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Friday, December 30, 2005

Saelt-Marae and J'Quille - Together Again

date posted: Dec 30, 2005 5:30 PM edit
Saelt-Marae and J'Quille - together again
Hi everyone!

Sean Crawford (Saelt-Marae - Yak Face) emailed me this afternoon to wish me a Happy New Year and to let me know about Tik and Tok - Slightly Deranged, a 4-song CD that he and Tim Dry (J'Quille) produced in anticipation of next year's full album.

You can hear a sample and purchase the CD HERE. The sample is awesome.

Mr. Crawford tells me that this is the first time in 20 years that a new work from Tik and Tok has been produced and we have Celebration III to thank for expediting this reunion. yay!
He says of the music:
"...Sounds like two androids in an out of control spaceship about to crashland on a planet populated only by sex-starved female aliens!"

To learn more visit Tik and Tok and see how it all got started.

Enjoy!
LM

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

How Lightsabers Work

date posted: Dec 28, 2005 2:32 AM edit
How Lightsabers Work

Hi all!

Springing from this blogger's entry asking how the lightsabers work, I decided to ask my friend, **Dr. Colleen Fitzpatrick, Ph.D, about the lightsaber. Does it exist in the real world, not the actual device in the form seen in the films but an equivalent. This was her response:

"Hi Leah,

I miss you too! I've actually had to look up some of my own answers without your usual copious input! Hurry back.

Hope your holidays calm down and you get some R&R.

As far as lightsabers go, yes and no about do they exist. Lasers are actually light sabers, you just don't see the beam. That's the catch. Lasers can cut things in half if they are powerful enough, of course they can burn wood and cinder block etc. It's just that unless the light reflects off something you don't see it. You can't see a beam of light just sticking in the air unless it's in a smoky room and the light can scatter off the dust and smoke particles. Even so the beam will either dissipate in the smoke as the light gets scattered out of it or it will reflect off the nearest wall. It won't have a well defined end or edge like a real saber.

A laser that strong would also not be portable or else it would be so small that the beam coming out of it would also be small (but still very powerful).

So, yes and no. Light sabers do exist, they just aren't sticks of light you can wield around like they are swords.

Colleen"


I'm sure there are some of you out there who, scientifically inclined or not, already knew this information or had a basic idea, as I did, about how they worked, but it was nice to get a short, understandable answer.
I want to thank Dr. Fitzpatrick for taking the time to answer my question.

If you want to learn a little more about lasers themselves you can visit How Stuff Works.

As usual, enjoy!
LM


**Dr. Fitzpatrick developed innovative technologies for NASA, the National Science Foundation and the Department of Defense as well as being an avid +genealogist (an area of great personal interest for me). She is an expert on optical laser measurement techniques (part of the optoelectronic field I believe)
+She wrote a book called Forensic Genealogy which has been a very helpful resource for me and other genealogists/family historians in picking apart older photographs to cull valuable genealogical information, researching and decoding written databases and utilizing DNA analysis to decipher and track familial (genealogical) relationships.
EDIT: Dr. Fitzpatrick and my cousin, Andrew Yeiser, wrote another book recently called, DNA & Genealogy which is another terrific read and a great help.

lm

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

This Day in the UK

Nice nostalgia for our British friends!
There's a short video available too.
HERE.

Enjoy!

I hope that everyone's holidays are going well.

LM

Thursday, December 22, 2005

Actor Updates!

Before I head on out for the holidays I'd like to get in a quick actors update.

Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi - PT) was looking over the new BMW motorcycle with friend and fellow world traveller, Charley Boorman. See two pics HERE.

~~Perry King (Han Solo - Star Wars radio dramas), the Olive Crest National Spokesperson and contributor to the Olive Crest Homes for Abused Children in Orange County, CA since 1985, was a guest speaker at their luncheon here in Rancho Mirage, CA (a few miles from where I am here) on December 18. Here's the article.

