Archive for ‘fan fun’

Who Needs Tauntauns? Not Luke!

November 20, 2009


(Photo by Bonnie Burton)

Caption this photo below.


Dark Side Ultrasound?

November 16, 2009

More here:
My Fetus Totally Looks Like The Emperor
(via TotallyLooksLike.com)


Amazing Tauntaun Costume

November 16, 2009

It seems like tauntauns are the new zombies. First we had the tauntaun sleeping bag, then the tauntaun groom’s cake, and now one of the coolest tauntaun costumes ever!

Crafty Star Wars fan Scott Holden blogs about this amazing costume and how he made it. After designing his costume on the computer in Solidworks, he went straight to work.

Using wood, expanded metal and Plaster of Paris I made a skull, then sculpted clay over the skull to add the detail.

Then came more foam, plaster, clay, silicone, plastic, PVC, a back pack, drywall stilts, snowboard bindings, felt, craft fur, steel concrete stakes, paint, and a saddle!

Getting into the costume is difficult, it requires the ‘rider’ to first put the stilts on. Then the ‘handler’ lifts the body up and over the rider where the rider then has to put the backpack straps on. Then the handler runs to both sides of the costume and snaps the fur onto the hips hiding the riders real legs and stilts.

I was just recovering from knee surgery, so my buddy Brian agreed to wear the costume for me. We arrived at the Zone Ball at 9:30, had a couple beers in the parking lot, then mounted up.

As Brian strolled through the massive crowds, we were constantly being stopped for pictures. Getting on stage was difficult. There was a handicap lift, but it ended up being broken. It took an additional two security guards and a Zone staffer to climb the stairs, but once on stage, it was all worth it.

Check out the costume in action here:
WATCH VIDEO: Tauntaun costume 2009

Read all about it here:
Scott Holden’s Tauntaun Costume

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SOURCE: MAKE magazine


Finding Vader in the Strangest Places

November 16, 2009

vader projector

While on eBay recently, I came across a 1950’s stereo 3D projector that features an uncanny resemblance to a certain Sith Lord who wouldn’t appear in our galaxy for another 20-some years (so tempted to pick this up, but it weighs almost 40 pounds!). This find led me to search for other Vader look-alikes that were just happy coincidences (hint — search “darth vader” – [minus] “star wars”). This led me to a ‘40s Zenith console radio with a very Vader-like speaker grill (I think radio collectors even refer to this model as the “Darth Vader”) and a UK motorcycle helmet.

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R2-D2 Mailbox in Iraq

November 12, 2009

Star Wars fans hail from all over the world, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that many of our armed forces have a soft spot for Jedi, Sith, Troopers and even an R2-D2 mailbox spotted in Iraq!

ForceCast co-host Jimmy Mac let us know of this extraordinary fan mail they received from Maj. Yancy Baer:

I am huge Star Wars fan and even though I am in Iraq I try to download your podcast as often as I can. Needless to say I was quite disappointed when I found out I was going to miss Fan Days in Texas, not to mention the Concert tours currently going on. My mom and daughter went to both the concert, in Oklahoma City where I grew up, and to Fan Days, not so much because they are huge fans, or really even fans at all, but to be able to take pictures and meet people for me.

They are really amazing like that but when they told me how generous and kind everyone was at Fan Days as they walked around, not knowing anyone, trying to get autographs and telling people hello for me, I was amazed. I really shouldn’t have been as I attended Celebration Japan and a couple of Disney Star Wars Weekends now and the people are amazing and I have made amazing friends along my journeys. Well, when they got up to you guys they said you were very nice to them and for that I thank you both.

Recently while in Al Asad, Iraq I was in the terminal waiting to catch a helicopter and saw an R2-D2 mailbox, couldn’t believe it! I attached a picture, again, thanks for your hospitality towards them.

Have a great day!
Yancy

Read the full article here:
ForceCast Greetings From Iraq


Star Wars Meets Shakespeare

November 9, 2009

This week on Twitter, Star Wars fans are trying their hand at re-imagining a galaxy far, far again from the Bard’s perspective. By using the hashtag #ShakespeareStarWars fans have been quoting famous Shakespeare plays with Star Wars characters.

Here’s a listing of some of our favorites:

RT @TroyBeast: A plague on both your droids!

RT @RHicks: Tis a trap!

RT @gaikokujin: TK-421, TK-421, wherefore art thou TK-421?

RT @TopherPolack: Doeth or don’t doeth, thou thall not try.

