FALLOUT 3 PC

Bethesda Softworks

here is another great game which combines indepth story and beautiful gameplay and environments.

Early life

Brooks was born Melvin Kaminsky in Brooklyn, New York, a son of Maximilian Kaminsky and his wife Kate Brookman.^[3] His father’s family were German Jews from the Baltic seaport of Danzig (modern Gdansk); his mother’s family were Russian Jews from Kiev.^[4] His father died of kidney disease when he was only 34.

Brooks was a small, sickly boy who was often bullied and picked on by his classmates. Taking on the comically aggressive job of Tummler (master entertainer) in different Catskills resorts, he gradually gained in confidence. Following high school, he attended the Virginia Military Institute^[5] and served in the United States Army as a corporal during World War II, taking part in the Battle of the Bulge.^[6]

Early career

Brooks started as a stand-up comic, telling jokes and doing movie-star impressions. He found more rewarding work behind the scenes, becoming a comedy writer for television. He joined the hit comedy series Your Show of Shows with Sid Caesar and Carl Reiner. Reiner, as creator of The Dick Van Dyke Show, based Morey Amsterdam‘s character Buddy Sorell on Brooks.

Starting in 1960, Brooks teamed with Reiner as a comedy duo on the Steve Allen Show. Their performances led to release a series of comedy albums that included a routine that eventually expanded into the 2000 Year Old Man series that became 5 albums and a 1975 animated TV special.

Brooks later moved into film, working as an actor, director, writer, and producer. Brooks’s first film was The Critic (1963), an animated satire of arty, esoteric cinema, conceived by Brooks and directed by Ernest Pintoff. Brooks supplied running commentary as the baffled moviegoer trying to make sense of the obscure visuals. The short film won an Academy Award. With Buck Henry, Brooks created the successful TV series Get Smart, starring Don Adams as a bumbling secret agent. This series added to Brooks’s reputation as a clever satirist.

Brooks’s first feature film, The Producers, was a dark comedy about two theatrical partners who deliberately contrive the worst possible Broadway show. The film was so brazen in its satire (its big production number was “Springtime for Hitler“) that the major studios wouldn’t touch it, nor would many exhibitors. Brooks finally found an independent distributor, which released it like an art film, as a specialized attraction. The film received an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. The film became a smash underground hit, first on the nationwide college circuit, then in revivals and on home video. Brooks later turned it into a musical, which became hugely successful on Broadway, receiving an unprecedented twelve Tony awards.

His two most financially successful films were released in 1974: Blazing Saddles (co-written with Richard Pryor, Andrew Bergman, Norman Steinberg and Alan Uger), and Young Frankenstein (co-written with Gene Wilder). He followed these up with an audacious idea: the first feature-length silent comedy in four decades. Silent Movie (co-written with Ron Clark, 1976) featured Brooks in his first leading role, with Dom DeLuise and Marty Feldman as his sidekicks. The following year he released his Hitchcock parody High Anxiety (also written with Clark), which was the first movie produced by Brooks himself.

Brooks developed a repertory company of sorts for his film work: performers with three or more of Brooks’s films (The Producers, The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, High Anxiety, History of the World: Part I, Spaceballs, Life Stinks, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, and Dracula: Dead and Loving It) to their credit include Gene Wilder, Dom DeLuise, Madeline Kahn, Harvey Korman, Cloris Leachman, Ron Carey, Dick Van Patten and Andréas Voutsinas. Dom DeLuise appeared in six of Brooks’s 12 films, the only person with more appearances being Brooks himself.

In 1975, at the height of his movie career, Brooks tried TV again with When Things Were Rotten, a Robin Hood parody that lasted only 13 episodes. Nearly twenty years later, in response to the 1991 hit film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Brooks mounted another Robin Hood parody with Robin Hood: Men in Tights. Brooks’s film resurrected several pieces of dialog from his TV series, as well as from earlier Brooks films

Writer/director

• The Producers (1968) (Academy Award, best original screenplay)
• The Twelve Chairs (1970) (also actor)
• Blazing Saddles (1974) (also actor)
• Young Frankenstein (1974)
• Silent Movie (1976) (also actor)
• High Anxiety (1977) (also actor/producer)
• History of the World, Part I (1981) (also actor/producer)
• Spaceballs (1987) (also actor/producer)
• Life Stinks (1991) (also actor/producer)
• Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993) (also actor/producer)
• Dracula: Dead and Loving It (1995) (also actor/producer)

