A Tiger Riding a Horse

Darth Vader Does Hammertime

Hab ja letztens den Hammerpants-Flashmob gepostet. René hat auf Nerdcore heute eine andere Version gebracht – den Star Wars Hammerdance. Aaawesome!

Today on the internet, this photo featuring some of the cast of Star Wars (1977) appeared:

from left to right: Han Solo, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Princess Leia, R2D2, Luke Skywalker

Of course, if Lucas was filming Episode IV today with available CGI, this photo would probably look like this:

But since he isn’t and he is bound by what he filmed in 1977, I think it is accurate to say that if he were to redo this picture, it would look like this:

Hopefully Lucas doesn’t see this old picture and decide to “Special Edition” it.

Greetings. Here are the entries for this weeks word, READER. Initially I had misgivings about this word but it turned out to be a real gem. As has happened in the past, shane and meself managed to apply similar themes to the idea, but with a different view.
I went for a picture of Judge Anderson, from the 2000AD comic book. A psionic mind reader. Way back in the mists of time, one of the earliest illustrators that I can remember being a big fan of was Chris Achilleos. He was certainly one of the first artists that I bought a book of his work of. One of the image that has always stayed with me was of a fantastic airbrushed picture he did of Judge Anderson looking all mean, moody and sexy. Well it’s taken me a long time but I’ve finally gotten around to doing my own version. Still not a patch on Mr. Achilleos’ but I’m happy with it.

Shane’s produced another corker. Again he reported having a slight issue with the word at first. A “turd” I think he called it. but like other possibly awkward words in the past the end result tends to be a belter. And so it is with Shane’s excellent Darth Vader as asideshow performer poster.
Very funny .
.

Most everyone has heard the name Star Wars. Some people know more about the saga than you’d think possible while others have a limited awareness. But from the utmost fan to the novice, The Force Unleashed aims to please.

This story takes place between “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” and “Episode IV: A New Hope.” Launched as a video game by LucasArts this Novel adaption was written by Australia author Sean Williams, who has also co-written three books in the New Jedi Order series (which I have yet to read.)

Story overview:

One fine day as Darth Vader was out frolicking on a foreign planet, he kills countless Wookies while making his way to the home of a Jedi. The original Star Wars movie indicated this time in history–when Vader tracked down all the Jedi and slaughtered them–which is why Yoda was in hiding. At any rate, Vader succeeds at killing the man, but to his surprise a little boy (the dead man’s son) summons the very lightsaber out of Vader’s hand. Rather than kill the boy, he takes him in as his secret apprentice.

In the game this scene was shown in the beginning, but in the book we don’t learn about it until later when the boy–now grown into a young man–experiences visions from the past. It was at this time he was searching out people who opposed the Emperor. Unlike before, he wasn’t there to kill them, but was on Vader’s orders to rally them to start a rebellion. Yes, that rebellion. Why? Vader said it was so he could overthrow the Emperor and take his place, with Starkiller at his side.

With Starkiller’s attractive pilot, Juno Eclipse, they travel the stars in order to fulfill his mission. We come across some familiar characters, such as Leia Organa, and get an earlier glimps of the Death Star. Starkiller finds himself torn between his loyalty to Vader and his love for Juno, and in the process we are wonderfully exposed to many twists and turns.

My thoughts:

The story was much better than I thought it would be. Aside from the clunky action scenes–that sounded like a summary of the video game–I found myself getting into the tale. As a video game (which I’ve only partly played on the PS3,) and a book, I think the best adaption of this story would be in a movie format. I can see this being a hit on the big screen as it almost seemliness intertwines into the original franchise. I give the story four out of five, and am filled with a new desire to give the video game a second chance. That, and it’s important to note that the story has a lot of heart.

Things to consider:

I would age rank this in the early teens. There are no inappropriate sexual references or foul language, but there is a considerable amount of violence that could be disturbing to some children. And being Star Wars, this would definitely appeal more towards boys, but it isn’t limited to them by any means.

