By Kay, on March 3rd, 2015  You may remember I found A New Dawn a promising start to the new era in Star Wars books. I was less impressed with Tarkin. And now we have Heir to the Jedi which, when combined with what’s on the horizon in announced books, makes me wonder if my hope was misplaced.
Several of the important points in my review of the book involve spoilers, so click to read my full review if you don’t mind those revelations.
In the meantime, here are some spoiler-free highlights:
This first person narrative of Luke Skywalker between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back reads for the most part like a young reader’s book. Since Luke is recounting this story from his past and we know he is in The Empire Strikes Back, there’s an extra onus to create tension and make it seem like Luke may actually be in danger from time to time. Instead the story is delivered matter-of-factly and every choice and incident is telegraphed like Shatner in a Star Trek fight scene. This Luke Skywalker is not someone I would want to imagine being like or being around and he doesn’t even inspire confidence in knowing he’s out there fighting the good fight. I’m not really sure why he was sent solo on the book’s initial mission in the first place. He does not seem at all qualified to be evaluating weapons suppliers for the Alliance. What he has going for him is he’s a good pilot. So there’s that.
While reading Heir to the Jedi there were times that I thought the most appropriate audience for this book would be kids aged 11-13, but by the conclusion, I’m not even sure it’s for them.
3/10
Kay grew up wanting to be an astronaut. After seeing Star Wars, she wanted to be Princess Leia, Han Solo, and an astronaut. Life’s taken her on a bit of a different path, but she’s still a Star Wars fangirl at heart who enjoys surprising people with how geeky she really is. Currently a voice actor, photographer, and artist who also consults in communications and marketing, Kay spends the little bit of free time she has reading, writing, learning and, of course, making pew pew noises. She would pick up more jobs and hobbies if she was a Time Lord. You can follow her on Twitter.
By Fangirl, on March 2nd, 2015 The season one finale of Star Wars Rebels, “Fire Across the Galaxy,” airs tonight at 9:00pm Eastern on DisneyXD. . . . → Read More: Star Wars Rebels Season One Finale Tonight
By Fangirl, on February 28th, 2015 Episode 6 of Hyperspace Theories discusses Star Wars screenwriter Simon Kinberg and the role of Luke Skywalker in the future of Star Wars storytelling. . . . → Read More: Hyperspace Theories Episode Six: Jedi Masters Simon Kinberg and Luke Skywalker
By Fangirl, on February 27th, 2015 
The topic of representation is appearing everywhere this past month, between the lack of diversity in the Oscar nominees to the toys on shelves, from the identity of the upcoming Spider-Man to the portrayal of women in videogames and in the pages of books and comics. Here is some food for thought.
Fangirl extraordinaire Johnamarie Macias guest posted at Coffee With Kenobi. Her piece “Planting the Seed of Possibility: Representation and Diversity in Media” takes the tactic of changing one fan’s opinion at a time, which is a style of advocating for change in fandom I discussed in Critiquing Our Favorite Franchise last month. From Johna:
Visual representation may not seem crucial to the majority who are continually represented on-screen, but it means something to the remaining population. It meant something to Lupita and her talent landed her a role in the upcoming sequel film. And hopefully, when a young Black girl sees Lupita on the screen come December, she’ll go, “Oh?—I? could be an actress!” Because that’s what representation does. It plants a seed, it inspires, and it makes things possible.
The Hollywood Reporter has been leading a charge to discuss diversity in Hollywood. THR executive editor Matthew Belloni moderated a “Thinking L.A.” panel to discuss the newly released Hollywood Diversity Report, which concludes that “diversity clearly sells.” Two things came up at the panel in regards to the resistance to change in the film industry that transfer over to the problematic mindsets in toys, comics, and books.
The . . . → Read More: Representation in Media: Why It Matters
By Fangirl, on February 26th, 2015 
WIN A PAIR OF TIX TO STAR WARS CELEBRATION FROM REBELFORCE RADIO & STEPHEN STANTON!
Do you have your tickets to Star Wars Celebration Anaheim? Maybe you cannot afford them? Fear not, Force-Fanatic, RebelForce Radio is leaving no fan behind with our 2015 Star Wars Celebration Anaheim Ticket Giveaway! We’re teaming up with Star Wars Rebels Actor Stephen Stanton to give away a pair of four-day tickets to 2 lucky winners.
And, it gets even better… Our winners will get the opportunity to have their tickets delivered to them personally by Stephen Stanton in Anaheim! All the arrangements will be determined after the contest winners are selected.
RebelForce Radio along with Star Wars Rebels actor Stephen Stanton would like all Star Wars fans to check out all the great work being done by The Starlight Foundation. Click HERE to learn more about this great organization and to donate.
HERE IS HOW YOU CAN BECOME ELIGIBLE TO WIN!
Leave us a voice mail or send us an MP3 explaining how you share Star Wars with a significant person in your life. Whether it’s a parent, sibling, friend, colleague… Anyone in your life who you share Star Wars with… Tell us your story.
