Club Jade

USA Today has done a handful of stories celebrating May the 4th and previewing the 30th anniversary of Return of the Jedi on the 25th. They talked to Ian McDiarmid, Anthony Daniels, Jeremy Bulloch and blogger Whitney Matheson got a visit from Chewbacca. And on that note, they want your best Chewbacca impression.

Back to ROTJ, Jalopnik has a peice on how they filmed the speeder chase.

Need to convert a friend? Amazon has the Original and Prequel trilogy box sets (but not the saga?) slightly more on sale than usual. And hey, you can alleviate at least some of your Episode VII fears with a discount on J.J.’s Star Trek, too!

And you can save 50% on a subscription to the Star Wars Insider tomorrow as well by using the promo code MAY4TW.

Events. In addition to Entertainment Weekly’s ROTJ screening and the Toledo Mud Hens, Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando will be celebrating, and Change.org is hosting a Star Wars screening in San Francisco.

Still not sure what you’re doing? Find a local May the 4th event on StarWars.com.

Reed announced today that Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) will be among the stars at Celebration Europe.

He also did an interview with Digital Spy, where he sidestepped sequel talk:

“Look, it’s all very early days and I don’t want to wear anybody out by speculating or letting you waste your energy by saying ‘What do you think?’

“I’m certainly not sitting by the phone, but it’s always nice when it rings. Do you know what I mean?”

Still, he can certainly afford to be vague: C-3PO is one of the characters that few expect to be totally absent from the new movies.

Turning to Star Wars for comedy value is nothing new – in the past few years, three Family Guy parodies and three Robot Chicken specials have mined the saga for laughs. But LEGO Star Wars: The Padawan Menace breaks some new ground for Star Wars entertainment: not only is it funny and full of jokes, it also tells a new adventure that builds on both the classic and prequel trilogies. It breaks from the style of the LEGO Star Wars video games by having the characters talk rather than just use gestures and non-word vocalizations, but it would be slow to tell a story if all the dialogue had to be pantomimed. The Padawan Menace in two words, stolen from one of the younglings: Totally Awesome! (more…)

Walt Disney World’s Hollywood Studios created a fantastic evening with their Last Tour to Endor party, commemorating the last day of the Star Tours attraction. Fans were treated to their final rides on the Starspeeder 3000 before it closed for a revamp as well as some unique other experiences.

The Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular hosted a one-night-only special mashup show called “Raiders of the Lost Jedi Temple of Doom” where two fan film makers combine Indiana Jones and Star Wars in making the ultimate fan film. Special cameo performances were made in the three shows by such stars as Seth Green, Mark Hamill, Warwick Davis, Anthony Daniels, Jaime King, and Jeremy Bulloch. George Lucas attended the second show, where Seth Green announced that Anthony Daniels would be voice acting in the third Robot Chicken Star Wars special.

Also brought out was some shows from Star Wars weekends: the Jedi Academy training and the Star Wars dance contest. The evening was capped off by a supremely awesome fireworks show set to Star Wars music. “Duel of the Fates” and the assault on the Death Star were my favorites.

Guest list. Anthony Daniels is coming to the autograph hall and on stage. (WTF moment: “He was the voice of Legolas in the 1978 animation, Lord Of The Rings.” The awful one that turned me off Tolkien for decades? What what?)

Panels. And the collecting track just keeps on coming. Don’t fret, folks: I’m sure there’ll be something for the rest of us. (Right?)

Costumes. Register your fabulous duds for the Costume Pageants. If you don’t, they might send the 501st after you.

Book now! There’s no time to waste!

Guide. The folks at Reed have put together Orlando 101.

Star Wars: In Concert has continued to wind its way through the country, leaving lots of local press coverage in its wake: Salt Lake City, Oklahoma City. Dallas, Tulsa, Houston, Tampa, Philadelphia, and Charlotte. (Anthony Daniels was no slouch either.) And don’t forget Paula’s review!

The show will be in New Haven on Tuesday, and Toledo got an early jump on things by profiling the 15-year-old fan who won their prize pack. And there are a couple chances to win tickets for Detroit, Toronto, and New York.

