Catching Up With Old Friends.

With all the excitement surrounding the Star Wars franchise, I decided to go back and reread some of the books I read during my teenage years.  My early teenage years were the peak of my Star Wars fandom where I read as many books as I could convince my mom to buy for me.  So far in this process of returning to these books, I've gotten through Tales from the Cantina and Heir to the Empire.  Both books were life changing at the time and were still a joy to read nearly 20 years later.     

If you're familiar with either of these two books, I'm sure you quickly surmised that Tales from Jabba's Palace, Tales of the Bounty Hunter, Dark Force Rises, and The Last Command are the next four books on my Star Wars read list.  Shadows of the Empire, The Courtship of Princess Leia, and the Jedi Academy Trilogy are also on my list before hopefully tackling some stories I never got around to reading.

All of this eventually leads to the new line of Star Wars novels set  to kick off in November, starting with Tarkin and followed by Heir to the Jedi and Lords of the Sith.  I'm hoping these three novels will be a great kickoff leading up to the release of Star Wars: Episode VII.    

As for my rereading, the biggest take away from this process so far has been the realization of how mightily I struggled to pronounce the names of characters, locations, and ships as a teenager.  I know reading wasn't my strongest suit at the time but seeing how easy it is now to read a name such as Talon Karrde had me a bit embarrassed of my younger self.

Are the Nightsisters coming to the big screen in Star Wars: Episode VII?

A Star Wars universe that has been noticeably devoid of a female presence just added two more to its ranks.

According to a release from Lucasfilm, Lupita Nyong'o of "12 Years a Slave" and Gwendoline Christie of "Game of Thrones" will be joining the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII.

Perhaps the influx of female cast members means we will finally get a glimpse of the Nightsisters on the big screen as the antagonists in Episode VII. For those unfamiliar, the Nightsisters are a sect of witches that are comparable to the Sith.

Through "Star Wars: The Clone Wars", we know that the Nightsisters are from the planet Dathomir and use a combination of the Force and magic in their dark art. In the show, the Nightsisters appeared in several episodes before having their order nearly wiped out in an attack lead by General Grievous.     

The Nightsisters originally appeared in the 1994 novel "The Courtship of Princess Leia" by Dave Wolveton. In the novel, the Nightsisters rode Rancors which were indigenous to the planet. Awesome. 

Also through the Clone Wars cartoon, we know that the character of Darth Maul originates from Dathomir as well. He belonged to a sect known as the Nightbrothers who were subservient to the Nightsisters.

5 Minor League Prospects on the verge of being called up.

With June's Super 2 deadline approaching, MLB teams will be looking to move their impact prospects to the major leagues.  Here's a look at 5 Minor League players that will impact your favorite teams and fantasy baseball leagues this summer.
 

1.  Andrew Heaney - LHP Florida Marlins

Regarded by many as the best LHP in minor league baseball, Heaney has dominated the competition this season.  Between stops at AA and AAA, Heaney has made 11 appearances so far posting an ERA of 2.09 in 64 2/3 innings and a strikeout to walk ratio of 66/13.

The combination of his performance, the injury to staff ace Jose Fernandez, and that the Marlins are sitting in second place in the NL East all but guarantee a call up early in June to bolster the staff. 

2.  Gregory Polanco - RF Pittsburgh Pirates

A year after clinching their first playoff berth in 21 years, the Pirates have struggled offensively and sit 5 games under .500 as of June 1st.  Their failure to get runners on base in front of reigning NL MVP Andrew McCutchen has allowed teams to pitch around him consistently and has been one of the driving forces behind the Pirates currently sitting 26 out of 30 teams in runs scored this season.

Gregory Polanco is batting .349 with 6 HRs and 46 RBIs through 54 games this season at AAA Indianapolis.  In anticipation of his arrival, the Pirates have moved Polanco into the leadoff spot to allow him to see pitches in the spot in the batting order he will occupy in the majors. 

