A new episode of the Gibson TV YouTube series METAL AND MONSTERS has just been released ... and it is a TEXAS SIZED show! Metal and Monsters host Count D interviews longtime friends Rex Brown (Pantera) and Dug Pinnick (Kings X) as they reunite for an evening of stories surrounding friendship, music, and their Texas roots. Filmmaker, director, producer, and actor Roger Corman is also featured in special segment with an intimate interview reflecting on his early career.
This is the third episode in the series which is dedicated to heavy metal and monster culture. Metal and Monsters can be viewed for FREE on the YouTube Gibson TV channel or at Gibson.com. I'm always GEEKED when a new episode of Metal and Monsters is released!
In addition to his off the cuff conversations with the Metal rockers from Pantera and Kings X, Count D also includes a music focused segment "Tunes from The Crypt" that details the history of the landmark album “Leprosy” from Florida death metal legends Death. Viewers also have the chance to win several different Death prizes including CDs, vinyl, t-shirts, Halloween masks and two exclusive Death skateboards courtesy of Check Your Head Skateboards.
Known as “The King of Cult” and “The Pope of Pop Cinema,” famed director and producer Roger Corman is featured in a segment titled “Exhumed From The Tomb.” Not only is Roger responsible for films including The Raven, Little Shop of Horrors, The Fast & The Furious and Death Race 2000, but he is also credited for launching the careers of film legends Jack Nicholson, Ron Howard, Sylvester Stallone, Martin Scorsese, and Francis Ford Coppola.
In the segment “Terror Trek,” the show heads to Las Vegas to visit KISS WORLD at the Rio Hotel to explore Gene Simmons iconic personal collection of KISS memorabilia. Viewers are also treated to guest appearances from Brent Fitz (drums), and Todd “Dammit” Kerns (bass) from Slash and KISS drummer Eric Singer.
Catch up on the past episodes of Gibson TV’s “Metal and Monsters,” including Episode 1 which features interviews with Freddy Krueger, aka Robert Englund of A Nightmare on Elm Street, Don Dokken. Episode 2 of “Metal and Monsters” offers an in depth interview with Metallica guitarist Kirk Hammett regarding all things monsters, metal, and horror. Watch as Kirk talks about the films that helped shaped his love of horror including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Exorcist, and Nosferatu, as well as making music in Metallica, his solo album "Portals", and his top 10 horror bands of all time by checking out the Gibson TV channel on YouTube.
Tracy Butler has been the Cat's Meow with her webcomic LACKADAISY which has been nominated for an Eisner Award, the comic industry's equivalent of an Oscar. Based upon the popularity of Lackadaisy, a Kickstarter campaign funded the creation of an animated short film to serve as a pilot to market Butler's stories into a tv series or feature-length movie. That animated short film was just released and is available to view on YouTube for FREE. Check it out!
Set in St. Louis, Missouri in the midst of Prohibition, Lackadaisy features the Lackadaisy, a speakeasy tucked away in a cave beneath the Little Daisy Cafe, where flashing the club symbol from a deck of cards grants everyone in-the-know access to to all the moonshine and music they desire. The joint’s packed full of gangsters, flappers, crooked cops, rum-runners, and wide-eyed ingenues. And they are, literally, all jazz cats. The sepia-toned story features action and adventure, comedy and crime, and a colorful (if somewhat shady) cast of felines, including the Lackadaisy proprietors Atlas and Mitzi May, rumrunner Rocky Rickaby, and the sharp-tongued, fleet-footed con artist in training, Ivy Pepper.
Lackadaisy: The Animated Short Film is the first ever multimedia endeavor from Spike Trotman’s Iron Circus Comics. The short film was crowdfunded to the tune of $330,000, thanks to almost 6,000 backers. It features the vocal talents of Michael Kovach as Rocky Rickaby, Belsheber Rusape as Calvin "Freckle" McMurray, Lisa Reimold as Ivy Pepper, Ashe Wagner as Mitzi May and SungWon Cho as Mordecai Heller. Theme music by Sepiatonic, the Portland-based music and dance experience that performs Electro-Vaudeville, provide the film’s theme music.
