Celebrities ‘Shoot for The Stars’ with Sony Ericsson and Raise Money for Kids
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 2, 2003–Sony Ericsson Actors, Musicians, Sports, and Fashion Favorites Share “Slice of Life” Moments with Mobile Phone Camera; Pictures to be Auctioned at Charity Event
This fall, stars from music, sports, television, fashion and film worlds will join together to raise money for charity while snapping pictures of everyday life with their Sony Ericsson T610/T616 camera phone.
Participating in Sony Ericsson’s “Shoot for the Stars” are celebrities such as Lenny Kravitz, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Barry Sonnenfeld, Ruben Studdard, Clay Aiken, Kelly Clarkson, Catherine Bell, Amanda Bynes, Romero Britto, Katie Couric and Matt Lauer. All celebrity participants are capturing images of their personal lives and sharing them with the world to raise money for Make-A-Wish Foundation(R) of Greater Los Angeles.
Each celebrity takes the Sony Ericsson T610/T616 camera phone with them wherever they go – around town, the club scene or around the house taking photographs of favorite possessions or special moments. Twelve of the celebrities’ images will be auctioned off on Thursday, November 13 at a star-studded charity event in Los Angeles with the proceeds going to the Make-A-Wish Foundation(R) of Greater Los Angeles.
“We believe this program will generate tremendous excitement for mobile imaging. Our T610/T616 camera phone with Quickshare(TM) is a further example of Sony Ericsson’s leadership position in driving the market trend,” said David Bent, Vice President of Marketing, North America, Sony Ericsson. “Today’s growing trend toward mobile imaging is fueled by the increasing ability to conveniently take pictures and easily share everyday experiences.”
Consumers Are Invited to Share Their Images
Sony Ericsson is inviting consumers to participate in the “Shoot for the Stars” program. Consumers can snap pictures with their mobile camera phone or phone camera accessory and submit their favorite images to www.t-six-ten.com through October.
In October, an independent panel of judges will review all of the submitted images and post them on the website. Consumers will be invited to vote for their favorite image. The top nine images to receive the most votes will be selected as finalists with a celebrity panel picking the three lucky winners to attend the celebrity auction event in November.
Four-City Tour of Celebrity Photographs
Sony Ericsson is currently conducting a four-city tour to exhibit selected images at Loews Hotels through November. At designated hotels, Sony Ericsson specialists will be on hand to explain and demonstrate the T610/T616 and the invite consumers to participate in the Shoot for the Stars program.
The exhibit was unveiled September 10, 2003 in Miami, and will travel to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. The schedule is as follows:
September 10 -25 – Miami Loews Miami Beach Hotel
October 2 -12 – New York City Regency Hotel
October 17 -26 – Chicago Loews House of Blues Hotel
November 1-9 – Los Angeles Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel
About Sony Ericsson Communications AB
Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB offers mobile communications products for people who appreciate the possibilities of powerful technology. Established in 2001 by Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Sony Corporation, the joint venture continues to build on the success of its two innovative parent companies. Sony Ericsson creates value for its operator customers by bringing new ways of using multimedia communications while mobile. The company’s management is based in London, and has 4,000 employees across the globe working on research, development, design, sales, marketing, distribution and support.
Big queues for Kristanna Loken, who is stunning, and seems very fan friendly. Maybe her rating in Autograph mag made her change..
Lawrence Makoare (Lurtz) is getting good queues. He was wearing a LOTR movie fleece today. And shades…… (?) He told me he is 3 parts in ROTK. Witch King of Angmar, a Captain/general of the Orc Army, and a foot soldier character. the capt/Lieutenant is another character creation from PJ, apparently.
News of Collectormania 5 in May has 3 names, Val Kilmer, Brad Dourif (Wormtongue) and some guy from SG-5 or something.
Sala Baker (Sauron) is not seeming to get big queues again, but he does like to circulate and have lots of breaks. He has a few proper character pics this time, one with full name and character credits. He also has most of the screen grabs from C3 and C2. Lawrence has Lurtz, Lurtz and more Lurtz. No Witch King or even a hint of his Bond baddy character.
Everyone, and I mean everyone seems to be looking forward to Sunday/Sat with a large, measure of dread and fear, with the hobbits being posted around the alleyways off the main square, similar to how they posted Billy Boyd (Pippin)/Andy Serkis (Gollum) and Robert Englund last time.