~~Just in time for Christmas! James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader) stars as one of The Three Wise Men in Franco Zeffirelli's Jesus of Nazareth. This came out on TV in 1977 in four parts. All four parts will be aired on The History Channel on December 25th starting at 8am (Eastern time US) and ending around 4pm. Check The History Channel for the details.
Part 1: 12/25, 8am; Part 2: 12/25, 10am; Part 3: 12/25, 12pm; Part 4: 12/25, 2pm

~~Hayden Christensen and Jessica Alba recently visited a children's hospital to hand out presents. They are filming Awake. And..If you'd like to see Mr. Christensen in a cross-country race (recorded earlier this year) then you can watch Cops, Cars & Superstars: Bullrun II which airs on Saturday, December 24th at 9:30 pm ET on Razer TV.

~~The following actors were added to the SWAD:
Colin Higgins (Thanks to Pablo Hidalgo)
Adam Smith (Thanks to Convention-Guests)
Nick Chilvers
Elizabeth Conboy
Brian Deacon
Tish Hicks
Lorri Holt
Colin Skeaping
Vic Armstrong

~~There are several new references that were sent in this week, and plenty of other updates. To see what they were click HERE.

Happy Holidays everyone!

See you next week!

LM

Monday, December 19, 2005

Visual Effects Oscar Nominations

The Visual Effects Award nominations for the Academy Awards were announced on Friday:

For Revenge of the Sith:
John Knoll, Roger Guyett, Rob Coleman and Brian Gernand (TPM, AOTC).

War of the Worlds:
Dennis Muren (worked on - TPM, AOTC, IJTD, ROTJ, ROTLA, ESB, ANH, etc, etc), Pablo Helman (TPM, AOTC), Randal M. Dutra (ROTJ) and Daniel Sudick.

Batman:
Janek Sirrs, Dan Glass, Chris Corbould and Paul Franklin.

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory:
Nick Davis, Nikki Penny, Chas Jarrett and Jon Thum.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire:
Jim Mitchell, Tim Alexander (TPM), Tim Webber and Jon Richardson.

Chronicles of Narnia:
Dean Wright, Bill Westenhofer, Jim Berney and Scott Farrar (ROTJ, TPM).King Kong:Joe Letteri (visual effects supervisor on ANH), Christian Rivers, Brian Van't Hul and Richard Taylor.

Any bets?

LM

Greivous and a Naboo Courier Win Golden Satellites

Matthew Wood (voice of General Greivous - ROTS; Sound God) AND Ben Burtt (Naboo Courier - TPM; Sound God) have won Golden Satellite Awards for their work (best sound mixing and editing) on Episode III.

Congratulations!

LM

OK...Just Leave Star Wars Out of It

Star Wars comments always come back to haunt or taunt politicians, when will they learn to just say no.
*shakes head*
HERE

LM

It's All Relative!

A Family Affair, All in the Family, Family Ties...you get the picture.

We've the Skywalker and other character family lines from the saga and EU over the years. So, I thought it would be interesting, for a moment, to take a brief look at the family ties that pepper the saga's other side, reality.
There may be more but these are the ones I know of at this point.

Behold! A fractured but alphabetical genealogical Star Wars list!

Baker, Kenny - R2-D2 (ALL)
*Baker, Eileen - Ewok (ROTJ)
Husband and wife until her passing.

Bell, Bobby -Ewok (Logray the Ewok Mystic - Ewok Adventures)
Bell, Patty - Ewok (ROTJ)

Bennett, Alan - Ewok (ROTJ)
Bennett, Sarah - Ewok (ROTJ)Both in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

Watts, Robert - Lt. Watts (AT-ST Driver) (ROTJ)
Bulloch, Jeremy - Boba Fett (ESB, ROTJ)Half brothers.
They were both in, or worked on, ESB and ROTJ.

