Evil Galactic Empire

Mandalorian at the Mall

2010-10-31T13:29:00.003-07:00

Outside the Lego Store at the Chandler Fashion Center, Chandler, Arizona, October 23, 2010

Giant Lego Yoda

2010-10-31T13:15:00.007-07:00

The new Lego Store in Glendale, Arizona hosted a build event for their grand opening. Each kid got to participate in building a giant Yoda model.

Here is how it works: The kids make scaled up verzions of the classic 2 x 4 Lego brick and turn that in to the professional builder who assembles them into the model. The model stays on display for a while and then they take the whole thing apart and move it to the next venue.

Star Wars Pops Up in Unlikely Place

2010-03-28T12:22:00.003-07:00

White hour press secretary Robert Gibbs was recently spotted with "A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy". Nice photo!

An Elegant Weapon for a More Civilized Age

2009-10-29T20:13:00.003-07:00

President Barack Obama uses a Star Wars light saber as he parries with fencer Tim Morehouse during the U.S. Olympians youth sporting event on the South Lawn of the White House, Sept. 16, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Would ACORN help Darth Vader track down and kill a Jedi?

2009-09-23T21:14:00.003-07:00

From Pajamas Media, a funny commentary on the ACORN scandal:
The Sting: O’Keefe and Giles dressed up as Darth Vader and an Imperial Guard and approached an ACORN office for help hunting down Jedi and promoting the authority of the Empire throughout the galaxy.
The Result: At first, the ACORN staffer was unsure about supporting an evil galactic empire but changed her mind when she was assured the empire would support universal health care. She then shared a story of how she once killed a Jedi.
NOTE: Police looked into the claim and found that the staffer had never in fact killed a Jedi. The staffer later said she was intimidated by O’Keefe’s supposed control of the Dark Side of the Force and thus made up the story.

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You are my only HOPI."

2009-07-24T22:35:00.008-07:00

I spotted this Princess Leia look-alike outside the Heard Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. It's actually a statue of a Hopi woman and not the well-known space princess. Reliable sources indicate that Leia's famous double bun was actually based on the Hopi hairdo. Now you know!

201 Star Wars T-Shirts

2009-07-24T22:19:00.003-07:00

201 Star Wars T-shirts at Hide Your Arms!

Found via io9.

Luke, I was misquoted!

2009-07-24T22:08:00.002-07:00

From the latest Southwest Airlines Spirit magazine:

She's captured a bounty hunter!

2009-06-16T20:46:00.005-07:00

Photo taken at the Lego store at the Mall of America:

Ancient Cylon Warrior Almost Looked Like Darth Vader

2009-06-16T20:42:00.001-07:00

At io9:

Star Wars Song of the Week: "Trigger Happy Jack" by Poe

2009-06-02T13:06:00.004-07:00

This week's song is "Trigger Happy Jack" by Poe. Notable for its mention of Jedi mind tricks.

Lucas: Cheney NOT Vader

2009-04-21T19:22:00.004-07:00

The election has been over for months now, but Darth Cheny is still with us. Or not, as George Lucas told Maureen Dowd of the New York Times:

Lucas, the creator of “Star Wars,” had told me that I had gotten Dick Cheney completely wrong, that Cheney was no Darth Vader. I felt awful. Had I been too hard on Vice?
Lucas explained politely as I listened contritely. Anakin Skywalker is a promising young man who is turned to the dark side by an older politician and becomes Darth Vader. “George Bush is Darth Vader,” he said. “Cheney is the emperor.”

Wait, I though Karl Rove was the Emperor. And again, if Bush is Vader, he'd still have good in him and will eventually throw Cheney down the reactor shaft, right? This is all so confusing.

More here and here.

633 Squadron

2009-04-17T15:43:00.012-07:00

Star Wars is a mishmash of mythology, Flash Gordon, World War 2 movies and samurai flicks. One of those World War 2 movies is the 1964 British film 633 Squadron. It tells the story of a small band of RAF Mosquito pilots selected for a secret mission that could change the course of the war.

It’s just before D-Day and the Germans have new rocket weapons that could turn the invasion into a disaster. Fortunately, Erik Bergman (played by George Chakiris; hey, he’s that guy from West Side Story) of the Norwegian resistance is able to smuggle information on the weapon system’s flaw to the Allies. It seems that the rocket fuel is made at a secret, impregnable factory fortress at the end of a fjord in Nazi-occupied Norway. 633 Squadron, commanded by American Roy Grant (Cliff Robertson), is assigned to carry out a daring mission: fly to Norway, maneuver down the fjord to drop bombs in a geologically sensitive spot that will cause a landslide and destroy the factory.

