NOBEL Laureate Betty Williams, winner of the Peace Prize in 1976 for co-founding Ireland’s peace movement, on Monday told hundreds of school children in Brisbane that “I would love to kill George Bush.” Ms. Williams statement was reportedly greeted with applause and cheers from the audience.

Perhaps the most notable part of her speech, however, was a story she relayed regarding what she mentioned was a “recent” trip to Iraq. “My job is to tell you their stories,” Ms. Williams was quoted as saying during her speech at Brisbane’s City Hall.

“We went to a hospital where there were 200 children; they were beautiful, all of them. But they had cancers that the doctors couldn’t even recognise. From the first Gulf War. The mothers’ wombs were infected. As I was leaving the hospital, I said to the doctor, ‘How many of these babies do you think are going to live?’ He looked me straight in the eye and said, ‘None, not one’. They [the doctors] needed five different kinds of medication to treat the cancers that the children had, and the embargoes laid on by the United States and the United Nations only allowed them three.”

However, if Ms. Williams’ visit to Iraq was recent, then there would have been no issues regarding an embargo as they were all lifted in fairly short order after Saddam was ousted in April of 2003. And it was President Bush who pushed for their removal.
In an article dated May 8 of 2003, the Washington Post reported that the “Bush administration announced yesterday it is easing certain provisions of a 1990 law that imposed US sanctions against Iraq, even as US officials stepped up efforts to urge the United Nations to lift its own economic and trade embargo against Baghdad.” One day before the Post article appeared, USA Today reported that the US would “press the U.N. Security Council to immediately lift sanctions against Iraq and phase out the oil-for-food humanitarian program over the next four months”

During her speech, Ms. Williams also claimed that she visited 200 children, all of whom had cancers and that the mothers who bore these children had wombs which were infected from the first Gulf War. But the first Gulf War was 17 years ago and any children born shortly after that war would now be young adults.

In addition, economic sanctions which might have led to such diseases in children were imposed by the UN at the behest of previous US administrations, not the current Bush Administration. Ultimately, the lifting of those sanctions by the President in 2003 has likely proven helpful in ameliorating such problems, as has the tens of billions of dollars the US has poured into Iraq in medical aid and other infrastructure improvements.

I’m wondering if, when pressed with this information, Ms. Williams might not just be obligated to revise her statement.

I found an article posted to Hattielarlham.org which gives some information on Karla. Here is a short but revealing excerpt:

Hattie Larlham is proud to announce this year’s Family Affair musical guest is Karla from kids’ group Hi-5. Karla will teach Family Affair visitors the new Hi-5 dance moves and song lyrics before taking everyone down under to Australia to meet the new members of Hi-5. This remote video performance will debut the new song and dance exclusively to Family Affair visitors. The cast will also answer questions submitted by fans to the Family Affair Web site at familyaffaironline.com.

If you then go the the Familyaffaironline.com website, you will find the following additional information:

Plus, this is also an opportunity for fans to thank Karla and offer their
best wishes as she embarks on a new adventure. In a “first-ever” remote
video performance, you will meet the cast members, get the opportunity to
ask questions about the cast, television show and future tours, plus many
more surprises! 

So, it appears that the word will officially go out on or near July 29th. I’m very surprised and somewhat disappointed that, with this event only two weeks away, no official announcement has been made.

As you know, I’ve blogged about the educational children’s show called Hi-5 quite a few times over the past couple of years. Here’s a list of articles posted from oldest to newest:

• OMG! It’s Hi-5!
• Hi-5 Goes Beyond The Call of Duty…
• Power To The [Little] People!
• A Roundup of Our Hi-5 Weekend
• The Hi-5 Road Trip Saga Continues!

My wife just loves this group and, of course, our young daughters as well. We have an autographed and framed poster of the group in the girl’s playroom and probably every CD and DVD they’ve released. And last year we even had a chance to chat with cast members informally during the weekend when we discovered, quite by accident, that we were staying at the same hotel as the cast! It was tremendous fun for the girls and, as I mention in my post which followed, the cast was just so nice and so generous with their time.

