Who is The Last Knight?

So we have a trailer for the 5th Transformers movie helmed by Mr Transformers Michael Bay. The trailer gives little about the plot but hints that another secret about earth and why the Transformers continue to return to Earth.

 



The key moment is the end shot where Optimus Prime takes down an attacking Bumblebee at which point he then asks for forgiveness as he stabs a blade from his arm into his friend. Is this a fake out or a key plot point?

We expect The Last Knight to be more of the same - giant robots beating the shit out of each other and we expect nothing else.

We're kind of hanging out to see Hot Rod (he better be as cool as he was in the cartoon movie) and also to find out what happened to Prime when he flew off into space at the end of Transformers 4. And of course, solve the incomprehensible mystery of why King Arthur appears to be in a Transformers movie.

Ten Animal Myths that seem real

Sssh dude, don't talk to him, his meow echoes!

Top Ten Myths about Animals that seem real

So like according to the Pink Floyd's song, Keep Talking, "For millions of years mankind lived just like the animals, 'Then something happenend which unleashed the power of our imagination. We learned to talk'. 

And then what happened?

Having been like animals, we then hunted them, domesticated them, ate them and occasionally we were eaten by them. We petted them, chained them, put the biggest beasts in Zoos and wore their fur. 

And all the while, we talked about these animals and thus the legends and myths about them grew. Uneducated housewives told gullible daughters and ignorant fathers dressed up stories for wide-eyes boys and so it spread.

Until the internet was invented we believed whatever our friends said but now you just need to google for the animals facts, like you did. 

Congrats on being a little cynical about that story your mate in the army who just told you about giant camel spiders....

Here's Animals Eating Animals' Top Ten Myths About Animals

1. Myth: A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why

OMG, who makes up this drivel and who believes it? A duck quack is a sound. An actual force, pushing though the air, subject to the laws of physics.

Maybe some one heard a very quiet duck quack decided it didn't echo and then put it on the internet. 

This is as dumb as the oft asked question about the tree falling in the woods, no one hearing it so does it make a sound? 

Give.Me.Strength.

Let's get this straight, duck quacks, pigeon coos, rooster crows and owl hoots all echo.

Unless you have a magical duck, then all bets are off. Those magical ducks are well known to have quacks that don't echo. If you get one of them, I'll swap you this blog, my GI Joe collection and a piece of gum I found on my shoe. 

My left shoe actually. The one that allows me to walk on water.

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?

2. Myth: Penquins fall over backwards when watching aeroplanes flying over head.

As cute as this myth story is, it doesn’t happen. Penguins are happy on their feet and don’t land on their backs when gazing at planes in the sky.

The phenomenon was supposedly first reported by Royal Air Force pilots who flew over the Falklands during the 1982 war with Argentina (I guess the war can’t have been that intense!)

They myth went further than the above – stories apparently During the war in the Falkland Islands (UK against Argentina) someone was employed to pick up penguins that fell over onto their backs.  

The reason was that the penguins were not used to seeing planes and when they flew over they all followed the planes with their eyes and if they flew overhead the penguins would follow them right up and over and tip onto their backs.  

Apparently once they'd fallen onto their backs they couldn't right themselves and the colony would starve to death if humans didn't intervene.

The reality is that Penguins dislike the sound made by an airplane’s engine and have be observed to scatter whenever one draws near – either landing on an Antarctic ice shelf or flying overhead.  

The sadder truth is that penguins are more likely to be eaten by sneaky sharks and hungry polar beers.

Many reports have been dispatched from people in the Antarctic who have watched penguins and planes and all have reported Penguins do not fall over when planes approach. 

Can I borrow your razor blade please?

3. Myth: Lemmings periodically commit suicide by marching over cliffs and into the sea:

I loved the 90's computer game as much as anyone. When stuck, I loved to watch the lemmings blow up all Armegheddon style as per the idea the leemings liked to commit suicide. 

Lemmings have become a part of popular culture because of the myth that they tend to commit mass suicide when they migrate.  Let’s be clear, there have been no real life observations of lemming suicide.

The myth of lemming "mass suicide" or “hari-kari” has been made popular by number of factors. In 1955, Disney Studio illustrator Carl Barks drew an Uncle Scrooge adventure comic with the title "The Lemming with the Locket". 

This comic, which was inspired by a 1954 American Mercury article, showed massive numbers of lemmings jumping over Norwegian cliffs.

Even more influential was the 1958 Disney film White Wilderness  in which staged footage was shown with lemmings jumping to their death after faked scenes of mass migration. 