RT @inter_zone: What lightsaber through yonder window breaks?

RT @inter_zone: A bantha, a bantha, my empire for a bantha!

RT @Grippin_It: Double, double toil and trouble; Mustafar burn, and Gungan bubble.

RT @ficklampa: The Force looks not with the eyes, but with the mind.

RT @darthpiper: The first thing we do, let’s kill all the Jedi.

RT @Tlieso: Taming of the Sarlacc

RT @pixelmatt: Hath not a Jedi eyes? Hath not a Jedi midi-chlorians?

RT @IndieEwok: AT-ST You Like It

RT @IndieEwok: Something Wookiee This Way Comes

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Verizon Droid Phone vs. C-3PO

November 6, 2009

You’ve probably already seen the commercial for Verizon’s new phone Droid — as well as the fan spoof iDon’t Care. But how would the Droid phone measure up against a Star Wars droid?

Josh Wigler at MTV Movies Blog takes a closer look at why owning an actual droid from Star Wars would be so much cooler than Verizon’s Droid phone.

The Verizon Droid can connect to the Internet, which gives you access to a whole host of useful information from around the globe. But with your very own 3PO model, you could not only access all of that same information, you’d also have better storage space thanks to the droid’s AA-1 VerboBrain. In some cases, you’d even be able to take advantage of the droid’s TranLang III Communicator module, which allows for fluency in six million different forms of communication. If that feature doesn’t speak your language, I don’t know what will.

Even if the Verizon Droid doesn’t have the same storage space as a 3PO model, it certainly has more room than most affordable cellular devices on the market. What it most assuredly does not have, however, is a hidden lightsaber compartment with ejector like the R2-series astromech droid. That feature really comes in handy, particularly when you’re staring down into the sandy maw of a Sarlacc Pit.

For the sake of argument, let’s suppose that the Verizon Droid does have space for a hidden lightsaber compartment. It still wouldn’t beat out robot assassin IG-88, one of the galaxy’s single-greatest cybernetic bounty hunters. Most of us aren’t looking to contract out a mercenary — let alone a robotic one — but if ever the situation arises where somebody really grinds your gears, wouldn’t you at least want the option of a self-aware, rail-thin android killer at your disposal? It’s a fair question worth mulling over.

Read the full article here:
Is The Verizon Droid The Droid You’re Looking For… Or One Of These Star Wars Droids Instead?
(via MTV Movies Blog)


Nobody Puts Gonk in a Corner!

November 6, 2009


(Photoshop phun by Pete Vilmur)


Star Wars Teaches Us About Career Management

November 4, 2009

The next time you want to chat with your boss about getting raise, or you need to ask a co-worker to stop screaming at you about lost memos, perhaps you should channel your inner Jedi Master or Sith Lord.

“It’s very dangerous putting them together. I don’t think the boy can handle it.” -Mace Windu
File Under: Human Capital Management; Succession Planning
Star Wars Moment: The Jedi Counsel assigns an impressionable and unstable Anakin Skywalker, who is supposed to bring balance to the Force, peace to the galaxy, etc., to serve as the “personal representative” for Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to the Jedi Council. Never mind that Palpatine makes most Jedi Knights uneasy and fear for the future of the Galactic Republic.
Real-World Lesson: Not the wisest idea to allow the “chosen one” and the best hope for the future of your company to be mentored or influenced by an individual you don’t fully trust.

“Commander, tear this ship apart until you’ve found those plans!” -Darth Vader
File Under: Project Management; Risk Management
Star Wars Moment: Rebels are able to acquire a secret set of plans to the Empire’s Death Star, and eventually exploit a weakness and destroy the moon-size battle station.
Real-World Lesson: If you’ve got to nail “The Big Project,” think carefully about the worst, most gaping vulnerability in the project. And don’t, under any circumstances, allow that vulnerability to leak out onto, say, the Internet.

Read the rest here:
What Star Wars Teaches Us About Career Management
(via CIO.com)


Why X-wings don’t have cup holders

November 4, 2009

There’s a reason why you shouldn’t eat while flying an X-wing into battle, and this is it. Check out this fan-made tribute video honoring everyone’s favorite ill-fated Rebel pilot, Jek Porkins.

This is an instructional video on what not to while driving a starfighter capable of Mach 65. Ergo — don’t eat cheeseburgers at the wheel, people.

Maybe those folks who built that real X-wing in Plaster or wherever it was, could learn a lesson from the master of nose-dives!

WATCH VIDEO: Porkins Video Tribute