Disney gets the “Force” for a Steal

While Hurricane Sandy surged onto the Eastern Coast, a torrent of social media posts surfaced regarding the purchase of Lucasfilm by the ever more powerful Walt Disney Company.

Fans immediately gave the $4 billion Disney purchase the moniker “A New Hope” coined after the title of the first Star Wars movie released in 1977.  This might be a long day remembered but it’s far from the end of the rebellion for fans.  Simultaneously Star Wars fans were blessed with the news that a new Star Wars movie would be released by 2015.  Not only that but there would be a brand new trilogy with movies released every 2 to 3 years!   The Harry Potter movies obviously taught the conglomerate that episodic movies series really rake in the dough.

However the sale of “The Force” doesn’t completely make sense.  It’s surprising Lucas let the franchise go for only $4 billion when the whole of the franchise has generated $27 billion.  The franchise includes the movies with Box office sales of $4.3B),DVD sales ($3.7B), Video Game Sales ($2.9B), Book Sales ($1.8B), and Toy Sales of at least $12 Billion on their own.   If you’re keeping count, theirs even some loose change totaling $1.3 Billion of miscellaneous revenue.  Lucas is apparently getting cash & stock for the deal but it still doesn’t completely add up.

Lucas apparently wants to hand over the deal to someone he trusts and frankly, who doesn’t trust Disney.  Disney movies & the old Sunday show World of Disney practically raised me from my infancy until Star Wars took my adolescence.  But let’s not forget how powerful Disney is.  Disney is a global power in its own right owning Marvel, ESPN, ABC, parks, restaurants, resorts and even a fleet of cruise ships.  If that wasn’t enough, Disney even owns the Jonas Brothers.   

Star Wars grabbed the imagination of the world.  I personally watched Star Wars in the theater at least a dozen times the last few times with my grandmother and cousin.  We even watched the 3 movies back-to-back-to-back when the first trilogy was re-released in theaters the first time.  Most fans are still mega-gaga over the stars of the first film.  Even I was a little speechless with a brush I had with the force when I was standing in line with Mark Hamill at one of Richard Garriott’s last haunted houses in Austin, where we actually got to tell him, “May the Force be with you” before he went in.   We had apparently just missed Harrison Ford too. 

I trust Disney will do its best with the Star Wars franchise but let’s not forget that Disney is a major global corporation.  As the writers of SouthPark noted, “Disney has run the show for last 50 years” and now it owns “The Force”.  Disney loves to outsource, they like high prices and it all comes down to the bottom line.  They have built a monopoly on content and they will most definitely exploit it for their own gain.  Just don’t be surprised if a chain of Star Wars restaurants pops out of hyperspace in a galaxy near you.

Hurricane Sandy "Defender of Men"

October 30, 2012

            My family had a tradition of having collies as pets for well over 75 years.  My grandparents had 3 successive collies as did our family each of which lived well over 15 years old.  All of the collies were named Sandy.  I think grandma, who’s name was Annie, coined the first collie’s name after Little Orhan Annie’s little dog, Sandy, and the name stuck, living on with each new dog we raised.  But yesterday, Sandy - a name synonymous with a beautiful personal family memory, turned into one of the worst hurricanes in history.

            Hurricane Sandy hit the eastern coast of the US yesterday evening.   It’s looking to be one of the biggest storms in 200 years and one of the most costliest in US History.   Currently, 33 are believed dead and up to 8 million people are without power.  This was the first witnessed mega-storm some are calling a “franken-storm” because it hit so close to Halloween during a full moon when the tides are the highest.

            The storm surge reached Wall Street, the heart of the world’s financial district in Manhattan, shutting down the New York Stock Exchange for 2 whole days.

The storm is unprecedented in its size even compared to Hurricane Katrina that slammed Louisiana in 2006.  It is tough to forecast just how much damage Sandy will cause but so far there is an estimate of $50 billion in damages and lost business.

            History will remember Sandy as a the largest and one of the most impactful storms in history; so far, affecting as many as 60 Million people which equates to a one-fifth of the US population.  The nation was lucky as the storm also caused problems with at least 5 nuclear power plants, the oldest of which remains on alert in New Jersey bringing back memories of the Fukushima Daiishi Power Plant Disaster that was flooded by a tsunami a year & half ago.

            There was little doubt the storm was going to flood New York but I personally wondered if any buildings would collapse under the weight of the water moving foundations.   Fortunately, only one four-store building seemed to have a partial collapse but at least 23 fires did break out during the storm similar as to what happened with Hurricane Katrina burning down at least 80 buildings in Queens alone.

            The past few years have shown increasingly powerful storms and costlier natural events around the globe.  In a deeper & much larger scale all this may be cyclical.  In fact many scientists are finding more and more ancient cities underwater from the Gulf of Mexico and the Mediterranean to Egypt & possibly one off the coast of Japan.  

            But this story started with the name Sandy which actually has a Greek origin meaning “defending men”.    Perhaps this storm will strengthen our resolve to build  stronger defenses against tidal surges; however, you can’t really beat mother-nature.  Better yet, perhaps the storm will remind us of the perils of living so close to the ocean and to head leaders' calls to evacuate when needed; reminding people to defend themselves from the unbridled forces of nature.

            Our immediate family no longer has any collies.   My parents are septuagenarians and I live in an apartment, not very conducive to larger dogs.  However, my cousin continues the tradition ironically currently raising 3 collies of his own of whom are named Sandy.  The name Sandy may go down as the biggest storm in recent history but deep in my heart, Sandy will always be the family dog.