If you love silly things on the internet, Ask Vader may amuse you. Hang around long enough and you might get a peek at something… Well, something rather odd.
Luceno’s Darth Plagueis get blurbed
Knights Archive was (again!) first to spot that a blurb from James Luceno’s Darth Plagueis has gone up at Random House.
Darth Plagueis: one of the most brilliant Sith Lords who ever lived. Possessing power is all he desires. Losing it is the only thing he fears. As an apprentice, he embraces the ruthless ways of the Sith. And when the time is right, he destroys his Master—but vows never to suffer the same fate. For like no other disciple of the dark side, Darth Plagueis learns to command the ultimate power . . . over life and death.
Darth Sidious: Plagueis’s chosen apprentice. Under the guidance of his Master, he secretly studies the ways of the Sith, while publicly rising to power in the galactic government, first as Senator, then as Chancellor, and eventually as Emperor.
Darth Plagueis and Darth Sidious, Master and acolyte, target the galaxy for domination—and the Jedi Order for annihilation. But can they defy the merciless Sith tradition? Or will the desire of one to rule supreme, and the dream of the other to live forever, sow the seeds of their destruction?
I remain, as ever, deeply skeptical about this book, but we’ll have to wait until December 27 to see if Luceno pulls it off.
Shadow Games excerpt online at StarWars.com
StarWars.com has posted a seven-page excerpt of the upcoming novel Shadow Games, by Michael Reaves and Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. In this first selection, Dash Rendar finds a lack of gravity disturbing aboard the Millennium Falcon. Will Han help Dash get his feet back on the ground? The official site also has a brief teaser summary.
Shadow Games will go on sale in paperback and as an ebook on November 29, 2011.
Bringing the Star Wars Blu-rays up to spec
We’ve seen a few of these stills in the fan articles that have emerged in the last few days, but now StarWars.com itself has a rundown of some of the corrections and improvements made on the Blu-rays.
CGI Yoda, as rumored to be on the Blu-rays
This is apparently the ‘new and improved’ CGI Yoda who has been rumored to be on The Phantom Menace blu-ray, replacing the traditional puppet. (I’m told this is different – or at least longer – than the clip on the Revenge of the Sith DVD.) Better? Worse? I was never a fan of the TPM puppet – he looked off – but I’m not sure this is any better. (via) 
Wacky (but cool) merchandise: Han in Carbonite and Artoo ice trays
We’ve seen and heard about these at before, but now you can finally get your hands on the Han in Carbonite and Artoo ice trays via the always-awesome web store ThinkGeek.
Video: Carrie Fisher talks weight loss on Today
Carrie Fisher was on the Today show this morning, talking about the 50 pounds she lost on Jenny Craig and, of course, the metal bikini.
Astromech love: Jenn Hall’s R2-D2 bike helmet
Artist Jenn Hall’s great Artoo bike helmet has been making the rounds. (Of course there’s a how-to.) She was even Geekadelphia’s Geek of the Week.
Classify your favorite Star Wars moments with new site
Some fans love to rank things, and argue things, and just get all obsessive over who/what/where/how is better/worse that another who/what/where/how. I am not one of those people: I have my own favorites, of course, but I just tend to find the whole enterprise of categorizing them further than that exhausting. And thus Lucasfilm’s new site Star Wars Moments is just making my eyes cross. But if that is your thing, hey: Go for it. It’s certainly more productive than trolling Wookieepedia talk pages.
Catching up, looking back with Sue Rostoni
Knights Archive has a nice interview with Lucasbooks editor Sue Rostoni, who retired not that long ago. They chat about missing Lucasfilm, favorite moments, fan criticism, expanded universe regrets and more.
As an added bonus, there are several tributes to Sue from authors.