Opportunities for discussion:

Much like the original Star Wars theme, this story is a great opportunity to talk to your teens about redemption. The main difference here is that, unlike Vader who turned from the force, embraced the dark side, and then came back again; Starkiller only ever knew the dark side and was raised to believe it was right. It is common today for people to think they are “good people” and to “justify” their actions based on what they believe to be right, as is what Starkiller thought, but even in this tale Juno pointed out how [Starkiller] needed to be saved. Ask your teens if they think being a “good person” in their own definition is good enough. Then share with them your thoughts on the matter.

Vous rêvez de découper Jabba le Hutt en morceaux ou de décapiter Jango Fett avec votre sabre laser de Seigneur Sith (pas de gentils Jedi ici), mais vous n’arrivez qu’à trancher les sashimis de thon rouge et de saumon de votre Menu R? Les baguettes sabre laser Star Wars sont faites pour vous.

Accompagnées d’un porte-baguette assorti et disponibles en modèle Dark Vador, Luke Skywalker et Maître Yoda, les baguettes sont tout simplement monstrueuses et seront offertes aux gagnants du concours d’habileté avec des baguettes qui aura lieu lors du Comic Con de San Diego. Les jeunes Padawan choisiront alors s’ils mangent ou non du côté obscur de la table, selon la couleur de leur sabre à riz. Et bien entendu, par deux elles vont toujours.

Via

Darth Vader?

…like when you’re making a stitchy remake of Star Wars: A New Hope using 472 15-second clips. Each done by a different person, and, of course, in a different style.

So far there are only 3 finished clips on the Star Wars: Uncut site. I have to say. I cannot wait until this is finished. I think I may even throw a viewing party for it.

Who’s with me!? (If you’re not with me, you’re against me.)

Desigur ca mai toti am vazut Star Wars si stim cine ar fi imparatul cine ar fi Darth Vader samd.Dar cati dintre voi se asteapta ca imnul regelui si anume marsul imperial sa fie cantat la un hard disk mai exact la bratul actuator al acestuia.

Dementiala faza si sincer imi place cum a iesit faza sincer am ras cu lacrimi pentru ca sincer nu ma asteptam la asa ceva.

Si daca aveti impresia ca asta e tot stati sa auziti marsul imperial si la floppy disk

Depois de me decepcionar com o Darth Vader encontrei um novo Herói.

Desculpa-me Darth.

Darth Vader preocupado!

Leónidas agora é meu novo Herói:

Leónidas jogando xadrez!

Today, I figure we’d go back to some classic, viral action. This is the best of the Vader Sessions. Basically, the creator took Star Wars footage and re-dubbed Darth Vader with other James Earl Jones films. It’s good stuff and well worth a second look. Enjoy!

Não Darth Vader, você não!

Não Darth você não!

…würde der C-3PO-USB-Stick sagen – wenn er sprechen könnte. Neben C-3PO zieren Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Darth Maul, Captain Rex und noch einige weitere Star Wars-Figuren USB-Sticks von Mimoco. Diese Sticks habe ich zum ersten Mal im Star Wars Insider entdeckt, jedoch erst jetzt wieder gefunden.

Die Sticks sind so gebaut, dass wenn man den Deckel abnimmt, maskierte Charaktere “demaskiert” werden. Darth Vader, der interessanteste, demaskierte, gibt es in zwei Versionen – einmal demaskierbar und einmal mit normal abnehmbarem Helm. Bei den Figuren ohne Helme & Masken wir einfach der obere Teil des Kopfs “gelüftet”.

Die Figuren kosten – je nachdem, ob sie 1, 2, 4 oder 8GB laden können – zwischen 20 bis 50 Dollar.

Iniciando uma nova sessão (se é que esse blog possui alguma), está a banda/projeto/sei-lá-o-quê Gnarles Barkley, que em 2006, no MTV movie awards, cantaram a música Crazy, só que  com trajes do STAR WARS. (como o rapper Cee-lo vestido de Darth Vader)

Não é bem um clipe, mas tá valendo!

