Happy First Blogiversary!

So, yes, I know that this is coming fairly late at night; however, it's still April 20th, which means that I can still say...

HAPPY FIRST BLOGIVERSARY, HNED!

It has been a truly amazing year and, honestly, I wasn't sure that I would ever be able to celebrate a blog's first birthday.  But because of you - my wonderful Followers and readers - I can stand here, a full year later, and say "thank you."  Because, really, what is a blog without its Followers and its readers?  It's you all that have kept me going and who have encouraged me to continue blogging, and for that I am more grateful than I could ever express in words.  The English language just isn't sufficient to convey the depth of my gratitude for all of you, so I must simply say: thank you so very much.  You're all so wonderful, and I ever couldn't ask for better Followers.  Thank you so, so much!

Now I bet you're all anxious to hear my answers to the awesome questions you all asked over the past week or two, or at least I hope you're all interested in hearing them.  So, without further ado, here is episode eleven of The Holocron: Blogiversary Q&A!




I answered every question I received and had so much fun doing it, too.  I hope you all enjoy this episode (which will also be posted on The Holocron site) and, again, thank you so much for just being you.  You're all so very awesome, and I can't wait to see what the next blogging year has in store for all of us.

May God bless each and every one of you today, tomorrow, and for all of eternity!




 - Edessa, excitedly and gratefully signing off

A Great and Powerful Weekend at the Box Office

It's always really cool when films live up to their hype and even their names.

The film I have in mind with the above statement is none other than Oz: The Great and the Powerful, which is leading the box office again in its second weekend.

Earning $42.2 million domestically and $46.6 million overseas (which bumps its two week worldwide total to $281.8 million), Oz has easily become the biggest hit of 2013 so far.  And a big hit is what this film year has been sorely needing for the past few months.  Most of the films that have opened in 2013 have not done as well as the estimations originally claimed, and currently the box office is down a whopping 13 percent from the same time last year.

You don't have to know a lot about statistics and finance to know that a 13 percent drop in revenue is bad.

But with Oz's massive release worldwide, it would appear that the box office will be getting back up to normal speed soon enough.  And if that doesn't help, the veritable storm of incredibly hyped-up animated film (Despicable Me 2, The Croods, Monsters University) should be able to kick start the box office all by themselves.

Another film that is doing well in theaters is the thriller The Call.  In its opening weekend this week, it pulled in a nice $17.1 million domestically.  While that's almost nothing compared with Oz's profit, The Call is still doing much better than it was originally expected to do, and any film will take exceeded expectations as a success.


Here are the ticket sale for Friday March 15th through Sunday March 17th at U.S. and Canadian theaters (courtesy of the Star Tribune):

1. Oz: The Great and the Powerful - $42.2 million ($46.6 million international)
2. The Call - $17.2 million
3. The Incredible Burt Wonderstone - $10.3 million
4. Jack the Giant Slayer - $6.2 million ($10 million international)
5. Identity Thief - $4.5 million
6. Snitch - $3.5 million
7. 21 and Over - $2.6 million
8. Silver Linings Playbook - $2.6 million
9. Safe Haven - $2.5 million
10. Escape From Planet Earth - $2.3 million


Before I end this post, there are just a few announcements I'd like to make.

Firstly, HNED is now on Pinterest!  It's something I've been wanting to do for a little while, so over the weekend I just knuckled down and did it.  Currently there are five boards: Film Posters, Movie Production Stills, Video Game Stills, Star Wars, and the HNED Random Picture of the Day.  I'll try to update all of those boards daily with new pictures and whatnot, and I hope you all like it!  The link to the boards is under the Links tab up there or you can just click the little Pinterest icon on the right hand sidebar to go there.

