Star Wars Goes Digital on April 10th

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Star_Wars_logoIn news surprising to no one thanks to rumors over the past few days, Disney announced tonight via a commercial during this big deal college basketball game that the six films will be available in Digital HD starting on Friday, April 10th.

“Since the debut of the first film nearly 40 years ago, Star Wars has become a worldwide phenomenon with legions of fans from every generation,” said Alan Bergman, president, The Walt Disney Studios. “It’s only fitting that audiences enjoy this legendary saga and its many fascinating behind-the-scenes stories on a wide variety of platforms, and we’re very excited to finally bring all six films to Digital HD for the first time.”

The digital releases will also contain bonus material although that will apparently vary by retailer. You can read the full press release on the official site.

2015 Hugo Nominees Announced

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hugo-award-logoIt’s that time of year again– the time when my reading list suddenly gets a lot longer. That’s right, this year’s Hugo Award nominees have been announced!

Included in their ranks is The Dark Between the Stars by Star Wars book alum Kevin J. Anderson, up for the Best Novel award, as is Ancillary Sword by Ann Leckie, the sequel to last year’s category winner Ancillary Justice, and Skin Game, the newest entry in Jim Butcher’s best selling urban fantasy series The Dresden Files.  Ms. Marvel volume 1: No Normal, introducing the Pakistani-American teenage superhero Kamala Khan to the Marvel universe and written by G. Willow Wilson and illustrated by Adrian Alphona and Jake Wyatt, has made the list of Best Graphic Story nominees, joining Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ space opera Saga, which won the category’s award in 2013, and the first volume of Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky’s Sex Criminals.

In the Dramatic Presentation categories, it’s a good year for superheroes, with both Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy making the Long Form list and the pilot episode of the CW’s The Flash making the Short Form list. Also making the Long Form list are is The Lego Movie and making the Short Form list is the season 2 finale of Orphan Black, “By Means Which Have Never Yet Been Tried.”

This year was a record year for nomination participation according to the Hugo Awards’ official website, with 2122 ballots cast. You can read the full list of nominees here. The winners of each category will be voted on by the members of Worldcon 2015 and announced at the Hugo Awards Ceremony this August 22 at Sasquan in Spokane, Washington.

Star Wars Weekends Guests Announced!

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SWW2015_MerchandisePoster (1)In all the excitement for Celebration, it’s easy to overlook that other event that happens every May and June at Walt Disney World — Star Wars Weekends! The event will take place every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from May 15-June 14 at (soon to be renamed) Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Earlier this afternoon the Disney Parks blog and The Official Site announced the Star Wars celebrities appearing this year, including the first appearances of two very special guests, Ian McDiarmid and Frank Oz!

Weekend I (May 15 – 17)

  • Ian McDiarmid: Senator/Emperor Palpatine (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
  • Amy Allen: Aayla Secura (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)
  • Tiya Sircar: Sabine Wren (Star Wars Rebels)

Weekend II (May 22 – 24)

  • Warwick Davis: Wald, Wicket W. Warrick (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
  • Silas Carson: Ki-Adi-Mundi, Nute Gunray (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones;Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith)
  • Vanessa Marshall: Hera Syndulla (Star Wars Rebels)

Weekend III (May 29 – 31)

  • Warwick Davis: Wald, Wicket W. Warrick (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
  • Daniel Logan: Boba Fett (Star Wars: Attack of the Clones)
  • Steve Blum: Zeb Orrelios (Star Wars Rebels)

Weekend IV (June 5 – 7)

  • Ray Park: Darth Maul (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)
  • Jeremy Bulloch: Boba Fett (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
  • Ashley Eckstein: Ahsoka Tano (Star Wars: The Clone Wars; Star Wars Rebels)

Weekend V (June 12 – 14)

  • Frank Oz: Yoda (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace; Star Wars: Attack of the Clones; Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Return of the Jedi; Star Wars Rebels)
  • Ray Park: Darth Maul (Star Wars: The Phantom Menace)
  • Peter Mayhew: Chewbacca (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith; Star Wars: A New Hope; Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back; Star Wars: Return of the Jedi)
  • Taylor Gray: Ezra Bridger (Star Wars Rebels)

James Arnold Taylor will be hosting the event, with Ashley Eckstein on hand to host the Padawan Mind Challenge (in addition to her Weekend IV guest appearance).

Also of note this year: a new complex of shops for Darth’s Maul on Streets of America and a new inside location for celebrity autographs just off Commissary Lane.

In addition to celebrity appearances in “Stars of the Saga” and “Star Wars: Rebels”, Ray Park and Warwick Davis will be appearing in their own one-man shows. No work yet if Ian McDiarmid and Frank Oz will be appearing as part of “Stars of the Saga” or a separate interview like last year’s “Conversation with Mark Hamill”.

Who’s excited? I’m excited!