“The shift from sole writer and artist on Lackadaisy to crew member among more than 150 people working on the animated adaptation wsas nothing short of jarring,” remarked Tracey Butler to ageekdaddy.com. “The amount of work laid out before us seemed impossible at times. Meanwhile, a global pandemic raged in the backdrop. It was the best time of my life. Throughout production, it hasn't escaped me that I've been existing on some surreal plane of privilege and luck. To be surrounded by a team of incredible artists, all collaborating with me to imbue these characters, this story and setting with all of the motion, voice and music I dreamed in my head? Amazing. I hope viewers will enjoy the film even fractionally as much as I have loved making it.”
I have to say that the artwork for Butler's Lackadaisy web-comic is amazing eye candy complimented by a story whose tone and theme are a captivating read. The animation for the short film does an exceptional job of replicating the visual appeal of the web-comics and providing viewers with an intriguing plot. Lackadaisy: The Animated Short Film earns a Geek Daddy nod of approval for being refreshingly original and entertaining to watch. Plus, it is FREE to view!
Good luck to Tracey Butler and Iron Circus Comics in getting their pilot picked up by a television network, streaming service or movie studio! It would be fantastic to see more Lackadaisy adventures produced as an animated tv series or film. For more information about the web-comic and animated short, head over to lackadaisy.com
Based upon their kindie rock with a metal edge and YouTube channel with animated dinosaur themed music videos, Howdytoons has cultivated a continuously growing fanbase of kids. The videos from their last album "Dinostory" are closing in on a billion YouTube streams! Now the band is releasing a new "dinosaur rock" album coming out in September.
"Dinosaurs & Monsters" is being released on September 30, 2022. It will be available to stream on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, YouTube Music, YouTube (video), and other streaming services. "Dinosaurs & Monsters" has a runtime of 30 minutes and is recommended for all ages, but especially for kids aged 5 - 12. For more information, head over to howdytoons.com.
Howdytoons, famous in the kids’ world for its heavy metal-inspired dinosaur songs, digs even deeper into the genre with "Dinosaurs & Monsters", unearthing tunes about super-fantastic creatures, both real and imagined. There is still a healthy serving of music for dino-crazed fans, but the album also includes songs about Pterosaurs (“I’m a Pterodactyl”), synapsids (“Dimetrodon,” listen to the song to find out what a synapsid is), and Pliosaurs (“Kronosaurus”), plus an eponymous number about a legendary Scandinavian sea monster, The Kraken. Even when telling a great tale, Howdytoons keeps thing scientifically accurate, packing statistics and facts into every song.
Offering something a cut above inconsequential, autotuned kids’ music, Howdytoons songs fire the imagination with amusing complexities that require the full attention of the listener, regardless of age. The stellar musicianship of "Dinosaurs & Monsters" is commanded by the searing guitar riffs and blazing vocals of Mike Whitla and Jimmy Reid and bombastic drumming, provided by Marco Minnemann (The Aristocrats, Joe Satriani, Alex Lifeson, and more). Compositionally, the music is an exotic mixed bag that combines elements of not only rock, reggae, ska, and metal, but also South Indian classical (Carnatic) music, courtesy of Mike Whitla, who became fluent in this musical language while studying at Toronto’s York University. Whitla’s Carnatic guru, the acclaimed virtuoso Trichy Sankaran, is featured playing mridangam on two of the album’s Carnatic-influenced songs.
Anyone who has ever hoarded Halloween candy as a kid will love a new card game created by cartoonist Alex Clark. Studio71 Games ( the producer of Half Truth, Shady Agents, Pet Evil and Tape Worm ) sent us a prototype deck to try out of their newest game SUGAR HEIST which they've launched on Kickstarter. If you want to be one of the first people to get your hands on this game don't delay in making a pledge on Kickstarter as the campaign wraps up on July 1, 2020! A madcap game of childish hijinks this game provides a sugar rush of excitement as you battle friends and family to be the "kid" who has the most candy.
SUGAR HEIST utilizes the artistic and comedic talents that have made Alex Clark a YouTube sensation to craft an energetic family-friendly game which will get players acting like sugar-hyped babies in a battle royal over candy. It can get ultra competitive but also provides a rush of goofy fun so you are sure to have a sweet time playing it!
Players are trying to stash away 5 types of candy (Fruity Booty, Power Sours, Lucky Sucky, Nutty Butty, and Gum Yum) into vaults. You can put candy into a vault once you've obtained a matching pair of the same type of cards and once you've achieved the lock number on a particular type of sweet it is secured from being stolen from other players. Until then though other players can steal your candy from you!
