By Dapperstache. Includes many things dear to our hearts, like Jedi, robots, hyperspace, lightsabers and liquor. Clickthrough to read it!
Gift guide: Everyone loves clothing for Sithmas!
Santa Maul refuses to call Star Wars sports attire “the greatest Christmas present in the universe,” but he is willing to surrender some mean praise for this collection of hooligan-wear. He does not doubt that this gift may please any booze-soaked Fett-loving frat boys that one may be required to socialize with.
Santa Maul himself is eagerly awaiting a licensed collection of Sith tuxedos.
Video: Welcome to trainwreck syndrome
This video (Chris Dane Owens, “Shine”) is completely awful, yet disturbingly mesmerizing. Watch it. Then, go to Tor.com for a thrilling Choose-Your-Adventure guess at the plot!
Gift Guide: Stephen Colbert and the attack on the war on anti-consumerism
Santa Maul found this clip in his sack a few days ago, and he trusts that you will take Mr. Colbert’s advice and buy many, many Force FX lightsabers. No lowly stick could match its fine quality of making George Lucas and Hasbro shareholders (like Santa Maul!) richer.
Greener shades of Alderaan in South Korea?
These green, hill-shaped building plans that io9 discovered are still in the planning stages, but they’re rather reminesant of some of the concept art for Alderaan. Greener, of course, but I don’t think the Alderaani would object.
Gift Guide: A great lair never goes out of style
Santa Maul has been pondering the perfect gift for the burgeoning evil mastermind, and The New York Times has revealed it to him. A British phone company is offering for sale an underground tunnel complex built during World War II as a bomb shelter! A virtual bargain at only $7.4 million, particularly when one notes that it contains a bar. Santa Maul regrets that London is not convenient to his lifestyle, else he would buy it himself, or rather whammy the current owners into thinking he did.
For those with a more limited budget, Santa Maul offers this link to Geeks are Sexy’s gift list. Santa Maul particularly craves the Starbuck mug.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Sithmas
Santa Maul loves Black Friday. Not only is it the day he awakens from his long slumber, but it’s the busiest shopping day of the year. And while Santa Maul loves sales, what he loves the most is the chaos and rage of consumers throughout the galaxy! And in 25 days, when the rage and frustration reaches its height, he shall give his master Darth Sinterklaas an unholy wake-up call, and all followers of the Sith shall be rewarded!
Alas, in recent years many shoppers have wised up and moved their Sithmas shopping online. This makes Santa Maul angry. So angry that he occasionally unleashes his power to bring down a shopping site! He may be crashing one right now. And in the spirit of the season, he is imploring you to help in the madness and buy things:
- George Lucas needs your money! Santa Maul is particularly fond of this Darksiders hoodie.
- Dreams and Visions Press is offering free shipping on Celebration Japan exclusive Star Wars: The Art of Ralph McQuarrie
- Fan documentary The Force Among Us is on sale for $10.77.
- Buy more toys at Entertainment Earth. Toys are Santa Maul’s favorite, particularly those with sound, flashing lights, and many breakable parts!
- If you leave the house, be sure to take Hasbro coupons.
- Amazon.com has many early deals on DVDs. Santa Maul yearns for a copy of Sith and the City: The Movie.
- Santa Maul can not imagine that anyone has not yet read Harry Potter, but backwards sorts can catch up with a seven-book hardcover set for $109.97.
Five blogs you should be reading (and their friends)
So Livejournal is going down today for a few hours, leaving many fandomers bereft of one of their main sources of information. My Livejournal friendslist is one of the first things I read every morning and perhaps my main pipeline of internet goings-on (Which I then filter for you here! And here!) And by the time I wake up, it will be down for the duration.
But luckily, I also have about a bagillion bookmarks. So here, for you, are five blogs that are of vital importance to the cause, worth checking out while LJ is incommunicado. (And that you might not already know – for the obvious, just see the blogroll.)
Whatever
The Whatever is the blogging fortress of science fiction author John Scalzi. If you only read one personal blog of a science fiction personality, you could do worse. (Plus he’s supremely snarky – we love those types around here.) See also: Tor, Neil Gaiman, Antick Musings.
TV Tattle
The blog as information disseminator in the most basic form (it doesn’t even have an RSS feed!) Generally I have at least a half-dozen blogs for any given topic, but TV Tattle is quite literally the only TV blog I check on daily basis. See also: It’s all you need, really. But if you’re obsessed with just one particular show or creator, best look for a site devoted to the topic, ala Whedonesque.
io9
When Gawker starts a blog that covers your area of interest, you pretty much have to read it, at least on my end. Even if they do sometimes post some seriously stupid shit. See also: ‘The lady Gawker,’ Jezebel, Boing Boing, Topless Robot.
SF Signal
Serious about genre? This is the place. They are strong in the art of finding everything that could possibly be of interest, and their features are top-notch stuff. Seriously, no complaints, and sometimes they link us! See also: Big Dumb Object, Underwire, Binary Bonsai.
/film
There are a lot of movie blogs out there, but /film is my favorite. They hit the major stuff without making me having to slog through a dozen pages for a single day, with a great eye for video and random ‘cool stuff.’ And yes, this is fanboy territory. Be strong. See also: Cinematical, The Movie Blog, MTV Movies.
Want to contribute? Link your own favorites in the comments! (Yes, basic HTML works, though if you have a lot of URLs your comment may be held for approval.)
Star Trek: The Experience – Boldly going? or just boldly moving…
At the beginning of September, Star Trek: The Experience, at the Las Vegas Hilton, was shut down due to the hotel’s desire to re-use the space for more profit-generating attractions. The attraction, which included a restaurant recreation of Quark’s Bar, simulator rides, displays of original props and costumes, and gift shop, just wasn’t bringing in the latinum for the Hilton. But, according to reports on wired.com, Neonopolis in downtown Las Vegas is in negotiation to get Star Trek: The Experience and bring it to the next generation. No word yet on an expected opening date, but we’ll be waiting in the ready room!
Can the Star Wars mixed relationship survive?
The sitcom How I Met Your Mother explored that tense moment in every relationship when you have to ask those big questions: “Have you seen Star Wars? And, if so, do you love it as much as I do?”
One of the characters faced that moment. io9 has very conveniently compiled all the critical moments for you.