Where's my Star War's Styled 3D Glasses

I went to see Star Wars: A Phantom Menace in 3D on it's opening weekend because I love Star Wars and wanted to relive the experience of seeing the movie on a big screen with a bunch of strangers. Kinda creepy right? Well, I did bring a friend and I was after some of the free Star Wars swag they were to give out during the opening weekend. That makes it better right? Right.

I had seen numerous adds on TV and the internet proclaiming that Darth Maul styled 3D glasses and Star Wars themed toys would be given out to those going to see the movie on its opening weekend. I thought this was great and am a sucker for anything Star Wars related, not to mention 'free'. Apparently I was taken as a sucker as none of this was offered when I went! 

I bought my tickets online to assure myself and my friend the best seats in the house and came extra early to take it all in! I usually hate opening weekends because of the crowds but figured I'd be surrounded by fellow Star Wars fans and that this would make it OK. I was correct on this account but was wrong about there being free Star Wars swag. There were no Star Wars 3D glasses or toys! The people working at the theater -Chinook Cineplex in Calgary Alberta- were unaware of such things and I felt like someone who just bought a Darth Vader mask thinking it would have sound effects; sure the helmet may still look cool but it would've been cooler with the sound effects! All I can figure is that these offers were only valid in the States (in particular at AMC movie chains), which pisses me off to no end because I am sick of specials such as this being offered only in the States. Canadians spend more per person than the average American! We deserve to be provided the same incentives as Americans! Now I'm left without these useless trinkets that likely would've found their way to the depths of a cardboard box in a matter of weeks! Gah!

Star Wars Burgers Make a Disturbance in my Belly!

Would I buy it, sure! Would I regret, you bet!

So in celebration /capitalization on the upcoming release of Star Wars in 3D, the fast food chain Quick has released a Star Wars themed burger. I'm just afraid of what they did to make the burger bun black.

Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 3D!

I think that many Star Wars fans are not too interested in the re-release of episode I despite it's graphics update into the realm of 3D magic. As we are all painfully aware, there is little that can be done to erase the painful performance by Jake Lloyd, who portrayed a young Anakin Skywalker, or the searing comedic talent of Ahmed best, who voiced the zany Jar Jar. On the bright side, episode one has some amazing chase scenes and action sequences thanks to the uber talented Ray Park, who of course played Darth Maul.  I will still fork over the cash to see this movie because I am a sucker for special affects and am too obsessed with Star Wars to pass this opportunity by. 

Recently, Mike Ryan of Moviefone website published a story that unearthed rumors that swirled the interweb before episode I came out. Some of the rumors are pretty weak but there are a few that would have made the movie much more interesting, particular where Darth Maul would have been Kenobi's clone. Pretty neat idea right? Well, follow the link here to read the rest of these unearthed rumors. Also, the one rumor I remember is the one that came from a trailer for episode III. Footage of the Millennium Falcon, Bubba Fett, and Chewbacca (not from the final Kashyk scene) were shown. I've met a few other people that remember this trailer and recalled that it played for only a short time; really it was more of a teaser trailer. However, no one seems to know why the footage was not used in the final film. Anyone out there with any ideas about it? I've also never seen this trailer again and would love to know if it exists somewhere out there in the web!

Not All Girls Bring You Lasagna...

My wife and I never signed prenuptials before marrying. We've been happily married for almost 7 years. Thankfully she tolerates my geeky obsessions and has even joined me in the dark side for a few of them. Some marriages, however, can be strained by geeky obsessions, like any other obsession such as sports or video games. The result of a strained marriage can mean a messy divorce where the geeky life-long collection of toys or comics comes to an end. In these cases prenups would have been ideal.

From SF website.

An article from the website Science Fiction recently posted  a story about Tony Alleyne, of England, who lost his customized flat to his ex-wife. This was no ordinary flat but one that was personally customized into a replica of the star ship Voyager! Tony had, with incredible patience and skill, transformed his flat into a real-life Trekie dream, minus the warp drive! The verdict from his long divorce showed that it was his wife that actually owned the flat he had transformed into a piece of Star Trek heaven. So with this decision, Tony was forced into destroying all his customized Trekie embellishments. In all, Tony had spent over $150,000 US and 16 years to create this 'man cave' fit for Captain Janeway herself, only to see it disappear the same way his marriage had!

From SF website.

Not to be outdone was an earlier story  (also posted on Science Fiction) where a man was kicked out of the house by his ex-girlfriend. She piled and bagged up his life's collection of Star Wars collectibles and threw them out into the neighbouring alleyway. Blessed with clear skies and two working arms, the man hurried to save his collection. While I feel for this guy in the way of having a life's collection being put in jeopardy, I feel more strongly that if he had put as much gusto into his relationship that he now (presumably) would not be back to living in his parent's basement. I would say the same argument goes for Mr. Alleyne but to be fair the story of these two men's actual relationships is left unsaid, except (and it is telling) that the stories never mentioned if these men were in new relationships.

The moral of these two stories is that if you are entering a serious relationship and have a geeky passion, you must then make a decision! Before entering a serious relationship, decide what is more important: your geeky obsession or your relationship with your significant other. If it is your obsession that wins out, then make sure you have prenups in hand because chances are your serious, real-life relationship will falter. A good relationship is built on love, respect and to devoting time to being with one another. In this case, the second option is to continue your geeky obsessions with a modest amount of restraint and understanding that it is not the most important component to your life. 

Personally, I love my geeky obsessions such as Lego, comic books, and science-fiction movies. However, it is the relationship with my wife that means more. It is for this reason that my wife has shown interest in my hobbies, as I have shown interest in her's. A solid relationship is built on understanding what is truly important, which I suppose is something that neither of the men in the  two stories above understood before they entered serious relationships. 

