a lot of classical music at home (my mother was a fan of all sorts of music so my exposure was great and relatively unbiased) and this soundtrack brought them to life in a way I'd never seen before. While I'm sure most of the composers (regardless if they were dead or not) might have taken issue with Kubrick for placing their music out of their original context (Ligeti did sue Kubrick for not getting permission to use his music) it would seem that the approach Kubrick took would eventually lead them, one would hope, to become philosophical about Kubrick's choices.

2) A Clockwork Orange. I did NOT see this film when it was first released in 1971 (though I had read the book when I was 15) in fact I didn't see this film until its re-release in the early 80's (was it 1982?), I knew the music however through the soundtrack I'd listened to so many years earlier.At the time the film and soundtrack were released, 1971/1972, Wendy Carlos (the composer of the original soundtrack music) was still in the midst of a great ride on a wave of praise/awards for her Switched-On Bach album in 1968...which incidentally stayed on the classical music charts for nearly 6 years. I was initially drawn-in by March from a Clockwork Orange (from Beethoven's ninth symphony) what a yummy arrangement!

3) Jaws. Purely iconic. There was no way to go to the beach anywhere without this soundtrack drifting along in the thoughts. It was the only piece of music (other than Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf during kindergarten nap time) that brought the characters so clear to mind. It was a bit later when I started studying music that I realized how many classical pieces were just as dramatic and iconic, hehe, Wagner and his use of leitmotifs. But neither Prokofiev or Wagner was able to indellibly burn into my retinas wolves or Germanic legends the way that Williams did introducing Bruce the Shark to my 10 year old eyes, damn that visual association! :p

4) Star Wars. I can hardly think of words to explain the perfect timing the film, the music and my age had. I'm sure many of you aleady know. So it's probably best left to your own thoughts and great experiences. :D

5) A Clockwork Orange. yeah, again. Hearing the music before I saw the film was a much different experience. I really had no idea how brilliantly this album fit Burgess' book-turned-film via Kubrick until the re-release of the film in the 80's (when I first saw the film). Kubrick and Carlos were perfectly paired to the Burgess story. Edgy, delightful, weird and slightly askew. It enabled me to look at the classics from another perspective and to see, as in other artforms, that each work can be seen to fit a variety of visions, not just the artists.

One recent day, coincidentally, while listening to the soundtrack to A Clockwork Orange I came across BBC's The Beethoven Experience I've enjoyed listening to the letters written by Beethoven (well read by John Hurt) at BBC Radio online. Anyone interested in historical documents, classical music and of course Beethoven will enjoy listening to these incredible gems. THE LETTERS. Additionally, the BBC Radio 3 show will be broadcasting symphonies 6, 7, 8 & 9 and making them available for download starting June 27th, 2005. THE MUSIC Enjoy bits of the ol' Ludwig van!

Oh, one more thing. I finally had a chance to see Sideways last night. I enjoyed the film itself, but it was just fantastic to revisit all the places that were so very familiar to me growing up and in all my years visiting wineries/wine tasting and visiting the surrounding areas (Santa Ynez Valley, et al) while living in Santa Barbara. Just gorgeous. *sigh* I miss that.


LM

Sunday, June 12, 2005

Shake, Shake, Shake... Shake, Shake, Shake...

Shake Your Valley...uh huh
During the last 20 years I can bet on a quake after a very late night of working. This morning was no exception.
A 5.6 earthquake hit this morning. I had finished working and gone to bed at about 5:15 AM. :p Talk about a jolt! It sounded like a locamotive was making it's way through the neighborhood and felt like super excellerated turbulence.I must've been flying when I grabbed my son out of his room and to the safe spot in the dining room (super sturdy table and four steel chairs, thank God for Williams-Sonoma!) I don't recall going through the hallway. We stayed there until the shaking stopped.I'm not a big earthquake fan so I had to do my best to be as calm as possible around my son (he's 2 ½) ...at some point I recall telling him, "this is our fortress of solitude" he smiled.
We checked the gas lines and the size of the quake then went back to bed.
I spent the last 20 minutes picking up fallen items and pushing things back in place and cleaning up broken items. hehehe, kinda looked like the place had been ransacked.

