Tag: skywalker ranch

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Win a chance to visit Skywalker Ranch, meet George Lucas and Mark Hamill

The Main House at Skywalker Ranch Would you like the chance to win a trip to meet The Maker and Luke Skywalker? There’s an interesting contest afoot that lets you buy chances to do just that!

For $10 an entry (which get less expensive the more entries you buy), you could win a trip for you and a friend to Skywalker Ranch on February 21st. (Cancel all plans.) There you get a tour of the Ranch with the ranch manager and get to meet George Lucas! Then you get whisked away to meet Mark Hamill at Nerdist HQ in Los Angeles. (That date is, apparently, more flexible, but they’re currently wanting you to do it the next day.)

All entries go to benefit Make-A-Wish. So even if you don’t win ::sob::, your money is going to a great cause.

There are perks to just entering. At various levels, you get everything from an e-card from Mark Hamill thanking you for entering to a t-shirt to a signed lightsaber and beyond!

What are you waiting for? This is actually a big event you can win without having to bid tens of thousands at an auction. How often does that opportunity come around?

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Course of the Force kicks off in the Bay Area

Course of the Force, the lightsaber relay from San Francisco to San Diego raising funds for Make-A-Wish, kicked off on Tuesday with a special celebrity run at Skywalker Ranch, then proceeded on Wednesday around San Francisco, ending with a concert and conival. Ashley Eckstein, one of the co-hosts of Course of the Force, was at Skywalker Ranch to help start the relay and covered it for the Official Star Wars Blog.

COTF-2013-AlexisDenisof-SkywalkerRanchOne of the celebrity runners at Skywalker Ranch was Alexis Denisof (Angel, Much Ado About Nothing), who blogged about his experience running in a spandex Threepio suit, while being cheered by his wife Alyson Hannigan and kids. Other VIP runners included Kyle Newman, Chris Colfer, Todd Roy & Adrienne Curry, and Jared Eng. Check out the official Course of the Force Day 1 Recap by Nerdist’s Dan Casey, as well as a plethora of photos of celebrities and members of the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion up at the Ranch.

Day 2 started off in San Francisco’s South Beach neighborhood, and the relay continued along the bayfront, ending with a crossing of the Golden Gate Bridge, with 38 relay participants scheduled for the morning race. The Conival at San Francisco’s Justin Herman Plaza featured a concert by Journey Unauthorized, and had booths ranging from Otter Pops to Qualcomm and State Farm. Chris Hardwick joined co-hosts Carrie Keagan and Ashley Eckstein for the end of day dueling. My favorite costumes: a family dressed as the Avengers!

Today, the Course of the Force takes a little breather as the lightsaber flies to Los Angeles before picking up for the Southern California segments of the relay from Friday to Tuesday as it travels from LA to San Diego and Comic-Con. Check out the daily schedule of relay segments and conivals. And if you’re on the lookout for Team Hondo, you’ll find the three members of Team Hondo in motion on Monday, July 15 in the morning in the Oceanside and Carlsbad segments – I’ll give out exact details on twitter at @jamesjawa. (And there’s still time if you still want to donate to Team Hondo’s fundraising efforts for Make-A-Wish Foundation chapters in California! I’m currently aiming for $1,250 and I am closing in on it.)

And to put you into an even weirder Course of the Force mood, join Billy Dee Williams, Patton Oswalt and Chris Hardwick for some Star Wars Cantina Karaoke:

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Return of the Jedi is 30 today!

rotj30-100Welcome to the real Star Wars day, the anniversaries of the release dates of Star Wars and Return of the Jedi. Star Wars is 36 today; ROTJ is 30.

StarWars.com has a lengthy interview with Industrial Light & Magic effects guru Dennis Muren about ROTJ.

ROTJ director Richard Marquand and Mark HamillHollywood.com shows us five new pics from Making of Return of the Jedi.

Wired has 30 things you didn’t know about Return of the Jedi – but knowing our audience, you probably already know most of them.

Businessweek reminds us that ROTJ made more money than ESB.

Noted parody hut The Onion has a commentary by ‘George Lucas:’ The Events Depicted In ‘Star Wars’ Actually Happened To Me.

MTV looks at Ewok hate. Aww, come on guys, don’t hate on the Ewoks… They’re delicious!

And Babble’s Pilar Clark has a tour of Skywalker Ranch and Lucasfilm and the Letterman Digital Arts Center.

Finally, beneath the cut, the Revenge of the Jedi trailer. Because I can.

Continue reading “Return of the Jedi is 30 today!”

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The fandom minute: Felicia Day, Kristen Bell, space, Jedi and discounted alcoholic beverages

dayFelicia Day gets her saber on. The internet geek superstar (you probably know her from The Guild, and Dr. Horrible) can check another box on her ultimate geek list by appearing in an internet lightsaber fight.

Kristen Bell teams up with hometown 501s. The Fanboys actress helped the the Great Lakes Garrison raise $2,000 for Michigan charities.

Those look familiar. Check out what they’re building on the International Space Station. Go go science fact!

Jedi church looking for a Master. Too easy. Way too easy.

Drink up. Discount code for Skywalker Ranch wine.