the death star

The Death Star, The Death Star Research Facility

The Death Star,The Death Star Research Facility:The Death Star was a moon-sized Imperial military battle station armed with a planet-destroying super laser.

The Death Stars were the first in a long series of super weapons developed to execute the Tar kin Doctrine, but whose concept had been explored even before the Clone Wars. The Death Star was designed to allow Emperor Pal patine to more directly control the Galactic Empire through fear. In most instances, a Death Star was to be commanded by a Moff.

The Death Star was the code name of an unspeakably powerful and horrific weapon developed by the Empire. The immense space station carried a weapon capable of destroying entire planets. The Death Star was to be an instrument of terror, meant to cow treasonous worlds with the threat of annihilation. While the massive station is evidence of the evil that was the Galactic Empire, it was also proof of the New Order’s greatest weakness — the belief that technology and terror were superior to the will of oppressed beings fighting for freedom.

The Death Star was a battle station the size of a small moon. It had a formidable array of turbo lasers and tractor beam projectors, giving it the firepower of greater than half the Imperial star fleet. Within its cavernous interior were legions of Imperial troops and fighter craft, as well as all manner of detention blocks and interrogation cells. The Death Star was spherical, and dark gray in color. Located on the Death Star’s northern hemisphere was a concave disk housing the station’s main laser weapon.

The technical schematics for the Death Star were developed by the cutting edge technologists of the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. With the defeat of the Separatists and the Republic’s transformation into Empire, the Death Star project fell under the command of Grand off Tar kin, one the Empire’s preeminent governors. The Death Star was developed in secret, through many difficulties over a span of almost 20 years. Rebel Alliance spies were nonetheless able to learn of the weapon’s existence, and stole vital technical schematics from guarded Imperial vaults. These desperate spies transmitted this data to Rebel leader Princess Leia Organ, who stored the plans in R2-D2’s memory systems.

In a brutal display of the Death Star’s power, Grand Moff Tarkin targeted its prime weapon at the peaceful world of Alderman. Leia Organa, an Imperial captive at the time, was forced to watch as the searing laser blast split apart her beloved world, turning the planet and its populace into orbital ash and debris.

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King Brothers

The king brothers were only 12 and 13 respectively, when on Nov 2001

King brothers Case story- the king brothers were only 12 and 13 respectively, when on Nov, 2001 they killed their father in his Cantonment, Florida. They killed him with a baseball bat and then set the house afire to conceal evidence of the slaying.

The whole nation was shocked and with further revelation, the sick story became even more so when it was revealed that the kids’ neighbor Rick Chavis had convinced them to commit the murder of their father so that he could continue a sexual relationship with the younger brother. 

christine collins

Originally planned as a Ron Howard project, 2008’s Changeling winds up making use of Clint Eastwood’s meticulous direction and is a careful, interesting film. Based on real life events in 1928 Los Angele's, Changeling tackles an abundance of themes but manages to not feel overly crowded. It can be an exhausting ordeal, much like the experience of the lead character, but remains an ultimately rewarding motion picture from Eastwood.

With a script by J. Michael Straczynski, Changeling is based on the Wine ville Chicken Coop Murders. In the real case, Gordon Stewart Northcott abducted his 13-year-old nephew, Sanford Clark. When Clark was eventually discovered by police in California, he informed them that he had been forced to help Gordon and his mother kill several young boys. One of the boys was Walter Collins, whose mother Christine Collins is used as the focus of the film.

Angelina Jolie plays Christine Collins. One day her son Walter (Gattlin Griffith) goes missing and she reports the case to the police, only to discover that the LAPD has a sort of 24-hour “waiting period” on missing children. After a few agonizing months, the police inform Christine that they have found her son alive. She meets the boy and immediately tells police, who are looking to clear up a public relations nightmare, that the boy is not hers. Captain Jones (Jeffrey Donovan) coerces Christine to take the boy home on a “trial basis.”

Christine discovers that the boy the police have presented her with is circumcised and shorter than her son, so she pursues it with Captain Jones who tosses her aside to avoid more bad PR for the department. Christine is persistent and her case eventually becomes the cause of Rev. Gustav Briegleb (John Malkovich), a fiery preacher with a mission to expose the corruption of the LAPD. Christine’s battle is a nightmare, as she is transferred to a mental institution for troubling the police.

