Now he wants to build a Hoth diorama with Legos.

Awesome job brickplumber.

Trey's in heaven today, Cartoon Network is running a Pokemon marathon.  During just about every commercial break, they are pimping their Clone Wars series starting October 3rd.  They've got a site up, but all it has right now is a flash game.

I should have pulled out my camera for this one (I even had it) but didn't think about it.  Baybrook Mall recently opened a Lego Store!!  Trey and I stopped in there Friday afternoon, and had a great time.  They have a good selection of the modern Star Wars sets, plus the Death Star II and Millennium Falcon set (these boxes were empty on the shelves.)  They also had a completed Millennium Flacon in a plexiglas case.  Super cool.  Trey bought a few key chains.  The prices were identical to what Lego sells things for on lego.com, and very similar to Toys R Us (at least for what we looked at.)  I really liked the Chess set, which I had never seen before.  The coolest part was the bin wall.  The back wall of the store was bins of loose bricks which could be purchased.  A small (about a pint) cup was $8 and a large (about a quart) cup was $15.  I have a feeling we'll be visiting again.

Trey has already decided he's saving his allowance for the Death Star kit, or maybe he'll want this one after he sees it.

Trey and I went to see Clone Wars this afternoon.  I liked it.  The animation (except for the people) was fantastic.  Some of the dialog was downright juvenile (especially the Battle Droids and Zero the Hutt.)  A bunch of clone die, so take that into consideration when deciding if your kids should see it.  Trey loved it.  It was very strange seeing the Warner Brothers logo at the beginning of the movie, instead of the 20th Century Fox logo.

October 3rd can't come soon enough.

Spike TV will be showing all six Star Wars episodes in April.  The weekend of the 4th houses the new trilogy.  And the weekend of the 11th will have the Original Trilogy.  Details at StarWars.com.

A New ASCII?  Well, something.  I've seen this before, but it is always brilliant.  Star Wars Episode IV via Telnet all done in ASCII art.  Just  telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl

 

Geoff Boucher at the LA Times has a really cool article on Skywalker Ranch.

The latest Official Star Wars Fan Club t-shirt has an interesting mathematical twist.

The Official Star Wars Blog pointed to a Landspeeder Pinewood Derby Car at thisblogismyblog. 

Nice job.

I think Trey did pretty good with his first attempt at a Pinewood Derby car.  You can see pictures in our gallery:

Has the Official Star Wars blog found the Presidential candidate I should be voting for?

(no I'm not really making political judgements based on who has attempted to quote Star Wars.)

or is it Star Wars to America

This is too funny.

Darth Vader King Jaffe Jaffer (from Coming to America) mash up.

Fox Studio Art is selling original production drawings as well as limited edition prints from Blue Harvest.  Brilliant.

 

Not cheap, though.  Anywhere from $140 to $210.

StarWars.com has announced that Family Guy Blue Harvest (The Star Wars A New Hope parody season premier) comes out on DVD January 15.  There will be two editions, one with a bunch of extras including a t-shirt.

 

Is this my next car?  Too bad its a Dodge.  I can't believe someone was able to use a Star Wars theme in a production vehicle.

Cool.

Yahoo has just launched a new Star Wars portal.  Looks like some good stuff out there.

 

A group of rocket enthusiasts, and (obvious) Star Wars fans, decided to build a flying scale model of the Rebel X-Wing fighter.  Its obviously close to full size, since the cockpit can hold a child (no child will be in the thing during flight.)  I can't wait for the video.

May the Force Be With You, Polecat Aerospace.

Yes, that's right, we're just hours away from the Family Guy premier for this year, a one hour Star Wars spectacular - "Blue Harvest".  I can't wait.

In an interview with TV Guide, George Lucas talks about the upcoming Star Wars TV shows.  The most interesting bit to me is his approach.  Most TV shows are pitched to a network, and they commission a pilot, and pay for everything.  He's just doing it.  Financing everything himself, and then he's going to sell it to someone.  I still don't get the Clone Wars animated bit.  This was already done, and now its being done again?  He says this one will be TV-13 because of the violence, so people are struggling to see where it would it.  Come on Adult Swim.

Gamasutra is reporting that LucasArts has a Star Wars game in the works where you use the Wiimote to control a light saber.  Looks like we're getting a Wii for Christmas.

The Fort Worth Museum is hosting an exhibit called Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination.  It opens June 9, and runs to September 3.

