STORY: Anakin Skywalker is a young boy who meets Obi-Wan Kenobi and learns the ways of the Jedi. Anakin later goes to the Dark Side and turns against Obi-Wan Kenobi and the rest of the Jedis. Before he turned against his wife, Anakin has two children with Senator Amidala, Leia and Luke Skywalker, that he does not know about. Senator Amidala dies as she was giving birth to her twin children. After birth, the twins are separated to prevent the Dark Side from finding and hurting the children. Obi-Wan Kenobi sends Luke to a planet called Tatooine to live with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. Leia is raised by Senator Bail Organa of Alderaan; she is called Princess Leia Organa. When they get older, Luke and Leia are united together again. They help fight the evil government, called the Galactic Empire. Luke also learns the ways of a Jedi from Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. In the end, they defeat the Empire, and Luke helps Anakin become good again. The galaxy is saved for a while.
Sunday, 17 February 2013
On this day in 1885, Mark Twain publishes his famous--and famously controversial--novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Twain (the pen name of Samuel Clemens) first introduced Huck Finn as
the best friend of Tom Sawyer, hero of his tremendously successful novel
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876). Though Twain saw Huck's
story as a kind of sequel to his earlier book, the new novel was far
more serious, focusing on the institution of slavery and other aspects
of life in the antebellum South. At the book's heart is the journey of Huck and his friend Jim, a runaway slave, down the Mississippi
River on a raft. Jim runs away because he is about to be sold and
separated from his wife and children, and Huck goes with him to help him
get to Ohio and
freedom. Huck narrates the story in his distinctive voice, offering
colorful descriptions of the people and places they encounter along the
way. The most striking part of the book is its satirical look at racism,
religion and other social attitudes of the time. While Jim is strong,
brave, generous and wise, many of the white characters are portrayed as
violent, stupid or simply selfish, and the naive Huck ends up
questioning the hypocritical, unjust nature of society in general.
Even in 1885, two decades after the Emancipation Proclamation and the end of the Civil War, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn landed with a splash. A month after its publication, a Concord, Massachusetts,
library banned the book, calling its subject matter "tawdry" and its
narrative voice "coarse" and "ignorant." Other libraries followed suit,
beginning a controversy that continued long after Twain's death in 1910.
In the 1950s, the
book came under fire from African-American groups for being racist in
its portrayal of black characters, despite the fact that it was seen by
many as a strong criticism of racism and slavery. As recently as 1998,
an Arizona parent
sued her school district, claiming that making Twain's novel required
high school reading made already existing racial tensions even worse. Aside from its controversial nature and its continuing popularity with young readers, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
has been hailed by many serious literary critics as a masterpiece. No
less a judge than Ernest Hemingway famously declared that the book
marked the beginning of American literature: "There was nothing before.
There has been nothing as good since."
The Lego Group began in the workshop of Ole Kirk Christiansen(born 7 April 1891), a carpenter from Billund, Denmark, who began making wooden toys in 1932. In 1934, his company came to be called "Lego", from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means "play well". It expanded to producing plastic toys in 1947. In 1949 Lego began producing, among other new products, an early version of the now famous interlocking bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks". These bricks were based in part on the Kiddicraft Self-Locking Bricks, which were patented in the United Kingdom in 1939 and then there released in 1947. Lego modified the design of the Kiddicraft brick after examining a sample given to it by the British supplier of an injection-moldingmachine that the company had purchased.The bricks, originally manufactured from cellulose acetate, were a development of traditional stackable wooden blocks that locked together by means of several round studs on top and a hollow rectangular bottom. The blocks snapped together, but not so tightly that they required extraordinary effort to be separated. The Lego Group's motto is det bedste er ikke for godt which means roughly "only the best is the best" (more literally "the best is never too good"). This motto was created by Ole Kirk to encourage his employees never to skimp on quality, a value he believed in strongly. The motto is still used within the company today. By 1951 plastic toys accounted for half of the Lego Company’s output, although Danish trade magazine Legetøjs-Tidende ("Toy-Times"), visiting the Lego factory in Billund in the early 1950s, felt that plastic would never be able to replace traditional wooden toys. Although a common sentiment, Lego toys seem to have become a significant exception to the dislike of plastic in children's toys, due in part to the high standards set by Ole Kirk. By 1954, Christiansen's son, Godtfred, had become the junior managing director of the Lego Group. It was his conversation with an overseas buyer that led to the idea of a toy system. Godtfred saw the immense potential in Lego bricks to become a system for creative play, but the bricks still had some problems from a technical standpoint: their locking ability was limited and they were not very versatile. In 1958, the modern brick design was developed, and it took another five years to find the right material for it, ABS (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) polymer. The modern Lego brick was patented on 28 January 1958, and bricks from that year are still compatible with current bricks.
