Iron Man, Thor, Nick Fury and Captain America?

Marvel Studios announces several new projects in the works, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and Nick Fury - S.H.I.E.L.D

Check it out!

LOST Interactive Game Coming May 3rd

ABC and LOST are starting an Interactive Game or ARG (Alternate Reality Game) to help promote the show...

April 24, 2006 -- "Lost" fans around the world will get a chance to start unlocking secrets about the mysterious island that has become an international obsession.
In what's being hailed as the largest interactive challenge based on a TV series, ABC and 19 other networks stretching across five continents are introducing "Lost Experience" — an Internet game that will feature a parallel story line that will give insight into the top-rated show.

The first clue will air on a May 3 episode, but network executives aren't saying how the game will launch or whether the critical clue will come during the broadcast or as part of a commercial break.

No further information for "Lost Experience" is being released, and network executives say future clues could pop up in any part of the world and on any medium. Fans from different countries will have to reach out to each other and trade information if they want to start sleuthing.

"The game reaches back into 'Lost' history and looks forward to future episodes," said Mike Benson, senior vice president of marketing for ABC Entertainment.
You don't need to be one of those hard-core fans who've memorized every episode, he said. "We wanted to make it so that if you watched 'Lost' from the beginning or if you've never watched the show before you can get into this."

The game is specifically designed in a manner that is not dependent on information from season one or season two.

In its rise to the top of the ratings chart, "Lost" has already pioneered unconventional approaches to marketing that play off the show's eerie tone, including a Web site for Oceanic Airlines, the fictitious company that operated the plane that crashed in the first episode.
"When we built the site for Oceanic Airlines, we wanted to do something that was different from all the other TV show sites," Benson said.

"What we discovered was that by creating additional content for this show, we could create a marketing tool that would have fans more invested in the program, and if it was cool they'd share with their friends."

While the Oceanic Airlines site added some realistic dimension to the show, "Lost Experience" is an entirely more ambitious effort.

"The show breaks so many rules, and we're really trying to do the same with our marketing and be organic," Benson said.

Walden Media Outlines the Narnia Movie Series

"Entertainment Weekly has an article outlining Walden Media’s plans for the future of the Chronicles of Narnia series of films. Here is the order given:

1. The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe (2005)
2. Prince Caspian (2008?)
3. Voyage of the Dawn Treader
4. The Silver Chair
5. The Magician’s Nephew
6. The Horse and His Boy
7. The Last Battle

The article also says that, according to Cary Granat (CEO, Walden), Prince Caspian may be bumped from 2007 to Christmas 2008 due to daunting effects demands. The article adds that Walden plans to use Prince Caspian, Voyage of the Dawn Treader, and The Silver Chair to create an interlocking trilogy that will be shot in order.
No official release dates have been announced for any of the upcoming films."

Other than the series dragging out so long (18 more years unless they speed things up), this is very interesting news. I say interesting because this would neither use the Published Order or the Chronological Order.

There has always been a debate, in the Narniac (fans of the series) community, of whether the books should be read in Chronological Order or the Published Order.

The Chronological Order is:

The Magician’s Nephew (How Aslan created Narnia)
The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe
The Horse and His Boy (Happens during the reign of the 4 Pevensies before the end of LWW)
Prince Caspian
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Last Battle

While the Chronological approach is not bad after one has read the entire series, it is awful if you have not already read it because certain elements, if they are revealed too early, ruin the suspense of the storyline. An example are key plot devices The Magician's Nephew uses that better explain things from LWW. If one has never read the whole series before seeing/reading the stories in Published Order leaves more room for suspense.

The Published order is:

The Lion, the Witch & the Wardrobe
Prince Caspian
Voyage of the Dawn Treader
The Silver Chair
The Horse and His Boy
The Magician’s Nephew
The Last Battle

For more on the debate see the article, What Order Should I Read the Narnia Books in (And Does It Matter?).

J.J. Abrams to direct Kirk and Spock the Early Years?

First Alias, then LOST, currently M:I:3. Wunderkind J.J. Abrams has been a very talented and busy guy.

The blogs are all buzzing, Today, about his next project. The next picture in the Star Trek Franchise is a prequel that introduces us to a young Kirk and Spock...

Daily Variety said the action would center on the early days of "Star Trek" characters James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, including their first meeting at Starfleet Academy and first outer-space mission.

For more info check out this article.

LOST creator puts hidden reference to show in M:I:3

According to an Australian interview with Mission Impossible III director J.J Abrams, he has hidden a hidden reference to LOST in the movie.

Abrams of course is also the creator of LOST and Alias.

To hear the interview bit click here. No spoilers.

Narnia DVD #1 for 2 weeks in a row

The DVD for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe has been Number 1 for two weeks in a row.

As you already know I thought the movie was a faithful adaptation of the book. Walden Media and Disney are working on the 2nd movie, Prince Caspian. I am hoping this turns into a 7 movie franchise, just like the Harry Potter books/movies.

Make sure you check it out if you haven't seen it yet. If you saw it and loved buy a copy.

Star Wars Weekends at Disney-MGM Studios

Disney-MGM Studios is once again having their Star Wars Weekends from May 9-June 11th.

We will be down in Orlando for the Florida Homeschool Convention the weekend of May 26-28th so we will probably go on one of those days.

T-Mobile now selling the BlackBerry 8700g

Both BBHub and RIMarkable are reporting that T-Mobile has officially started selling the BlackBerry 8700g. Up to this point Cingular had an exclusive with the 8700c.

What's so great about the 8700? Other than a much nicer form-factor it features a high-speed data connection (EDGE in the case of Cingular and T-Mo). Download speeds are at least 2x faster than regular GPRS BlackBerrys.

The question now is how much longer before a CDMA version (Verizon, Sprint, Alltel) will be available? My guess would be 4th quarter of this year.

Good Friday

The boys and I have been reading a really good book that we got from the Library called Peter's First Easter. It's both a picture book and a chapter book that gives a first-person account of what St. Peter was going through from The Last Supper to the Resurrection. Each chapter is fairly short and it's broken up in such a way that Tonight we will read about the Crucifixion, Tomorrow we will read about Jesus in the tomb and on Sunday we will read about the Resurrection and so on. The refreshing thing about it is that the book is neither dumbed down nor too hard for my boys to wrap their minds around. The first-person narrative really sucks one in and humanizes Peter. We have read this for a couple of years. I am seriously considering buying this from Amazon.com. I also see that there is another book written by the same people titled Mary's First Christmas.

Blogging from my BlackBerry

One reason I chose Blogspot for my weblog is the ability to post blogs from my BlackBerry. I plan to use this feature often. When I am out and about and see or hear something that I just have to share.

This entry was sent from my BlackBerry 7520 as a general test and example of what can be done.

Welcome to the Planet-X Blog!

This is my first blog, so forgive me if I break all the rules.

My goal is to share what's going on in my life and what is grabbing my attention at the moment. This will include, but not be limited to, my family, work, food, movies, music, BlackBerrys, etc.

If that's boring to you then don't come back. I will try to make things as interesting as possible, though, so check back from time to time.