Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
The term ‘fan fiction’ is one of the new additions to the Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary. Here’s their definition, according to the Associated Press:
Fan fiction (1944): stories involving popular fictional characters that are written by fans and often posted on the Internet.
Other new words and phrases making the cut this year are ‘flash mob,’ ‘frenemy,’ ‘sock puppet,’ ‘vlog,’ and ‘webisode.’
The Indianapolis Fan Force chapter is throwing a fundraising breakfast for our pal Aaron Allston Saturday, August 15th – that’s during GenCon – at The Ram restaurant, not far from the convention center. Cost is $40 per ticket, with $20 coming back to the purchaser as a Ram gift certificate.
If you can’t make it and still want to help, don’t forget about the Aaron Allston Donation Fund.
This Mara Jade minifig is a custom creation of Andrew Becraft, aka Dunechaser, one of the contributors over at The Brothers Brick. (He has a Kyle Katarn, too.)
A look back at the early days of Industrial Light and Magic from A New Hope crew member David Berry. (via)
L.A. Weekly checks in with the progress of making ThinkGeek’s April Fools TaunTaun sleeping bag a reality. Thinkgeek PR guy Shane Peterman says:
We are definitely trying to make it in to an actual item to be sold on our site. As of right now, it’s still an “if,” but it’s turning in to more of a “when.” Things are looking pretty good, we just don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves. There’s certainly been enough of a demand, both from customers and from those of us that work here. Right now, we’re aiming to have it available for the holidays, or at the latest, the 30th anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back next spring.
But what of Lucasfilm?
We’re still working with Lucas to get approval for a final design. Again, it’s looking good, we just can’t say too much right now since it’s still in the works.
Well, we’re patient.
No. No it is not. But it will be soon, and thus details about the con are coming thick on the ground. We got the general Star Wars event schedule earlier in the week, but now StarWars.com gives us Del Rey’s, including some signings and giveaways like a double-sided Fate of the Jedi/Deathtroopers poster, above. (Far more tempting is the possibility of getting free copies of The Essential Atlas, The Complete Vader and The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia)
Doyouloveanapple made these fantastic Mighty Mugg-based cakes for her partner’s birthday! They both feature homemade marshmallow fondant. (via)
The University of Iowa Libraries, with the help of the Organization for Transformative Works (OTW,) has acquired The Fanzine Archive, a collection of 3,000 classic fanzines long managed by Mariellen (Ming) Wathne. The bulk of Ming’s collection are Star Wars titles originally collected by Lucasfilm themselves, a valuable cache of fandom and fanfic history. (You can read more about the collection’s history at Fanlore.)
OTW and UI are intent on securing even more ‘zines and documents as part of their Fan Culture Preservation Project.
It wouldn’t be a Harry Potter premiere without a little rain; in this case, a deluge with some hail thrown in.
The HP Half-Blood Prince Potter Facebook page has some video and pictures from the event.
StarWars.com will be uploading a second Lost Tribe of the Sith eBook, Skyborn by John Jackson Miller, on July 21. The book will contain an excerpt of August’s Fate of the Jedi: Abyss.
