Biggs' Zone

A Geek's Cogitations, Conjectures and other Cortical Experiences

HMDYK About Sir Alec Guinness

HMDYK About Sir Alec GuinnessAll right, we talked about two bad guys so let’s cover some neat trivia about a good guy. The good guy! Of all of the good guys in Star Wars, I don’t think anyone compares to Obi-Wan Kenobi (except, perhaps, Yoda). The man endured the loss of his best friend/brother to the dark side and even witnessed him slaughtering younglings. Satine Kryze, the woman he cared about most, is murdered right in front of him. He is betrayed by his first in command because of Order 66 and becomes, essentially, one of the last remaining Jedi. After ALL of that, he is never once tempted by the dark side. A Jedi as legendary as Obi-Wan Kenobi can only be initially portrayed by a legendary actor. So how much do you know about Sir Alec Guinness?

Sir Alec Guinness passed away in 2000 from lung cancer at 86 years old. In 1959 he was knighted by Elizabeth II for his contribution to the arts. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and received a lifetime achievement award in 1980. He was only married once and has one child.

Unlike the previous actors, Sir Alec Guinness’ film career spans only 63 credits. However, similar to Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee, he has portrayed some pretty notable characters. I really think he is one of those actors more people need to talk about and appreciate. Before we get into his other roles, I want to share some behind-the-scenes Star Wars trivia.

A Love-Hate Relationship

He apparently claims it was his idea that Obi-Wan Kenobi is killed in the first movie to reduce his involvement with the film. He never hated the movie but he did hate the fact that it’s the only role people knew him for despite all his previous roles. I, honestly, don’t blame him; as you will soon see, he had a great career. The other actors in the movies claim he was very professional and very kind, however he once told a fan to “never watch it [Star Wars] again”. Despite his mixed feelings fans, actors and even Disney continue to honor the man that brought us Obi-Wan. Ewan McGregor would spend hours studying his earlier films in preparation for the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi in the prequels. Disney and J.J. Abrams even **cast his granddaughter, Sally Guinness, in Rise of Skywalker to honor his memory.

As I already said, Sir Alec Guinness should be appreciated for more than his role as Obi-Wan Kenobi. He has a lifetime achievement award for only 63 films so you know there is more to this mans’ career than a decrepit hermit Jedi. In the 1940’s he was in a couple film adaptations of some fairly well known novels; Great Expectations and Oliver Twist. Fun Fact: the voice for Watto was modeled after Guinness’s performance as Fagin in Oliver Twist.

He’s in a few other movies you may have heard of; Doctor Zhivago, Lawrence of Arabia and The Bridge on the River Kwai. The latter two films both won Best Picture. Obi-Wan Kenobi is the role that would make him famous but seeing the distinguished career he had prior to Star Wars I feel inclined to go back and watch his other films.

Other Links and References

** just a note about this link, I don’t approve of Screen Rant. I’m not a fan, however this link does provide sufficient coverage of Sally Guinness’ cameo and only for that reason I included it.

/MTFBWY

Confronting fear is the destiny of the Jedi.

Gaming: The WoW Hiatus Begins

WoW Hiatus BeginsAs I alluded to a few weeks ago, for the first time in 15 years I let my World of Warcraft account lapse. It was strange seeing the warning on the launcher that counted down the days until expiration. There was a small part of me secretly hoping Blizzard would release some kind of patch that would entice a stay of execution. Alas, that did not happen and there’s not a chance in hell I’m playing Classic. So as my WoW hiatus begins where did I leave things and what do I hope to get done when the Shadowlands pre-patch finally drops? I’m assuming there will be something to do during the pre-patch, however the contents of it is as elusive as the release date.

Farming and Grinding

I’m going to assume that whatever content is available in the patch, it won’t consume all my time. Therefore I plan to resume my mount farming and grinding out any rep that is left (if any). I’ll likely resume doing the invasions and emissary quests. Those paragon chests can have some really nice gold rewards. I’ve decided that I’m going to give up on the AH mount (Caravan Brutosaur). I’ll take my chances with the Black Market Auction House in Shadowlands. Besides my main is an Engineer and often has access to an Auction House in places where other players don’t.

I’ll wrap up any remaining profession tasks; by that I mean max any remaining professions and/or complete any Tricks of the Trade quests. The former being the higher priority. I’m not going to level any additional alts. I do have a couple that I’ve started, including a Mechagnome hunter but it’s rather pointless to grind out 120 levels when you only need to get to 60 after the expansion drops. I should also try to grind out some Island Expeditions; I regret not doing more of them (especially for the mounts).

It’s going to feel really strange when I can’t log into WoW, albeit brief. I am even expecting a bit of withdrawal. Have you ever stopped playing a game that you’ve played for 15 years? How did you handle the change?

duke-nukem-sm If zombies attack the world, everyone will run and hide. Except for us gamers, of course. We’ve been waiting for this all our lives!