(Picture from Cowboys Stadium by ThornMonkey)

As Star Wars: In Concert rolls along (Los Angeles and San Jose last week,) the press has caught wind and treated us to a few articles and the traditional oh-so-inspired headline choices. So far, the biggest treatment is out of Denver, which uses the concert tour as a hinge to play the dueling franchise game. With infographics! It’s familiar territory but one can’t help but appreciate the enthusiasm.

You can expect the expected (twice) from the San Jose Mercury News, while the Sacramento Press plays it safe. Next up is the northwest, where the Seattle Times and The Oregonian both offer interviews with Anthony Daniels. (The San Francisco Chronicle also nabbed him – on their baby blog? ) Don’t expect much from the east coast or midwest yet (it’s football season,) but Toledo and Cleveland have nods.

Of course CNN, being CNN, got George.

Buns over Broadway. Carrie Fisher’s one-woman show ‘Wishful Drinking’ opened on Broadway this weekend, and the reviews are in. Not too shabby! Let’s not forget the woman herself is still blogging away… And not pulling any punches, either.

Why is the goofy news always from the U.K.? Two stories involving David Prowse… In the first, his car breaks down. Okay, maybe not so wacky, except the part where it used to belong to Kenny Baker, thus allowing all the ability to write a silly headline. In the second, a house where the actor was filming a drama was raided by police after neighbors reported the film crew as being there to shot a porn flick.

Behind the CGI. The New York Daily News has a nice piece profiling the Clone Wars voice talent.

In Concert. Naturally the tour is getting some (digital) ink; L.A. Times’ Hero Complex talked to several folks, including host Anthony Daniels; Pheonix New Times’ Benjamin Leatherman was not particularly impressed, though he did give the masses a say. (Ahh, Twitter. Removing the journalist’s need to actually talk to people for comment since 2006.) As for the places where it’s yet to come, Chicago Now’s Geek to Me and The Ottawa Citizen have taken notice.

As the legion of Star Wars accounts on Twitter grows, it’s getting harder to keep track of. It’s impossible to list everyone, but here are a few accounts that may be of interest.

Please note that although we provide this page as a service to fans to find official accounts and other people they may wish to follow, we do not encourage pestering or harassing celebrities and/or other fans. Please be respectful to the celebrities and each other.

• Carrie Fisher (@CarrieFFisher) Played Princess Leia in the original trilogy.
• Anthony Daniels (@ADaniels3PO) Played C-3PO in all six movies.
• Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) Played Luke Skywalker in the original trilogy.
• Ewan McGregor (@mcgregor_ewan) Played Obi-wan Kenobi in the prequel trilogy.
• Peter Mayhew (@TheWookieeRoars) Played Chewbacca in the original trilogy and ROTS.
• Samuel L. Jackson (@SamuelLJackson) All -around badass; Played Mace Windu in the prequel trilogy.
• Bonnie Piesse (@BonniePiesse) Played Beru Lars in AOTC and ROTS.
• Ahmed Best (@ahmedbest) Played Jar Jar Binks in the prequels.
• Warwick Davis (@WarwickADavis) Played Wicket W. Warrick in Return of the Jedi as well as several characters in The Phantom Menace.
• Ray Park (@PARKYBOY74) Played Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace.
• Richard LeParmentier (@AdmiralMotti) Played Admiral Motti in A New Hope.

• Dave Filoni (@dave_filoni) Supervising director of The Clone Wars.
• Seth Green (@sethgreen) Robot Chicken, upcoming comedy series.
• Phil Tippett (@PhilTippett) VFX artist who now heads Tippet Studio; Did stop motion effects for ANH and ESB.
• Matthew Wood (@matthewood) Skywalker Sound; Voice of General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith and The Clone Wars.