Secondly, I've started my commentary series on the Star Wars Original Trilogy on The Holocron. I've only recorded one to Episode IV: A New Hope so far, but Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back will be coming later this week.  If you're interested, the Schedule tab on The Holocron site has a list of all of the commentaries that will be coming in the next month or so, and I think it's a pretty fun and diverse list.  I'm also planning on recording a podcast episode of all of the stuff I want to have the new Star Wars trilogy contain, which I hope will be interesting to most (if not all) of you.  So, long story short, be sure to check out The Holocron every weekend for a new podcast episode!

Finally, you all may want to plug your ears because The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey releases on DVD tomorrow and my fangirl screams get loudly obnoxious when it comes to anything related to Tolkien!  Who else is excited?  SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!  =D




 - Edessa, signing off

New Holocron Commentary

Since quite a few of you seemed to like my Batman Begins commentary, I've decided to follow it up with my commentary to Captain America: First Avenger.

If you'd like to listen to it, check out this link: http://holocroncast.blogspot.com/2013/02/season-1-episode-7-captain-america.html

I hope you guys all enjoy it, and I'll be following it up with a commentary to The Avengers.  So excited for that!

I've already gotten requests for commentaries to a couple Star Wars movies (though I'll probably do commentaries to the whole saga) and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.  If you have any requests for me, then totally let me know and I'll try my best to do them!

For now, there's Batman Begins and Captain America, but you can look forward to the Star Wars saga and The Hobbit coming soon.  I look forward to your comments and any requests you may have!




 - Edessa, signing off

New Holocron Episode

Y'know, I didn't know that homework was carnivorous but, apparently, it is. At least, that's the only way I can explain why my life was eaten up for the past two weeks.

Well, I'm gonna start scheduling a block of time each day to blog so my homework (hopefully) won't be able to eat my life again. I get the feeling that my planner is going to be one of my best friends this semester. =)

So while I wrestle with my planner, I thought I'd draw your attention to the newest Holocron episode. This  one is a little different than what I usually do, but I was so tired on Saturday that I just needed to watch a movie. That movie turned out to be Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, and I decided, "Hey, why don't I do something weird and do an audio commentary to this movie?"

And that's what I did. I watched Batman Begins on my laptop and simultaneously recorded me talking about, well, everything about it. This episode, like the last one about The Hobbit, is me completely unscripted and also in a more random/crazy mood than I was when I recorded the previous episode. So if you feel the need to watch a movie this weekend, maybe this will be your excuse to pull out Batman Begins? =)

http://holocroncast.blogspot.com/2013/01/season-1-episode-6-batman-begins.html

I had a lot of fun doing the commentary, and I'd like to know if you guys would like me to do more of this type of stuff. Don't worry, I won't be hurt if you want me to just stop while I'm ahead. But if you guys would like me to do commentaries to other movies, then I'm definitely up for it if you all are!

Well, that's all I've got right now. Concerning the latest news that J.J. Abrams will be directing the new Star Wars movie...I need to do more research into Mr. Abrams so I can accurately decide whether or not I think that's a good idea. For the record at the moment, I think it's a good idea, but I feel like I need to find out more about him before I start giving a solid, concrete opinion. So, yeah. I'll get back with you guys about that one.

Now if you'll excuse me, my planner and I need to conquer the world... or a pile of homework, at least. I hope you guys have a great rest of the week! God bless!




 - Edessa, signing off

New Podcast Episode!

The Hobbit review is now up! Check it out at this link: http://holocroncast.blogspot.com/2013/01/season-1-episode-5-hobbit-unexpected.html




 - Edessa, signing off

Help Needed!

So many of you probably remember that I promised to do a podcast review of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Don't worry, I'm not going back on it or anything.

What's holding me up is writing the script. There's just so much stuff to talk about, and I'm having a difficult time simply outlining it. I'm seeing the movie again tomorrow afternoon (I already went to opening night), and while I was thinking about that a lightning bolt hit me in the head. Why am I beating a dead horse by continually coming at this thing using the same not-working formula? I'm gonna go at this from a different angle: answering your questions.