Thursday, June 09, 2005

Indy Quake/Dodson submission

Indy Quake/Dodson submission

Moments ago I was throwing away a small piece of paper in the recycle bin. When the paper hit the bottom of the bag the earth shook, rattling everything in the house, which set off this thought:
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade...Italian Library...
INDY rushes past BRODY to a cordon held in place by a brass stand underneath the stained-glass window.
INDY raises the brass stand and timing his actions, hits the tile precisely as the Librarian stamps a book. The Librarian regards the stamper curiously.
INDY continues to pound at the tile as the Librarian resumes his stamping, still puzzled by the SOUND ECHOING through the library.
_____________________________Mark Dodson (voice of Salacious Crumb in Return of the Jedi) and the Bunkhouse Gang offered Nerf-Herders-Anonymous another great parody song in honor of Father's Day! (links no longer working, so were removed)
_____________________________
Speaking of parodies, funny stuff sent to Nerf-Herders-Anonymous by Adam Kontras: Star Wars Blew. You can check out his other stuff there too!

LM

Saturday, June 04, 2005

Madagascar, Comic Con and Vampires, Oh my!

Originally posted on Blogs.StarWars.com/NHAn on June 4, 2005:

A little bit of everything this go 'round while I give my hands and fingers a little warm up before work.
We found ourselves in Madagascar yesterday, the animated film, and were fairly entertained by it's simple humor. I think more than anything we enjoyed our son watch the film. At 2½ he's full of life, quick to giggle and eager to share his excitement. At several scenes in the film he turned to us or anyone nearby and said, "Look!!" (pointing at the screen then laughing). We also enjoyed the cultural refs (gee, I wonder why). I was very pleasantly surprised that Sacha Baron Cohen voiced the King Lemur, while not a fan of his alter ego (Ali G), I felt he did a bang up job with the little dancin' Lemur treasure.
Comic Con is rolling around again in mid July and I will be there on Sat and Sun basking in two days of super geekdom. I can remember way back when it was held in really small rooms and nobody came, relatively speaking to the masses that attend now. 87,000 in 2004...making it the second largest convention in the city of San Diego, crazy. Comic Con is a work out, the size of the convention center is huge (for those of you who attended CIII the SD Con Center is double the size of the Indianapolis Convention Center) so there's no easy way to quickly get from one end to the other (which frequently happens). One complaint I've had in recent years is that with 87,000 bodies hanging about it gets rather humid and warm in the exhibitors hall, hot and muggy. Thankfully San Diego's climate is very mild so one can catch a cool sea breeze outside...don't worry no chance of SNOW here! ;) Hope to see some of you there!
Vampires real and imagined.I've been working very late evenings into early mornings lately, it is the only time available to me when my son is not running free. There's just no way to concentrate on working (drawing) when he's keen to have a go at it himself. While I encourage him to draw when he feels the urge, I do "draw" the line at my work area...I just don't need the supervision or co-creator *whispers* the clients just don't appreciate his work as I do ;) I'm turning into a vampire!Speaking of...since returning from a holiday in Santa Barbara, I've managed to catch up on ANGEL, yes, the TV series, while working. A very good friend of mine gave me the series while up in SB, we're both Buffy fans. I wasn't sure I'd like it, never saw even one episode while it was still in production. Once I got to the end of the first season...I was hooked. I find myself in the 5th season...95 episodes since May 25th, yikes. And...only 15 more to go. :p
Oh My! I have many more actors to add to the database, how do I find the time? I don't know.
I added a couple of sketches with a few more on the way and have added a few more references too...which consistently roll in from fans near and far.

'night!
LM