 

Biggs’ Top 5 Books

Top 5 Books

I’m going a different direction for the June Top Five. Let’s direct our attention away from movies this month and talk about books. This could be one of those topics that I could have split into genres. I’ve read a lot of books that span many genres. However, when I sat down to write this post I went with the books that stood out the most in my mind. All the books in the top 5 are books I have read at least more than once.

Most of these books do have corresponding movies, however don’t watch the movie in lieu of reading the book. You will not only cheapen the book but you will also be cheating yourself.

  • Lord of the Flies – I got my first copy in middle school; I literally read the cover off
  • Moby Dick (unabridged) – Used this as part of my senior research paper. I’ve loved it since
  • Ender’s Game – This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone
  • Ready Player One – Any gamer and child of the 80’s should be reading this book
  • Kubrick’s Game – I cannot say this enough, this is an excellent book, especially if you’re a fan of Stanley Kubrick

Of course I have some honorable mentions. Animal Farm really needs no explanation. I haven’t read this one in a while but I remember enjoying it a lot back in high school. In fact this book might move up on my re-read list. A Confederacy of Dunces was recommended to me by a stranger in a Barnes and Noble. This book is the reason I’m often inclined to read any recommendation even from a complete stranger.

What are some of your favorite books?

(See last month’s Top 5)

I Have Spoken!

Book Review: Proven Guilty (Dresden Files Book 8)

Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, #8)Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher
My rating: [rating=4]
(Click here to go to Goodreads.)

The previous Dresden book (Dead Beat) was so good that it’s difficult to follow up a book like that. Personally I thought Proven Guilty struggled with that a little bit, but it doesn’t lack in it’s usual Harry Dresden charm. There is a lot of character development in this book and perhaps that is it’s ultimate purpose.

The story of this book felt a little underwhelming. In fact when someone asked me what this book was about I struggled to remember. Granted that’s not saying much because 1) I don’t have a great memory to begin with and 2) I’m also reading The Swarm at the same time. While the books are polar opposites I still had to remember that “Victor” and “Imala” are not characters in this book. Be that as it may, this is definitely not a book you want to skip (if skipping books is your thing).

Short Synopsis/Biggs’ Review

The daughter of Harry’s best friend, Michael, gets herself into trouble and Harry comes to her rescue. Michael is away so Harry has to work with Michael’s wife, so that’s an interesting dynamic since she doesn’t really care for Harry. I’d say that the best part of the book is the end when Harry has a new responsibility that, if this were Star Wars, all Jedi Master’s ultimately take on. There are a couple of surprises that do help redeem the dark and languid tone of this book.

Despite the slow plot it never, once, occurred to me to stop reading. I still enjoyed it and I will read it again (when I do my Dresden Files re-read). There is character development that is pivotal to the remaining books in the franchise and that alone makes this book worth reading.

View all my reviews

diablo3-reading“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
– Dr. Seuss

 

Star Wars Month Wrap-Up

Star Wars month wrap-upToday is the last day of Star Wars month. May 31st doesn’t have any coincidental Star Wars parallels. In fact the 25th was pretty much the last Star Wars themed day for the month. Some folks have tried to come up with a theme every day of the month. It’s a valiant effort but the vast majority of them are a stretch.

One of the suggestions for May 31st I found interesting. If you wanted to commemorate the day I suppose watching Return of the Jedi or Rise of Skywalker makes sense. Your preference. Personally I’m watching Rise of Skywalker as that’s, currently, the final chapter in the Star Wars universe. So for the Star Wars month wrap-up, how did I fare with my goals?

The 11-Movie Re-Watch

The most appropriate goal for the month is watching all the movies. There are 9 movies in the Skywalker Saga and 2 spin-off films. The combined runtime of all 11 movies is approximately 25 hours. The order in which you watch the movies is your choice. Personally I chose chronological order (as opposed to theatrical release order).

This year was particularly special as my daughter insisted on watching all 11 movies with me. If there is one positive thing I could take away from this covid ordeal its that we got to watch these movies together. Under normal circumstances she would have been at school or daycare. We did not watch the Clone Wars movie that introduces the animated series. I feel like I probably should have included that.

This year was the first time she saw Revenge of the Sith (my personal favorite of the prequel trilogy). I hadn’t shown that to her previously because it’s pretty dark. In fact I even warned her that the movie doesn’t really have a happy ending. She did not like how evil and cruel Anakin becomes. When the movie was over her exact words were “I am never watching that movie again!” I was amused but not terribly surprised.

