Time

Time

It’s longer than you think…

Time

But valuable none the less…

Spirits call upon you now

To rise…

To shine

Through waves of light and water…

If you let go

Forget the rest…

If you close your eyes

Just resist…

PICTURE CREDIT – Time

DarkJade-

What Do I Think Of Disney

Let me start from the beginning

Walt Disney is one of my all time heroes (see my post from 2012 ‘Walt Disney – Through My Eyes’), along with Bruce Lee, Captain America (The Comic Book version), George Lucas and John Hughes

He was the epitome of ‘Imagination’

Growing up in the 70’s-80’s, Disneyland was truly ‘the happiest place on earth’

The Pirates of the Caribbean ride was my favorite, but I also enjoyed the Haunted Mansion, and Space Mountain

But more than that, the whole feeling at night

And the Disney Movies, ‘Sleeping Beauty’ was my favorite and when ‘Aladdin’ came out, I’d never in my life laughed harder in a movie theater that one of the Genie scenes

Robin Williams was a genius, I will always love him

Then Disney picked up ‘Pixar’, which was brilliant

Their animation department was flailing, so it made perfect sense to pick up the future of animation…

Pixar

Next came Marvel, we’ve all seen how that has turned out

And last, but not least, ‘Lucas Films’…

Once again, brilliant

Most importantly with ‘Lucas Films’ is, the original first two ‘Star Wars’ films/George Lucas were the reasons I became a Filmmaker…

…so this was a big deal for me

And the reality is, George Lucas isn’t going to live forever, so I thought Disney was a perfect place/home for the ‘Star Wars’ Franchise

The difference between me and a lot of people who loved the first and second installment of the ‘Star Wars’ films (Chapters 1-6), is I never called myself a ‘fan’

I’ve always been a filmmaker first

I simply felt ‘Star Wars’…

…and ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ were brilliant (They’re my two favorite films of all time)

I wasn’t much of a fan of ‘Return of the Jedi’, I wasn’t an Ewok fan, but all of the Luke and Darth Vader scenes still felt like ‘Star Wars’ to me

The films in 1989, 92 & 95 were their own thing

I felt Lucas got slammed pretty hard for ‘Phantom Menace’, which likely lead to ‘Attack of the Clones’ being so great, as well as ‘Revenge of the Sith’

But unlike a ‘fan’, I had no expectations going into those films, so I truly enjoyed them for what they were

Chapters 7, 8 & 9 (Also ‘Rogue One’, and ‘Solo’) were also their own thing

‘The Force Awakens’ surprised me…

…although J. J. Abrams, did not

He’s great… he’s a force

I was so happy with ‘The Force Awakens’, even though SPOILER ALERT Han Solo died

Rey was a great two dimensional character (Focused on what was in front of her)/Never stopped running/Typical ‘Star Wars’ character in a good way

Poe was awesome, but I’ve always loved Oscar Isaac

He’s brilliant

But to my surprise, Finn was my favorite character in ‘The Force Awakens’

I didn’t really care for ‘Ben Solo’ in ‘The Force Awakens’, which was a big deal because ‘Darth Vader’ is my favorite villain of all times

But in Chapter 8, ‘The Last Jedi’, Ben (Adam Driver) is brilliant

And Rai was awesome… Their characters made that film

Mark Hamill (Luke) was also a welcome ‘Star Wars’ contribution to the general vibe of the film

Plus his final scene was brilliant

‘Rogue One’ was literally the best possible prequal to ‘Star Wars’ Chapter IV

Brilliant, a stand alone film for sure

Some say it’s their favorite all time ‘Star Wars’ film

I don’t blame them

But Chapter IV & V are my favorites, followed by Chapter II

When I was a kid, Han Solo & Darth Vader were my favorite characters in the original ‘Star Wars’…

…and ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ was Han Solo’s/Harrison Ford’s ‘swan song’ (It was his best ‘Star Wars’ film)…

These characters and films changed my life

With ‘Solo’ (The film), once again, I entered with no expectations

And in the end, I liked it

But more than that, a sequel should have really been made… This film was truly built for it, and it would have likely been an even better film