I saw The Magic of Myth exhibit at the Smithsonian, and when it came to Houston's museum.  They were great.

Trey and I might have to make a weekend trip out of this one.

Yes, today is the 30th anniversary of Star Wars.  I can remember going to see it when it came out.  We had to wait in a long line that wrapped around the building.  I can remember the building being white or grey cement (I was five.)

A few big things for today:
Cinemax is showing all six episodes (starting with TPM at 3:00pm EST)
The History Channel has two programs on Monday, The Legacy Revealed at 9 pm EST and Star Wars Tech at 11 pm EST
The Star Wars USPS stamps ship today
George is supposed to be announcing something big at Celebration IV today


What a day to be a geek.

Tons of specualtion on what this new website TalesOfTheNewRepublic.com is.  Fan film?  The long rumored new cartoon series?  I can't find anything on Cartoon Network or SciFi, the only two logical places for something like this to live.

Tomorrow can't come too soon.

Check out this Jackson Fish Market post, which leads to Paul Senzee's account of Red 5 Studio's attempt to recruit him to be one of their new game developers.  Now game development is a tough market, and having the best may mean the difference between black and really red (no pun intended), so I can understand why Red5 would go to this kind of effort to recruit talent.  Its innovative and interesting.  And can you imagine working for the company that came up with this?

Working in the oil/technology industry has its own set of challenges when it comes to recruiting.  We're not leading edge like Google.  We're not flashy like a game company.  And we don't make $10B a quarter like Exxon.  Maybe I need to develop some interesting recruiting flair like this to find some really unique individuals.  8-)

BTW, I want to work for a company who is named after a Star Wars persona.

According to TheForce.Net, the USPS is going to be honoring the 30th anniversary of Star Wars with some commemorative R2-D2 mailboxes.  I hope one of these comes close to us.  BTW, the URL printed on there is a listening webserver, however there's no site there yet.

Update:
StarWars.com is posting pictures of people by them, and there's a Frappr map of where people have found them.  One just down from my office, I'll have to take our little Star Wars fan over to see it.

I'm currently in Holland on business.  Most of the Engligh language television programs have Dutch subtitles.  The show I'm watching just said father and I noticed vader in the subtitle.  It somehow made sense, so I started doing some googling.  It turns out that its pretty well known, and was mentioned by Lucas in a 2005 Rolling Stone article.  Check out this wikipedia article for a reference.

I still think its pretty cool.

On January 1, 2007, denizens of a galaxy far, far away will march down the streets of Pasadena, California, in a one-of-a-kind "Star Wars Spectacular" during the 118th Pasadena Tournament of Roses Parade®.

More than 350 Star Wars characters, including stormtroopers, Imperial officers, Ewoks and Darth Vader himself will entertain the nearly one million people expected to line the streets of Pasadena to see the Parade in person and the tens of millions of more around the world who tune in via multiple television broadcasts.

The massive Imperial stormtrooper contingent will comprise members of the international 501st Legion, a costuming and volunteer organization made up of Star Wars fans. Some 200 stormtroopers from more than 20 countries will participate in the Tournament of Roses Parade, showcasing the emblems and colors of their local garrisons.

"During the global premiere of Star Wars: Episode III last May, George Lucas was deeply impressed by the presence of 501st Legion members around the globe, and we wanted to honor them for their loyal support of Star Wars and their global philanthropy," said Tom Warner, Senior Director of Marketing for Lucasfilm Ltd. Members of the 501st regularly volunteer their time to support local charitable efforts. Read more about the 501st in this article.

Providing musical entertainment in the "Star Wars Spectacular" will be the renowned Grambling State University Tiger Marching Band.

In keeping with this year's Parade theme "Our Good Nature," the "Star Wars Spectacular" will feature the Ewoks, residents of the forest moon of Endor, who will ride on a float showcasing their planet's unique environment with a plea to "Save the Trees."

The celebration of Star Wars -- which coincides with the start of the 30th anniversary of the epic, six-episode adventure -- will also showcase a float that depicts the romantic beauty of Naboo, the garden planet of the Star Wars galaxy.

"Being part of a grand tradition like the Rose Parade is a fantastic way to kick off this milestone year," Warner said. Over Memorial Day Weekend 2007, a large fan convention, Star Wars Celebration IV, is expected to attract more than 30,000 worldwide fans to the Los Angeles Convention Center.