Saturday, 2 February 2013
Groundhog Day
The Adventures of Punxsutawney Phil, Wiarton Willie, and Pothole Pete
by Holly Hartman
February 2 brings the most-watched weather forecast of the year—and the only one led by a rodent. Legend has it that on this morning, if a groundhog can see its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. If it cannot see its shadow, spring is on the way.
Why the Groundhog?
Since a groundhog (or woodchuck or "whistle pig") hibernates for the winter, its coming out of the ground is a natural sign of spring. In Europe centuries ago, people watched for other hibernating animals, including badgers, bears, and hedgehogs, as signs of winter's end. Germans who immigrated to Pennsylvania in the mid-1800s began keeping an eye on the groundhog. The widespread population of the rodent made it a handy agent for this particular weather superstition. And a superstition it is. But there's a grain of truth: the winter days when you can see your shadow clearly are often especially cold, because there are no clouds overhead to insulate the earth.
Why now?
Early February is midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. Throughout history numerous holidays have marked this seasonal crossroads. Among these is Candlemas Day, February 2, a Christian holiday that celebrates Mary's ritual purification. Early Christians believed that if the sun came out on Candlemas Day, winter would last for six weeks more. The ancient Romans observed a mid-season festival on February 5, and the pagan Irish celebrated one around February 1. In many parts of Europe early February might herald the start of spring, when crops could be planted.
Punxsutawney Phil and Friends
In the 1880s some friends in Punxsutawney, Penn., went into the woods on Candlemas Day to look for groundhogs. This outing became a tradition, and a local newspaper editor nicknamed the seekers "the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club." Starting in 1887 the search became an official event centered on a groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil. A ceremony still takes place every year. Today Punxsutawney Phil lives in a climate-controlled habitat adjoining the Punxsutawney Library. A local celebrity, he gained national fame in the 1993 movie Groundhog Day (which was shot in scenic Woodstock, Illinois). The weather-watching rodent's predictions are recorded in the Congressional Records of our National Archive. So far, Phil has seen his shadow about 85% of the time. Canada's Groundhog Day relies on the predictions of an albino groundhog named Wiarton Willie. Although Punxsutawney Phil gets the most attention, various American cities have their own special groundhogs; New York City's official groundhog is called "Pothole Pete."
Actress, fashion icon, and philanthropist Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4, 1929, in Brussels, Belgium. At age 22, she starred in the Broadway production of Gigi. Two years later, she starred in the film Roman Holiday (1953) with Gregory Peck. In 1961, she set new fashion standards as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's. Hepburn is one of the few actresses to win an Emmy, Tony, Grammy, and Academy Award. In her later years,acting took a back seat to her work on behalf of children.
Actress Audrey Hepburn, star ofBreakfast at Tiffany's, remains one of Hollywood's greatest style icons and one of the world's most successful actresses.
QUOTES
"I was born with an enormous need for affection, and a terrible need to give it."
Actress, philanthropist. Born on May 4, 1929, in Brussels, Belgium. A talented performer, Audrey Hepburn was known for her beauty, elegance, and grace. Often imitated, she remains one of Hollywood's greatest style icons. A native of Brussels, Hepburn spent part of her youth in England at a boarding school there. During much of World War II, she studied at the Arnhem Conservatory in The Netherlands. After the Nazis invaded the country, Hepburn and her mother struggled to survive. She reportedly helped the resistance movement by delivering messages, according to an article in The New York Times.
After the war, Hepburn continued to pursue an interest in dance. She studied ballet in Amsterdam and later in London. In 1948, Hepburn made her stage debut as a chorus girl in the musical High Button Shoes in London. More small parts on the British stage followed. She was a chorus girl in Sauce Tartare (1949), but was moved to a featured player in Sauce Piquante (1950).
That same year, Hepburn made her feature film debut in 1951's One Wild Oat in an uncredited role. She went on to parts in such films asYoung Wives' Tales (1951) and The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) starring Alec Guiness. Her next project on the New York stage introduced her to American audiences.
At the age of 22, Audrey Hepburn went to New York to star in the Broadway production of Gigi, based on the book by the French writer Colette. Set in Paris around 1900, the comedy focuses on the title character, a young teenage girl on the brink of adulthood. Her relatives try to teach her ways of being a courtesan, to enjoy the benefits of being with a wealthy man without having to marry. They try to get a friend of the family, Gaston, to become her patron, but the young couple has other ideas.