Burroughs, Peter (Ewok - ROTJ)
Davis, Warwick (Ewok - ROTJ)
Father-in-law and Son-in-law - Mr. Davis married Mr. Burrough's daughter, they also co-founded Willow Management for little people

Coppen, Leanne - Ewok (Baby Nipett) EA, Windla (E)
Coppen, Willie - Ewok (ROTJ)

Coppola, Roman - Senate Guard Naboo (TPM)
Coppola, Sophia - Saché (TPM)
Brother and sister and children of Francis Ford Coppola

Cottrell, Michaela - Even Piell (TPM)
Cottrell, Mike - Ewok Warrior (ROTJ)

Davis, Warwick (Ewok - ROTJ)
Davis, Kim (Ewok - ROTJ)Brother and Sister

Edgerton, Joel - Owen Lars (young) (PT)
Edgerton, Nash - stunts (Obi-Wan stand-in) (AOTC, ROTS)Brothers. They've collaborated on several projects together outside of Star Wars, they have their own production company and quite a few indie films under their belts. They are also producing their first feature length film in the upcoming year.

Fondacaro, Phil - Ewok (ROTJ)
Fondacaro, Sal - Ewok (ROTJ)Brothers. Both started in the entertainment field in Under The Rainbow with Carrie Fisher

Francks, Don - Boba Fett (voice) SWHS cartoon, Umwak, Dulok Shaman (1985-1986 Ewoks), and voices on Droids.
Summer, Cree - Princess Kneesaa (Ewoks - TV), Luminara Unduli (Clone Wars)
Father and Daughter.

Glover, Julian (General Veers - ESB)
Glover, Jamie (General Veers/Imperial Officer 1/Sadistic Moff - Battlefront II)
Father and son.
*Yes, you are reading that right. Son plays his father's role in the video game version, coinkeedink? I think not.
*Though they've never been in the same film production they have had some interesting similarities...more so than others on this list.
*Julian played a role in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. Jamie played a role in The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones.
*Julian played in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Jamie played a voice role in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (video game)
*They've both played roles in Cadfael and in Holby City though in different episodes.
*They've starred in an audio play, Henry IV, together

Green, Lars - Ewok (ROTJ)
Green, Lydia - Ewok (ROTJ)

Mark Hamill - Luke Skywalker (OT)
Nathan Hamill - Podrace Spectator/Naboo Palace Guard (Rehtul Minnau) (TPM)
Father and son

Nifa Hindes - Ann Gella (Twi'lek twins - TPM)
Nishan Hindes - Tann Gella (Twi'lek twins - TPM)
Sisters. ...they laugh alike, they walk alike, at times they even talk alike. These gorgeous gals have been working as models together for several years.

Jesse Jensen - Saesee Tiin (AOTC)
Zac Jensen - Kit Fisto (AOTC)
Brothers and Jedi masters

Richard Jones - Ewok (ROTJ)
Trevor Jones - Ewok (ROTJ)

John Knoll - Opera Guest/Fireship Pilot (ROTS)
Alex Knoll - J. K. Burtola (AOTC)Father and son.
One proud father of a Jedi padawan

Kunga Jr., Lama - Ewok voices (ROTJ)
*Kunga the Elder, Lama - Ewok voices (ROTJ)Father and son. I wonder if they ever really knew how big the saga was.

Lawson, Denis - Wedge Antilles (OT)
McGregor, Ewan - Young Obi-Wan Kenobi (PT)Uncle and Nephew. Have worked in several stage productions together, the most noted is Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs in which Lawson directed McGregor. Wedge had no idea that his nephew was actually older than he was.

Lloyd, Jake - Young Anakin Skywalker (TPM)
Lloyd, Madison - Princess Ellie (TPM)
Brother and sister.

George Lucas - The one and only Flanneled One and Baron Papanoida (ROTS)
Amanda Lucas - Terr Tenneel (ROTS)
Katie Lucas - Lunae Minx - Purple Twi'lek at Night Club (AOTC), (voice) Tey How (as 'Tyger') (TPM), Senator Chi Eekway (ROTS)
Jett Lucas - Young Padawan at Jedi Archives (AOTC), Zett Jucassa (ROTS)
Father and children

Rick McCallum - Stormtrooper (ANHse), Naboo Courier (TPM)
Mousy McCallum - Bené (ROTS)
Father and daughter. Daughter hopes to follow in father's footsteps.

*Jack Purvis - Chief Jawa (ANH), Chief Ugnaught (ESB), Teebo/EG-6/EG-4 (ROTJ)
Katie Purvis - Ewok Mother (ROTJ)
Father and daughter.