This event was actually shown to be staged and the leemings were manipulated to jump to a watery grave.

We've been conned by Walt Disney!

In more recent times, the video game series known as Lemmings has further explored the myth as they game player must stop the lemmings from mindlessly marching over cliffs or into traps.

So in short, Leemings are cute critters that like to play in the snow and that’s about it.

Got any cheese, mate?

4. Myth: Elephants are afraid of mice

Mice, per say do not bother or scare elephants. Mice are a very natural part of an elephant's environment  - they've been living happily together for years, in the jungles and in the zoos. 

A mouse walking by an elephant is not a problem, nor is it for any of the larger kinds animals. Heck, this leopard made friends with one. 

What does scare elephants is anything that startles them such as an unexpected movement or noise. These things elicit a response which could be characterized as an elephant being scared. 

One thing is for sure, certain panda are afraid of other Panda sneezing. My point is an elephant could react in the same way!

I live in your living room. I am the cobweb king! But I'm not poisonous

5. Myth: Daddy longlegs spiders are the most "world's most poisonous animals"

Wow, this is one I thought was true!? I even could follow up with  'but they were not poisonous to humans because their teeth were too small and weak to puncture a person's skin'. 

It seems legit right? 

Well to a 10 year, but thanks to the good people of the Mythbusters TV show have provided some pretty tight evidence as to why this is a myth:

"A Daddy long-legs was able to bite through the skin of Adam's arm. He reported nothing more than a very mild, short-lived burning sensation. Analysis of the venom proves it does not approach the potency of the Black widow spider."

In summary, my childhood knowledge shattered as I discover daddy long legs are not even close to being poisonous. Or venomous for that matter. There's a distinction in those words.... hey wanna see a spider eat a bird?

Leap Frog: a game for the whole family!

True: A Giant Tortoise can  live for over one hundred years

Well actually this one's true! Tortoise and Turtles have been known to live longer than humans. 

The Giant Tortoise regularly hits the 100 years of age mark. Sadly, there's not too many of these beautiful creatures around these days as they appeared to have been eaten by humans over the years.

Adwaita, was a giant tortoise who famously turned out to be 255 years old when his shell was carbon dated after his death. 

This made Adwaita one of the oldest creatures of modern times, beating  fellow tortoise Harriet by 80 years, and Tu'i Malila by 67 years.

Camel Spiders eat camels and camel coloured soldiers for breakfast

6. Myth : There are Spiders that eat Camels

There are also Men Who Stare At Goats too but but that's really quite a different story. Camel Spiders. The largest, most bad ass spiders that have ever been discovered. 

Known for their dangerous bite which can render an adult camel unconcious in 20 minutes and dead in 45. Then they swarm like angry locusts and eat the camel over a period of a few days. 

During the various US war campaigns in Iraq and Kuwait, an unlucky 13 U.S. soldiers have died as a result of camel spiders. And ironically, they had all failed goat staring class. 

Well, those are the myths about camel spiders any way. 

As we are learning througout this most awesome list, the truth is rather different from the myths. 

A number of urban legends have gleefully spread across the internet that exaggerate the size and speed of camel spiders, and their potential danger to camels, humans and soldiers in Iraq. 

That's right, their talents and size are all myth.

The reality is that camel spiders are commonly known as wind scorpions or sun spiders may grow to a length of 7 cm (2.8 in) which is nothing like the legendary stories people are wont to tell. 

That picture above?

It's an illusion of perspective.

Fact: It once took a Tuatara 111 years to first mate. 

This is a bit of a cheat in terms of myth busting but it did happen - a tuatara was a hundred and eleven years old before popping his cherry and giving up his v-card. Tuatara are a rare reptile species with a slow sex drive though I guess it's even harder to get it out of the way when you are help captive by your soviet masters... 

It aint easy being green 

7. Myth: You can boil a frog in water and it won't jump out. 

This once happened to Kermit the Frog apparently and they had to recast him on the Muppets and luckily no one noticed. 

I tell ya, it aint easy being green. 

It also aint easy to believe this myth!

The boiling frog story is a popular myth describing a frog slowly being boiled alive. 

The premise is that if a frog is placed in boiling water, it will quickly jump out due to the obvious heat, but if the same frog is placed in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the imminent danger and will be cooked to death.

Such a story is often used as a metaphor for the inability of people to react to significant changes that occur gradually. 

And it seems to work as a metaphor simply because people believe the horse shit that's being feed to them. Usually by some high paid life coach.

