The Exercise

This appealed to me. Something about stair walking...

10 strange facts & oddities about Star Wars

Star Wars has become a huge colossus of a film franchise and over 6 movies that some strange things have cropped up as part of each film's production. 

So here's 10 strange facts & oddities about Star Wars

1. The wise wizard Gandalf from Lord of the Rings was a huge influence on the character of Obi Wan Kenobi - so much so that an early draft of the Star Wars script featured lines cribbed directly from the pages of Tolkien!
2. Peter Cushing filmed all his scenes as Grand Moff Tarkin wearing slippers!
3. Denis Lawson who famously played X-Wing pilot Wedge is the real life uncle of Ewan McGregor who played Obi Wan Kenobi in the prequel films!
4. The plot twist reveal of the father and son relationship between Vader and Luke in The Empire Strikes Back is often misquoted as "Luke, I am your father". The line is actually "No, I am your father". No one knows why people do this!
5. In Jedi, the green Twilek Oola has a nipple slip and George Lucas left it in. Maybe the Rancor was supposed to distract us?
6. Despite being one of the most famous and well-known villains in the history of movie-making, Darth Vader actually has only 12 minutes of screen time in A New Hope! That's four minutes less than the screen time of Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs - and Anthony Hopkins got an Oscar for the part! What an impact Vader has had. 
7. The reason the little green guy Yoda was added to Return of the Jedi was there was some concern about whether Vader was really Luke's father. After consultation with child psychologists about how Vader's claim could be perceived by younger children who then went on to watch Jedi,  George Lucas decided he needed an independent character to confirm Darth Vader's claim that he is Luke Skywalker's father. Which was awesome for everyone as we all love Yoda!
8. You know that awesome pod racer race in The Phantom Menace? Yep, Lucas was just copying the famous chariot race from Ben Hur. 
9. Lucas was actually quite good at stealing good ideas. You know that bit where Obi-Wan Kenobi feels the death of the people on the planet Alderaan? Lucas just took that from a Star Trek episode where Spock felt the death of 400 of his own Vulcan kind.
10. David Lynch was offered the chance to direct Return of the Jedi but turned it down. Can you imagine how crazy Jedi could have turned out if Lynch had cast his magic over the film? Lynch actually chose Dune as his next film, and while it wasn't an amazing film, it has gone on to earn its place in film history. It was also probably just as well that Sting didn't have a role in Jedi either..... 
11. Speaking of Dune, the book's influence on Star Wars and George Lucas was incredible!
12. How many times has "May the Force be with you!' been said in Star Wars?

This is just BEASTLY

 

Real meanings of 5 U2 lyrics

The Real Meaning of 5 U2 Song Lyrics

To my hard seltzter addled mind, a really good song is one which has hidden depths - and those depths can usually be found in the lyrics. 

A classic rock song, can say anything and mean everything. Look at Oasis's Wonderwall lyrics for example. 

It's basically a love song but without really actually meaning anything - Here's 5 U2 song lyrics that have some real meaning, and with perhaps some devilish bite to them.

God Part II from Rattle And Hum

People often wonder why this song is called Pt II as they've never heard of a U2 song called God before.

It's actually intended as a sequel to John Lennon's song called God. John Lennon's song refers to things he didn't believe in such as Hitler - Bono's version also refers to things that he also doesn't believe in but also goes on to refer to how pissed he was at the author Albert Goldman who wrote an unflattering biography of Lennon (and also a bio of Elvis, and given U2's love of Elvis, I'm not surprised Bono made the reference).

Sunday Bloody Sunday 

This one is a pretty obvious song, but newer U2 fans may not realise the real meaning of this song. It's an exploration of the conflict that can exist between the State, it's people and when religion gets thrown into the mix. Inspired by two terrible occasions where soldiers shot civilians in Northen Ireland - the lyrics capture these moments crisply by invoking the cross fire that occurred between Ireland's conflicting religions and the military acttion that was taken - an by extension the State's role in the massacres.

Walk On

This is one of those songs that stray into the say anything, mean anything territory but U2 have but some real context around it to to ensure that it's lyrics are not misunderstood. Dedicated to Aung San Suu Kyi, this song is a freedom song, dedicated to the exponent of democracy and freedom in Mynamar. Poignantly during the 360 degree tour, U2 played this song at every concert and had supporters of Amnesty International come out on to the stage to show their support for Aung San Suu Kyi and U2's support for the people of Myanmar and their efforts to become a truly democratic society.

Not sure how well that worked out sadly. 

Spanish Eyes

Despite stealing lyrics from "She's a rainbow" by the Rolling Stones, Spanish Eyes is a love song to Bono's wife Ali - and she is actually Irish thus confusing the heck out of many U2 fans. This b-side from The Joshua Tree era kind of complements The Sweetest Thing in the sense that it was also a b-side and also a love letter to Ali.

Zooropa

Zooropa is a really crazy song that opens the album of the same name. Some fans have been confused by the lyrics of the song - they seem so mumble jumbled and make no sense. The real meaning of the song can be determined when you realise the lyrics are a hodge podge of slogans from famous brands. Zooropa's lyrics have a running theme of irony, tying in the "media overload" themes of the Zoo TV Tour into the context of a post-Berlin Wall Europe.

The song's lyrics touch on how modern technology can unite people as well as separates  them from each other.

Want more? check out U2 lyrics that explore Jesus, Yahweh and The Good Book.

You should feel sorry for anyone who says they've worn the 'Kakapo Ejaculation Helmet' as used by Sirocco the Parrot.

So like this must be the oddest thing Wellington's Te Papa Museum has on display: 

The Kakapo Ejaculation Helmet.

So the Kakapo is an endangered NZ parrot. There are like only about 100 of the cute birds about.

These green parrots obviously need to breed to survive but they aint got the message about their forth coming extinction. So concerned Kiwis have set up a breeding programme to help them out.

These people discovered that male kakapo have a tendency to engage people's heads in a sexual mating fashion. It must be some kind of fetish. They don't want do do it with their own kind, but if they see a flap of human hair, they get all frisky.

In an effort to collect Kakapo sperm for the breeding programme, some wiseguy invented 'The Ejaculation Helmet'. 

I kid you not, that's what it is called.

The Ejaculation Helmet is supposed to be worn by some poor sap at which time they then let the Kakapo have his wicked way on their head.

A parrot called Sirocco infamously mated with a Zooligist's head in front of comic legend Stephen Fry which demonstrated why the idea of the helmet kinda makes sense.

Fry said at the time of the shag: "Sorry, but this is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. You are being shagged by a rare parrot."

Please Mr Fry, play Professor Pennyroyal in a Mortal Engines sequel!

The above picture is from the Te Papa Museum. The accompanying caption said that the helmet was not successful.

So some guy once got fucked on the head by a parrot called Sirocco for nothing.



Te Papa Museum is also home to this awesome Colossal Squid