Absent father, separated from his mother at an early age, unstable moods, unstable interpersonal relationships, dysfunctional experiences of self and others, dissociative episodes, difficulty controlling his anger, drastic shifts in identity….

Infantile illusions of omnipotence.

Sound like someone you know?

It affects 2 percent of adults (mostly young women).

It’s called borderline personality disorder, and Dr. Gupta says Vader has it: What is Darth Vader’s diagnosis? – Paging Dr. Gupta – CNN.com Blogs.

Last month, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the regulator in charge of the futures markets, approved the applications of the Cantor Futures Exchange and Media Derivatives (MDEX), to serve as contract markets to trade futures in the media market.

Now the CFTC is holding hearings to discuss whether the commission should approve Cantor’s and MDEX’s first contracts involving futures and options based on the opening weekend revenues for the film “Takers,” a movie about bank robbers starring the hip-hop music star Tip Harris (T.I.), and Hayden Christensen (whiny Darth Vader).

These “synthetic contracts” allow traders to bet on the amount of money the movie would make. If the movie makes more or less money than the initial revenue level set by the contract, one side would collect money and the other would lose money. These would be so-called synthetic contracts, meaning that the traders would not own the revenues they were betting on, so they would be purely speculative.

This is all I have to say about this whole idea:

Movie Time at the C.F.T.C. Draws Heated Debate – DealBook Blog – NYTimes.com.

Thought I’d share some of my favorite items in this list compiled by by Phil Pirrello and Scott Collura.

• In this the original draft of the script, the Empire does not attack the rebel base on Hoth. Instead, Wampas attack and infiltrate our heroes’ icy compound.
• Once Luke is taken captive and turned into a frozen Wampa snack, the original draft deviates from the movie we all know and love. How so? Gone is the Jabba-Han subplot and the bounty hunters, and in its place is Solo going after his stepfather, a man named Ovan Marekal. Ovan is a huge political bigwig who’s carefully aligned himself with Darth Vader to protect the people of the galaxy. The Rebels believe that if Han can get to him, he may be able to convince him to fight against Vader, giving the otherwise helpless Rebel Army a fighting chance. Some of Ovan’s backstory would find its way into the character of Lando in the final film.
• Cheers barfly and frequent Pixar voice actor John Ratzenberger had a cameo as Alliance field officer Major Bren Derlin, stationed at Hoth’s Echo Base. You may remember him as the trooper who tried to talk Han Solo out of riding off in search of a missing Luke Skywalker. “Your Tauntaun will freeze before you reach the first marker!,” he shouted. To which Solo replied, “Then I’ll see you in Hell!”
• Alec Guinness is said to have shot all of his scenes in six hours.
• The scene in which a swamp creature grabs R2-D2 was filmed in George Lucas’ unfinished swimming pool.
• After the swamp creature spits out R2, Luke – in the original theatrical cut – says, “You’re lucky you don’t taste very good.” In the Special Edition, the line was changed to “You’re lucky you got out of there.”

100 Things You Didn’t Know About The Empire Strikes Back – Movies Feature at IGN.

I first wrote about the Star Wars Uncut project back in October. Apparently it’s ready for release. Here’s a teaser from the movie:

Star Wars Uncut “The Escape” from Casey Pugh on Vimeo.

It appears Microsoft is taking a bit of an edgier direction with their Marketing….

Han shot first.

This is just brilliant.   Laughed out loud at the “Willy Wonka gets the girl” joke.   Wow…really good stuff here.  There are 7 10-minute episodes.  I just can’t express how much this review of “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” touches my very soul.

Watch This: 70-Minute Video Review of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace | /Film.

“Star Wars Uncut has taken a novel approach to remaking Star Wars IV: A New Hope. You merely sign up for a 15 second clip, film it and submit it. The trailer is now complete and I will suspect you might enjoy the high quality (and low quality) of some of the already accepted scenes. 251 scenes remain in need of claiming with 688 claimed and 291 finished. Do your part to remake one of the greatest movies by filming fifteen seconds of yourself and your friends!”

Star Wars: Uncut Trailer from Casey Pugh on Vimeo.

http://www.starwarsuncut.com/

Plucked from the recesses of a response to a blog post from my friend Katherine…

Posted by Johnny Diggz on Monday, August 28, 2006 – 12:14 PM

I was traveling in Burma and a Buddist monk once offered to tell me where I could find, what he called, Ripeon-nok-tu (and I’m using phonetic spelling here).  Apparently it is a sacred banana tree deep in the Magwaese jungle.  He told me it was known for its sacred powers and delicious taste.  But he warned me that the journey to find it was treacherous and laden with danger.