Read, Carol - Ewok (ROTJ)
Read, Nicholas 'Nicky' - Ewok (ROTJ)

Staddon, Gerald - Ewok (ROTJ)
Staddon, Josephine - Ewok (ROTJ)
Husband and wife.

Sylla, John - Stormtrooper (voice), background Cantina voices (ANH)
Sylla, Tom - Stormtrooper (voice), Massassi Temple announcer (ANH), Battle Droid (TPM)Brothers. Hm, was there a spy at the temple?

Taylor, Benedict Sean - Fighter Pilot Bravo 2 (TPM)
Taylor, Femi - Oola (ROTJ)
Brother and sister. When Lucasfilm was adding the extra scenes to the OT for the DVD release they were also in the middle of filming TPM. One of the fighter pilot actors, Benedict Taylor, mentioned that his sister had been in ROTJ years earlier. When they asked who it was and found out it was Femi Taylor they were quick to get in touch with her. What was more amazing was what wonderful shape Femi was in. It is near impossible to tell the old scenes from the new based on Femi alone.

*have passed on.

Know any more family ties?
Any other family stories?
Let me know!
Enjoy!
LM

Saturday, December 17, 2005

360 Degrees of Oscar

Starting on February 1, 2006 Turner Classic Movies will present the 360 Degrees of Oscar to lead up to the Academy Awards which airs on March 5th.

Their presentation has a twist, as you may have gathered from the title. Like other Oscar themed TV film fests this one is chock full of Oscar winning films, 360 of them. But these films are each connected to the last by a common actor.

What caught my eye was The Conversation (1974), Harrison Ford plays a man named Martin Stett. This marks the premiere of this film on TCM. Then I noticed Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) also a premiere on TCM. If you recall Richard LeParmentier is in this film as well as others from the Star Wars universe.

I wondered how many other films had connections. So I checked out the list and this is what I found (listed by date and time shown on TCM.):
Shampoo~1975 - Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia)

Bridge on the River Kwai~1957 - Alec Guinness (Obi-Wan Kenobi - OT), Nosher Powell (stunts - ANH)

The Lavender Hill Mob~1951 - Alec Guinness

Lawrence of Arabia~1962 - Alec Guinness, Tim Condren (Stormtrooper - ANH)

The Big Country~1958 - Burl Ives (narrator - Ewok Adventure)

Doctor Zhivago~1965 - Alec Guinness

Heaven Can Wait~1978 - Hamilton Camp (Rune Haako - SW Galactic Battlegrounds), Keene Curtis (4 episodes of the Star Wars radio drama...ANH)

2001: A Space Odyssey~1968 - Burnell Tucker (Control Officer Del Goren - ANH; Rebel Officer Wyron Serper - ESB), Tom Kane (Yoda - Clone Wars)

Dr. Srangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb~1963 - James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader); Shane Rimmer (InCom Engineer - guides R2-D2 into Luke's ship - ANH)

Goodbye Mr. Chips~1969 - Siân Phillips (Queen Charal - Ewoks: Battle for Endor)

To Kill a Mockingbird~1962 - Brock Peters (voice of Darth Vader - Radio Dramas)

Out of Africa~1985 - Steve Gawley (Death Star Trooper - ANH; Red Leader - Star Tours), Shane Rimmer

Executive Suite~1954 - Hamilton Camp
Hook~1991 - *Carrie Fisher, *George Lucas, Nick Tate (voice of Prince Xizor - SW Shadows of the Empire vg), Philip Proctor (Tomas Azzameen - X-Wing Alliance vg)*Carrie Fisher is the woman kissing on the bridge and George Lucas is the man kissing on the bridge.