I did not play organized football beyond the fourth grade, and like a lot fans, I compensate for my limited experiences in sports with an almost childlike obsession as a spectator. I did play a sport in high school during my freshman year, and I was pretty good at it. I was a varsity letter cross-country runner. It did not pull the honeys.

The point of mentioning this, though, is that while trudging back from yet another five-mile practice run with the team, I would spy the high school football squad going through the motions. Their football coach was a towering, lugubrious looking figure with a cold, sneering, cruel face, yet with an accent just short of sounding like one of the Three Stooges. To add to it, he had a fu manchu mustache more appropriate to Ming the Merciless than Joseph William Namath. His team did not like him.

Let them hate; so long as they fear. This is the essence of Machiavelli’s rule of leadership, I suppose. We have not evolved far enough as a species to really produce leaders of a pure moral essence, so Jean-Luc Picard wasn’t exactly my high school’s football coach. Neither was he particularly self-conscious. I find that tyrants are often not. A very talented player on his team went to the trouble of producing a very good likeness of the coach dressed as Darth Vader, wielding a light saber, and hung it outside his office. When I asked the coach – callow kid of 14 that I was – why he didn’t take the picture down, he replied, “Because I want the bastard who did this to feel ashamed of himself for what he did.” Somehow, even so young, I knew that coach’s plan wasn’t going to work. Displaying his work under any pretext will only embolden your average artist, and so I had my first real taste of dramatic irony.

The real point of mentioning this, though, was that (as I began earlier before Truth broke in with all her matter-of-fact) as I fumbled back into the locker room at high school, I passed by football practice one day and saw the coach blistering three players on the sidelines for sitting on their helmets. “I told you idiots once, I told you a million times I don’t want to see that.”

But why? If it was OK for John Riggins, then why not for the chubby boys of my high school? Did they seriously weigh that much? Was the coach worried about replacing equipment that would go cracked under a lineman’s buttocks? Could he actually have been worried for their brains’ fragile cages? Was this just a peeve? A peeve, probably. One that #40 James Hasty evidently would have had no problem deflecting. Hasty and Russell Carter are two secondary players I was sorely unhappy to the Jets let go.

Sometimes I play a little game with myself in which I imagine what if…. There’s so much in Jets history from which to choose. There are too many examples. Suffice: what if James Hasty had not left the Jets secondary to join the Chiefs in 1994? If he had stayed a Jet, he would have endured Kotite and then Parcells’ grinding mill. How would a high profile defensive player have been received by the Tuna Overlord? I mean, Otis Smith, Ray Mickens, and Aaron Glenn all played for the ‘96 squad and then for Parcells, so maybe Hasty would have been able to play for the Great Manipulator. He might not immediately have been painted as a prima donna. For the Chiefs, Hasty earned Pro Bowl seasons from 1997 to 1999. Had he been on the Jets during that time, would Parcells have told him to get up off his hemlet? I believe not, though it might still be a good idea for my old high school coach and Parcells to be in group therapy.

****

According to Mark Kriegal’s biography of Namath, the Franchise’s best pal, Ray Abruzzese #25, was cut in 1967 to make room for a defensive back rookie who lead the nation with 11 interceptions the year before at Utah State. This meant nothing to Namath, whose bodyguard, manservant, pal and general wing man was now sent off to play actual football somewhere else. Namath bemoans this move in the book, noting that Henry King #40, Ray’s replacement, was just “some rich rookie,” which two years before was how people described Joe Willie. Irony abounds in this entry, I guess. Even when he was nearsighted on such issues, Namath appears prescient. Randy Beverly #42 eventually took King’s place by the end of 1967 and was instrumental in nailing down the Jets Super Bowl Championship with some key defensive plays. Henry King left football at the end of ‘67 and was never heard from in the NFL again. I still say that you cut Ray Abruzzese, though.

