Obi-wan Kenobi, Johnny Test, Fred Flintstone. James Arnold Taylor is all of these things, but with this one man show, he hopes to add another feather in his cap: Ambassador of Inspiration. And inspire he does, making the simple rule of pursuing your dreams a relatable story for adults and kids alike. His show is warm, funny, genuine, and, above-all, straight from the heart.

James Arnold Taylor is taking his message of inspiration and incredibly entertaining one-man-show on the road, traveling from city to city, convention to convention.

For geeks, there are literally hundreds of places you’d find his voice that you’d never expect. Did you know he was the young Professor Bruttenholm in the animated Hellboy movies? The voice of Harry Osborn on Spectacular Spider-Man? Guy Gardner AND Green Arrow on Brave and the Bold? Ratchet from Ratchet and Clank fame? Tidus from the Final Fantasy series? He’s done it all, and he’s worked at it for a long time.

Last year, during Star Wars Weekends at Walt Disney World, James put on an abridged version of his one man show for audiences and it was an incredibly well put together show and now it’s being lengthened into “Talking to Myself.”

Announcements for what conventions and cities he’ll be hitting will be forthcoming, though we know for sure that he’ll be in Dublin to the “Invasion Dublin III” convention this May. I’m assured more huge announcements are on the way.

I got to talk to James at length last week and early next week we’ll be running the highlights from the full interview, but I couldn’t bear to let his trailer go unnoticed for much longer by readers of this site. It’s just a fantastic show and you have to see it to believe it.

In our interview we talk about the show, The Clone Wars, and his journey to fulfill his dreams and why he’s taken it upon himself to let the world around him know they should pursue their dreams, too. It’s a noble goal, to be certain.

So check back next week for the interview. In the meantime, you can follow James on Facebook and Twitter.

And don’t forget to watch him in the second part of Obi-wan’s tale of intrigue on The Clone Wars tonight!

Yes. I’m pretty sure that’s Indiana Jones’ fedora.

From the press release:

Fleeing across the galaxy with criminal fugitives, a disguised Obi-Wan, Cad Bane and Moralo Eval are tenaciously pursued by Anakin and Ahsoka, who have no idea they’re chasing their friend, in “Friends and Enemies,” a new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, airing at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday, January 27th on Cartoon Network.

Another short video giving us a look behind the scenes of season 2. This time we get a look at the set pieces from Beyond The Wall and all over Westeros.

This episode looks to be very dark. One of the best things this show has done over the years is show us Anakin’s slow slipping to the dark side. Losing his master (as all the trailers have intimated) would do more to cause than anything I can imagine short of the events of Episode III.

From the press release:

When the Jedi learn of a Separatist plot to kidnap Chancellor Palpatine, one of them must go deep undercover as a hardened criminal to extract information from the conspirators. To alleviate all suspicions and fit seamlessly into a high security Republic prison, a Jedi must die! But not everything is what it seems in The Clone Wars. Witness the “Deception” – an all-new episode – which features the return of the series’ most memorable villains behind bars: Cad Bane, Boba Fett and Bossk, airing at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday, January 20th on Cartoon Network.

Here is the latest from HBO this time giving us a look at the location used for King’s Landing in Croatia. April 1st season 2 premieres.

AT&T Ces Mobile Round Up!

CES has hit Las Vegas and once again killed the chance for us to have any extra cash. You had a few options this week: sit and watch the live feeds, scan the blogs for up to the moment updates, or simply read this summary to catch the quickies from the mobile industry. Grab your coffee, relax, and let us walk you through the AT&T launches at CES.

PS VIta

Launching in just about 1 month, we’ll start there. The device will hit shelves, February 15, 2012 in America and be supported with AT&T 3G, provided you spent the extra $50.00. The data plans will be activated through the device itself and similar to prepaid plans on the iPad will cost $15.00 for 200 megabytes, or $25.00 for 2 Gigs of access.

Samsung Galaxy Note

Jokingly referred to by the presenter as a “phablet” this 5.3″ monster phone looked gorgeous. Touting a dual-core 1.5 Ghz snapdragon processor, 8 mp rear-facing camera, and a 2 mp front-facing, LTE, and thin as ever following Samsung’s usual thought process. Most pre-pays are recommending you couple this with a blue-tooth for phone calls, but this device is looking gorgeous, and is releasing in black or white.

Pantech Burst

Being the first half of 2 budget-friendly big blue LTE phones, the burst combines value and hardware, sporting a 4″ Amoled display and LTE it will be available in Titanium, or Red for $49.99 on contract.

Samsung Exhilarate

Similar to the Samsung Evergreen in it’s 80% recycled material manufacturing, it also touts an eco calendar and calculator. It also has a 4″ Amoled display, and front and rear facing camera, and voice recognition. Another great entry level Android phone for a great price of $49.99 on contract.

