Thoughts of a Chilled Out Entertainer
June 29th, 2004 — Film
Will be the voice of new character General Grevious
.According to Lucasfilm, General Grevious is half alien/half android, and is by far the most evil character in all of the Star Wars films combined.
What I want to know is this; who the hell chose the name General Grevious? Why not just choose, “General Bad Guy,” or “Darth Evil Dude.”
Memo to George Lucas: STOP LETTING YOUR KIDS RUIN THE MOVIES! DON’T YOU THINK JAR JAR BINKS WAS BAD ENOUGH?
June 29th, 2004 — Music
Opera fascinates festival fans
.taken from BBCNews
By Tom Bishop
BBC News Online at Glastonbury
The Valkyries descended on Glastonbury on Sunday as the English National Opera roused tired festival-goers with a groundbreaking performance.
Bound up: The English National Opera performs Wagner at Glastonbury
It was the first time opera had been performed at the festival, with thousands of fascinated revellers gathering in front of the main Pyramid stage for the event.
Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries tells of the mythical women who carried dead heroes to heavenly Valhalla.
Storm clouds gathered overhead on Sunday, enhancing the opera’s tense atmosphere as Brunnhilde is hunted down.
The 75-minute long extract opened with the section of the opera familiar to fans of the film Apocalypse Now, its lyrics sung in English and subtitled at the side of the stage to make it widely accessible.
The Valkyries were played with relish by the ENO singers, flame-haired and dressed in black, as members of the orchestra behind them were clearly enjoying the unique experience.
As each singer pretended to mount a fallen hero - portrayed by men dressed in muscle vests, silver hats and gags - the delicious melodrama received a rapturous reception from the varied audience.
“It was really cool,” said 16-year-old Kathie Woo from north London. “I wasn’t really following the story, I just liked looking at the singers - they had real presence.”
An orchestra’s eye view of the festival
“It has been a good way to start the day,” added Kieran Moodley, 16, from north east London.
“It would make me consider going to see a full opera, if it wasn’t normally so expensive.”
“Now I would definitely go to the opera if someone else bought me a ticket,” agreed friend Sophie Gowen, 15, also from north London.
Hayden Tomlins, 22, from Liverpool, said: “I have seen a few operas in the past, but never in a field. It was great, really special.”
“It was a bit confusing to have them sing in English while keeping all the original German names,” said Rachael Brown, 20, from Gloucester, “but the subtitles really helped us understand the lyrics.”
Opera fan Kerry Manson, 43, from Liverpool, felt the Glastonbury production was “fantastic”.
“They adapted it to appeal to people of all ages,” she said. “It was a great introduction to opera for the novice.”
Hannah Fleming, 32, from Bath, said: “It just totally fitted in with Glastonbury - it was an innovative celebration of music and culture.
“The men with the silver hats would have looked out of place anywhere else in the world, but not here.”
June 29th, 2004 — Books
Jo Rowling reveals title of book six
.Taken from jkrowling.com:
Tuesday 29 June 2004
Title of Book Six: The Truth
Well, the door opened at last and I showed you the title of book six - the genuine title, the title that will appear on the published book, the title I have been using in my head for ages and ages. Unfortunately, however, the door opened on the very same day the ‘Pillar of Storg�’ hoaxer struck, which left a lot of Harry Potter fans bemused as to whether I was having a joke at their expense by posting another fake title to ‘teach hoaxers a lesson’, something I certainly wouldn’t do, as it would simply frustrate, confuse or annoy the 99.9% of you who aren’t hoaxers! I tried to give a clear hint that the title behind the door was the real one by making the ‘Toenail’ joke as well (see ‘Rumours’). But just to clear up matters once and for all�
Information you take directly from this site will be truthful and accurate (I might occasionally joke, but as time goes on, you’ll learn to tell when I’m joking). Do not trust anybody else claiming to have found information on this site that you cannot access, however seemingly convincing the images they provide to support their story.
I never post information on the site that I do not want fans to read immediately. In other words, anybody claiming to have ‘discovered’ a message that wasn’t due for release yet is lying. There was never anything meaningful behind the door until the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign came off!
The ‘Pillar of Storg�’ was never my title, and I did not change it at the eleventh hour because I was ‘found out’ (I nearly fell off my chair giggling when I read this).
I was delighted to see that a hard core of super-bright fans knew that the real title was once, in the long distant past, a possibility for ‘Chamber of Secrets’, and from that deduced that it was genuine. Certain crucial pieces of information in book six were originally planned for ‘Chamber of Secrets’, but very early on (first draft of Chamber) I realised that this information’s proper home was book six. I have said before now that ‘Chamber’ holds some very important clues to the ultimate end of the series. Not as many as six, obviously, but there is a link.
Anyway: if you continue to exercise patience, you will find that the Do Not Disturb Door opens again� and again� giving you further hints about book six. But as a little bonus, and compensation for having been messed around by Mr. or MS. Storg�, I shall tell you one thing without making you shift any bricks at all: the HBP is neither Harry nor Voldemort. And that’s all I’m saying on THAT subject until the book’s published.
So, if you do as Jo suggests, and explore on her site, you’ll come across a door, behind which is a brick wall. If you click on certain bricks in the correct sequence, they will reveal a secret room, in which there is a desk, some papers and a fan. Click on the fan, and the papers will blow about. Finally, one of the sheets of paper will come flying towards you, and reveal the title:
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
June 28th, 2004 — Film
(out of five)
.It was enjoyable, but not great. The film starts out strong, but the ending is very weak.
The film is stolen by Antonio Banderas’ Puss In Boots.
June 27th, 2004 — Arsenal FC
Home
Away
.You know, I’m really struggling with accepting the whole badge in the middle of the shirt thing. That, and Nike’s attempt to make every football shirt look exactly the same.
That said, I’ll probably want one, just so I can get the Championship badges on the sleeves.
June 27th, 2004 — Soccer
With Sweden losing to Ruud VanHorsediver and the Dutch, this is my last post about Euro2004.
.What an awful, awful, awful tournament.
Some idiots will drone on and on about how this is a good thing for football, and that it’s great to see some new blood in the later rounds.
Well, that’s a load of bollox.
Roll on August, roll on Arsenal. I can barely wait for ye.
