I received the following writeup from WordPress about my blog in 2012. Following the link it provides even gives you a firework show.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 3,700 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 6 years to get that many views.
“The R2 canyon scene with the Jawas is supposed to be dusk. There was some debate about this since earlier home videos had the scene in bright day, as it was filmed. In 1993, it was re-timed to be dim and sunset-tinted, which was then greatly embellished in the Special Edition. It was reported that the earlier video versions were mis-timed. While the 1993 telecine might seem to exaggerate the sunset hue a bit, the scene in 1977 is definitely as dark as it is in current versions. There is a tiny green shift in the I.B. print, indicating it is actually slightly warmer.”
(click image for full size)
When I was a kid and the Beastie Boys first got play for their music video, I had a hard time figuring out what the word Ill was, but I did know what a Roman Numeral three looked like. So I often wondered if these Brooklyn guys really had two other records out there and people were just saying Ill because they didn’t know. What could I say? I was a goofy kid.
Before I go on, Ch-Check THIS out. Neal Brennan (now know as awesome in my book) knows the pain we’re feeling. Co-creator of Chapelle’s Show, he unleashed an appearance of the Bea-stie-Boys LIVE outdoors in 2004 – never seen until now. Already erased by Viacom at least once, it’s back! I’ll make a dupe of this just to make sure it’ll be harder to kill than a certain Holiday Special. Hurry and watch the clip below – and get more blown away since I won’t say what song it is. [I’d say to watch out for language, but even work should let you blast this. You’re mourning, yo!]
This post was intended as a conglomerate of links and images. Since I came across some great articles and stories which I mostly hid in the other two posts, I figured why not make this subject a trilogy and make it a hodgepodge of links and images amongst additional material. To tease a taste, here’s someone’s tribute to MCA/Nathan Wind – delivering pizza dressed as Cochese.
New York officially mourns the death of Adam Yauch. Don’t believe me? Here’s the document for proof, or watch the video below. Continue reading
To all of the Nanowrimo brethren unsure of Script Frenzy or the people who always wanted to write a screenplay – hopefully this post can help a little bit.
If you’re even the smallest bit hesitant about writing a screenplay, give this a read. The following link is an article I’ve been using since the second screenplay I ever completed. Entitled The Three-Week Screenplay and written by Dov S-S Simens, it originally appeared in a 1998 issue of the magazine MovieMaker. The article is six steps, but I diverge halfway through. The simplistic and sometimes humorous article can be a quick confidence builder.
http://www.moviemaker.com/directing/article/the_threeweek_screenplay_321…
I don’t follow it exactly as written, so I wouldn’t expect anyone else to either. This can be a map you glance at before deciding to trudge into the desert alone…or you can use it as a guide until you meet a fellow traveler. Keep reading to learn the rest.
Any kid (or kid at heart) who passing through the eighties had some sort of indelible impression made by Ralph McQuarrie. He influenced so many decades before and after, but the obvious is any walking out of a theater during blockbuster season and spending all week trying to keep the imagery from flooding their heads. If you randomly chuckle when saying you need to phone home, imitate breathing behind a black helmet, or mention something about an object among ‘top men’…then indirectly you have this guy to thank. Anyone worth their lore knows the tale of this guy’s concept work being the only reason Lucas got a green light concerning a space opera.
If you read this and you agree with the statement(s) above at all, doodle something on a napkin and say thanks to McQ. Even post it as a comment. Maybe I will too.
One of the cool things about Mr. McQuarrie was turning down doing the prequel Star Wars episodes because he felt it should be passed to a new artist for the next generation. Very classy (even if I can’t remember when/where I read it).
To read a little more, check this great writeup from tor.com by Irene Gallo:
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2012/03/ralph-mcquarrie-19292012
The comments at the bottom are fantastic as well, so do a favor and scroll down if you peek there.
(Hit the jump to see familiar imagery.) Continue reading
There’s no good way to put this news, so I’ll rely on others to speak for me…
The Daisy Mountain Fire Department is mourning the loss of Engineer Paramedic Michael David Dorsey, 33, who passed away in his home the morning of January 16th 2012. He leaves behind his wife Felisha, who is five months pregnant with their first child together.
Mike, formerly Michael Parks, was a 15 year veteran of the fire service. He has served as a member of the Daisy Mountain Fire Department for the last five years.
Mike’s death has come as a shock to the whole department. “It is difficult to put into words the sadness and emptiness that our organization is going through with the loss of our friend and colleague Michael Dorsey” said Daisy Mountain Fire Chief Mark Nichols. “He was a valued member and will be greatly missed. I know our organization is a better place for having had him here.”
An account has been established to help the Dorsey family.
Donations can be made at Chase Bank, account 2997857764, in the name of
“Daisy Mountain Firefighters Charities Association.”
Time to start it out for 2010 – the bloggery. This is from an interview I gave for ’09. It never appeared because the writer decided to use females for a women or mom type of magazine point of view for the article. But here it is now…
This is unedited/unaltered since I first sent it off. Click the jump to read it all…
In case you haven’t heard, the title was from an article in the LA Times; ran August 12th 2010. Not many hear how Gary Kurtz looks at the trilogy he left…and the prequels.
Most interestingly to me? How Kurtz described the original ended. I think the Special Edition Jedi ending was the best…but I wonder how much closure there would have been back in the day if the originally-devised ending was the counterweight to Empire.
Read it all here:
I happened upon this and knew many people would take interest. Some of you may want to know, and many are aware he was a developer for Star Wars Galaxies. At times he was also the figurehead/scapegoat for some of the game’s modification: unfair as those accusations were.
http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/posts/list.m?topic_id=756313
[link since defunct]
His brother got word out via a variety of MMO forums:
“Some of you know who Jeff Freeman was; he was the lead designer at Sony when the major changes were made to SWG that left so many upset. Although it was not his fault he took the brunt of the criticisms, attacks, and even death threats.
Some of you may have even known him back in the UO days as Dundee, Guild Master of the Nameless Ones on Lake Superior and later the administrator of the private UO server World of Dreams.
I am not sure why I have chosen this forum to share this news; it may be that I would have loved to see Jeff build the game that he really wanted to, if he was running a private server. You see I am his brother. On September 24th Jeff took his own life. I am not angry at him or anyone else, sad yes, like so many others I feel a bit of guilt but I love my brother and I am thankful that he is no longer suffering.”
EDIT:
Sadly, it seems his blog has gone defunct since his death. I was
hoping someone tried to preserve it somehow, but alas. Maybe his
brother was able to archive some of this, but I have no clue as of now.
Let me know if there’s info.
On a related note, his “memory book” has expired as well. It takes paltry amount to keep it open forever: as is $80US. That is less than most people spend to play the average MMO for a year.
This is a cool post which is based on the title of this post. /gasp