[edit] Theatre

• Leonard Sillman’s New Faces of 1952 (1952) (sketches for a revue)
• Shinbone Alley (1957) (co-book-writer)
• All-American (1962) (book-writer)
• The Producers (2001) (composer, lyricist, co-book-writer, producer; Tony Award for Best Musical, Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical, Tony Award for Best Original Score, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Lyrics, Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Book of a Musical)
• Young Frankenstein (2007) (composer, lyricist, co-book-writer, producer)

The Sith are a group of characters in the Star Wars fictional universe.^[1] They are the central antagonists of the franchise. Characterized by their single-minded pursuit of power and disdain for sentient life, they are an alliance of warrior mages who use the dark side of the Force and serve as counterparts to the Jedi.^[2]

The Sith are portrayed in various Star Wars media as individuals who use the dark side to attain power at any cost. The Star Wars prequel films establish that they draw upon strong emotions, both negative and positive, as the source of their power, and care only about themselves. This is in contrast to the Jedi, who are portrayed as forsaking emotional attachment in order to serve others and the galaxy as a whole.

Prequel trilogy

In The Phantom Menace, the Sith reappear after 1,000 years of self-imposed exile, in the form of Darth Sidious and Darth Maul. Meanwhile, Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn inadvertently meets Anakin Skywalker, a nine-year-old slave; Qui-Gon soon becomes convinced that the boy is the “Chosen One” of Jedi prophecy who is destined to “restore balance to the Force”.

After killing Qui-Gon, Darth Maul dies at the hands of the Jedi’s apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. The Sith ultimately emerge victorious, however; Palpatine (Sidious’ civilian alter ego) is elected to the office of Supreme Chancellor of the Galactic Republic, and sets his sights on making Anakin his new apprentice.

In Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones former Jedi Master Count Dooku, Sidious’ new Sith apprentice, is given the Sith title Darth Tyranus. Dooku starts the separatist Confederacy of Independent Systems, which threatens the unstable Republic. A motion made in the Senate by Representative Jar Jar Binks, who was sent by Senator Padmé Amidala, grants the Chancellor vast emergency powers — an idea planted in Jar Jar’s head by the Chancellor himself. When the Jedi discover the threat, the Clone Wars begin with a battle to rescue captured Jedi on Geonosis.

In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine reveals himself to be Darth Sidious, and turns Anakin to the dark side. Palpatine says that the dark side holds the power to save Anakin’s wife, Padmé Amidala, from dying in childbirth; Anakin succumbs to the temptation and becomes Darth Vader, leading the Republic’s clone troopers to exterminate the Jedi, under the directive of “Order 66“. Sidious then turns the Republic into the tyrannical Galactic Empire and appoints himself Emperor for life, effectively placing the galaxy under Sith control.

[edit] Original trilogy

Beginning in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, the Rebel Alliance arises to threaten the Empire’s iron grip on the galaxy, and surviving Jedi Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda turn to their greatest hope, Luke Skywalker, the son of Anakin, who begins his Jedi training under Kenobi. In the film’s climactic battle scene, the Rebels destroy the Empire’s Death Star superweapon.

In Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back Luke seeks out Yoda, who furthers his training in the ways of the Force. Palpatine and Vader become aware of Luke’s identity, and both hope to corrupt Luke to use him against each other (Sidious wishes to replace Vader with Luke, while Vader wants to use Luke to overthrow the Emperor and rule over the galaxy). Luke prematurely confronts Vader, who reveals that he is in fact Luke’s father, Anakin Skywalker. In their first lightsaber battle, Luke proves to be no match for Vader, as Vader cuts off his right hand, and Luke barely escapes with his life.

In Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, Luke, by now having nearly completed his training under Yoda, nearly succumbs to the dark side when Palpatine and Vader threaten to kill his friends in the Rebellion. He pulls away from the brink at the last minute, however, and proudly declares his allegiance to the Jedi. Palpatine then tortures Luke with Force lightning. His son’s suffering and pleas for help free Anakin Skywalker from the dark side’s grip, and he throws his former master down the newly constructed second Death Star’s reactor shaft, incurring fatal wounds in the process. With this act of self-sacrifice, Anakin Skywalker fulfills the prophecy of the “Chosen One” by destroying the Sith.

