A year ago today, I began the pick-up shoot for my senior thesis film Envious at CSU Long Beach. Just felt like mentioning that since I miss school!! No I don’t. If you want a full account on my production shoot (not bloody likely), go to my journal entry for February 17, 2004. And go here for some nice voyeuristic pics of my cast and crewmembers. Just kidding...about the pics being nice. Later.

77th Annual Academy Awards nominations: Congratulations on Jamie Foxx for being nominated as Best Actor in Ray and Best Supporting Actor in Collateral, and Natalie Portman for being nominated as Best Supporting Actress in Closer. I'd say something about The Aviator and its 11 nominations (um, do you think it'll win Best Picture??), but I haven't seen the film yet, haha. Do you think Jim Carrey is envious of Foxx? I knew once I saw the preview for Ray at the theater that Foxx would beat Carrey in being the first In Living Color actor to at least be nominated for an Oscar. And Collateral was an awesome movie. I still have the urge to be a hitman. Just kidding! No, I'm not. I haven't seen Closer yet, but let's hope that whatever awesome performance Natalie Portman gave in that film will replay itself in a certain science fantasy movie this May...

LET'S PUT THIS PILOT IN CHARGE! The President, Donald Rumsfeld, and Dick Cheney are flying onboard Air Force One.

George looks at Rummy, chuckles, and says, "You know, I could throw a $1,000 bill out the window right now and make somebody very happy."

Rumsfeld shrugs his shoulders and says, "Well, I could throw ten $100 bills out the window and make 10 people very happy."

Cheney says, "Of course, then I could throw one hundred $10 bills out the window and make a hundred people very happy."

The pilot rolls his eyes, looks at all of them, and says to his co-pilot, "Such big shots back there . . . hell, I could throw all three of them out the window and make six billion people very happy."

One of my friends e-mailed me this joke.

Revenge of the Sith Trailer Description: The full theatrical trailer that is supposed to be released in March begins with the following exchange, according to TheForce.Net:

Palpatine: "The Dark Side of the Force is the pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural."

Anakin: "Is it possible to learn this power?"

Palpatine: "Not from a Jedi."

We are then introduced to the political maneuvering of Palpatine, Obi-Wan and Mace Windu. All of them actually want to use Anakin as a pawn in their game (Palpatine makes Anakin his "personal representative on the Jedi Council" while Obi-Wan wants him to "report on all the Chancellor's dealings"). The first minute or so is surprisingly heavy on dialogue and consists mostly of shots of various characters speaking to each other [intercut with short glimpses of evil droids (General Grievous), space battles etc.]. We even see how Mace Windu and three other Jedi attempt to arrest Palpatine (he grabs his lightsaber and confronts them). When Mace Windu tells Anakin "You are on this council but we do not grant you the rank of Master", Anakin loses it and joins the Dark Side (Darth Sidious: "Every single Jedi is now an enemy of the Republic"). At least that's how the trailer makes it look.

Then the more "visual" half starts with some very neat scenes like a low angle shot of Anakin marching in front of a clonetrooper army. We see Wookiees on some kind of war machine, the duel in the volcano field of Mustafar, gigantic 10-wheel military transports (known as Juggernaughts) and actual destruction of the Senate chamber. Everything is very dramatic, several deaths are implied, Padme is seen crying loudly and music from the final lightsaber duel inReturn Of The Jedi (the eerie chorus when Luke goes berserk on Vader, and the Emperor's theme) is heard.

Overall, the first half of the trailer is surprisingly specific, making no sense whatsoever to people who don't know Star Wars well. The second half is very dark and dramatic, but with lots of action. Bad guys (apart from Sidious) only appear for a fraction of a second and have no lines. The final seconds consist of Obi-Wan shouting "You were the chosen one!", fighting Anakin while both dangle from some ropes/wires. After the closing titles, there is a bonus shot of Vader and Sidious standing side by side, accompanied by Vader's breathing.

This is a preliminary version with effects and sound not quite finalized. One part of the trailer is actually without music (either for dramatic effect, or will John Williams' new score be inserted here?). The running time is little under 2 minutes, 30 seconds.

When further questioned about the "evil droid", our source confirmed that there wasn't a clear shot of General Grievous but there was one of the bodyguards:

There is some evil-looking humanoid droid with a cape around his head and torso, flanked by two classic battledroids (from Episode I). He seems to hold a lance in his hand. Later, Obi-Wan is seen swordfighting with a humanoid droid but he's only seen from back and moving quickly. (I'm 90% certain it IS Grievous, but it's extremely short and quick shot.) Anyway, both of these shots are VERY brief (about half second).

