GEN - Imperial Blogspace

I’m sure, at times, I subconsciously love giving myself work to do.

Mind you, it IS work that requires me sitting on my ass and clicking a mouse button for a few hours but hey, even sitting on ones ass can be a pain after a while.

I’ve just added some forums to GEN and now need to put posts already made into the correct forum. This, of course, is time consuming but it HAS to be done. If I had left the forums intact the way they were originally I wouldn’t have to do this…but that’s life!

I’m looking forward to finishing it all as TIII, a member of GEN is going to start doing some Features and Reviews on both Star Wars and Non-Star Wars games, both old and new and some of the stuff will make it on to the site proper as time goes on.

But enough of my babbling, I need my beauty sleep.

If you’re reading this AND you’re a member of GEN and want to help out with the Topic moves, let me know.

July 19th to 21st, 2008 marked the 30th Anniversary of Star Wars in Japan.

The convention held in honor of this was a great success by all accounts and bodes well for future celebrations.

Rumor has it that there’s to be a Celebration Europe II only this time in Germany, not London!

Will I go?

Hell yeah, in a nanosecond. If funds allow just try and stop me.

Despite the cynics out there that see these things as one big cash cow, I see them quite differently.

For me, it’s not about buying all kinds of stuff unique to the convention, which in itself is fun, within reason…or more to the point, depending on how big your pocketbook is.

No, for me, these celebrations are something more than just moneyspinners. They are a place where you can meet and mingle with likeminded people and not feel at all out of sorts with this little obsession called Star Wars.

It is, after all, about the fans, which, funnily enough, is how Lucasfilm describe these events, so something seems to come together that benefits fan and company alike.

It’s early Monday morning as I ‘thumb’ this on my iPhone and have spent the last few hours on my PC, in the bedroom, lying on my side…

…result? Numb left arm and yet another stiff neck.

So, guess what? The bedroom PC is being dismantled later on today.

Means I can get back to normal nocturnal activities, like sleeping!

Okay, I have to admit it. Despite the convenience of having a PC right next to the bed, the aches and pains resulting from it and the stiff neck, well it just ain’t worth it!

I’ve decided I want one of those slidey tables (they WILL have a proper name, just can’t think of it at the moment) where I can prop myself up with pillows and sit up, facing the screen.

Mind you, there is one small problem that gets in the way of this cunning plan.

1. I don’t know where to get a slidey table thing
2. The PC is not very portable
3. I’ll need to get my Laptop fixed if I want to do it this way.

Oh well, patience is required, I think and also, I need to move the PC OUT of the bedroom, my poor neck can’t take much more.

A&E NETWORK TO BROADCAST FIRST-EVER LIVE EPISODE OF

CRISS ANGEL MINDFREAK ON WEDNESDAY, JULY 30 AT 10 PM ET

“BUILDING IMPLOSION ESCAPE” WILL FEATURE LIVE ATTEMPT BY CRISS ANGEL TO ESCAPE FROM COLLAPSING 6-STORY BUILDING

SEASON FOUR PREMIERES WEDNESDAY, JULY 23 AT 10 PM ET/PT

LOS ANGELES, CA, July 9, 2008 – For the first time ever in CRISS ANGEL MINDFREAK history, A&E will broadcast a special LIVE one-hour episode on Wednesday, July 30 @ 10 PM ET / 7 PM PT a week after the series’ fourth season premiere on Wednesday, July 23 at 10 PM ET/PT.

In the special one-hour live episode, “Building Implosion Escape,” world-renowned mystifier Criss Angel will be shackled in a 6-story building in Florida that is loaded with explosives and set to detonate.  Angel must attempt to escape the restraints and overcome physical obstacles to make it to a hovering helicopter on the roof before the building implodes in front of the crowd, cameras and viewers at home.

Once again stretching the boundaries of reality and belief, the fourth season of CRISS ANGEL MINDFREAK will feature three one-hour specials and 15 all-new half hour episodes premiering every Wednesday at 10 PM ET/PT. The season kicks off with “Walk on Lake,” a one-hour series premiere on Wednesday, July 23 at 10 PM in which Criss attempts to walk on the world’s largest manmade lake, Lake Mead in Nevada amidst spectators and boaters.

The upcoming season will feature incredible illusions, death defying escapes, fearless demonstrations and astonishing physical feats including being cremated alive, walking through steel and inviting skeptics to be part of a deadly challenge where one wrong move will cost him his life.

Criss Angel’s unique blend of illusion and reality and his ability to push creative, physical and mental boundaries has earned him the reputation as one of the most innovative performers of his day.  He has appeared on several television specials, been featured countless times on dozens of networks, produced four original CDs and is currently in pre-production for “Believe” his Cirque Du Soleil stage show that will premiere in Las Vegas later this year.  He has received numerous awards for his work - including being the first-ever five-time recipient of the coveted Magician of the Year Award.

The episode will also broadcast live on A&E Latin America and FOX 8 in Australia.

Robert Sharenow and Elaine Frontain Bryant are the A&E executive producers for CRISS ANGEL MINDFREAK.  The series is created, directed and produced by Criss Angel, and produced by Angel Productions Inc. and The Firm.  Criss Angel, Dave Baram and Erich Recker serve as the executive producers.  For more information on Criss Angel, please visit his website located at CrissAngel.com.

About A&E

A&E is “Real Life. Drama.”  Now reaching more than 96 million homes, A&E is television that you can’t turn away from; where real life shows are dramatic and scripted dramas are authentic.  A&E offers a diverse mix of high quality entertainment; ranging from the network’s signature Real-Life Series franchise, including the hit series “Intervention,” “Gene Simmons Family Jewels,” “Paranormal State” and “Criss Angel Mindfreak,” to the most successful justice shows on cable, including “The First 48” and “Crime 360” and original scripted series including “The Cleaner” starring Benjamin Bratt.  A&E is also the official basic cable home to the high-profile series “The Sopranos,” “CSI: Miami” and “Criminal Minds.”  The A&E website is located at www.aetv.com.  For more press information and photography please visit us on the web at www.aetvpress.com.