Dick Tracy~1990 - Hamilton Camp, Harrison Ellenshaw (Rebel Officer - ESB)

Who Framed Roger Rabbit?~1988 - Robert Watts (Lt. Watts, AT-ST Driver - ROTJ), Richard LeParmentier (General Motti - ANH), David Barclay (puppeteer: Jabba/Yoda), Mike Edmonds (Ugnaught - ESB; Logray/Jabba Puppeteer - ROTJ), Joe Alaskey (voice of Watto's Flunky - TPM vg), Jack Angel (voice of Rom Moc - Dark Forces vg), Christine Hewett (Senni Tonnika - ANH), Steve Gawley, Toby Philpott (Jabba puppeteer - ROTJ), Peter Diamond (stunts and many characters - OT)

Absence of Malice~1981 - Wilford Brimley (Noa - Ewok Adventure)

The China Syndrome~1979 - Wilford Brimley

The Ladykillers~1955 - Alec Guinness

Lovers and Other Strangers~1970 - Bea Arthur (Ackmena - Star Wars Holiday Special)

Waterloo Bridge~1940 - Pat Welsh (voice of Boushh in ROTJ)

Remains of the Day~1993 - Brigitte Kahn (Rebel Officer Toryn Farr - ESB)

Sense and Sensibility~1995 - Oliver Ford Davies (Sio Bibble - PT)

Mutiny on the Bounty~1962 - Eddie Byrne (General Vanden Willard - ANH)

The Conversation~1974 - Harrison Ford (Han Solo)

American Graffiti~1973 - Harrison Ford, Terence McGovern (voices of Stormtroopers - ANH; various SW vg), Scott Beach (Stormtrooper voice - ANH), Johnny Weissmuller, Jr. (Card Player - Ewoks: Battle for Endor)
Note: Weissmuller, Beach and McGovern also had roles in THX-1138

If you'd like to take a look at the schedule and times or just to figure out on your own which actors were the connectors for 360 Degrees of Oscar GO HERE.

Enjoy!

LM

Thursday, December 15, 2005

CONAN: Red Nails

CONAN: RED NAILS - one of Robert E. Howard's most famous novellas, is in the midst of filming now. It's an animated feature, the first for Conan.A few familiar faces will be voicing characters for the upcoming film.In addition to Hellboy star Ron Perlman (Cimmeria), CSI star Marg Helgenberger (Princess Tascela) and X-Men star James Marsden (Techotl) there will be three Star Wars related actors lending their voice talents to roles:
Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) - Tolkemec the Undead
A quote from the official site: "In a city of unspeakable evil, his crimes may be the greatest. And like his undead corpse, they cannot be contained by a burial mound."
Clancy Brown (Montross in Star Wars: Bounty Hunter vg) - Olmec Prince of Techultli
Cree Summer (Luminara Unduli in Clone Wars; Princess Kneesa in Ewoks) - Valeria of the Red Brotherhood

I'm sure as time passes and we get closer to the release date (summer of 2006) we will encounter more Star Wars related actors.I'm looking forward to this.
Anything with dragons.

Enjoy!

LM

Wednesday, December 14, 2005

Featured Blog/Blogger StarWars.com

It was my honor to be chosen as Featured Blog at StarWars.com this past week.

It was a terrific surprise and I'd really like to thank Bonnie Burton for giving me the opportunity to share what I think and, of course, for choosing my blog.

Again, I am honored.

Thank you!
And, as usual,
enjoy!

LM

Tuesday, December 13, 2005

Actor Updates!

Hello there!
A few things since the last update on Dec 6th...

Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia - OT) will be playing a reporter in a dark comedy film called Suffering Man's Charity.
The story is about a man who accidentally kills an author then finds an unpublished novel that he claims as his own. He becomes a great success but the author comes back to haunt him. It will be released sometime in 2006 and also stars Alan *Cu*mmings (who also directs), David Boreanaz and Anne Heche.
*I had to "star" his name for the Blogs.StarWars.com blog entries. Nice to know the filter works really well...apologies to Mr. C for having a name that has to be filtered. hehe

~~James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader) continues his readings for Verizon and this month, no surprise, the material is Christmas related. He reads the letter, Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. You can read the short bit on this letter and hear Mr. Jones read it at Verizon's site HERE.

~~Check out this article on Bodie Taylor (younger Clonetroopers - AOTC/ROTS) and see what he's up to and what his plans are for next year.

