Toph's Star Wars Blog

One Year Later: The Last Post

2005-05-31T17:12:00.000-04:00

Exactly one year ago, right down to the minute, I posted my first post on this blog.* This, fittingly, is my last.

*Judging by the time stamp you see, anyway. Yes, I cheated. ;-)

While I may reactivate this site sometime in the future, it'll stay dormant for now. I'll certainly keep the archives up, though. From now on, head on over to my Hyperspace Blog for all my latest updates.

A year ago, I hadn't even seen a single trailer for Episode III. I didn't even know the title! Now, though, I've seen the movie eight times. Quite a lot has happened. It'll be interesting to see what the coming year is like.

That's all, folks. But remember: the Force will be with you... always.

Episode III

2005-05-19T02:58:00.000-04:00

I SAW IT! AND IT ROCKS!

And I have to go to bed now... but it rocks!

AT THE THEATER

2005-05-18T22:51:00.000-04:00

In a matter of minutes, I will be at the theater for the midnight showing of the final installment in the Star Wars saga! See those Wookiees celebrating on the right? Their glee pales in comparison to mine.

I must go now. The Force will be with you... always.

ONE: Less than three hours!

2005-05-18T21:15:00.000-04:00

Less than three hours now! I finished ROTJ, and now I'm getting a bit of last-minute homework in... while wearing my ROTS sweatshirt and T-shirt. :-)

Then I'll watch the tail end of Episode II and GO SEE EPISODE III!!!

Yes, I'm very, very, very excited. VERY.

Am I more than just a little sad that it'll be ending? Yes. But it's not really ending. There'll be at least a couple more TV series, countless books, tons of comics, toys, videogames... you name it. Star Wars will live as long as fans exist to keep it going -- which means it's got at least another eighty years, assuming I live to be 95. With modern medicine, I think that's reasonable.

When I get home in about five or six hours, I'll be looking forward to seeing the digital version of ROTS this Sunday, playing the game, analyzing the movie for every detail, reading the book (finally!), seeing the deleted scenes on DVD, and whatever Super Special Limited Edition they cook up for the big 50th anniversary in 2027. Star Wars isn't ending... it's just beginning.

Well, not really. It's more in the middle. A little closer to the end than the middle, probably. But you get my point.

ONE: Midnight Showing!!!

2005-05-18T16:16:00.000-04:00

Less than eight hours now! Read on to learn more!

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Episode III @ Midnight

It was never a part of my master plan to go at midnight. Not seriously, anyway. Secretly, I always kind of wished things could work out so I would see it. Well, now...

YES!!! I'm going! At the last minute, it just kind of worked out that tickets were still available -- barely -- and I realized I really did want to go. It turns out I have very little homework due Friday, partially due to my going ahead and partially due to good scheduling luck -- we only have one class Friday. So, I'll skim Episode II after a bit of homework, and then go tonight. I'll get back around 2:30 AM. I'll go to bed -- as if I'll be able to go to sleep, thinking about all the awesomeness I just witnessed -- and wake up around 10:00.

I won't be able to have a full I - VI marathon, but it's worth it doing it this way anyway. I'll watch what I can of I and II tomorrow morning, and then go at noon with some family. Then I'll go home, watch what I can of IV - VI, and then go with a big group of friends at 7:00.To quote everyone's favorite Sith: "Yippee!"

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I'm currently watching Episode VI. "Twilight is upon me... and soon, night must fall."

That's the exact point I'm at in the movie. And it's strangely appropriate. Night is coming fast, and with it, the final piece of the Star Wars saga.

That is the way of things.

TWO: Blogs, Dreams, Midnight, and More

2005-05-17T23:09:00.000-04:00

Only TWO days left now!!!

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Hyperspace Blogs

Around noon yesterday, StarWars.com launched Hyperspace Blogs... and it was even announced in my own thread! Well, I'm sure it showed up elsewhere first, but whatever...

Anyway, because I've been so busy trying to finish all my homework in advance so I'll have an uninterrupted Star Wars Day on Thursday -- my work takes me long enough on regular days -- I didn't even check my thread. So, I didn't find out until the official announcement today. Sigh. Oh well. Second day isn't too bad, is it? Especially since today marks two days until Episode III!!! Ooh! Symbolism! Symbolism!

I'll probably make the full transition to Hyperspace Blogs this weekend, although I'll definitely keep this one up so you can look through the (almost) full year of archived entries. In the mean time, I'll be posting entries -- the exact same ones -- on both blogs.

Dreams

Back on April 28, I dreamed that there were only two days left until Episode III. Well, that day has come! Then again, in my dream I was also Jar Jar Binks... yes, I'm serious... and I committed suicide. Yes, I'm serious.

I've been having a TON of Star Wars dreams lately. I don't remember them all, but I try to write them down when I do. A couple notable recent ones:

Watching Episode III in IMAX with my school.
Someone at school talking about "back when there were tauntauns." At school, apparently.
Watching Episode III digitally at Loews.
The Battle of Endor, except the Star Destroyers dive down to the surface of Endor and then submerge, becoming weird submarine hybrids.
I'm standing at a Galactic Senate security checkpoint when a couple MagnaGuards come in.

There have been more... tons more. I don't have time to write them all out, though.

Midnight Episode III Showing

No, I'm not going to it. Tons of people at school are, though. I'm not for a couple reasons:

Scheduling: if I'm to watching Episodes I and II, then go to III, then IV - VI, I'd have to start watching at about 18:00, which would give me virtually no time to do homework tomorrow night. I'd also have to stay up until about 10:00 the next morning, which brings me to my next point...
Sleep: I'd get no sleep. And sleep is nice. It lets me stay conscious throughout the next 30,000 viewings of ROTS... which, frankly, I think I could easily sit through, but you get the point.

Episode V

Tonight I continued my Pre-III marathon by skimming through the rest of IV, then watching Episode V. Yay!!!

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Bed time. Sleep is good, remember that!

THREE: AOTC turns 3, ROTS turns -3

2005-05-16T21:05:00.000-04:00

Today marks three years since Attack of the Clones' release, on May 16, 2002. It is marks negative three days until Revenge of the Sith's release! Three is the magic number, indeed.

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My Star Wars Marathon Continues

Last night, I only got to the "Young Skywalker is in pain, terrible pain!" part of Attack of the Clones, so this afternoon, right when I got home from school, I saw the rest (albeit skipping tiny bits). Then, during supper, we saw A New Hope up until the "Aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" part.

Customizable Excuse Note

Missing school or work this Thursday due to an inexplicable, one-day illness? Check out Geek Squad's customizable May 19th excuse note!

How many times?

Theforce.net has a poll going asking how many times you plan to see Episode III opening day. I fall into the "twice" category. When last I checked the results, 466 said "5 times or more" -- 8% of the votes tallied thus far.

37%: Once
42%: More than once
19%: None opening day

No, that doesn't total 100%, but that's what the poll results say.

I saw Episodes I and II six times each in theaters, just once on opening day. (Episode II, those, I saw once each of the first three days it was out.) Episode IV (Special Edition) I saw twice in theaters. Episodes V and VI I've never seen in theaters. The only time I've seen a movie twice in one day (that I can remember) is The Incredibles, and that was just so I could see the Episode III trailer twice! :-) (Also, I don't think that was opening day -- might have been the day after.)

For Episode III, I'm determined to see it at least a dozen times in theaters. So determined that, over TWO years ago, on Friday, April 11, 2003, I had my mom say a pledge, which I recorded on the computer, that she would allow me to see it so many times. I still have it. It's pretty long, and I have homework to do, but one day -- maybe this weekend -- I'll actually post a transcript.

Sith Happens

StarWars.com posted a new TV spot today, entitled "Sith Happens (3 Days)." I believe it was only showing on TV today, and that they'll have different ones for two days, one day, and THE day.

LEGO Fun at School

Today, during X-Block, which goes from 9:00 to about 10:00 on Mondays (plus or minus ten minutes), I stayed in my Geometry classroom -- that's what I had from 8:00 - 9:00 -- and played with some Legos some kid had left behind. First I made a roman numeral "III," made of of yellows with the exception of a stripe of red second row down. Then I made an "S," "I," "T," and "H," and attached them to the bottom of the "III" to spell "SITH." Then I made a couple random lava-ish structures, and then "Toph" to put off to the side as a signature, and then some more lava, and then a crude "19."

Chewie Fun at School

Speaking of school, I've been working on a model of Chewbacca's head for well over a month now. Everyone had to make a head out of cardboard, so I did Chewie. Everyone else has been done for weeks now, though. Not me. I'm finishing off the skeleton, and then I have to put cardboard "fur" on. Estimated time of completion? Used to be about now; now it's, pessimistically (but realistically), next fall. Sadly, it's not the kind of thing that can easily be taken home and worked on.

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Three more days... three more oh-to-short days...

THREE

2005-05-16T13:09:00.000-04:00

Exactly three days from now, I'll be watching Episode III!!!

Gotta go -- I'm in school. :-)

MTFBWY

FOUR: Galactic Dollars, Wookiee Hooky, and more

2005-05-15T13:23:00.000-04:00

Four more days! And one week until I see the digital version, which is reportedly a teeny bit longer!

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Galactic Dollars

Forbes.com has a fascinating article on how much money Star Wars has made. They estimate it to be about $20 billion, adjusted for inflation. "The amount of money generated by the Star Wars franchise over the course of its lifetime is sufficient to eclipse the annual gross domestic product of Paraguay." Hehehe....

Wookiee Hooky

Speaking of money, the New York Post is reporting that American businesses stand to lose $627 million this week due to employees playing hooky to go see Episode III! Yikes. :-) (Then again, they point out that it'll at least give the film industry a little boost!)

Episode III Reviews

They've been positive so far, which is reassuring, although I'm sure I'd love it no matter what the critics said. Today the Boston Globe had a special preview, which I'm not reading until after I see the movie. Who knows what they could have thrown in there!?

I'll be posting a quick review on Thursday, a more extensive one Friday, and then a Digital Version update on Sunday.

Theater Count

Revenge of the Sith is estimated to be opening in 3,700 theaters this Thursday, making it the 10th widest release ever.

The Unifying Force

What with all this Episode III stuff, it's easy to forget that I'm on the brink of completing the New Jedi Order! I'm determined to finish The Unifying Force by Thursday, but still have about 250 pages left. Wish me luck! I'm going to need it....

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I'll be watching Episode II tonight, to follow up on yesterday morning's viewing of Episode I. I have to go now, so may the Force be with you!