 Like for those of us lucky to only need to take depressants for kicks and don't need life coaches, we can read the internet for some wise thinking. Though I'm loathe to site Wikipedia on such a contentious, life changing issue, here's the truth about boiling frogs and their perkiness:

"In 1995, Professor Douglas Melton, of the Harvard University Biology department, said, "If you put a frog in boiling water, it won't jump out. It will die. If you put it in cold water, it will jump before it gets hot; they don't sit still for you."

You just can't argue with sane reasoning like that can you? Take that all you Miss Piggy Fans!

8. Myth: Every St Bernard is given whiskey at birth so it can find people in the snow

In Switzerland people love to ski and sometimes they get lost. But their friends are too lazy to look for them so they just sent out the local St Bernard rescue dog with a bottle of whiskey to give to the lost person. 

Sounds like the idyll life for a dog eh? 

Truth is St Bernard dogs are sometimes used in rescue missions as trackers but the whiskey is all myth - why would you give alcohol to someone with hypothermia? 

Good Tinkerbell, suck the asthma right out of me!! xxxooo

9. Myth: Chihuahuas can cure asthma

Sure, and monkeys cure diabetes. Celebrities however will believe anything, just look at Tom Cruise and Scientology. Paris Hilton, a noted drug user asthmatic, heard about this cure and bought two chihuahua!

Let's get real here!

 Asthma is a physical condition where the bronchial tubes in the lungs suffer from poor performance. Medicine can relieve symptoms and also act as a preventative but the underlying issues often remain. 

The association with dogs curing asthma possibly comes from the timing. Children may often 'grow out' of their asthma. This could be about the same time an animal is introduced to the family circle such as a Chihuahua and hence a simple coincidence has occured. Chihuahua are dogs, not doctors and can't cure anything. 

It is true however, unlike ducks, that chihuahua barks do not echo. Weird huh?

You do the pedals Bill, I'll drive.

10. Groundhogs Can Predict the Arrival of Spring

Groundhog Day is a tradition dating back hundreds of years ago. Supposedly, if a groundhog sees his shadow, there will be 6 more weeks of cold winter.

Celebrated on February the 2nd every year, the good folks of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, USA use the ground hog day ceremony to determine how long till winter is over. According to the myth, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter will soon end.

If on the other hand, it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly "see its shadow" and retreat back into its burrow, and winter will continue for six more weeks.

In Punxsutawney, their current ground hog, Punxsutawney Phil was made famous in the Bill Murray comedy, Groundhog Day.

In reality, the true timing of the arrival of spring is indicated by blooming of plants (daffodils are well known as spring plants) and increased activity of animals.

The origins of the myth are possibly related to the appearance of hibernating animals which generally signifies the end of winter.

Well, dear reader, you made it through to the end of the Top Ten Myths about Animals and some that might be true! What was your favourite myth or do you have one to share. Leave a note in the comments!

If you're a Star Wars fan, here's 5 myths about the movies!

The Top "Pauses" in Rock Songs - because sometimes stopping the music makes it better...

The Top "Pauses" in Rock Songs

Sometimes playing nothing at all can be one of the best things in a song.

What is this pause?

 It’s a ‘violation of expectation’ used to build tension which in turn creates excitement for the listener.

Delaying an expected note in a song is a great trick that many guitarists, pianists and other musicians use - and when a pause is used in a song structure, the effect can be tremendous.

Popular music producers such as Bob Clearmountain have used them to such effect that the 'Clearmountain' is often referred to when talking about the pause!

It an adage that 'silence is golden' and if that's the case, here's some classic songs that have some golden moments by way of a deliberate pause.

The first song in this list is the inspiration for this post - I was listening to it while on the bus and the pause made me sit up and pay attention:

Living on the Edge by Aerosmith from the Get a Grip album. 

Check out this video that starts with a nude Steven Tyler hold his meat and two veges and ends with Edward Furlong sharing his sandwich with a bully. The pause is at about the 3.30 minute mark. The song is seemingly building to a big moment, yet the pause drops in which leads to a drum beat and then the big moment. It's brilliant.



Wonderwall and Don't Look back in Anger by Oasis from What's the Story (Morning Glory)?

Wonderwall is probably my favourite song. Every time I pick up the guitar I ending up chuck on a capo on the second fret and go for gold. And the golden moment in Wonderwall is the pause that comes just before the start of the second verse. At the 2 minute mark Noel Gallagher delays the strum of the Em chord to perfection which means when the chord chimes it's a piece of heavenly pop.



