Kay reviews the newest Star Wars novel from Del Rey, Kevin Hearne’s Heir to the Jedi. . . . → Read More: Kay Reviews Heir to the Jedi
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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 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 
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 
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! 
Get ready for the season finale of Star Wars Rebels! . . . → Read More: Star Wars Rebels “Fire Across The Galaxy” 
Tricia visits the ForceCast for a discussion about romance in Star Wars. . . . → Read More: Tricia Talks Twittering Hearts As Storytelling Beats on ForceCast 
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 
An audio excerpt from Chapter 43 of WYNDE. . . . → Read More: WYNDE: Romance Is In The Air 
Jenna Busch and Amy Ratcliffe visit Fangirls Going Rogue. . . . → Read More: Fangirls Going Rogue Episode 16: Legions of Leia Fangirls Flail |
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