Tag: jaders

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Wear Star Wars Every Day: Weeks 43 & 44

Wear Star Wars Every Day Weeks 43 and 44

#WearStarWarsEveryDay has rolled past its 300th day and Halloween and into November, and we’ve got the photos to prove it! For weeks 43 and 44, I wear an assortment of clothing at an assortment of places, and we pick up two donations for Collateral Repair Project from some of our per-day pledge makers, so thanks Jennifer and Roland! We also show off a few really cool donated Star Wars apparel items, including two custom shirts using custom fabric from Holly of Fauxthentic History podcast and a pair of socks from Tony! Also thanks to everyone who lent me some Star Wars clothing for this week: James, Todd, Tyler, and a slew of Jaders: Dunc, Fen, Yav, Susan. Also thanks to Disney Vault Talk: Rebel Yell podcast for having me on as a guest recently to talk Rebels: ‘The Last Battle’ and share about Wear Star Wars Every Day.

Every day I wear a new and different Star Wars apparel item, my daily pledge makers will chip in $4.65 to Collateral Repair Project! In this review, we’ve got stuff covering me from head to toe: Vader socks, Vader fleece pants, a Vader wrist sweatband, a vintage Darth Vader mask for Halloween, a custom shirt with the vintage Greedo action figure fabric, some Star Wars Celebration Europe wear, a shirt featuring the beauty of Alderaan, and We Are Jedi (2011 Japanese quake & tsunami relief fundraiser from the 501st Legion’s Japanese Garrison), and a shirt from the second JadeCon in 1996. This review for Week 43 & Week 44 covers October 21 to November 3 of my wearathon, and an update on fundraising for Collateral Repair Project, a non-profit organization that provides emergency assistance, education, and community support to urban refugees.

Get more info on what Wear Star Wars Every Day is all about, or make a donation via GoFundMe or a per-day pledge.

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Wear Star Wars Every Day: Weeks 24 & 25


Time for a super-sized review of #WearStarWarsEveryDay for the start of summer! Since I was off at JadeCon last weekend, I didn’t get a chance to wrap up that week, so here’s Weeks 24 and 25. Big thanks to Russ of Empire City Garrison for my first donation of a 501st Legion shirt. Also, thanks to Fen, PG, Shannon, Todd, Margaret, Tony, Paul, and Mediocre Jedi for all their lending of different items of clothing I show off this week. Plenty of shirts – but also a Her Universe skirt! We cover a wide range of Star Wars interests from ILM to podcasts to a Fan Force chapter. This review for Week 24 and 25 covers June 10 to June 23 of my wearathon, and an update on fundraising for Collateral Repair Project, a non-profit organization that provides emergency assistance, education, and community support to urban refugees.

wearsw-origins16

I’ve very excited to be closing in on finishing the first half of 2016 with my project – that’s over 180 days of wearing a different Star Wars article of clothing each day – no repeats! And each day I continue my project is another $4.65 donated by our pledge makers. I’d love to get that total up to $5.00 even (or higher!) for the second half of 2016. If you’d like to chip in at a dime a day or a quarter per day (or more), make your pledge at the per-day pledge form. Or you can just make a one-time or monthly donation at GoFundMe.com/WearStarWars2016.

Get more info on what Wear Star Wars Every Day is all about, or make a donation or a per-day pledge!

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More penguins to squeeze: Mary Franklin on leaving Lucasfilm for ReedPOP

mary-franklinWe learned yesterday that Lucasfilm event lead Mary Franklin is heading to ReedPOP. And while we’ll still see her at Celebration – they produce the con and are under contract at least through Anaheim – it’s still a little bittersweet. Mary herself wrote about it today.

In addition to Celebration, ReedPOP puts on NYCC, C2E2, Emerald City Comicon and a wide selection of international events.

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Athena’s Daughters 2 highlights women, diversity in speculative fiction

athenas-daughters-2Today marks the launch of the Kickstarter for Athena’s Daughters 2, a collection of short speculative fiction by diverse women about diverse women. In Athena’s Daughters 2, publisher Silence in the Library set out for the second time to produce an anthology where women were involved in all aspects of the creative process, from the artists to the authors, the editors to the project managers. We hope that you will support this exciting short story collection of science fiction and fantasy by some wonderful writers.

