Roundup: Still counting down to Celebration V

It’s 50 days to Celebration V and I finally booked my flight! But seriously, here’s the haps, with more sure to come:

Meanwhile, let’s all just hope that skeevy celebrity blogger Perez Hilton doesn’t show up.

OMG! Jon Stewart is coming to Celebration V!

And he’s interviewing George Lucas! My snarky news-junkie heart is all aflutter!

In their conversation, dubbed The Main Event, Stewart and Lucas will discuss the history of the Star Wars saga and delve into the arcana of the multi-billion-dollar series. Stewart is a huge Star Wars fan — Lucas appeared on Stewart’s show back in January when the filmmaker was promoting his book, George Lucas’s Blockbusting, and the two had great banter with each other — but fans who may be worried that Stewart won’t ask their hottest burning questions can submit their own at www.starwarscelebration.com.

(You can watch George’s Daily Show appearance here.) I may actually be squeeing. In a silent, dignified manner.

UPDATE: The StarWars.com write-up, which has a few more new events.

Roundup: All the Celebration V news you can shake your broken droid leg at

Anthony Daniels and his famous gold jacket at the 2007 Disney Weekends / Photo by Ron Riccio / starwarsblog @ flickrGuest list. Anthony Daniels is coming to the autograph hall and on stage. (WTF moment: “He was the voice of Legolas in the 1978 animation, Lord Of The Rings.” The awful one that turned me off Tolkien for decades? What what?)

Panels. And the collecting track just keeps on coming. Don’t fret, folks: I’m sure there’ll be something for the rest of us. (Right?)

Costumes. Register your fabulous duds for the Costume Pageants. If you don’t, they might send the 501st after you.

Book now! There’s no time to waste!

Guide. The folks at Reed have put together Orlando 101.

Roundup: Get ‘married’ at Celebration V, if you dare

The embarrassment squick strikes back. The second WTF moment of the runup to Celebration V has arrived… The Celebration Chapel. Yes, because going to a Star Wars convention just isn’t geeky enough, you can get a (not legally binding) “light side” or “dark side” wedding. Amusing in theory, but… Really? Seriously? That said, apparently I accidentally proposed to Mandy on Twitter earlier and was invited to photograph her other fake internet wedding, so… What? I’m not even sure anymore. Embrace the pain!

Panels. Shocker! There will be a collecting track! Okay, so it’s not shocking at all, since this has been pretty much the only track at the last couple of Celebrations. Sigh.

Guests. In addition to George Lucas, Carrie Fisher and the usual suspects, Ray Park (Darth Maul) and stunt coordinator Nick Gillard have been confirmed.

Don’t tell us the odds. The feds are predicting an “extremely active” hurricane season. Thought you should know.

Roundup: Celebration V is closer than you might think

So in the midst of real life and other such horrors, I missed a great deal of Celebration V news. First off, you should know that we are now 99 days out from the event, a fact which strikes me with terror because I haven’t done a damn thing to prepare. (Yes, I really need to stop moving in Celebration years.) But onto the news:

  • We’ve had two sets of t-shirt reveals: The first, some standard logos. (I suppose if one must have Boba Fett, sticking him something appropriately Miami Vicesque takes some of the fanboy stench off.) The second set is much more palatable, even if it involves hot pink, and the Han/Leia shirt combo is rather adorable.
  • Jay Laga’aia is returning as celebrity host, which is A-OK by me, because Jay Laga’aia is awesome. Really, no snark here. He just is.
  • The doctor is inAlso hosting (at the Behind-the-Scenes Stage) is Internet Rockstar Pablo Hidalgo and LucasArts’ David Collins (on the Digital Stage.) Alas, this crushes my secret hope for a Pablo-staffed continuity-counseling booth (mockup at right) but it is more likely to keep him from running like a madman into the night.
  • The R2-D2 Builders will be there in force, promising “a bigger and more encompassing experience for our visitors that will not only include tons of droids, but also re-creations of some of the most iconic scenes from The Empire Strikes Back.”