This next pause is perhaps a little bit of a cheat. Don't Look Back in Anger is Noel's signature tune. He sang it rather than Liam and it went to number one on the British charts. It also has a great little drum fill that starts just after the solo. It's the most briefest of pauses that you could count as a pause but the linking of the end of the solo and the drum fill 'feels' like a pause. Great song moment. Here it is at the 3.30 mark.

Everybody Hurts by R.E.M. from Automatic for the People

One of R.E.M.'s greatest singles, Everybody Hurts features Peter Buck playing simple arpgeggio chords and soaring vocals by Micheal Stipe. The song is about grief and death. So when the pause  after the line "you're not alone" at the 3 minute mark, it gives you time to think, fuck, yes I feel sad, yes I feel glad, yes I loved that person or whatever it is you want to think.

When the arpeggio picks up right after, it almost feels like life has just given you a gentle nudge to say, you're still here, come with us, your hurting but you're not alone...

Closing Time by Semisonic from Feeling Strangely Fine.

One song that’s perhaps well known for its great pause is Closing Time by Semisonic (a band that should never have broken up in my opinion).  Check out the pause just before the chorus atthe 3minute mark.

This is the song that has what’s known as the 'Clearmountain Pause' -  Semisonic's producer Nick Launay is quoted assaying “we had to have our mastering engineer, Bob Ludwig, create the pause bystretching the existing pause, layering it, making it as long as he could.

Thereafter, we referred to that part of the song as the “Clearmountain Pause.”At shows over the next few years, the pause got longer, and longer, and longer until it was a musical piece unto itself.”

Love Shack by The B52s from Cosmic Thing

Tiiiiinnnnn rooooffff PAUSE rusted ! That's pretty much all you need to know about this classic song. Katie Pierceson delayed enunciating 'rusted' oh so perfectly about a seemingly nonsensical line about the shack. Rust never sleeps, I guess.



River of Dreams by Billy Joel - River of Dreams



I loved this song when it came out. It was catchy as anything and it still is - and its 4 second pause is perfect.

Coming off a funky jivin' feeling the listener is left thinking, "where did that good stuff go?" and is rewarded very well when rescued with 'in the middle of the night".

Closing Time's pause also inspired a book chapter in A visit from the Goon Squad by author Jennifer Egan which features famous pauses in rock songs. Check it out.

Never Tear Us Apart by INXS from Kick

This song was apparently another Clearmountain pause. This is song has a very bold pause - it fits neatly between Hutchence's lyric and a dramatic guitar riff - and the drama of the song is surely created and added to by the pauses before the instrumental breaks.

Monkey Wrench by Foo Fighters from the Color and the Shape.

This classic Foos track has many many pauses. You could argue they are more due to the manner in which the guitar is played with a stop start feel. Whatever, here's the official video which features classic FF mischief and decide for yourself:

The Look by Roxette from Look Sharp!

Any one who's looked at my CD collection will know there's a few periods of musical fandom I'd prefer the world didn't know about but I am certainly not ashamed to say I LOVE Roxette.

And luckily for this article, they've got a great pause in their break through smash, The Look.

 I warn you, this video is terribly dated and was probably actually terrible when it first came out to. Ah the 80's. Bless...

Here's some honorable mentions that you may wish to check out:

• Faith By George Michael - The best bit of this long player is the awesome organ introduction but the pause is pretty good. Play it on your acoustic guitar and decide for your self .
• Paint it black by The Rolling Stones - A quick and simple one - after the classic snake like sitar riff there's a slight delay before Charlie Watt's drums kick the song into life.
• Purple Rain by Prince from the Purple Rain Soundtrack
• March of the Pigs by Nine Inch Nails from The Downward Spiral  - listen to the but where Trent Reznor sings "and doesn't it make you feel better" and you'll know what I mean.
• Supervixen by Garbage from Garbage - this is a song that's commonly singled out as having a great pause - while the band of super producers are rocking out, Shirley Manson is a seething rage of total bitch and then it just pauses.

There you have it, the best pauses in rock songs. Did you agree? Got anything else to add? Leave your interesting or creative comments in the section belllloowwww as RWJ would say. 

What do U2 sing about?

Here's some what I think are interesting articles' that I wrote which attempt to pull together some of the common themes and concepts in the songs that U2 have written.

It's clear Bono has some key areas of interest, America, love, MLK, Elvis and of course, religion and this has been well reflected in U2's number one albums.