One of the shots depicts Obi-Wan being surrounded by dozens of droids. Some of them look different and wear capes, maybe one of them is Grievous. But it's very wide shot, the characters are small.

EDIT: Oh yea, George W. Bush got re-inaugurated as president today.

"ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT" RULES! The company I work for conducted a test screening on the Fox Studios lot in Century City (in California) yesterday, and actor Jason Bateman passed by the theater where we were working. I wouldn't be bringing this up if Arrested Development wasn't such a good show. Now move along... Move along...

Iraqi Terrorists Interviewed: Click here for a hilarious skit of a British field reporter interviewing a group of Iraqi terrorists. Needless to say, the head terrorist doesn't appreciate the fact the language skills he learned at the American University in Cairo is being overlooked.

WELCOME TO TITAN: I know you guys can't get enough of all my nerdy journal entries about the space program and whatnot, so here're three raw images taken by the European Space Agency's Huygens probe after it landed on Saturn's moon Titan around 4 AM this morning (Pacific Standard Time). Huygens was released from the Cassini spacecraft on Dec. 24 after a 7-year journey through space. I'll post up more Titan pics as they get released, and yes... I will have an entry on the space shuttle's return to flight when it takes place this May or June. To read up on Huygen's success, go to MSNBC.com, CNN.com, SPACE.com, NASA.gov or the European Space Agency's website.



EDIT: Pics added... The first colored image from Titan's surface and much more. Well, not really. I only included two more photos/mosaics along with this one.

WOOHOO! My name is going to be vaporized in outer space!! I was being sarcastic with the "woohoo", by the way. A Delta II rocket carrying the Deep Impact spacecraft was launched from Florida today, and the spacecraft is scheduled to fly to a comet known as Tempel 1, where the probe will release a small projectile that will collide with the comet this July 4 and (supposedly) cause a crater that will be studied by the spacecraft and telescopes here on Earth. I'd say this was a cool mission, since a compact disc bearing the names of thousands of people (Yours Truly included, as well as other people I know personally whose names I submitted without them knowing. Haha) has been flown on Deep Impact (click here to look up names). But guess what? The CD has been attached to the projectile (known as the Impactor) itself, not the spacecraft! And according to this CNN.com article, the Impactor will hit the comet's surface at 23,000 MPH...meaning that the Impactor will obviously be pulverized when it hits the icy body! The heck?? Why couldn't the CD be attached to the spacecraft itself?? I wonder if that was the catch by NASA: They'll send something bearing your name into outer space, but that object can't survive in space for too long. You guys blow!!

On the other hand, I also submitted by name to NASA more than ten years ago to be put on a CD that is on the Cassini spacecraft, which is currently orbiting Saturn (I submitted a postcard with my name written on it). So until Cassini is directed by flight controllers to burn up in Saturn's atmosphere or collide with a moon once its mission is complete, my name will still be intact in the heavens (nice wording, eh?). I guess NASA doesn't blow, afterall. No wait, I didn't get a certificate confirming that my name has indeed been included on the CD. NASA still blows.

AL JAZEERA: Let's blame clogged kitchen sinks and smelly cockroaches on America. Not really clogged kitchen sinks and smelly cockroaches, but natural disasters. Anyways, I was listening to the KROQ radio station (106.7 FM in the Los Angeles area) this morning, and during their news segment, DJs' Kevin and Bean mentioned how Al Jazeera, one of the main news outlets in the Middle East, was blaming the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in the Indian Ocean on the United States testing nuclear weapons in the area. What the hell? What a couple of douche bags!! Of course, anyone living in that region of the world will blame anything on America:

"Oh no, there's an anthill in the middle of my front yard. Blame the infidels! Death to America!"

"Oh no, my dog has fleas! Praise Allah! Death to America!"

"Great, I'm constipated. Allah is great! Death to America!"

"My wife is cheating on me with the local cleric. A Jihad is brewing! Death to America!"

