COINage Magazine

COINage magazine has been around since 1964. I (or my dad) used to pick up copies at the local liquor store (along with comic books) back in the late 1960s and the early 1970s.

I recently subscribed to it and the first issue arrived today. It started out as a quarterly, but now is a bi-monthly magazine. It is now published by Beckett Media.

In looking through the issue, there are some articles that caught my attention. One in particular is an article on digital money. My quick scan of the article found that it echoes a blog post on crypto currencies I posted last November (The Federalist blog originally caught my attention to problems (including trust) with crypto/digital currencies).

Another article that caught my attention was coin collecting of Star Wars. I wasn't aware there was such a thing as Star Wars coins. Well, you learn something new everyday. 

Along with articles, the magazine includes "The COINage Price Guide" of U.S. coins. That should come in handy. I am presuming that the Guide is a regular feature. 

Star Wars Droids Stamps

Yesterday, I had to mail something that I just received in the mailbox, but I had no stamps on me. I was at the Flying J and my stamps were at home.

Since I needed some more anyway, I bought a sheet of stamps. The set I bought were commemorating the droids of Star Wars. 

I liked the original Star Wars trilogy and the second less so, but I have no interest in the third and other movies under Disney's wing. 

Here's the Star Wars stamp sheet (minus one):

"Star Wars: The Rise of Brandon"

On occasion, the Daily Caller comes up with some funny stuff.

I spotted this on Twitter a few moments ago:

 

BREAKING: Disney+ just released the poster for their newest star wars series

Disney Buys Godzilla and Related Characters

Above, Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

Following in the footsteps of George Lucas, who sold the rights to Star Wars, the Walt Disney Company announced a $6 million deal with Toho Co., Ltd. for the purchase of Godzilla and related kaiju characters.

The deal was inked today at the Disney Co. offices in Burbank, California with the company's Executive Chairman, Robert A. Iger and CEO Bob Chapek.

Above, the Godzilla statue at Toho Studios main entrance. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

"We are very pleased with this deal with Toho," said Chapek. "We hope to do for Godzilla and the other monsters what we did for Star Wars. We will be developing movies after the current contract with Legendary Pictures and Warner Bros. ends. Eventually, there will be Godzilla attractions at our theme parks, including Disneyland in Anaheim and Walt Disney World in Orlando."

Maybe there will be a Godzilla figure looming over Disneyland that will tower over the Matterhorn.

To read more, go here.

Carrie Fisher Dies At 60

Above, President Nixon greets Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher at the White House. Richard Nixon Foundation photo.

Days after suffering a heart attack and cardiac arrest aboard a London to Los Angeles airliner, actress/writer Carrie Fisher passed away this morning at age 60.

While she had a full career outside of acting, Fisher will be best known as Princess Leia Organa in the Star Wars movie series.

It was reported that she never regained consciousness after the cardiac arrest. 60, these days, is too young an age to pass away so suddenly. She was only two years younger than me.

It is sad that she is no longer with us, but her work still lives on.

Note: The Richard Nixon Foundation posted the above photograph of President Nixon greeting actress Debbie Reynolds (Carrie's mother) and Fisher at the White House. I am guessing that the photo was taken in 1972. Whenever a celebrity passes away, I prefer to use photos that are not the "usual" ones that the media uses and that shows another side to their lives.

"Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens"

Above, the official poster.

Today was the day for me to go out to see the J. J. Abrams Star Wars VII: The Force Awakens.

Denise and I decided to see it today as there would likely be fewer crowds to fight on top of the traffic jams at the local malls for the final few days of Christmas shopping.

We began the day with breakfast at Coco's up in the Chatsworth area. Following that, we headed over to the Pacific Winnetka Theaters for the movie.

The auditorium was about one-half to three-quarters empty, so we had no difficulty to find seats that suited us.

Following the fifteen minutes of coming attractions trailers, the movie began. It struck me odd that the only studio logo card before the usual start of the Star Wars movie was for Lucasfilm, Ltd. There was no Disney logo card (or even Touchstone Pictures). I was wondering how they were going to handle that. I missed the 20th Century Fox logo card and fanfare.

Getting into the movie, the story begins 30 or so years after the events of Star Wars Episode VI: The Return of the Jedi. A new bunch of baddies, the First Order, are trying to pick up the fallen baton of the former Empire. It is kind of like Vladimir Putin's efforts to rebuild the Soviet Empire. The Rebellion has been replaced by the Resistance. Same thing, different name.

