Author Archives: admin

News Station Bullies Star Wars Fans, Ashley Eckstein Not Amused

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And frankly, neither are we.

Earlier today, the good folks at the Star Wars Report alerted me to some rather lousy behavior by WPLG Local 10. Suggesting that someone dressed up in Jedi robes has their schedule built around Dungeons and Dragons. Really clever.* Sadly, I think as fans we’re all used to this kind of dismissive treatment. Even though I wrote about how baffling the disconnect between sports fandom (socially acceptable) and geek fandom (shun the weird people), this sort of behavior is something I just come to expect. That’s wrong of me, of course.

*And so what? Dungeons and Dragons is fun. 

Edit: This story has gotten long and crazy, so continue under the cut.

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‘Clone Wars’ Heading to Syndication in Chronological Order

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At Celebration VI, it was announced the first two seasons of The Clone Wars would be moving to syndication. Yesterday, Keeper of the Holocron Leland Chee dropped an interesting tidbit regarding the move to broadcast television:

Well how about that, it looks like TCW will be airing in chronological order. Lucasfilm and Cartoon Network appeared to have learned their lesson about airing things out of order a while back, and it’s good to see that’s going to be translating into the move to syndication.

No release date has currently been given for the syndication premiere of The Clone Wars. The Clone Wars moves to syndication on September 16.

 

Dragon*Con Recap: Expanded Universe Authors talk Masculinity in Star Wars

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It’s day two of Dragon*Con! Nanci and I are settling in for the second major Star Wars Expanded Universe panel, Masculinity in the Star Wars universe. Once again, Expanded Universe authors Timothy Zahn, Aaron Allston, Michael Stackpole, and Kevin J. Anderson are on hand for the discussion. Also here is Doctor Carol White. Highlights under the cut:

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Dragon*Con Recap: Star Wars Expanded Universe Author Q&A

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It’s day one of Dragon*Con! Nanci, Bria, Maggie, and myself are at the first big Expanded Universe panel (in costume) to cover all the fun. Aaron Allston, Kevin J. Anderson, Timothy Zahn, and Mike Stackpole are on hand. Highlights below the cut!

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Tosche Station Radio #28: The Celebration VI Special!

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It’s the big Celebration VI special! Unfortunately, the hosts don’t have enough time to sift through everything that happened at the convention, so this week’s show notes will be brief. The episode, however, isn’t. For the first time, Brian and Nanci are unscripted and coming to you almost live from the Orange County Convention Center.

On the docket is a discussion of Del Rey’s big announcements, celebrity panels, news from the StarWars.com redesign, and all sorts of odds and ends from the premiere Star Wars convention. We also had a pair of guests on the recording, including Tracy of Club Jade.

Sit back, grab some power converters, and enjoy our first-ever unscripted foray into podcasting!

‘Star Wars: First Assault’ Gets Trademarked

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Well this is interesting. In addition to Star Wars: 1313, Lucasarts may have another title in the works in Star Wars: First Assault.

Last week, Lucasfilm (the parent company of LucasArts) secretly registered several “Star Wars: First Assault” domain names like StarWarsFirstAssault.com.  It was suspected that the names had something to do with a yet-to-be announced video game project.

More information has surfaced in recent days in the way of two new trademark applications submitted to the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  On August 23, 2012, Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd. filed trademarks for “First Assault” (Serial Number: 85711610) and “Star Wars: First Assault” (Serial Number: 85711618).

Both applications cover the same goods and services which, among other things, includes “Entertainment services provided on-line by means of global and local area networks, namely, providing interactive computer games and interactive video games.”

What could First Assault be? It sounds almost like another inter-trilogy game, but what’s interesting is that there could be all sorts of product tie-ins such as toys. Chances are it’s just an interactive game, but it could be something more along the scale of Shadows of the Empire.

ABC Officially Orders Pilot for Whedon ‘S.H.I.E.L.D’ Series

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Part of Joss Whedon’s new keys-to-the-city deal from Marvel and Disney indicated that he would be helping to create a new TV series in the marvel film universe. Now we’ve gotten confirmation that ABC has placed an order for a pilot centered around S.H.I.E.L.D.

Three weeks after Disney CEO Robert Iger announced Joss Whedon would create a Marvel-related TV series for ABC, the network has made good on his vow.

ABC has given pilot orders to S.H.I.E.L.D, with the Avengers scribe on board to co-write the project based on the Marvel comic, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

From ABC Studios, the project is based on the long-running comic created by Jack Kirby and revolves around the secret military law enforcement agency dubbed S.H.I.E.L.D., which stands for Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistic Directorate.

So. Cobie Smulders can be lured away from How I Met Your Mother for this series, right? Maria Hill: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D would be fun.

The Toy at CVI that Made Brian Cry

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There’s a strange magic that toys possess.

I remember after watching A New Hope for the first time, my dad went to his room to rummage through a dusty old box that had been in the corner of his closet since we moved into the house. From it, he handed me an old die-cast scale model of the Millennium Falcon. Much of the paint had rubbed off, the satellite was missing, and the landing struts were broken, but that didn’t temper my excitement at all. I think in the months following that first viewing, I had concocted hundreds of adventures with that toy Falcon in my mind.

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Neil Armstrong Dies at 82

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Neil Armstrong, commander of Apollo 11 and the first man to set foot on the moon, passed away yesterday at 82.

“As long as there are history books, Neil Armstrong will be included in them,” said Charles Bolden. “As we enter this next era of space exploration, we do so standing on the shoulders of Neil Armstrong. We mourn the passing of a friend, fellow astronaut and true American hero.”