The game ends when all 5 flavors of candy have been locked away in vaults. Then players count who has hoarded the most candy to see who the winner is. Plus you can earn some love from Grandma to get some extra bonus points. That just might make the difference if you win or lose in SUGAR HEIST.
Candy Cards can be obtained in a variety of ways. You pull two cards each round from the Candy Card deck so that you can have up to six pieces of candy in your hand. If you get a pair put them in a vault. You can only put one flavor of candy though in a vault though with each player starting off with two vaults. If you need more vaults players can buy another vault by discarding one piece of candy into a discard deck.
You can also sell candy cards by discarding them to purchase Battle Cards. There are a variety of battle card options you may randomly pull from this deck. The main one is the Attack move. This allows a player to either STEAL 2 candy cards from an opponent's vaults or pull a HEIST to take 6 cards away from someone else's vaults. An attack card can be used right when it is pulled or players can hold onto it to use in a later round of the game.
In heist mode, two players randomly pull a card from the battle card deck one at a time. The first person to obtain 2 attack cards win. If it is the person who started the battle that player gets six cards from the person they targeted the heist against. But if the person who is defending their candy wins, then they don't lose anything.
Battle Card decks in addition to Attack Cards also include Action Cards, Defense Cards, and Event Cards. The most powerful defense is the Mom Card. Players can stash this away and if someone tries to swipe or heist their candy can have Mom step in to stop the other kid. Another defense is the Grandma Card. This gives you bonus points at the end of the game so that you can makeup for candy that may have been swiped or heisted from you during the game.
Action cards are meant to create chaos in the game. For example a "Night Raid" card allows someone to steal an entire unlocked vault with all the candy inside it. This can be used immediately when someone purchases a battle card and pulls it from a deck or it can be held onto and used at a more strategic time later in the game.
Event cards can also be randomly pulled from the Battle Card deck. These are like action cards but MUST be used immediately. For example, if you pull the "Bad Dog" event card from the battle deck it goes into play right away. When it comes to this card, a bad dog steals everyone's candy! The player declares a type of candy and anyone who has that type in their hand must place it in the central discard stack which is where people also put the candy they use to buy vaults and battle cards. Candy that is in locked or unlocked vaults though is safe from a bad dog.
Plus you can also play nice with other players from time to time and swap candy from each others hands trading for what each other needs. So you can find candy cards by pulling them from a main deck each round, trade with other players from what they have in their hands, or steal, swipe or heist candy from other players hands or vaults. Lock up as much candy as you can as quickly as possible any way you can to ultimately win the game.
Looking for a game that is out of the ordinary which will be fun for all ages to play together? SUGAR HEIST is something new and different to play that is sure to provide a fun time. This dad blogger and his family have had a good time playing it around the house. It can be played with 2 - 4 players. So we've had the whole family play with my wife and I having a family game night with our kids. Plus my son and daughter have battled it out against one another on the living room floor and out on the backyard patio table. This game absolutely gets a Geek Daddy nod of approval!
Click here to see more products available from Studio71 Games
Have you seen any of the JOHN WICK movies? This film franchise starring Keanu Reeves follows the adventures of a retired hitman who goes back to work. Now with three movies and a fourth on the way this franchise has brought the DIE HARD / PULP FICTION style of shoot em up action films to movie theaters for the last decade. Well that is what I've heard because though I've wanted to watch these flicks haven't had the chance to see any of the JOHN WICK movies yet. You don't realize how hard it can be to see R rated movies as a parent until you actually become a Dad.
So I'm excited to watch the first movie in the JOHN WICK series on Friday night (May 8, 2020) for FREE on YouTube during aLIONGATE: A Night at the Movies! Liveshowing. Tune in at 6pm PT / 9 pm ET to watch JOHN WICK on YouTube. Don't be late because this special Lionsgate presentation hosted by Fandango will only be viewable during this one time live airing of the movie on YouTube.
In JOHN WICK, the legendary assassin (Keanu Reeves) has retired from his violent career after marrying the love of his life. Her sudden death leaves John in deep mourning. When sadistic mobster Iosef Tarasov (Alfie Allen) and his thugs steal John's prized car and kill the puppy that was a last gift from his wife, John unleashes the remorseless killing machine within him and seeks vengeance. Meanwhile, Iosef's father (Michael Nyqvist) -- John's former colleague -- puts a huge bounty on John's head.
