Actor Updates!

Hello!I'm busier than normal this season and won't be catching much of a break until the late spring.

Work = Good.
OK...

Updates for Nerf-Herders Anonymous:

James Earl Jones (voice of Darth Vader - OT/PT) will be a featured speaker for the National Association of Independent Schools People of Color Conference 2005 at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, TX from December 1-3.Remember to catch his reading of the Gettysburgh Address from Verizon.

~~Keira Knightly (Sabé - TPM) Miss Knightly is currently starring in Pride & Prejudice...she is also learning how to drive and hopes to obtain her license in 2006.

~~Ewan McGregor (Obi-Wan Kenobi - PT) will be hopping back on his motorcycle in 2006 for another adventure this time travelling between the tip of Scotland to Cape Town South Africa.

~~Ed Begley Jr. (Boba Fett in the ROTJ radio drama) will be starring in a new animated feature film called Fly Me To The Moon...starring as the voice of Poopchev - one of a few flies that catch a ride aboard the Apollo moon mission. Interesting premise.

~~Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker - OT) is starring in a Comcast commercial called Comtastic! that is airing on TV now.

~~Joel Edgerton (Owen Lars - PT) will participate in Formula 1 racing in Tazmania, SE Commonwealth of Australia, for children's charity Mark Webber Challenge in November of 2006.

~~Paul Hecht (Palpatine in the ROTJ radio drama) is starring in a play called Living Forever on stage until the end of December at the Bay Street Theatre in Sag Harbor, MI.

~~John Ratzenberger (Major Bren Derlin in ESB) is the starring voice of video game The Incredibles: Rise of the Underminer...as the Underminer. Some of you may know that he voiced the Underminer in the film release of The Incredibles.

~~Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian ESB/ROTJ) will be singing, with several other guest celebrities, Barenaked Ladies version of Jingle Bells for Dennis Leary's Merry F#%$in' Christmas which will air on 11/27/05 here in the US on Comedy Central.

~~Phil Delancy (One of the Bravo Pilots in TPM) stars as Miles in a film called A Far Cry which will be released in spring 2006.

~~Added the following actors to the Star Wars Actors Database:
Michael Byrne
Derek Tong

Thank you!
Enjoy!
LM

Creepy Crawlies & Fancy Flora

Over hundreds of years entomological systemists and other scientists used Greek and Latin based nomenclature seriously, never once veering from the standards set by such systemist luminaries as Theophrastus and Carolus Linneas.

In 1901 a strict set of nomenclatural rules defined by the International Zoological Congress was published for scientists. It wasn't long before the a slow rebellion started. To name two...In 1912 G. W. Kirkaldy named a series of true bugs the generic names of Dolichisme, Florichisme, Marichisme, Nanichisme, Ochisme and Polychisme. When read aloud they suspiciously sounded more like...er...osculatory adventures.1947 - Pate named a wasp genus Lalapa then named the species lusa... Lalapa lusa.

It wouldn't be too much longer still when naming insects after famous fantasy and sci-fi icons.Starting around 1958 Dr. Arnold S. Menke, of the Systematic Entomology Laboratory at the U.S. National Museum and the modern master of entomological nomenclature, found his own trend of using popular cultural references in naming newly found "creepy crawlies."Year later several made it into the annals of Star Wars reference-dom. (yes, I know it's not a word)

In 1983 Menke named three wasps after Star Wars characters:
Polemistus chewbacca
Polemistus vaderi
Polemistus Yoda

Other Star Wars named creatures...named by other entomologists:
Agathidium vaderi (slime mold beetle)
Adelomyrmex vaderi Fernández (very colorful ant)
Thricops vaderi (a type of dragonfly)
Arketypon vaderi (a wasp found in Australia)
Harrison Ford, (Vice Chairman of the American Society Conservation Interanational/Han Solo/Indiana Jones) has the following named after him:
Peidole harrsonfordi - A Central American ant (Edward Wilson)
Calponia harrisonfordi - A Central Amercian spider (Edward Wilson)
Ford was also asked to name a new breed of butterfly. He chose the name Georgia, after his daughter.

Florally speaking there are several flowers named after Star Wars words:
Daylillies:
Empire Strikes Back
Jedi Codie Wedgeworth
Jedi Dot Pierce
Jedi Flamingo Kid
Jedi Free Spirit
Jedi Golden Girl
Jedi Pink Bouquet
Jedi Rose Beauty
Jedi Rose Frost
Jedi Sue McCord
Jedi Tequila Sunrise

Iris:
Darkside

Orchids:
Darth Vader
Skywalker Red Star

I'm sure there are many other scientific names related to the Star Wars saga that we've yet to find. It's amazing how far-reaching the references go.

I hope the trend continues.

LM

Godzilla!

Wow. Amazing.
An article today at MSNBC about the recently found Dakosaurus andiniensis, affectionately nicknamed...Godzilla

Not at ALL what I'd want to encounter in an ocean swim.

LM

Actor Updates!

Hello everyone.

Hope your weekend was full of ROTS viewing and otherwise pleasant.

A few select updates:
Carrie Fisher, Daniel Logan and Ray Park will be at BigAppleCon on November 18-19-20, at the Penn Plaza Pavilion, 33rd St& 7th Ave, NYC.

~~Liam Neeson (Qui-Gon Jinn - PT) Turned a nomination for Best Irish Actor for a Film (Kinsey) into a win at the Irish Film and TV Awards (The Irish Oscars) on Sunday night, November 6, 2005.

~~Samuel L. Jackson (Mace Windu - PT) was named the 6the best celebrity golfer according to Golf Digest magazine.

~~David Alan Grier (Bo Shek and other characters in ROTJ radio drama) is rumored to be starting his own talk show.

~~Hugh Quarshie (Captain Panaka - PT) recently documented his trip to Ghana (country of his birth) while there to film segments for TV's hospital drama Holby City on which he plays Dr. Ric Griffin.

~~Rarely seen Barry Gnome (Kabe (Bat Alien) in ANH).Photographer Peter Lavery captured a great photograph of Mr. Gnome while a clown with the Denning and Wild Supershow in 1971. Make sure to look at the other great photographs that Mr. Lavery has taken of other circus performers HERE.

~~A nice interview with Ian McDiarmid (Emperor Palpatine OT/PT) at The Guardian, HERE.

~~Actors added to the Star Wars Actors Database:
Paul Bannon
Emma Bextor
Danny Cavanagh
Catherine Ernster
Alison Gilford
Kes Green
Sean Hardman
Noel Hawkins
Johnny Hinton
Eddie Irani
Wes McGann
Terry Sach
Dan Turner
Jerry Baker
Chantelle Barbieri
Lucas Louca
Dean Mitchell
Terry Mustoo
Peter Roy
Tom Sanderson
Michael Savva
Dave Sexton
Sally Sinclair
Tommy Weldin
Masa Yamaguchi
Hadley Kay
Sue Murphy
Anthony Parr
Greg Swanson

A big thank you to Convention Guests who helped lead me to 15 (listed in BOLD) of the above named actors.~~All other updates HERE.

Enjoy!

LM

John Hollis (1931 - 2005)

More sad news to pass along...
Jeremy Bulloch (his SITE) reports that actor John Hollis (Lobot in The Empire Strikes Back) has passed away after a long illness. He died on October 18, 2005 in London.

There's little known about his personal life...he was married to Sheila and loved golf...but his credits were fairly extensive. He worked in film, TV, theatre (mostly in audio plays) and radio. Hollis attended quite a lot of conventions in years past and was very kind to all his fans.

LM