While shopping for Christmas presents last weekend, I was reminded by just how much of an influence Star Wars still is on children. So the news that broke last week with Lucasfilm selling to Disney for $4.05 billion dollars and the immediate plans to proceed with a new Star Wars 7 movie comes as no surprise to me. I have said since the Episode 1-3 trilogy that NOT making Episodes 7-9 would be far too good to pass up. And apparently Disney thought so too!
So now the big question: Do you think Star Wars 7 suck? Do you think they’ll stick to the versions that are already written, or go in a completely new direction? Many fans feel as though since Disney will keep George Lucas around as a creative consultant that the movies have a chance of staying true to form. Unfortunately, let’s not forget that Lucas directly directed Episodes 1-3 which had some very obvious flaws (Jar Jar Binks?). So are we really safe? Only the Force will know for sure …
Speaking of movies, I have another great scary movie recommendation: Insidious. It’s a movie about a family that moves into an old house and not long after their son goes into a coma (only it’s not a coma). Soon after that, they start getting visited by some pretty creepy spirits looking to take control of the boy’s body. I thought it was pretty well done!
Blog News:
I really apologize for being absent from the blogging world this week. Work was CRAZY busy! On top of a normal busy schedule, I had a big speech to give at an event at my work. So my normal evening schedule was interpreted with practicing and rehearsing as much as possible. Fortunately all has passed and we’re done for now, but next week starts with a plane trip across the country. Hopefully I can find some more time to reach out next week. Luckily for me I have my main posts mostly already drafted and scheduled in the queue.
At the end of a busy week, we could all use a good laugh. For anyone who has had ever had to sit through an agonizing episode of Dora the Explorer, you’re going to love this hilarious video clip:
PageRank Update:
Alright! My Money Design was unaffected yet again by another Google PageRank update. We stand at a solid PR2. While I worked really hard to try to improve my position to at least a 3, I’m beginning to accept that this whole PageRank thing is a lot like playing a game with a 4-year-old where the rules change and get made up to the benefit of the 4-year-old as you go along. So as long as we don’t go DOWN in PageRank, I’m content.
Next Week:
Next week we’ll start the posts off with some more sarcastic humor – a little on-again, off-again romance with a certain movie provider. I hope everyone gets a laugh. I’m also working on a post about Black Friday (can you believe we’re at that time of year already)?
Link Love – Blogs You Should Check Out:
In case you missed them, here are a few great stories you should check out this weekend:
- Michelle from Making Sense of Cents announces an impressive October income in $3,700 in Extra Income in October and My Goals
- Carrie from Careful Cents makes a great interview in How to Be a Freelance Blogger with Sophie Lizard
- CF from The Outlier Model lays out a great, aggressive plan to pay off student loans in PAYING OFF $27,000 IN STUDENT LOANS
- Glen from Monster Piggy Bank reveals his catchy SAVING acronym in 6 easy money SAVING tips
- Bridget from Money after Graduation tears Mitt Romney a new one (and has a great video clip) in The Problem With Mitt Romney’s Finances
Carnivals & Mentions:
My Money Design was featured on the following sites this week:
- Friday’s Circle of Friends – October 19
- Freedom Thirty Five Blog: Weekend Business and Blog Roundup – Nov 4nd
- The Family Finances: Friends of the Family: Tired of Political Ads Edition
- Work Save Live: Carnivals, Mentions, & Weekend Reading #36
- Club Thrifty: The VIP Club Roundup – 9th Edition
- Broke-Ass Mommy: Another Monday Coming ‘Round
Thanks to everyone for linking to my site and enjoying my posts. I really appreciate your support and hope you continue to visit!
Posts This Week:
1) My Money Design for Achieving Financial Freedom – November 2012 Update
2) Do You Reply to Every Blog Comment?
3) Choosing the Right Mobile Device to Boost Your Working Performance
Image Credit: Unknown
Lance @ Money Life and More says
Hey, at least your PR didn’t go down like mine did from PR4 to PR3. I’m sure I’ll get it back one day though…
MMD says
Lance, you’re still the man! A PR3 is nothing to be sad about (beats my PR2)! And I’m sure with all the work you put in that you’ll be right back at 4 in no time.
Michelle says
Thanks for mentioning my post! I appreciate it.
And I’m sure your PR will go up. I was stuck at a PR 3 FOREVER!
MMD says
Thanks Michelle. I really hope so. I’ve been PR2 for the last 3 updates. Did your PR go up?
