When it comes to hobbies, I consider myself a kid who has yet to grow up. I am, however finding the older I get, the less interested I am in certain hobbies. As those interests wane, I vow to no longer spend my money on trivial things I used to buy.
The problem is the minute I see some cool-looking movie poster, a new hardcover comic book, or news that all The Beatles albums are being re-released and digitally remastered on compact disc; I tell myself I got to have it.
This year is not much different as with the case of Hasbro and their continuing success of the Star Wars license. Just when I think they've done all they can in creating new and old Star Wars figures from the six movies and their Clone Wars television series, they come out with something unexpected. This year, in honor of the 30th anniversary of “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980), Hasbro is producing a revamped new Imperial Walker toy that can hold up to 20 action figures. That's more than previous versions, and it's due out in stores Aug. 1.
Despite these unexpected surprises, my long-time interest in Star Wars is waning. I will continue to buy the 12-inch Sideshow Collectibles figures produced every year, based on the movies and television series, as well as the smaller figures from Hasbro. However, unless I am planning to open up a "Star Wars Toy Museum" and charge admission, I have no intention of buying 10 or so curios to pose the 100-plus figures both companies will likely churn out so long as fans are willing to spend the money on such trivial merchandise.
There was a time when I briefly became interested in collecting jet planes from Gemini Jets but decided against it. For starters, the aviation hobby has been around for so long, I would have no idea where to begin. The other reason is the cost, some of which runs anywhere from $30 to over $100 per plane.
It would be a macabre-looking hobby anyway, as I would only buy the jets that crashed since the 1970s. I would make it my own little airline graveyard which would not be complete without an American Airlines DC-10, a Delta Airlines L-1011, the 9-11 planes, or a Concorde sitting among the assortment of doomed jetliners.
If there is one hobby I don't think I will lose an interest in, it's LEGO building. I still remember the very first LEGO set I got when I was in first grade. It was set 420, a police car that had only 19 pieces and came out in 1973. The reason I remember it so well is not because it was my first LEGO set from my parents, but because it was missing a part - a white "brick 1 x 2" piece. For those who take this building hobby seriously, they demand you call the bricks by their required names.
Despite my brief disappointment in missing that one piece, my brick building eventually grew as I received other LEGO sets over the years that included a fire house, a moon landing and a tow truck. Then the company, based in Billund, Denmark, came out with their space sets in the late 1970s and early '80s.
My favorite set of that era is still the Galaxy Explorer (set 497), which I wish the company would re-release. Thanks in part to the original Star Wars trilogy back then, I was building my own renditions of Tie Fighters, snowspeeders, and Imperial Walkers out of LEGOs. I even competed in a LEGO contest one year, thinking I would win. Unfortunately, what I built with less than 2,000 pieces was no match for what someone did within six hours' time, using 20,000 bricks to build a 747 or a merry-go-round. Yes, those expert builders, who were much older than I, won first, second and third place.
What I built then, kids are doing now as parents and fans of the original trilogy, and kids interested in the clone wars cartoon purchase LEGO toys and build their own Millennium Falcon and X-Wing fighters.
I won't deny the product has changed since I was a kid. Today, the LEGO brand gets most of its money out of movie franchises; hence the reason you see LEGO sets of Harry Potter, Batman, Indiana Jones, and Spider-man. If Star Trek takes off again, I would count on seeing LEGO sets of the starship Enterprise.
Thanks to the Internet, I can either download or purchase all the instructions for every LEGO set made since the company’s birth. I don't need to spend $5,000 on a new unopened retired 2,882 piece of the Statue of Liberty set from amazon.com. I can download the instructions and build my own.
God knows I have enough parts; seven 30-gallon storage bins of LEGOs to be exact sitting in the corner of my room, one on top of the other. OK, six. One has instruction booklets for all the Star Wars/non-Star Wars LEGO sets I've gotten since 1999.