3.  Joc Pederson - CF Los Angeles Dodgers

The Los Angeles Dodgers find themselves in an eerily similar position to where they were entering June last season.  The Dodgers once again face a surplus of outfielders with a top prospect scorching hot in the minors knocking on the door.  

Last season saw a June 2 call up of Yasiel Puig and the Dodgers may be contemplating a similar move with Joc Pederson this year.  Through 52 games at AAA Albuquerque, Pederson is hitting .337 with 15 HRs and 13 SBs. 

The recent move of Matt Kemp from CF to LF is the first move towards bringing Pederson to the majors.  The Dodgers will look to move either Carl Crawford or Andre Either to another team before the July deadline thus delaying Pederson's arrival ever so slightly.  

4.  Jonathan Singleton - 1B Houston Astros

After the sale of the team in 2011, the Houston Astros switch into rebuilding mode.  This season we're seeing the first wave of prospects that are part of that process make their way to the majors led by George Springer and soon will be followed by power hitting first baseman Jonathan Singleton. 

Singleton has shown improvements in both power and contact at AAA Oklahoma City this season after struggling in the same spot last season.  The Astros received Singleton from the Philadelphia Phillies in the trade for Hunter Pence during the 2011 season and it finally starting to show the promise the Astros anticipated. 

5.  Taijuan Walker - RHP Seattle Mariners

If not for injury Taijuan Walker would have started the season in the Major Leagues.  After a brief cup of coffee in the majors last season, Walker was penciled in to the third spot in the Mariners rotation during spring training before being put on the DL with a minor shoulder injury.

Walker is currently on a rehab assignment at AAA Tacoma and should find himself back in the majors after a few more outings. 

Here are five other players whose arrival will be slightly delayed to the Major Leagues but you'll see them make an impact at the big league level before the end of the season.

• Noah Syndergaard - RHP New York Mets
• Javier Baez - SS Chicago Cubs
• Archie Bradley - RHP Arizona Diamondbacks
• Francisco Lindor - SS Cleveland Indians
• Ken Giles - RHP Philadelphia Phillies

 

Speculating on recent Star Wars rumors.

This week word leaked out that Disney has mapped out films in the Star Wars franchise through the end of the decade.  While there hasn't been an official conformation from Disney or Lucas film regarding this schedule, it is consistent with the statements from Disney executives stating that we will see at least one Star Wars film per year going forward.  Here is the timeline that was released:

2015: Episode VII

2016: Boba Fett

2017: Episode VIII

2018: Han Solo

2019: Episode IX

2020: Red Five

For our purposes today, I'd like to take a look at the three standalone origin films; Boba Fett, Han Solo and Red Five. 

First off, those three names pertain to specific characters in the Star Wars universe.  Boba Fett and Han Solo are two of the most popular characters in the Star Wars Universe and for those unfamiliar with Red Five, I'll explain later in this post about who that is.

All three films are likely to take place in the 19 year time frame between the ending of Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope.  That will allow for Disney to use characters even casual Star Wars fans are familiar with at different stages of their lives and bridge the gap between the two franchises. 

Let's take a closer look at each film individually and speculate about what may be.

BOBA FETT

STORY: 

The early rumors involving this film had Lawrence Kasdan penning a script with someone killing the original Boba Fett, taking his armor and assuming his identity.  While we now know that this film will be directed by filmmaker Gareth Edwards (Godzilla) and written by Gary Whitta (Book of Eli), I would bet that there was still some truth to that early Kasdan rumor.  Kasdan likely wrote an outline or treatment for Disney to set the wheels in motion on this project.

Boba Fett is a bounty hunter by profession.  I'm sure we'll see a story of hunter and prey.

CASTING: 

The idea of someone killing Boba Fett and assuming his identity makes perfect sense from a casting stand point.  The fact that they wouldn't have to use Daniel Logan (Boba Fett in Episode II) or someone who resembles him in the role would allow Disney to then open the casting up to stars that have an established box office track record.  Building this project around a star is just standard risk management.