Changeling works beautifully as an account of the swirling events overtaking Christine. While she is locked away in the mental institution, she discovers that it is common practice for the LAPD to simply discard women that are troubling. Meanwhile, a boy named Sanford Clark (Eddie Alderson) turns up and informs Detective Ybarra (Michael Kelly) of the aforementioned killings. This blows yet another door of the case wide open and the LAPD finds it difficult to control the storm that follows.

Changeling is about how events spiral out of control and how quickly things can get out of hand. It is about the corruption of the police force, about sexism and about missing a child. Eastwood handles these various themes well, never giving the impression that he or anyone else is merely spinning plates. Instead, Changeling is an operation of what Roger Ebert describes as “an uncoiling of outrage.” Try to remain contained as you witness the cops lie and sidestep. Try not to feel Christine’s anger.

This is a movie that moves forward, adding complications and possibilities as it gathers steam. It meanders through the avenues of chance as it should, with many questions as to whether or not Walter is alive dividing the road ahead. Jolie is excellent at the centre of the maelstrom, while other performers give her sublime support. Especially of note are Alderson’s emotional portrayal of Sanford as a boy crippled with regret and guilt and the deviously simple casting of Jason Butler Harner as Gordon Northcott. The movie makes no mention of his mother’s involvement in the crimes, likely for dramatic simplicity.

Changeling is a fascinating motion picture directed and scored wonderfully by one of the finest working directors of our time. Eastwood is always careful piecing things together and between this film and Gran Torino, it’s safe to say that 2008 found him having a very good year behind the camera.

roman gods

This article explores the archaeology surrounding the worship of Celtic deities in Roman Britain after the Roman occupation and what information they have to offer us.

The archaeological remains of deities throughout the world have been many, and classical deities from Greece and Rome have always captured the minds and imaginations of archaeologists, historians, writers, poets, actors etc. However, the deities of Celtic Britain have often been overlooked since there is less information regarding them. It is my aim to look, discuss and evaluate the archaeological remains from temples, shrines and other artifacts, of native Celtic deities in order to understand more about how, when and why they were worshiped.

Once the Romans invaded and conquered Britannia, it can be somewhat difficult to find evidence of the native Celtic deities before the Roman occupation within the archaeological record. The Celtic British had an oral traditional, in which stories, legends and myths were told instead of written down. In fact, because of this, there is little evidence to find. We only become aware of these deities due to the Roman soldiers making dedications and having inscriptions copied onto them. Because of this, some deities were intertwined or associated with gods and goddesses from all around the Roman Empire.

The first Celtic deity that I wish to look at are the Genii Cucullati, otherwise known as the Hooded Spirits, since they are usually depicted as three figures (sometimes unclear to whether these figures are male or female) wearing hooded cloaks. Throughout Britain, stone reliefs have depicted these figures who are believed to be lesser deities of fertility and the afterlife.

Excavations in 1989 at the town of Sandy in Bedfordshire in the UK, revealed a large stone relief depicting, what could be, the Genii Cucullati “even though they are dressed in everyday clothes” (Appleton & Dawson, p.306). We can identify that these figures are of divine origin, since Roman art often portrays female figures with billowing veils (Appleton & Dawson, p. 305). Although this relief can be seen as Roman in origin, we can clearly see native characteristics through the large oval face and the large rounded eyes.

The next deity that is of significance is the god Cocidius. Cocidius was the Celtic god who was associated by the Romans with Mars, the Roman god of war, and Sylvan us, the god of hunting, groves and wild fields. It could be argued that Cocidius was only worshipped in northern Britain since archaeological evidence has only yielded information regarding this deity in that region.

In 1980, excavations by the Field Research Group of the Society of Antiquities of Newcastle Upon Tyne uncovered a shrine at Yard hope, which appears to have been dedicated to this deity.”Carved on the face of the rock on the north side of the entrance, and framed in a mushroom-shaped niche, is the full frontal figure of the god, 32 inches high” (Charlton & Mitcheson, p.143). From the nude figure, we can identify that this was a Celtic god, since it was Celtic deities that were portrayed as nude, not Roman. One argument for Roman association with this site is that the Celts “neither needed nor desired houses for their gods or images of them...” (Charlton & Mitcheson, p. 147). In pre-Roman times, the Celts worshipped at natural features – groves, pools, springs etc, although there is evidence in the archaeological record that there may have been structures made of wood placed over sacred areas in which ceremonies were held (Charlton & Mitcheson, p.147). So from this, we can see that a native Celtic god was worshipped by Roman soldiers, probably lower racking soldiers. Unfortunately, archaeologists have not been able to positively date this site as the site was lacking in artefacts (Charlton & Mitcheson, p.145).