Only a few weeks after the play premiered, news reports indicated that Hepburn was being wooed by Hollywood. Only two years later, she took the world by storm in the film Roman Holiday (1953) with Gregory Peck. Audiences and critics alike were wowed by her portrayal of Princess Ann, the royal who escapes the constrictions of her title for a short time. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for this performance.
The next year Hepburn returned to the Broadway stage to star inOndine with Mel Ferrer. A fantasy, the play told the story of a water nymph who falls in love with a human played by Ferrer.
With her lithe and lean frame, Hepburn made a convincing sprite in this sad story about love found and lost. She won the 1954 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her performance. While the leading characters in the play grew apart, the actors found themselves becoming closer. The two also made a dynamic pair off stage and Hepburn and Ferrer got married on September 25, 1954, in Switzerland.
Back on the big screen, Hepburn made another award worthy performance in Sabrina (1954) as the title character, the daughter of a wealthy family's driver. Sabrina returned home after spending time in Paris as a beautiful and sophisticated woman. The family's two sons, Linus and David, played by Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, never paid her much mind until her transformation. Pursuing her onetime crush David, Sabrina unexpectedly found happiness with his older brother Linus. Hepburn earned her an Academy Award nomination for her work on this bittersweet romantic comedy.
Showcasing her dancing abilities, Hepburn starred opposite Fred Astaire in the musical Funny Face (1957). This film featured Hepburn undergoing another transformation. This time, she played a beatnik bookstore clerk who gets discovered by a fashion photographer played by Astaire. Lured by a free trip to Paris, the clerk becomes a beautiful model. Hepburn’s clothes for the film were designed by Hubert de Givenchy, one of her close friends.
Stepping away from lighthearted fare, Hepburn co-starred in the film adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace with her husband, Mel Ferrer, and Henry Fonda in 1956. Three years later, she played Sister Luke in The Nun's Story (1959), which earned her an Academy Award nomination. The film focused on her character's struggle to succeed as a nun. A review in Variety said "Audrey Hepburn has her most demanding film role, and she gives her finest performance." Following that stellar performance, she went on to star in the John Huston-directed western The Unforgiven (1960) with Burt Lancaster. That same year, her first child, a son named Sean, was born.
Returning to her glamorous roots, Hepburn set new fashion standards as Holly Golightly in Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961), which was based on a novella by Truman Capote. She played a seemingly lighthearted, but ultimately troubled New York City party girl who gets involved with a struggling writer played by George Peppard. Hepburn received her fourth Academy Award nomination for her work on the film.
For the rest of the 1960s, Hepburn took on a variety of roles.
She starred with Cary Grant in the romantic thriller Charade (1963). Playing the lead in the film version of the popular musical My Fair Lady (1964), she went through one of the most famous metamorphoses of all time. As Eliza Doolittle, she played an English flower girl who becomes a high society lady. Taking on more dramatic fare, she starred a blind woman in the suspenseful tale Wait Until Dark(1967) opposite Alan Arkin. Her character used her wits to overcome the criminals that were harassing her. This film brought her a fifth Academy Award nomination. That same year, Hepburn and her husband separated and later divorced. She married Italian psychiatrist Andrea Dotti in 1969, and the couple had a son, Luca, in 1970.
In the 1970s and 1980s, Hepburn worked sporadically. She starred opposite Sean Connery in Robin and Marian (1976), a look at the central figures of the Robin Hood saga in their later years. In 1979, Hepburn co-starred with Ben Gazzara in the crime thriller Bloodline. Hepburn and Gazzara teamed up again for the 1981 comedy They All Laughed, directed by Peter Bogdanovich. Her last screen role was in Always (1989) directed by Steven Spielberg.
In her later years, acting took a back seat to her work on behalf of children. She became a goodwill ambassador for UNICEF in the late 1980s. Traveling the world, Hepburn tried to raise awareness about children in need. She understood too well what it was like to go hungry from her days in The Netherlands during the German Occupation. Making more than 50 trips, Hepburn visited UNICEF projects in Asia, Africa, and Central and South America. She won a special Academy Award for her humanitarian work in 1993, but she did not live long enough to receive it. Hepburn died on January 20, 1993, at her home in Tolochenaz, Switzerland after a battle with colon cancer.
Her work to help children around the world continues. Her sons, Sean Ferrer and Luca Dotti, along with her companion Robert Wolders, established the Audrey Hepburn Memorial Fund to continue Hepburn's humanitarian work in 1994. It is now known as the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund.