• All you need is U2 Love Songs - As it sounds, Bono's all loved up.
• Atomic Bombs - How do you dismantle an atomic bomb?*
• Bible References by U2 - U2 question and quarell about religion.
• Elvis was the King - Bono often refers to Elvis in his lyrics.
• Hello, I'm Johnny Cash - And then there was U2's love of the Man in Black
• How many number ones has U2 had? - More than most bands for sure
• Jesus, Yahweh and The Good Book - What does god want with U2. 
• Mothers and Fathers - Bono often writes about his experinces with his parents
• Name Droppers - Bono often name drops celebritities in his songs - and reveals his love of Michael Jackson
• Outside is America - Yes, America is a superpower and Bono noticed it.

* With love.

Revolution Radio album lyrics by Green Day

Revolution Radio album lyrics by Green Day

Green Day's new studio album is called Revolution Radio. Billie-Joe Armstrong has referred to it as Rev Rad and it appears it's a return to form if we are judging the first single Bang Bang on any level.

Here's the lyrics to all the songs on the album:

Radio Revolution / Rev Rad

1. "Somewhere Now"
2. "Bang Bang"  
3. "Revolution Radio"  
4. "Say Goodbye"  
5. "Outlaws"  
6. "Bouncing Off the Wall"  
7. "Still Breathing"  
8. "Youngblood"  
9. "Too Dumb to Die"  
10. "Troubled Times"
11. "Forever Now"  
12. "Ordinary World"

List of U2 number one songs

How many number one songs have U2 had?

The short version: UK 7 and US 2

The long version:

U2 have had all kinds of hits on the music charts but at the end of the day it’s the songs that made number one on those charts that are often the ones asked about as questions in pub quizzes. So to help you out, here’s a list or two of U2 songs that have made number one.

There are various kinds of charts that track popularity and they often revolve around rock, country and blues and are used to allow music that would never be mainstream get some air time. There’s even the itunes charts which for some unexplained reason people seem to think matters…

Two my mind there are only two charts that really count. Being ‘Top of the Pops’ in the UK means you are number one and crowning the Billboard 200 means you have the most popular song for the week in America. And we’ll use those charts to show how many number on hits U2 have had.

First up is the America Billboard chart which shows the U2 have had two number one hits. Both hits were from The Joshua Tree and were With or Without You and I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For. Desire from Rattle and Hum made it as high as 3 and a couple of singles from Achtung Baby and Pop made the top 10 and that’s it.

So, U2 have only had 2 number one American hits.

It’s a better story for the UK chart where U2 have had a bit more success in terms of chart toppers.

Nothing from The Joshua Tree went to number one despite the album’s massive success so it was Desire that became U2’s first UK number one hit. It came from Rattle and Hum. In 1991 when The Fly flew off as the lead single from Achtung Baby it landed at number 1.

It was a long time between drinks when Discotheque dropped in 1997.

U2’s All That You Can’t Leave Behind had a string of popular singles but only Beautiful Day in 2000 managed the spot. A debatable number one is Take Me to the Clouds Above" by LMC vs. U2. Debatable as it was a song featuring samples from U2's With or Without You with a health splash of Whitney Houston thrown in. At the end of the day, the song has U2’s name in the space where the artist’s name goes so it counts as a number one.

How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb offered a notable double with both Vertigo and Sometimes You Can’t Make It on Your Own grabbing their time in the top position.

No Line on the Horizon suffered from a lack of hit singles.

This means U2 have had seven number one hits in the UK and two in the U2. Unsurprisingly U2 are even more popular in their home country of Ireland and owned the number one place an awesome 21 times.

The next most popular country is the enlightened people of Canada with 14 which is twice as many as the UK successes.

List of U2’s UK number one songs:

• Desire
• The Fly
• Discotheque
• Beautiful Day
• Take Me to the Clouds Above
• Vertigo
• Sometimes You Can’t Make it On Your Own

Speaking of Green Day, do want to read the lyrics from the songs of Revolution Radio? Get your eyes over Ordinary World (no, it's not a Duran Duran cover!) and also our favourite from the album, the almost criminally under rated, Still Breathing. 

What gear do I need to start home brewing?

What gear do I need to start home brewing?

If you’ve decided to brew beer, you’re in great company.

Einstein, Churchill and Thor himself and every man with a shed has at one point or another brewed some tasty beverages.

But they all had to start somewhere, and so here’s a list of what equipment you might need to get started brewing beer.

We’re talking about brewing using a beer kit here, the kind of brewing where you ‘beer wort’ basically comes in a can.

