May the force be with us.
Aug 21
A few weeks ago, me and my old web buddy Swift, got some tickets to
the "Star Wars Exhibition" in Tour and Taxis in Brussels. This expo,
featuring sets and costumes from the Star Wars movies was heralded as "
The Ultimate Star Wars Experience !" (whatever that may be), So me and
"Tha SwiftMeister" decided to go for it. The train ride to Brussels
offered us some extra sightseeing as we got pretty close to the crash site where an African Boeing had broken up on the runway of the
Airport in Zaventem. Its pretty cool when you see the pictures on
Flickr. At the expo I thought that we would have the place to
ourselves, this being the last day of the exhibition and all that, but
the place was packed and because the T&T complex is mostly
underground .. it was hot as hell. Armed with my digital Camera I was
just WAITING for the next Star Wars nerd to appear at the exhibition
dressed like Jar Jar binks or something. Swift briefly recalls the
wonderful videoclip of Triumph at the Star Wars première a few years
ago , a viral video that had me shedding tears with laughter. But no
dressed up geek in sight. What was funny was the AGE Of the average
visitor. Fans of the "original" Star wars movie, had brought their
children who were fans of the "new" Star Wars movies. A kinda
Cross-generational thing that should set the scene for some cool
father-daughter bonding.
The expo was cool, Filmsets, costumes,
stuff like that, all ordered chronologically. (Beginning with episode
one). I’m not a fan of "the new Star Wars movies" so I was just waiting
to meet Jar Jar Binks and kick him in the Balls, but unfortunately he
was hiding. The costumes of Princess Armidalla where impressive to say
the least, and the fact they where mounted on a big wooden box pointed out
the fact that Nathalie Portman is not only CUTE , she is also very
tiny.
But the kicker for me were the expo items from the "old"
Star Wars movies. Boba Fetts costume, ( Ruined forever by the fact that
you find out who is actually inside in "attack of the clones") was
still very impressive to look at. And of course : Darth Vaders original
costume. Magnificent and horribly simple (watch for the details as you
see the clumsy buttons and control items) and.. A full size model of a
Speeder Bike (The Return of the Jedi.) That one piece was, for me, the
greatest thing of the whole expo. When no one was looking i put my hand
down on the cold metal of the Speeder Bikes Nosefin .. and for me ..All
those childhood times, pretending to be Han Solo, playing with Star
Wars toys, Watching the movies over and over again.. At that one moment
it became very real.. As i got a chance to physically touch a piece of
childhood nostalgia.
Of course there where some more costumed
clones, and people making a mockery of themselves swinging laserswords
in front of a green screen.. and there was lots and lots of overpriced
merchandise .. but for me ? Nothing could beat the Speederbike thing.
All in all ? great time (as always with Mr Swift) and .. the force was
with us. Enjoy the pictures
Credits : Pictures by Knightwise and Swift. Swifts website can be found at www.maisonswift.be (in dutch)
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
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Why I don
Aug 20
As some of you might have noticed. I haven’t posted ANYTHING about the iphone so far. The whole western world has been hyping the thing , up to the point of mass hysteria, but I have refused to write about it until now. Why ? Because I think the Iphone is getting WAY to much press, and we have come up to the point that the Iphone just has to Fart and its frontpage news. And I’m not talking about the tech journals, I’m talking about the noobie-media. Even the local newspapers carry stories about the Iphone. Why ? Beats me. Its like the only tech savvy thing they know anything about … And because its “popular” they write about it. And because they write about it, the Iphone becomes even more popular. We have passed the marker where “The Hype feeds The Hype” a few months ago. And its getting ridiculous. People waiting outside the store just to get their hands on this overpriced gizmo. In the US that might not be such a sight seldom seen, but here in Europe ? In measly Belgium ? It is.
So shortly after the launch of the fracking thing, people turn to me in expectation. “Show us your Iphone, Knightwise” they blurt out. For a second I feel like some kind of “Livingstone” about to flash a shiny mirror at the natives.. The only thing is .. I don’t HAVE an Iphone. “ I don’t Have one” I bluntly declare. ( Gasps of disbelief) “What do you mean , you Don’t have one ? “ they ask astonished.
And suddenly I find myself in an argument where I need to DEFEND (not explain : DEFEND) my position why I haven’t bought an Iphone. Somewhere in this parralel universe it has become mandatory to own one.
Don’t get me wrong. The Iphone in itself is a nice gizmo, it resembles my ipod touch ( I love that little device) and the added bonus is : You can use it as your phone. Sounds freaking awesome. Apple quality, Ipod Touch functionality (mp3 player, video player, wifi, safari , email) Add to that, that you can now also install extra apps .. A great device.
But the thing that tanks it ? The price . The Iphone is WAY TO EXPENSIVE. I’m sorry but for all I care the shop lady would offer me Oral sex combined with the bill, I’ll NEVER ever pay that amount of money for such a device. 600 euro’s is just to fracking much. And WHY is it so expensive ? you know why ? Because thanks to the hype , every dumb fuck now wants one and there is no way in hell that Apple is going to drop the price. And IF you cough up the insane price the phone provider (Verizon, or here in Belgium , Mobistar or Proximus) will charge you ANOTHER insane amount for your phone contract.
The bottom line ? It’s a great device , but because everybody has turned it into the fracking Paris Hilton of the mobile phone world, EVERYBODY wants a piece of the cake and prices get pumped up or stay excessively high.
So when it drops below 300 euro’s and the contracts are back to an amount that is reasonable .. I’ll THINK about it
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Face your inner Manga.
Aug 18 |
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| Manga Knightwise | Real Knightwise. |
There are plenty of sites out on the Net that help you waste your time. And every once in a while I like to talk about some of them. The latest addition to ‘ How to piss away 15 minutes of your existence on planet earth" is www.faceyourmanga.com. The setup is quite simple. Go to the site and create a manga version of yourself. You can add beards, piercings (yeah , like you’ve got one , NERD ) ties, glaces, shirts and more of that crap. So go out there, do your damndest and shoot me your results. The best ones will be posted on the site. Have fun with FACEYOURMANGA.COM