Also, Lando was great

SPOILER ALERT I wasn’t thrilled to find out Darth Maul was alive (The dude was cut in half in ‘The Phantom Menace’), but I guess they brought him back before this film in another project

That I’d call a mistake/attempt to bring back what ended up being a fan favorite from ‘The Phantom Menace’

But ‘Star Wars’/George Lucas made his own mistakes/’what I considered a lackluster decision’ by killing Boba Fett in that pit in ‘Return of the Jedi’…

SPOILERS But Disney brought Boba Fett back to life too in ‘Mandalorian’, also a bad move in my opinion… But also based on his popularity I think

And now he’s going to have his own series… Ehh not so thrilled

Finally, the final ‘Star Wars’ film, Chapter IX (The Rise of Skywalker), no expectations once more (The world on the other hands had huge expectations), they destroyed the Finn character sadly, having him run around after Rey the whole film, but the chemistry of Rey and Ben Solo was awesome (Once more)

All and all, I was happy with that film (I’m not sure many were, but I was

The reality is, there was no way to meet the expectations of the whole of the ‘Star Wars’ audience (Perhaps if my bro and I filmed it, lol), which is already largely broken into at least to parts anyways (The die hard fans of the original films, and the fans of the second group of films, not to mention the new fans from all over)

Lets move on/back to Disney

First with the creation of Disney+, which is awesome…

…Disney old movies, Marvel Movies, Pixar Movies and ‘Star Wars’ movies and series all in one place

I was in

Also, making it just $6.95 made it a no brainer

And if that wasn’t enough, galvanized with the creation of ‘The Mandalorian’, which in my opinion truly gave me hope that the original ‘Star Wars’ feeling from the original ‘Star Wars’ films, was alive and well, and more than that, had a future

Thanks largely to Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and Pedro Pascal

Each, indispensable

SPOILERS I’m not going to even tell you what happens at the end of Season 2 if you haven’t seen the show… If you’re ‘Star Wars’ fan, just check out both seasons

This post was going to be even longer (I wrote much more), but I feel it’s long enough as it is

I will end with this

To the Disney Execs;

1. I really hope that what you do isn’t all, or even 80% about making money, and that’s it… Try to keep the spirit of Walt Disney himself in your ranks
2. Steer clear of all of this ‘cancel culture’… Stop giving so much power to the trolls/haters out there, and that goes for all major corporations
3. Tweet happy birthday to George Lucas from now on, once again, if the trolls steered you away from it, you’ve given them too much power… Respect the creator of ‘Star Wars’, or sell Lucas Film
4. Yes, Disney+ out performed your expectations, even before the pandemic, but don’t expect that growth rate to continue, it’s not natural/possible… Appreciate and maintain the followers you already have, sorry corporate america, it’s not all about growth, it’s also about maintenance
5. You’re making great shows, don’t let greed cloud your vision, nor destroy everything positive that you’re achieving
6. Break the mold over and over again, don’t stick to things that extinguish the souls of your employees, and leave your fans hanging dry
7. Greed is wrong… Be the change

Nuff said, thanks for listening/reading

And ‘May the force be with you…’

DarkJade-

Latest ‘HAIKON’ Commission

From my current Dungeons & Dragons Project/Module

Doragon Kishu (Dragon Rider & Paladin)

The ‘Shadowtaur’ (Dark Minotaur)

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Adventures Of Vilven Ledsong

Anyone whose been following my Blog for a while, knows that I play a lot of Dungeons & Dragons

As both a Writer and a Filmmaker, it’s been an invaluable way to work/stretch my imagination in all ways Story/Character, especially as a Dungeon Master which I generally am

In early 2018, I began a campaign with/for my girlfriend, and in addition to two other campaigns that we’re in (One she runs, another I run for a group), we’ve ran this first campaign now for 3 years

Kait (My girlfriend) was so inspired by it, she actually began writing a book telling of our beginnings and beyond

Last year she also started a GoFundMe for it, but she’s been so busy with starting her home business, she hasn’t worked on it a lot lately

Last night I found that GoFundMe, and donated $60 in hopes that she will begin writing on it once more

If you’d like to contribute towards the cause, here’s the link to her GoFundMe Adventures Of Vilven Ledsong

Thanks for your support!