I wouldn't be surprised if one of two actors that were rumored to be attached to Episode VII were actually in discussion with Disney the whole time to play the role of Fett instead.  Those gentlemen are Michael Fassbender and Benedict Cumberbatch. 

The saying goes "there's a grain of truth in every lie".  While their involvement in Episode VII has been proven untrue, perhaps the rumors weren't completely off base.

HAN SOLO

STORY:

Out of the three origin stories I'd have to say that the Han Solo story has me most nervous.  Han Solo is the most established out of the three characters associated with the stand alone films.  While we don't know much about his past (he's a smuggler, he won the Falcon from Lando, and he lost one of Jabba's shipments to the Imperials) we know enough about his character to feel certain actions wouldn't be consistent with the original trilogy. 

The idea of origin stories in general has a bad connotation to me.  I am hopeful that Disney realizes that you don't need to waste two hours telling the history of a character when you can just jump into an adventure with an established character.

Part of the greatness about the original trilogy is that they don't waste an entire film explain the origins of the Empire and Rebellion; you just jump right into the thick of it. 

I don't need to know why Han Solo became a smuggler.  If they play it right they will start with him already an established smuggler avoiding Imperial cruisers and finishing a job at the onset of the movie. 

As for some wishful thinking, after finishing said job he could be contacted about a big job where he's smuggling secretive cargo with a huge payday, no questions asked (right up Han's alley).  His curiosity gets the best of him however and he has to check what it is in the containers he shipping.  Turns out he's hauling Wookies into slavery, one of which would be Chewbacca.  The idea of transporting Wookies into a life of slavery doesn't sit well with Han so he frees the Wookies and has a side kick for life in Chewbacca.  While opening the containers Han triggered a sensor that alerted his employers and now he has them hot on his trail. 

If you can't tell, I truly want this movie to be excellent. 

CASTING: 

When Disney first acquired the rights to Star Wars, the most prevalent name I read in rumors was that of Zac Efron.  Another name that came up in rumors almost as frequently was that of Ryan Gosling.

Once again, we know that neither one of them is going to be in Episode VII but that doesn't mean that either of them wasn't approached about a role within the Star Wars universe. 

Both actors have a history with Disney and have the looks to fill the role of Han Solo.  If I had to guess at this point I would say we'll be seeing Efron as Solo in 2018.

RED FIVE: 

STORY:

The name Red Five is a bit ambiguous and for good reason at this point.  With the project still several years away from completion, Disney likely has a good idea as to what character from the Star Wars universe will be Red Five but that it is still not written in stone. 

As for some background and history, Red Five is the call signal of the fifth member of the Red Squadron in the Rebel Alliance.  It was the call signal that Luke Skywalker used during the Battle of Yavin where he blew up the first Death Star as a member of the Red Squadron but for this film we'll be looking at someone who held that call signal prior to Luke's joining the Rebellion.

This movie will likely show the Rebellion in its infancy and the formation of the Red Squadron while revolving around the story of the character of Red Five.

The character that I alluded to early most likely to be Red Five would be Wedge Antilles.  Wedge flew as Red 2 during the battle of Yavin and Red Leader during the Battle of Endor.  He's the one who piloted the X-Wing that helped to blow up the second Death Star alongside Lando Calrissian.  He's also the only known pilot to survive both Death Star attacks.

The actor who portrayed Wedge Antilles in Return of the Jedi, Dennis Lawson, recently stated that he was approached to reprise the role of Wedge in Episode VII but declined. 

CASTING:

With this film slated for 2020 it's not realistic to know who would play the part of Wedge Antilles at this point but I'm sure Disney will find someone in their early 20s to fit the bill. 

I'm hopeful that this movie bridges the gap between Episode III and IV.  I'd love to see Jimmy Smits reprise his role of Bail Organa for starters and for us to get a more detailed view of Alderaan. 

We could also see younger versions of characters such as Admiral Ackbar, Mon Mothma, and General Crix Madine in supporting roles once again.