[edit] Expanded Universe

The Star Wars series’ “Expanded Universe” of novels, comic books, and video games flesh out the Sith as characters, providing them with an extensive backstory.

[edit] Pre-Phantom Menace

The video game Knights of the Old Republic explains that early dark-side users were exiled to the planet Korriban, where they conquered a powerful but malleable indigenous species known as the Sith. Treated like gods by their conquered people, the so-called “Dark Jedi” proclaimed themselves “Lords of the Sith”. By the time depicted in the game, a handful of Jedi have defected to form their own group dedicated to the dark side. The Sith use the same powers as the Jedi, with the exception that they also use certain powers banned by the Jedi Council.

In the comic book Tales of the Jedi: The Golden Age of the Sith, set 5,000 years before the prequel trilogy, the Sith rule an isolated part of the galaxy, calling themselves the “Sith Empire”, headquartered on the planet Ziost. The empire is unstable, however; its two most powerful Sith Lords, Ludo Kressh and Naga Sadow, throw the galaxy into chaos as they fight each other for supremacy, leading to a brutal conflict known as The Great Hyperspace War. By the end of the sequel, The Fall of the Sith Empire, after a war that lasts nearly 10 years, their power struggle effectively destroys the empire from within.

In the further novels, set one thousand years later, a Dark Jedi named Exar Kun, who studies the ways of the Sith, surrenders his soul to the dark side of the Force and then forms an alliance with a Sith-worshiping society, which then begins a new war called the Great Sith War. This war ends when Kun is betrayed and killed by his apprentice, the exiled Jedi Ulic Qel-Droma. Shortly after Kun’s demise, his Sith successors, including Darth Revan and his apprentice Darth Malak, nearly destroy the Jedi Order. This new Sith empire eventually falls after a series of civil wars.

In Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, Yoda explains that the Sith Order went into hiding after their defeat in last Sith war nearly 1,000 years earlier. He further explains that the Sith can exist only with two members at a time — one master and one apprentice. This idea is later explored in the Expanded Universe novels Darth Bane: Path of Destruction, Darth Bane: Rule of Two, and Darth Bane: Dynasty of Evil.

In these novels, set 1,000 years before the events in Phantom Menace, the Sith number in the many thousands, but are too focused on fighting each other for power to unite against the Jedi. Seeing that the dark side of the Force is spread too thin over many thousands, Darth Bane engineers a plan that eventually dupes the Sith into destroying themselves, leaving only him and his apprentice, Darth Zannah. This ultimately allows Darth Bane to institute a decree saying that the Sith Order from then on will never number more than two members at a time, and the Order will be committed to secrecy. The decree is known as the “Rule of Two”: “Only two shall there be, a master and an apprentice: one to embody power and the other to crave it.”^[3] Bane also issues the decree that all Sith lords after him will have the title of “Darth” before their surname. Central to this rule is that the apprentice must one day overthrow the master and subsequently take on his/her own apprentice, thereby perpetuating the Order. After Bane’s death, his apprentice Zannah takes on a new apprentice, who later takes on her own after Zannah’s death, and so on. For the next 1,000 years, the two-person Sith Order remained in hiding in various parts of the galaxy, keeping their use of the Force to an absolute minimum as well as to instill the teachings of the dark side to all successors.

[edit] Post-Return of the Jedi

The Sith also appear in various “Expanded Universe” material set after the Empire’s destruction in Return of the Jedi. A resurrected Palpatine reappears in the comic books Dark Empire, and Empire’s End, and Vader’s former minion Lumiya is a main antagonist in the Marvel Comics Star Wars stories and the Legacy of the Force series. In the latter, she convinces Jacen Solo, Anakin Skywalker’s grandson, to learn the ways of the Sith. Solo becomes the Sith Lord Darth Caedus, convinced that it is the only way to save the galaxy from a brutal civil war; in the process, however, he becomes a ruthless tyrant willing to destroy anyone in his way, even his own parents. He ultimately dies at the hands of his twin sister, Jedi Knight Jaina Solo.