FIVE: Planning, TV, a Birthday and more

2005-05-14T15:41:00.000-04:00

Only five more days now! You know, five is the number of Star Wars episodes currently out. So today is special. Yesterday was also special, since it marked six days left, and six is the total number of Star Wars episodes. The day before that was special because it marked one week until Episode III. The day before that (we're at last Wednesday, the eleventh, now) was special because it marked eight days left, and eight is the number of Star Wars movies currently completed (Episodes I - VI, plus the two Ewok movies). Last Tuesday was special because it marked single-digits in the countdown to Episode III. Last Monday marked the last day of double-digits. And so on. :-)

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Planning the 19th

This Thursday, you know, is rather special. For me, at least. You see, it's the day my younger brother presents his big CHP project. Oh, and it's opening night for the school musical. And it's the season finale of The O.C. And there are speeches at school for people running for class officers. And my dad has a dentist appointment.

Oh yeah, and I think there's some movie coming out, too.

I've noticed that events tend to clump together on certain days, especially Thursdays. It's kind of annoying sometimes, because it can cause annoying scheduling conflicts. For example, this past Thursday, the 12th, was the Boston City Year Episode III Charity Premiere. But it was also "Asian Nite" at school (which we actually got extra credit in History for attending) and George Lucas' cameo on The O.C.

This Thursday, though, is going to be one of the most exciting in my life.* I've been planning it for years, now, but the current plan -- and my first actual thought-out one -- took shape this past summer, in Alaska.

Two of my uncles, my aunt, two of my cousins, my brother, my parents and I were all walking along one a beautiful hill. There was a restaurant there, seemingly in the middle of nowhere, and we had lunch there. While walking around that day, though, I was talking with one of my uncles -- the one that lives here, and not in Alaska -- about the 19th.

I proposed waking up, watching Episodes I and II, then the Clone Wars cartoons, then going to see Episode III, coming back, and watching IV, V, and VI. It seemed unlikely at the time, and I estimated it would take at least 18 hours, requiring us to wake up at about 6:00 AM and then go to bed around midnight. Here's the current, very rough plan.

May 18th
* Do all homework due Friday or earlier
* Prepare Star Wars DVDs
* 22:00: Go to bed (optimistically early)

May 19th
* 07:00: Wake up, put in Episode I
* 09:20: Finish Episode I
* 09:21: Put in Episode II
* 11:45: Finish Episode II
* 12:00: EPISODE III BEGINS
* 14:30: EPISODE III ENDS
* 14:40: Put in Episode IV
* 16:45: Finish Episode IV
* 16:46: Put in Episode V
* 18:50: Finish Episode V
* 19:00: EPISODE III (Second Showing) BEGINS
* 21:30: EPISODE III (Second Showing) ENDS
* 21:40: Put in Episode VI
* 23:55: Finish Episode VI

There you have it. Note that I may have to abridge the films a bit, since otherwise it might just take too long. I certainly wouldn't want to be late for Episode III, now would I!?

Speaking of abridgement (is that a word?), just this morning I watched a slightly truncated Episode I. Tomorrow I'll do the same with Episode II, then IV Monday, then V Tuesday, and VI Wednesday. I intend to be one of the first people in the world to see every Star Wars movie (abridged or not; yes, I'm kind of cheating) twice in one week-long period. :-)

TV Ads

Yesterday, two new TV ads went online at StarWars.com: "Celebration" and "Brothers." They're both pretty cool, albeit not as good as "End of Wars" (which went online this past Wednesday). There are now fourteen trailers and ads for Episode III on the site, not counting the "trailer-for-the-trailer" that showed on Fox before the premiere of the theatrical trailer.

I find it fun to imagine what someone would think of one of the Episode III trailers if they saw it after the end credits for "Return of the Jedi" back in 1983. Would they figure out who was who? What was going on? It's interesting to think about. It's also fun to think about showing it to someone who had just seen "A New Hope" for the first time. Back then, no one could have possibly imagined how big Star Wars would be, even almost thirty years later.

Philosophy and Star Wars

In History class recently, we examined the connections between The Matrix and Plato's "Allegory of the Cave." It was very interesting for everyone to examine a pop culture icon in a philosophical light. Recently, for that and other reasons, I have been considering the more philosophical ideas behind Star Wars. Perhaps the most prominent theme is that of machines taking over life -- which, interestingly enough, is also prominent in The Matrix. Just today I found this fascinating article defending Episode II from critics and pointing out some very subtle themes in the film.

Revenge of the Brick

Last Sunday, Cartoon Network featured a LEGO mini-movie called "Revenge of the Brick." When I first heard about it, I thought it was a LEGO version of the whole movie, and thus didn't watch on Sunday. Turns out it's just a random silly little bit taking place on Kashyyyk. It's not even a LEGO version of the Kashyyyk battle in Episode III; it's just, well... random. That's the only way I can describe it. Fortunately, it was recently put online at StarWars.com. It's actually a pretty fun little thing, albeit very silly. Don't worry, it doesn't spoil anything. The only things it has in common with Episode III are a few ship designs, Obi-Wan and Anakin's new haircuts, Kashyyyk, and a brief appearance by General Grievous, who doesn't even do anything other than balance on one leg and serve some drinks.

Databank Updates

This past Wednesday StarWars.com updated the Databank with new entries on the Senate in Episode III. It's the third Episode III Databank entry, after "A Stab at the Heart" (May 4), covering the opening space battle, and "The Beginning of the End" (November 8).

Happy Birthday!

Finally, I'd like to wish George Lucas a very happy birthday! He turns 61 today. For the first time in three decades, he's actually able to enjoy his birthday without worrying about the next Star Wars movie on the horizon.

Assuming, that is, he had planned to do the prequels all along. :-)

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*Did you know that Episodes IV, V, VI, and I each opened on a Wednesday, but that II, like III, opened on a Thursday? Episode I was actually originally going to be released May 21, 1999, which would have been a Friday, but at the last minute they moved up the release date.

SIX: TRL, Legos, and More

2005-05-13T22:51:00.000-04:00

What with the ongoing onslaught of Star Wars news, I've decided to update daily up until next weekend. Here goes today's installment.

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Premieres & Total Request Live

The Episode III premieres have begun. A kid in my class actually went to one yesterday... lucky. :-) Today, MTV's TRL (Total Request Live) -- which also hosted the Episode III teaser trailer back when it came out -- had a one-hour Star Wars special from the Episode III premiere at Skywalker Ranch, interrupted at times by their top-ten music videos (one of which was performed live at the event by Good Charlotte). They had a bunch of celebrity interviews, as well as some with the cast and crew behind Episode III. They also showed two exclusive clips, one from the final duel and one from the Kashyyyk segment. Both rocked. :-)

Lego Star Wars

I've now completed Episodes I and II in Lego Star Wars: The Videogame, and have started going back to try to unlock everything. The final Episode II level first pits Anakin and Obi-Wan vs. Count Dooku, and then you get to play as Yoda for the final part. Yoda's awesome! Without his lightsaber ignited, he just kind of hobbles around, tied for the slowest character with the Gonk droid (yes, you can play as the Gonk droid). By then, whip out your lightsaber and Yoda does all these crazy flips and spins wherever he goes! When he's doing that, he becomes one of the fastest characters in the game. He also has a cool hover chair, like in Episode II, which lets him move around even faster. Yoda's unlocked by beating Episode II, so I've been having fun going back to earlier levels with him. :-)

Other cool characters (that I've unlocked so far) include the aforementioned Gonk droid (who can do just about nothing), R2-D2 (who can hover), Jango Fett (who can use his jet pack), Geonosian (who can fly), Mace Windu (who's just cool), and Darth Maul (who has, of course, his double-bladed lightsaber).

Hyperspace Blogs

It was recently announced that StarWars.com Hyperspace would be added Star Wars blogs this month. Depending on how good they are, I may or may not switch to using them. We'll see how that works out.

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Bed time for me now. May the Force be with you!

Episode III: One More Week

2005-05-12T23:55:00.000-04:00

As of today, there's one more week left until Episode III. As of five minutes from now, there's only six days. I've been so busy lately I haven't been able to update much. I'll do my to recap all the latest developments now.

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The Soundtrack

Last Thursday I got the Episode III soundtrack, which comes with the exclusive DVD "Star Wars: A Musical Journey." I decided not to watch it yet, much as I have decided not to read the novel, read the spoiler reports, and play the movie in videogame form. I've already learned so much -- much of it accidentally -- that I'm trying to stay away from more and more stuff. Sounds counterintuitive, since I should theoretically be watching more and more as the movie approaches. Of course, in a way, I am -- I watch all the official trailers, and so on, with the notable exception of the music videos.

I only actually first listened to the soundtrack Friday night, partially because of time constraints and partially because I worried about spoilers in the track titles. I managed to pop it in without peeking, though. I've made another decision -- that is, to only listen to the first tracks on the CD, and not even neccessarily all of them in full. I'm trying to save more stuff for after the movie.

(Note that I had, of course, heard portions of the score in various places; mainly, the trailers and the Sony Classical web site.)

LEGO Star Wars

This past Tuesday we got LEGO Star Wars: The Videogame. I've been playing it a ton, and have beaten all of Episode I and most of Episode II. Yet again, though, I won't play the Episode III section until after the 19th... and neither will my brother, or else. ;-)

Despite how quickly it may seem I've breezed through I and II, I've only scratched the surface. There's an incredible amount of hidden and unlockable content, perhaps more than I've ever seen in a game. LSW might be a bit kiddish, but it's tons of fun.

End of Wars

Just yesterday StarWars.com premiered the incredible new TV Spot "End of Wars." I'd say it's probably the best of the TV ads thus far, although a few come very, very close. Check it out.

Unity Day

Today at my school was Unity Day, and this year's theme was gender awareness. At the end there was a trivia game where each grade was represented by one boy and one girl, who switched off answering questions. The girls' questions were regarding more "boyish" topics, and the boys' questions were regarding more "girlish" topics. Anyway, one of the questions for the girls was "When does Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith come out?" I was in the balcony, and up there a ton of people were yelling "19th!!!" Apparently the contestants didn't hear, though; the first person to guess said "18" or "16"; I couldn't really hear which with all the yelling. :-)

The O.C.

This week featured a cameo appearance by George Lucas himself! It was rather funny. Click the link above for more. (This week's episode actually had fewer Star Wars reference than last week's double-header, but GL himself has to count for at least a few standee sightings!)

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Episode III is very, very close now. The charity premieres have started, and there are going to be more showings as we approach next Thursday. It's an exciting, hectic time... the end of the war is near....

