DealExtreme’s Signaling LED Light Rod Keychain is only a mere $1.99, but promises minutes of unlicensed under-the-radar fun. Or not. (via)
Just five days left to get Star Wars stamps
TFN posted a reminder today that the Star Wars 15-stamp sheet will no longer be available after the 25th. (Yoda stamps are okay through October.)
Postage rates have gone up since these were issued, so if you actually plan on using them be sure to make up the difference.
“Women don’t like science fiction,” again
A New York Times article on the Sci-Fi Channel – well, a passage about how the network attracted more women – sent io9’s Annalee Newitz on one mother of a rant:
If there’s something keeping women away from enjoying science fiction, it’s not spaceships. It’s not “aliens on some far-off planet.” It’s the fact that people on our very own planet keep telling us that women aren’t supposed to like science fiction. It’s a self-confirming prophesy, because the more that scifi creators are told this, the more they imagine that their audience is all boys. So they write rich, believable male characters and boring, cookie-cutter lady characters. They organize conventions with panels devoted to shit like “the hottest women of science fiction” and nothing devoted to female heroes — or the kinds of hotties that straight women might want to see (i.e., men).
Can I get an amen, ladies?
Movie math: How far does $20 million go?
John Scalzi takes a look at Star Wars success when compared with Speed Racer’s failure – and how blockbuster culture has changed in the last thirty-some years. (A great companion to this piece is the NYT’s impressive box office chart from February.)
In the news: Wedding, drunks, box office, TFU
- The Brits really love them some Star Wars wedding: The GFFA-themed marriage ceremony of Bramwell Brightey and Tamsyn Lofts showed up in both The Guardian and The Sun today.
- Could Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull beat Revenge of the Sith at the box office? That’s the magic of inflation!
- No jail time for drunken Vader attacker. Shocking!
- The Force Unleashed is “greatest Star Wars story that we’ve ever told in a video game,” says LucasArts’ Cameron Suey. Better than Masters of Teräs Käsi? That’s unpossible!
Wacky (and maybe fake) merchandise of the day
What does the future hold for Star Wars?
With a new era of the franchise looming, The Deadbolt’s Reg Seeton wonders about the future of Star Wars.
Keep telling yourself that, George
The Los Angeles Times talks to George Lucas – am old-same old about The Clone Wars and stuff past the movies:
“There really isn’t any story to tell there,” the filmmaker said. “It’s been covered in the books and video games and comic books, which are things I think are incredibly creative but that I don’t really have anything to do with other than being the person who built the sandbox they’re playing in.”
In the non-film versions of the saga, for instance, Han Solo and Princess Leia marry and have three children, one of them named Anakin after his notorious grandfather. All of it has been popular with core fans, but Lucas doesn’t see any upside to extending the tale past the leafy luau on Endor where Vader’s corpse was torched.
“I get asked all the time, ‘What happens after “Return of the Jedi”?,’ and there really is no answer for that,” he said. “The movies were the story of Anakin Skywalker and Luke Skywalker, and when Luke saves the galaxy and redeems his father, that’s where that story ends.”
Dear media: WE KNOW. (We just don’t care.*) You can’t think of anything else to ask George Lucas? Come on!
Anyway, despite this, they do attempt a quick guide to the expanded universe – four out of nine selections actually extend past (or forward) the movies. (Bonus: They source Wookieepedia)
* Well, I don’t care. No doubt someone will object. Or gloat. ;)
In the News: Kenny Baker, Obi-Wan, golf
- People: Kenny Baker recovering after last month’s health scare.
- Lucasfilm: Chief technical officer Richard Kerris is one of Variety’s Ten Innovators to Watch. (Check the second link for videos.)
- History: Opinion L.A. considers who killed Ben Kenobi?
- Politics: Just in case you’re not sick enough of this election, there’s now The Empire Strikes Barack.
- Sports: “Golf is the ultimate game when it comes to the Jedi teachings.” Adventure, excitement, a Jedi craves not these things…
Star Wars at SF’s Maker Faire
Bonnie reports on last weekend’s Maker Faire – lots of Star Wars and Indiana Jones – over at the starwars.com blog. Above, Adam Savage’s (Mythbusters) replica Grail diary. (Click on the photo for more pics.)