Tons of LOTR merchandise including a few cells from the Bakshi movie, or at least they appear to be cells.
“Leaf by Niggle” was first published in the Dublin Review in January 1945, and is widely regarded as an allegory of Tolkien’s own creative process. Many would also claim that it is indeed an allegory of Tolkien’s life up to that point. [Despite Tolkien’s avowed dislike for ‘allegory’] Along with the essay “On Fairy-Stories” the story about Niggle can be found in the book “Tree and Leaf” which offers the underlying philosophy (Sub-Creation) of Tolkiens writings.
Niggle is an artist who works to please himself, living in a society that holds art in little regard. His main project is painting a great Tree in the middle of a forest, taking great care to bring out the beauty of each individual leaf. Niggle takes time off from his work to aid his neighbor, a gardener named Parish who is lame and has a sick wife. On an errand for Parish, Niggle catches a sickness.
Eventually he is forced to take a trip that has been on his mind a good while. He is ill prepared for it (partly due to his illness) and ends up in an institution of sorts where he must labour each day. He is paroled and sent to work as a gardener in the country. He realizes that he is in fact working in the forest of his painting, but the Tree is the true realization of his vision, not the flawed version in his art. Niggle is reunited with Parish, and together they make the forest even more beautiful. Finally Niggle travels to the far reaches of the forest, to places on the fringe of his canvas.
To what extent is “Leaf by Niggle” an allegory? Tolkien made no secret of his dislike of allegory, and in a letter makes specific reference to ‘Niggle’ not being allegorical. On the other hand he writes in another letter that “I tried to show allegorically how [subcreation] might come to be taken up into Creation in some plane in my ‘purgatorial’ story Leaf by Niggle.”
How does ‘Niggle’ show Tolkien’s ideas about sub-creation? Niggle ends up discarding his other artworks or incorporating them into his ‘Tree painting’. How does this resemble how Tolkien worked with Middle-Earth? What about Niggle’s almost compulsive attention to each single leaf? To what extent is Niggle really Tolkien?
In what way does “Leaf by Niggle” deal with death?
Join us in #thehalloffire as we debate this curious work of literature.
Upcoming Topics: October 4-5: Leaf by Niggle
Times: Saturday Chat: 5:30pm ET (17:30) [also 11:30pm (23:30) CET and 7:30am Sunday (07:30) AET]
Sunday Chat: 7:00 pm (19:00) CET [also 1:00pm (13:00) ET and 3:00am (03:00) Monday morning AET]
ET = Eastern Time, USA’s East Coast CET = Central European Time, Central Europe AET = Australian East Coast
Do you have a possible topic for Hall of Fire? Drop us a line at halloffire@theonering.net
The Film Society of Lincoln Center and New Line Cinema in January will present a weekend-long event screening special extended editions of the first two films in Peter Jackson’s “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, plus the upcoming final chapter, “The Return of the King,” introduced by the director and cast. Running Jan. 10-11, the event marks the first time all three films will be shown together with the director in attendance.
Jackson, who co-wrote, directed and produced the trilogy, will introduce the Saturday screenings with members of the cast and participate in a Q&A following the night’s final screening of “The Return.”
On Sunday Film Society program director Richard Pena will host an extended conversation with Jackson, revisiting highlights of his career and exploring the “Rings” trilogy in depth.
Roheryn writes: Oh, what to do, what to do in that dreary stretch between the release of the ROTK trailer and the release of the film itself? If you feel the need for an ROTK fix, come to Cincinnati in late October. The Clear Stage Cincinnati theatre company will be presenting the final installment of the three-year-spanning Lord of the Rings production!
As with the previous two installments, the play will be staged at the Jarson-Kaplan Theatre at the Aronoff Center for the Performing Arts in the heart of Downtown Cincinnati, from October 17 through 25. Also as before, this original stage production is a World Premiere, which will hit the boards two months before the Peter Jackson film. Unlike the previous productions, this engagement offers general admission seating rather than reserved, so don’t be late! Below is a link to their web site with more detailed information about the production. It even has a cool Flash-animated “trailer” of its own!
