Bea Arthur as the owner of the Mos Eisley Cantina. Long scenes entirely of Wookies bleating at each other, without subtitles. Harvey Korman, in drag, as a four-armed Space Julia Child. Six minutes of Jefferson Starship performing for Art Carney and a bored Imperial Guard. Mark Hamill, fresh from his near-fatal motorcycle accident, slathered in pancake makeup. A salacious holographic burlesque from Diahann Carroll. Even by the standards of the 1970s, even compared to Jar-Jar Binks, the legendary 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special is a peerlessly cringeworthy pop-culture artifact. George Lucas, who completely disowned the production, reportedly has said, “If I had the time and a sledgehammer, I would track down every copy of that show and smash it.” Just how on earth did this thing ever see the light of day? To answer that question, as Steven Kozak shows in this fascinating and often hilarious inside look into the making of the Special, you have to understand the cultural moment in which it appeared—a long, long time ago when cheesy variety shows were a staple of network television and Star Wars was not yet the billion-dollar multimedia behemoth that it is today. Kozak explains how the Special was one piece of a PR blitz undertaken by Lucas and his colleagues as they sought to protect the emerging franchise from hostile studio executives. He shows how, despite the involvement of some of the most talented people in the business, creative differences between movie and television writers led to a wildly uneven product. He gives entertaining accounts of the problems that plagued production, which included a ruinously expensive cantina set; the acrimonious departure of the director and Lucas himself; and a furious Grace Slick, just out of rehab, demanding to be included in the production. Packed with memorable anecdotes, drawing on extensive new interviews with countless people involved in the production, and told with mingled affection and bewilderment, this never-before-told story gives a fascinating look at a strange moment in pop-culture history that remains an object of fascination even today.

Explores how popular religions and philosophies have influenced and are manifested in the world of Star Wars. You have watched Luke Skywalker destroy the Death Star in A New Hope, seen Yoda merge with the Force in Return of the Jedi, and heard Rey contact the Jedi of the past in The Rise of Skywalker. But did you know that the Star Wars films contain parallels to religions and philosophies from around the world—from Christianity to Buddhism, and from Native American teachings to the Vedic knowledge of ancient India? In One with the Force: 18 Universal Truths in Star Wars, Krista Noble explores these parallels, starting with the profound similarities between the philosophy of Star Wars and Vedic knowledge. Noble compares the Force to Brahman, the light and dark sides of the Force to sattva and tamas, the Jedi to the ancient yogis, and more. She discusses the purpose of life, collective consciousness, enlightenment, and immortality, before revealing that the Star Wars films have a universal perspective on life. Readers will learn the connections between these films and the religions and philosophies of the East and West, including Buddhism, Taoism, Sikhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Native American/First Nations traditions. Ultimately, One with the Force collects 18 universal truths in Star Wars—principles that are “true for all time, all places, and all people.” Readers will see that the philosophy of the Jedi does not only apply “in a galaxy far, far away,” but is also highly relevant to everyday living. Like Luke Skywalker, everyone should search their feelings and discover the deepest truths of life, in pursuit of their individual destinies, while striving to reach their full potential as human beings. In these ways, readers will learn how to embody the wisdom of the Jedi.

Disturbance Observer for Advanced Motion Control with MATLAB/Simulink A fulsome and robust presentation of disturbance observers complete with MATLAB sample programs and simulation results In Disturbance Observer for Advanced Motion Control with MATLAB/Simulink, distinguished electronics engineer Dr. Akira Shimada delivers a comprehensive exploration of the suppression of actual and unknown disturbances. In the book, you’ll find a systematic discussion of the basic theory and design methods of disturbance observers accompanied by instructive MATLAB and Simulink simulation examples. Included appendices cover the mathematical background of classical, modern, and digital control and ground the reader’s understanding of the more advanced sections. The included material is ideal for students enrolled in courses in advanced motion control, mechatronics system control, electrical drives, motion control, robotics, and aeronautics. In addition to topics like model predictive control, vibration systems, acceleration control, adaptive observers, and multi-rate sampling, readers will find: A thorough introduction to the various types of disturbance observers and the fundamentals of disturbance observers, including disturbance estimation and disturbance rejection Comprehensive explorations of stabilized control and coprime factorization, including the derivation of stabilizing controllers Practical discussions of disturbance observers in state space, including identity input disturbance observers and identity reaction force observers Fulsome treatments of the mathematical foundations of control theory, methods??for measuring and estimating velocities, and the disturbance estimation Kalman filter Perfect for undergraduate and graduate students with existing knowledge of the fundamentals of control engineering who wish to learn how to design disturbance observers, Disturbance Observer for Advanced Motion Control with MATLAB/Simulink will also benefit professional engineers and researchers studying alternative control theories.

Star Wars is the greatest and most iconic movie saga in history, hands down. It's made billions of dollars and is an instantly recognizable, worldwide pop culture icon, but for all its success, it's sometimes easy to forget how much really, really bad stuff these movies are loaded with. People have vague notions of the prequels sucking or how annoying the Ewoks or Jar Jar Binks are, but that doesn't even scratch the surface, because Star Wars is absolutely stacked with convoluted, often contradictory storylines, obnoxious characters, and cringe-inducing dialogue.This book covers all eight Star Wars movies, and explores all the illogical, backward decisions and plot twists Lucasfilm felt compelled to throw at us. Bury your head in your hands as Anakin Skywalker hits on Padme Amidala with pickup lines that would have earned anyone else a restraining order. See how George Lucas was so determined to show off his special effects capabilities that Jar Jar Binks came to be. Try and figure out why Luke thought his plan to rescue Han Solo by getting everyone (including himself) captured was a good idea.That not enough? Then wonder what that tentacle monster on the Death Star was, how it got there, and where it went when the trash compactor started. Ask yourself why the search for Luke Skywalker felt like an episode of the Amazing Race. Ponder on the reason the Death Star would need a low-power setting. And most of all, witness Princess Leia's heroism in Episode VII when she STILL sits in control rooms sipping hot cocoa while everyone else does all the real heroic work!

"This outstanding volume of essays presents an extraordinary synthesis of classical and contemporary concepts and methods of psychoanalysis, with immediate relevance to clinical practice. The author's encyclopedic knowledge of the psychoanalytic literature brings the reader into the exciting center of current clinical psychoanalysis. The extensive clinical illustrations, with detailed evaluation of his participation in the analytic work and particular attention to its imperfections, form the heart of this book. These clinical discussions, more than anything else, highlight the power of the modern focus on countertransference and the analyst's contributions to the psychoanalytic dialogue."ùAnton O. Kris, M.D., Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School --Book Jacket