Benjamin Bratt - “William Banks”

After reaching the depths of his addictions, William Banks turned to God with a proposal: give him a second chance and he would be his avenging angel. Now he leads a rag-tag team devoted to helping other addicts get clean by any means necessary. He juggles his work with his rocky relationships with a wife who previously left him twice and his kids who haven’t forgiven his absences during multiple stints in jail and rehab.

Benjamin Bratt starred opposite Benicio del Toro in The Argentine and Guerilla, a pair of films from Director Steven Soderbergh about Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto Che Guevara, which both premiered during this year’s Cannes International Film Festival.

Bratt recently starred in the A&E® two-night television event “The Andromeda Strain,”` from Executive Producers Ridley Scott and Tony Scott. He was also seen on the big screen during this year’s Tribeca Film Festival premiere of Trucker, the independent feature in which he starred opposite Michelle Monaghan.

Additional screen credits include: Stephen Soderbergh’s Traffic (which won the Screen Actors Guild award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast); Love in the Time of Cholera; Piñero; Thumbsucker; The Woodsman; Abandon; Miss Congeniality; The Great Raid; Red Planet; The Next Best Thing; Catwoman; Follow Me Home; The River Wild; Clear and Present Danger; and Blood In, Blood Out.

On television, Bratt established himself on Dick Wolf’s critically acclaimed drama “Law & Order.” A series regular for four seasons, he received an Emmy® Award and Screen Actors Guild award nominations for his portrayal of Detective Reynaldo Curtis. Additional television credits include “E-Ring, Woman Undone,” “Texas” and “After the Storm.”

An alumnus of the MFA program at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco, Bratt currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife, actress Talisa Soto, and children, daughter Sophia and son Mateo.

Well, on July 14th, 2007 I HAD intended to watch the Charles Ross ‘One Man Star Wars Trilogy’ at Celebration Europe but missed it due to waiting online for something else so, better late than never, exactly a year later I am finally getting to see it, a bit closer to home.

Our local arts venue, The Customs House, South Shields, Tyne and Wear is one of the stop-off points for, possibly, the final tour of this show. So I am looking forward to seeing it instead of just hearing it this time.

GEN has teamed up with Revolver Entertainment to offer visitors the chance of winning a copy of Star Wars : Robot Chicken, released in the UK August 11th, 2008.

There are three copies available and you only have to answer a simple question to be in with a chance.

Click Win With GEN to check out the question and enter.

GOOD LUCK!

And guess what, you have even more chances of winning a copy of the DVD, as both Lightsabre and Jedi News are running similar competitions - just with different questions!

Fantastic!

Amy Price-Francis - “Melissa Banks”

William’s wife Melissa Banks balances her work life as a dental hygienist with her home life raising her two children and understanding William’s new passion. She and William had some rough times, she keeps her sense of humor but her patience has its limits.

Amy Price-Francis developed a deep passion for theater while studying at The National Theatre School of Canada. It was her broad body of work on stage that prepared her for her future wide-ranging television career.

Her Canadian theatre credits include both classical and contemporary works including “The Winters’ Tale,” “The Game of Love And Chance,” “Spring Awakening,” “California Boyz,” “The Shape of Things” and “Proof.”

Price-Francis has played leading roles in a handful of Canadian television series including “Rumours,” “Snakes & Ladders,” “Train 48,” “Tracker” and “Little Men.” Her television movie credits include leading roles in “Shades of Black” and “Earthstorm,” and supporting roles in “The Pentagon Papers,” “Suburban Madness,” “Our Fathers” and “Cake.” She has various guest-starring roles to her credit, including “Soul Food,” “Kevin Hill,”  “Missing,” “Tilt” and “Twice in a Lifetime.”

Since moving to Los Angeles, she had the pleasure of recurring opposite David Duchovny in the award-winning “Californication,” as well as guest roles on “Medium,” “Shark,” “K-Ville,” “Big Shots” and “The Dead Zone.”

Grace Park - “Akani Cuesta”

Akani Cuesta is the exotic beauty on William’s team who is just as much one of the boys with  her hardened street edge. A bit of a wild card, she enjoys her job and is good at it, but resents being monitored by William, with whom there is a hint of a past relationship. Akani doesn’t need anyone’s support, especially that of her wealthy estranged father, but sometimes it seems she longs for a more settled, domestic life.

Grace Park co-stars on the critically acclaimed sci-fi series “Battlestar Galactica,” now in its fourth season, playing not one but two leading roles. Her performance in the season one cliffhanger garnered her a place in TV Guide’s “100 Most Memorable Moments in TV History.” The series received a Peabody Award in 2006 and has remained a critic’s darling since its inception, rated one of television’s best shows by Rolling Stone, TV Guide, The New York Times Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and Newsday.

Born in Los Angeles and raised in Canada, Park received a degree in psychology from the University of British Columbia before turning her attention to film and television. She was almost immediately cast in the memorable Jet Li film Romeo Must Die, quickly following that role with appearances in “The Dead Zone,” “The Outer Limits,” and, notably, the CBC series “Edgemont.” She would play the pivotal role of Shannon Ng on that series for five years while also guest-starring on “The Immortal,” “Jake 2.0,” and “Stargate SG-1.”

In addition to her film and television work, Park has expanded her range in the stage productions of “The Boys Next Door,” as Sheila and “West 32nd,” as Lila Li.