Darth Vader makes the big time

An art show featuring Darth Vader's helmet and the variations rung upon it. Some look pretty cool....

Darth Vader art

Pirates of the Caribbean III: At World's End

Just saw this today...and although it was okay...I didn't really like it all that much. Good special effects, some funny lines, lots of action, but...

I enjoyed the first Pirates very much, because I liked Captain Jack Sparrow. It seemed like he was always in control, and always had a plan that spared the innocent and punished the guilty.

I turned against him in Pirates II, when he quite cold-bloodedly set about recruiting 100 souls to give to Davy Jones, in return for his own. Sure,the men he recruited were for the most part old and decrepit...but they didn't deserve that fate, and the fact that Sparrow was willing to sacrifice them... no, I didn't care for it.

Pirates III has Sparrow almost back to his old self - he has plans for Will and it turns out Will and Elizabeth do trust him at the end...but it did seem that there was no elan in Depp's Sparrow, and although Geoffrey Rush's Barbossa had some good lines and some good deliveries, there were other times when he seemed to be walking through the role. I liked Kiera Knightly, but still don't see what she sees in Will Turner (it'd be interesting to see Depp and Orlando Bloom exchange roles, and see how Bloom handles the exuberance of Sparrow while Depp handles the staidness of Will Turner....who would be the most popular character then, I wonder...)

Admiral Norrington has only a few scenes in this movie...I definately felt sorry for him...yet another character who's part is written blandly...

As a connoisseur of movie sword fights, I wasn't impressed by the swordplay on hand here (not that there was very much of it) - although it wasn't quite as bad as the windmill fight of POTC II.

The climactic battle at the end had Miss Swan and Will Turner fighting together, back to back ala Mr and Mrs Smith (Jolie and Pitt), and it didn't work out quite as well, in my opinion, but it gave the chance for Barbossa to have one of the funniest lines in the movie.

Sunday at BBC Radio 7 - Brian Aldiss

Song of the Silencer

Man plays God, causing galactic disaster, in this chilling sci-fi tale by master storyteller Brian Aldiss.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/listenagain/sunday/

For new listeners, don't worry about the times they have listed. You can listen to any show at any time.
Just click on the title.

Are You A Fan of Paris Hilton?

If so, why?

I have to confess I haven't really been following the Paris Hilton tragicomedy - I just have read a few messages on some genre message boards that I frequent (each one has an "Off topic" folder which is usually the most popular folder on the board) and they all just wish she'd OD and get it over with.

I say that her story is a tragicomedy because it is...much as Anna Nicole Smith's was. These women have what the foolish believe are the two things that make for a happy life - looks and money.

But...they don't/didn't have brains. And without a brain... the rest of the stuff goes to waste. Sure, they can have sex whenever they want - but then the guy dumps them after having been serviced so he can go talk to someone intellgient... and they've got money that they spend on their toys and their tiny dogs and their cars...

Well, perhaps Hilton's publicist will persuade her to do some good with some of her money - advise her to start a scholarship for girls or educational opportunities for women in real prisons, as opposed to country club prisons.... Never going to happen

I would really like fans of Paris Hilton to comment on this entry - why do you like her? And how much money do you yourself make in a year?

If you don't like Hilton, no need to comment - I think the reasons are pretty obvious...


On a more important note The Thunder Child is back on line after having been down for 3 days, and my hits don't seem to have dropped at all...they're not increasing, either...

I'm involved in a project that's taking me practically every waking hour of the day for the next week or so, but once I get that done I'll start shifting everything to a new, more reliable host.

Well, hallaleujah

After a little less than 4 days, my site is back online.

I shudder to think how many readers, not to mention how much money, I've lost during this time frame.

Not happy with IPower, at all.

Time to look for another provider.

Anyway, The Voice of God, written by Simon Bovey, is now airing at BBC 7 for the next 5 days...so don't forget that there's an interview with Simon Bovey at The Thunder Child.

SimonBovey

IPower down...

For those of you wondering where the heck The Thunder Child magazine is today, May 9, my host is down, and has been all day, and I'm a bit annoyed about it. I'm going to give them 24 hours, ie. until tomorrow at 10 am Eastern Time, and if the site isn't back up I'm going to have some serious words with them.

Unfortunately when you call the help desk you get people from Overseas who don't speak English very well, so that's why I'm putting it off even though it's costing me readers and ad income...

But this has happened before and its always come back up in the past...so hopefully it'll come back up in a few more hours.

So, sorry for the inconvenience!