You get to choose what hops or sugar you add (jelly beans maybe) and the rest is simply following some good brewing instructions.

But what do you need to brew some good home made beer.

This list is just the basics, you could probably actually get away with using less but at the very least, this guide should help you decide what you need to get that golden ale flowing down your gullet. 

What gear you might use on brewing day 

Ingredients 

• A beer kit – source a handy brew from an online store, or your local brew supplier. Some supermarkets stock them 
• A brew enhancer, DME or dextrose – 1Kg 
• Hops – an optional addition but good for getting some good aromatic flavours and it's easy to add hops to the beer *
• Honey if you want to increase the ABV.

Equipment for brewing

• Sanitizer - To sanitize all of your equipment. It’s a must. If you don’t your beer might die. 
• 6 gallon / 23 litre fermenter (drum or bottle). You will use this for making your beer in. You could even use a conical fermenter if you're feeling fancy.
• Thermometer - To monitor the temperature of the wort – this is so you can add the yeast at the correct temperature and avoid killing it. *
• PH meters are good for improving beer taste. 
• Hydrometer - Used test the original gravity of your batch *
• Paddle or spoon - Something to stir the boil with, maybe not your wife’s best spoon. A long handle is what you need. 
• Gloves – making beer can get a little messy (maybe use white ox gloves?) *
• Can opener – to open the beer kit 
• A good kettle to use as a mash tun
• Water - Access to both boiling and cold water 
• Bubble Airlock – to allow the release of CO2 and to assist with the observation of fermentation

Bottling your beer - what you need

• Bottles! – cleaned and free of dirt and spiders or slugs (trust us on this, it’s happened) 
• Sanitizer – Yes, once again you need sanitize all equipment and bottles and caps 
• Bottle caps - Make sure they are not twist-off bottles 
• Bottle capper – speaks for itself, helps you place the caps on bottles 
• Hydrometer - To measure the final gravity *
• Priming sugar – Sucrose which is to carbonate the beer while in the bottle (called beer conditioning) 
• Bottling wand - This allows you to easily control the flow while bottling and means less spillage will occur. *

* denotes an optional item of equipment

Originally published on How to homebrew beers as What equipment do I need to brew beer?

Extra for Experts: how to make a Panhead Supercharger clone

Thrawn. He's all that and a bag of chips.

I just finished the Star Wars book 'Heir to the Empire' and immediately (and finally) understood what all the fuss was in terms of Grand Admiral Thrawn. He's the chief antagonist of the book and it's quite clear from the first few paragraphs he feature in that he's the real deal. Inspired by this belated introduction to the Big Blue Chiss, I thought I'd present some facts about him.

1. Timothy Zahn, the author who created this beloved character described Thrawn as thus: "He’s a clever villain. People like reading about clever, interesting opponents to our heroes. People who are able to out think, outmaneuver as well as outfight. Ultimately the heroism of the hero is measured by the villainy or power of the villain and with Thrawn I wanted something different than Force using Vader or Palpatine. Somebody who doesn’t have Luke’s Force Powers, but can run him around in a maze whenever he really wants to."
2. His real name is "Mitth'raw'nuruodo" - Thrawn is a shortening of his full name
3. While he make's his debut in Timothy Zahn's 'Heir to the Empire' novel, Thrawn has actually appeared in 8 novels, several graphic novels and turned up in a few video games.
4. Thrawn's species is 'Chiss'. All Chiss are human like in their physical appearance, save the blue skin and red eyes.
5. The name "Coruscant" was originally used by Timothy Zahn. George Lucas was going to include the capital world of Had Abbadon in Return of the Jedi, but adopted Zahn's name for Imperial Center when presenting the planet in the Special Edition and prequel movies. 
6. Zahn has said thatThrawn's character is a composite of various historical and fictional personalities, including Erwin Rommel, Robert E. Lee, Hannibal Barca, Alexander the Great, and Sherlock Holmes. Some of those names are the greatest military leaders of history.
7. The Secret History of Star Wars by Michael Kaminski credits the Thrawn trilogy with reigniting the general public's interest with the Star Wars franchise. 
8. Due to the changes to what is considered Star Wars canon, The Blue Chiss is no longer canon - he's now formally part of the Legendary expanded universe. As of writing, Thrawn has not made it into any new Star Wars canon, though it is strongly speculated that he may turn up in Star Wars Rebels.http://www.inafarawaygalaxy.com/2017/01/the-last-jedi-quotes.html