Posts Tagged ‘LeVar’

LeVar Burton has to take a minute. He pauses, dabs his eyes with a tissue, taking it all in: the washed-out white room, over-exposed by the sunlight, filled with journalists, business reps and buddies in rows of folding chairs, red, orange, yellow, green and blue. Big balloons hang from the corners of the room, dressed up like hot air balloons, carrying small, empty baskets. A guitar sits next to an amp off the corner of the stage while the Reviewing Rainbow logo beams on a flatscreen computer monitor, mostly unchanged because its heyday a quarter-century ago. Burton, too, appears mostly unchanged since those days, apart from closer-cropped hair, even more neatly manicured facial hair and a wise, mustard suit jacket.

Reading Rainbow launches iPad application, we go hands-on

The Engadget Program 34: LeVar Burton and weather condition balloons over Alaska

There’s lots to be psychological about, of course, hitting the phase on the tail of an introduction by producer Mark Wolfe, who calls Burton, “my best good friend.” The return of Reading Rainbow – now in the kind of an iPad app – has actually been a very long time coming, the cherished children’s series having actually been mostly MIA since being pulled from the airwaves in 2009, after a 26-year run. “This is 2 years in the producing,” Burton starts in his familiarly soft cadence as we relax for an interview approximately an hour later on, “and I’m truly merely overcome with the reaction. It’s like making a film. You’re just so close to it and you occasionally lose perspective, you aren’t able to see the forest for the trees, that sort of thing. There’s so much that’s gone into it, so much work, so much sweat, so much blood.”

A whole lot, certainly, has actually gone into the launch, Burton singling out motif song composer Steve Horelick and vocalist Tina Fabrique in the audience. “It’s my first time fulfilling her in-person,” he explains, extending a hand to deliver her up on phase. “Butterfly in the sky,” she starts, as though not a solitary day had actually passed in the last 2 and a half decades that she didn’t wake up singing that line. “I can easily go twice as high,” Burton joins in. By “have a look, it’s in a book,” almost everybody in attendance includes in the chorus. It’s an unique sight put up against the common fare of tech press conferences, where blog writers elbow one yet another to shoot tablets on stands behind bulletproof plexiglass, and prior to the crowd finishes singing “a Reviewing Rainbow,” Burton’s eyes aren’t the only misty ones in the house.

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Tablet Computers, SoftwareRe-Reading Rainbow: an interview with LeVar Burton originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 14:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for usage of feeds. Permalink|| E-mail this|Opinions

• LeVar Burton Hands-On With The New Reading Rainbow App [TCTV]
• The Engadget Show 34: LeVar Burton, weather balloons over Alaska, Northeastern University and ITP
• The Engadget Show 34: LeVar Burton, weather balloons over Alaska, Northeastern University and ITP
• The Engadget Interview: Sir Richard Branson on Virgin Galactic and space tourism for the everyman
• Havok Windows Phone Gameplay Demo and Interview

This month’s program is all about understanding– but don’t worry, it’s a ton more enjoyable than it appears. We’ll be placing the “tainment” back in edutainment. However first, we’re kicking things off with a fast detour to Los Angeles to look at all of the explosive sights and sounds at E3 and heading over to the gadget tables to show off the Samsung Galaxy S III on AT&T, the brand-new MacBook Pro with Retina Display and the taking the new Parrot AR. Drone 2.0 for a spin around the studio.

Following up, Tim heads to Alaska to work with a group of specialists studying the northern lights with high-tech balloons and helmet cameras. We have actually also got class visits to Northeastern University, where students are creating technology for the betterment of humanity and NYU’s ITP school, where art and technology meet. ITP’s Danne Woo and Matt Richardson will definitely be showing of a few of the school’s projects, including the kinetically-powered Circuit Board, the Descriptive Camera and the condiment-extruding Burritob0t.

Then we’ll close things out with an interview from none besides LeVar Burton, who informs us about the rebirth of Reviewing Rainbow and just how Venture Glass and the iPad are making the actual world a bit more like Star Trek. Check into the complete episode after the break!

Hosts: Tim Stevens, Brian Heater
Visitors: LeVar Burton, Matt Richardson, Danne Woo
Developer: Rob Samala
Director: Michelle Stahl
Manager Producers: Brian Heater, Joshua Fruhlinger and Michael Rubens

Download the Program: The Engadget Show – 034 (HD) / The Engadget Program – 034 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) / The Engadget Program – 034 (Small)

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Continue reading The Engadget Program 34: LeVar Burton, weather balloons over Alaska, Northeastern University and ITPThe Engadget