Comics

2005-05-07T15:09:00.000-04:00

Today was Free Comic Book Day, so to celebrate I actually headed on over to Newbury Comics and picked up the free comic, Visionaries, and Clone Wars Volumes 1 & 2. I finished the free comic in the car -- it takes place between Obsession and Labyrinth of Evil. It was pretty good. I also peeked at the first couple stories of Visionaries and started Clone Wars Vol. 1. The comics were the only area of Star Wars merchandising I hadn't touched. Not anymore. :-)

The OC and Episode III

2005-05-05T23:56:00.000-04:00

First of all, it's 05-05-05... for three more minutes, that is. The next date this exciting will be... umm... 06-06-06, I guess. Or 07-07-07. Or 08-08-08. Or 09-09-09. But 6, 7, 8, and 9 are all boring numbers, unlike 5. But 10-10-10 will be cool. Very cool, in fact. Very very cool. Especially if you're a follower of Douglas Adams. Convert 101010 from binary to base ten, and you'll see why. :-D

(11-11-11 will also be cool for that matter, and the last time we'll have six of the same digit in a row for 11 years. That's eight elevens -- 11-11-11, last of its kind for 100 years, but then it'll even be seven 1's in a row. Too bad no one ever writes just the last three digits of the year.)

Anyway, that's a random rant. Tonight was two full hours of the OC, and it was jam-packed full of Episode III references! First of all, the new TV spot "To Protect You" showed for the first time on TV, as far as I know. It and its counterpart, "Seduction," can now be viewed -- along with tons of other trailers and ads, including some hilarious Pepsi/M&Ms/Pringles/etc. promotional ads -- on StarWars.com. Then it showed an ad for the Episode III videogame, the wonderful "Dodgeball" spot as viewable on the official ROTS videogame website. Then Seth and Ryan were playing the Episode III videogame. Finally, in a comic book store, there were Star Wars standees and ads in the background. :)

May the Fourth be with You

2005-05-04T23:07:00.000-04:00

Yesterday the Episode III soundtrack came out -- check out the great official site here, complete with preview clips. And tomorrow -- 05.05.05 -- the Episode III videogame comes out!

Only 15 more days... actually, basically 14 days now!!!

Episode III: 19 Days

2005-04-30T23:52:00.000-04:00

In nineteen days, I will have already seen Revenge of the Sith twice -- nineteen days until the nineteenth. Frankly, that's somewhat terrifying. It's coming up so soon, and then it'll all be over. No more Star Wars movies. Ever. Yes, there'll be TV series. And books. And videogames. And comics. And Super-Special Limited Editions. But the saga will be complete.

I keep on learning more and more about Episode III. Just yesterday I learned three things that I really didn't want to learn. One I had been practically positive was true for some time now, another I had actually speculated on,* and the third didn't exactly come as a surprise -- I could have easily guessed it by now. Still, it's infuriating. I've tried for three years now to remain spoiler-free, or at least as close as I can get, and when Episode III comes along I'll know practically everything.

Still, I'll know less that I did for Episodes I and II. I had read the scripts for both of those before release, so I knew exactly -- exactly -- what happens. That's not quite true of Episode III. I'm now more focused on saving whatever little remains unknown for the 19th. Today the Official Site released the "A Hero Falls" music video,** and I didn't watch it. I watched some behind-the-scenes stuff on the recording of the score -- also new content for today -- but closed the window as soon as new Episode III footage started showing up.

*I suppose I should actually be rather proud that my speculation was correct, as it was somewhat of a mystery, but it still smarts to have that little surprise ruined.

**They normally update around 9:00 PM EST every weeknight, but apparently as we approach the 19th they're updating on Saturdays, too. Not sure about Sunday.

Celebration III

2005-04-24T22:25:00.000-04:00

The past few days - Thursday through today - Celebration III has been going on in Indiana! I haven't had a chance to post about it yet because I've been busy catching up on all the news! Check out the link about for a ton of stuff. Here are the highlights:

- Episode III is DONE
- Digital version is slightly longer
- George Lucas started reading the Indy IV script this weekend
- Battlefront II Officially Announced
- Star Tours will be revamped
- TWO new TV shows!
* New Clone Wars 3D animated show, 30 minute episodes
* New live-action show between Ep. III and IV based on a spinoff character
> 100 episodes
> 1 hour each
> Lucas will direct first season
- New I - VI box set is in the works
- New 9-book series: Legacy of the Force
* Begins a new "Legacy Era"
* First book is Betrayal by Aaron Allston
* Luke plagued by visions of approaching darkness
* Boba & the new Mandalorians appear
* Mystery of Vergere will be resolved
* You'll see the rebuilding of Coruscant
- Other upcoming books include
* Dark Nest
* Dark Lord
* Coruscant Nights
* Zahn book between IV and V about Mara and Luke (they don't meet)

Exciting stuff! Only 25 more days!

Time Zone

2005-04-20T17:58:00.000-04:00

I commented a while back on how the timestamp on these posts seemed to be California time, which I explained by claiming Blogger is based there. Well, I just noticed my most recent post on my other blog was stamped correctly, which got me thinking. Sure enough, some poking around in the blog settings revealed that this blog was set for California time. Oops. All fixed now. :-)

The Final Prophecy

2005-04-20T16:40:00.000-04:00

You know, when I first started that book, I thought it was talking about Ikrit's prophecy in Edge of Victory I. Once I got quite a ways into, though, I realized it was talking about Yu'Shaa's prophecy.

Anyway, I finished The Final Prophecy 15 minutes ago -- that is, at 4:25 PM. It was very good. Zonama Sekot is awesome, and I'm very intrigued by the secrets of its history. Five minutes later, at 4:30, I started The Unifying Force. The final book in the New Jedi Order... wow. I've been reading this series for years now, longer than I've been reading any other series... ever. I think so, at least. (Five minutes after I started TUF, I put it down again. Five minutes after that I started writing this entry. That wasn't just a coincidence, by the way. I really like fives, so once the trend started I decided to keep it up. Now it's five minutes after I started this entry.)

I'm finished the New Jedi Order at almost exactly the same time as the Star Wars saga is ending, and, unlike the fives, I didn't plan that. Creepy, huh? I've basically caught up with the EU now. Aside from some miscellaneous little bits, I've read everything. So, until the Dark Nest starts, I'll be reading some of those. First I'll read the ROTS stuff, which I'm holding off on until the movie. Then I'll read Survior's Quest, and the Splinter of the Mind's Eye, both of which I have. Who knows what I'll read after that. Maybe The Joiner King will be out by then. I might actually resort to non-Star Wars material -- R.A. Salvatore personally recommended his Dark Elf trilogy to me, so maybe I'll read that. :-)

It's now been five minutes since the last five minute mark. Wow. Have a nice day, and may the Force be with you.

Episode III Trailer Reviews

2005-04-19T22:53:00.000-04:00

There have been many ROTS trailers to premiere over the past few days. Here's what I think -- but beware some minor spoilers!

Episode III Video Game Premiered 16 April for Hyperspace

Very cool, especially towards the end with the "destiny" part. Doesn't give anything big away, which is good. Nice rappeling Clone Troopers. Cool moves. Looks like a good game.

Jedi Action 1 Premiered 18 April for everyone

I like seeing some nice bits of Grievous, which the other trailers have lacked. Also Anakin with his red lightsaber on the Invisible Hand, that shuttle on Utapau, a bit of MagnaGuard action, and the wheel bike. Not too shabby.

Jedi Action 2 Premiered 18 April for everyone

The best of the three new TV ads. My favorite shot is probably the Star Destroyers towards the beginning. I also like the Mace bits. The tank droids, Yoda, and the final duel also get a bit more coverage. Oh - and Plo Koon. Finally, I like Sidious' cackling at the end. If I'm not mistaken, that clip didn't have the audio with it in any of the other trailers.

Unite Premiered 18 April for everyone

Grievous speaks! We also get to see Boga and a big more action on Utapau, as well as the customary "I have a bad feeling about this." Just listen to the voiceover, though -- it's hilarious! "On May 19th," says the narrator, "the Jedi must unite to fight the ultimate battle against the evil Sith Lord and his new apprentice, Darth Vader." First of all, he just says "Sith Lord," not "Sith Lord Sidious" or something. Second of all, he says "and his new apprentice, Darth Vader," as if he's talking about some great new meal at McDonald's instead of the best-known baddie in cinematic history. Listen to it -- you'll know what I mean.

Revenge of the Brick Premiered 19 April for Hyperspace

Fun idea, fun trailer. I don't think I'll watch on May 8th, because I think it's the whole movie - in brick form. I don't want to be spoiled that much. ;-) I do think it's odd that there's the Lego Star Wars videogame and now this, and they don't look very similar. Strange. (Lego Star Wars stays more true to the Lego form; ROTB cheats a bit in terms of brickifying things.)

One Month Left until Episode III

2005-04-19T12:19:00.000-04:00

As of today, there's only one month left until the dark side is unleashed in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. The last milestone this big was arguably the one-year-mark. On that day, the Episode III release date had only been known for a little over a month, and the title still wouldn't be known for several months. Only a select few photos were available, and I didn't even have access to most of them -- I wasn't yet a Hyperspace member. There were no final effects shots released yet, let alone full trailers like we have now. In fact, as of yesterday, when three new TV ads went online, there are eight Episode III trailers!

In Other News

Today I uploaded a brand-new, Star Wars-themed Tophtucker.com home page that I've been working on over the long weekend, as well as some of last weekend.

In addition, I'd like to congratulate Pope Benedict XVI on his superb timing. It's obvious that it's not a coincidence that he was elected exactly one month from Episode III. He must be a big Star Wars fan. :-)

EPISODE III TICKETS!!!

2005-04-15T23:05:00.000-04:00

Guess what? Tonight we went to Fever Pitch for the second time, and again they showed the Episode III trailer!!! But guess what's even better? After the movie, at 10:00, WE GOT EPISODE III TICKETS!!! AMC got the go-ahead from Fox just the day before yesterday. We were the first at our local theater to get any -- they hadn't even updated their computers yet when we asked, and so they did and on the spot and we ordered. :-)

Click here for more on ROTS tickets.

In Other News:

After just one day on sale, the Revenge of the Sith novelization jumped to #4 on USA Today's bestseller list, #3 on Bookscan's, #2 on the New York Times, and #1 on the WSJ list! Congrats to Matt Stover! :-)

Click here for more.

NJO and PG-13

2005-04-14T22:11:00.000-04:00

First of all, I finished Force Heretic III - Reunion either last night or the night before. I can't believe I can't remember... it could have even been the night before the night before last night. I've been sick recently, and missed school yesterday, so all my timing's a bit off.

For the first time in many, many, months, I found that I was - gasp! - not in possesion of the next book I was to read. Today, though, after school, we dropped by Barnes & Noble and picked up both The Final Prophecy and The Unifying Force. I'm beginning TFP tonight.

Second of all, as of today it's official that Revenge of the Sith is rated PG-13 for "sci-fi violence and some intense images." Interesting.

Homework time... adios!

Episode III Soundtrack Preview & the Harvard Coop

2005-04-07T17:39:00.000-04:00

First of all, this past Monday StarWars.com updated was a cool Episode III soundtrack preview. It consists of 60 seconds of "Grievous speaks to Lord Sidious." Click here to check it out. (Hyperspace membership required.)