~~Mr. Hidalgo (Janu Godhali - ROTS) was kind enough to inform me that Steve Sauers did not play Ronet Coorr in AOTC as I had listed in the SWAD, it was in fact Stephen George. Apologies to Mr. Sauers and Mr. George for havingincorrect info.

~~Brian Blessed (voice of Boss Nass in AOTC) tells of his work on the panto Peter Pan in this article from the East Anglian Daily Times.

~~A submitter spoke with Simon J. Williamson (Max Rebo/Gamorrean/Mon Calamari Officer - ROTJ) last week and learned that he worked (puppeteering) the eyes and ears of Nien Nunb in ROTJ.

~~As I mentioned in the post about King Kong:Doug Chiang (Flag Bearer - TPM) will be heading the production design of Beowulf which will star Greg Ellis (Disciple in KOTOR) as Garmund. Beowulf will be based on the epic tale of the same name and will be released sometime in 2007.EDIT 5/17/06 - Nick Jameson (Emperor Palpatine in the Dark Empire audio book and voice characterizations in 19 SW video games) will join the cast of Beowulf as well.

~~A few new additions to the SWAD:
Cy Town
Matt Roloff
Convention Guests has helped the SWAD with yet another actor:
Stephen Fitzalan - A short note here - Mr. Fitzalan played a Mon Calamari at the Ewok Celebration in ROTJ.
Corrections made:
T.V. Moore played Senator Dowmeia's Aide with the Australian Unit of ROTS.
Dean Mitchell played Senator Dowmeia's Aide with the UK Unit of ROTS.

~~Several new Star Wars references and an Indy reference. Find out what they are starting at the main page. Enjoy! NHA.n

Enjoy!

LM

Another Urban Legend?

HEHEHE




LM

Monday, December 12, 2005

King Kong DVD Tidbit

There is a seven-part documentary on the making of Kong (on the King Kong DVD) called RKO Production 601: The Making of Kong - Eighth Wonder of the World.
Two of the people interviewed are Phil Tippett and Ben Burtt. As well as non Star Wars related "VIPs": Fay Wray, Peter Jackson, Frank Darabont, Joe Dante, Harry Knowles and John Landis.

One of the commentaries features Ken Ralston (worked with the optical effects unit on Star Wars in '77, was an effects cameraman on The Empires Strikes Back in '80 and worked visual effects on Return of the Jedi in '83) and the legendary Ray Harryhausen who must have spawned hundreds of thousands of fans in awe of his work over the years...including me.

Oh! Ralston will also be visual effects supervisor on the film Beowulf coming out in '07. Beowulf is an adaptation of the epic poem Beowulf (which either wasn't finished or the ending was never found, I can't recall now) written by an unknown 8th century author. The film will be directed by Robert Zemeckis. Interesting.

Interesting casting too: Chris Coppola, Brenden Gleason, Crispin Glover, Angelina Jolie, Robin Wright Penn, John Malkovich, Anthony Hopkins and Star Wars actor Greg Ellis and former ILM'er Doug Chiang will be heading the production design. And hometown girl Alison Lohman (born in Palm Springs)
LM

Edit: Mike Pangrazio is also interviewed for the Kong feature (thanks to tatood2 for letting me know I'd missed someone!!)

Sunday, December 11, 2005

Special Treat from SWNZ!

Hi!

Matt Glasgow of SWNZ tells me the site is currently running a competition with prizes (autographs and related collectibles - Tessek/Mon Calamari officer in ROTJ) from mutual pal and 'Return of the Jedi' actor Gerald Home. The competition is open to visitors from all over the world.For more details go to SWNZ!

Good luck!

LM

Friday, December 09, 2005

Chronicles...

Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter all have something in common. Boy with humble beginnings saves the world. All three of these epic franchises have been wildly successful at the box-office and in literary form (the two latter, LOTR and HP, before the films were released). While Narnia has the potential to be another great screen epic we'll see if the film matches the expectations of ¹millions of fans who've digested the classic young persons series since their publishing from 1950 - 1956.

Over the last few months I've heard some people complain about C.S. Lewis's use of ²religious allegory within the Chronicles of Narnia. To what end? I challenge most younger children (the books are for children) to point out which scenes possess the allegorical rhetoric.
Honestly most children don't care.
Is it a good story? Yes.
Is it fun to read? Yes.
Adventure-filled? Yes!!
What more is there?

