Do you love Star Wars?
Got a passion for writing?
Have you ever gotten into an argument with someone over your Star Wars knowledge?
Have you ever kissed a Wookiee?
Star Wars Social Club
The past two months, I have started what I call the Star Wars Social Club. The puropse of the group is for people who enjoy Star Wars at any level, from die-hard fans to people who still haven’t seen the original trilogy (yes, they do exist). We gather, watch one of the movies or something Star Wars related, and discuss anything and everything Star Wars related. We will also explore the books, comics, have philosophical conversations on the nature of the Force, maybe get in some games of the miniatures, or even a session or two of the Star Wars pen and paper RPG. So far, we have watched both A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, and we’ve discussed several of the short stories from the Tales from Jabba’s Palace book.
In our January meeting, we will be watching Something Something Something Dark Side, the new Family Guy Star Wars special. The trailer for the movie is out of control, and it looks hilarious.
Now, one thing I’ve worried about is people feeling intimidated abou coming due to a lack of Star Wars knowledge. One of the reasons that I started the club was to help expose friends who express interest in Star Wars, but didn’t necessarily know much about it. Thanks to fans everywhere, there’s now enough history and lore to fill a whole set of encyclopedias. With the club, we can all share our collective knowledge, learning and expanding our individual knowledge. I hope to encourage newcomers to Star Wars, as well as seasoned fans, to embrace their inner geek, and learn about this wonderful world from a galaxy far, far away.
If you live in the Portland, Oregon area, and would like more information about the Star Wars Social Club, please feel free to contact me at chuck@starwarsunderground.com
Book Review: The Bounty Hunter Wars
In an attempt to breathe some life back onto this blog, I’ve decided to post reviews of the Star Wars books I read. Recently I finished The Mandalorian Armor, and Slave Ship, the first two books of the Bounty Hunter Wars series.
Bounty hunters are the bad asses of the universe. This is the idea that perpetuates the story behind the Bounty Hunter Wars series. Hard, gritty, and willing to kill their own mothers if the price is right, this series focuses on these cold blooded warriors. Following several well known hunters, including the infamous Boba Fett and his sometime partner and longtime rival Bossk, the series follows Fett as he is hired by the space-spider Kud’ar Mub’at to infiltrate the Bounty Hunters Guild, an organization of hunters lead by Bossk’s own father, Cradossk. From the beginning, Fett suspects that the job is more than it seems, and he soon discovers that he’s correct.
So far, while the premise of the story is good, the execution is unfortunately poorly done. The books are littered with inconsistencies with previously released canon material, as well as expletives and phrases from our own galaxy, something that has been avoided as much as possible is previous books. In one example, Prince Xizor, leader of the Black Sun crime syndicate, is relaxing in his personal cabin on his ship the Virago. In Shadows of the Empire, the Virago is described as a small, nimble single-seat fighter, not the multi-cabin vessel it’s portrayed as in the Bounty Hunter Wars. In fact, in the back cover art for the book, the Virago is shown side by side with a TIE Interceptor, which is just slightly smaller than the starship in question.
Continuity issues aside, the series so far is decent. The reader gets to follow exploits of Boba Fett, unquestionably the baddest of bad asses, as he hunts the scum of the universe for the highest bidder, all while staying one step ahead of his treacherous brethren. I’m looking forward to picking up and reading Hard Merchandise, the final book in the trilogy. If you’re a fan of the bad guys, then you should love this series.
As long as you’re not as big a fan boy as I am.
Legacy Era Campaign Guide Preview!
Wizards of the Coast released a preview of the upcoming Legacy of the Force Campaign Guide, a new book for the Star Wars: Saga Edition RPG. In the preview, they feature character information for Marasiah Fel, as well as her father, the Emperor-in-Exile Roan Fel. Complete with backgrounds and stat blocks for each of the characters, the preview gives us a quick glimpse at what is going to be contained in the new book.
This is one of several planned Campaign Guides that are being released this year for the pen and paper game, including the Jedi Academy Training Manual, and the Rebellion Era Campaign Guide. The Legacy Era book should be packed full of new information, including the first serious look at Dark Jedi with the new Saga Edition rules. The Legacy Era takes place between 40 ABY to approximately 137 ABY. For the record, ABY means After the Battle of Yavin, which is used as a base point of measure of time in the Star Wars galaxy. I’m very excited for the release of this book. In additon to the Dawn of Defiance campaign that I am running, I’m currently planning a campaign that will be set in the Legacy era as well. This book should be very helpful in creating that campaign. I was just going to have to work with what’s been developed already, and make up whatever else is left. This will make things MUCH easier.
Steam Punk Star Wars = Awesome
In addition to my morbid obsession with Star Wars, I’m also a big fan of the steam punk art style. A while back ago, I stumbled across some pretty awesome Star Wars illustrations done up ala steam punk. I just stumbled across the blog of the artist who did those illustrations, and to say the least, they’re all incredible. There’s even more done now than what I saw originally. Here’s a few of my favorites.
Captain Ackbar:
http://ericpoulton.blogspot.com
ATilla, Household Pet.
A friend of mine recently sent me a link to a photo set on Flickr that he thought would be right up my alley.