They are, one and all, a terrific group of young men and women.

Unfortunately, Julie and I heard recently from a very reliable source that there will be two Hi-5 cast members leaving, Shaun Taylor-Corbett and Karla Cheatham-Mosley. Shaun will be heading to New York City to become the newest cast member in a hit Broadway Musical called Altar Boyz, where he will be cast in the role of “Juan.”

Now, you cannot yet see Shaun’s mug up on their website, but you can read all about this change in Broadway Magazine. This sounds like a great opportunity for Shaun and I wish him all the best. When we met the cast last July, I had the chance to chat with Shaun for a short while and I was very impressed by his sincerity and his friendly manner. I know that he’s going to be great addition to the cast of Altar Boyz.

As for the details related to Karla’s departure, there are none at this time. I do hope that she too is moving on to another great opportunity and that she prospers whereever she goes.

Last year, when we spent the weekend at the same hotel as the Hi-5 cast, we first realized our good fortune when we walked onto the same elevator with Karla. The girls were, of course, thrilled, but also shy. Karla just smiled and began talking with them and getting them to open up.

Karla was terrific with the girls and spoke with them two or three times over the weekend, always seeming very happy to see them. If I get some additional details regarding Karla’s next move, I’ll be sure to pass them on. At the very least, we can all wish Sean and Karla the very best as they move on to their new opportunities.

As for me, I accepted a new job with a great company whose central office in the NYC area and I travel up there now at least once a month. I’m thinking I might have to get a ticket to Altar Boyz and go see Shaun in action sometime soon.

Hope he remembers me.

It used to be, when I was very young — age 6 and beyond — that one of the worst punishments I could get was to have Star Trek (original series, of course) viewing privileges revoked for any period of time. The show had only been off the air for a few years and had recently hit syndication, and I LOVED this series!

I loved the imagination, the characters, and, most of all, I loved Roddenberry’s optimistic view of humanity and our collective future. He envisioned a humanity that had matured beyond the petty wars and squabbles and was enthusiastically expanding into the galaxy; eager to learn more, eager to find new species to befriend, and confident in their ability to handle all challenges.

The fact that this beautiful vision of the future was no longer on the air was agonizing. I and my fellow trekkers hoped for a rebirth of the show, either on TV or in the movies, and, in the late 1980’s, we got our wish with Star Trek: The Next Generation.  Though the series started slowly in the first season or two, it ultimately soared.  Not only were the characters interesting and engaging, but the story lines improved with each season, and, best of all, the show kept the optimistic feel of the original series.

Meanwhile, the original series was doing quite well in it’s major motion picture format.  Really, the franchise as a whole seemed unstoppable after the release of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  The third movie, “The Search for Spock,” was not quite as good, but wasn’t bad either, while the fourth movie, “The Voyage Home,” soared at the box office and is arguably one of the best Trek films ever to hit the big screen.

So, we saw the Trek movies coming out every two or three years, and a blossoming of Trek content for television as well with the appearance of STTNG in 1987.  That was then, this is now. 

After the Next Generation, came another great series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, which I thought was very good, but did slightly less well in the ratings.   After DSN came Star Trek: Voyager, which did poorly in the ratings, and after that Came Enterprise, which, after struggling through four seasons of low ratings, was recently cancelled.

And with the latest series, Enterprise, recently having been pulled after just four dismal seasons, I worry that this once-great franchise will never rise again.

Looking back, I think the golden age of the Trek franchise began with Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, which aired in 1982, and ended with the final episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine in 1999.  From that point forward, whether on film or on TV, the franchise has struggled, to say the least.

Some blame the leadership at Paramount for Star Trek’s woes.  After Roddenberry’s death in 1991, Rick Berman, who, working alongside of Roddenberry, had been prominent in helping to foster some of the series’ greatest successes, became the chief target of many disgruntled Trekkies. 

Was Berman responsible for series’ steady decline?  I don’t know.  I do know, however, that the series rapidly lost much of the spark that made it so recognizable to fans like myself. 