(I noticed that if you click around on this site back and forth a lot, different pictures will come up as the background, photos that appear to be from their Two Towers production.)
The following link is hosted by the main puppet and mask designer for the production, and includes a number of photographs from the previous productions! The Balrog and Shelob both won top prizes at local awards programs. The masks are here, too, as well as a look at the innovative ways that horses have been portrayed on stage. Even fans of Asfaloth, Bill, Hasufel, and Arod will find their favorite steeds represented! [More]
A BIT OF BACKGROUND
I was one of a lucky few theatre-goers who was fortunate enough to experience the world premiere production of “The Fellowship of the Ring,” staged by the Ovation Theatre Company of Cincinnati in September 2001. It’s a shame their marketing efforts didn’t measure up to the quality of the show, because a lot of people missed out on an outstanding theatre experience. Though far too many seats were empty, our cheers and applause rang to the rafters.
Not unlike a little Hobbit being asked to carry the fate of Middle-earth on his shoulders, there is something very appropriate about such a small theatre company bringing Tolkien’s awesome epic to the stage. London, keep your multi-million-pound musical extravaganza — all that’s required for the Cincinnati version is creativity, imagination, and heart! And, YES, the Ovation Theatre Company version of The Fellowship of the RIng was indeed a musical — using the songs just as Tolkien wrote them! And that includes the Lorien Elves singing “Namarie” in Quenya! This production also managed to include Tom Bombadil and Goldberry, Old Man Willow, Ted Sandyman, Farmer Maggot and his dogs, and Bill Ferny (no Barrow-wights, though). There were many unexpected surprises with the casting — women played the roles of Gandalf, Merry, Pippin, Gollum, many of the orcs, and even Gimli! And they were FANTASTIC! I also thought it was interesting that in the pre-Jackson production, Arwen also replaced Glorfindel, arriving on Asfaloth, though in this version, as in the book, Frodo rode on alone as the Black Riders pursued him to the Ford of Bruinen. The whole production was clearly a labor of love by true Tolkien devotees. One of the scenes at Rivendell even depicted Elrond saying a private farewell to Aragorn before the Fellowship sets out, reminding Aragorn that he must win the throne of Gondor and Arnor before Elrond will allow Arwen to be his bride — you know, all those Appendix goodies!
In October 2002, larger audiences (no doubt fueled by interest from the Jackson films) turned out to see the staging of The Two Towers. Several of the cast members had changed, but many of the best had returned, including Sam, Gimli, and the unbelievably wonderful Gollum. (Personal note: I actually preferred the performance of the woman who played Gandalf in the first play, with her flowing scarves arrayed as a beard, than the older white-bearded man who portrayed him in The Two Towers. But, hey, it’s all good!) I must admit that I noticed with some discomfort that the costuming of the The Two Towers play had become somewhat derivative of the Fellowship of the Ring film, which had since been released. Saruman and Legolas in particular were more than a little patterned after the costumes, props, and hairstyles we’d all seen on the big screen. One of the things I had really enjoyed about the first play was that it was completely original, not yet having the films for a reference. But all was forgiven when I saw Treebeard, who completely stole the show! A fantastic melding of costume, stilts, mask, and “Edward Scissorhands”-type appendages, coupled with a wonderful booming delivery made true magic happen before our eyes! And Shelob was completely creepy, first appearing as glowing red eyes, closer, closer, before her full horror was revealed. The Battle of Helm’s Deep was more on the scale and focus given to it in the book, not the main set piece as was depicted in the film. And I would be remiss if I failed to mention that the original score that accompanied the production was truly wonderful, very moving and stirring.
In the past year, there have been some changes with the Ovation Theatre Company, and the third Tolkien play will now be staged by a new theatre company here, “Clear Stage Cincinnati.” Many of the creative team that brought the first two installments to the stage have relocated to Clear Stage, so we can expect the same enchanting and thrilling and heart-breaking experience as those lucky few of us have enjoyed over the past two years!
On location in Malta, the movie director calls in the animal care director who by now understands that I am not Maltese and has switched to perfect, if accented, English, explains that she has been lowering food and water to the kitty for two days.
OK. So if I’m not dreaming, what am I doing here?
The latest chapter in thousands of years of Maltese history includes being a production location for Hollywood blockbuster films. A good chunk of Gladiator was shot there, as was the WWII thriller U-751.