It’s pretty obvious how the plot and action scenes were turned into the trench run at the end of the original Star Wars film. One of those internet wisenheimers even spliced together dialog from the A new Hope with footage from 633 Squadron and the results are quite amusing.

Also, like Star Wars, 633 Squadron is part American and part British for no good reason.

So, is the movie any good? Some of the special effects are not that special. But it was 1964 and we can forgive them. And it is formulaic. You know something bad is going to happen the young airman who just got hitched and the Nazis are standard issue movie-Nazis who love motorcades and torturing prisoners for information. But, the aerial footage with real airplanes zooming around the mountains in Scotland is very well done. Even if the movie had just been 90 minutes of aerobatics without all the subplots, I would have been OK with that. When I watched this film on a laptop on a plane, it distracted the guy sitting next to me from reading his bible, even though I had headphones on and he couldn’t hear any of the sound. Eventually he put the good book away and kept watching. After a while he even nudged my elbow and asked what movie it was and we talked about it for a few minutes. All in all, it’s a good old WW2 movie, the kind that used to be on TV a lot in the seventies.

This is the first of what I hope will several posts about movies that influenced Star Wars.

The Debt Star

2009-03-11T20:19:00.005-07:00

More Star Wars politics, via Instapundit.

Thoughts of Storm Troopers...

2009-03-07T15:41:00.002-07:00

...over at Wired.

Star Wars Valentine's Day Coloring Contest

2009-02-10T23:24:00.003-07:00

Here are my kids' entries to Cyn Narcisi's Valentine's Day Coloring Contest!

Obscure Star Wars Poster

2009-02-09T22:40:00.003-07:00

From my postcard collection.

This painting of Darth Vader, Grand Moff Tarkin
and Imperial stormtroopers became a Coca Cola premium poster.
Artist: Del Nichols

Curiously, the back of the postcard claims the title is The Empire Strikes Back, even though this is clearly a montage of stuff from the first movie.

Star Wars by a Four Year Old Girl

2009-02-07T17:06:00.003-07:00

A stormtrooper, Darth Vader and Yoda, by my four year old daughter.

A New "Hope"

2009-02-07T15:10:00.007-07:00

There is a neat little gizmo over at Paste Magazine called Obamicon.me. You can use it to make your own Shepard Fairey / Obama style poster images. I decided to make a few of my own with a Star Wars theme.

I think the Vader image came out really well. He has his head tipped up at just the right visionary angle to the future where he can end this destructive conflict and rule the galaxy with his son.

Car Wars

2009-02-05T21:14:00.006-07:00

From Jalopnik.

Science Fiction Illustrated: 1977

2009-02-01T22:05:00.006-07:00

At a local community yard sale this past weekend, I picked up a copy of Science Fiction Illustrated: 1977, Collector's Edition. The cover claims it is "The only magazine of its kind - a preview of all the top science fiction and fantasy films for 1977". Surely there must be something about Star Wars in there. Sure enough, it was. Here is the entire Star Wars article.

INTERGALACTIC GRAFFITI

STAR WARS: $8 million and rising. Sounds like a line out of director George Lucas's earlier effort THX 1138, but expenditures will not cease on this operation. A sure-fire hit is in production, and the special effects whatever the cost, will without a doubt be one of the biggest sci-fi efforts of 1977. Lucas's story of STAR WARS is similar to THE LORD OF THE RINGS, a young man is called upon from a wise one to save the Galaxy from the dark forces of evil. Mark Hamill, Peter Cushing, and Alex Guinness are the stars. The real stars are the "special effects." Films producer Gary Kurtz called in many of the top men in the field. Among them are Dan O'Bannon (greatly responsible for DARK STAR). The film will utilize many areas of effects, most noteworthy are the computer displays, of which O'Bannon is in charge. The special facility which houses the special effects is located in Van Nuys California, in a warehouse known as Industrial Light and Magic - ILM. It consists of two large sound stages, a wood-working shop, electronics shop, and many more shops for model building, photography, negative cutting, optics, animation, and a projection room. All in all, an enormous facility devoted to stagger anyone's imagination.