For those who don't have hyperspace, here's my exclusive 10-second preview:

Duh-da-la-duh-da-la-duh, duh-da-la-duh-da-la-duh, duh-da-la-duh-da-la-duh, dada-da-da BUH-BUH, BUHBUH, duh-da-la-duh-da-la-duh, duh-da-la-duh-da-la-duh, duh-da-la-duh-da-la-duh-da-la-duh-duh-da-la, DUH-DA-LA-DUH, DUH-DUH DA DA...

Pretty cool, huh?

In other news, on Monday I attended a Matthew Stover book signing at the Harvard Coop. Matthew Stover is the author of NJO: Traitor, Shatterpoint, and the new Revenge of the Sith novelization. He was really nice. By chance, his friend R.A. Salvatore was also there. Salvatore wrote Vector Prime and the Episode II novelization. He, too, was very nice. :-)

1,000 Hours Left!

2005-04-07T07:20:00.000-04:00

At 8:00 this morning -- it's currently 7:21:40* -- there will be exactly 1,000 hours left until Episode III - Revenge of the Sith arrives!!! Too bad I'll be at school to celebrate the momentous occasion. (Today also marks 42 days until ROTS -- and 42 is the meaning of life!)

On this page at StarWars.com, you can see a little countdown on the left side of the page. :-)

Other News:

Episode III soundtrack preview and Harvard Coop book signing -- I'll post about those this afternoon, when I'm home from school and actually have time!

*Don't look at what the time stamp on the post says. I think it thinks I'm in California. Silly time zones.

Episode III Toys!

2005-04-03T12:35:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was the big unveiling of all the Revenge of the Sith merchandise, from the novelizations (currently #1 on the Amazon.com Sci-Fi bestsellers list, followed by The Art of Revenge of the Sith in #2) to the toys.

To celebrate the event, I went to Toys 'R' Us and then to Target. Each of them had substantial displays -- Toys 'R' Us' was right in the front of the store. I was intrigued by how different the displays looked, though. Toys 'R' Us' centered around the "Vader in Flames" logo, whereas the Target display had more of a retro "Revenge of the Jedi" feel.

Wow... they have some great toys! :-) I especially like the vehicles, namely the BARC Speeder, the AT-RT (which neither TRU nor Target had), and Jedi Starfighters. Grievous' wheel bike also looks cool.

One of the most innovative new toys is a Lightsaber Battle Game. It comes with a short toy lightsaber and a control box in the shape of a training remote. You plug the remote into your TV, and then you can battle all the greatest villians of the Star Wars saga with your lightsaber! It's tons of fun. So much fun, in fact, that I'm off to play it right now!

Disney, Clones, Legos, Commandos, and Tragedy

2005-04-01T22:08:00.000-05:00

Disney World

As you may or may not know, I was in Disney World from last Thursday to this past Tuesday. On (I think) our first or second day there, I finished reading Force Heretic II: Refugee and started Force Heretic III: Reunion -- the third-to-last book in the NJO. While at the Disney-MGM Studios park, I got to go on Star Tours -- five times!!!

Even lining up for Star Tours is exciting. The whole place is made to look like Endor. They have a big AT-AT model, although only the metal frame was there when we went -- we think they were renovating it. There's a speeder bike you can sit on, and even walkways up in the fake trees! (Sadly, you can't get up there.) Inside, it's made to look like a Star Wars airport.

An announcer is continually updating you with random information. "Productivity has decreased in sector four. Commence temporary diagnostic shutdown." "Flight 127 has been moved to Gate B. Departure time will not be affected." "Galactic regulations require that all cargo be stored in provided space." And so on. (Those aren't exact quotes, but they're the kinds of things they said.)

There are several droids working on various tasks -- fixing other droids, monitoring security screens, and so on. There's a great big starship sitting there with R2-D2 in the navigator socket (he bounces up and down and turns his head) and C-3PO (he stands in one place, but is otherwise fully mobile) on a neighboring platform. They have a little discussion going on between them, which is fun to listen to.

There's also an information screen advertising Star Tours' flights and a control room where you can see two Mon Calamarians at control boards. Once you get through the line, there are five gates to choose from. Each gate has five queues -- one per passenger row in the Starspeeder 3000, your ship. Helpful humans guide your party to an available row. Once lined up, you see a brief safety video featuring a woman with a mix between Mickey Mouse ears and a Princess Leia donut-ears hairdo. They also show funny clips of various aliens -- wookiees, ewoks, mon calamarians, grans, and more -- filing into the starship in proper fashion.

Then the gates open. Inside is a big black chamber with the Starspeeder 3000 right in the middle and walkways from the gate leading up to it. You sit down, watch another brief safety video co-starring C-3PO, buckle up, and stow your cargo. One of the employees (they call them "the cast" at Disney World) comes in dressed like a Rebel technician and gives you one final safety speech. The "cast member" then says, "May the Force be with you -- because I won't be." At least, I think they're supposed to say that. A couple times the person didn't.

The cast member leaves and the doors close behind you. On the little video screen on the right (where C-3PO gave his talk), Captain Rex, your pilot, welcomes you aboard -- and warns that it's his first flight. Then he says he'll open the cockpit screen, and a kind of curtain at the front of the ship goes down, revealing a talking, moving, Captain Rex (on the left of the cockpit). Your "forward viewport" takes up the front of the ship. In reality, it's a video screen, showing what the view out the front would be if you were actually in a Starspeeder. You fly out of the hanger crazily, completely out of control, and then proceed to take on Star Destroyers, TIE Fighters, and even the first Death Star. You even get to jump to lightspeed, which is easilt the best part. At the same time, in perfect sync with the movements seen on-screen, the actually ship rocks back and forth, forward and backwards! It's incredible.

Then you finally return to your spaceport, the doors open (this time it's the doors on the other side of the ship, so new passengers can enter easily), and you emerge into an incredible Star Wars gift shop. They have a ton of stuff, from costumes to the OTC action figures to even the latest Episode III preview figures. (Speaking of which, the full set of toys debuts at midnight tonight -- I can't wait!)

Clone Wars

We got the Volume I DVD yesterday, which was exciting. It has a couple cool documentaries, plus an Xbox demo of Republic Commando! It was great to finally see the first 20 chapters all as one.

As for Volume II, they're over now. Our hotel in Disney World sadly didn't have Cartoon Network, so we instead downloaded the latest chapter every night and watched it on our laptop. The last few episodes follow the adventures of everyone's favorite heros, leading right into the opening battle of Episode III.

The Clone Wars series is almost certainly done for good now, which is kind of sad. Oh well. They were all excellent. :-)

Lego Star Wars

The other day I downloaded a demo of the new Lego Star Wars game. It's tons of fun! It spans Episode I, II, and III, and features over 30 playable characters! It's very simple, but very enjoyable. In the demo you fight your way through the Trade Federation battleship as Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan in Episode I. It's available from the official web site.

Republic Commando

The day before yesterday (Wednesday, the 30th) I finally, finally, finished Republic Commando. It's not that I spent that much time play the game -- it's relatively short compared to many of today's games -- but there was just so much time in between playings.

I was kind of stuck at the last part, because I was trying the completely wrong approach. Then, with the help of another Star Wars's fan's hint, I changed my strategy and had won the game within ten minutes. (I was very, very, close to the end.)

The epilogue of the game is very cool. It shows the beginning stages of one of the battles of Episode III -- it's very exciting!!!

New Episode III TV Spots

Tonight StarWars.com updated with three new Episode III TV spots! One of them is just a shortened version of the teaser trailer -- titled, appropriately enough, "Teaser." The next is called "Dark Side Unleashed," and features some new footage. The final and best one is "Tragedy," which is almost completely made up of new footage. It also, if I'm not mistaken, features some of the first Episode III music to be heard by the public!

---

Revenge of the Sith is coming up very, very soon. The circle is just 48 days away from being complete.

Clone Wars: Volume I on DVD!

2005-03-22T11:25:00.000-05:00

Clone Wars Volume I came out today on DVD! It features several extras, including two commentaries, a making-of featurette, and a demo of the new Xbox game, Republic Commando.

Clone Wars: Chapter 21

2005-03-21T20:56:00.000-05:00

I just saw (by "just" I mean almost two hours ago) Chapter 21 of the Clone Wars cartoons on Cartoon Network, and it was great! You really get to see ARC troopers shine.

Chapter 21 is the first chapter of Volume II, and is thus 12 minutes long -- four times longer than all the previous chapters!* The extra time lets them put more in the cartoons than pure action -- for example, some love scenes with Anakin and Padme.

The season's already 1/5 over, which is kind of sad, but I'm looking forward to the rest of the chapters.

*Excluding Chapter 20, which was 6 minutes long.

In other news:

StarWars.com updated with an awesome new home page / Episode III mini-site today. They did the same kind of thing back when Episode II was coming out, only for II it was just a non-Flash page with a randomized character picture. The Episode III mini-site includes information on characters, locations, story, and more, and features some great downloads. The wallpapers are great!!!

Less than two months now... as Cartoon Network put it, the revenge has begun.

Republic Commando, Star Tours, and Clone Wars

2005-03-20T23:17:00.000-05:00

So far, I've only really played Republic Commando for four days -- March 5, 6, and 7, and then again yesterday. (At least, I'm pretty sure those dates are accurate.) I'm right at the end now, and I've hit somewhat of a roadblock. I'm determined to beat it before we go to Disney World on Thursday, though. (At Disney World I'll be sure to check out the Star Wars ride, called "Star Tours"... in fact, I bet I'll go on it quite a bit!)

Also, the first chapter of Clone Wars Volume 2 (aka Season 2 or Season 3, depending on who you ask) premieres tomorrow night at 7:00 PM on Cartoon Network. The first chapter of Volume 2, aka Chapter 21, is a kind of continuation of Chapter 20, which was a real cliff-hanger.

I can't wait!

Robots & Opera

2005-03-20T16:49:00.000-05:00

We just went to see the movie Robots, which as you know has the Episode III trailer attached!!! I actually also went last Friday, a little over a week ago, the day it opened. We had gotten out of school at 2:10 and we were going skiing at 4:00, so I just went in, saw the trailer, and walked out. The trailer's definitely way better on the big screen!!!

So today was actually the first time I saw the movie. We saw the 2:45 showing in Cinema 5, and when it was over I walked out, walked into the neighboring Cinema 4, and saw the trailer again attached to the 4:30 showing! So I've now seen the trailer thrice in theaters, and countless more times online and on our tape of The O.C. :-)

There were actually a couple Star Wars references in the movie. At one point, one of the robots was trying out voiceboxes and put in a Darth Vader one. The final sequence was also extremely reminiscent of the Episode II conveyor belt scene, right down to when the good guys were hanging in a huge bucket about to go into a big molten firery oven and a little flying robot stopped the conveyor. That little flying robot then engaged in what looked an awful lot like a lightsaber duel with the bad guy, although they used pipes instead of lightsabers. Finally, they actually thanked Lucasfilm Ltd. during the credits, although I'm not sure why.