• Matt Lanter (@MattLanter) Voice of Anakin Skywalker in The Clone Wars
• James Arnold Taylor (@JATactor) Voice of Obi-Wan in The Clone Wars
• Catherine Taber (@cattaber) Voice of Padme Amidala in The Clone Wars
• Sam Witwer (@SamWitwer) Voice of Darth Maul on The Clone Wars, Galen Marek/Starkiller in The Force Unleashed.
• Dee Bradley Baker (@deebradleybaker) Voice of The Clone Wars clonetroopers.
• Phil LaMarr (@phillamarr) Voice of The Clone Wars’ Kit Fisto.
• Meredith Salenger (@MeredthSalenger) voiced Barriss Offee in The Clone Wars.
• Simon Pegg (@simonpegg) Voice of Dengar in The Clone Wars. Director/Actor, Shaun of the Dead, Scottie in Star Trek prequel/reboot.
  
• Greg Proops (@GregProops) Voice of Beed Annodue in The Phantom Menace.
• Peter Serafinowicz (@serafinowicz) Voice of Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace.

• StarWars.com (@starwars)
• The Clone Wars (@TheCloneWars) Official account for the show.
• Star Wars Books (@DelReyStarWars) Del Rey’s Star Wars folks.
• Her Universe (@heruniverse)
• Chronicle Books (@ChronicleBooks)
• Dark Horse Comics (@DarkHorseComics)
• Del Rey Books (@DelReyBooks)
• DK Publishing (@DKPublishing)
• Gentle Giant (@gentlegiantltd)
• Lucasarts (@lucasartsgames)
• The Old Republic MMO (@swtor)
• Sideshow Collectibles (@collectsideshow)
• Star Wars: In Concert (@SWInConcert)

• Mary Franklin (@MaryLFL) Sr. Event Lead for Lucasfilm, queen of all she surveys.
• Jennifer Heddle (@jenheddle) Senior Editor (fiction) at Lucasfilm.
• Pablo Hidalgo (@infinata) Brand Communication Manager for Lucasfilm, author, internet rockstar.
• Leland Chee (@HolocronKeeper) Keeper of the Holocron, Lucas Licensing
• Meagan Finnerty (@MeaganFinnerty) Assistant to Dave Filoni
• Matt Martin (@missingwords) Works for StarWars.com
• Erich Schoeneweiss (@Darth_Duff) Del Rey editor.
• Randy Stradley (@Randy_Stradley) Vice President of Publishing, Dark Horse Comics

• Kevin J. Anderson (@TheKJA) Writer, The Jedi Academy Trilogy
• Haden Blackman (@HadenBlackman) LucasArts / Writer, The Force Unleashed
• Jeremy Barlow (@Jeremy_Barlow) Writer / Dark Horse editor
• Bonnie Burton (@bonniegrrl) Writer, You Can Draw: Star Wars
• Nathan P. Butler (@swfanworks) Writer, ‘Equals and Opposites’ / StarWarsFanWorks.com
• Chris Cassidy (@Yav14) Writer, ‘Precipice’
• Paul Ens (@paulens) Writer, R2-D2: Beneath the Dome, ‘Evasive Action’ webstrips / Owner of Red 5 Comics / Former Director of Lucas Online
• Jason Fry (@jasoncfry) Author, The Essential Atlas
• Helen Keier (@HelenKeier) Author, The New Essential Guide to Alien Species
• Drew Karpyshyn (@DrewKarpyshyn) Writer, Darth Bane novels.
• Paul S. Kemp (@Paulskemp) Author, Crosscurrent
• John Jackson Miller (@jjmfaraway) Writer, Knights of the Old Republic
• Abel G. Peña (@ThePhilodoxer) Writer, things fanboys love
• J. W. Rinzler (@jwrinzler) Writer, The Making of Star Wars, other nonfiction.
• Joe Schreiber (@joeschreiber1) Author, Death Troopers
• Mike Stackpole (@MikeStackpole) Author, X-Wing series
• Matthew Stover (@MWStover ) Author, Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor, Revenge of the Sith novelization.
• Tom Taylor (@TomTaylorMade) Writer, Invasion comic.
• Dan Wallace (@danwall88) Author, The Essential Atlas
• Sean Williams (@adelaidesean) Author, The Force Unleashed novelizations
• Ryder Windham (@ryderwindham)