How quaint! You'd think that a magazine that devotes three pages to "The Legend of the Seven Golden Vampires" would have more than just one paragraph on Star Wars. I especially like the reference to "Alex" Guinness!

Get your own copy on Amazon:

Science Fiction Illustrated: 1977 Collector's Edition

Star Wars Tactical Displays

2009-01-20T22:10:00.005-07:00

There is an awesome article at Den of Geek! detailing how the tactical displays from the 1977 Star Wars were made. The video from the Electronic Visualization Lab showing how the trench run computer display used in the Rebel briefing was made is a must see.

Pastor to Obama: 'May the force be with you'

2009-01-20T19:53:00.003-07:00

Good golly! This is much worse than Chief Justice Roberts flubbing the oath. While Obama was at church just before the inauguaration, Bishop T. D. Jakes told Obama,

“The problems are mighty and the solutions are not simple,” Jakes said, “and everywhere you turn there will be a critic waiting to attack every decision that you make. But you are all fired up, Sir, and you are ready to go. And this nation goes with you. God goes with you.

“I say to you as my son who is here today, my 14-year-old son – he probably would not quote scripture. He probably would use Star Trek instead, and so I say, ‘May the force be with you.”

Star Trek? Star Trek?!? It's Star WARS. Star WARS. Don't they teach anything in the seminary anymore?

Flashback: This insolence is not limited to the clergy. Recall that a few months ago, one of the world's top scientists at the Large Hadron Collider made a similar transgression.

Sulu on Clone Wars

2009-01-19T21:50:00.003-07:00

In the news:

Star Trek veteran George Takei has jumped ship and will voice a role in Star Wars TV spin-off The Clone Wars.

The Heroes actor and British reality TV star will portray nuclear warlord Lok Durd in an upcoming episode of the animated sci-fi series.
Huh!

Darth Kenobi

2009-01-19T21:42:00.002-07:00

Over at Ars Technica, there is news of a possible evil Obi-Wan in the upcoming game Star Wars Battlefront III. An odd idea, but a neat picture.

Star Wars: Retold (by someone who hasn't seen it)

2009-01-17T13:59:00.004-07:00

A funny video, found over at Hot Air.

New Star Wars / Walmart Logo

2009-01-10T13:59:00.006-07:00

Wal-Mart has dropped the hypen, become simply "Walmart" and updated its logo.

Now my old Star Wars/Wal-Mart logo crash-up is so 2008 and will not do. So, here is the new version for your enjoyment.

Click on the image for a larger version.

Palin = Yoda?

2008-11-16T19:55:00.002-07:00

First it was Sarah Palin = Leia, now it's Palin = Yoda.

Star Wars Storyboards

2008-11-16T19:44:00.003-07:00

Over at Ropes of Silicon, there is a neat little feature on some early Star Wars storyboards. Very cool!

"Spooky Star Wars" Lego Contest

2008-11-06T22:35:00.003-07:00

Over at Reasonbly Clever, the "Spooky Star Wars" Halloween Lego contest is wrapping up. The catgories are :

1. Spooky Vehicle

2. Spooky Scene

3. Spooky Impulse (limited to 50 pieces)

4. The Final Moments of Jar Jar Binks

The winner is expected to be announced soon. My favorite is "Order 67", pictured above. See all the entries at this link.

Help me, Wolf Blitzer, you're my only hope!

2008-11-06T22:18:00.005-07:00

Here is a fun little video from Slate, making fun of CNN's election night hologram thingy.

Found via Ed Driscoll.

Post-Election

2008-11-06T22:16:00.001-07:00

I'm reposting this!

'77

2008-10-18T15:38:00.002-07:00

Check out the trailer for the new film, '77 (AKA 5-25-77) here. The homepage for the movie is here. Looks pretty good.

Steampunk Return of the Jedi Figures

2008-10-18T15:20:00.003-07:00

Sillof has done it again! Check out the new custom steampunk versions of characters from Return of the Jedi. He also promises "Phantom Attack of the Sith" coming soon! (Found via Wired.)

My Little Pony-Trooper

2008-10-04T15:29:00.003-07:00

Have you ever wondered what My Little Pony toys would look like if they were transformed into Star Wars action figures? Me neither. But now you don't have to wonder. Check out the photos at Coolbuzz. (Found via Slashgear.)