LEAVE A V-MAIL – 708.320.1737 (or 1RFR)
OR…
Simply tweet word-for-word: “I’m joining @Stephen_Stanton and @RebelForceRadio in support of @StarlightOnline”
DEADLINE – March 16 at 11:59pm CENTRAL
WINNER ANNOUNCED FRIDAY MARCH 20th . . . → Read More: Win Tickets to Celebration From RebelForce Radio!
By Linda, on February 26th, 2015 
The story of my running the Inaugural Disneyland Half Marathon Weekend on January 17, 2015, is a marathon itself. A journey of setbacks and failures, actually.
Registration opens in June 2014 and sells out in one day. Sells out by noon, in fact, which is when I try to register for the 5K at my lunch break. My first fail. I want to do it, but I need to reassess how to get tickets. I wait a couple of days, brooding about my options. It seems like it’s going to be so much fun! There’s even a Wookiee Welcome party the Thursday night before the races.
I’m going to miss out on all the fun if I don’t go, I tell myself.
Disney’s website says that tickets are still available through their travel partners. I call several travel agents and find one who has tickets available, but only for the 10K (6.2 miles), the half marathon (13.1 miles), or the Rebel Challenge – which involves running both the 10K on Saturday and the half marathon on Sunday, plus an extra big, blingy medal. Who can resist Star Wars bling?
If I don’t run, I’m going to miss out on all the bling, I tell myself. Conveniently for me, the travel agent is also a running coach. He encourages me to go for the Rebel Challenge and assures me, “You have plenty of time to train.”
I purchase the Rebel Challenge package.
“You’ve never run more than a 5K,” Hubs comments . . . → Read More: Star Wars Inaugural Half Marathon: Do or Do Not!
By Fangirl, on February 24th, 2015 
Get ready for the season finale of Star Wars Rebels! . . . → Read More: Star Wars Rebels “Fire Across The Galaxy”
By Mary, on February 23rd, 2015 
The end is near.
Lady Gaga proved herself to be a stellar contender for the lead in what is now an inevitable contemporary remake of The Sound of Music. In a formidable triad with Lupita Nyong’o’s fabulous dress (adorned with six-thousand-handsewn-pearls) and Patricia Arquette’s rousing acceptance speech, three women were prominent in salvaging the 2015 Oscar telecast from utter disaster. The male standout, in my opinion, was The Imitation Game’s Graham Moore speaking so honestly about suicide and feeling out of place in society.
This year’s self-congratulatory motion picture awards/fashion show will otherwise be remembered for extended lulls, failed comedy, and Neil Patrick Harris embarrassing himself and the celebrity-filled auditorium by appearing in his underwear. That was almost as unfunny as it was lacking in class for a show that likes to think of itself as the stylish global celebrity affair of the year.
Dozens of media sources are reporting today that this Oscar show’s ratings were significantly down, with drops ranging from 10% to more than 15%, definitely the smallest television audience in the last four years. With some variances, the downward trend seems persistent.
This year, it occurred to me that the Fireplace Channel might be more interesting and yet there is vicarious pleasure in watching Hollywood’s old guard get it wrong—again.
The Academy Openly Dismissed Popular Movies
Liam Neeson’s presentation speech was a surprise, whether the words were his own or provided by Academy writers:
“Hollywood is often criticized for making too many movies based on toys, . . . → Read More: Oscars: Free Us Or Die
By Fangirl, on February 19th, 2015 
Tricia visits the ForceCast for a discussion about romance in Star Wars. . . . → Read More: Tricia Talks Twittering Hearts As Storytelling Beats on ForceCast
By Kay, on February 16th, 2015 
The other day I was on Pinterest looking for a good plank challenge plan when I saw a pin for a Black Widow workout. Black Widow as in Black Widow who can be seen in many of the Marvel Cinematic Universe movies but not on much of the merchandising Black Widow? Yes, that one. It was indeed an illustrated workout combo inspired by the woman who, among other things, saved a super soldier multiple times. There was punching, kicking, and oh yes, climbers. So I decided to give it a try the next day. Let’s just say it looks easier than it is. But it’s a fun element to add to your fitness regime. I’ve heard of a couple gyms being based around geek/nerdy themes or incorporating them into their WODs, but it’s something I had never tried.
Then I realized there were several other similarly illustrated geeky-interest-inspired workout sets floating around from the same site. So I ended up on neilaray.com and there is literarlly a treasure-trove of these with instructions, info about what muscles you’re working, and tips. They even have timer buttons for your rests in between sets. It’s all part of the NR Project, which is a volunteer-run passion project to make fitness fun and accessible. As such all the workouts are available for free; you can even download them as pdfs.
What’s more most of them don’t require equipment so you can do them anywhere you have the space. A whole range of female, male, . . . → Read More: Geek Out Your Workout
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