Much of the first half of the movie is introducing new characters to the saga, which, in my opinion, made the film drag. It was at least about 40 minutes or so before we get to see the first familiar characters from the first trilogy, Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew).

Rather than go into the story and spoil it for everyone, I'll just give my initial impressions.

First, the movie was beautifully photographed. I am happy that J. J. Abrams did not go overboard with his "glare" lighting effects as he does with the Star Trek movies. There were none of those here. The special effects were excellent.

Second, it was good to see Ford, Mayhew, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill back. Seeing them as they are now is a bit of a shock since it seems like only yesterday (actually about 31 years since their last appearance together) they were battling Jabba The Hutt and the Empire. Alas, time marches on and we all can't stay forever young, can we?

Third, I liked this movie more than the "prequel" trilogy as a whole, although I enjoyed the Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005) very much (has it really been ten years since that one was released?). There is much more suspense here as we don't know where the series is headed, whereas, we pretty much knew ahead of time were the prequel trilogy was headed. That's my main beef with prequels.

Fourth, there were no cute teddy bears (Ewoks) or annoying Jar Jar Binks characters to mar the movie. It played pretty straight.

Fifth, of the new characters introduced, I liked scavenger Rey (Daisy Ridley) the best. The others, meh.

Overall, I don't see this movie deserving of the raves that some of my friends gave it. It was okay. It doesn't top Star Wars (1977) or Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) (Empire is my personal favorite). I found the two recent Abrams Star Trek reboot movies more satisfying. This almost seemed like a pale remake of the original Star Wars.

My grade: B+. I would have given it an A- had the first half didn't drag so much.

Famed Artist Noriyoshi Ohrai Dies At 79

Above, Ohrai's poster for Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla II.

One of the greatest movie-poster artists has passed away at age 79.

RocketNews 24 reported yesterday:

It has been announced that Noriyoshi Ohrai—the Japanese illustrator best known for producing remarkable poster art for Metal Gear Solid as well as for films including the Godzilla series and Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back—passed away from pneumonia yesterday morning at the age of 79. 

With a career spanning over half a century and an impressive portfolio of artworks for novels, games and well-known international movie releases, fans around the world are mourning the loss of a great talent and taking a look back at his extraordinary body of work.

To read more, go here. 

Sir Christopher Lee Dies At 93

Above, Sir Christopher Lee at the U.K. premiere of Skyfall.

We lost a great!

Sir Christopher Lee, who took on the Dracula mantle in a series of Hammer films, has died at the age of 93.

According to Fox News:

Sir Christopher Lee, the deep-voiced dramatic actor known to several generations for his portrayal of villains in "Dracula," "James Bond" and "Lord of the Rings" movies, has died. He was 93. 

The news of Lee’s June 7 death was first reported by the U.K.’s Telegraph, which published his death certificate. His wife waited to go public with the news of his death in order to have time to inform family members, according to The Guardian.

One of Lee's most recent films was the Tim Burton and Johnny Depp Dark Shadows, in which Lee played a sea captain who falls under the thrall of Barnabas Collins (Depp). He also appeared in two Star Wars movies.

To read more, go here.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" Teaser Trailers

Disney Buys Lucasfilm For $4.05 Billion

The big fish are swallowing the small(er) fish.

The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the Walt Disney Company has purchased Lucasfilm, Ltd.:

The Walt Disney Company has acquired Lucasfilm for $4.05 billion in cash and stock, and announced a new Star Wars movie to be released in 2015.

To read the full story, go here. 

Donna Summer, R.I.P.

When word came that the "Queen of Disco" (a term she didn't really care for) Donna Summer died yesterday at age 63, my mind flashed back to the summer of 1977.

That summer, the first Star Wars was released.  Elvis Presley died at Graceland.  I was dating three girls.  I came down with an infection (not related to the girls) that caused me to lose 30 pounds.  I saw The Spy Who Loved Me at the Studio Drive-In Theater in Culver City (paired with Logan's Run).  Donna Summer's "I Feel Love" was a big hit on the Top 40 charts.

Summer's "I Feel Love" was an amazing song with great vocals, a pulsating electronic rhythm and whip-sounds from a synthesizer.  Her song, to me, was the "theme" for that summer.

She purportedly died from lung cancer.  Much too young.