More Star Wars Steampunk, and Reservoir Dogs, Too

2008-10-04T15:20:00.003-07:00

Very cool artwork from Gorilla Artfare found at Cinematical.com. Follow the links too see more.

Palin = Leia?

2008-09-16T20:18:00.008-07:00

Here's a curious little letter to the editor of the Athens Banner-Herald that compares veep nominee Sarah Palin to the rebellious Princess Leia. I suppose both Sarah Palin and Leia Organa are alike since they are both gun-toting women with unusual hairstyles.

The "Darth Vader" Look for 2009

2008-09-16T19:08:00.006-07:00

At London's Fashion Week, this oddly helmeted model made an appearance. View all the photos and weird helmets here. (Found via Drudge.) Or is it a ghost from Pac-Man?

Large Hadron Collider Scientist Confuses Star Wars with Star Trek, Universe Doomed

2008-09-13T22:28:00.004-07:00

NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT. (Agencies) The scientific world is shocked today as Michael Zeller—a professor of physics at Yale who has been working at the Large Hadron Collider—reportedly misquoted the Star Trek tagline "Where no man has gone before" and, further shattering the Universe time-space fabric, attributed it to Star Wars:

“What did they say in ‘Star Wars’? We’re going where no man has ever been? Well, that’s where we’re going,” Zeller said in declarations to the Yale Daily News about the LHC first beam test last Wednesday. Professor Zeller helped create the zero degree calorimeter used in Atlas, one of the main experiments at CERN's multi-billion dollar Large Hadron Collider.

"Star Wars Ren" Art Contest

2008-09-09T06:24:00.002-07:00

Over at Worth1000.com, there is a contest in which classic works of art are Star Wars-ified. Check it out here.

Swedes Singing Star Wars

2008-09-08T20:20:00.002-07:00

Too bad this blog post has no audio. It could have been a song of the week.

Star Wars Song of the Week: "The Saga Begins" by Weird Al Yankovic

2008-09-08T19:18:00.004-07:00

This week's song is "The Saga Begins" by Weird Al. Enjoy!

Star Wars Wisdom From My Wife, Episode III

2008-09-06T20:16:00.005-07:00

My wife had another observation:

Her: If we had a droid, I'd want it to be C-3PO.

Me: Why?

Her: Because he's butleresque.

Star Wars Shirts

2008-09-04T19:51:00.003-07:00

Over at BoinBoing.net, there is an entry about some neat new Star Wars shirts by James Lillis.

TIE Fighter Nets $402,500!

2008-09-04T19:37:00.002-07:00

The TIE fighter prop auction I mentioned earlier is done. It netted a whopping $402,500. Read all about it here.

I wish I had one.

Star Wars Song of the Week: "A New Hope" by Blink-182

2008-08-27T20:31:00.003-07:00

This week's song is "A New Hope" AKA "Princess Leia" by Blink-182.

Darth Binks

2008-08-23T19:20:00.000-07:00

Way back when, just after the release of The Phantom Menace, I made a stop-motion animated film called Darth Binks that explored what would happen if Jar Jar responded to all the resentment of him by turning to the dark side of The Force and becoming a Sith Lord. It is made with Lego minifigures and with audio clips found online. Enjoy.

You get bonus points if you can spot IG-88 in the background.

Director's commentary: It was originally going to be much more grandiose with Obi-Wan Kenobi in a lightsaber duel with a spaceship piloted by Binks, but do you have any idea how long stop-motion animation takes?

Death Star Over San Franciso

2008-08-16T23:17:00.000-07:00

Another fun video.

"Star Wars X - The Next Cheney"

2008-08-15T20:42:00.004-07:00

Over at the Washington Times, there is a post on the vice presidential race, featuring a photo of Dick Cheney as Darth Vader.

I don't quite get the comparison of Dick Cheney to Darth Vader. I can understand if you think he's evil you think he'd be comparable to the villainous Vader, but then wouldn't he also have good in him and be expected to eventually toss George Bush (or is it Karl Rove?) into the reactor shaft under the White House thus restoring balance to the major parties?

Richard Pryor at the Star Wars Bar

2008-08-15T20:36:00.001-07:00

A funny video.

