At least for one particularly dedicated gamer. PopSci recently spotlighted Brian De Vitis’ customized Artoo cooler, which holds the relevant technical bits of eight consoles, a sound system, and a projector. (via)
Movie news: Yes, this post contains Sweet Valley High
Just deal with it, boys. I thought April Fools had come early when I heard that Diablo Cody is adapting the Sweet Valley High series for the big screen. (It is indeed for real. There goes one of my jokes for next year.) Of course, the reaction has been mixed. And we can take solace in the fact that Cody is keeping the series in its proper time period – the 80’s. In any case, it’s only Sweet Valley High, and they’ve never exactly been classic anything.
- Mark Hamill is not in Zombieland. Because really, once one has spoofed their most famous role in the form of a character called the Cocknocker, everything else in that vein is just kind of downhill.
- Stephanie Meyer’s other property. Her science fiction novel, The Host, will be adapted by Gattaca’s Andrew Niccol.
- Remakes rearing their ugly heads. Highlander and He-Man not as dead as we thought. DAMN IT. But at least we can be grateful for one thing:
- My eyes! My eyes! io9 unearthed some a test shot of Nicolas Cage from the late 90’s Superman movie that never got made, and it’s every bit as awful as you might expect.
Some light reading for Hyperspace members
StarWars.com has posted two short story reprints in the last week or so: Patricia A. Jackson’s ‘The Longest Fall’ and Patricia A. Jackson & Charlene Newcomb’s ‘Betrayal By Knight.’
Wacky merchandise du jour: Pan-fried Vader playset
So it’s technically the ‘Birth of Darth Vader Battle Pack,’ (battle pack?) and it’s probably one of those dealies that only collectors are going to buy but you know, still. Nothing says fun times like the Imperial burn ward!
Star Wars: In Concert moving into the Midwest
I’ve updated the original entry a few times with dates for Detroit and Columbus, but I suggest Midwestern fans check Ticketmaster’s Star Wars: In Concert listing and input their zip codes – more shows may show up there today. Tickets for most of the recently added shows went on presale (for American Express card holders) earlier today.
EUbits: Lightsaber scarf, Schreiber, Bohnoff and comics
Crafting corner. There are two Mara Jade items in this roundup, and here’s the first one. Rebecca aka Sorakirei, whose first lightsaber scarf we featured earlier in the month, has another made another one. The Mara Jade lightsaber scarf was a commission – could it be from one of our readers? It’s a big internet… She’s also done a ROTJ Luke saber since we last looked…
The Blogside: Joe Schreiber on haunted houses and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on musical parody.
Action figures: A closer look at Jacen and Jaina.
Previews: Legacy #40, Knights of the Old Republic #46 and Invasion #4, which gives us our first look at (a fairly generic and perhaps Renaissance-Fair attending) Mara.
Lists: Topless Robot has a very Marvel-heavy list of the eleven least necessary Star Wars comics. Yes, its another one of those lists that was probably compiled by hitting the random button on the Wookieepedia, but I’m considering doing a novel version. (Since I’ve actually, like, read a lot of them. Imagine that. The New Rebellion, are your ears stinging yet?)
Prepping for S2 of The Clone Wars
There was a press junket for The Clone Wars season 2 in California today. They posted a new trailer yesterday, but StarWars.com was tweeting fast and furiously from the event, giving us a peek at some of the themed foodstuffs (Gungan salad, roast bantha) a costumed Cad Bane, and a preview or two. (More photos – and not the cell phone kind – here.) Oh, and a brand new interview with George Lucas and Dave Filoni.
Season 2 will debut with two episodes – ‘Holocron Heist’ and ‘Cargo of Doom’ – Friday, October 2 on Cartoon Network. Expect a lot more press coverage in the next couple of weeks… We’ll do our best to keep up. Meanwhile, you can answer our latest poll:
[poll id=”61″]
More east coast dates for Star Wars: In Concert
A couple more dates have shown up on the Star Wars: In Concert listing on Ticketmaster. The concert website is listing a few of them, but none later than November 12.
- Nov. 6: North Charleston, SC; North Charleston Coliseum. (On-sale: 9/23)
- Nov. 7: Charlotte, NC; Time Warner Cable Arena. (On sale now.)
- Nov. 11: Providence, RI: Dunkin’ Donuts Center. (On-sale: 9/23)
- Nov. 14 (two shows:) Boston MA; TD Garden. (On-sale: 9/23)
- Nov. 17: Wilkes-Barre, PA; Wachovia Arena. (On-sale: 9/23)
- Nov. 28 (two shows:) Auburn Hills, MI; The Palace of Auburn Hills. (On-sale: 9/23)
- Nov. 29: Pittsburgh, PA; Mellon Arena. (On-sale: 9/23)
- Dec 2: Columbus, OH; Nationwide Arena. (On-sale: 10/01)
UPDATE: I set my location in Ticketmaster and it’s now showing me two shows set for The Palace of Auburn Hills (outside Detroit) on Saturday, November 28 (3:30 and 8:00pm.) Neither were showing up earlier, but they may just have been added later today. (I can’t believe we rate a Saturday.)
UPDATE 2: And now they’re showing Columbus for December 2!
Do Good – Breast Cancer Bears 2009
It’s that time of year, again. Fan Lisa Spodak has spent her year going to conventions and other celebrity-heavy events to get bears signed by celebrities inside and outside of fandom to raise $20,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.
Genre celebs include most of the casts of BSG and Stargate, director Tim Burton and George Takei; amongst many others. There are also tons of non-genre celebs who might make great holiday presents for your mundane friends and family.
The eBay auction is running now. Go! Do good!
Orlando preparing Celebration V bid?
They’re pitching it next week for an August 2010 date, information procured by TheForce.Net says:
A presentation is being prepared for Lucasfilm and Reed Exhibitions next week and the group plans to narrow down the candidate cities to (2) by October 10th. From there, site visits will commence for the rest of the month with a tentative decision to be made by November 1st.
Perhaps just as interesting, is that a second bid is listed for an additional Celebration in August of 2014.
This does not mean Orlando will get the convention(s,) just that they’re trying for it, but I’ve done a bit of research on my own and I believe they could be a leading candidate. But August in Florida? Heat, humidity, and hurricanes? I’m not so sure about that, but at this point it may be their only opening. (I’m still crossing my fingers for Baltimore or Chicago.)
TFN also points out that Reed Exhibitions has been organizing New York Comic-Con. Of course, this is all unconfirmed!