In addition, I believe that, equally responsible for much of the woes of this franchise, are fans themselves.

Let me offer a perfect example of what I think has become one of this franchises most intractible problems.  On April 20 of this year, Variety published an article entitled Trekkies have a new leader.  Here is what Variety reported:

J.J. Abrams is becoming the next Gene Roddenberry. Paramount is breathing life into its “Star Trek” franchise by setting “Mission: Impossible III” helmer J.J. Abrams to produce and direct the 11th “Trek” feature, aiming for a 2008 release.Damon Lindelof and Bryan Burk, Abrams’ producing team from “Lost,” also will produce the yet-to-be-titled feature.

and Bryan Burk, Abrams’ producing team from “Lost,” also will produce the yet-to-be-titled feature.Project, to be penned by Abrams and “MI3″ scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, will center on the early days of seminal “Trek” characters James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, including their first meeting at Starfleet Academy and first outer space mission.

One week later, Hollywood.com reported the following:

HOLLYWOOD - Mission Impossible III director J.J. Abrams is hitting back at unauthorized reports he is directing the next Star Trek movie.  The Alias creator is furious the news was released prematurely and is also upset that key details regarding the storyline were incorrectly reported.He explains to Empire online, “The whole thing was reported entirely without our cooperation.“People learned that I was producing a Star Trek film, that I had an option to direct it, they hear rumors of what the thing was going to be and ran with a story that is not entirely accurate.”      

Despite Abrams remarks on April 27, on June 20th of this year, Marc Malkin of Yahoo’s “The Insider” published this short blurb regarding an upcoming Trek film:

Will MATT DAMON get beamed up? Could happen. I‘m told J.J. ABRAMS is very interested in casting the Oscar-winning Damon as a young Captain Kirk in the upcoming ‘Star Trek‘ movie that he‘s directing and producing. He‘s so interested that he‘s apparently already sought support from the original Kirk, WILLIAM SHATNER. “Shatner gave his blessing,” my source says. “J.J. got his approval.” Damon first popped up in Trekkie circles as soon as the Abrams-‘Star Trek‘ deal was announced. Rumor had it that the new movie would center on Kirk and Spock‘s early days at a space academy. “J.J. wants Damon as Capt. Kirk,” my source reports. “He really loves the idea.”

So, a rumor was aired by Variety, at least two years ahead of a possible release date for a possible Trek movie, with Abrams responding to the rumor in just a week to try and seperate fact from rumor, yet two months later, that same rumor was re-aired on The Insider with the possibility that Matt Damon would be asked to play the part of Captain Kirk.

Now, it could be that what The Insider reported is actually true, but we are at least two years out from a possible release date for this new movie, and already the rumor mill has been pushed into overdrive to collect, parse, and ultimately endlessly critique every move made by Paramount as it attempts to inject some new life into the franchise.  Yes, it’s wonderful to hear that Paramount is planning a new Trek film.  With this film, comes the hope for us Trekkies of new movie greatness, something sorely needed after the latest movie, Nemesis, flopped BIG TIME at the box office in 2002 (only about $45 million grossed domestically).

It’s also good news to hear that the Abrams is possibly looking to do something new and different on behalf of the series.  I think this is sorely needed, a sense of risk-taking in moving beyond the old formula of taking the TV characters and moving them to the big screen. While this has worked magnificently in the past, it is not the only path to success.

But there’s a big problem.

Now that the news is out about the forthcoming motion picture, some of my fellow Trekkies are going to begin anew the cyle of airing and endlessly parsing every single detail of the movie, whether it be true or just a rumor.  They’ll demand to know every detail of the moving in advance, they’ll parse every bit of detail that someone manages to steal off the set of the film.  Then they’ll whine and moan how it’s not going to work.

“Why are they doing it this way?” some will demand.  “Matt Damon?”  no, no, no!  He’s not the right person!  They need someone totally different!”

These moofs will utter curses to Paramount, pan any idea except their own, air endlessly negative comments, demand movie script changes, and will, ultimately, SPOIL the whole film with their endless list of spoilers and accompanying rants and whines. 

