I like to read the newspaper. I read the local paper while eating breakfast, and I read the big-name paper during lunch. And lately, there has been much hubbub about the arrival of Harrison Ford, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas, all for the filming of the fourth Indiana Jones movie. Spielberg and Lucas arrived on Monday, July 9th. Harrison Ford arrived on Tuesday, July 10th.

The movie, so far titled “Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods” is scheduled to be released in 2008. Other big names in the movie include Shia LeBeouf (oh, Shia! I love you!), Cate Blanchett, and John Hurt. The Honolulu Advertiser has also reported that LeBeouf is on the island filming, too, which may later lead to me hunting him down. Shia plays the rebellious son of Jones and Marion Ravenwood. He is also, coincidentally, one of my favorite actors because he is just adorable and has been a talking penguin and in Transformers. I mean, come on! Anyway.

My friend working at the Naniloa Hotel in Hilo has also reported that Harrison Ford is staying there, although the Tribune Herald has also reported that a few of the cast and crew are staying at the Hilo Hawaiian hotel, which is right next door to the Naniloa.

Filming is currently being done in Keaau, which is a few miles outside of Hilo. They’re filming on the W.H. Shipman estate, where my parents used to go fishing when they were young! It’s a private estate, but my parents used to have friends who worked there, and those friends used to let them in. (Similarly, you can read about my own mosquito-filled adventures in the public part of Shipman estate here!) Unfortunately, since the Indiana Jones filming is to be done on private land, the public isn’t really allowed to go and watch. Although I would very much like to trek down and take photos of Ford and LeBeouf for you all, I’m not sure if I’ll be able to.

The filming of Indiana Jones here in Hawaii is, in part, because of the tax credits that they’re getting. The new law that went into effect on July 1st, 2006 gives producers a refundable tax credit of 15% (on Oahu) or 20% (neighbor islands). Other big productions taking advantage of the tax credit are Ben Stiller’s “Tropic Thunder,” and one of my favorite TV shows, Lost. The tax credit only affects commercial projects that have budgets of $200,000 or more. For a complete list of productions that have applied for the tax credit, go here!

Exciting! I’m glad that Hawaii put in that tax credit, because it seems like we’re finally becoming a part of the movie world.

Sources: http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707140341
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707140318
http://www.honoluluadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707110409
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2007/07/01/local_news/local04.txt
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2007/07/08/local_news/local02.txt
http://www.hawaiitribune-herald.com/articles/2007/07/11/local_news/local07.txt

Well, May is almost over. Time flew by really quickly - it’s kind of scary. :( I still think about robokira everyday, even though I never update. Maybe I should just update frequently with a lot of meaningless crap. Maybe not. …Either way! Only one important thing has happened in my life recently: mainly, I got surgery! Crazy! It was my first experience with surgery. I think my fear about surgery was misplaced - I should have been way more afraid of the recovery than the actual surgery itself, because the week of recovery sucked. I was in so much pain, it’s not even funny. (…Well, okay, in retrospect, it’s pretty funny, but it was totally uncool at the time.)

Actually, another slightly interesting happening is that I attended the first showing of Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End! Last year, I organized a big dress-up brouhaha for the opening of the second movie, so I was happy that I got to dress up again for this one. :D Although, last year, I planned out my costume. This year, I was invited to go at the last minute (I wasn’t actively trying to go because I was just getting over my surgery!), so that was the costume I slopped together. POTC 3 was completely rad, even though the critics disagree. It was awesome. I highly recommend it. Of course, I am biased towards both pirates and Johnny Depp, but it was still great.

In art-related news, I have found my muse! Her name is Jung Ryu-Won, and she is a beautiful Korean actress. I fell in love with her and her character in the Korean drama, My Lovely Sam-Soon. She’s so cute and fair and skinny and has long wavy hair and makes funny faces and dresses fashionably low-key - I basically just love everything about her. So, I’ve been sketching her off the TV. I pause the DVD and drew her.

Also, as a treat to all robokira fans, here’s a little sneak preview of what I’m working on right now:

If the image looks familiar, it’s because it’s the Hybrid sketch. I’m just practicing getting better at coloring, because I suck at it.