When director Wolfgang Petersen began filming Troy (due out in May 2004) at an old fort on Malta’s coast, the production crew was greeted by a pack of friendly stray dogs. The dogs weren’t looking for a scoop – just some food and attention.
Stray dogs at location shoots are a pretty common sight even in
By Francis Battista
I’m trotting up a flight of stairs behind some beefy guys in yellow Nomex trousers and blue t-shirts with “Fire and Rescue” in bold yellow print on the back. I’ve got a video camera on my shoulder and a woman in her 60s is speaking to me rapidly in a foreign language.
Wakey, wakey Francis!
Too late for that. I really am in Malta, riding along with the SPCA Malta animal control van. We are answering a call from the Fire Brigade for help in rescuing a cat trapped in an airshaft between buildings. Olaf, the SPCA driver, lowers a ladder out of a second-floor window onto a small roof about 10 feet down. From there, he will climb down to the bottom of the shaft where a pretty tabby cat, probably feral, has been trapped for days. The woman, the States, but this pack was just the tip of an iceberg of stray and semi-feral dogs and cats that populate the island.
As soon as Wolfgang’s wife, Maria, visited the set and saw the situation, it was “Lights, camera, action for the animals!” She called the SPCA Malta to see what she could do to help, and learned that they are underfunded and understaffed, but also under the management of a new board of directors. The board wants to rebuild the 100-year-old organization, which had turned into the animal control agency for a government that allocates six cents (the price of a bullet!) to put an impounded animal down. Hopes for a new start were high, but options were limited.
Maria immediately saw an opportunity to team up the SPCA with her husband’s A-list cast, and she got the ball rolling for a Hollywood-style benefit at the American Embassy. (The ambassador’s wife was delighted to help.) Everyone – from Petersen, Brad Pitt, and Orlando Bloom to production assistants and crew members – supported the event.
The next thing was to recruit some help from Best Friends, so before you could say “The Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, Rhodes and Malta,” Maria had sent me a ticket, and I was winging my way to the Mediterranean and getting the cook’s tour of back alleys, industrial sites, and public gardens at the crack of dawn…not something you find in the guide books.
“Your mission, should you choose to accept it . . .”
My mission is to help fashion a trap/neuter/return program for the dogs and cats that roam the island and cannot be placed in new homes, and to help the SPCA transition from the old to the new.
My first stop is the SPCA Home, what used to be called the Dogs’ Home until the early 1960s when the RSPCA held the reins and Malta was a British colony. The building is old and the cages, though clean, are stone and concrete chambers with low ceilings. The blue paint on the heavy iron bar doors is chipping, but the dogs are healthy and energetic.
My guide is Christel Selis, a Belgian national who is filling in as home manager until an appropriate Maltese can be trained and qualified for the position. Christel is tall and slim, with a deep voice and a generically European accent. She has a wonderfully dry sense of humor, and sometimes I imagine myself listening to a Garbo or Dietrich tossing off subtle one-liners followed by a silent chuckle. Christel’s hands-on skill with animals lends an atmosphere of confidence and care to the operation, but the lack of suitable admission and nursing areas makes it difficult to give the animals the care they need, and the lack of funding means that many of the things that we take for granted in even our most depressing shelters, such as vaccinations, are a luxury for the animals here.
The dogs and cats are beautiful and eager, but most of them are unlikely to find a good home any time soon. So the expectations Brad Pitt with Pupa, who came home with the movie crew. of the staff are reduced to giving the creatures in their care some brief respite from the hardship of the streets, re-homing some, and swallowing tears and bile about the fate of the rest. The conversations about thoughtless people who dump old loyal pets and the Sisyphean task of changing the way people relate to animals is all too familiar. But for the language and some local variations, I could be talking to rescuers in Los Angeles or Atlanta.
Most of these date from the rule of the Knights of Malta, and were once associated with grand palaces. Now they are oases of green and calm in the midst of the crush of one of the densest human populations on earth. We are looking for cats and their human caregivers.
We begin at the Romeo Romano, one of the old walled gardens, where a small group of young women tend a colony of about 50 cats. They are distressed because a kitten was found drowned in one of the park’s fountains the day before. It is impossible to tell whether it was malicious or accidental.
