Anchorhead

That's really weird to see.  In a good way.

Chukkas.  

Ill post the pair I decide on.  I know, riveting. 

Fang Zei said:

generalfrevious said:

Tyrphanax said:

Discuss.

 I don't know. Abrams seems to be more of a star wars guy than a star trek one. And Episode VII isn't written by by the unholy trinity of Orci,Kurtzman, and Lindelof.

It's more of a glass half-empty thing. No, it's not being written by Orci/Kurtzman and Lindelof, but on the other hand Abrams threw out Arndt's draft so he could completely re-write it. The fact that he's doing so with Kasdan's input is the glass half-full perspective.

 Tossing out what most likely was a Lucas/Disney idea and bringing in Kasdan to help with a total rewrite is, to me at least, much more than half full. He's looking for guidance from someone who was very involved in the film largely considered the best of the series.  

I've had multiple hives for years and never had any complaints.  As Bingo said, bees don't attack unless they feel threatened.  Bees out gathering pollen, nectar, or water pay little attention to the goings on around them. I suppose you could upset a few if you started trying to swat them off of a blooming tree or bush or a bird bath, but even then they'd not sting immediately.  Warning bumps first before they resorted to attacking.

Until last year, I lived in a typical suburban neighborhood where there are neighbors on all sides, fairly close.  A few would watch me work the hives (from a distance), some asked me questions occasionally, but never a single complaint.

I didn't let people work a hive with me unless I had an epi pen handy, just in case. Never had any issues. No one has ever been stung while visiting and that includes many an afternoon/evening sitting outside with a glass of wine.

I live away from the city now, so no close neighbors. The people across the road have asked if they can watch the next time I extract. I told them I have extra suits and will let them know when. Probably three months from now.

Cool.  No doubt the solitary bees and wasps will use it.  As far as asking farmers if you can keep a hive on their property, that's not uncommon out here either. 

I have a beekeeper friend who keeps a hive at a local restaurant.  They get some of the honey, which they use, and it's a bit of a novelty that may help expose people to how interesting and essential bees are.  I'll see if I can find a link to the place.

Bingowings said:

Chateau Bingobees :

 Is that Rosemary?

Bingowings said:

It has inspired me to construct a bee hotel or two, there is a small space at the back of the garden. I may be able to do something similar behind the shed.

 Welcome aboard.  ;-)

It's not hard to do really.  There are all manner of pre-made hives available.  If you're doing it to harvest some for yourself, it can be a lot of fun. If you're doing it just for the conservation, that's fun too.  I could watch my girls all day.  Super interesting.

The only part that's an adjustment is getting used to being around thousands of bees.  You have to make peace with that.  It's not for everyone.  However, once you get a feel for how they aren't a threat, you'll be fine.

That video has some fundamentals, even in so different an environment.  Sudden movements and swatting (even though it's a natural instinct to do so) alarms and upsets them.  Smoke is a distraction, just as they said. 

They'll assume the forest is on fire and start filling up on stored honey.  They then await the command from the queen to evacuate the hive.  After 30 minutes or so, all is back to normal.

Let me know if you decide to do it.  I can put you on to tons of sites, books, suppliers, etc.  In fact, I'm starting another hive in two weeks myself.  I'm about halfway through building the deeps and supers.  The new queen and her small colony will be here in about two weeks.  I'll post some picks of the install. 

Other than a few parts I wasn't aware of for Sydow, plus Serkis as a motion capture model, I haven't seen a single one of these people in anything.  That will help me with with getting back into the GFFA.  I've been gone a very long time.

From what I've read, they seemed to pick actors respected by their peers, so I expect some solid work.  Going by Abrams' ability to get deep performances from his crew, as well as picking out great ones to begin with, I'm not worried abut anything other than story and whatever Serkis will be doing.

Still somewhat optimistic.  I'm a huge fan of Abrams' work, but he seems to have all manner of advisers and management whispering in his ear this time out.

Probably related;  I nearly watched Star Wars77 this week.  Nearly.  ;-)  Would have been the first time in 10 years.

http://thecolbertreport.cc.com/videos/td7npw/tip-wag---j-j--abrams---u-s--congress

Hilarious.

Leper Messiah TR said:

jar jar abrams is 100% guaranteed to turn VII into something that destroys sw canon more than the prequels ever had. anybody welcoming this fucktard to direct the most important movie of the decade has to be a complete retard

 Consider yourself warned.

http://originaltrilogy.com/forum/topic.cfm/Guidelines-for-Post-Content-and-General-Behavior-Or-How-Not-To-Get-Banned/forum/2/post/450138/#TopicPost450138

doubleofive said:

Andy Serkis. Love it.