Series and Soundtracks

I finished watching The Clone Wars series, which wasn’t all that difficult. I was caught up to Season 7 prior to its release and I was watching each new episode as it came out. Dave Filoni did an amazing job wrapping up that series. On the other hand, I did not finish watching Rebels. In fact I only made it through two seasons, which is surprising. Rebels is, by far, my favorite of the animated series. Since I haven’t finished Rebels, that means I did not watch Star Wars Resistence either.

I only watched one episode, so far, of the Disney Gallery series on The Mandalorian. The first episode was really good, I just prioritized the movies and Rebels above this docuseries. If you’ve watched all, or any of it, please let me know your thoughts. I’ll probably try to finish everything else first and then finish watching it. Before Season 2 comes out in the fall, I will re-watch The Mandalorian.

As a final homage to the Star Wars franchise, I managed to listen to all 11 soundtracks while jogging this month. I really wish there was a consolidated album for The Mandalorian music. I found a great Spotify playlist which is essentially what I want in a non-streaming format.

I admit, while March and April seemed to drag on because of the state of the world right now, May seemed a little less “doom and gloom”. I owe it to my love of this great franchise to get me through these crazy times.

Also, coincidentally I started playing Star Wars: The Old Republic again this month. One of those Bob Ross “happy accidents”.

/MTFBWY

The Force. It calls to you. Just let it in.

 

Covid Containment – By The Numbers

So we’re at day … I don’t know, 70-something. Honestly, I’ve stopped counting. In fact, I’ve turned a deaf ear to nearly everything covid related mentioned in the news. I do appreciate that the local news station is now calling the update segment “The Recovery” after so many weeks of “The Coronavirus”. I keep scrolling past anything that appears doom and gloom on social media. There are too many people out there that are suddenly virologists and biology pundits. It’s sickening (pun intended). I hate to break it to you, but …

A MEME IS NOT AN ACCURATE SOURCE OF VIRUS INFORMATION!!!!

There are memes that I see often stating that less than 0.1% of the population has been infected. This is why you can’t trust memes. I am not a biologist nor a virologist but I do know how to do basic math (and a Google search). As of May 23rd:

  • There are approximately 1.8 million confirmed cases in the US (I saw this number on a local FOX affiliate station).
  • As of 2019, there are approximately 328 million Americans (Google search).
  • BY THE NUMBERS that’s 0.54% (1.8 / 328 x 100)! Granted that is still less than 1% but keep in mind, that’s confirmed cases.

Unless every single person is getting tested (which is impossible) then the only number you can use is the approximate confirmed cases. It wouldn’t surprise me if there are asymptomatic people walking around. Statistically speaking, there are probably 100’s of thousands more people with the virus that are not showing signs. My wild ass guess is that we’re probably closer to about 1% of the population with the virus. Thus enters the mask debate.

The Masks We Wear

Am I advocating that we should all be wearing masks? Not really. In the spirit of full disclosure, I’ve only worn a mask twice during all of lockdown (as of the date of this post). My reason for not wearing a mask is simply that I didn’t want to. If a place, such as CostCo, requires patrons to wear a mask, then I will wear one in compliance with store policy. When I finally get my hair cut, I’ll wear a mask in compliance with store policy. However, I’ve never worn one when I’ve gone to Kroger. I’ve only worn it once when I’ve gone to Target.

On the other hand, I rarely leave the house without a mask. I carry it with me. If the place looks rather crowded or I know I’ll be going somewhere that requires it, then I have a mask to put on. Mask, or no mask, I will practice proper distancing and try not to touch my face (or sneeze, or cough). I’m not sick nor have I ever felt sick the entire time we’ve been locked down. The same goes for everyone living in my house. I rarely left the house (other than to go jogging) for about 6 weeks of the lockdown so I doubt I was ever near sick people. I have a fairly robust immune system so the biggest threat I pose is that I could be one of those asymptomatic people. Then again, nobody I’ve been around has shown symptoms after the fact.

If I’m an insensitive prick because I don’t wear one 100% of the time, I’m OK with that. I’ll still sleep at night. The opinions of other people mean very little to me (after all opinions are like assholes, everyone has one and they all stink). If only 1% of the population actually has the virus, I’m willing to play the odds. So wear a mask or don’t wear a mask, it doesn’t matter to me. I’m not going to scoff those that wear a mask nor am I going to make a fuss if someplace requires it.

Maybe this rant is just the cabin fever talking.

Be that as it may. One thing I will make abundantly clear. THIS WILL NOT BE THE NEW NORM! All of this is just temporary, preventative measures. A year or two from now we will romanticize how we all survived the “Pandemic of 2020” (while shaking hands and hugging).

/MTFBWY

duke-nukem-sm If zombies attack the world, everyone will run and hide. Except for us gamers, of course. We’ve been waiting for this all our lives!

 

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