Back from the dead: return of the lost earring

Several weeks ago I was minding my own business, doing my laundry.  I pulled the lint trap out of the dryer and heard a muffled clinking noise.  Inside the fur-lined trap was one of my earrings, and I was instantly petrified with fear.

These earrings by themselves are slightly special, but not out of the ordinary: 14 karat gold posts with small cubic zirconium studs.  But my ears are so sensitive, that sterling silver and 12 to 14k gold is all that I can wear without getting irritated in a couple hours.  This half-pair of earrings sitting in my lint trap was one quarter of only two pairs of earrings in my possession that never bothered my ears.  For some reason, I had taken off my earrings during the day and put them in the pocket of my pants.

I searched in every crack of the drier that I could reach for the other half of the pair, and in the washer, too.  I never found it.  After crying for about five seconds, I put the lone earring on my jewelry tray, thinking that the other was lost to the washer/dryer forever.

But last night something amazing happened!  When I pulled the lint trap out of the dryer this time, I heard a pulse-quickening rattle.  This time I was filled with positivity: could it be?  It was!  My other earring was returned to me at last!  Every nook and cranny was filled with lint and the pair still requires a good cleaning (ironic, no?), but I have a complete set once more.

New trailer, new hope for BSG's Blood & Chrome

I wrote my first impressions of the teaser trailer for Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome over half a year ago.  I was breathless when I watched it the first time, ecstatic when I watched it the second time, and I would watch it every couple of weeks for the first few months after it was released because I was just so gosh darned excited!

And now there's this:

A new trailer was released today!  And what's more?  The series will air in ten 7-12 minute episodes on Machinima Prime starting this Friday, November 9!

Machinima Prime is a YouTube channel belonging to Machinima, which is an online video entertainment network featuring episodic series (as in TV shows, but not on TV) in many genres.  Blood & Chrome is produced by Universal Cable Productions, a division of NBCUniversal that also produces Psych, Covert Affairs, Alphas, Warehouse 13, and other series for USA and Syfy channels.

Writer for i09, Charlie Jane Anders views Blood & Chrome's status as a webseries as a demotion, but I think of it as an opportunity.  Syfy has time and time again cancelled some promising shows because the ratings weren't competing well enough against pro wrestling (like my darling Caprica, or Fox and Firefly).  In an online format, Blood & Chrome has the chance to thrive thanks to a devoted audience that can watch the show whenever and however many times they want to.

Still not convinced that a webseries can be successful?  There are plans to release the entire series as a movie on Syfy a few months down the road, then in DVD and Blu-ray format.

Disney acquires Lucasfilm

The Walt Disney company announced today that it will purchase Lucasfilm Ltd. in its entirety, including LucasArts, Skywalker Sound, Lucas Online, all other production companies previously owned by George Lucas, and the Star Wars and Indiana Jones franchises.  Disney will pay $4.05 billion in cash and stock for Lucasfilm, which is expected to generate around $215 million in consumer products for 2012.

Lucas, who is the chairman, CEO, and sole owner of Lucasfilm, said, "It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers.  I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime....  Star Wars will certainly live on and flourish for many generations to come."

Disney and Lucasfilm already have a long-standing relationship, partnering together to bring Star Wars and Indiana Jones to Disney theme parks.  In a prepared release, Disney chairman and CEO Robert A. Iger stated that there are already plans in place to continue the Star Wars saga, including Star Wars Episode VII in 2015 and a new film every two to three years.  Lucas will serve as creative consultant to the new Disney-Lucasfilm brand.

Disney executives are confident that they will grow Star Wars to its full potential, as they have with other big franchises following acquisitions of Pixar in 2006 and Marvel in 2009.

A full press release from Disney, including statements by Iger and CFO Jay Rasulo, can be found at the Disney Newsroom.