Pantech Element

The Pantech Element is listed as an “affordable” tablet, with a $299.99 price tag attached to a 2 year contract, and $499.99 without any binding agreement. The splash resistant Amoled device has a 1.5 Ghz dual-core processor, Honeycomb, and an 8″ touch screen. You can snag this water resistant toy along with a Pantech burst for $249.99 if both devices are tied to a contract.

HTC Titan II

Continuing their support of Windows Phone 7, AT&T announced another piece of their 2012 lineup. The Titan II has a 16(seriously?)mp camera, 1.5Ghz Snapdragon processor and is a 4.7″ super LCD display. Fans of HTC and Windows Phone 7 should rejoice, it’s a great product.

Nokia Lumia 900

Packing a 4.3″ ClearBlack Amoled display, 512MB RAM and of course running Mango. The device also packs an 8-megapixel camera with a dual led flash, and a front-facing camera of unknown MP (probably VGA). The device is LTE and ha an 1840mAH battery it will ship in black or cyan, and looks fabulous to me!

Sony Xperia Ion

Taking another shot at the “Playstation Certified” angle, Sony along with AT&T is releasing the Xperia Ion Sometime in Q2, touting a dual-core 1.5 Ghz processor and front and rear facing HD cameras, this has another chance to shine, and hopefully it can outshine the Xperia Play.

Lucasfilm has been kind enough to give us two more clips form Friday’s new episode of The Clone Wars.

The last time we were on Mandalore, the results weren’t exactly the best, but it’s encouraging to see that Dave Filoni has stepped in to direct this episode himself and that we’re bringing in Katee Sackhoff to the cast as a female member of The Deathwatch.

Friday can’t come soon enough.

From the press release:

In the next all-new episode of The Clone Wars, Ahsoka Tano is reunited with Lux Bonteri, the handsome young Separatist who opened her eyes to the fact that the war isn’t always black-and-white. When Lux suddenly barges into a peace conference between Separatists and Republic delegates, he involves Ahsoka in a dangerous search to find justice for his mother’s death.

This episode, directed by Dave Filoni, sees the return of Death Watch. Since their attempt to take over Mandalore in Season Two, they’ve gotten tougher, grittier, and far more dangerous. Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Cowboys & Aliens) returns as warlord Pre Vizsla, and is joined by Katee Sackhoff (Battlestar Galactica) as the armored warrior, Bo-Katan.

I was very impressed with the last episode of The Clone Wars, going so far as to call it the Empire Strikes Back of the show. I’m very eager to see the conclusion of the arc on Friday. It’s been far too long since we’ve had a new episode of The Clone Wars.

I’m glad that we’re once again seeing Sidious on the show.

And the cityscapes, even in these clips, are nothing short of amazing.

From their press release:

Star Wars: The Clone Wars returns with new episodes starting this Friday, January 6th at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT on Cartoon Network.

In “Escape from Kadavo,” the conclusion to a three-part story arc, Anakin tries to convince the Zygerrian Queen that she too is a slave and pawn in an evil Separatist plot. Meanwhile, Obi-Wan toils in the slave camps of Kadavo, a grim situation that grows increasingly bleak.

I really feel like this arc is building up to something that is going to blow us away.

The last episode had some great moments in it, I can’t wait to see what else this one has in store. Especially knowing now that there’s an echo of Return of the Jedi (with Artoo and the lightsaber) in this episode…

From the press release:

In an attempt to locate missing colonists, Anakin, Obi-Wan and Ahsoka go undercover to infiltrate the slavers on Zygerria. Anakin struggles with his emotions as a wily Zygerrian queen forces him to take questionable actions in order to carry out his mission in “Slaves of the Republic,” a new episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, airing at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday, December 2nd on Cartoon Network.

I don’t often post these, but Chris Yost is writing this book and he can do no wrong. From his work on all the great Marvel cartoons in recent years to his incredible run on Red Robin, he’s fast becoming one of my favorite writers in comics.

Here’s the info from the press release about Scarlet Spider.

Get ready for a new brand of web-slinging action in your first look at Scarlet Spider #1! From the red-hot creative team of Chris Yost & Ryan Stegman, Kaine – the all-new Scarlet Spider – finds himself on the run in Texas after saving New York City from becoming the world’s largest spider nest during Spider-Island. But when his escape is stopped by a super-powered crime syndicate, Kaine must put an end to their corruption the only way he knows how…violently.

“Scarlet Spider is a book that can deal with a character much like Peter Parker but at darker, more difficult place in his life,” said Stephen Wacker, Marvel Senior Editor. “The violent choices he’s made through years of struggle—the sins of youth, so to speak—have come at a brutal cost. He may hope that the things he’s done will be left to the dusty, yellowed pages of history, but someone ALWAYS remembers who you used to be.”

Redefining power & responsibility, no fan can miss the brutal debut of Scarlet Spider #1 hitting comic shops everywhere, this January.

SCARLET SPIDER #1 (NOV110519)
Written by CHRIS YOST
Pencils by RYAN STEGMAN
Colors by MARTE GRACIA
Cover by RYAN STEGMAN
FOC – 12/12/11, ON SALE – 1/4/12