Not that I'm in any hurry to grow up (wearing ties to work on a daily basis is enough, thanks), but I kinda can't wait for the day I have a son. Because I want him to ask me things like 'where do stars come from.' And then I can put my imagination to exhilarating use and tell him things like:

"The stars? Don't you know? Oh, c'mon, guy! What kind of sheltered runt are you? Well I guess it's time we filled you in then, innit? You know those little orange sparks that pop and crackle up out of the campfires at night? Well, when someone wishes something good for someone else, one of those sparks floats up to the sky, higher than usual, and it gets stuck up there and turns white because it's so cold up there. And then it hangs there, shining like a diamond, as a vivid reminder that someone, somewhere cares about you. Of course, this trick only works if these are goodwill wishes. When you make them, they can't be mean-spirited or about you at all. And then when you see a shooting star, that means someone somewhere just had a wish come true. It's even possible that that wish could have been made for you. But here's the best part. After you see a shooting star, that means a wish has returned to earth, and now you are the one who gets to re-use it. The next time you're sitting around a fire, you can make a wish of your own for someone you love or care about. So it's the shooting stars that are really important. Keep your eyes open for them so you can help make this world a better place. Pretty nifty, huh?"

And then when he gets older and calls me on it, I'll be like "Don't let them make you grow up! Didn't you learn in school about the water cycle? Well, that's real, right? The wish cycle is the same exact thing. Wishes go up, wishes go down, and we cycle it all around. What's so hard to believe about it? I'm your dad, and I'm telling you that wishing good for others is a very real thing."

None of this post has anything to do with entertainment, really. But I did recently finish reading Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, which comes with my highest recommendation. It's probably one of the most moving father/son stories I've ever encountered, in writing or film. Aside from Return of the Jedi, of course.

There are those out there who wax about George Lucas' vast Star Wars universe till the wookies come home. But a 3-year old can break it all down for you in a matter of minutes. Enjoy.

Well, the floodgates are wide open now.. Once the Ackbar starts (see last post) the Ackbar don't stop. So here's some more of our favorite Admiral for your pleasure.

Like most other Star Wars stars, Admiral Ackbar has had quite a life since getting airtime in the greatest trilogy of all time. Mark Hamill became a voice actor, Harrison Ford became Blade Runner, Indiana Jones, and... Henry in Regarding Henry? James Earl Jones became the Bell Atlantic guy. Yoda retired to George Henson's workshop. But I don't think has had quite the life Ackbar has post Star Wars. Check out what he's been up to besides getting his own cereal since the fall of the Empire.

First, he moved to Mexico and learned Spanish. El Ackbarro!












Then, he became a devout Muslim and changed his name to Allah Ackbar.










But after some time spent living on the fringe and very much out of the public eye, save for a public scuffle with Mike Tyson, he returned to society and teamed up with Steve Jobs at Apple and together they unveiled their genius invention of the iTrap.









Then, after tiring of the business world, he was drafted into the NFL and became an all star quarterback for the Oilers. Warren Ackbar! He became well known for always knowing when the defense was gonna blitz. "It's a trap!"







Then after retiring, as we all know, came his bid for president, where he lost by a hair to George W. Bush.











Which brings us to now. He recently got back into acting after his defeat at the presidential polls. He dies in Saw IV. Although, some speculate he has taken over as the new Jigsaw in the puzzling horror series. Only time will tell.

You wouldn't be safe spending a day here in Scene & Heard HQ where most conversations are laced with indistinguishable lines cribbed from Samuel L. Jackson or the Stars Wars episode of Robot Chicken, and Lord knows what else. Lately, we're a little tripped up on Admiral Ackbar. It's a trap!



and of course, here is the source of our compulsion.

It'd be a slight slap of hypocrisy across your cheek if, I, Mr. entertainment blogger for the Merc, didn't make some kind of mention about Hollywood's recent eclipse over Royersford, with Mr. Peter Jackson bringing some camera lenses and Mark Wahlberg around and all. And I'm not much of a slapper. so...

Obviously, I'm talking about the current filming of Peter Jackson's adaption of Alice Sebold's acclaimed novel, "The Lovely Bones." Everyone around here has been abuzz with star shock and hatin' on the closed roads. But dude, the guy who made "Meet The Feebles" is right down the road! I guess he also made some lauded trilogy adaption of the Lord of the Rings too, which kind of makes him the new George Lucas. But I don't know if you ever saw that or not.

Besides "Clerks 2" taught us, "There's only one return, and it's not of The King. It's of The Jedi."

Anyway, in case you for some reason didn't know, Royersford is swarming with a little slice of Hollywood. But it won't last long, because the film crew is then off to New Zealand for filming next year. The film itself won't hit theaters until March of 2009, so sit tight Bones fans.

But, our sneaky photographer/videographer John Strickler somehow managed to grab some footage of the film being shot. So why wait till 2009?! The video is on www.pottsmerc.com if you missed it.

Speaking of Strickler, I have to tip my hat to him for the concept of the Boyertown Bear Hunt, which was a resounding success. BUT! I'd like to share with everyone that he and I were years ahead of the huntin' bears curve. Before I was even in Kindergarten, I went on a photo run with him to a local golf course where a real live furiously savage bear had run amuck onto the greens. So, while the two of us are now ineligible to win the prizes, we were hunt bears when you were still in diapers. Well, I was too, but I was hunting bears IN DIAPERS!