It certainly looks as though Dainard Paulson #40 wants us to say something about him, doesn’t it? And why not. There’s a little surprise here for some of you unfamiliar with the early history of your beloved club. King replaced Dainard Paulson in #40 in 1967. Originally a New York Titan, Paulson came out of Oregon State and eventually caught 12 interceptions in 1964 as a Jet, a statistic placing him not only in the AFL All-Star Game but in the all-time annals of the game itself – tied at #5 for all-time single season interception records. Paul Krause did the same in the NFL for the Redskins in ‘64. The only person afterwards to approach this single-season record was Lester Hayes in 1980 for the Oakland Raiders, but remember that Hayes did it in a 16-game season. Dainard Paulson was just two seasons away from having the same distinction as Bill Mathis, Larry Grantham, Curley Johnson and Don Maynard – as both Titans and Jets in Super Bowl III – but Paulson’s career ends without statistical distinction at the end of 1966. The rest is silence.

If Dainard Paulson was that good – and he was – where did he go? To vanish irrevocably from the game must have been traumatic for him. Or was it, all the same, just a boy’s game and not a man’s endeavor to him? Maybe it was just time to return to his childhood home in California, to begin his life as a surfer, to discover bliss in the warm ocean and under God’s sunshine. These are the mysteries that keep me awake at night.

Dan just sent me a list of new and restocked products in our store in Phoenix. If you are shopping in the “bricks-and-mortor” store and purchase one of these items, tell them you saw this on the blog to get a 10% discount.

Gentle Giant
    30 Days of Night Action Figures from Gentle Giant
        Arvin (with Variations)
        Marlo (with Variations)
        Iris (with Variations)
 
NECA
    Gears of War Locust Hive Boxed Figure 4 Pack
    Terminator 2 T-800 Arnold Pescadero Escape 12″ Figure
    Classic Alien 7″ Action Figure (Restocked)
 
Miscellaneous and Collections
    Buck Rogers 1/6 Scale Figure from Go Hero
    Dino Riders Loose Figures and Dinosaurs Collection
    GI Joe Rise of Cobra Action Figures
    Super Heroes Loose Figure Collection
    Star Wars Darth Vader Sideshow 12″ Figure
    Toy Fare Magazine #145
    Wolverine Marvel Select Figures Tiger Stripe and 1st Appearance Versions

via suicide blonde

I’ve been home since the 7th of July. You’ll have to excuse my lack of posting, but I am enjoying the time with my son too much to sit on a computer for too long, unless he is sitting in my lap as we play a game. I am sure the parents who read this can understand.

Tonight, he is asleep and this is the first night I haven’t fallen asleep at the same time he has (curse you, jet lag!). To give you an idea of the kinds of activities that are keeping me busy as a slowly reintegrating father, I have, in the past week: gone to the park 3 times, McDonald’s twice, helped make cookies, fought countless battles with plastic lightsabers, taught my son 10 vocabulary words (I am an aspiring English teacher), swam in the grandparent’s pool every day but one, woken up before 8 AM every morning, made several dozen juice drinks, taken a couple of pictures, and gone to church. All of this is, of course, with Luke.

The highlight of my week, if any single activity is more precious than another, has been playing Lego Star Wars with Luke, on the Nintendo Wii. We have played through the Episode IV content, and are working on Empire Strikes Back. And, because we’ve been playing the games, we’ve also watched A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back in the past few days. My son, who was excited about Star Wars before he ever watched a movie, and had only seen a couple of episodes of The Clone Wars on Cartoon Network, is now ga-ga for Jedi. I couldn’t be happier.

The best singular moment, though, was when Luke Skywalker learns that a certain someone is his father. Last Christmas, my mother, being the savvy mother of two geeks like she is, bought me a red plastic lightsaber and my son a blue lightsaber. When Luke, Skywalker type, has his hand cut off by his father who wields a red lightsaber, Luke, my son type, looks over at me with a very suspicious look on his face.

“Darth Vader was Luke’s father,” he says, more as a statement than a question.

“Yes.”

“But he cut off his son’s hand with his red lightsaber.”

“Yes. Luke Skywalker didn’t know it was his dad he was fighting, who is a bad guy.”

“His dad is a bad guy?”

“Yes.”

“My blue lightsaber won’t really cut anything off.”

“Right.”

“Or your red one.”

“It definitely will not cut anything off for real.”

“Ok. Can I have the red one anyways?”