If you guys have time, please consider dropping a question or two or bazillion concerning the movie in the comment box, and I'll do the Hobbit podcast episode as a Q&A type of deal. That way I won't have to worry about outlining and discussing random stuff, and you guys will hear exactly what you want to hear.

Win-win, if you ask me. =)

So go ahead and ask me whatever in the world you want about the movie! Location, actors, characters, humor, dialogue, cinematography, whatever you want me to talk about concerning the movie, I'll do it. And there isn't a "maximum question limit" or whatever, so feel free to totally spam the comment box.

Seriously.

The only request I have is that you send me your answers by Monday January 7th. If you post a question after the 7th then it probably won't get in the 'cast.

Oh, and (if you so desire) you can ask your questions by commenting under the appropriate status update (you'll see it) on HNED's Facebook page. Just click on the Facebook icon over there *points to the right sidebar* and you'll be taken directly there.

I'll do my absolute best to answer everyone's questions and the 'cast should be up sometime around the middle of next week. I'm looking forward to all of your questions! This will be so much fun!




 - Edessa, signing off

Coming Soon: New Holocron 'Cast

As most of you probably know, The Hobbit, Part 1: An Unexpected Journey releases tonight at midnight! And if that isn't enough to make me geek out, I'm also going to the midnight showing with some friends from church. Woot!

So expect a new Holocron episode sometime in the near future all about my reactions to the movie. I think I can safely say that is shall be absolutely wonderful! =D

Are any of you guys going to the midnight showing, or even going to see it sometime soon? What part of the movie are you most excited for? =)




 - Edessa, signing off

SWTOR Update

Something utterly amazing is going to occur tomorrow on November 15th, 2012.

Star Wars: The Old Republic. Goes. Free. To. Play.

YESSSSSSS!!

And to celebrate this awesome event, I've recorded a new Holocron podcast episode as a tribute to that awesome game. Head on over to http://holocroncast.blogspot.com to hear it! =D

Who else is excited for this? =D




 - Edessa, signing off

Holocron Update

So due to my extended haitus from blogging, I've also fallen a bit behind in my podcasting. But with the "Onderon" arc's recent conclusion, I've decided to review all four episodes in my next Holocron 'cast. So look for that, and I'll definitely try my hardest to keep the 'cast under an hour.

But, knowing me, when I have an opinion about something I like to talk long, hard, and in-depth about it. I'm still not sure if that's a curse or not.... =)

Anyway, long story short, the next Holocron post will be an overview of my thoughts on the "Onderon" arc. I hope you guys will enjoy it!




 - Edessa, signing off

The Holocron Blog Has Launched!

I am extremely pleased and excited to announce that the blog for my new podcast - The Holocron - has launched!

WOOOOT!!

The first episode ("Welcome to The Holocron!") is now up, so you can listen to it at anytime! I also figured out a way to stick an audio player in the actual blog posts, so now you don't have to click on a link to take you to the Internet Archive page and then click on the way you want to hear it (like how you used to have to do for The Radar). Just click the "Play" button, and there you go!

I'm also not using the same audio recording software that I did for The Radar. For that podcast I just used the really dumbed-down sound recorder that came pre-loaded onto my laptop. Now, though, I'm using an awesome program called Audacity, which means I'm able to edit my work in a gazillion and one different ways. Audacity, in my opinion, also makes me sound more like how I really do, and that's because it's such a better program. =)

Oh, and one last thing: you'll probably notice that in the first 'Cron episode I say "anywho" and "whatever" a lot. I don't say those two words as often in my other episodes, so if it bothers you that I seem to be saying "whatever" every minute or so you can be rest assured that it's not going to be as often in the subsequent episodes.

Well, I guess I really have nothing else to say on the matter, besides to check out the link below and comment away!

http://holocroncast.blogspot.com

Thanks, guys, and I hope you really enjoy it! =D




 - Edessa, signing off