OK— I'm pretty sure I pissed off a lot of you readers who live in that region, but c'mon now. It just shows you what great lengths people will go to in making other people look bad (the irony...considering what I've just typed, hahaha). Ignoramuses. Kevin and Bean also mentioned how some people—don't know if they’re talking about people living in the Middle East or those in Southeast Asia—thought that the earthquake and Earth's wobble (which resulted from the powerful tremor) was the work of aliens trying to stabilize the planet's rotation. Again... What the hell?? These people have never heard of earthquakes and tsunamis before? I'd say more, but if these remarks were indeed by those living in the devastated areas in Asia, then I'll just say "no comment." But if it was by someone living anywhere else in the world... Whoa. I pity our species. Haha.

EDIT: Click on the Al Jazeera link above to read all the "upbeat" things the news outlet has to say about America. Also, check out this ad below:

USC: 55, Oklahoma: 19. Well, it doesn’t get any more decisive than that. One thing’s for sure; the Trojans have no need whatsoever to share this title with anyone. Duh. And to make things better, Matt Leinart broke the "Heisman Trophy jinx" by throwing five touchdown passes during the game, an Orange Bowl record. Nebraska’s Eric Crouch, Florida State’s Chris Weinke and Oklahoma’s Jason White—all former winners of college football's most prestigious award—must be envious right now! This win sure makes up for the news about the Anaheim Angels being given a new name by its owner, Arte Moreno. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim... Doesn’t get any stupider than that! But of course, it's all about the money. How else could the MLB have the New York Yankees and the New York Mets, and the NFL have the New York Giants and the New York Jets? Big markets rule the game. Imagine if the Lakers were called the Inglewood Lakers of Los Angeles back when they were playing in the Forum? Thank God for them moving to STAPLES Center. Though I could care less if the L.A. Clippers were called The Anaheim Clippers of Los Angeles back when they were playing in Orange County. Either way, they make asses out of themselves on their own (their current record this season means nothing). But let’s not change the subject drastically here. Good job, Trojans!!



Oh, and how could I forget talking about that "awesome" performance by Ashlee Simpson during the halftime show? That arm-pumping routine she did before singing "You make me want to screeaaam" alone was worth a lot of cheers!

...

Eh, who am I kidding? Ashlee Simpson got on my nerves by being the MC on one of the New Year's Eve countdown shows on TV last Friday, what makes you think I'd be serious about what I just said above? Click here to re-watch the video clip of Jessica's little sister being booed by pretty much the entire crowd at Pro Player Stadium after her performance. Listen carefully, and you might also hear someone say "You suck!"

HAPPY NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!! Hope all of you are having a fine and dandy holiday. In terms of what to expect to see in 2005, this year sees the San Antonio Spurs becoming the NBA champions once more, Ron Artest continuing his reign of terror when he returns to the Indiana Pacers this Fall, the Cardinals getting revenge on the Red Sox this October, the Patriots winning the Super Bowl, George Dubya trying to come up with more reasons why the Iraq war was a good thing, them space shuttles making a long-awaited return into space around May or June, a tsunami early-warning system deployed in the Indian Ocean by the end of this year (or two years. I'll leave this fact in, anyway), Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson trying to strike gold again with King Kong, Steven Spielberg trying to strike gold with the motion picture version of War of the Worlds, the return of the Dark Knight Detective to the big screen with Batman Begins and the final installment of the Star Wars saga. To celebrate these eleven facts—well, at least the one about Star Wars (I was being sarcastic about George Dubya, and the sports ones were a bunch of BS...except the one about Ron Artest)—I decided to post up a few screenshots and publicity stills from Revenge of the Sith. Of course, all but two of these pics haven’t officially been released by Lucasfilm yet...meaning I’m totally screwed if they visit this page. But you didn't hear that from me, haha! Thanks to the beauty of Statcounter, however, I’ll know if someone from Skywalker Ranch is prowling through my journal. I hope! My lifelong (not really) geeky dream of working on a Star Wars film is pretty much moot now that the release date is only four months away (May 19), so whatever! Enjoy! And I’m rooting for USC to beat Oklahoma this Tuesday.

Oh, and if Lucasfilm wants to send me a cool cease and desist letter, e-mail me here. On second thought, go here. I don't think this is something I should be joking about...since I am overdoing it with showing all these pics.


WARNING: If you don't have DSL or any other high-speed internet service, leave now!! Or else it's gonna take forever for you to download all these pictures!! (UPDATED with more pics!)









































































































































BELOW: The cover spread of the January, 2005 issue of Vanity Fair (which comes out on newsstands January 11...in case you're planning to buy a publication other than Sports Illustrated, Slam, Maxim or High Times magazine anytime soon. Not bloody likely.).