Put the kids to bed, pop open a beer and tune in with me on Friday, May 8 to enjoy this special showing of JOHN WICK on YouTube. During the movie, Lionsgate will be soliciting donations for the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation Assistance Fund to assist employees of movie theaters who are out of work due to the pandemic. If you can afford it please consider tossing a buck into this virtual hat that is being passed around.
Plus some fans will be live-tweeting during the show using the hashtag #LionsgateLIVE. If you are on Twitter, make sure to give @Geekdad248 a follow! Shout outs are always appreciated. Let us know if you are tweeting tonight!
For their days science lesson today, the teachers at my kids school had all the 5th Graders log onto Facebook Live to witness a presentation from the Michigan Science Center. With the school building closed due to the pandemic, the teachers have been teaching online via live Zoom sessions, recorded YouTube videos and having the kids participate in different activities like this. The Michigan Science Center ECHO Live! presentations let students participate in a different experiment each day asking questions and interact with the host through the Facebook Live chat feature.
These free 1/2 hour video presentations will take place every weekday at 2:30 pm ET for what would have been the remainder of the school year. If you miss a live experiment and chat session, the videos are posted later on the Michigan Science Center YouTube channel. I watched along with my son and daughter and have to say the presenter did a very nice job of conducting the experiments in a relatable way to children as well as interacting with the viewers through the Facebook Live chat feature as if she was doing the presentation with the kids sitting right in front of her at the science center. I give her a Geek Daddy nod of approval for a job well done!
The presentation we saw today involved experiments with electricity and showing how a circuit works. Viewers learned how to turn a potato or lemon into a battery. While moms may tell kids to never play with their food, I think it is ok for science experiments. I know my kids would much rather do experiments with carrots than eat them! My son and daughter both want us to do some science experiments with the fruits and vegetables in our kitchen pantry now.
If you are home schooling children, these videos provide some nice science curriculum that is both educational and entertaining. They'll be covering different topics so tune in each day to see what new experiment is taking place. Check out these great Michigan Science Center ECHO Live sessions while staying home and staying safe.
While attending the 2016 Dad Summit 2.0, A Geek Daddy had a chance to chat with Chris Steininger, a Master Builder for The LEGO Group, who is employed to create awe inspiring models and sculptures made from LEGO bricks to promote the brand. His accomplishments have ranged from working on the basement set used in the real life sequences of THE LEGO movie to building a life-sized Star Wars X-Wing fighter. Steininger is one of 8 Master Builders located within the United States and 40 employed globally by the privately held, family owned Danish company which is one of the world's leading manufacturers of play materials. Master Builder creations can be seen at events like LEGO Kids Fest, locations like LEGOLAND parks and LEGOLAND Discovery Centers (by the way the brand new LEGOLAND Discovery Center Michigan located in the Metro Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills opens to the public on March 25, 2016) and at various community, charitable and corporate events that the brand is partnering with or supporting.
In addition to talking about all things LEGO with the attendees at Dad Summit 2.0, Steininger brought along with him some of the company's newest products to show off that included toys based upon the new Ghostbusters movie, a play set honoring stay-at-home dads and working moms, and build them yourself Star Wars action figures.
LEGO also sponsored an after-hours party for the more than 400 attendees at the annual conference aimed at changing the voice and perception of modern fatherhood at the Smithsonian American History Museum (which also happen to have on display the LEGO patent application submitted in 1961 to the United States Patent & Trademark Office).
Chris Steininger also served as the MC of some LEGO building competitions. I had a blast participating in one contest where within a limited amount of time we had to quickly build a bridge from LEGO bricks. Steininger put weights on top of each bridge until they collapsed to determine the competition winner. Ours was doing really well and reached 90 pounds but then Chris put 10 more pounds up and it imploded within the blink of an eye. Oh no it was a second place finish for us!
Want to give it a shot in constructing your own creations like a LEGO Master Builder? Download the LEGO Digital Designer which is a FREE application available for Windows PC and Mac OSX which allows users to create virtual dream models and print out instructions to build their designs with LEGO bricks. One last tip from Steininger that most parents will probably appreciate, once your kids have take apart their LEGO vehicle or play set and thrown all the bricks into one big box or bin if they ever want to rebuild something all the instructions are online just CLICK HERE to search for what you are looking for.
