Unfortunately, a creator -- any creator, in any creative field -- has to recognize his or her limits, and if he can't, that's what an editor's for. And you eventually come to a point where either the editor has to look at something and decide that it's an unpublishable mess or the creator has to take a step back and ask himself if he really wants his contribution to a 70-year legacy be a story where Batman gets high and pisses himself.
Not too long after the success of Star Wars in 1978 Lucas went to work on constructing the Skywalker Ranch near Nicasio, California. What’s amazing to me about this is that instead of embracing Hollywood as the center of his operations Lucas instead fled north to get away from tinsel town. From a corporate culture point of view this allowed Lucas to “think outside of the box”. And in many ways his move reminds me a great of how Microsoft founder Bill Gates made it a point to not center his company in silicon valley, but rather in Redmond, Washington where they would thrive in isolation.
On an immediate level this allows Lucas to focus on the product instead of getting caught up in the trappings of the film industry. The practical result of this is that it allows the people who work in the marketing department to avoid the “me too” approach. Hollywood is famous for not taking risks, but if you’re going break through the noise you have to chances — and Lucas has avoided that trap which in turn has helped his longevity.
There are no great analogues for the Jedi in modern American society. They are a secretive, powerful religious sect contracted by the Republic to do vital governing tasks that include policing and diplomacy. Perhaps the Knights Templar were similar in some ways, although I don't think the Knights had any real authority within European society. Their jurisdiction was the Holy Land. In some ways, the Jedi sound more like the Taliban than anything we've got going in the U.S.
The temperature difference isn't large - less than 10 degrees heating or cooling after five seconds, but the researchers involved discovered that, as with haptics, just a little sensory nudge can be enough to convince involved participants in a virtual environment that they are experiencing something like the real thing.
Bussiere says ever since R2D2 made his debut last Thanksgiving, the star of "Star Wars" has become quite the legend on the pediatric floor of Eastern Maine Medical Center -- and not just with the kids.
"The kids you understand how they're going to respond. It's the adults that are my favorite. I've had people break down into tears. It's like watching someone meet a movie star for the first time,” Bussiere said.
"It brings a smile. They're already bummed out because they're going to be stuck in the hospital for the day. And so when they came in and said R2 was going to be here, Zack was pretty excited to see him,” said one patient’s mother.