So to all the geeks in relationships out there, remember that it's easier to replace a collectible than it is a relationship! Don't take it fore-granted!

The wise Silent Bob (Clerks) sums it up best.

Lego is for Everyone: Awseom Time-Lapse Vid of Building Millennium Falcon

Lego is for everyone! On BuzzFeed I came across a cool time-lapse video of someone building the 9-14, 1254 piece Lego Millennium Falcon set! The host says it took her 4 hours to complete and I am beset with envy! Thinking of my own Lego sets, I don't think I own anything in the 1,000 piece mark. Cool video to watch.

More Lord of the Rings Lego news!

The awesomeness that will be "Lord of the Rings LEGO" continues! Recently, images of the principle mini-figures and some set names were released. The set names, along with the mini-figures included, were leaked and hence unofficial. The photos for the mini-figures, however, were officially released by LEGO. 

I am ecstatic about these new sets but am still confused why they wouldn't start with sets that would tie into the Hobbit movie. I think they should definitely produce sets for the trilogy but it would make more sense to begin with the first book to keep the sets in a more chronological order. It also stands to reason that MGM Studios and Peter Jackson would've preferred a toy licence with Lego that had them first make Hobbit sets. 

List of set names:
- "Gandalf Arrives" – Minifigures: Gandalf, Frodo
- "Shelob Attacks" – Minifigures: Samwise, Frodo, Gollum
- "Uruk-hai Army" – Minifigures: x4 Uruk-hai with a siege crossbow, x1 Rohirrim Soldier, x1 Rider Of Rohan with his horse
- "Attack On Weathertop"- Minifigures: Samwise, Frodo, Aragon, x2 Nazgul
- "Mines Of Moria" – Minifigures: Frogo, Gimli, Legolas, Boromir, x2 Goblins, x2 Skeletons, Cave Troll
- "The Battle Of Helms Deep" – Minifigures: Aragon, Gimli, Legolas, Theoden, x5 Uruk-hai

Lepors & Pirates

A new claymation movie entitled Pirates! Band of Misfits is set to be released on April 27th, 2012. The movie is produced by Aardman Animation, the same company that brought us British claymation gems like Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run. Recently, the movie has come under fire from Leprosy Advocacy groups because of a scene where the Pirate captain boards a boat that turns out to be filled with lepers. According to the angered advocacy groups, a particular comedic scene that involved a leper loosing his arm only helps to further the stigma of the disease (movie trailer below).

Leprosy (also known as Hansen's disease) is a disease that continues to ravage people across the globe. Leprosy is curable with the treatment of several drugs over a period of months to years, with vital importance being placed on early diagnosis. Leprosy is uncommon in wealthy nations but is common in poorer nations such as India and across Africa.

I did not agree with the outright removal of this scene by leprosy groups, but instead felt that this was an instance of both PC gone a muck and a huge missed opportunity by leprosy groups, as contradictory as it may sound. What I mean by this is that political correctness in this case had the result of stripping the subject entirely away from the a source that potentially could have brought greater exposure to the disease -Pirates: Band of Misfits. A joke, that by appearance in the trailer suggested it had made light of the issue but did not seem to be maleficent in nature towards those afflicted with the disease.  The missed opportunity here was huge. Instead of stripping the joke away, leprosy advocacy groups could instead have encouraged Aardman Animation to include a short trailer that educated the audience about the disease. This trailer could have been shown right before the movie and mentions the joke within the trailer, instructing the audience how leprosy is actually a current disease where funding is greatly needed for medicine and research. The result of this missed opportunity would be to educate millions of people across the world about the current issues involved with leprosy and perhaps have an added benefit of gaining new benefactors through those watching the film.

The common saying "there's no such thing as bad publicity" does not apply here. All that has happened here is bad publicity for leprosy advocacy groups because of their missed opportunity to promote their cause and that they chose a fight with a children's animated movie. What furthers the situation is that a particular individual from The Leprosy Mission has made it her goal to connect with anyone who disagrees with the removal of this scene. This lawyer, a miss Sian Arulanatham, is the Head of Programs for the mission and a self-proclaimed Human Rights Defender according to her Twitter account. Sian sends personal insults and accusations to people who criticize this move by leprosy groups on Twitter. Below is the Twitter exchange between myslef and miss Arulanatham.

The part that annoyed me the most about miss Arulanatham's Tweets was that she turned my criticism of a situation into a personal insult and assumed a lot about someone she had never met. In her first Tweet she wrote "clearly you have not experienced such suffering". Such attacks on people via the social network does no one any good and in fact it ultimately hurts the institution /beliefs you represent, in this case leprosy advocacy groups. In fact, this runs counter to what the leprosy advocacy groups were saying in the first place: that Pirates had made the joke a personal matter against those afflicted with leprosy, or in another words a joke is not funny when it comes at the expense of someone. Furthermore, her Tweet would suggest that only those that have been affect by 'suffering' can understand leprosy. Does this mean that my opinions mean less because I have not 'suffered' enough according to her vague criteria.

 

I truly hope that the Leprosy Mission rethinks who they have representing them through social media networks and also rethinks how they want to go about creating social awareness for their cause. Via attacking children's movies and forming personal attacks on people through social media venues, groups such as the Leprosy Mission will never achieve the positive exposure that I believe they are ultimately seeking. 

 

I believe that issues such as leprosy deserve attention and illustrate a true tragedy in this world since it is a problem that can be solved. We have the medication but for various reasons it is not being dealt to those suffering with the problems. What is disheartening is that the groups that supposedly stand to help and be the voice for those ailing with leprosy are instead more concerned with how a children's movie is going to depict the disease and how a few people on Twitter disagreed with their stance against the said movie.