Thanks LEGO for being a sponsor of the Dad 2.0 Summit and I do have to say that it is amazing how well you depicted me in the commemorative mini-figure that you gave me to bring home.
This week's home work assignments for my kids involved learning about bugs. Beyond being our family's resident bug killer when it comes to squashing the pesky ones we find lurking around our home, I didn't know a whole lot on the topic. So we turned to makemegenius.com which provides free videos that explains scientific concepts to children in ways that are easy for them to comprehend. Many of the videos like the one we viewed on bugs are portrayed as cartoons with an animated boy and girl explaining the topic so viewers appear to be learning from peers rather than being lectured to by an adult. My children learned about the different types of bugs, the difference between arachnids (spiders, scorpions, ticks) and insects (ants, bees, beetles, dragonflies, flies, grasshoppers, praying mantis, true bugs and wasps) allowing them to easily answer their homework questions after we watched this seven minute video.
Other topics that makemegenius.com covers include astronomy, biology, chemistry, geography, and physics. Videos can be sorted by age range (Kindergarten through 8th Grade) or by topic. The animated sequences attempt to take concepts that my befuddle a student at school and explain them at the child's level to help him or her get a grasp on the information. Videos range from being as simple as explaining why there is day and night to more complex subjects such as how does friction work, what are parallels of latitude, or understanding the digestive system. The focus for all of these free videos which can be viewed either at makemegenius.com or on their youtube channel is to make science easy for kids. If you have a child in elementary school or junior high this is a resource you should definitely check out!
Once my kids wrapped up answering their homework questions, we took a walk over to the neighborhood park to check out how the world looks through a bug's eyes. Thanks to our Educational Insight's Animal Eye Viewers my twins were able to explore the playground through a pixelated bug's-eye view. My son pretended he was flying like a bee soaring up and down on a swing while my daughter jumped all around the playground equipment like a giant grasshopper.
Unlike human eyes which are one big pupil, insects are made up of lots of little lenses. Their eyes are too small to see as clearly as we see but they still provide a wide range of vision. An insect's many little lenses help detect quick movements, which explains why flies can be so difficult to swat. Also insects can see a broader spectrum of colors than human beings can which for example helps honeybees find nectar when examining flowers. Using our insect viewer from our set of GeoSafari Jr. Animal Eye Viewers from Educational Insights, my kids were able to get a first hand perspective on how a bug views the world.
Educational Insights' GeoSafari Jr. Animal Eye Viewers comes as a three piece set that allows children to view the world around them as an insect, chameleon or shark. Next week's homework involves reptiles so we'll also be doing some exploring as well with their chameleon eye viewer to help make that assignment fun and interesting for them. Hmm their teachers haven't given us enough advance notice to know if sharks is a topic that is coming up but I'm sure we'll have some fun with that version of the Animal Eye Viewers as well soon.
FTC Disclaimer: A Geek Daddy was provided a complimentary Animal Eye Viewers set to reviewfrom Educational Insights. Opinions are honest and my own.
Walt Disney Studio's animated motion pictures are known for their musical numbers and its upcoming movie ZOOTOPIA will be no exception to that proven formula for box office success. A big part of the film's story will revolve around Gazelle, the biggest pop star in the world of Zootopia which is a modern metropolis populated by wild animals -- a place where no matter what you are, from the biggest elephant to the smallest shrew, you can be anything. This singing gazelle will be voiced by Grammy-winning singer Shakira who also will be performing an all-new original song for the movie titled "Try Everything."
Disney just released a music video of Shakira singing "Try Everything" as well as made the song available to purchase via iTunes to help hype the movie. "Try Everything" was jointly written by Australian singer-songwriter Sia and the Norwegian songwriting and production duo Stargate. Walt Disney Records soundtrack to ZOOTOPIA will be released on the same day the movie arrives in movie theaters across the United States, March 4, 2016.
3,000,000,000 - wow! that's a lot of zeroes in that number which represents the astronomical amount of downloads worldwide of apps associated with Outfit7 Limited's Talking Tom and Friends franchise reached at the beginning of October. So 3 billion cheers to these apps which feature interactive talking cats, dogs, kittens, puppies plus a parrot for good measure on reaching such an impressive milestone!
