Star Wars Wisdom From My Wife

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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.