J.J. Abrams shed some more light on the mysterious Kylo Ren, the villain of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (to be played by Adam Driver).”Kylo Ren is not a Sith, he works under supreme leader Snoke,” said Abrams — so there. (Abrams was speaking to Empire; the full interview will be released later this week.) The move away from using Siths as villains can be viewed perhaps as Abrams keeping things fresh and wanting to make his own mark within the franchise. He also spoke of how the Empire’s new incarnation, the First Order (of which our best glimpse yet was in this recent Korean teaser), “came out of conversations about what would have happened if the Nazis all went to Argentina but then started working together again.”
In other news, 40 years ago today Bruce Springsteen’s epic album Born To Run was released, and American rock got a new “boss.” It was the album that announced Springsteen to the mainstream, with a hefty portion of Americana and a metaphorical arm around every listener’s shoulder, saying, “Don’t worry, everyone gets a second chance.” Ryan Leas has writes for Stereogum about Born To Run‘s impact, and why it endures 40 years on.
Don’t expect too much partying from Iron Maiden’s lead singer Bruce Dickinson, he will have to be wide awake to pilot the band’s plane to their next destination. That’s right, Dickinson will fly the band and their equipment around the world in a huge Boeing 747-400 jumbo jet, according to The Quietus. Dickinson is an experienced pilot and previously flew the band around on the smaller 757. “The greatest benefit of traveling in a 747 is its colossal size and freight capacity. We can carry our stage production and all our stage equipment and desks in the cargo,” said the musician.
Finally, spare a thought for the young fella who broke his fall with a $1.5 million painting, and in the process punched a hole right through it. The incident happened in Taiwan, and the unfortunate painting was Flowers by Paolo Porpora. Listen, before you start judging, we’ve all been there — your grandparent visits and wants to go to *insert museum name here* to see *insert piece of work they wants to see again! here* and your legs just lose their will to keep you upright.