Talking Tom & Friends started out with the original Talking Tom app in 2010 which featured an animated interactive 3D character that users could tickle, poke and play with via the app. Users could also get Tom to repeat what they say. 5 years later, the success of that original app has evolved and expanded to now to 16 hugely popular apps featuring Tom and his animal friends. Monthly these apps collectively generate 250 million active users in over 230 countries and territories worldwide.
"It's an amazing accomplishment to reach three billion downloads, but even more of an honor to know Talking Tom and Friends have entertained and delighted so many across the globe," said Samo Login, Outfit7 Limited co-founder and Chief Executive Officer in a press release sent to A Geek Daddy. "Thanks to our incredible team who work tirelessly to raise the bar in creative content and technology and continually deliver an entertaining and engaging experience, we've been able to reach this significant milestone."
Talking Tom and Friends app download stats are just one part of this franchise's digital whirlwind of success though. Combined the franchise has also amassed a whopping 3.5 billion views of its various content on YouTube, while Talking Tom and Friends: The Animated Series has accrued close to 100 million views since it launched on YouTube and YouTube Kids last Spring. Talking Tom and Friends: The Animated Series consists of 52 eleven minute episodes featuring an all-star voice cast led by Golden Globe and Emmy-nominee Colin Hanks (Fargo) and Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants). Plus new episodes of this online series will be hitting YouTube this month! Based upon the success of the apps and web-series, a feature film is also in development and Outfit7 Limited has a flourishing global licensing and merchandising program.
So what should we take from Outfit7 Limited's success? People LOVE talking cats and make sure your kids learn how to develop, produce, and market apps. The Talking Tom and Friends apps are FREE to download on all major app stores globally. For more information, or to download an app, visit outfit7.com/our-work.
There was a year during elementary school where I almost missed the bus everyday because I didn't want to miss a second of a daily morning cartoon called Robotech. Anyone who is familiar with this science fiction anime that ran in 1985 is going to want to check out this great film short created by a Star Wars fan that has a real Robotech vibe to it. Well actually anyone who is a fan of SciFi will want to check out "TIE Fighter" because it is really good. Paul "OtaKing" Johnson spent 4 years worth of weekends creating this tremendous anime video that portrays a Star Wars space battle between the Rebel Alliance and the Imperial Navy through the eyes of TIE fighter pilots.
It's amazing when you think about it that we have the technology available now so everyday people can create on their own and post to youtube videos of a quality that in the not too distant past could have only been produced by a television network or movie studio. Kudos to OtaKing77077 for his short film TIE Fighterthat I thoroughly enjoyed! Whether you are a Star Wars fanatic or just a casual fan of SciFi you'll want to view this great short film with Johnson's classic 80's inspired anime artwork and a rocking original soundtrack by Zak Rahman.
A brand new Star Wars animated television show titled Rebels will be debuting in October. Star Wars: Rebels is scheduled to premiere on October 3rd with a one hour special Star Wars: Rebels- Sparks of Rebellion on the Disney Channel. Half hour episodes will than routinely air on Monday nights each week on the cable channel Disney XD beginning on October 13th. The premise behind the tv series that is set 5 years before the original Star Wars move "A New Hope" is that a motley crew of a spaceship called the Ghost begins harassing the Empire in an effort to spark a rebellion.
In an attempt to recapture the vibe of the original trilogy of movies the artwork in this animated series will use the Star Wars concept art that was created by artist Ralph McQuarrie in the 1970s & 80s for inspiration. One specific example of McQuarrie's impact on the show is the character of Zeb Orrelios. The appearance of this alien who serves as the muscle for the Ghost's crew utilizes McQuarrie's original concept for Chewbacca to create the character. I remember as a kid spending hours scouring through Ralph McQuarrie art books my aunt had given me and imagining all sorts of adventures inspired by those wonderful sketches; so I'm really looking forward to seeing his influence in Star Wars: Rebels.
Other characters in the show include:
Kanan Jarrus a survivor of the Empire's purge of the Jedi. After barely surviving Order 66 he went underground hiding in obscurity until discovered by the owner of the Ghost, Hera Syndulla. He is now the leader of the Ghost's crew doing his best to inflict harm against the power of the Empire.
Hera Syndulla is the Twi'lek owner and pilot of the Ghost.
