History of Star Wars: Premiered 46 Years Ago

Star Wars

HISTORY OF STAR WARS The original Star Wars movie premiered on May 25, 1977. Long ago, in a galaxy far, far away… when living in Berkeley, in November 1976, I picked up a new science fiction novel, “Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker” by George Lucas. I did not know then that it…

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History of the Super Bowl: Just another Religious Holiday?

Super Bowl LVII logo

The Super Bowl™ is a territory acquisition athletic contest played on a fixed agrarian grid using, as a token, an inflated porcine prolate spheroid. Some will say it is the most important holiday of the year in America. While it is ostensibly a secular holiday, others argue it is truly a religious holiday. And there…

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History of Australia Day: Ties to the American Revolutionary War?

AustraliaFlag

HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA DAY Did you know that the history of European Australia has ties to the American Revolutionary War? When the 13 American Colonies were part of the British Commonwealth, it was convenient for England to transport its convicts to the Colonies. Indeed, it was considered more humane to “transport” prisoners than to execute…

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History of Star Trek: Over Half a Century

HISTORY OF STAR TREK Star Trek premiered on NBC TV September 8, 1966, 52 years ago. It is my favorite show; I was glued to the TV for the first episode and every one after that. It had a major influence on my life in my career in technology. It represented an optimistic vision of…

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Movie Review: Star Trek Beyond

MOVIE REVIEW: STAR TREK BEYOND It has been now almost 50 years since Star Trek first premiered on NBC TV in September of 1966. See my history of Star Trek here. After several television series and movies we are now treated to the 13th feature film Star Trek Beyond. While this is not the best…

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Movie Review: Star Trek Into Darkness

MOVIE REVIEW: STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS [No plot spoilers] I’ll start with the bottom line: I loved it. If possible it’s better, if not as inventive as the previous movie in the reboot released in May 2009 and reviewed by me here. I’d call it the most enjoyable movie so far this year, though I may be biased…

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Movie Review: Avatar

Avatar

MOVIE REVIEW: AVATAR I’ve seen some interviews with movie producers recently, mostly Pixar, saying that all the key producers are moving to 3D. I’ve taken these words with a pillar of salt as just new ways to capture the eyeballs of price-sensitive consumers who are nervous about spending $10 a head to attend the cinema…

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Movie Review: Star Trek

Star Trek Wedge

MOVIE REVIEW: STAR TREK Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life-forms and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before. If you’ve already read my History of Star Trek article, this is the future…

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Movie Review: Star Trek

Star Trek

REVIEW: STAR TREK Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life-forms and new civilizations; to boldly go where no one has gone before. If you’ve already read my History of Star Trek article, this is the future of the franchise, by returning…

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Movie Review: WALL-E

Wall-e

MOVIE REVIEW: WALL-E What a sweet movie, what a cute film. Who else but Pixar could make a movie that’s animation, science-fiction, comedy, spaceships, green — and romance…and make it all work? And the tributes to other movies of this genre! In the same way that Pixar’s The Incredibles paid tribute to early James Bond…

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Theatre Review: The Philadelphia Story at the Old Vic in London

Philadelphia Story

Theatre Review: The Philadelphia Story at the Old Vic in London Sometimes you meet famous people when you attend the theatre in London — I did at a recent performance in early June. I attended the new London version of The Philadelphia Story, which though most people know by the Katharine Hepburn-Cary Grant movie, was…

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