LeVar Burton
Occupation
Actor
The Geekie Awards 2014 [Pictures]
By Lenny Barksdale in Movies / TV / Theatre on 19 August 2014
Scroll for pictures from the geekiest night of the year!
The geekiest of geek outs happened on Sunday night when The Geekie Awards took place. Returning for the second time and with a fresh batch of new sponsors, the ceremony was streamed on Twitch and, judging by the photos below, was a hoot.
Aiming to celebrate and reward the best of geek culture, which is probably the most varied and quickly emerging sub-culture around, it was announced that the Oscar and Emmy-winning producer Gale Anne Hurd will receive the Stan Lee Lifetime Achievement Award from the award's first recipient, Stan Lee, the co-creator of Spider-Man, the Hulk, the Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor, the X-Men.
“I have always considered myself a geek, so being the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement award named after the ‘King of the Geeks', Stan Lee, is really a dream come true,” said Hurd, who co-wrote “The Terminator” and executive produces “The Walking Dead” which is due to return later this year for AMC.
Continue reading: The Geekie Awards 2014 [Pictures]
Seth MacFarlane Offers To Double Kickstarter 'Reading Rainbow' Donations
By Elinor Cosgrave in Lifestyle / Showbiz on 27 June 2014
Seth MacFarlane and LeVar Burton are teaming up to ensure an extra $1 million dollars is donated to Burton's charitable project 'Reading Rainbow'. The money being raised will ensure the online service is brought to underfunded classrooms without charge.
Seth Macfarlane has promised to match up to $1 million dollars in Kickstarter pledges in order to fund an online version of Reading Rainbow. The project already has $4 million but, if backers contribute even more, MacFarlane has pledged to double the donations. Actor LeVar Burton, who is championing the cause, hopes backers will contribute a million so the project, with MacFarlane's contribution, will begin with $6 million.
The Kickstarter lists three main goals for the Reading Rainbow reboot: Get Reading Rainbow on the Internet, develop a version that teachers can use in the classroom and be able to give RR to low-income schools for free.
Continue reading: Alliteration Alert: 'Reading Rainbow' Reboot Raises Record Resources
Roots Review
Excellent
When you think of epic mini-series, what comes to mind? Rich Man, Poor Man? Shogun? More likely than not, it's Roots, the based-on-a-true story tale that spooled over 12 hours and six nights, the story of "an American family," albeit one that began captured in Africa in 1750, then sold into slavery in the U.S. colonies.Roots begins with Kunta Kinte, emerging from childhood and undergoing warrior training in his tribal homeland. The slavers arrive soon enough, and after a harrowing three-month ride back across the Atlantic, Kunta is sold, becomes Toby under his new master, attempts repeated escapes, and eventually accepts his fate as he settles down with a wife and child. The Revolutionary War comes and goes, and Toby's daughter Kizzy is sold, becoming the mother of her new master's son, known as Chicken George. Chicken George in turn is sent to England to pay off a gambling debt. When he returns home after 14 years, he is a free man. The Civil War arrives, and the rest of the slaves are freed. Soon enough the family faces the perils of vehement racism and the KKK, and Chicken George finally leads his family to safety in a new settlement.
Continue reading: Roots Review