My traveling companion, Mantu, a Congolese man of Scottish descent, warned me not to search for the Ripeon-nok-tu, but my sense of adventure and desire to taste the sacred fruit of the tree was too great.  He told me he could not go with me, so after a toast with a shot of Burmese rice wine, we parted paths.  “Go forth, brave Diggz,” he said, “and find your sacred fruit!”

I embarked on my quest alone.

It wasn’t until day three that I encountered any serious trouble.  I arrived at a small village deep in the jungle.  I bartered some trinkets I had purchased at the Sagaing Market for intel.  A village elder named Pin-kat-kin, intoxicated from chewing too many rubber tree leaves, warned me of the Yatishi gorillas.  He told me they knew I was coming for the Ripeon-nok-tu.  I had been betrayed!  Mantu was a trusted traveling companion, but he had a weakness for rice wine.  Damn you, Mantu!

The Yatishi gorillas were no ordinary rebel faction.  They were gorillas.  Big ones.  The kind that really like bananas.   And they didn’t take kindly to foreigners.

I joined the villagers for a feast of rubber tree leaves and minto soup for the night.  The next morning, before I departed, Pin-kat-kin pulled me aside and placed something in my hand.

“Take this, young Diggz,” he said.  “It will help you on your quest.”

I looked down into my palm and in it, was a golden jewel in the shape of a crest.  I thanked Pin-kat-kin for his hospitality and set forth into the domain of the Yatishi gorillas, and the sacred Ripeon-nok-tu.

So there I was. Alone, deep in the country of the Yatishi gorillas, betrayed by my former traveling companion, on my mission to seek the revered Ripeon-nok-tu banana tree. I was armed only with my machete and a crescent-shaped talisman given to me by a tribal elder on a rubber leaf binge, named Pin-kat-kin.

Times like these test one’s constitution and commitment. Had I made a terrible mistake? Was this to be my last adventure? Reason and logic had long since past. I was driven to find the Ripoeon-nok-tu. For its fruit certainly bears sweet nectar. I was hell-bent in a banana-infused journey from which I may never return.

The monsoon rains pelted the jungle canopy, echoing like drums. The Yatishi gorillas are cunning, so I moved forward with caution. As I crested a hill, I suddenly found myself overlooking an immense gorge, uncharted on any map. This was certainly the place the Buddhist monk had described so many days before.

Movement. From behind. I leapt to my side, but it was too late. A blinding flash. Losing consciousness. Fur. Grunts. The scent of bananas as I drifted away.

I dreamed of C-3PO and Ewoks.. Luke Skywalker wielding a giant banana-flavored lightsaber. Hard candy. John Candy. Wally World. The Jungle Cruise ride. Minimum wage. They Might Be Giants. Istanbul (not Constantinople). New Amsterdam. Martin Scorsese. Martin Scorsese’s mother. The Golden Girls. “Thank you for being a friend…”

I opened my eyes to a canopy of giant leaves swaying above me. My head throbbed as I turned and locked eyes with the largest gorilla I had ever seen. Slowly I sat up, resting my hands on confusions of tangled roots. I was surrounded by dozens of Yatishi gorillas.

With slow, purposeful moves I reached for my machete, but it was nowhere to be found. Suddenly I remembered the golden jewel that was given to me by the tribal elder. It was gone! I looked back to the largest Yatishi. He was wearing my talisman around his neck. I was doomed!

The gorillas began to grunt as the largest moved towards me. I backed away, into the trunk of a large tree. The grunts grew in volume and intensity as he came right up to me. I flinched as he shot his arms straight towards me, stopping only inches from my face.

In his hand was a single yellow banana. He seemed to be offering it to me. I cautiously reached up and took the banana from his enormous hand. It was a Ripeon-nok-tu banana. I looked up, and saw that I was sitting at the base of the sacred Ripeon-nok-tu banana tree. It was enormous and beautiful. I longed for a John Williams score that would perfectly capture its magnificence.

I pulled open the peel of the banana. The gorillas were now screaming and dancing about. I closed my eyes and took a bite.

As I tasted the sacred fruit, I thought to myself, “Eh, pretty much tastes like every other banana.”

The End…..or IS IT?