Alternately, I've read Christian groups all throughout the US, and in the UK, are buying groups of tickets for their parishioners and having Narnia related events.
They've embraced the Chronicles as a draw for their younger and more impressionable members in hopes that they will increase their ever dwindling flock.

I really see nothing wrong in that, a priest in my church gave a sermon once that included Star Wars...talk about surprised!
Some religions (beyond Christianity) claim an affinity to the basic principles George Lucas placed in his sagas and there's not much difference in what C.S. Lewis proposed through Narnia. Though Lewis's account is closer to the surface where you can pick out more obvious Christian details, Lucas pulled more from Eastern philosophies but in a more general manner.
So what if people find the common Universal thread (insert obligatory Joseph Campbell influences here) close to what they believe.

As a child I was exposed to many different stories from all over the world and it was of no consequence that my mother was a Christian. She knew a good story! The stories had that common theme, a lesson to be learned wrapped in a colorful tale. Again, no matter... East, West, North, South and all points in-between, they are still classic good-over-evil and boy, or in this case children,-with-humble-beginnings-save-the-world tales.

Because of Star Wars' popularity, and financial success, tales like these can be told on the big screen without being laughable, at least visually. What C.S. Lewis feared most was live-action versions of his series, based on his knowledge of film and effects to that date.
Lewis once said (as quoted in a letter written in 1959), "Anthropomorphic animals, when taken out of narrative into actual visibility, always turn into buffoonery or nightmare. At least, with photography," he also added, "a human, pantomime Aslan would to me be blasphemy". Had Lewis lived beyond ³1963 and beyond Star Wars he may have eagerly embraced film versions of his Chronicles.

With seven books in the series (The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe; Prince Caspian; The Voyage of the "Dawn Treader"; The Horse and his Boy; The Magician's Nephew; The Last Battle) and big budgets to expend, there is much to look forward to and no worries about the actors becoming too old to play the parts since the characters change from book to book. A luxury Harry Potter is quickly losing.I no longer have my 1970 version of the classics, which I think I loved to death, I do have the 1974 printing which is in good condition...although it does appear that I used the box for the set to house crayons at one time. I enjoyed reading The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe just as much now as I did at 5 years old and I hope to enjoy the release of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe...and any subsequent releases.

I don't know about the writing but I made my point anyway.

LM

__
¹The Narnia novels sold more than 100 million copies worldwide while Tolkien's series sold around 30 million
² Shortly before he wrote the Narnia books he'd been converted to Christianity by a close friend and author during an all-night religious discussion. By dawn he'd seen the light literally and figuratively.
³ C.S. Lewis died the day Kennedy was assassinated

~~Note (of course):
The following Star Wars alum in the cast and crew: Liam Neeson (voice of Aslan ; Qui Gon Jinn in TPM), Kiran Shaw (Ginarrbrik - Ewok and stunt double in ROTJ), Steve Sauers (creature technical director: ILM ; digital simulation artist AOTC), Christopher Townsend (digital effects artist: ILM ; effects on SW: ANH and the PT)

Thursday, December 08, 2005

Philpott from Splott

Hi!

Here's a quick tidbit about Toby Philpott (part of the team that was Jabba the Hutt) at icWales that was released today.

He's a great guy and I'm sure he'd love to hear from you! You can visit his eclectic and wonderful site HERE.

Enjoy!

LM

Wednesday, December 07, 2005

Queen Apilana Creates Star For Charity.

Keisha Castle-Hughes (Queen Apilana - ROTS) has created a star for a charity auction which represents her vision of Christmas. The auction is for Mercury Stars for Youthline, starts today and ends on December 16th.

Check it out and bid!

LM

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Sketches!

Hey there,I made several new sketches which I've added to the site.
Captain Tarpals (my favorite Gungan - TPM) sorry for the mis-spelling in the link and .jpg.
Princess Leia 1 (ROTJ)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (ROTS)
Princess Leia 2 (ROTJ)

Enjoy them.