The Simpsons Tapped Out Future Content

As a Tapped Out Addict, I frequently find myself considering what content I will eventually be able to add to my town from future updates.  Like with most of my musings, I decided to scour the internet hoping to quench my desire for useless knowledge.  Unfortunately for me, I was only able to find lists that were created in 2012 and have since seen all or most characters added to the game.  Luckily for you, I decided to make my own list.  Well, two lists actually.  The first list is of characters that would be part of a regular level update as free or premium items.  The second list contains characters that would work better as part of the Friend Points Rewards with no tasks or buildings associated.  Enjoy.

Free/Premium Characters

Honorable Mentions:  Frank Grimes, Lyle Lanley, Arthur Crandall & Gabbo, Ruth Powers, Captain Lance Murdoch, Janey Powell, Wendell Borton, Lindsay Naegle, Cookie Kwan and Stacey Lovell

15.  Artie Ziff:  Tell me, Homer, what's it like being married to Marge?

 



14.  Old Jewish Man:  Old grey mare she ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be, ain't what she used to be.

13.  Mr. Bergstrom:  And for the record, there were a few Jewish cowboys. Big guys, who were great shots, and spent money freely.

12.  Mrs. Jacqueline Bouvier:  I have laryngitis. It hurts to talk. So I'll just say one thing...You never do anything right.

 

11.  Dr. Marvin Monroe:  This is not the way to get healthy!

10.  Akira:  You can if you believe you can.

9.  Helen and Jessica Lovejoy:  From now on, I'll use my gossip for good instead of evil.

8.  Lunch lady Doris/Dora Freedman:  The cafeteria staff is complaining about the mice in the kitchen. I want to hire a new staff.

7.  Lionel Hutz:  And as for your case, don't you worry. I've argued in front of every judge in the state. Often as a lawyer.

6.  Herb Powell:  Now, what do I do? I mean, this is the guy who ruined me. Then again, he's my brother... So many conflicting emotions. How to express them?

5.  Bleeding Gums Murphy:  The blues isn't about feeling better. It's about making other people feel WORSE, and making a few bucks while you're at it.

4.  Rabbi Hyman Krustofski:    I have no son!

3.  Stonecutter Number One:  And now for the final ordeal: The Paddling Of The Swollen Ass! With paddles.

 

2.  Radioactive Man and Fallout Boy:  Billowing backpacks Radioactive Man, it's the worst villian of them all, the Scoutmaster!  I see him, Fallout Boy.

 

1.  Troy McClure:  What a terrible waste... Hi, I'm actor Troy McClure! You might remember me from such driver's ed films as "Alice's Adventures Through The Windshield Glass" and "The Decapitation of Larry Leadfoot." For the next sixty minutes, we'll be seeing actual film of car crash victims.

The greatest peripheral character The Simpsons has every seen, Troy McClure needs to be included in this game.  

Friend Points Rewards Characters

10.  Leon Kompowsky/Michael Jackson

 

So we have Calmwood Mental Hospital but no patients?  (As of now, Ned can't check in.)  Even though Leon/Michael was committed to the New Bedlam Insane Asylum, all Tapped Out Springfield's could use a good mental patient wandering the streets.    

9.  Lisa's Pony: Princess



Bart got Stampy, now it's only fair that Lisa gets her pony, Princess.  I loved the Godfather reference when Lisa woke up to pony head next to her in the episode Lisa's Pony.  The Simpsons' writers have always excelled in their references to cinema.

8.  Dr. Hector Von Colossus

Dr. Colossus first appeared as a photo of one of Malibu Stacey's (Stacey Lovell) ex-husbands and had his only line in Who Shot Mr. Burns?.  A very interesting character that the writers have refrained from using for whatever reasons.  Ideal for a Friend Points Reward.

7.  Corporal Punishment

The enforcer from the Krusty Show, Corporal Punishment seems like a more likely choice than Tina Ballerina for inclusion in Tapped Out.  Hopefully the game is around long enough that we get to see Sideshow Luke Perry.