Sabine Wren is a Mandalorian warrior who is an expert in combat, weapons and explosives. She fancies herself as an artist who loves to tag Imperial facilities with graffiti after an attack.
Ezra Bridger is a 14 year old pickpocket and con artist who the crew of the Ghost find living on an Outer Rim world. Unknown to him one of the reasons he is able to get out of so many jams is that he is gifted with the ability to use the Force.
To help up the excitement for Rebels, Disney has released four short youtube videos to promote the excitement for this new series:
In “The Machine in the Ghost,” the
rebels’ Ghost starship is under attack by a wave of TIE fighters. Hera
pilots the craft, while Kanan tries to blast the Imperials from the
Ghost’s gunner. While they do evade and shoot down several TIEs, it’s up
to astromech droid Chopper to finish the job – even if he’s reluctant
to do so.
In “Art Attack,” Sabine sneaks into an
Imperial compound, looking to create a diversion for her friends aboard
the Ghost. Spotted by stormtroopers, she proves too quick to be
captured – and leaves behind an explosive surprise.
In “Not What You Think,” Ezra finds a
downed TIE fighter on the plains of Lothal. The young rebel opens the
ship’s hatch -- pretending to help the ungrateful Imperial pilot -- and
leaves with a few souvenirs.
In “Entanglement,” Zeb fails to meet
with Kanan at a specified rendezvous point…and instead finds himself
joyfully battling many, many stormtroopers.
For more information about Star Wars: Rebels CLICK HERE
Don't forget to fly your Flag this weekend. Saturday, June 14th is FLAG DAY, a day of national observance proclaimed each year by Presidential Proclamation, that recognizes the date in 1777 that the Second Continental Congress selected the flag of the United States. This year is the 237 anniversary of the creation of the Stars & Stripes and also marks the 200th anniversary of the drafting of the poem which became our National Anthem. Francis Scott Key penned the lyrics while watching the American army, and its flag, withstand a British naval bombardment during the War of 1812's Battle of Fort McHenry which took place on September 13, 1814. This poem was set to music and became known as the Star Spangled Banner. Congress passed a resolution on March 3, 1931 which was signed into law by President Herbert Hoover recognizing the Star Spangled Banner as the National Anthem of the United States.
To celebrate FLAG DAY and this anniversary year for the Star Spangled Banner, the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History is hosting a special event on June 14th. RAISE IT UP!ANTHEM FOR AMERICA will celebrate Flag Day with the opening up of a special exhibit recognizing the 200th anniversary of the Star Spangled Banner and a nationally televised concert commemorating the National Anthem. From June 14th through July 6, the National Museum of American History will have the original flag from Fort McHenry (normally on permanent exhibit at the museum) that inspired Francis Scott Key on display with the original manuscript of the poem he wrote in 1814 (on loan from the Maryland Historical Society). The Smithsonian Institute is hosting an "Anthem for America" concert on the National Mall from 2:30 pm until 4:00pm EST on June 14th that will be broadcast on ESPN3 and live streamed on Youtube. At 4:00 pm the Nashville-based americana group Della Mae will wrap up the concert by leading a national singing of the Star Spangled Banner hoping to set a new Guinness World Record for largest collective national-anthem performance. There are registered parties around the Country where people will be singing the national anthem together at the same time as Della Mae to be counted for the Guinness World Record. For example, here in Detroit the party is at The Henry Ford. CLICK HERE to find a location by you.
The Anthem for America concert will feature appearances by Kristen Capolino, Carlene Carter, a 400-person choir conducted by Grammy-winning composer Eric Whitacre and MacArthur "Genius" Fellow Francisco Nunez, The U.S. Air Force Band under the direction of Colonel Larry Lang, Smithsonian Folkways' A Little Bit A Blues Band, and the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Quintet.
So get your Flags raised on Saturday and take a minute out from your Fathers Day Weekend at 4pm on June 14th to join your fellow citizens from across the country to celebrate our National Anthem together. Hey parents, this could also be a fun way to incorporate a civics/history lesson into a student's summer break!
Oh by the way, if you are looking to take a road trip in the Baltimore area this Summer you may want to check out special #STARSPANGLEDSUMMER events to commemorate the Star Spangled Banner's 200th anniversary leading up to a big STAR SPANGLED SPECTACULAR week long celebration September 10 - 16, 2014. For more information, visit: www.starspangled200.com