Funny Star Wars clip that I saw years ago but found it hilarious. Darth Vader is a bit of a dick really

I had many birthday parties over the weekend and this weekend, one particular birthday party was very interesting! I had expected a very rowdy party since the party was for THREE 6-year old boys and held at the Grass Roots Club Childrens’ Playground. I had a pleasant surprise and it was a great great party! In fact, Kinetic Gal had a good time and met a very special character at the party.

He’s a VILLAIN.

BIG VILLAIN.

Guess who?

YES. Him. Darth Vader!

The guys obviously had a super time with Darth Vader (or trying to kill Darth Vader).

But Kinetic Gal was not bad either. Soon after Darth Vader left, the guys settled down and we had a heck of a time with the juggling magic show! Throughout the show, the little guys kept asking ‘How did you do that??’ LOL! The children had a heck of the time at the party, and so did I!

Unfortunately, as Yoda would say: ‘End it, we must’. And so, the show came to an ‘end’, and the kids continued having more fun at the playground.

Happy birthday to the 3 Jedi Knights!

Kinetic Gal

Yesterday, I went to the Washington National Cathedral, which is the second largest cathedral in the U.S. (the first is in NYC).

Side view of the National Cathedral.

I honestly knew nothing about the cathedral. I thought it was built maybe a century ago, but  to my surprise, I learned that it was only completed in 1990. Even though it’s designed in the 14th-century gothic style, visitors can tell that it’s not the typical European cathedral.

Throughout this Episcopal cathedral, sound speakers and flat-screen TVs are tucked in to help all worshipers hear what’s going on in the service.  Another difference is that even with the gothic style, the cathedral is full of light and gives a feeling of hope, rather than the feeling of the Dark Ages, the Medieval Period when many of Europe’s cathedrals were built.

But what I really liked about the National Cathedral was that it celebrated civic history, too, making it accessible to all Americans, not just Episocalians or Christians. There’s the Space Window, a window made of stained glass that shows the earth and the moon, and has piece of real moon rock in it; There’s the seat cushions in St Peter’s chapel that are named for famous Americans who have died; There’s the War and Peace chapel that has a cross made out of the debris from the Penatgon from Sept. 11; And the list goes on.

Darth Vader grotesque. Photo from the National Cathedral Web site.

The cathedral and its workers have a sense of humor, too. One stone sculpture added designs on the edge of the door where the clergy, the cannons, get dressed. On one side of the door, he included a type of canon known as a “dressed canon” and on the other side, an “undressed canon.” Another artist painted a fabric design on the ceiling, but to show when he was working he added a streak of gold paint. At first glance, it looks like a mistake, but it represents Halley’s Comet, which was visible while he was painting that section. Oh, and there’s a grotesque on the outside of the building that looks like Darth Vader.

All of this helped me to understand my question of why America should have a National Cathedral at all. It’s another gathering space in Washington, but it has a special meaning of peace and hope — something that no other building can really claim. Of course, no federal funds were use to build it to reinforce separation of church and state, but Congress did sign off on its charter, in effect giving permission to build.

And, like all things in the U.S., there’s diversity in national places of worship. Not only do we have a National Cathedral, but we also have a National Islamic Center (mosque) and a National Synagogue.

Achuta, If you have the force to participate in this, I envy you. This will be pure fun on a bun yellow block letters scrolling to heavenly wizardry!

Star Wars: Uncut gives fans a chance to retell A New Hope; the movie will be split into 472 clips, likely of varying quality but all better than Phantom Menace:

Hello! You and 472 other people have the chance to recreate Star Wars: A New Hope. Below is the entire movie split up into 15 second clips. Click on one of the scenes to claim it, film it, and upload it. You can have up to three scenes! When we’re all done, we’ll stitch it all together and watch the magic happen.

I can’t wait to see what you guys create. The end result will hopefully be littered with home movies, animation, live action, abstract, comedy, or even stop motion. Pull out those old Star Wars toys!

It’s only been 48 hours and there already have been 218 scenes claimed!

Can I join in, somebody?!

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