Modest Money says
MMD shoot me an e-mail about PR. I’ve bee digging into some PR2 blogs and it seems a lot are stuck for reasons beyond external backlinks.
By the way, that Dora video was hilarious. If only they could make a whole movie with that direction.
Modest Money says
Oh yeah and I don’t think the new Star Wars movie will suck. They invested too much money into it and I don’t think Lucas would have sold it off if he didn’t truly believe they could do a good job. I would be worried about it being a bit too kid friendly, but Disney has lately shown signs of embracing stuff geared towards an older audience.
MMD says
Oh I know it will probably be alright. The Pirates of the Caribbean movies do give me some hope that Disney might make this Star Wars somewhat relevant to adults. Now that my son is obsessed with Star Wars, I’ve had to watch episodes 1 – 3 about a hundred times. There’s actually quite a bit of detail baked into the plot that I never caught the first time around, which gives me a little more appreciation.
Modest Money says
I guess the difference with Pirates of the Caribbean is that it was always a slightly more adult approach. Since George Lucas already shifted the Star Wars series to be more kid friendly, Disney might not be able to resist. They’d obviously have a lot more to gain from making it a suitable series to promote at their theme parks.
MMD says
Ha! I’m glad you liked the video clip. The “I’m the map” part kills me every time. Maybe like Machete, they’ll be inspired to make a whole movie out of it.
I’ll email you about my PR issue. Thanks for offering.
Modest Money says
As cool as it would be to see a full movie like this, obviously they can’t tarnish the image of Dora for kids. I thought a similar thing when I saw a fake movie trailer for an Archie comics movie. That one actually had potential to be pretty good.
MMD says
There’s hope! Don’t forget that Robert Rodriguez’s Machete was once a fake trailer in the movie Planet Terror. It eventually became a full movie years later due to fan demand!
Jennifer Lynn @ Broke-Ass Mommy says
Two thoughts, in no particular order: I won’t pretend to understand Page Rank and my daughter will grow up with these Disney Stars Wars movies being THE Star Wars she knows and relates to. How odd. 🙁
“Oh Mom, you were born sooo last century.”
MMD says
Jen, I thought I understood PageRank … but apparently I’ve still got a lot to learn. That’s funny about your daughter. My son asked me this morning if I was born in the “1900’s”.
Brian says
We’ve just been upgraded to a PR2, so hopefully we don’t experience the same frustration you’re having! I’ll have to speak with Jeremy about that.
Your star wars photo is great – it reminded me of The Big Bang Theory when Sheldon wants Amy to dress up for Halloween as C3PO and R2D2.
Have a great weekend!
MMD says
Congratulations on making it to a PR2! Although it stinks to not move up, I’m glad to not fall down to a 0.
I know exactly the Big Bang Theory episode you’re talking about – that one was great. I liked their big list of ideas that they were trying to agree to. We LOVE that show!
Jason Clayton | frugal habits says
I’m hopeful that Star Wars 7 won’t suck, and at the same time stay true to form. (as long as they have real characters they should be ok!)
Totally agree on the page rank thing. I pretty much ignore it completely, and am focusing on Alexa. Once I’m low enough, I’ll turn my attention to page rank 🙂
MMD says
Unfortunately if you plan to monetize your blog, you will need to shoot for at least a PR2. I really didn’t start getting many solicitations from advertisers until then. But all the same I wish you good luck on the Alexa efforts. I’m sure that with as active as you are that you should have no trouble getting under 100K in no time!
Glen @ Monster Piggy Bank says
Thanks for including me on your link round up 🙂
Also, I love that Dora video!
MMD says
Pretty hilarious, wasn’t it? I don’t recall watching it with my kids and seeing Diego breaking necks …. 🙂
Holly@ClubThrifty says
That Dora video is hilarious!!! I seriously hate that show…and I have a 3 year old who loves it. It is torture!
Have a great week!
MMD says
I know! I was so glad when we out-grew that phase. I love how that video managed to get all the annoying little sayings and skits in there. The “I’m the map” guy just kills me.
Shane Curtis says
Honestly I am stuck on the Dora the Explorer trailer. I think that’s kinda cute. It’s good that I have seen it here.
justin@thefrugalpath says
The dangerous thing about making another Star Wars movie is that it’s almost a religion. Even if they make it exactly like the novels, someone is going to think something is wrong with it. I’m sure they’ll make a lot of money, but real Star Wars fans might not be happy with it.
MMD says
I’m not sure if real Star Wars fans can be satisfied with anything – which is precisely the danger in making them! But there would be too much money left on the table if they didn’t!