Interesting.  That's immediately where the Debbie Downer noise played in my head.  With the exception of Planet Of The Apes (which I love), I'm not a fan of CGI characters via motion-capture.  That hints at a JarJar\Gollum type of side kick.  That's Serkis' bread and butter.

I don't mean to single out Disney.  They're in charge now, so I just use it as a broad banner.  

Baronlando said:

DominicCobb said:

Interesting read if you want to know how the fuck Wookieepedia is reacting to all this: 

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Forum:SH:The_Great_EU_Purge_(New_Canon;Legends_discussion)?t=20140428034101

 Yeeesh. Some of these guys are bananas. 

 I don't mean to be dense (it just comes naturally), but I cannot make sense of the blogosphere\nerdom implosion over this. It's a business decision by Disney.  Granted it's one I don't care for**, but it doesn't change the published stories.

Personal Canon is all that matters.  See\read what you like and discard the rest.  All of this is make believe. Yet there are people on TFN and Wookieepedia who are seriously distraught over how their world has been ruined.

They're acting as though something has changed other than a business model\ direction.  They're saying things like they need this to change, or need something or other to be officially dealt with, officially addressed, they can't move on until some such has been corrected, etc, etc.

Are they incapable of thinking for themselves?  Incapable of having imaginations, or ideas?  FFS !   As the Yellow Submarine three-sheet hanging on the wall in my office says;  Nothing Is Real.

** My dislike of the decision is purely selfish.  I would love a Mara Jade\Talon Karrde film. I'd dig seeing Booster Terrik and the Errant Venture realized. The Outer Rim stories, to me, are infinitely  more interesting than the tiny Lucasverse.  Beyond what I'd like to see in a theater, "Official" canon" is just "Official" noise.

Fang Zei said:

...personal canon is the only one that should ultimately matter.

If you liked a story more than the official one that contradicts it, so what?

 Exactly. 

I'm disappointed to see Disney follow in the footsteps of Lucas and arrogantly decide they can tell people what they are allowed to follow and enjoy, or at least attempt to.

Even stranger is that there are fans who will let Disney make that decision for them.   I've taken a glance around the nerdosphere since the news release and there are plenty of fans who are put out or upset that the stories they love aren't official anymore. 

I can't make sense of someone letting other people make that decision for them. All of this is make believe.  Disney can re-release the novels under whatever label they want, for whatever reason they want.  In the past 35 years, there are 295 books written by 79 authors.  They are a solid part of this franchise.

Same as Lucas and his "levels" of canon. He let authors revive his franchise, and then proceed to keep it alive.  He then has the nerve to think he can tell them (as well as their fans) what level of real the make believe was.  Even more arrogant, that was after he'd used some of it in his films.

Following Disney's news I have much less hope for the sequels being anything I'll embrace and follow, but I'll see the first one.  I respect and admire a lot of Abrams' work, particularly Star Trek. He may make a solid, respected film.

I wasted eight bucks on one of Lucas' marketing cartoons - and that was after I'd already lost all respect for him.  Considering Abrams has made three films I'm very fond of (and own), it will be nowhere near the roll of dice Phantom was.

darklordoftech said:

THIS is possibly the worst scene in all 6 movies:

 It also shows why having a completely CGI scene can sometimes look so off.  Particularly when it's a composite of several drawings created independent of each other.

i haven't seen the film, so I may be reading this wrong.  To the far right it looks as if someone is lying on the ground.  There is someone standing very close.  The shadow cast from the person standing is on the ground next to the body, but it's missing from the body, and only cast on the ground.

It was there first and the added body interrupts it.  The shadow is too dark to be interrupted that way. If the light source were strong enough to remove the shadow from the arm, it would also wash it out on the ground. It's poorly rendered.

In the one prequel I saw, the CGI took me out of the film because it not only looked like a cartoon, but it also failed to follow the laws of physics. it looks fake on several levels. 

Tobar said:

The man is 83 years old and still going strong.

 And from the looks of that photo, still pretty handy with a shuriken.  ;-)

Oh, come on!  You all saw it.  124 pages and the movie is over a year away.  Would it kill them to throw us a bone?  For crying out loud, we're discussing Shatner now.  ;-)

That said;  Dude's amazing for 83.