LM

Actor Updates!

First off this morning...awards news.

Grey DeLisle has been nominated for an Annie award for her voice performance of Kitty in Danger Rangers (Fires & Liars).

Rob Paulsen has also been nominated for an Annie awards for his voice performance of Eubie in The Happy Elf.

The Clone Wars has been nominated for Best Animation Television Production for Chapters 21 - 25.

~~You can see The Flanneled One in Alien Planet which is now out on DVD.

~~Nick Tate (Prince Xizor/IG-88 - Shadows of the Empire; and also played Carter in Space: 1999) and his son (a writer) were recently at Sydney's (Australia) Comedy Store attending a workshop given by American comedy coach Judy Carter. Their aim was to help add a little comedy to their lives/acting/writing.

~~BBC 2 Radio is presenting the classic Oliver Twist every Friday night for 6 weeks (started on December 2), David Warner (Grand General Brashin - Star Wars Force Commander video game and Evil Genius in Time Bandits) is narrating/reading.

~~Comedian/actor Greg Proops (Announcer Beed Annodue - TPM) is on tour with Drew Carey and others called The Green Screen Tour (a little bit like Whose Line is it Anyway?) He's also voicing Bob the Builder in Bob the Builder: Project Build It and will be starring in Ileannarama (TV series) with Ileanna Douglas.

~~John Lithgow (Yoda - Radio Dramas) offers and introduction to the book Ladies or Gentlemen: A Pictorial History of Male Cross-Dressing in the Movies (he's made 9 appearances in films in drag)

~~References this entry include:
Recess: School's Out (Film)
UNKLE (Music)
The Simpsons (TV)
Super Robot Monkey Team Hyper Force Go! (TV) Which stars or has starred SW Alum: Mark Hamill; Kevin Michael Richardson; Kari Wahlgren; Clancy Brown; Dee Bradley Baker; Frank Welker and Jeff Glen Bennett.Here's the main page to the links.

~~Added the following actors to the SWAD:
Billy Brown
John Callen
Dean Mitchell (Aide to Senator Dowmeia - ROTS)
Stuart Myers
Mike Mungarvan

Enjoy!

LM

Friday, December 02, 2005

ESB, ROTJ, Indy Writer Awarded

Writer Lawrence Kasdan will receive the Screen Laurel Award from the WGA on February 4, 2006 in New York.

He wrote or helped to write:
The Empire Strikes Back
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Return of the Jedi
The Big Chill (which had an Indy reference in it...of course)
And wrote and directed one of my favorite modern westerns Silverado

Pretty cool.

A teeny bit more info HERE and more info HERE

LM

Thursday, December 01, 2005

Good News!

Hi!

I've managed to sneak bits of my little world of art into LIFE, the Star Wars universe and EVERYTHING. (#48 and #26 )

As I mentioned in #26 I was preparing to meet a deadline for the La Quinta Arts Festival (LQAF), one of the premier outdoor fine-arts shows in the nation. 250 artists from all over the world are chosen (juried into) the event which runs for four days every March.

Here's a little bit about the festival and a little about the La Quinta Arts Foundation:
La Quinta Arts Foundation is a nonprofit organization that provides educational art and cultural opportunities. La Quinta Arts Festival is the foundation's primary fund-raiser. Festival proceeds are used for visual arts programming in public schools, after school at East Valley Boys and Girls Clubs, and for arts higher education scholarships.

I missed last year's deadline due to emergency surgery and a very bumpy recovery but I had worked particularly hard before that time to meet the deadline, I was fairly disappointed.

So last night I'm checking the email and I spot it...the JURY RESULTS. I'm afraid to open it; acceptance...rejection, which one would it be? You know already... Yes, I was juried into the festival. I was in competition with thousands of other applicants nationally.

The work that I'm doing for the LQAF is somewhat different than what I do for a living, animal portraiture, and certainly different than my Star Wars fan sketches. The work for the festival is classified as Fine Art and even though animal portraiture falls under "Fine Art" technically I consider it illustrative work.

I'll be working extra hard over the course of the next 3½ months to get things just right.

I am very excited!

LM