6.  Stewart (Power Plant Duck)

Stewart was shown as an employee at the Nuclear Power Plant during the episode The Last Temptation of Homer which also introduced us to Mindy Simmons.  A duck in a hardhat would fit right in with this game.  Monty Burns still stands by his hiring practices.

5.  Sir Oinks-A-Lot

The mascot from Springfield A&M, Sir Oinks-A-Lot, would be the latest in a long line of animals and pets to be apart of The Simpsons: Tapped Out.  At some point, I'd like to see the college nerds included in the game as well.  

4.  The Devil

 



I know the game has a Ned Flanders version of the devil but I've always been partial to the version from Bart Gets Hit By A Car.  I guess the problem is that the devil has shown up with several different appearances through the years.

3.  Gunter & Ernst & Anastasia

 



I'm sure these three performers from Monty Burns Casino could work as regular level update characters if the casino was ever added.  Since we've already seen one casino (Caesar's Pow-Wow Casino), I find it unlikely that we'd get two.  So they get demoted to Friend Points Rewards status.     

2.  Bear

Since Bart and Lisa are covered, it's time for Maggie's own furry friend/friends.  Having a bear sucking on a pacifier seems just right for the Tapped Out streets.  Perhaps you'd be able to set the bear to a task of walking around with Maggie much like the episode The Call of the Simpsons from season 1.

1.  Rasputin The Friendly Russian & Professor Werner Von Brawn

 

One of my favorite minor moments from any episode is the scene in Bart the Daredevil where Homer (at Moe's) and Bart (at home) are watching the Rasputin vs. Von Brawn match and see the Truckasaurus commercial (I'd gladly pay 10,000,000 for Truckasaurus).  As a fan of both wrestling and monster trucks, this combination of the two within 2 minutes of television still amazes me over 20 years later. 

 

If you miss this, you'd better be dead... or in jail...And if you're in jail, break out!  

Just when you think you know the answers, I change the questions.

 

 

 

When starting this blog, I wanted to include a regular piece where I answered question, so when coming up with a title I took a page out of the playbook of one of the greatest talkers in wrestling history, "Rowdy" Roddy Piper.  If all goes according to plan, "Just when you think you know the answers, I changed the questions" will hopefully include some of the same hostility and aggression that Piper regularly displayed on Piper's Pit.   

 

 

 

Today's edition was specifically inspired by Chuck Klosterman's HYPERtheticals: 50 questions for insane conversation.  I found the questions to be more fun than insane and for those interested in checking them out, you can buy it here.  Here are two questions from Klosterman and my responses.     

 

 

1.Forever 75

 

You celebrate your 75th birthday in good health. As far as you can tell, you are a spry, relatively normal 75-year-old. And this condition does not seem to change over time: When you celebrate your 80th birthday, you look and feel exactly as you did on your 75th. When you hit 90, you still look and feel 75. On your 100th birthday, you realize that most of your friends are now dead or dying -- but physically, you are the same independent person you were 25 years ago. You hit age 110 with the same results. Every year, you are celebrating a new birthday without physically evolving beyond the age of 75. Doctors have no explanation for this inexplicable stasis.

How old would you have to be before you would start to seriously believe that you are immortal?

 

Let's start off with this.  I'm currently 33.  I'll be 75 in the year 2056.  That's pretty crazy to think about right there.  It feels weird even thinking about the year 2056.  So with some more simple math I'd be 110 in the year 2091.  Even crazier.    

The oldest recorded living person to this point lived to be 122.  Living to 122 would put me in the year 2103.  Life in the 22nd century.  Now let's consider something else, advances in technology and medicine.  That record of 122 is highly likely to be blown past well before I get there. 

Now, I’m sure if I end up being as vigorous and energetic at 90 as I was at 75 I would begin to mock death.  I'd have to crack some jokes about being a tenth of the way to Yoda's age when he died and knowing I was certainly heading for a life of 900 years or about how I figured I'd live forever but assumed it would be a life with my brain incased in the spider droid vessel of a B'omarr monk.  Joking aside, how old would I have to be to start seriously thinking I'm immortal?

