Monthly Snapshot is a series of posts written for my sister Natalie and my brother Michael, who are currently on multi-month missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon), and for anyone else away from regular news sources. This is a quick snap-shot of current events and culture to give them an idea of all the excitement that has gone on while they are out and about.
Current Events
A shooting occurred in Fort Hood, Texas, five years after another shooting. Four people died, including the gunman, and sixteen injured. One of the people who died held a door closed to keep the gunman out, and saved the lives of those inside.
Malaysian airliner remains unfound. Here’s a graphic of how deep they suspect the black box is. Now, a deep-sea sonar is being used to find debris.
Tensions in Syria and Ukraine continue. Peace talks are still in progress, but a resolution remains unfound.
A FedEx truck hit a charter bus full of high school students heading out to visit a school in Northern California. Ten people died, including the driver.
Donald Sterling, owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, after various racist and unsavory remarks, has been banned from being involved in the NBA for life.
And for some positive news, the numbers of people currently employed in the US continues to increase.
Movies
Top 7 Movies For April
- Captain America: Winter Soldier
- Divergent
- Rio 2
- Heaven Is For Real
- The Other Woman
- Transcendence
- A Haunted House 2
I also finally saw Frozen (on DVD). It’s fun, but not as amazing as I hoped.
Music
Top Ten Singles
- Happy by Pharrell (Last month #1)
- All of Me by John Legend (Last month #4)
- Talk Dirty by Jason Derulo featuring 2 Chainz (Last month #4)
- Dark Horse by Katy Perry (Last month #3)
- Let It Go by Idina Menzel (Last month #5)
- Pompeii by Bastille (Last month #7)
- Turn Down For What by DJ Snake & Lil Jon
- Not A Bad Thing by Justin Timberlake
- Loyal by Crhis Brown featuring Lil Wayne & French Montana Or Too $hort Or Tyga
- Team by Lorde (Last month #8)
Television
Top 10 Television Shows
| 1 | NCIS | CBS | 10.8 | 17,122 |
| 2 | DANCING WITH THE STARS | ABC | 9.3 | 14,776 |
| 3 | NCIS: LOS ANGELES | CBS | 9.3 | 14,688 |
| 4 | THE VOICE-TUE | NBC | 7.4 | 11,815 |
| 5 | THE VOICE | NBC | 7.2 | 11,849 |
| 6 | PERSON OF INTEREST | CBS | 7.0 | 10,743 |
| 7 | SCANDAL | ABC | 7.0 | 10,573 |
| 8 | THE BIG BANG THEORY-SPC(S) | CBS | 6.7 | 10,907 |
| 9 | THE BIG BANG THEORY | CBS | 6.2 | 9,687 |
| 10 | THE GOOD WIFE – SPECIAL(S) | CBS | 5.8 | 9,147 |
David Letterman announced his retirement, and will be replaced by Stephen Colbert (as himself, and not the Comedy Central version of himself.)
Personal News
I turned 30
My brother Michael arrived for his mission in Oklahoma.
And, as May begins, I have only one thing to say….
May The Fourth Be With You
The L. Palmer Chronicles 
#3 makes me sad. Zahn’s novels were the perfect eps VII-IX.
On the other hand, we won’t have to hear fans go on about how no woman is good enough to play Mara Jade…
On Entertainment Weekly’s site they were recommending Scarlett Johansson – which could be epic, but far too young to be paired with Luke.
If they could have a similar character throughout the trilogy, that would be cool.
In reference to the last line in the IGN article – they’d be REALLY stupid to have Hayden Christensen return.
Given the caliber of actors in Abrams’ other projects, I trust in the high quality of these actors.
In other words, I don’t think we’ll have a Hayden Christensen problem.
(Also, if you watch the prequels with Spanish dubbing, Anakin sounds a lot more manly.)
One addition (that I didn’t mention on my blog either), is that they’re supposedly still casting one more main female role, so perhaps that’ll even out the gender gap a bit. It’s supposed to be played by a non-white actress, too, so that’s a bonus!
Oh, and thanks for linking to my blog!
This brings hope to the galaxy.
Great post! Thanks for including TWG in there! 😀
No problem!
I was less than enchanted with the second trilogy, and Abrams’s Trek movies haven’t won me over, either. So I’m interested in what’s next for Star Wars, but actually don’t know if it will compete with the current string of plot-linked Marvel superhero shows.
With Disney behind both series, there is a vast potential for greatness. I happen to like Abram’s Trek movies for all their shiny glory.
I find it hilarious that they brought back the original Chewbacca. Whatsamatter, no one else in Hollywood can growl?
Ironically, the growl is a dubbed sound effect.
And as for great Wookie growlers, I have a few friends who are excellent, as demonstrating when we were reading Star Wars Shakespeare together.
I love this! Incidentally, there’s a photo out there with the whole cast that features red bubbles with their names hovering over their heads. It’s interesting because all three of the original cast members (Hamill, Ford and Fisher) sat in different parts of the room, which I found interesting considering I’d thought they’d sit together, if anything!
Maybe the producers had the cast mingle so there weren’t clear divisions. Or, if the original cast all sat together, there would be a vast imbalance of awesomeness in the room, and people wouldn’t be able to concentrate.
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