Star Wars Song of the Week: "The Palestinians Are Note the Same Thing as the Rebel Alliance, Jackass" by Atom & His Package

2008-08-02T16:35:00.006-07:00

This week's Star Wars song is "The Palestinians Are Not the Same Thing as the Rebel Alliance, Jackass" by Atom and His Package.

Hear a sample at the Amazon link: Attention! Blah, Blah Blah by Atom & His Package

Here is how Atom described the song in the liner notes:

Explanation: It's disturbing how many people I've come into contact with who have blindly embraced the Palestinian side of the current (Sadly, I assume it will be current, even when this record comes out months down the road from when I write this.) Middle East conflict. Certainly, there are also tons of folks who blindly support the Israeli side of the issue. Those who blindly support the Israelis are are also disturbing, but these are not the folks who I come in contact with regularly at shows, etc., hence the title of the song. While I certainly have feelings on the issue, the situation is too complicated to go into here (especially while rhyming & singing. Holy #$%@!). The song is about certain people and
their willingness to latch onto a side of an issue without comprehending the
issue (NOT about those who do not agree with me who DO understand the issue). But suffice it to be said that it's frightening and trivializing when people simplify complex issues as if they're Star Wars-esque, and pick a side (either side) to root for as as if it were a football game. And yes, that is my dog, Books barking during the youth crew shouts at the end.

Times Online: Return of the Jedi has Worst Ending Ever #17

2008-08-02T13:35:00.003-07:00

From the Times Online:
It’s not the sickly ending, where Leia and Luke Skywalker find out they are siblings. It’s not the unlikely rehabilitation of Darth Vader, or even the way that George Lucas keeps digitally embellishing it with every rerelease. No, it’s those bloody dancing teddy bears. We fought an intergalactic war for this?

As a bonus, they have a link to their original 1983 review of ROTJ.

George Lucas in UK Articles

2008-08-02T12:53:00.003-07:00

There are two good new George Lucas articles in the London Times and the Scotsman. The Times has as a special bonus a Star Wars review from 1977.

New Stuff at Ralph McQuarrie's Site

2008-07-31T20:25:00.003-07:00

RalphMcQuarrie.com has been recenlty updated with some new stuff, including a "new" 1977 poster that artist Lawrence Noble finished based on an original McQuarrie design. Too cool.

TIE Fighter Auction

2008-07-31T20:12:00.004-07:00

For sale: TIE Fighter, used, 100k parsecs, needs work. A TIE Fighter prop from the original Star Wars is up for auction at Live Auctioneers. If you have $150,000 to $200,000 it can be yours. Based on the photos, it's the one that bumped into Vader's ship in the trench run; that's where it got that nasty dent. Be sure to check out the close up photo of the cockpit. (Found via BBC.)

Steampunk Empire Strikes Back Figures

2008-07-16T21:25:00.002-07:00

Over at Sillof.com, there are some most excellent photos of the steampunk versions of characters from The Empire Strikes Back. Also, if you have not seen them, check out the original steampunk Star Wars and the Star Wars: 1942. (Hat tip: Wanna Know.)

Star Wars Song of the Week: "Stormtrooper" by So Long Princess

2008-07-16T21:08:00.002-07:00

This week's song is "Stormtrooper" by the Star Wars themed band So Long Princess. The video of them performing on the reality show Beauty and the Geek is here. Also, check out their space.

An evil GALACTIC EMPIRE we can believe in!

2008-07-11T13:10:00.002-07:00

From www.wecanbelievein.com. Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Splinter of the Mind's Eye

2008-07-07T21:42:00.009-07:00

Now that over thirty-one years have passed and we have six Star Wars movies in the can and the Star Wars empire has been a huge success, it’s hard to imagine that it would have turned out any other way. But imagine if Star Wars had not been a huge hit in 1977. What if something went wrong in the production or editing or suppose the moviegoers weren’t in the right mood for it? What if it tanked? Or what if it was just good, but not great? What if it went the Planet of the Apes route, with sequels that explored more of the Star Wars universe, but didn’t have ever-increasing budgets and technology? Splinter of the Mind's Eye was originally written by Alan Dean Foster as a sequel to Star Wars that would have been used if the 1977 film was sequel-worthy, but not a huge hit. With its lack of the full cast of original characters, brief outer space action and setting on and beneath the surface of a dark, foggy planet, it was a sort of "Battle Beneath the Planet of Star Wars". But, just as the Ape movies have their own brilliance and high points, Splinter of the Mind’s Eye is a fun read and had lots of items that showed up in later Star Wars Movies:

Splinter of the Mind’s Eye:
Luke Skywalker and Artoo crash land on Mimban, a dark, swampy, foggy planet.
The Empire Strikes Back:
Luke Skywalker and R2-D2 crash land on Dagobah, a dark, swampy, foggy planet. Leia and C-3PO crash on the same planet at a different site.