---

Yesterday my friend and I went to a musical edition of A New Hope -- "Space Opera" -- with my uncle, who knew some of the cast and crew. This wasn't like the MIT "Star Wars Musical Edition" we went to a year (more?) ago. This was... well... interesting. It seemed like the producers weren't big enough fans to be doing something like this. The MIT production, for example, included a "Don't cry for me, Princess Leia" song starring Bail Organa.

This one, on the other hand, seemed to be trying to be too serious. They elaborated on the movie when the didn't have enough information to do so. The cantina, for example, had a neon sign that said "The Jive Hive." The opera seemed to try not to contradict the movie in general, and I suppose they thought that when the elaborated they wouldn't be stepping on anyone's toes. If they had only dug a bit deeper, though, they would have found out that the cantina is actually Chalmun's Cantina.

In addition, at the beginning they claimed that the Tantive IV couldn't escape because the hyperdrive had been damaged or something. Wrong again -- first of all, they're too close to the planet to jump, and second of all, the Imperials would probably just chase them to the next system they fled to.

Finally, Obi-Wan said that the Jedi had existed for 20,000 years. The Essential Chronology puts the figure about 5,000 years before that.

Star Wars in 3D!!!

2005-03-18T23:43:00.000-05:00

Guess what? In 2007, for the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, the movies are coming out in 3D!!!!

Now I have another cinematic experience to look forward to after Episode III!

EPISODE III TRAILER -- IT'S OUT!!!

2005-03-10T23:53:00.000-05:00

Almost exactly three hours ago, at 9:57 or so, the Episode III theatrical trailer premiered on The O.C.... and IT WAS INCREDIBLE!!!

"You're under arrest, Chancellor."
"Are you threatening me, Master Jedi?"

The trailer's everything I had hoped for and more! I can't wait until May 19th!!! :-)

Episode III Release Poster!!! (& Remnant)

2005-03-09T23:49:00.000-05:00

The Episode III release poster was unveiled last night, and I love it! :-) Very cool... and the theatrical trailer premieres tomorrow on the O.C.!!! I can't wait!!!

In other news, on Sunday, 6 March 2005, at 23:43, I finished Force Heretic I: Remnant. It was good, and now I'm reading Force Heretic II: Refugee, which is also good so far.

Republic Commando Update:

I've made a little more progress. I'm confident that I'll be totally done by this Sunday. It's a very good game!!!

Republic Commando

2005-03-06T22:29:00.000-05:00

We just got Republic Commando yesterday -- I had actually got it as a Christmas present, but it wasn't out until a few days ago.

I've been playing it non-stop -- it's excellent!!! I'm almost done with the single player campaign now, which has got to be a record for me -- even the illustrious Halo 2 Campaign has not yet been beaten by this one (though I'm on the second-to-last level). Multiplayer is also very cool. It supports Xbox LIVE, although I haven't gotten to play around with that much yet. My favorite multiplayer map is one that has certain low-gravity areas. It's really fun having midair melee fights. :-)

Well, bed time for me now. One last comment for any RC players before I go, though: Grievous' bodyguards are very tough.

Adios!!!

Episode III THEATRICAL Trailer - Update

2005-03-05T10:43:00.000-05:00

Only FIVE more days until the new trailer premieres on TV and StarWars.com, and only SIX until it shows up in theaters with Robots!

You can check out a cool preview of the trailer here, featuring Obi-Wan, Anakin, Yoda, and Chewie!

Episode III THEATRICAL Trailer!!!

2005-03-01T18:49:00.000-05:00

Last night, the official site reported that the Episode III Theatrical Trailer would be premiering on March 10th -- just nine days from now!!!

First it'll premiere during The O.C. on Fox. Then, once the O.C. ends, it'll premiere online at StarWars.com for Hyperspace subscribers. The next day Ewan McGregor's new movie Robots comes out, and it's premiering with that, too. Finally, on March 14th, it will become available to regular visitors to StarWars.com.

In the meantime, be sure to check out this amazing fan-made trailer!

Destiny's Way

2005-02-27T15:40:00.000-05:00

A minute ago, just before 15:40, I finished Destiny's Way. It was good! :-) I interrupted reading it briefly to read Ylesia, which I finished Friday night and which was also pretty good, although it looked like some of its passages had been copied straight out of DW -- or vice versa.

Next up: Force Heretic I: Remnant. Only five more books left in the New Jedi Order... after so many years, I'm almost there!!!

The End of the Beginning of the Beginning of the End

2005-02-14T17:45:00.000-05:00

That is, the end of the Clone Wars. For me, at least. In book form, at least. There's still the new cartoons next month and plenty of comics just waiting to be read, but yesterday I finished Republic Commando - Hard Contact. I have now read every Clone Wars Novel. (That doesn't count the Boba Fett books.)

Hard Contact started out relatively slow and I wasn't sure whether I would like it, but by the end it really picked up. I love all the gadgets and such in it -- the various kinds of explosives, the amazing Commando armor, the hidden cameras and probes and such.

Soon after finished Hard Contact I returned to the New Jedi Order -- quite a time leap -- and started Destiny's Way. It certainly started off with a bang, and I'm loving it so far. I'm just past Vergere's story of Zonama Sekot. It's pretty amazing that someone actually reading the books in chronological order would have to read, what, like, 50 years worth of books to finally resolve that mystery. :)

Hard Contact, the Patriots, and Mandalorian War Songs

2005-02-08T13:28:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday -- not this past one, but the one before that -- after I finished Labyrinth of Evil I started on Republic Commando: Hard Contact, which I had gotten at the same time as LoE. I'm now about halfway done. It's pretty good, and gives a whole new perspective on the Clone Wars, but it's still nothing compared to Labyrinth of Evil. :-)

This past Sunday, just a couple days ago, THE PATRIOTS WON THE SUPER BOWL!!! That in and of itself may not be Star Wars related, but they played the main theme while presenting the Vince Lombardi trophy! :-)

Yesterday the head of our school announced that, if we wanted to, we could have our parents call in and not go to school because of the parade! :-) I decided to stay home, since we'd get nothing done at school with so few people there anyway.

Last night I checked LucasArts.com for the latest news and saw that they had posted fifteen original songs from the upcoming game Republic Commando! Best of all, five of them have ancient Mandalorian lyrics, complete with English translations available for download! Go to the RC site, hover over "Navigate" at the top, and click "MP3's" (fourth column, fourth item) to see them all.

May the Force be with you... and go Patriots!!! :-)

The Last Day

2005-02-02T23:35:00.000-05:00

After 28 years, the last scene of the last Star Wars movie ever has been filmed. It's really rather sad. And, according to StarWars.com's report (available to Hyperspace members only), the last shot filmed is also one that looks to be a very pivotal one in Episode III.

Of course, there's still a ton of work to be done. Post-production is in full swing, and John Williams will begin recording the score this week. Marketing-wise, things are definitely ramping up, with the recent release of Labyrinth of Evil last week and the first toys yesterday. As Pablo Hidalgo, on-set journalist, put it, "If this isn't the home stretch, I don't know what is."

Empire at War

2005-01-30T21:24:00.000-05:00

Remember how I mentioned a possible upcoming Star Wars RTS? Well, it's official: Empire at War is coming this fall to a PC near you! It looks really good. Check out the web site for some early screenshots and concept art.

Labyrinth of Evil -- All Done!

2005-01-30T18:52:00.000-05:00

Mere minutes ago, at 18:45:15 (that's 6:45 PM for the less military-minded of you), I completed Labyrinth of Evil. Making that even more impressive is the fact that, in between starting and finished the book, I had to get new shoes, sleep, go sledding, go to a play (Kiss me Kate), and do all my homework. :-)

Labyrinth of Evil was extremely good! In fact, I may go so far as to call it the best book I've ever read -- and even if it's not, it's very close. The book ends mere minutes -- possibly seconds -- before Episode III, and ties in wonderfully with all the other Clone Wars material -- the books, the comics, and even the Cartoon Network cartoon netork cartoon series, which up until now I hadn't seen referenced in any other material.

Labyrinth of Evil ties in even more closely with the online comic strip Reversal of Fortune (available online at StarWars.com for Hyperspace subscribers) and, presumably, the second (or is it the third?) season of the Clone Wars cartoons. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the events leading up Episode III.

Labyrinth of Evil

2005-01-29T23:57:00.000-05:00

This morning, as soon as I woke up, I finished Cloak of Deception, which I've been reading for a week or so now. Then, right after breakfast, we went to Barnes and Noble to pick up Labyrinth of Evil. At first we thought it wasn't there, but then realized we had walked right past it on our way to the usual spot for new Star Wars books -- Valentine's day has affected the store layout somewhat. :-)

The rest of the day I spent reading Labyrinth of Evil and sledding (I made a nice little snow tunnel, which was fun), and just now I went to a production of Kiss me Kate. I'm now about halfway done with the book, and hope to have it finished by Monday. It's really good!

Bedtime now. Adios.

The Badonkadonk

2005-01-22T12:18:00.000-05:00

Six horsepower, a top speed of 40 mph, a 400 watt sound system, and a design that looks like it was pulled right out of Return of the Jedi? Yup -- the JL421 Badonkadonk! Read more here, and then be the first ever to buy one here! (And it's only $20,000!)

Oh, and be sure to check out all the pictures at Amazon.com. :-)

Dark Rendezvous

2005-01-09T23:50:00.000-05:00

I just started Yoda: Dark Rendezvous the other day (same day I finished Jedi Trial), and I'm already about halfway done. It's really good -- just like all the other books I've been reading lately! It's a good time for Star Wars publishing! :)

Waiting for Star Wars

2005-01-07T23:35:00.000-05:00

I just read about Jeff Tweiten, who started waiting in line in Seattle on January 1st for Episode III!!! Check out his web site here.

May the Force be with you, Jeff! :-)

In other news, I just finished Jedi Trial. It was really good. Next up is Yoda: Dark Rendezvous, which is supposedly also great. Also, the other day I uploaded the new version of my Star Wars site. It's still a work in progress, but you can check it out by clicking the site banner at the top of the page.

The Beginning of the End...

2005-01-02T11:48:00.000-05:00

...of vacation, that is. Click here to see my overview of all that I did, including a lot of Star Wars stuff.

I'm now almost done reading Jedi Trial, which I started soon after I got it on Christmas. It's pretty good. After I finish, I'll probably read Dark Rendezvous, which I hear is really good.

