Ron Howard becomes Kathleen Kennedy's latest sub! His docudramas are great! (“Apollo 13,” “Rush”). His other movies? Not so much. I’m sure that it’s Empress Kathleen Kennedy’s hope that Howard is scared of “strong women” and heels to the Corporate Mistress that is her Lucasfilm (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Disney). :-)
I shouldn't be surprised! But, there is trouble on a "Star Wars" prequel AGAIN! Just like the Directors' Chair changes on “Rogue One,” now there will be another director change on another "Star Wars" prequel. This time, the directors of the untitled Han Solo prequel are leaving due to “creative differences.” And, I am guessing that means, they don't want to follow Kathleen Kennedy's orders.
Will the film still turn out well like "Rogue One" did, or what? We will have to wait a year to see.
I can’t imagine that anyone is surprised! Disney has been making all this up as they go along. Starting with “Force Awakens,” Disney dismissed George Lucas’ own ideas for a new trilogy out of hand. Then, Abrams and Kasdan basically just decided to remake the first “Star Wars.” And, then the next guy, Rian Johnson, made up his own stuff for his part, and others will decide what to do with “Epsisode IX,” etc.
There has been no actual plan for this trilogy, so how can anyone be surprised that there is no plan for what comes after this trilogy?
I was there in 1977 at the premier of the original "Star Wars." It first started showing at 25 theaters in the U.S. And, we in St. Louis, Missouri got to be one of the first!
It is still easily my favorite "Star Wars" film. And, yeah, I still call it "Star Wars." Not "Episode IV," not "A New Hope" (which a lame title anyway for such a great movie!). Just "Star Wars."
We got to go in, get our seats, and took in the next great two hours! After it was over, we were pretty knocked out by it! But, telling you what a different time it was, our question to each other wasn't "what was your favorite special effect?" but "who was your favorite character?" Mine was, of course, R2-D2. Duh! ;-)
You have a Pi. You want to get music and sounds out of it. This is how you do it!
The Raspberry Pi has evolved over its numerous models. I am currently using a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B, but these instructions will follow for the current Raspberry Pi 3 Model B.
Hardware: First, you have two options when it comes to how you hook up your 1/8" (3.5mm) male cable-equipped speaker.One is the 1/8" (3.5mm) jack that has been on the Pi since Day 1.Second is to plug a USB Sound Card into a USB Port.
1/8" Audio Jack
USB Ports
USB Sound Card
By default, the sound will come out of that 1/8" jack. If you have a USB Sound Card, you will need to configure your Pi to use USB as your audio output device. This is how you do it:
1.) This instruction is for Raspbian with Jessie. For other Operating System variants, go to this tutorial:Setting Up USB Sound Card. From a Terminal Window, key sudo nano /etc/asound.conf An empty file window will appear. Cut and paste the following into that file:
pcm.!default {
type hw card 1
}
ctl.!default {
type hw card 1
}
asound.conf file in Terminal Window
Save the file by keying CTL + x. You will be asked if you want to save the file. Type y (for yes) and hit ENTER.
Software: Next, you want an audio player. I am going to highlight two options.One you might know about, one you probably won't unless you're used to working on Linux!
First, the one you probably know: VLC Player. This is an Open Source app that has three main positives:1.) It's small in size, 2.) It plays pretty much everything you throw at it, and 3.) It is made for pretty much every Operating System, and every flavor of those Operating Systems.
NOTE: I am using Raspbian Jessie with Pixel, which is the recommended Operating System on RaspberryPi.org (Raspbian Downloads). Also, before installing any new software, you need to run the following:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade
You might be prompted to include a -f to repair broken packages. Key the entries as described and see how it goes. Add the -f according to the instructions, if asked to.
Set Up VLC Player:
Open a Terminal Window. Key: sudo apt-get install vlc and ENTER. The install process will proceed and will complete. Once done, VLC Player will be available under Sound & Video.
VLC Player once installed
Command-Line Audio Player:
For the more adventurous, you actually have a command-line audio player already built into your Raspbian Operating System. It is called Omxplayer. You simply navigate to the place where you have your audio files are stored. Once there, you can play an audio file using the following syntax:
omxplayer song.mp3
omxplayer playing an mp3 file
Key ESC when wanting to quit. Remember, in command line, you need to key things in correctly. That means, getting capitals right, etc. You will find that it might be easiest to change file names to something simpler to be able to key them in more easily. Next, here is how to play streams with Omxplayer. Use the following syntax:
"Star Wars: Episode II" is perhaps the most vilified "Star Wars" film of all time! Regardless, it celebrated its 15th Anniversary yesterday. So, it's time to look back on it.
Even if others hate it, I like it! And, I would much rather watch "Episode II" again than "Force Awakens."
2015's "Episode VII" was basically a rehash of the original "Star Wars." But, "Episode II" had George Lucas behind it, and while the dialogue was troubled, and the acting too stiff, I still think the movie has tons of great stuff! The epic light-saber duel between Anakin, Darth and Yoda. The arena battle, the crazy monsters, all of it! To me, easily better, and much more watchable than Abrams' warmed-over recent installment.
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