In the series Fate of the Jedi, a great number of Sith appear. These Sith comprise two separate and distinct groups. The first are “the Tribe,” the descendants of a Sith Empire shipwreck on an uncharted world. This group was cut off from the galaxy at large for five millennia, and thus are unaware of the Rule of Two. The second group is the One Sith, who deliberatly abandoned Darth Bane’s 1,000-year-old decree of only having two Sith members at a time.

In the comic book series Star Wars: Legacy, set 130 years after Return of the Jedi, the Sith (led by former Jedi A’Sharad Hett, now calling himself Darth Krayt) once again defeat the Jedi and take control of the galaxy . Their one opponent is Anakin and Luke Skywalker’s descendant, Cade, who had previously renounced his connection to the Force.

from wikipedia  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sith

The Jedi are characters in the Star Wars universe and the series’ main protagonists. They use a quasi-telekinetic power, known as the Force, and weapons, known as lightsabers, which emit a controlled energy flow in the shape of a sword, to serve and protect their Republic and the whole galaxy from conflict or government instability. They sometimes moderate peace negotiations between planets and, if necessary, use their formidable fighting skills to quickly end unrest. The Jedi are led by a Council of 12 members consisting of the most powerful and wise members of the order. The Jedi are bound to a code of morality and justice and are trained in the use of the light side of the force but not the Dark side.

Ranks

Members of the order progress through four to six tiers of rank, at times referred to as levels:

• Jedi Youngling/Initiate: A Jedi Youngling is a Jedi learning to control the Force and how to wield a lightsaber. The title of Jedi Youngling is the first part of a Jedi training. Younglings were seen training with Jedi Grand Master Yoda in a scene from Attack of the Clones, and when Anakin Skywalker turns to the dark side in Revenge of the Sith.
• Jedi Padawan/Apprentice: A Youngling that successfully completed their respective level of training undergoes Padawan apprentice training under the tutelage of a Jedi Knight or Jedi Master. As a rite of passage and the final test before the trials to knighthood, Padawans must build their own lightsabers. In the Old Republic, padawans usually wore a hair braid on the right side of their head which was removed with a lightsaber upon attaining knighthood. They also served as commanders in the Clone Wars.
• Jedi Knight: Disciplined, experienced Jedi may become full-fledged Jedi Knights once they have completed “the trials” that test candidates’ skills, knowledge, and dedication. The three tests are usually known as The Trial of Skill, The Trial of Spirit, and the Trial of Knowledge. In Return Of The Jedi, Master Yoda gives his apprentice Luke Skywalker the trial of confronting Darth Vader for a second time so he might become a full-fledged Knight. Occasionally, performing an extraordinary (usually heroic) act can earn a Padawan learner Jedi Knight status, such as when Obi-Wan Kenobi defeats the Sith Lord Darth Maul, or in the case of Anakin Skywalker who defeats Dark Jedi Asajj Ventress.
• Jedi Master: A Jedi Knight may become a Jedi Master after successfully training a Padawan learner to Knight status. Though this is the most common manner, it is not always the case. If the council sees that a Jedi Knight has become more powerful and has gained more knowledge and discipline in the Force, then they can be nominated by one or more council members to take the trials again.
• Jedi Council Member: When a Jedi Council Member vacates his or her seat, the council looks for an exemplary Jedi Master to fill the empty position. Presiding Council Members elect prospective candidates when openings become available. According to the Dorling Kindersley guide to Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, some members were permanent members (like Yoda and Mace Windu), while the rest served limited terms, after which they stepped down and another member would be elected to the Jedi Council. With the exceptions of Anakin Skywalker and Ki-Adi Mundi, who were the only Knights on the Council for a short period of time before becoming a Jedi Master, all council members require the status of Jedi Master prior to entering the council.
• Jedi High General/General:The rank is mainly used throughout the Clone Wars.
• Jedi Grand Master: Formally “Grand Master of the Jedi Order,” only the highest-ranking Jedi Masters take the title. The title of Grand Master/Supreme Master is merely a theoretical title given by Jedi Masters to a certain Master who has been most wise among other masters in the council, as with Master Yoda. The Jedi Grand Master does not enjoy any greater privilege than any council members because the council members also have a vote in any issues presented by the council. The Grand Master was apparently the “first among equals” of the Jedi High Council, or the later Masters’ Council. It may also be implied that the Grand Master of the Jedi Order has a strong connection to Jedi who have pledged themselves to the Order (Yoda sensing the deaths of Jedi across the galaxy as Order 66 is being executed in Revenge of the Sith). Yoda and Luke Skywalker (in the expanded universe) are Grand Masters.