Splinter of the Mind’s Eye:
Luke meets Halla, a seemingly crazy person who is actually a minor user of the Force.
The Empire Strikes Back:
Luke meets Yoda, a seemingly crazy person who is actually a major user of the Force.

Splinter of the Mind’s Eye:
Luke fights a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader. Luke cuts off Vader’s right arm and then Vader falls in a deep hole, but does not die. Luke uses the Force to sense Vader’s survival.
The Empire Strikes Back:
Luke fights a lightsaber duel with Darth Vader. Vader cuts off Luke’s right hand and then Luke falls in a deep hole (the shaft in Cloud City), but does not die. Vader uses the Force to sense Luke’s survival.

Splinter of the Mind’s Eye:
The rebels join forces with the primitive Coway, who use their home turf advantage to defeat a technologically superior Imperial force.
Return of the Jedi:
The rebels join forces with the primitive Ewoks, who use their home turf advantage to defeat a technologically superior Imperial force.

So, there is a lot of good material in the book, partly due to its place in the primeval “expanded universe”. It is also just plain fun.

On a final note, check out the cover of the book (featuring an excellent painting by Ralph McQuarrie). Note that it claims to be “From the Further Adventures of Luke Skywalker”.

Nowhere on the cover do the words “Star Wars” appear. It was added on later printings, but it is just not there on the early editions. Hmm.

Star Wars Song of the Week: Droid by Selby Tigers

2008-07-07T20:52:00.008-07:00

This week's Star Wars song is Droid, by Selby Tigers. Download the MP3 here, buy the album here and find out more about the band and watch the video here.

Like Yoda you speak. Yeesssssss.

2008-07-07T20:42:00.003-07:00

A fun link: The Yoda-Speak Generator. Type in any text and it is translated into Yoda-speak.

More Star Wars Wisdom From My Wife

2008-07-07T20:34:00.003-07:00

As I said before, my wife sometimes comes up with deep insights into Star Wars. Today's installment is:

Droids are like cars.

In that they have different models and paint options, it seems correct to me.

35,310 Lego Star Wars Clone Trooper Army Invades Earth

2008-07-01T20:26:00.002-07:00

Over at Gizmodo.com, there are some excellent photos of an army of Lego clone troopers. Why build an army of clone troopers? Because it's cool. Um, I mean it's for charity.

Star Wars Song of the Week: Bill Murray on Saturday Night Live

2008-07-01T20:17:00.002-07:00

Bill Murray sings "Star Wars".

Star Wars Wisdom From My Wife

2008-06-27T15:54:00.016-07:00

My wife is not as big a Star Wars fan as I am, but she sometimes watches the movies with me. She also occasionally has some simply stated but deep observations. Such as:

What good is stormtrooper armor? It doesn't keep them from getting killed.

Indeed.

George Lucas on Capitol Hill

2008-06-26T20:29:00.005-07:00

George Lucas showed up on Capitol Hill this week to talk about free interwebs for schools. Both parties took the opportunity to make cringe-worthy Star Wars jokes. Lucas' visit also injected Barack Obama (I can't shake him!) back into Star Wars news. When asked if Obama would be a Jedi, Lucas responded, "I would say that’s reasonably obvious.” The full articles are over at /Film and Examiner.com.

Eight Things That Were Made Up Between Movies

2008-06-21T14:13:00.004-07:00

When watching Star Wars sequels and prequels for the first time, did you ever notice some things that just didn't feel right and jarred your sense of continuity? Yeah, me too. So, here is my list of eight things that were made up between movies. Enjoy.