The one thing that hasn't changed, with the LEGO products, is the need for one's imagination. I have plans to build something huge using all those plastic blocks one of these days. I am not telling you what it is. You'll have to wait until the year 2040 when I unveil my creation with pictures on the website, Brickshelf, if the LEGO-based Web site is still around, that is.
So why was actress Farrah Fawcett omitted from the memoriam sequence at the 2010 82nd Academy Awards?
Such was the question, not to mention surprise that occurred at this year’s ceremonies. The reason, as inexcusable as it sounds, is because Fawcett was best known for her “remarkable television work”, according to Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences executive director Bruce Davis.
“In every category, you’re going to miss some wonderful people,” Davis told the Associated Press.
I suppose I could accept that in the cases of actress Bea Arthur (“Maude” 1972-1978, “Golden Girls” (1985-1992) and actor Edward Woodward (“The Equalizer” 1985-1989) who also passed away in 2009 and were more known for their television work than their contribution to motion pictures.
Granted, I am the only one in America who loathed “The Cannonball Run” (1981) but there is still no disputing it was a box office hit for Fawcett along with her brief appearance in the sci-fi film, “Logan’s Run” (1976). She received a Golden Globe nomination as a rape victim who exacts revenge on her attacker in “Extremities” (1986) in 1987 and had supporting roles in such notable independent films as “The Apostle” (1997) and Robert Altman’s “Dr. T. and the Women” (2000). Fawcett’s death last June 25 was shrouded by the untimely passing of singer Michael Jackson. Her being overlooked by the Motion Picture Academy now lands her a double blow.
Even more insulting was the omission of three-time Oscar winning composer Maurice Jarre. What was the Academy thinking when they put this montage together? Jarre composed the musical scores for “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962), “Doctor Zhivago” (1965), and the 1977 television mini-series “Jesus of Nazareth” (1977) for God’s sake!
If there is one thing I can say about the Oscars every year it is how remarkably consistent they have been in delivering at least one unexpected surprise like the Fawcett omission that gets everyone talking the next day, if not, hours after they’ve aired. In some cases, people were already talking about the Fawcett snub on the web as the Oscars was still being televised.
Therein lies the problem I continue to have with these yearly ceremonies. I thought the Oscars was about getting excited that your favorite film was nominated though the odds were against the picture that it would sweep all categories. The last time I got excited about a favorite film of mine being nominated was James Cameron’s “Titanic” (1997) back in 1998.
If last summer’s “Star Trek” (2009) had received other nominations as Best Picture, Best Director, and even Best Screenplay, I’d have been excited even if it didn’t stand a chance. The same goes for if “Paranormal Activity” had gotten nominated. All right. So I am being prejudiced because they are the ONLY two movies I could justify buying on Blu-ray last year along with this year’s Blu-ray release, 2012.
Despite the Motion Picture Academy’s attempt at upping the Best Picture number to 10 films in hopes of winning over more viewers, there was not a single movie in that category I was rooting for. Avatar had great effects. It was NOT a great film.
Although I was happy the Ex-Mrs. James Cameron – Kathryn Bigelow won Best Director, I am still at odds embracing her anti-Iraq war movie, “The Hurt Locker”, which does not honor the nation’s troops despite her thanking the armed forces on stage not once, but twice.
Today, the Oscar nominations and the awards shows are still more about who the Motion Picture Academy thinks should be recognized versus what audiences want to see nominated and win. If people had their say back in 2005, Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” and Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” from 2004 would have nabbed nominations for Best Picture and Best Director. Very few people saw “The Hurt Locker.” Critics loved it. Audiences embraced “Avatar” but it didn’t win Best Picture or Best Director. Cameron had already crowned himself “King of the World” once.
Until another multi-nominated film that I personally enjoyed like “Titanic” comes along again that I can root for, I am always going to watch the Oscars looking for something unexpected to happen that gets everyone talking the next morning.
