In Brazil, a five-year-old boy dressed as Spider-Man saves baby girl from fire. Really… Don’t try that home. (via The Beat, who also dug up another case of fandom gone too far.)
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.
Video du Jour: And all fall down
Students create a Star Wars themed Rube Goldberg Machine for physics class. (via)
Won’t somebody think of the children?
I suppose it was inevitable: Sci-Fi Baby Names: 500 Out-of-This-World Baby Names from Anakin to Zardoz. Like geeks need the encouragement. (via SF Signal)
Not for the weak-hearted
Dalton Ross throws his son a Star Wars birthday party:
One question asked them to name as many members of the Jedi Council as possible. I figured they’d get Yoda, Mace Windu, Obi-Wan, and Anakin (although I did have to point out that he was not granted the title of Master), but this one squirrelly young’un actually called out Plo Koon. Plo Koon! How the little bastard knew about Plo Koon is beyond me. I had to look him up on the Internet before I could verify the answer as being correct.
That kid? Gonna grow up to be an admin on Wookieepedia.
Prepare for wheeled assault
The Official Blog tracks down the creator of the internet-famous CIV AT-AT Baby Stroller, Rick Russo.
Video(ish) du Jour: Diaper Wars
Coming this summer to a daycare near you. So cute it’ll make your teeth rot.
CIV: Fun for all
For the big kids, Star Wars Laser Tag; for the little kids (and their parents) the Family Room.
The circle of geek
Entertainment Weekly’s Dalton Ross introduces his 6-year-old son to Star Wars. Worth it just for the following line:
Some fathers teach their sons the ways of the world. Me, I make mine watch a scruffy nerf herder shoot a green alien in the groin.
Sure, he hates on the prequels a bit, but that just means hilarious reader mail in next week’s column.
File under ‘trying to hard to cash in’
The BBC is going to air a “Harry Potter” reality show set at a boarding school where kids will learn magic. Well, stage magic and Latin, just the kinds of things the kids love.