Darth Vader is Luke Skywalker’s father. (between episodes IV and V)
Under the Old Republic, Naboo was a democracy with royal titles given by election. (between I and II)
All the Sith Lords, not just Darth Vader, are called “Darth”. (between VI and I)
Darth Vader is C-3PO’s father. (between VI and I)
R2-D2 can fly. (between I and II)
Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader is the central character in the series, not Luke Skywalker. (between VI and I)
The word “younglings” exists. (Between II and III)
Midichlorians. (Between VI and I)

Winnie the Pooh vs. Luke Skywalker

2008-06-19T19:58:00.006-07:00

Barack Obama has shown up in Star Wars news again. This time one of his advisers got stuck in wacky metaphor mode and suggested the United States should be more like Winnie the Pooh in order to fight terrorists, who want to be like Luke Skywalker. Umm... OK. Read the whole atricle over at the Telegraph.

Graffiti AT-AT

2008-06-19T19:51:00.004-07:00

Over at /film there is yet another juxtaposition on Star Wars imagery and pop culture, this time in the form a graffiti-tagged AT-AT.

31-year-old Star Wars mystery solved?

2008-06-07T14:18:00.003-07:00

From an article by Jennifer Moody in the Albany Democrat-Herald:

I first saw “Star Wars” at the Capitol drive-in during the summer of 1977. I was 8. I went on to see that movie in the theater four more times, something I’ve never done before or since (I had understanding parents and gullible babysitters, I suppose).
This was, of course, before cable movie channels and pay-per-view and VCRs. When Showtime first aired as a channel, it spent a week or so giving free broadcasts to entice people to buy in. One of the movies shown was “Star Wars.” Happily, I settled down in front of our TV to watch my favorite movie, only to find myself spluttering, a few minutes in: “They cut it! They cut my movie!” The scenes with Biggs, the scenes I remembered on Tatooine and on the Rebel’s moon base, weren’t there.

What happened and how did she see those "cut" scenes? Read the article and find out.

A New Hype

2008-06-04T21:18:00.003-07:00

From AFP:

George Lucas has created legendary film heroes like Luke Skywalker and Indiana Jones, but the US director says that in real life, his hero is Barack Obama.
Lucas was in Japan on Wednesday to promote his latest film, "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," as Obama clinched the Democratic Party's nomination for president.
"We have a hero in the making back in the United States today because we have a new candidate for president of the United States, Barack Obama," Lucas said when asked who his childhood heroes were.

Cut and Paste

2008-05-28T14:01:00.010-07:00

On May 25th, 2007, I was on vacation in Hyannis, Massachusetts with my family and we were surprised to see Darth Vader and a stormtrooper outside the post office on the main street. It was, of course, the 30th anniversary of the release of Star Wars and the release date for the Star Wars postage stamps. (The photo in my profile was taken that day!) We went in and bought some that day.

Now that a year has gone by and postage has gone up, we're going to see less and less of the Star Wars stamps, which is a little sad. I just used the last stamp on the sheet a few weeks ago and it seemed a shame to throw away the background image sheet. So, I cut out the few pictures that remained and gave the DIY stickers to my three and a half year old daughter to make a Star Wars collage and the results are below.

The black ink shape in the lower left is Darth Vader. She also put the letter D close to Vader. I asked her if the D was for Darth Vader and she said it was a D for Dada because she was making the picture for me. I'm the red ink figure just below Darth Vader. She put me in there because I, as she said, "love Star Wars". The little red guy in the extreme lower left is Obi-Wan Kenobi holding a lightsaber and the green crayon figure on the left side about halfway up is a stormtrooper. I asker her what the red ink lines were in the center and she said they were "crazy squiggles". I should have known! She also put a red circle sticker in the center to finish it off. The circle is now complete. Or, the circle now completes it, or something like that... Anyway, my kid made a Star Wars picture! I'm so proud!

31 Years

2008-05-25T14:38:00.003-07:00

Today is May 25th, which is the 31st anniversary of the release of the original Star Wars. It's also "Universal Day of the Jedi".

Before the Galaxy Far, Far Away: Influences on ‘Star Wars’

2008-05-25T07:44:00.004-07:00

There is a great piece over at Cineleet.com on the influences that helped make Star Wars. (Found via The Corner.)

Drunk Driving Public Service Announcement from 1979

2008-05-20T20:42:00.002-07:00

This is fun.

Lucas: No post-Vader flicks

2008-05-20T20:16:00.005-07:00

Over at the LA Times, George Lucas is quoted as saying the strories he wanted to tell ended with Darth Vader.

Thanks to CGI animation, the "Star Wars" saga is coming back to theaters this summer -- but George Lucas said fans shouldn't get their hopes up about any future films that take the epic beyond the point of Darth Vader's death at the end of "Return of the Jedi."