‘Jhaelvra’ My Latest ‘HAIKON’ Commission illustration

My Latest ‘HAIKON’ Commissioned illustration

Doragon Kishu (Dragon Rider & Paladin)

For More Info. About My ‘HAIKON’ Dungeons & Dragons 5e Module, You Can Head HERE

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My Latest ‘HAIKON’ illustration

My Latest ‘HAIKON’ Commissioned illustration

Doragon Kishu (Dragon Rider & Paladin)

Artist To Be Posted Upon Completion Of Project

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Spring/Easter Weekend Is Here – Vegan Potato Salad (Variation)

For me, Easter relates to me via Family & Food

Vegan Potato Salad (Variation)

Ingredients;

1. Potatoes
2. Yam
3. Frozen Peas
4. Olives
5. Onion
6. Garlic Powder
7. Yellow Curry
8. Dried Dill
9. Pepper
10. Mustard
11. Veganaise
12. Peanuts
13. Celery

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The Falcon And The Winter Soldier Episode 1 & 2 In Review…

Let me start by saying, I read ‘Captain America’, ‘The Flash’, ‘The Avengers’, ‘The West Coast Avengers’ & ‘Strange Tales’ Comics in the late 80’s/early 90’s

That said, Captain America & The Flash were my favorite all time Superheroes

I didn’t care for the first ‘Captain America’ Movie, though I really like Chris Evans as an actor (He was great in ‘Fantastic Four’)

But each time the Captain America character was in one of the Marvel Movies, his character improved, to a point that he is awesome

Now in ‘The Winter Soldier’ I immediately liked Sebastian Stan and his Bucky character

I’ve never been a huge Falcon fan, but Anthony Mackie is a great actor, and played him well

Moving onto the series

Episode 1

SPOILERS!

They began the Episode with a bang, aiming at all those people who love action in Superhero movies I think

I love action, but the best scenes in the original ‘Avengers’ movie (And in comic books), was all the character back and forthing in between action scenes

So, big action opening, then it slows way down to soap opera speed (The production isn’t in a hurry, and why should they be, they have time, it’s a series)

I felt it must have been a challenge to do the Winter Soldier character in episode 1, he was largely silent in the Marvel films, and in this format, he has to talk a lot more

The bad guys seem ok, nothing special

For me, bad guys always need to be strong characters, or who cares if the good guys defeat them

The best part about Episode 1, was the ending scene, when the new Captain America is announced

Very comic book, in fact when I was reading Captain America 30 years ago, part of the storyline was a new Captain America

Episode 2

Episode 2 was immediately better, because Bucky hooked up with The Falcon, though I wasn’t completely clear why they were working together again, maybe it was explained in the movies

That said, their chemistry was right back on point from the movies

The bad guys, however, were physically strong, but not interesting in the least

What really bothered me most about Episode 2 was that they introduced us to the new Captain America, who seemed like a really good guy, trying to do his best to help people…

…but by the end of the Episode, he was a full blown jerk… It didn’t feel right at all, flat out bad writing, bad directing, or both

Still, I’m looking forward to continuing to watch the series, if for nothing else, to watch the two lead actors and the Winter Soldier character in action

Nuff Said

Thanks for listening/reading

Edamame Pasta With Tempeh

Ingredients;

1. Edamame Pasta
2. Tempeh
3. Avocado
4. Bell Peppers
5. Frozen Peas
6. Olive Oil
7. Fresh Garlic
8. Light Soy Sauce
9. Pepper

Preparation;

1. Cook Edamame Pasta (Tablespoon Of Olive Oil In Water)
2. Cook Tempeh, Bell Peppers, Frozen Peas, Olive Oil, Fresh Garlic, Pepper & Light Soy Sauce In Frying Pan
3. Pour Sauce Over Pasta, Add Avocado Ontop

Voila

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Into The Unknown