Space, the final frontier and other things
I haven’t posted much these past few years. Mostly because I’m the only person that reads this and it’s basically so I can record trivial stuff for future reminiscing. But it defeats the purpose when I post nothing for months at a time. I’ll need to work on that. I work on my own so I don’t have regular contact with other people and that makes for a dull existence. Hence nothing much to post. Blessing or a curse, it is what it is.
After only three years of weighing the pros and cons, I decided to built the 1/350 scale Enterprise 1701-A from Polar Lights and picked up the box the day before yesterday. I’ll light the kit but still haven’t decided who gets my dollar (or a few hundred of them). If all goes well (as it should), it’ll be three feet of starship goodness. That is if the dollar doesn’t collapse and the crash hits (as I also expect to happen any day now).
Team announced for Star Wars: Episode VII
These three names just made this real for me; Lawrence Kasdan (writer), Ben Burtt (sound designer), and John Williams (score composer).
press release from star wars.com, October 24, 2013
As Episode VII continues pre-production, Lawrence Kasdan and director J.J. Abrams have assumed screenwriting duties for the film. Kasdan, who has been serving as a consultant on the film, is a veteran of several classic Lucasfilm productions, writing the screenplay for Raiders of the Lost Ark and serving as co-screenwriter for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Acclaimed director and screenwriter Abrams’ credits include Super 8, Mission: Impossible III, Fringe, and Lost.
“I am very excited about the story we have in place and thrilled to have Larry and J.J. working on the script,” states Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy. “There are very few people who fundamentally understand the way a Star Wars story works like Larry, and it is nothing short of incredible to have him even more deeply involved in its return to the big screen. J.J. of course is an incredible storyteller in his own right. Michael Arndt has done a terrific job bringing us to this point and we have an amazing filmmaking and design team in place already prepping for production.”
Location scouting, production design, casting, and costume design are already underway on Episode VII. A team of gifted artists are working to bring the latest installment of the Star Wars saga, including director of photography Dan Mindel (Mission: Impossible III, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness), production designers Rick Carter (Lincoln, Avatar, Forrest Gump) and Darren Gilford (Oblivion, TRON: Legacy), costume designer Michael Kaplan (Star Trek Into Darkness, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Fight Club),special effects supervisor Chris Corbould (Skyfall, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception), sound designer Ben Burtt (Lincoln, Wall-E, Star Wars: Episodes I-VI), re-recording mixer Gary Rydstrom (Jurassic Park, Saving Private Ryan, Toy Story, Mission: Impossible -Ghost Protocol), supervising sound editor Matthew Wood (Star Trek Into Darkness, The Master, There Will Be Blood) of Skywalker Sound, and visual effects supervisor Roger Guyett (Star Trek Into Darkness, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith) of Industrial Light & Magic. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, with Tommy Harper (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Jack Ryan, Star Trek Into Darkness) and Jason McGatlin (Tintin, War of the Worlds) serving as executive producers. John Williams is returning to score Star Wars: Episode VII.
Shooting is scheduled to begin Spring 2014 at Pinewood Studios for an expected 2015 release.
Richard Griffiths
By Sadie Gennis, TVGuide.com
Richard Griffiths, who played Uncle Vernon in the Harry Potter franchise, has died, The Associated Press reports. He was 65.
On Friday, agent Simon Beresford announced that Griffiths had passed away the previous day after undergoing heart surgery in central England. Bakers honored Griffiths, calling him “a remarkable man and one of our greatest and best-loved actors.”
“I was proud to say I knew him,” Daniel Radcliffe, who played Harry Potter in the popular franchise, said in a statement. Radcliffe also worked alongside Griffiths in a 2007 London production of Equus.
“Richard was by my side during two of the most important moments of my career,” Radcliffe added. “In August 2000, before official production had even begun on Potter, we filmed a shot outside the Dursleys’, which was my first ever shot as Harry. I was nervous and he made me feel at ease.
“Seven years later, we embarked on Equus together. It was my first time doing a play but, terrified as I was, his encouragement, tutelage and humor made it a joy. In fact, any room he walked into was made twice as funny and twice as clever just by his presence.”
In addition to Harry Potter, Griffiths is most famous for playing Uncle Monty in the 1987 cult classic Withnail and I. His last major role was opposite Danny DeVito in a West End production of The Sunshine Boys last year.
Griffiths is survived by his wife, Heather Gibson.
iPhone Home Button
I’ve fought with iPhone home buttons off and on for several years. My second iPhone was even replaced with a third when the Apple store couldn’t get it to work properly. That one has recently been giving me problems until I found this “fix” online:
1. Open the Compass app or other built-in iOS app.
2. Press and hold the Lock button until the red slider bar appears.
3. Press and hold the Home button until the red slider bar disappears.
My Home button now behaves as if it were fresh out of the box. Must be some sort of software calibration or something. I’ll check with Apple tomorrow.
Star Wars Episode 7
Disney set to purchase Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion and includes a tentative release date of 2015 for Star Wars Episode VII. Bring back Luke, Leia, Han, Chewbacca, etc!