There are examples were only a single inscription, or other piece of archaeological evidence, is all that has been found to identify a deity. The goddess Verbeia is one example. At the site of Ilkey in Yorkshire in 1921, excavations yielded an inscription on an altar to the goddess of the Wharfe. The inscription reads as,

VERBEIAE SACRVM CLODIVS FRONTO PRAEF COH II LINGON

Which translates as “To holy Verbia, Clodius Fronto, prefect of the Second Cohort of Lingones (dedicated this)” (Taylor & Collingwood, p.202). The coin and pottery evidence dates this inscription to the reign of Trajan and Pius. Again, we can see archaeological evidence for the deity only because of Roman interaction.

It has been suggested in the past that the Roman soldiers worshipped and dedicated altars, reliefs and other items to these native, non-Roman deities, since the Britons formed part of the Roman army within Britain. However, we have evidence that the few British soldiers, who joined the Roman army, were stationed in other parts of the Empire. Indeed, only two Legions were stationed in Britain (Legions were composed of Roman citizens, not people from the Roman Empire). So what we can clearly see is that these non-Roman, but Roman, soldiers were able to preserve the identities of native deities for future generations instead of being completely erased by time.

Bibliography

Appleton, Graham & Dawson, Michael (1995) A Large Stone Relief from the Roman Small Town of Sandy, Bedfordshire, Britannia, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.

Charlton, D. Beryl & Mitcheson, Margaret M. (1983) Yardhope. A Shrine to Cocidius, Britannia, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.

Taylor, M.V & Collingwood, R.G (1921) Roman Britain in 1921 and 1922, The Journal of Roman Studies, Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies.

van wilder freshman year

Van Wilder Freshman Year|Van Wilder 3-Van Wilder Freshman Year is the third movie in the Van Wilder series, following National Lampoon’s Van Wilder and National Lampoon’s Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj. Freshman Year is a prequel to the first film. t was released straight to DVD in 2009. Jonathan Bennett, Kristin Cavallari, Jerry Shea, and Steve Talley star. Harvey Glazer directs. Throughout July 19, 2009 to July 25, 2009 the film was iTunes’ number one film.

Van Wilder (Jonathan Bennett) has graduated from high school. He’s supposed to go on a trip to Amsterdam with his dad (Linden Ashby), but his dad is busy with work. Van ends up going to Coolidge because it’s a family tradition. His family has their name on a building there, Wilder Hall. However, when he gets there, Coolidge is no longer the fun loving school of his dad’s time, but a military based institution run by Dean Reardon (Kurt Fuller). Reardon, a military man who hates the senior Wilder, wants to make the younger Wilder’s life miserable. He can’t force him out because his dad is rich and has ties to the school, so he tries to make Van’s life a living hell.

Van turns a one bedroom dorm into a two bedroom (by breaking down a wall). His roommate is Farley (Nestor Aaron Absera), a pothead from Jamaica. The boys decide to throw a party on campus, something not allowed. Neither is kissing, drugs, booze, sex, or anything else that’s ‘fun.’ The only person to show up is Yu Dum Fok (Jerry Shea) (a play on words for “you dumb fuck”).

The boys try to find the girls, but they just find some religious, prudish girls led by Eve (Meredith Giangrande). After she throws blood on them, Van decides to get inventive in church, causing these chaste girls to learn how powerful the “O” really is. Reardon knows Van is behind the prank. He sics his lap dogs, ROTC student, Dirk (Steve Talley) and his closeted sidekick Corporal Benedict (Nic Nac), on Van, wanting to make him crack.

Van falls for Dirk’s girlfriend, Kaitlin (Kristin Cavallari), and Dirk doesn’t like that much. Kaitlin thinks, lives, and breathes the military, and believes in chastity before marriage. Of course, Van has to shake things up.