Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
Star Wars fans have started the ‘We Are Jedi’ project to help raise funds for those affected by the last month’s destructive earthquake and tsunami. The fruits of the first project – a limited-edition t-shirt – are now available for order.
They have Lucasfilm’s blessing, and proceeds will go to the Japanese Red Cross.
George Lucas is among the billionaires making a public pledge to give away at least half their wealth to charity. In a letter posted on The Giving Pledge website, Lucas writes:
My pledge is to the process; as long as I have the resources at my disposal, I will seek to raise the bar for future generations of students of all ages.
I am dedicating the majority of my wealth to improving education. It is the key to the survival of the human race. We have to plan for our collective future – and the first step begins with the social, emotional, and intellectual tools we provide to our children. As humans, our greatest tool for survival is our ability to think and to adapt – as educators, storytellers, and communicators our responsibility is to continue to do so.
The “Giving Pledge,” spearheaded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, is intended to set an example of the importance of philanthropy.
The ‘lost’ Star Wars artwork of Ralph McQuarrie will be on display at Celebration. The pieces – discovered due to a furnace repair too late to make The Art of Ralph McQuarrie – include “design work on characters, creatures, spacecraft, weapons and worlds.”
Star Wars fans are familiar with the sad time of little official activity. (Remember the Dark Times?)
So Bart tells us that some Browncoats, not ones to sit around and wait for the occasional awesome comic, are making their own story to bide the time called Browncoats: Redemption. In order to avoid painful imitations of beloved characters, they’re creating an all new crew.
And to keep this in the spirit of Browncoats, they’re going to be collecting for charity, including: Equality Now, Kids Need to Read, Dyslexia Foundation, the Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center, and the Marine Corps – Law Enforcement Foundation.
Good luck to them!
A recent fund-raising drive by Harry Potter fans has raised enough funds (US$123,000!) for Partners in Health to fill three planes worth of supplies for Haiti.
The first of the three planes, named Harry, has been deployed. Ron and Hermione are to follow.
Congratulations to The HP Alliance and all the Harry Potter fans for this monumental achievement. Other fandoms will be hard-pressed to match this one!
Bitchin’ Endor. You’re sure to get a kick out of today’s most famous Star Wars eBay listing, i hate this stupid ewok. On that note, this is apparently the 25th anniversary of the debut of the first Ewok movie, Caravan of Courage. I’m sure everyone was all waiting breathlessly for that one back in the day.
Celeb fans. Bonnie talks Star Wars (and The Guild and Dr. Horrible and such) with geek of note Felicia Day.
Contests. Hasbro has picked the winner of their diorama contest.
Charity. The Seattle Area Lucasfilm Artifact Collectors Club, aka SARLACC, are selling a collectible lapel pin to raise money for cancer research.
What. Device to subdue rampaging elephants inspired by Empire Strikes Back? Sure, why not.
TFN spotted this amusing novelty product at – where else? – Thinkgeek. Taunt your pets and coworkers with them for a mere $14.99.
In less wacky and far more pricey lightsaber news, a Master Replicas saber signed by George Lucas, Samuel L. Jackson, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor and Nick Gillard is being auctioned on eBay to raise money for the Northern Ireland Children’s Hospice.
His biggest fan. Of course there was a Plo Koon cake, and of course it was eventually served to none other than Dave Filoni. (And Jeremy Bulloch. And Ashley Eckstein.)
Brains. StarWars.com celebrates the release of Death Troopers with Zombie Week. I wish I had the words to tell you how much I’m feeling Zombie Week, but I’m exhausted.
Obession corner. TFN’s Mike Barrick has collected Star Wars references on NBC’s 30 Rock, while GalacticBinder counts down the top 12 Star Wars guitar crossovers.
Charity. The Pennsylvania Star Wars Collecting Society is selling Obi-Wan medallions to help raise money for seriously injured service members.
StarWars.com has continued putting out profiles of the customized Mighty Muggs from SDCC, so here’s what’s gone up since I last blogged them: Dave Filoni, JAKe, Michael Possert, Nicole Falk, Spencer L. Brinkerhoff III, Chris Rabilwongse, Frank Duran, Camilla d’Errico, Kyle Newman and Jaime King.
The Muggs are are still on auction to raise funds for Make-A-Wish. The bids range from $900 (!!) to $60 tonight, and they’re only going to go up! (It ends Friday.)
Video: io9 has a fine collection of Star Wars-themed stand-up videos, some of which we’ve seen before. They also discovered Darth Vader’s Psychic Hotline.