125.  While the thought would have crept into my consciousness by the time I was 90, there would always have been doubt.  I have to think 50 years without showing any signs of aging would have me convinced I will live forever regardless of the advances made to halt the effects of aging. 

While I always thought I'd live forever, I figured it would be as a B'omarr monk.

 

 

2. Front Page News

 

Defying all expectation, a group of Scottish marine biologists capture a live Loch Ness Monster. In an almost unbelievable coincidence, a bear hunter in the Pacific Northwest shoots a Sasquatch in the thigh, thereby allowing zoologists to take the furry monster into captivity. These events happen on the same afternoon. That evening, the president announces he may have thyroid cancer and will undergo a biopsy later that week.

 

You are the front page editor of The New York Times: What do you play as the biggest story?

 

Sasquatch.  There is no debating this and the logic is simple. 

Let's deal with the president first.  According to the statistics I found while researching this dilemma male patients with thyroid cancer have a 74% survival rate in the first five years and we don't even know the president has thyroid cancer.  He's just going for a biopsy which is an everyday occurrence.  Sorry Mr. President, you're not cracking the top 2 stories on this day.  He's gone.

Now to the real debate, BIGFOOT vs. NESSIE. 

First off, salt water oceans make up 71 percent of the earth’s surface.  We as humans are barely able to search the depths of the seas.  Hundreds of thousands of species are waiting to be discovered within the confines of the Earth’s oceans as you read this.  To bring current events into the equation, we can't find a single plane that is in the ocean and this plane was sending out a transmission to help locate it.  While improbable, the idea that a live Loch Ness Monster exists is still much greater than that of Sasquatch.

Secondly, this is the New York Times not some UK newspaper.  Location has to be a consideration as well.  While the New York Times considers itself a global newspaper, it's main audience is still the people of the United States.  A discovery in the USA definitely trumps that of a UK one.

The good news for me as the front page editor of The New York Times is this, there is room for three headlines above the fold of the front page.  So while Sasquatch will get top billing on the top right corner, all three stories will be there to see.

 

Episode VII. What is the Ancient Fear?

If you were the Jedi Order what would you fear?

To answer that question we’ll borrow a line from Jedi Master Yoda.  In Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace, Yoda says, "Always two there are, no more, no less. A master and an apprentice.”  The Star Wars universe has established this as the Rule of 2.  According to Star Wars Wikipedia page the Rule of 2 is defined as “that there must be only two Sith Lords at a time: a master to embody power, and an apprentice to crave it and eventually overthrow his master and adopt an apprentice of his own.”

The ancient fear referred to in the working title for Episode VII is simple; the Sith are no longer following the Rule of 2.



A master and an apprentice.

In the six previous installments of the Star Wars franchise we’ve always seen the Jedi battling one Dark Lord of the Sith at a time with brief moments against two at the end of each of the trilogies. Think about a movie where the likes of Darth Maul, Darth Tyranus, Darth Vader, and Darth Sidious were all on the screen at the same time, would that be something you were interested in watching? 

We're facing the realistic possibility of three films where Luke Skywalker and a fragile new Jedi Order are faced with the daunting task of battling numerous Sith Lords.  Count me in for that.

*Just to elaborate on this a little more, here is how I would have the story play out.  I would have the back story be that Christopher Lee's character (Count Dooku/Darth Tyranus), having been a member of the Jedi order, never truly saw the rational behind the Rule of 2.  Dooku decides to take on his own apprentice in secret and thus sets the ball in motion for a Sith Academy on a remote planet.  Based on his age, the character that Max von Sydow is playing would make sense to be Dooku's former apprentice and master of the Sith academy.  In the 50 years since Dooku's death, the academy very well could have amassed hundreds of Sith Lords who finally feel the time is right to strike and usher in the age of the Sith Order.