Yesterday I watched most of Episodes I and II in honor of the fact that this will be the last year a Star Wars movie comes out ever!!! :-(

Well, a major movie anyway. I've watched some of the Ewok movies, Caravan of Courage and Battle for Endor, over vacation, and I think there's room for a lot more movies like that in the future.

Over vacation I also worked on a Special Edition of a movie-style book report I did in 7th Grade for X-Wing: Starfighters of Adumar ("Book 9 in the exciting series!"). Hopefully I'll be able to post the file to my web site some day.

Speaking of my web site, I have to get to work on it now. May the Force be with you! :-)

Traitor & CHRISTMAS!!!

2004-12-24T11:25:00.000-05:00

I finished Traitor just five or ten minutes ago. It was really good. :-)

I'm not starting another book right away. If I were, it would be either Survivor's Quest or Splinter of the Mind's Eye, since those are the two remaining books I have that I haven't yet read. Tomorrow, though, is Christmas, and since I have a few more books on my wish list, soon I should be able to continue the Clone Wars. That's good, because I'm very determined to finish ALL Clone Wars stuff by May 19th.

Well, Merry Christmas Eve to all, and to all a good morning!

Traitor, Web Site, and MagnaGuards - Oh my!

2004-12-21T19:59:00.000-05:00

I'm now on vacation -- wahoo! -- which means plenty of free time. I finished Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand a day or two ago and immediately started Traitor.

Just today, the Official Site revealed the names of General Grievous' deadly bodyguards: IG 100 MagnaGuards. (IG stands for InterGalactic, as in InterGalactic Banking Clan.) It seems from the name that they're IG 88's successors, but EU material suggests that IG 88 came into existance after the Clone Wars. Interesting... Well, all sorts of manufacturers (computers, cars, etc.) sometimes introduce products with a lower numerical designation, so it's perfectly logical that the IGCB would do the same.

Finally, I've been getting a lot of work done on my Star Wars website, version 2.0. Hopefully I'll have all the updates online by the New Year!

MTFBWY

Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter & Clone Wars

2004-12-10T22:53:00.000-05:00

I just finished reading Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter an hour or so ago. It was pretty good, and I liked how it led right into Episode I. If only Darth Maul had gotten a little more screen time... he's such a good villian! Anyway, now I'm reading Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand, #12 out of 19 in the NJO.

More exciting yet is the fact that on March 21, Season 3 of Star Wars: Clone Wars debuts, and one day later the DVD of Seasons 1 and 2 ("Volume 1" collectively) comes out. I'm really excited! StarWars.com recently posted a preview of Season 3, and it looks really good. :-)

Reading Materials

2004-11-27T18:42:00.000-05:00

I've been on vacation this whole week for Thanksgiving, which has been great! Towards the beginning of vacation, I finished Tatooine Ghost and read A Forest Apart (which is included in the paperback edition of TG), which I was quite pleased about -- after all, that let me return to my Clone Wars reading, which I am determined to finish before Episode III comes out. (I'm also determined to read Labyrinth of Evil, which takes place just before ROTS, before that fateful May 19, even though that book is technically a "prequel novel" and not "a Clone Wars novel.") Anyway, due to that wish I read MedStar II: Jedi Healer next. I finished that a day or two ago (extremely quickly, for me).

I especially liked the appearance of the Resolution at the end -- that really made it seem like something was happening in the Clone Wars (i.e. new ships types being developed), instead of endless battles that accomplish NOTHING, which is how I've felt about the CW novels I've read so far (Shatterpoint, The Cestus Deception, and the MedStar Duology). Hopefully, more things will start happening towards the end of the war -- I'm very much looking forward to reading Jedi Trial and Dark Rendezvous.

There's currently four comic strips running at StarWars.com for subscribers to Hyperspace, and one of them (the only one that's really of interest to me) takes place in the weeks before Revenge of the Sith. That makes it extremely interesting -- people are going places where they're seen at the beginning of ROTS, and we get a look of some of the warriors and battlefields we'll be seing in the final Star Wars movie.

Speaking of comics, I've read none, mainly because I have no idea where to start. I wish I was caught up on them, though, because from what little I know of them I do know that they make up more of the Clone Wars project than do books. It's in comics that Tarkin, AT-ATs, new clone troopers, new ships, new enemies, and new characters first appear. For example, I know nothing of what happened on Jabiim, I have virtually no idea who Alpha is, I can't figure out how Tarkin fits into it all (I'm very interested in him due to his importance later on), and I'm still wondering when this rumored first appearance of All Terrain Armored Transports occurs.

Oh well. Eventually, if ever there comes a lull in Star Wars publishing (which I sincerely hope there never will be, and fully expect there not to be -- not the slightest bit -- for at least another five years), I'll make sure to go back and read all those... somehow. Sadly, I hear it can be rather difficult to find all the past issues. It would be nice for thus-far-no-comics fans like me if they would compile them all in nice big books. (Who knows. Maybe they do!)

Speaking of the coming years for SW publishing, starwars.com has recently released a ton of information about the Episode III-related books coming this April. Needless to say, I'm really excited! :-)

Star Wars RTS coming?

2004-11-13T17:21:00.000-05:00

In a recent interview, Jim Ward, preseident of LucasArts, said the following:

"...we will have new live-action and animated TV shows over the next few years, and I think there's a bright future there for games based on these new properties as well as original 'Star Wars' games like a new real-time strategy PC game that Petroglyph is developing for next year. This game will take the (real-time strategy) genre in a new direction and will balance gameplay between the hard-core gamers who buy these games and the broader audience that's familiar with the 'Star Wars' brand."

So, it seems there's a new RTS on the way. Will it be like the old Star Wars Battlegrounds, which was essentially Age of Empires with Star Wars buidings, locations, and troops in the place of medieval items? It'll probably be similar, but with material from all six movies. Although, Jim Ward did say "This game will take the (real-time strategy) genre in a new direction," which suggests that they're doing something radical this time.

Perhaps it'll have a taste of the old "Rebellion" game where you fought for each individual planet in the galaxy, which was itself resurrected somewhat for the mode in Battlefront, "Galactic Conquest."

Only time will tell. In the meantime, I can watch the Episode III trailer another trillion times!!!

The Incredibles & The Teaser

2004-11-09T23:41:00.000-05:00

This past Saturday I went to see the Incredibles -- and just half an hour after I exited the theater, I went right back in the exact same theater, same screen, and watched the whole thing over again! Sure, the movie was great -- perhaps the best Pixar movie to date -- but the best part was the TEASER TRAILER!!!

I wore my Revenge of the Sith sweatshirt for the occasion. :-) The first time the trailer was shown, the theater was fairly full -- it was at 4:00 PM or so -- and, while my friend and I were the only ones to clap afterwards, people were definitely talking about it -- you could hear. The second time, the theater was almost TOTALLY full (we had to sit all the way in the very back row). Before the trailer started some people actually got up and stood behind the back row to get a better view, and after the trailer about 1/4 or more of the theater clapped! :-)

A minute later, when I left the theater to get straws, the two people collecting tickets were asking each other whether "the trailer" had played yet. I asked if they meant the Episode III trailer and they said yes. I informed them that, sadly, it had already gone -- but that they could see it online for free on Monday.

Sure enough, it's now at StarWars.com for all to see, so go check it out!

EPISODE III TRAILER!!!

2004-11-04T21:41:00.000-05:00

Today was the big debut of the Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith Teaser Trailer! As soon as I got home from school I watched it on MTV's Total Request Live and taped it, and then watched it twice more. After doing some homework (silly school) I then watched it again on Access Hollywood (and taped that too!). Now my tapes and the online version will have to tide me over until we go see The Incredibles on Saturday -- the teaser is playing with it!

As for the trailer itself, it's amazing!!!

Adios.

10,000 Days of Star Wars (and counting!)

2004-10-10T17:55:00.000-04:00

Today, 10 October 2004, is an extremely important day: it's the 10,000th day since the first airing of Star Wars, on 25 May 1977! That's a pretty big milestone. Actually, a REALLY big milestone.

I've figured that Revenge of the Sith will come out on the 10,221st day of Star Wars, which equates to 883 094 400 seconds.

Check out the article on TheForce.net for more information.

I love Star Wars. :-)

Battlefront & More

2004-10-10T11:25:00.000-04:00

Get ready for a pretty big update!

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Battlefront:

My brother Willy got Battlefront for his birthday! I've been playing it a TON. It's especially fun to go lumbering around Hoth in an AT-AT, utterly destroying everything in your sight -- every Rebel troop, turret, and vehicle can be destroyed by just one shot from your super-powerful lasers. Only the shield generator requires a bit more pounding. Of course, it's pretty hard to hit the fast-moving snowspeeders, and they can (of course) trip you with their tow cables if you give them the chance. I find it's nice to always travel with another AT-AT, so that if one comes under attack the other can pick off the speeder.

Then there's Endor, which was the level featured on the OT DVD set demo. For the Rebels, your objective is to destroy the shield generator protecting the Death Star II. For the Imperials, you have to defend it. At your disposal are AT-STs, speeder bikes, and plenty of ammunition. The Rebels also have the assistance of Ewoks.

The Kamino map is perfect for the Republic's Jet Troopers, who can go from outerdoor platform to platform with ease. The Geonosis map is lots of fun with AT-TEs, Hailfire droids, spider droids, LAAT/i troop transports, and Geonosian starfighters. Rhen Var, the only planet that's in the game but is in none of the movies, is an ice planet much like Hoth, except it has giant, ancient structures that make it less open. There are two Tatooine maps. The first is the Dune Sea, which is a great big open map featuring the ever-so-fun Sarlaac who will grab and eat you if you get too close. The other is Mos Eisley, which is an extremely urban-combat-type map where vehicles (if the map had any) would be utterly useless. Troops with jet packs are particularly convenient here, as they can navigate the city with ease. Naboo also has two maps, one open and one city map.

And then there's Kashyyyk, which will be featured in Revenge of the Sith. The Wookiees help out the Republic on that map, which is neat. It's great to have a little preview of what the planet will look like.

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More Videogames

With the success of Battlefront, I see a sequel coming -- and I'm very glad about that. I hope they have more content from Episode III -- a lot more content -- and more planets. On Hoth, AT-ATs shouldn't respawn, but the Empire should start off with six or something. To counter that, the Rebels should have lots more snowspeeders.

The AI should be improved. In this one, it's pretty good, but the AI guys occasionally run into walls and such. There should be more planets, including lots that aren't in the movies -- places where epic Clone Wars battles take place, and other places that come under attack at various times during the Original Trilogy.

After that, there should be a "Battlefront EU" focusing on the events following Return of the Jedi. Instead of "Galactic Civil War" and "Clone Wars" as the two eras, it could be "Imperial Remnant Wars" and "Yuuzhan Vong War."