Can you imagine what these same folks would have said in 1991/1992 prior to the release of Wrath of Khan?  “You’re killing off SPOCK!!!!  Noooooo!!!!  Stop it, change the script, you can’t do this!”  Of course, we didn’t have the Internet in every home in those days, which is why the only thing most of us heard was that a new movie was being produced. 

When we walked into theatres, we were hopeful, yet clueless.   When we walked out after the movie, we were amazed and overjoyed.  The same was true of the next movie, “The Search for Spock,” not quite as good, yet still pretty darn good, and the next movie after that, “The Voyage Home,” which was phenomenal.

But, in some ways, with the rise of the Internet, we’ve seen the fall of Star Trek.  But the Internet isn’t the problem.  The problem is that some fans seem to feel they are entitled to know every part of what is going on during the production of any Trek movie or tv series. 

Not that fans cannot or do not already contribute to the Trek phenomenon.  The emergence of fan-made trek episodes, for example, was wonderful to see.  The production of numerous books, stories, and fan boards, where Trek fans discuss shows, share ideas, etc., are a great thing.  This kind of interaction was what helped keep the Trek franchise alive when the original series was pulled after only three seasons. 

What we need is Trek enthusiasm without the attitude of entitlement.  As long or short-time Trek fans, we do not have the right to know what the next movie or tv series will be about?  We do not have the right to an advance copy of movie or series scripts, and we most certainly do not have a right to act like armchair producers and directors. 

It’s my worry that, until a sizable portion of the Trek fan base begins to push back against this destructive need to know everything about every upcoming Trek production, we will never see a revival of this franchise.  I could be wrong about this, but I just don’t think endless rants and whines do anything for the creative process in filmmaking. 

The best entertainment, in any format, comes from a good mix of artistry, audience awareness, and creativity.  But, at the very least, I can say for certain that all the rants, whines, and endless critiques have never in my experience resulted in good creativity.

Offering ideas and support, that is one thing.  Shouting and whining, that’s just a big ol waste of time.  Unfortunately, I think we’re fighting an uphill battle.  Here is what “Kamino,” a member of Digg.com said of this rumor:

I really think Matt Damon has the personality of a paperclip. Actually I think they’d both suck. This could be very well the end of Star Trek… or wait they already ruined it so we have nothing to lose.

Here is a comment posted by “imperial” on Cinescape.com:

Coming from hard-core trekkie…WHAT A STUPID IDEA….the whole younger spock and kirk concept plain sucks. And one more…damn you creativity lacking producers…learn to boldly go where no one has gone before, rather than boldly regoing where everyone has gone before.
Sheesh…i smell a big anti-matter bomb aready.

And these are just two comments from an already-growing legion of negative rants regarding the Matt Damon rumor.  Mr. Abrams has his work cut out for him.

My wife arranged for a babysitter last night and we joined the long lines at the Theatre to see Pirates of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.  The movie critics are not sure if they like this movie or not, but my wife and I definitely did and, judging by the reactions in the theatre, so did most of those around me. 

The lines were HUGE, and Box Office Mojo is reporting today that it was the biggest single day opening in Hollywood history at $55+ million.  I’m not surprised as this seems to me to be the first really highly anticipated film of the year. 

It was a loooong movie, with an unexpected ending, but one that leaves you ready to see the next film, which has already been made.  I definitely recommend it to those of you who want to see a fun adventure with lots of good humor and really terrific special effects.

Depp, as usual, was very good and I was not disappointed by the fact that his character was the same in this movie as in the first, as most critics seem to have been.  What did they expect, Depp to recast his role in a completely different manner?  The fact is, we all went to the theatre because we loved the character the first time and wanted to see him in action again.  And we weren’t disappointed. 

Kudos to Disney for bankrolling a great movie which, even though not suitable for small children, is good family fare.  Disney seems to have hit a good streak with the Pirate series, Narnia, and their animated movies.  I approve and hopefully they’ll be encouraged by the dollars this movie trend is bringing to the studio.