Jedi Temple

In the Star Wars saga, the Jedi Temple^{[citation needed]} is a massive structure standing one kilometer high above the buildings of Galactic City, Coruscant. Views of it are largely unobstructed because of an open area around it.^{[citation needed]}

In the Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith film, the temple is attacked. Even though the temple was severely damaged and most of the Jedi perished, it was not completely destroyed, and is visible in the celebrations on Coruscant at the end of Return of the Jedi over twenty-five years later. The New Jedi Order indicates that the Jedi Temple on Coruscant is no longer standing but it is rebuilt as a gift to Jedi for their services and achievements during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. The new temple is in the form of a massive pyramid made from stone and transparisteel that is designed to fit into the new look of Coruscant, though internally it is identical to the design seen in Revenge of the Sith.

Architects’ Journal rated the temple third on its top-ten architecture of Star Wars list behind the second Death Star and Jabba the Hutt’s palace on Tatooine, and ahead of Coruscant, capital city of the Old Republic.^[1] The temple is described in the article as adapting “the robust typology of Mayan temples, with durasteel cladding specified for the external stone walls for improved defensive strength” and said to be a ziggurat that “is built above a Force-nexus and has ample room for training facilities, accommodation and the Jedi Archive.”^[1] The temple has five towers, the tallest is Tranquillity Spire, that are stylistically similar to the minarets surrounding the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.^[1] Star Wars Insider listed it as the one hundredth greatest thing about Star Wars in its one hundredth issue special.

Equipment

Within the Star Wars universe, the Jedi are usually portrayed as dressed in simple robes and carrying specialized field gear for their missions. The most notable instrument wielded by a Jedi is the lightsaber.

Sith and Jedi use lightsabers alike. Jedi commonly wield blue and green lightsabers in the films, while the Sith tend to wield red ones. Mace Windu (Samuel L. Jackson) and Siri Tachi (from Expanded Universe books) wield purple lightsabers. Master Yaddle was known to wield an orange lightsaber. The former Jedi Padawan Ferus Olin, from Expanded Universe books, wielded a red blade, but was not a Sith.

In the Expanded Universe of Star Wars media, there are a larger variety of lightsaber colors. In Knights of the Old Republic video game, the colors signified the Jedi’s career path.

Religion

One of the enduring influences the Star Wars saga has had in popular culture is the idea of the fictional Jedi values being interpreted in a modern philosophical path or religion,^[2] spawning various movements such as Jediism (religious), Jedi realism (philosophical) and the Jedi census phenomenon or the International church of Jediism (political).

Similarities to Japanese Samurai

The Jedi in Star Wars took much of its influence from Japanese Samurai fighting styles and ways of living. Apprentice to masters, living for the republic which is the Samurai lord/Shogun , different class levels. The Samurai were bound to the code of Honor, like Jedi are to the code of morality and justice. The lightsaber is, like the Katana, able to slash through most things. The Jedi clothes resembles the Japanese kamishimo (上下 or 裃). The word Jedi comes from jidai (時代), meaning a long term time.

from wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jedi

a great movie based on a great book. its a story of a father and son, in a post-apocalyptic world. where its really everyman for himself. this movie shows you the beauty and brutal nature of humanity. the movie seemed so short. i wanted to experience more.

i just had to put a post of  this great unknown masterpiece …the Iron Giant!!! set in the height of nuclear fallout Hogarth Hughes a kid befriends the alien robot. to this is definitely one of the best told and animated movies of all time.  another simple story but with alot of heart and emotion. it asks the question what it really means to be  human. another must see for everyone.

just saw this movie with my family. and its alot better than i anticipated!! well it follows andy, now college bound and about to leave in a few weeks.

andy all grown up teaches us a lesson in love, acceptance and most of all sacrifice. i really thought pixar cannot top themselves story wise with the 2 previous movies.

this movie is really entertaining and as always visually stunning and of course the animation is top notch. you just have to see!!

a simple sketch i did for my brother alexis short film Flatbush

First cut of . . . Flatbush? from Alexis Camins on Vimeo.

Box art for Heavy Rain in a Kotaku.com photoshop contest.