Club Jade

At a recent appearance at The Orlando Science Center, Ashley Eckstein debuted a new Padme shirt. Like the red Padme Nouveau shirt, one of Her Universe’s first, the new shirt features artwork by Tsuneo Sanda.

Ashley told our pal Nanci today that it will be coming out in May, along with Rogue Squadron dress/tank and the new Clone Wars shirt she was wearing today.

And while we’re on the topic, Orlando Weekly has a video interview with Ashley in which she talks Her Universe, The Clone Wars and more.

I usually don’t do holidays, but after last week, maybe we need one? In any case: Happy Mother’s Day!

This is not the post I set out to write when I asked the other day which Star Wars ladies should be headlining novels. After all, Nanci already quite eloquently laid out why we need more women in the Expanded Universe. But on Friday, EUC posted a rebuttal to her post, titled Let’s Stop Thinking About Gender and it seems there’s still more work to do on the ground level. I know, I was shocked, too. Though I probably shouldn’t be.

Clearly we’ve forgotten that Star Wars is aimed at boys! And that by asking for something as minor as a female characters whose functions include something other than being Big Bad Lady Cthulu or Confused Teenage Girlfriend makes us the sexist ones! For shame, ladies. For shame. Because we’ve never heard anything like this before.

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The blogside. On Livejournal, Chameleon Irony takes a look at what implications the events of Darth Plagueis may have had on Padme throughout the films. (Contains Plagueis spoilers.) Meanwhile, at Rooqoo Depot, Lane considers fandom, Jaina Solo, and ‘strong female characters.’

Fate of the Jedi. The latest mini-excerpt from Apocalypse features Luke and a Sith.

Celebration VI. Two more authors have been confirmed to be attending: James Luceno and Jason Fry. Paul S. Kemp, not so much.

Art. Two more looks at the interior art of The Essential Gude to Warfare: An Imperial refueling and a fantastic Dave Seeley title page spread showing the Battle of Couscant from Revenge of the Sith. It’s better than the actual cover!

Reviews. Over at Big Shiny Robot, James considers Agent of the Empire #3, Crimson Empire III #4 and Knights of the Old Republic: War #2.

Her Universe gave fans a sneak peek at the upcoming ‘Queen’ shirt on Facebook today. Get ready to look for it “really soon.”

I’ve never been much of a Padme fan. But there’s no denying that she’s an important part of the prequel trilogy, and Anika (aka @magnetgirl) makes some convincing points as to why — including her death — in The Queen’s Sacrifice.

Get out your Hollywood fashion tape, Anakin and Padme fans: ‘Senate Spy’ is now streaming on StarWars.com.

I’m sure those crazy kids will make it work! (Seriously, how does that place not amplify sound like crazy?) In any case, it’s time to preview Friday’s ‘Senate Spy.’ And yes, there’s another clip:

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Holiday Special week fallout: Han Solo’s little-known furry roots glommed on by internets, many bad jokes (and debate?!?) ensue.

Better a Wookiee than a Selonian, I guess. (We’ll leave them to Corran.)

• Fanfic: Simon Pegg wrote some. No, for real.

• Appearances: Guess who showed up at the re-opening of the National Museum of American History? Artoo! We never would have guessed he was so patriotic. (Thanks, Stooge!)
• Lists: Topless Robot is on a roll with Five reasons Padme is a complete idiot. (Dude, I keep sayin’…) and the ten biggest robot bastards.
• Gaming: The problems inherent in Lego Star Wars.

Looks like Anakin and Padme fans will be happy with tomorrow’s episode, ‘Destroy Malevolence:’ Catherine Taber, who voices Padme, has a few comments on the character and the secret relationship.

Meanwhile, over at TFN, the ForceCast has a roundtable on the first three episodes.