Straight to Video

Happy Cinco de Mayo!
You have to love any holiday that is celebrated more in the good old USA than the country of its origin, Mexico.  Either people will make any excuse to drink excessively or they really hate the French.  I'm going with binge drinking as the logic behind the Cinco de Mayo craze here in the states but just incase you're someone who hates the French, Napoleon also died on Cinco de Mayo.  So double bonus for you.  Drink up.

Also on this date in history the Freedom 7 spacecraft put the first American, Alan Shepard, into outer space.  Here's a video which details the Mercury Program's Freedom 7 and Alan Shepard's historic flight.

 

Side note pertaining to Alan Shepard.  I recently finished reading Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman.  In the book, Goldman dedicates a chapter to his experience of adapting the novel The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe into a screenplay.  For those unfamiliar, The Right Stuff is a book about post WWII test pilots and the stories of Project Mercury astronauts selected by NASA for the space program one of whom was Alan Shepard.  Point being, The Right Stuff is now on my to read list. 

 

For those of you who don't read, no worries, they made a movie.

 

 



Beyond the Infinite

Watching those videos and writing that previous section got me to thinking about one of my favorite movies, 2001 A Space Odyssey directed by Stanley Kubrick.  One of the urban legends attached to the ground breaking and influential film is that the band Pink Floyd was considered to record the soundtrack for the film.  The story goes that the band were giving an advanced cut of the film and what today is known as their album Meddle was originally intended to be the soundtrack for the film.  I suppose this story came to be when some fan years later popped 2001 into the VCR while listening to Pink Floyd and Wallah! a perfect match.  Here is a video that syncs Pink Floyd's song Echoes with 2001 A Space Odyssey - Jupiter and Beyond the Infinite.  I strongly encourage you to watch the entire video but if you can't handle a 24 minute video I understand, skip ahead to the 15:15 mark.

 

 

 

Room 237



If you thought that theory was bizarre, well, it's only going to get stranger from here on out.  Probably the key component for the association between Pink Floyd and Stanley Kubrick's film in the above video was the invention of the VCR.  The VCR ushered in a new era of film watching where a fan could now repeatedly watch a film and perhaps find hidden messages or greater themes that may have previously alluded them in a single theater viewing. 

 

The movie Room 237 is a documentary that delves into this phenomena by letting fans of another Kubrick film, The Shining, expound upon their views of what was really transpiring on film.  I went to go see Room 237 the week of it's release at the IFC Center in NYC last year.  I became aware of the documentary several months prior when a writer I enjoy, Chuck Klosterman, wrote about his experience of seeing a screening of Room 237 at a film festival.  Needless to say I was fascinated with one theory in particular that dealt with Kubrick's previous film 2001 A Space Odyssey, NASA, and The Shining.  You starting to see how everything is coming together here?  We'll get into that theory next though.  First, for those interested in viewing the documentary, it is now available for viewing on Netflix.  Here is the trailer for Room 237.

 

 

 

Now to the mother of all conspiracies, the lunar landing.  One of the theories in the film Room 237 deals with the conspiracy that, after completing his work on 2001: A Space Odyssey, Kubrick was contacted by NASA to help them fake a filming of the upcoming Apollo 11 mission to the moon.  The story goes that the US government felt the public would not get behind any space mission without some semblance of live video and/or sound to go along with the mission.  Unable to send images and audio directly back to earth from astronauts, Kubrick was brought in to use the techniques he developed for 2001 and create images to package to the American public.  I'll leave it at that and hopefully let you discovery more on your own.  Here's a documentary, Dark Side of the Moon: Stanley Kubrick and the Fake Moon Landings, that goes into more depth about Kubrick's involvement with the lunar landing. 

  

 

 

 

While I personally, without a shadow of a doubt, believe that the Apollo 11 astronauts completed their mission to the surface of the moon, I also find it highly likely that the images from that first trip were faked on a soundstage somewhere.  

 

Funny that somehow wishing you a Happy Cinco de Mayo quickly escalated to faking the lunar landing.  If you needed an excuse to drink today, please feel free to use this post.