Most of the cats look healthy; a few are obviously not well. The young women struggle to spay and neuter them, but several kittens and young cats indicate that there is some way to go. Adoption opportunities are slim, so it’s best to let the kittens grow up in the garden colony where they are relatively safe.
The next morning, we are at another garden bright and early, before Malta heats up to steam-bath conditions (115 degrees in the shade and ultra-humid). We meet the lady who tends the public toilets – Our Lady of the Toilets, as I affectionately dub her. She also feeds the cats, with help from a young attorney.
Again, decent care is provided, but there are plenty of kittens – always a giveaway on the status of spay/neuter. One kitten is on the edge and will probably die in a day or two without special attention, so we take her back to the SPCA, where she rallies and is doing very well, but will need eye surgery. The story is repeated at gardens all over the island.
A dog’s life
The dog story mirrors that of the cats. There are small feral packs dotted all over the island, and many neighborhood strays. Most of them scavenge food from garbage and handouts or the kindness of feeders who give them bread soaked in water mixed with pasta and a little kibble or some canned dog food. The nutrition level is poor, and injuries from cars or intentional abuse is common. Where feeders do spay/neuter, it is only the females that are fixed. When I examined a couple of very old-looking dogs, it was clear that they were much younger than they looked. Parasites and the
Note: In Homer’s story, when Odysseus returns home after 19 years at war, nobody even recognizes him. But nearby, lying close to death on a pile of dung, an old abandoned dog hears his voice, looks up, and wags his tail. It is Argos, Odysseus’s old buddy, who has hung on all these years, waiting for his person. Now, unable even to get up, but finally content, Argos wags his tail once more, and gives up the ghost. Ambassador to the animals dreaded fly-borne disease leishmaniasis had taken a serious toll. One dog I encountered on the docks was too weak to move. He was covered in ticks, and had wasted away to skin and bones within a few feet of food and water placed by an optimistic, kind soul. We returned with a vet the following day and after a conclusive exam, humanely euthanized him – probably a few feet from where he was born. Most street dogs probably meet a similar end, but without the benefit of a humane intervention.
Islands of hope
As difficult as life is for the stray and feral populations on Malta, there are some bright spots. Island Sanctuary, a local rescue group, takes dogs off the street and offers lifetime care. All dogs are spayed or neutered, and new homes are actively sought. They also do what they can with a modest trap/neuter/return program for street dogs that are being fed by people who won’t take them in but are concerned about their welfare.
And Thomasina Cat Sanctuary looks after about 300 stray cats in their main facility and through foster homes. All cats are fixed and given adequate health care. But neither Thomasina nor Island Sanctuary has a handle on the larger problem of strays. In fact, no one is dealing with the big picture. That’s the mission the SPCA is struggling to fulfill while extracting itself from the legacy of the past.
Building a future for the animals
In many ways, Malta is not that different from, and in some ways not as bad off as, some American cities. That means a significant improvement can be made with a modest but systematically applied spay/neuter program. The caregivers are in place, and proven models are available. What’s lacking now is enough funding. Back on the movie set, the crew had become quite attached to three of the dogs that were hanging out there. They had nursed one back to health, but couldn’t find him a good home, and started the other two on the road to recovery. And they felt they couldn’t leave any of the three behind.
So when filming in Malta was finished, and the crew’s plane was headed to Mexico, the three dogs were dropped off in Los Angeles, where two went into new homes. The third, little Melita, who needs special care, came to Best Friends Animal Sanctuary, where she’s getting stronger and wondering what happened to the Mediterranean Sea!
And, oh yes, I almost forgot: the Fire Brigade and the cat stuck in the airshaft. Olaf climbed down to the bottom of the shaft and the cat began to leap and claw up the wall toward elusive freedom, but needed another five or six feet of bounce to make it. Olaf positioned the ladder in the right spot and stepped back. The tabby shot up the ladder to cheers from the Fire Brigade, the lady of the house, Olaf and me, and scampered along an adjacent wall and into the shade of a huge fig tree. He stopped and, looking back, sat down to groom himself in confident self-approval of his getaway.
You can help the Malta animals in their spay/neuter campaign for street dogs and cats by sending a donation to: Malta Animals, c/o Best Friends Animal Society, Kanab, UT 84741.