DuracellEnergizer said:

I won't be convinced until the OOT gets a proper rerelease and the EU abandons the use of PT-styled Sith.

 I fully agree on the Original films being properly released.  It would signal the studio's acknowledgement of their existence as valid, official films. The original story, if you will.  Which they most certainly are.  It will be a long time coming and finally end Lucas' weird and blatant lying.  He has some mental issues for sure and the fans have been made to suffer them.  Disney can correct this for us.

The EU is another matter entirely.  It's not a single entity (or in this case three) being squelched and damaged by a single individual who has no checks & balances.  The EU is a 35-year-old ongoing collection of works by over fifty individuals.  That will forever be a pick and choose as to what you accept or don't accept. 

1977/Daley/Zahn. 

SilverWook said:

I must confess that if we saw an older Luke standing in a certain spot watching that double sunset, I would get goosebumps. That could be the teaser shot right there.

Luke went back to Tatooine in the Marvel comic, and the scene where he returned to the ruins of the moisture farm was touching.

 I agree.  However, for me it would absolutely have to be a visit to a long-deserted, ruined homestead, decades later.  I never saw the last two films, but even the revisit in the fourth film killed the magic of the place.

No doubt, I'm intrigued by what Abrams can do.  That said, I'd really prefer a departure from the tiny story and universe Lucas couldn't seem to move away from.

OBI-WAN37 said:

 Indeed. I'll be a martyr.

 That's one word for it.

ExNihilo said:

 I thought I saw a copy of it on the Spleen. Is it not the right version? What was changed?

 Probably faster to list what wasn't changed.  It really is a mess.

http://thunderpeel2001.blogspot.com/2013/05/george-lucass-thx-1138-explored-part-1.html

Sadly, it takes an 11-minute video to cover them all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIfTT8EGj3A

Fang Zei said:

I'd be happy if he didn't do any homages at all. We had enough of that in the prequels, like Anakin and Obi-Wan walking into that bar on Coruscant.

The only connective tissue I really care about is the style of the filmmaking itself. We already know this will be shot in the same format as the OT, but I hope Abrams and Mindel are able to make it fit with the overall aesthetic established in those movies.

 My thoughts exactly.  Make a film that takes us on an adventure, not one that panders to pop culture references or winks at the audience.  Lucas spent four films revisiting Star Wars77.  That's four films too many.

I don't think they're give-aways.  Looks like the players will be wearing them.

http://bloguin.com/theoutsidecorner/2014-articles/durham-bulls-unveil-incredible-star-wars-night-jerseys.html

I read an interview with him once where he said he bought a box of magic tricks but never opened it.  Could be that.  Can't see why that would figure into a Star Wars -Star Trek cartoon though.  He's known for so much more.

*Edit*

Found this article about it.  Looks like he says movies are mystery boxes.  I assume it's that and not that actual magic box he never opened.  Still seems a bit of a stretch to put it in the cartoon.  The Bad Robot shirt works better.

http://6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/02/whats-in-j-j-abramss-mystery-box/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0

imperialscum said:

...it is an awful close-up shot that captures nothing but one wall of the house.

while SE additionally relays information about natural environment

 Interesting that this comes up in a discussion is about generational differences. I see this as a perfect example of one.  All of your arguing is about how improved the visual stimulation is with the SEs.  Story doesn't appear to enter into it.  Even when the story has been damaged by the SEs, which it has several times.  Style over substance.

Newer generations of fans have grown up on video games and seem to need every moment of every frame filled up with some sort of visual stimulation.  The PT itself is a product of it's time and even more so in the hands of a director with a clear disconnect with the story. It's all visual stimulation, but no substance. It's no wonder the TFNers are so full of SE gushing.  To them, all of that visual downtime they're uncomfortable with has been corrected.

In response to the first sentence of the example above, why in the world is the exact shape of the house or it's adjoining environment so important?  We all know what the planet looks like and how sparsely populated it is.  Why do we need need every moment of every scene showing us some sort of visual. I certainly don't need scenes created and added twenty years after the fact showing me that unnecessary visual noise.

The biggest difference I see with newer generations, Star Wars or otherwise,  is their either inability, or possibly a lack of desire, to let their imaginations fill in the blanks.  There are certainly exceptions, but for the most part I see SE changes being lauded regularly because of things like the more colorful, moving, alternate angle of the wipe as they enter a building.

It's ok to let a scene breathe.  The audience won't lose interest in the story.  In fact, some of the younger generation may discover they actually like it.