Bloopers! Deleted scenes! Man, this kid is everywhere… (He met James Earl Jones!)
Rick Berman about to dish on his Star Trek reign
StarTrek.com has interviewed Rick Berman, the man who took over running the Trek franchise for Gene Roddenberry (all hail, The Great Bird of the Galaxy!).
Oddly quiet since his departure from all things Trek, Mr. Berman seems to be ready to open up about his controversial reign leading Star Trek. (For example, was 7 of 9 really necessary? Did DS9 take things away from Gene’s vision?)
And yes, folks, there’s a memoir on the way. This should get folks good and riled! Mr. Berman gives us a preview in Parts 1 and 2, with Part 3 posting tomorrow.
Edit: Part 3 is posted!
Discussion: What was your first Star Wars novel?
What was the first Star Wars novel you read? What made you pick it out of the crowd (if there even was a crowd of them at the time?) And would you recommend it to someone else new to the EU?
Oprah is looking for Princess Leia collectors
Oprah Winfrey’s people are looking for collectors of Princess Leia merchandise:
Are you a big Star Wars fanatic obsessed with Princess Leia? Do you collect the biggest, best, most outrageous Princess Leia memorabilia in the universe? We’re looking for fans with the most unique collectors’ items out there. Do you have a special edition Princess Leia Pez dispenser, a life-sized model of Princess Leia — or do you own all the Princess Leia figurines/dolls in existence?
If other Star Wars fans are envious of your unusual collection of Princess Leia goodies — then we want to hear from you!
Could Carrie Fisher be going on the show? Maybe Katie? We’ll find out.
Out this week: Blood of the Empire TPB
Not much on the menu for this week, but comic fans will find the first trade collection of The Old Republic: Blood of the Empire waiting for them on Wednesday.
Video: Volkswagen’s Kid Vader on Today
Max Page, who starred in what turned out to be one of last night’s most popular Super Bowl commercials (you can vote here) was on the Today show with his mom this morning.
EUbits: Dig into Vader, Burton’s craft book
Trauma ward. Dying for all the damage details on everyone’s favorite pan-fried villain? You’re in luck, ’cause Becker & Mayer has announced Darth Vader: A 3-D Surgical Log. Written by Dan Wallace with art by Chris Trevas (who has designed Vader’s underwear) and Chris Reiff, it sounds like it’ll be in the same vein as Millennium Falcon: A 3-D Owner’s Guide.
Actual nonfiction. StarWars.com has a look inside Bonnie Burton’s The Star Wars Craft Book, which is coming out in March.
The blogside. Authors Troy Denning, John Jackson Miller and Joe Schreiber just wrapped up their joint stint on Borders’ Babel Clash blog.
Your moment of zen. A reader over at the romance novel blog Smart Bitches, Trashy Books reviews The Courtship of Princess Leia. She is amazingly kind to it.
Star Wars still making money hand over fist
Well, there’s one thing that can’t be denied about The Clone Wars: It certainly sells the toys. The Star Wars franchise brought in more than $510 million last year, says The Hollywood Reporter, marking its third year as the top boys toy (sigh) license for the third consecutive year.
Book review: Introduction to Jedi Knighthood
I have a particular fondness for the independently-published Star Wars philosophy book. People are all over the board in how they see the Force and Star Wars and these books reflect that.
Jedi Manual Basics: Introduction to Jedi Knighthood by Matthew Vossler came across to me, from its description, as a book written for kids (another fondness of mine). But it’s actually a workbook for those wishing to study Jediism as a religion or personal philosophy.
Jediism has been gaining ground as a religion in recent years. This book lets you walk through the basic precepts and examine your own understanding of the Force through a series of studies and writing assignments.
I would have liked to see a bit more actual background over assignments. And the use of URL’s as reading assignments could be problematic as sites go down and change. As a result, its usefulness in the long term is doubtful. But if you’re at all interested in Jediism, this would be an interesting way to explore it further.
The Clone Wars review: ‘Overlords’
“The longer we stay here, the stranger it gets,” says Ahsoka Tano in last week’s episode of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, ‘Overlords’. I think this applies to us as viewers as well as the show tackles one of the most important notions of Star Wars and takes it in a new direction, as well as bringing back some prequel characters (and their actors). And helping to show Anakin Skywalker’s slow slide toward the dark side, he confronts past guilt but in the end, chooses the path of selfishness. Continue reading “The Clone Wars review: ‘Overlords’”