You know I really love a game when I've already imagined two sequels. :-)

Knights of the Old Republic is currently getting a sequel that takes place five years after the original, aka still a few thousand years before the movies. I think that after that, they should make "Knights of the New Jedi Order" or something. It would take place during the years of the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. In addition to everything one would expect from a sequel to KOTOR, it should have some elements of RPGs like Fable worked in. In Fable, people's reaction to you changes depending on your actions -- much like in KOTOR, only to a greater extent. If you're really evil, people drop what they're holding and run in terror when they see you. If you're good, they follow you around and adore you.

In KOTNJO (not a very good acronym), that could be taken to an even higher level. You could have different reputations with the New Republic, Luke's Jedi, Kyp's Jedi, the GFFA, the Peace Brigade, and the Yuuzhan Vong. So, if you helped the Peace Brigade capture other Jedi, the PB would like you, the YV would be tolerant, all Jedi would hate you, and the NR would be fairly neutral.

[[NEW JEDI ORDER SPOILER ALERT]]

As you played through the game, events from the books would pop up. Your character would start with an apartment on Coruscant, but could buy houses on other planets. That would probably be a good idea, since about halfway through the game the Yuuzhan Vong invade Coruscant. If you're on the planet at the time, you can...

Fight your way off-world in your ship.
Stay put, go into hiding in the lower levels, and wait for NR Special Forces to come by and try to get you out of there.
Stay put for the remainder of the game, fighting off Yuuzhan Vong as you go.
Help the Yuuzhan Vong there.

That's my fantasy, anyway. I think it would be cool -- who knows what LucasArts would think.

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Reading Materials

Currently, I'm reading the Insider 78 (which came a couple days before we got the DVD set) and Tatooine Ghost. Both are quite entertaining. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of the NJO, the rest of the Clone Wars books, all post-NJO books and all post-Episode III books.

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May the Force be with You! Now I'm off to play Battlefront. :D

Original Trilogy on DVD

2004-09-25T16:42:00.000-04:00

Prepare for one of my longest posts ever.

This past Wednesday, while I was at school, we got the Original Trilogy on DVD!!! I LOVE IT!!! I highly recommend it to any fan of Star Wars.

Changes

One thing many fans are annoyed by, however, is that the set doesn't include the original movies as seen in 1977. Instead, they're the Special Editions, complete with changes like Greedo shooting before Han in the cantina, Han talking with Jabba about his payment, a new finale for ROTJ, a new song in Jabba's palace, plenty of new CG shots, more shots of Cloud City, moving dewbacks, and so on.

Actually, they're not even the Special Editions -- there have been even more changes made for this release. For example...

A New Hope (Ep. IV)

Han and Greedo shoot almost simultaneously, with Greedo shooting a moment earlier.
The CG Jabba has been improved.
All Imperial display text (like on the tractor beam controls) has been changed from English to Aurebesh.

The Empire Strikes Back (Ep. V)

The dialogue of Vader's conversation with the Emperor has been changed, and now Ian McDiarmid (who plays Palpatine everywhere else) is the one in the hologram.
Boba Fett's dialogue is now spoken by Temuera Morrison, the actor who plays Jango in AOTC -- after all, Boba is his clone.
Luke doesn't scream as he's falling from Cloud City. He didn't in 1980, he did in 1997 for the Special Editions, and now he doesn't again.

Return of the Jedi (Ep. VI)

The rancor looks much better.
Naboo is now featured in the final celebration, alongside Endor, Tatooine, Bespin, and Coruscant.
The Jedi Temple is seen in the background of the Coruscant celebration shot.
Anakin's ghost at the end is now Hayden Christensen as seen in Episode III.

There are more, but I don't know about all of them. All in all, the films look great, and I'm happy with the changes.

Bonus Material

There's a whole lots of bonus material on the discs, including a huge 2 1/2 hour documentary about the making of Star Wars and three shorter features on various aspects of the films. There's also a gallery of all the release posters for the movies. I had never before realized how many times they've been in theaters over the years!

But wait, there's more! The bonus disc features a great sneak peek at Episode III, featuring the creation of Darth Vader's mask and behind-the-scenes footage of Anakin and Obi-Wan's epic duel.

And there's still more! For people with a DVD player as a standalone box, in their PC, or in their PS2, there's a trailer for the game Star Wars Battlefront, which was released on the same day as the DVD set (Sept. 21). But for Xbox owners, there's an actual demo! I've been playing it every chance I have -- it's absolutely amazing, even though you can only play on one map in the demo (there are 16 in the real game) and the soldier types are limited. I'm addicted!

Willy's birthday is this Tuesday, and Battlefront is on his wishlist, so with luck I may be telling you lots more about the game shortly. :-)

Money

The DVD set and Battlefront are already spectacularly successful. On Sept. 21, consumers worldwide spent $115,000,000 on "in-home Star Wars entertainment" -- aka the DVDs and Battlefront. WOW!!!

Well, I'm off to do homework. :-( Aloha!

On the Publishing Horizon

2004-09-03T11:30:00.000-04:00

I've been looking back through the archives of my blog, and I've noticed something that deserves an update: the publishing horizon.

First there's the rest of the Clone Wars books and Labyrinth of Evil. Then there'll be another book taking place directly after Episode III. There'll be a couple books set in the Old Republic -- just a little series of two or three -- and then a lot post-NJO (but still in the NJO "era"). There's the Dark Nest trilogy, which takes place about five years post-NJO, and then a 9-book series that was originally going to be an Old Republic series. (Note that in a previous post, I mistakenly referred to this series as a six-book series. Oops!) The nine book series will be written by three different authors -- one for the first three books, another for the next three, and a third for the final three.

Then, of course, there are a couple more New Essential Guides, a few DK books to go with Episode III, and some other books here and there.

By the way -- as I said months ago, I still think there should be an "Ultimate Guide" series after all these books come out (perhaps as the first books in a new publishing contract). My dream series would consist of:

The Ultimate Guide to Characters
The Ultimate Guide to Vehicles & Vessels
The Ultimate Guide to Weapons & Technology
The Ultimate Guide to Planets & Moons
The Ultimate Guide to Droids
The Ultimate Guide to Alien Species
The Ultimate Chronology

The Planets & Moons one would also feature a large cartography section, complete with various maps from various eras showing territory and sector boundries shifting over time. So there could be a couple from the Sith era, a couple showing the ongoing Clone Wars, a couple Rise of the Empire maps showing the bad guys taking over, a few showing the New Republic taking all that back, and then several showing the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. That's a lot of maps!

What do you think? Post a comment! :-)

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Episode III Update:

Last night StarWars.com updated with some amazing Episode III stuff. A great new set diary, an amazing new Before the Helmet depicting an interesting bit of the space battle, and one of the best web documentaries to date focusing on Anthony Daniels as C-3PO. (Unfortunately, only members of Hyperspace can see it all, although the documentary will be released for all members later.)

Today is the last day of pick-ups, which means that pretty much everyone has done their last Star Wars filming ever. That's kind of sad. Oh well. There'll still be books, and comics, and games, and maybe even a live-action TV series or two... and in the mean time, we still have Episode III to look forward to! :-D

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Well, I'm off to a wedding for the weekend. Aloha!

LucasArts Forums

2004-09-02T19:27:00.000-04:00

The LucasArts website just launched new game discussion forums. It's only three days old and already going strong! :-)

I feel very proud of myself, for I have posted the 7th topic ever on the Republic Commando web site!

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In other LucasArts news, Battlefront has gone gold, meaning it's done. It will be released on September 21st -- the same day the original trilogy comes out on DVD!!!

Pretty Logo & Pick-ups

2004-09-02T12:13:00.000-04:00

Wahoo! Now my little blog has a colorful logo at the top! As an added bonus, clicking it will bring you to my Star Wars site. That site, which will be updated soon (hopefully), will also feature a link back to this blog. That's all in an effort to bring the two closer together.

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In other news, I've been following the Episode III pick-ups for the past couple weeks. StarWars.com has some great coverage, although you need to be a paying subscriber to have access to most of it. Oh well.

It sounds like the movie is coming together well! I really can't wait until May 19!!!

(Or, for that matter, September 21st, when the Original Trilogy comes out on DVD -- complete with a special sneak preview of Episode III!)

Summer Reading

2004-08-30T17:09:00.000-04:00

We're back from Taconnet now, which means a few things.

I can get daily Star Wars updates.
I can update this more often.
I can work on my web site more.
I'll be reading a lot less.

Now then, let's deal with numbers three and four.

First of all, I've been working on a major update to my web site (as you may or may not know), and part of that update will be a new and improved Star Wars section. Wahoo! However, I've got a bunch of other stuff going on too, so the SW update may have to wait. :-(

As for #4, I end up reading a lot less at home than I do in the wilderness of Maine. Still, over this summer I've read a lot. By a week from today I will have read over 5,000 pages over summer vacation -- which is a huge amount for me.

Most of that reading was, as is to be expected, Star Wars. I've been reading the NJO a lot -- this summer I've read Agents of Chaos II through Dark Journey. Enemy Lines I is next. For the Clone Wars, I've read The Cestus Deception and MedStar I. In addition to that, I read Vision of the Future.

Unfortunately, the amount of Star Wars I could read was severely limited by school reading requirements (otherwise I could have read at least three more). :-( Oh well.

The nice thing is that I'm finally catching up to LucasBooks. In the past, I've always been reading books that were released many years ago. Now, especially with the Clone Wars books, I've caught up. Yippee! :-)

Revenge of the Sith

2004-08-10T22:09:00.000-04:00

Hi! We're still up in Maine on vacation, and this has been my first chance so far to update. And there's been some big news since my last update: the title of Episode III!!!

Personally, I'm a big fan of the title Revenge of the Sith. Nice connection with Ep. VI, nicely describes the actual content of the film, and ties in with Darth Maul's comment about revenge in Ep. I.

What do you think? Actually make use of the handy-dandy comments feature for once and let me know!

Fan Films, Wookiee Shoot & More

2004-07-23T22:18:00.000-04:00

Fan Films
Yesterday was the 3rd Annual Official Star Wars Fan Film Awards (or TAOS-WaFFA for short). There are some great ones in there; be sure to check it out. Also, if you haven't done so already, be sure to watch the excellent Star Wars Gangsta Rap -- and then, watch the all new Special Edition! They're amazing.

The TAOS-WaFFA took place at Comic-Con, which is a great big gathering with a great big Star Wars presence. Check out the link for all the official stuff from the official site.

Wookiee Shoot
This July 26-29, there's going to be a Wookiee shoot for Episode III. I'm really excited about the whole Wookiee aspect of the final Star Wars; not only do we get to see Kashyyyk (their home planet), we get to see great big fighting warrior wookiees! Yippee!