Tosche Station Radio #108: Celebration Pre-Funk

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Dunc and James from Club Jade join the hosts to discuss all things Celebration on this week’s Tosche Station Radio!

Kicking off the show, the hosts highlight What’s New on the Blog. Bria reviewed Kanan #1. We announced A Celebration of You, your chance to take part in a podcast recording and share your story at Celebration.

In Deak’s Dirt, Is there a Battlefront novel in the pipeline? (via clubjade). Is the Celebration opening panel going to be broadcast worldwide? (via clubjade). Gareth Edwards and Josh Trank are going to be at Celebration. But that’s stupid you shouldn’t go to it. Instead you should come to our recording instead! Starwars.com posted some Celebration shirts, Her Universe teases a Cloud City dress

Biggs’ Bullshit asks if a Lords of the Sith character feature in Rogue One? (via clubjade). Via Deadline: Ben Mendolsohn up for a role in Rogue One?

This week in Camie’s Concerns, James and Dunc help us break down Celebration and offer tips on what to bring, what to do, and what to see.

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of Majestic Giraffe Productions. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.

Her Universe - Flaunt Your World - www.heruniverseshop.com Listen to a bestseller for $7.49 at audible.com!

Tosche Station Radio #107: Fridges in Temples

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Brian and Nanci get literary on this week’s Tosche Station Radio!

Kicking off the shows, the hosts highlight What’s New on the Blog. Bria reviewed Princess Leia #2. Bria reviewed Darth Vader #3. She also outlined a new approach to recommending the Expanded Universe.

In Fixer’s Flash, Nanci’s been busy with writing a new book. The hosts went to Cloak and Blaster (a fun Central Florida geek themed pub), and Brian bought some new audio gear for Celebration.

Deak’s Dirt starts with news that The X-Files has reopened! Meanwhile in Star Wars, there’s a new blurb for Dark Disciple. Star Wars Celebration schedule has been posted. Rumors that a Star Wars live action show will be shooting at Pinewood in between movies.

What’s in Biggs’ Bull#&$*? Well, In the stupid department, Lucasfilm can’t market Rogue One until Rogue Nation comes out. Musically, John Williams will be recording the Episode VII score in LA

Camie’s Concerns is all about the Expanded Universe and Star Wars literature. We look at what’s already been released, what’s coming up, what we liked, and what we think could use some improvement.

Tosche Station Radio is the official podcast of Tosche-Station.net and a part of Majestic Giraffe Productions. If you like what you hear, please leave a review on the iTunes Music Store. We can also be found on Facebook and Twitter.

Nanci and Brian are the co-founders and writers of Tosche-Station.net. You can find Nanci on Twitter with the handle @Nancipants and you can find Brian with @LaneWinree.

This podcast has been brought to you in part by Her Universe and Audible.com.

Her Universe - Flaunt Your World - www.heruniverseshop.com Listen to a bestseller for $7.49 at audible.com!

Tosche Station Radio at SWCA: A Celebration of You

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As you may be aware, Tosche Station Radio has been selected to participate on the Celebration Podcast Stage. On Sunday April 19th at 10:30AM, you can head into room 208A to see Nanci, Bria, Sho, and myself record a live show in front of an audience. It’ll be a lot like our normal episodes. We’ll have the usual intros, highlighting stuff we’ve posted to the blog, Fixer’s Flash, Deak’s Dirt, and Camie’s Concerns.

For that last segment, though, we’re going to change things up a bit: we want you to participate.

Nanci and I have already decided to call this episode A Celebration of You. We want to hear your stories. We want to learn how you became a fan of Star Wars. We want to find out what you’d love to see represented in the Galaxy Far, Far Away. We want to have a conversation with you, listener and Star Wars fan.

Tosche Station Radio has, from the beginning, been a podcast focused on diversity. Diversity in storytelling, diversity in characters, diversity in creators, diversity in fans. We know that there’s a huge range of fans out there that don’t fit the normal demographic checkboxes. When we sit down on the stage to record this April, our goal is to let your voice be heard.

We look forward to hearing your story. See you at Celebration.

-The Tosche Station Staff

A New Approach to Recommending The EU

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If you’re an Expanded Universe fan, chances are you’ve had to field the following question at least once: “Where should I start reading the Star Wars books?” Everyone has a different answer of course but the most common is usually “The Thrawn Trilogy. Duh.” As the first EU book, it’s accessible and doesn’t require more knowledge than the films and it’s simply a pretty darn good trilogy. The problem, however, is that I don’t think this works anymore.

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had two people ask me where they should start reading the books and I had to pause and reconsider the instinctive and age-old Thrawn Trilogy answer. We now live in a world where there is Star Wars canon and there is Legends with hundreds of books. For me, this changes that game completely.

Taking my probably belated realization into mind, I wanted to share with all of you my new method for deciding which EU books I should recommend to someone. It’s only been tested on two people so it’s hardly foolproof but it may be useful to some of you.

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