- In what is, believe it or not, the least disturbing story of the entry, a man named Landocalrissan Butler led police on a high-speed car chase in Poughkeepsie on Thursday. (via)
- Arizona man who planned Super Bowl shooting disdained earlier target as being too near a hive of “scum and villainy.”
- Arson suspect used online handle of Jediknight12345 to brag about burning down a church and attached school. Jedi Knighting: UR DOIN IT WRONG.
In the news: Wednesday morning reading list
- A look into the abyss: Star Wars fan Christina Tolisano made an appearance on the premiere of American Idol, impressing no one. (She blogged her audition experience back in September.) Apparently there was a second SW geek, but it seems neither had a chance at being more than just random freak.
UPDATE: TOSblog has video and, oh god oh god, the second contestant is Man-Leia. RUN! - Tribute: Jack Black fearfully admits to writing ‘Death Star’ song for new Tenacious D album.
- Fandom (The light side:) Rebel Legion member Chris Pearson talks about his charity work with Teesside Evening Gazette.
- Fandom (The dark side:) “Highly dangerous” inmate changes name to Obi-Wan Kenobi. A credit to us all.
- Events: George Lucas to be honored by Jackie Robinson Foundation.
The Catchup: Friday morning reading list
NEWS
- Fractal Matter interviews Rick McCallum about all the usual suspects: Red Tails, TV shows, etc.
- Antifungal drug causes visions of Chewbacca. Well, better Wookiees than, say, Cthulhu.
- Star Wars gets namedropped in Blackwater probe.
- £10,000 worth of figures stolen in UK.
EVENTS
- Cédric Delsaux’s Star Wars on Earth photographs are on exhibit in Washington D.C.
GAMING
- Star Wars Battlefront: Renegade Squadron comes out on Tuesday, and TOS has been pulling out all the stops: a two part Q&A; an introduction to Commander Col Serra and a look at his character evolution.
FANDOM
- Perennial blogger Jason Kottke asks the age-old question: What’s the best order to indoctrinate your young with Star Wars?
- University of Alabama offers BUI 301: The Gospel of Star Wars: Mass Entertainment as Postmodern Religion. Does that mean Steve Sansweet is a prophet?
- Bengal Trooper spotted!
PEOPLE
- Sean Connery sexier than Harrison Ford, says poll.
- Natalie Portman campaigns to help end global poverty; will be starring alongside Tobey Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal in Brothers.
- Carrie Fisher to take on Mrs. Bennett in Pride And Prejudice spoof.
- Billy Dee Williams in Aretha Franklin biopic?
MERCHANDISE
- Get your Master Replicas’ products now; with their license expiring, they stop selling Star Wars stuff after December 31st.
- Check out some of the 30th Anniversary Sketch Cards.
- Complete your collection of convention exclusives with the Celebration Europe Droid 2-pack.
Hyperspace
- The latest Bantha Tracks.
- Two Newsnets: Ralltiir Blockade Impacting Sector Economy and Kira Run Opening Up to Mainstream Trade.
- One tiny fiction bit: One Step Ahead.
- And a lowdown on Delta Source.
Oh, snap: Alleged Indy 4 thief nabbed
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department and the FBI apprehended the alleged thief with the help of an ‘unnamed member of the online press,’ IESB reports. The stolen property included production stills and a budget breakdown, and the thief was asking a mere $2,000 for the stolen goods.
Star Wars Roundup: Weekend edition
Millions of gamers suddenly cried out in horror upon discovering that the Star Wars game for Wii is just the Lego Star Wars re-release. Poor, poor gamers.
Alderaan shot first
- Hollywood Chewbacca in the news again. Assaulting Marilyn Monroe? For shame!
- Darth Vader gets (Dis)Honorable Mention on a Five Fictional Geekdads list.
- Seven coolest geeks on television. I think Bonnie’s interviewed at least half of them on starwars.com, so it counts.
- Times Online catches up with some fans heading to Celebration Europe.
- 1100 great movie robots
- Oh, and George is still hanging around Yale.
Some idiot steals an Artoo mailbox
What all of fandom was predicting has finally come to pass: An R2-D2 mailbox has been stolen, along with all the mail inside it. (via starwars.)
Do we know anyone missing a safe?
TFN catches wind of an amusing story of a mysterious safe full of Star Wars figures.
Star Wars in the news
501st: Mark Fordham of Utah in Rob Walker’s ‘Consumed’ column in The New York Times.
Tim Zahn: His Allegiance book tour got coverage in The Oregonian and The Lexington Herald-Leader
Irate Wookiee: Our headbutting friend gets around – papers all over the world are picking up the story. I’m sure LFL is overjoyed.