Conblogging from D*C

I went to one Star Wars panel today – the first, an intro to the MOTF track and prequel discussion. Not being particularly obsessive when it comes to the prequels, but I was pleasantly surprised. There was a lot of prequel EU talk actually, and surprisingly a flame war did not erupt. (Do I spend too much time on TFN or what?)

Alas, I skipped out on Zahn’s showcase for The Venture Brothers. (Four of the three panels I really wanted to see today? Same time slot.) Zahn will be at tomorrow’s ‘Words of the Force’ though, and no doubt someone will ask the relevant question. Twice.

Meanwhile, Fen went to the James Marsters Buffyverse Q&A today, and posted a lengthy recap on her LJ.

SW.com talks Young Indy DVDs

This article on starwars.com gives an in-depth tour of disc 1 of the first volume of The Adventures of Young Indiana Jones (aka The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles) DVD set. You might note that the second part of the episode (taking place in Tangiers) never aired on TV, as it was filmed after the show left the airwaves, and bridging part that connects the two halves.. filmed in Tunisia in 1997, during the production of The Phantom Menace. Also, 4 documentaries on archaeology, the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, T.E. Lawrence, and slavery.

A copy of the official release describing the whole set, along with some more box art and disc art is here on starwars.com.

So will there be in-depth articles on all 12 discs? Stay tuned.

Red Shirts: Fate? Or statistics?

If only they’d done these kinds of studies in my statistics class! I might have gotten a better grade.

So is the fabled Red Shirt Phenomenon on Star Trek real? According to a recent statistical analysis, yes, but not as much as one might think.

If you’re wearing a red shirt and beam down to the planet, you have a 53% probability of dying. However, if Kirk gets lucky with the local space hottie? That drops way down to 12%; which puts you in about the same range as the yellow and blue shirts.

They should put this into the Starfleet manual. (via)