In other words, it ends with the Ewoks.
"Whatever it is that happens afterward," the 63-year-old filmmaker said, "that isn't the core 'Star Wars' story that I like to tell."

Mom Wars

2008-05-16T12:20:00.005-07:00

My wife read me a fun Star Wars article from Wondertime magazine on our road trip to Las Vegas. It's by a Alice Bradley, a mom-blogger from New Jersey:

In the living room, my husband and son are killing each other. "Zat!" cries Henry. "Zat zat zat! I got you with my lightsaber!" "But I am your faaather..." Scott gasps, clutching his stomach. It's too late. Henry, 5, has gone over to the dark side. There's a lot of killing going on in our house. Most of the carnage occurs on Saturday mornings, although occasionally there's time for a duel or two before school. This can be problematic, since once Henry has his dad's attention, he doesn't want to let go. "But we haven't played at aaaall," Henry will moan, even after they've been whapping at each other for the past hour. It's never enough for Henry — if he could play Star Wars with his dad every minute of the day, he would. He recently told me his idea of the Best Weekend Ever: "Dad and I would play Star Wars," he said, "for two days without stopping. We would go to sleep and wake up and still be playing Star Wars." "That does sound great," I said. I pictured Henry nudging Scott awake with his lightsaber at 6 a.m., his Darth Vader mask affixed to his face. "We meet again," he would intone, while Scott whimpered. Maybe I could go away for the weekend while the boys enjoy their quality time? This might be the Best Weekend Ever for me too...

Clone Wars Poster

2008-05-07T20:01:00.003-07:00

The new Clone Wars poster is over at E! Online.

Expanded Universe Photo Gallery

2008-05-07T19:49:00.006-07:00

The LA Times has a neat new Expanded Universe photo gallery. Check it out.

Star Wars logo, Wal-Mart style

2008-05-02T21:31:00.003-07:00

Low prices will be with you. Always.

Click on the picture for a larger version.

Boba Fett-ish

2008-05-02T14:43:00.005-07:00

Way back in 1980, Military Modeler magazine, which normally ran articles on 1/35 scale dioramas of World War II German tanks and the like, did a neat little feature on a modified Boba Fett action figure. Because there wasn’t much known about Boba Fett at the time, the modeler assumed there were other Fetts and made up “Deta Fett” so he could take some liberties with the model. I must have read that article ten times in my older brother’s copy of the magazine, which was lost, tossed or sold long ago. Thankfully, Erikstormtrooper.com has kept a record this proto-mod. Check it out here.

Sith Org Chart

2008-04-29T19:50:00.006-07:00

Click for larger version.

Concentrate all fire on that super star destroyer-shaped lavatory!

2008-04-28T20:20:00.008-07:00

From The Times of London, a lavatory design that looks like the Executor.

'Darth Vader' assaults Jedi church founder

2008-04-12T14:49:00.006-07:00

From UPI, a rather odd event in Wales:

Barney Jones, 36, known in the Jedi church as Jedi Master Jonba Hehol, said a man wearing a black garbage bag and a mask resembling the one worn by villain Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" films jumped over the fence into his garden and attacked him with a metal crutch, The Telegraph reported Friday.
Jones, who founded the first-ever British Jedi Church as a tribute to the popular movie franchise, said the masked assailant also struck the camera crew and a hairdresser.
Update: The assailant got off easy.

Coffee with Darth Vader

2008-04-03T21:46:00.020-07:00

I've always loved the Death Star conference room scene. It helps introduce us to the capabilities of the Death Star, but more importantly it shows us how wicked bad Darth Vader is when he comes within an inch of killing Admiral Motti using only the Force. The giant-size Marvel Comics version captures it very well.

But wait a minute, what is Darth Vader doing with that piping hot beverage that he levitates across the room? How the heck is he supposed to drink that? Even if he could pour it through his mask, wouldn't it just pour down his chin and his chest, drip into his suit and mess with his electronics?
Interestingly, this little detail was actually included in an early version of the script according to Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays. Since the comic was published before the movie was released, the guys at Marvel had to work with the material they had available.

Welcome to Evil Galactic Empire

2008-04-03T21:35:00.003-07:00

Welcome to Evil Galactic Empire. This blog is all about Star Wars - movies, toys, books or whatever I feel like writing about. Enjoy.