A year ago, Silence in the Library ran a Kickstarter for the first Athena’s Daughters anthology. That successful campaign funded the first anthology, a companion anthology, Apollo’s Daughters (stories about women, but written by men), and the production for Athena’s Daughters 2. For Athena’s Daughters 2, Silence in the Library had an open call for submissions.

I was thrilled and honored to have a story accepted to this amazing anthology. Athena’s Daughters 2 marks my first published fiction since the Star Wars stories I wrote with Club Jade co-founder Chris Cassidy for Tales of the New Republic and Star Wars Gamer.

Athena’s Daughters 2 has many other ties to Club Jade. CJer Elizabeth Bridges also has a story featured in the anthology, her first original fiction story!

athenas-pennyblossomJanine Spendlove, also a CJer, co-edits Athena’s Daughters 2. Janine, an active KC-130 pilot in the United States Marine Corps, is the author of the War of the Seasons trilogy. She co-founded Geek Girls Run with, among others, BrightCopperPenny, another CJer, and maker of Penny Blossoms. If you check out the Kickstarter page, you’ll see the special Penny Blossom that BrightCopperPenny designed just for Athena’s Daughters 2; it’s available both as a $15 add-on and for a $22 pledge!

Silence of the Library has published many CJ alums and friends, including Janine, Bryan Young, Ron Garner, Mike Stackpole, Tim Zahn, and the late Aaron Allston.

I hope you’ll click through to read more about this amazing project and watch the hilarious musical video that accompanies it, complete with filking, chorus line kicks, and Vegas-style showgirls! Athena’s Daughters 2 needs your support.

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Yub yub, Emperor: Author Aaron Allston has passed away

Aaron at JadeCon

It is with a great deal of sadness and tears that I must report that our dear friend, author Aaron Allston, passed away Thursday.

Aaron was, as Timothy Zahn describes him, “a wonderful author, a devastating punster, an erudite teacher, and — most of all — a wonderful friend.”

For Star Wars fans, Aaron is perhaps best known for his many books in the X-Wing, New Jedi Order, Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi series. His other books include Doc Sidhe, and he had recently self-published Plotting: A Novelist’s Workout Guide. He also conducted writing seminars at conventions such as Celebration, Origins and Dragon*Con, often in tandem with fellow author Mike Stackpole.

I don’t think there’s much I need to say about his writing to this crowd: It’s a rarity, but it seems like pretty much everyone loved Aaron’s books, Star Wars and otherwise.

I meet Aaron in the JadeCon suite one year, when GenCon was still in Milwaukee – it must have been the late 90′s. I was one of only a handful of people in the suite, and I was a bit nervous, because speaking to authors, or celebs of any kind, has never been my forte. But talking to Aaron was easy. He was personable, he was hilarious, he instantly made one feel at ease. Even if you had just met him, he treated you like a friend. He would have been an instant favorite of Club Jade even if he hadn’t written books we loved.

No matter what one thinks of the Expanded Universe, Aaron was a great asset to Star Wars and the fandom. Club Jade is honored to have known him, his work, and to have had him as our first and only Emperor.

Fans and friends are leaving remembrances on Aaron’s Facebook page.

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Roundup: Get your hunt on at Celebration V

Remember the Kessel Run puzzle race at Celebration IV? Well, our own James and Dan are back with the Bounty Hunt – this time with three different challenges – one each Thursday, Friday and Sunday. Sign up your team by August 5 to guarantee a spot!

  • UPDATE: If you made your hotel reservations through 1800Hotels.com, double-check with your hotel! The company has filed for Chapter 11.
  • The Commitment Chapel is now taking reservations. Sure, it’s not legally binding, but it will cost you 75 big ones.
  • Want to take home a really permanent souvenir? Don’t forget your painkillers, because there’ll be live tattooing. If you’re not quite ready for that level of commitment, there’s a tattoo show Sunday morning or one-of-a-kind skateboard decks will be auctioned off for charity.
  • Need a reason to get a smartphone? iPhone and Android users can look forward to a Celebration mobile app.

And don’t forget postmarks, the Star Wars Stories Project and cereal boxes.