Confessions of a Star Wars Galaxies CSR
I recently stumbled across this posting on RegretfulMorning.com, entitled “8 Confessions of a Star Wars Galaxies CSR”. In it, a former CSR for Star Wars Galaxies gives us insight into some of the funnier interactions he had while working for SWG. In his article, he says “Before I start, I will let you know right now that I’m not going to trash the company. I see a lot of ‘X confessions from a previous X employee’ where they do just that. My aim here is to pull the curtain back a bit and let people take a gander at some of the events that took place.”
Here’s one of my personal favorites:
On yet another occasion a rep from India was frantically typing in the IRC channel about how he couldn’t help a customer. One of my co-workers calmly explained “tell him to take his Ritalin, I’ll be in there in a few minutes.” Not knowing that “take some Ritalin” was just a phrase we used when we wanted someone to settle down, this bright support rep actually contacted the customer back and said “I would be advising you to take some Ritalin.” Needless to say, that customer was fucking fired up. I remember the very next day we had to attend a meeting on how we need to be very literal with our instructions.
Some of the confessions are probably only funny if you ever played SWG, but there’s some good stuff in there you can relate to if you have ever worked in a call center or in the customer support field.
R2-D2 – Foul-mouthed Pessimistic Droid Extraordinaire.
I ran across an interesting set of videos today. It seems that YouTube member Mortal Wombat has translated R2-D2′s lines from Episode I and Episode II from Binary into english. Word to the wise, you better get your swear jar ready, because this little bucket of bolts is about to make a deposit.
Best Line: “Did you just say ‘This is so tits’?”
Now, of course these translations aren’t accurate, but it’s in the spirit of how I believe Artoo would speak. I’ve always pictured him as a very opinionated, short tempered, pessimistic little droid, definitely with a chip on his shoulder as well. One of my favorite interactions between Artoo and C-3PO takes place in the New Jedi Order book Enemy Lines II: Rebel Stand. In it, his normal bleeps and chirps are translated into text on a datapad for Threepio, so we’re given a rare opportunity to see how he really acts. Just as we all imagine, he’s a very smart mouthed little droid, responding to Threepio’s incessant worrying and questioning with some searing one liners, and smart-assed responses.
Unfortunately, I don’t have my copy of Rebel Stand with me right now, so I can’t offer up some of the quotes from him in that book, but I will try to add those once I return home tonight. That shit is hilarious.
Star Wars: The Old Republic – Threat of Peace
Dark Horse Comics and Bioware have released the first issue of their webcomic, Threat of Peace. They’re releasing 2 issues a month. I’m a huge fan of Dark Horse. They’re located in Milwaukie, OR, not too far from where I live in Portland, and they own and operate Things From Another World, a chain of local comic shops.
I’ve read the comic, and while its short, 3 pages to be exact, I think it has potential to be a good series. In it, you meet a Torgruta Jedi Master and her human Padawan, and you’re also introduced to what appears to be a Sith Lord. Some of the comments I’ve read on the Old Republic website have criticized the art, and the story already, which is a bit preemptive. While the art is in a different style than the recent Legacy series, it’s still nothing to shake a stick at. It’s WAY too early to begin judging the story line this early on, too.
I’m looking forward to watching this series develop. I love what Dark Horse puts out, even it’s non-Star Wars series.
Lightsaber Training Classes?
Recently featured on the TODAY Show was “Master Flynn”, a Star Wars enthusiast who’s started a group called New York Jedi, a community that offers classes and training in stage combat, focusing primarily on lightsaber combat. One of the newer classes they’re offering is Intro to Jar’Kai, which is a combat form for using two lightsabers.
Pardon my Huttese, but this shit is out of control. I’ve been a fan of stage combat ever since the first time I saw The Princess Bride. The scene with the fight between Westley and Indigo Montoya was incredible to me, so much so that it would become the base of the first basic stage combat I ever did, in a middle school rendition of Romeo and Juliet.
I believe that with every geek out there, we have limits as to how low we’ll go into the realm of nerditude. For some, that level may be something along the lines of standing in line overnight for Episode I movie tickets, or going to a sci-fi convention. For other people, it’s waiting for the movies in full costume, or showing up to one of the conventions in your best Princess Leia Metal Bikini. Personally, I’ve always told myself that as big of a Star Wars nut I am, I won’t ever allow myself to be “that guy”.
Now that I’ve discovered that a place like New York Jedi exists, I’m beginning to doubt my resolve. I’ve been looking at patterns of Jedi robes, reading about lightsaber replicas that are sturdy enough for stage dueling, and even, brace for it, enlisting in the 501st, one of the most well known group of Star Wars costuming organizations, with chapters available around the world.
Apparently, these classes are becoming a hit. The testimonials I’ve read all have a common element. They got into it for whatever reason, be it for the fun atmosphere, to gain lightsaber skills that can be used to augment their LARP character, whatever it is. The unexpected side effect was weight loss. Some people who have been taking the class have lost upwards to 60-90 lbs from the exercise they’re getting.
Personally, I’ve been looking for something physical to do to help with some muscle problems I have. Apparently they post course cirriculum on line, but I’m unable to find it at this point. This just might be exactly what the doctor orders. Doctor Evazan, that is!