• Matt Busch (@Matt_Busch)
• Katie Cook (@katiecandraw)
• Dave Dorman (@DaveDorman)
• Nicole Falk (@nicolefalk13)
• FETTS (@FETTS)
• Nathan Hamill (@NathanHamill)
• Jessica Hickman (@garthim)
• Tom Hodges (@hodgesart)
• Leah Mangue (@LMangueArt)
• Randy Martinez (@randymartinez)
• Cyn Narcisi (@CynDraws)
• Amy Pronovost (@amarafox)
• Cat Staggs (@CatStaggs)
• Denise Vasquez (@denisevasquez)

• 501st Legion (@501stLegion) Costume group. Check out who they’re following for individual garrisons.
• Rebel Legion (@rebellegion) Costume group.

• EU Cantina (@EUCantina)
• EU Cast (@EUCast)
• Galactic Binder (@galacticbinder)
• Hot Chicks with Stormtroopers (@HCwST)
• Knights Archive (@KnightsArchive)
• Nerf Herders Anonymous (@NerfHerdAnon)
• New Jedi Order Encyclopedia (@njoenews)
• RebelScum (@rebelscumnews)
• Tosche Station (@Tosche_Station) blog and podcast
• TheForce.net (@theforcenet)
• TFN’s Jedi Council Boards (@jedicounciltfn)
• Star Wars Action News (@swactionnews)
• And of course, @clubjade

• Tricia Barr (@fangirlcantina) Runs Fangirlcantina.com
• Mandy Bulat (@mandybu) Jader, comic lover, hilarious.
• Austin B. (@Blankitout) – EUCantina webmaster.
• Dan Curto (@dancurto) – Collector, toy photographer.
• Danny Choo (@dannychoo) The Tokyo Dance Trooper
• Mark Hurliman (@illogicalRogue2) – EUCast host.
• Albin Johnson (@tk210) Founder of the 501st
• Justin LaSalata (@JustinL81) U.S. News Editor for JediNews
• Gus Lopez (@toysrgus) Collector, author.
• Andrew Lupi (@MasterAndrew15) – EUCantina content manager.
• Peter Morrison (@PeteMorrisonLR) – Runs Lightsaber Rattling
• Kyle Newman (@kyle_newman) Director, Fanboys
• Bryan Young (@BigShinyRobot) aka the Star Wars Examiner.

• Admiral Ackbar (@Ackbar)
• Chewbacca (@Chewbacca)
• Darth Vader (@darthvader)
• Stormtrooper TK 329 (@TK329)
• R2-D2 (@r2d2)
• Ziro the Hutt (@ZirotheHutt)
• There are a lot of characters and RPGers on Twitter – far too many for me to list here. Luckily, someone else has already done it! (Thanks to officefangirl86!)

• Death Star PR (@deathstarpr)
• Lucasfilm Mouse (@lucasfilmmouse) A mouse.
• Robot Chicken (@cyborgturkey)
• ThinkGeek (@thinkgeek) Geek web store
• Star Wars Jokes (@StarWarsJokes) by @stoogey

• Cleolinda Jones (@cleolinda) Snarker, Movies in 15 Minutes
• Kristen Bell (@IMKristenBell) Actress, Fanboys, Veronica Mars
• Felicia Day (@feliciaday) Actress, Dr. Horrible, The Guild
• Jon Favreau (@Jon_Favreau) Director, Iron Man
• Jaime King (@Jaime_King) Actress, Fanboys, Sin City
• Greg Grunberg (@greggrunberg) Actor, Heroes, Alias
• Naomi Novik (@naominovik) Author, Temeraire series.
• J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) Author, Harry Potter series
• William Shatner (@WilliamShatner) William. Shatner.
• Will Wheaton (@wilw) Actor, internet superstar
• Weird Al Yankovic (@alyankovic) Duh.

Make your own suggestions – or just share your own Twitter credentials – in the comments.

We got nothing, folks. Nothing. Okay, there was TFU and Clone Wars, but nothing else major. Not even Blu-Ray! The StarWars.com write-up is up for those of you who want a less grumpy take on things… My unhinged ramblings, and what Moulin Rouge has to do with The Clone Wars, are beneath the cut (or on the twitter.) (more…)