StarWars.com Hyperspace subscribers will be able to watch the shoot live online on the Episode III webcam. Unfortunately, we'll be on vacation at Taconnet during that time (we're leaving bright & early tomorrow -- read more here), but hopefully I'll be able to log on to watch at least a bit.

And More
I've been working a lot on the Star Wars aspect of my web site recently. In the near future, look for a new design, more reviews of Star Wars stuff, and tighter integration between this blog and my Star Wars site.

Also, as you might have read above, we're leaving tomorrow for Taconnet. I'll have plenty of reading time while there, so I hope to finish at least 4 more Star Wars books in that month. That's one a week -- wish me luck! (I haven't quite finished Edge of Victory I - Conquest, but I'm really close, so maybe that one shouldn't count.)

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Well, that's all folks. I'll pretty much be out of contact for the next month, but if I'm lucky maybe I'll get a chance to update this. Aloha!

Insider 77: I got it!

2004-07-21T17:02:00.000-04:00

Today I received a very special piece of mail: the Star Wars Insider #77, which is the first Insider I've gotten! WAHOO!!! It has some absolutely amazing new pictures from Episode III in it, not to mention a new short story by Timothy Zahn (one of the best-ever Star Wars writers).

I actually first saw the pictures just last night, when StarWars.com updated with the new "online supplement" to Insider 77. I've already read a bunch of it, but I'm trying to save most of it for the long ride up to Taconnet. Boy, it'll be hard to hold off that long! I've already read a lot.

Adios, amigos!

Art of Episode III

2004-07-20T09:04:00.000-04:00

The Official Site just updated with an awesome preview of the Art of Episode III book, coming April 2. Take a look at that cover art!

Meanwhile, TheForce.net has a nice preview of what Insider #77 has in store. Looks like there are some amazing new Episode III pictures! Supposedly Insider 77 ships on the 22nd, but some people are already getting it. I sure hope I get it by the time we go to Taconnet (24th)!!!

In other news, I've just started Edge of Victory I: Conquest. Hopefully it'll be another good one! :-)

Revised Read Schedule

2004-07-19T13:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we took a little trip to Barnes & Noble and got three new books: Medstar I, Edge of Victory II: Rebirth and Star by Star. Unfortunately, they didn't have The Cestus Deception, which will throw off my attack plan a bit.

Previously, the plan had been to attack 100% on the Clone Wars front in order to try to get all those books finished before Episode III (as well as Labyrinth of Evil, which is the sort of lead-in book to Episode III and isn't technically a Clone Wars book, though it certainly takes place during that time).

However, due to the fact that B&N didn't have TCD (hehe... abbreviations galore!), I'll have to delay the attack on the Clone Wars front a bit. I suppose I'll read Edge of Victory I, and by then perhaps TCD will be available.

So, I'll save the New Jedi Order for after the Clone Wars stuff, and Splinter of the Mind's Eye I'll probably save until after I finish the NJO. Or perhaps I'll just read it if I ever feel like a break from the NJO.

I still have to fit in Survivor's Quest and Tatooine Ghost, though. However, I've decided to continue to ignore (for now) those little stragglers I left behind in my sweep through the Classic & New Republic era EU. Online people were discussing the worst SW books ever, and -- amazingly -- virtually every book I've skipped was on there. Even more amazingly, virtually none I have read were on there! Yippee!

So, I suppose I'll save those for some later date.

Also on the SW publishing horizon is the completion of Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Septology (which will be a prequel-era book), a six-book series taking place during the Old Republic, and a post-NJO trilogy. I can't wait! I'm finally actually catching up to Star Wars publishing! :-)

In Other News

I'm still, of course, eagerly awaiting the release of the original trilogy on DVD. Rumors abound that still more changes have been made. I, for one, wouldn't mind, though I know many SW fans would. In my opinion, Jabba in ANH, the whole Han/Greedo faceoff and OT lightsaber work seems especially ready for a little touch-up. (Ironically, both Jabba and the Greedo incident need touch-up work as a result of the Special Edition. How odd.)

I've also heard that Naboo will be added to the ending of ROTJ. That could be interesting, and would really tie together the whole series even more. Since Naboo is the location of the Emperor's private retreat during the OT, it would be interesting to see what had changed in about 30 years.

Of course, one of the longest-circulating rumors is that a shot of Bail Organa on Alderaan just before it goes ka-boom would be added. That could be really interesting, especially since we would get to see what Alderaan really looks like for the first time ever. (Perhaps it'll be in Episode III, though... who knows...)

On the OT DVD bonus disc is a playable demo of Star Wars Battlefront. I'm really looking forward to that, too, since Battlefront is shaping up to be an amazing game. Republic Commando also looks great, especially the Wookiees. We'll have to wait a bit longer for that one, but I'm guessing it'll be worth it!

That's all for now, folks. Thanks for reading. Adios!

Balance Point and Future Reading

2004-07-09T17:27:00.000-04:00

I'm just finishing up New Jedi Order: Balance Point. It's good!

Next up in the queue is Splinter of the Mind's Eye, which I overlooked in my sweep through the books in (roughly) chronological order. After that, on to NJO: Edge of Victory I - Conquest. Frighteningly, I actually have no Star Wars material to read after that!

Once I get them, I'll continue the New Jedi Order, but I'll be interspersing that with a little newer Clone Wars material. I'll probably at least complete the Edge of Victory duology first, but before Star by Star I think I'll read The Cestus Deception. After SBS, I'll go on to the Medstar duology, and then return to NJO for a book or two, then go back to Jedi Trial and Dark Rendezvous to round off the Clone Wars content.

But wait! What about Tatooine Ghost and Survivor's Quest, the two books that have popped up in between by two fronts of Star Wars reading, Clone Wars and NJO? I'll have to fit them in there, somewhere, too...

After finishing the NJO and all that, though, I might be in a bit of trouble. Of course, more books will be coming out all the time, but what about those other novels that have slipped through the cracks due to my relative lack of interest?

There's the Bounty Hunter Wars trilogy, Children of the Jedi, Planet of Twilight, The Crystal Star, and The New Rebellion in the New Republic era. There's the Han Solo trilogy, the Han Solo Adventures and the Adventures of Lando Calrissian a little closer to the Classic Trilogy era. Along the links of Splinter of the Mind's Eye, there's Shadows of the Empire. Then there's the whole Jedi Apprentice, Jedi Quest, and Boba Fett series, Darth Maul: Shadow Hunter, Cloak of Deception, and Legacy of the Jedi in the prequel era. Oh, and I can't forget the Junior Jedi Knights series, which I started but never finished, or the Galaxy of Fear books, or that "Glove of Darth Vader" series.... The problem is, I'm not all that interested in any of that. What to do!?!?!?

On a fairly unrelated note, I think it would be pretty interesting if LucasBooks republished every Star Wars book ever made, with one standard format (at least somewhat standard; of course, creativity is still encouraged!). Each book would have a full timeline at the beginning, proper era designations and an updated map of the galaxy up front. Perhaps the galaxy map could have an inset focusing on the key areas in that particular book.

Then, they could re-do the whole Essential Guide series. It couldn't be the New Essential Guide -- they already started doing that without waiting for Episode III, the completion of the NJO, or for the Clone Wars to play out. How about "The Ultimate Guide"? Sounds good to me. Each one of those could have an even more improved, full-color, complete, fold-out galaxy map in the front.

And then, DK's excellent series of cross-section books could be expanded to cover the Expanded Universe. Sure, that's kind of what the Ultimate Guides would be for, but DK's series could basically take a slice out of those books and expand upon that slice. I'd love to see an "Inside the Worlds of the Expanded Unverse" featuring Centerpoint Station, a Yuuzhan Vong worldship, Thrawn's fortress on Nirauan and more!

Well, that's all for now. Sorry I couldn't write a very long entry today... I must be off to dinner! ;-)

Skywalker Ranch & More, oh my!

2004-06-30T20:00:00.000-04:00

Hi there! As some of you may know, just last night my family & I got back from San Francisco. While there, the day before yesterday, we got to see... [drumroll] ... Skywalker Ranch! We saw the amazing grouds (including a whole artificial lake), the sound studio, some original props from the movies, and more! It was really fun.

In other news, just today I participated in the online Starwars.com chat with Rob Coleman, who's worked on special effects for Episodes I and II and is currently working on III. At least, I tried to participate -- none of my questions got through. Oh well -- it was fun! :-)

And, just in case anyone forgot, there's only 322 days, 3 hours, 53 minutes and 21 seconds left until Episode III comes out! YIPPEE!!!

Star Wars: Hyperspace

2004-06-08T20:27:00.000-04:00

Today, somewhere around 17:38 EST, I received an email from StarWars.com. It was supposed to come any time from noon yesterday to noon today, so it was unfortunately somewhat late. Still, according to the message header it was sent at 14:29, so that's not too bad. I've been checking regularly for the past two days to see whether it's arrived yet, so I'm now EXTREMELY happy! :-D

Anyway, this email contained... drumroll please... the access code for my online subscription to "Hyperspace: The Official Fan Club"! YAHOO!!!

In addition to unprecedented online access to behind-the-scenes news on the making of Episode III, this gets me a subscription to the Star Wars Insider magazine, as well as regular "membership kits" that include posters, a calendar, and other "exclusive surprises!" :-)

Hehehe... now I'm happy. :-)

Adios!

Star Wars on Weakest Link

2004-06-06T21:33:00.000-04:00

I was just watching the Weakest Link on the game-show network. It was a special celebrity edition with all Star Trek guys. One of the questions was along the lines of "What is the name of the golden droid in Star Wars played by Anthony Daniels?" The answer, of course, was our friend C-3PO.

A little later, Levar Burton (sp?) -- who also stars on PBS' Reading Rainbow -- said that 10 squared was 600. Oops! ;)

Now there are three left: Levar, Robert, and Wil. Who will be the weakest link? Goodbye!

Specter of the Past

2004-06-01T22:19:00.000-04:00

I just finished Specter of the Past, which I read pretty much entirely over this past weekend. It was pretty good... I can't wait until I start Vision of the Future! I'm also looking forward to reading Timothy Zahn's new book, Survivor's Quest (which is somewhat related to the Hand of Thrawn duology). I like Admiral Pellaeon. :-)

I'll be updated my web site, www.tophtucker.com, with a bunch of Star Wars reviews and such in the near future. When that happens, I'm hoping that SotP will be one of those books reviewed. Until then... adios!

Welcome!

2004-05-31T20:12:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Toph's Star Wars Blog, which is where I can post everything I want to say related about Star Wars! YIPPEE!!! :-)

Note that this is NOT a Star Wars news site. It is simply a place for me to discuss my love of the movies, books, cartoons, video games, and so on taking place in a galaxy far, far away.

Unfortunately, I'll need to postpone my first real posts until a later date. Until then -- adios, amigos!