Artist Lawrence Noble, who sculpted the stunning Obi-Wan bust before convention-goers at Celebration IV last summer, has been selected for membership in the prestigious National Sculpture Society and will have a selection of his works showcased in the Society’s headquarters in Manhattan starting July 14.

Here’s their official site’s description of the exhibit:

The Elected Members Invitational showcases the sculpture of some of National Sculpture Society’s finest artists. The open-theme exhibition alternates annually with NSS’s Fellows Invitational and the works on display reflect a level of excellence in figurative sculpture which has become the benchmark of the 115-year old institution. Elected Members from as far away as Ecuador, England, Mexico and Africa submitted work as diverse in subject, style and discipline as their home countries. Highlights include bronze portraits of familiar and fictitious individuals; whimsical characters made of marble, terra cotta and wood; and creatures, both real and imagined, in unexpected settings.

For more information about the exhibit, check out the official National Sculpture Society website here, and also Noble’s official website here.

As the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Clone Wars gets closer (Aug. 15 to be exact), fans and the media alike are a buzz about the story, its characters and of course, George Lucas himself. The New York Times takes a closer look at Lucas’ growing empire and why he chose to revisit the Star Wars “sandbox” that he “loves to play in.”

On The Clone Wars:

“It didn’t fit any of the molds that everybody had,” Mr. Lucas said. “It’s not ‘SpongeBob SquarePants,’ but at the same time it’s also not ‘Family Guy.’ ”

“It’s much easier for me to just do the show I want, say, ‘Here it is, do you wish to license it or not?’ ” Mr. Lucas said. “That’s it. There’s no notes, no comments. I don’t care what your opinion is. You either put it on the air or you don’t.”

The profile also features a slideshow of some new Clone Wars concept art of Asajj Ventress.

Read the full article here:
“Free to Follow His Heart Right Back to Star Wars“
(The New York Times)

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SOURCES: io9.com

Brian Heiler over at toplessrobot.com recently posted a cool article about blatant ‘70s Star Wars rip-off toys – you know, those quasi-Star Wars wannabes that got you teased on the playground when trying to pass off that “S.T.A.R. Team” villain for Darth Vader or the “Star Hawk” for a Y-wing.

Check out the article here.

Yahoo News reports today that George Lucas, speaking from Japan on a promotional tour for Crystal Skull, called Democratic nominee Barack Obama “a hero in the making” following his delegate wins in the presidential primaries yesterday:

“We have a hero in the making back in the United States today because we have a new candidate for president of the United States, Barack Obama,” Lucas said when asked who his childhood heroes were.

Obama, “for all of us that have dreams and hope, is a hero,” Lucas said.

Check out the full story here and our posting about the fun “Empire Strikes Barack” video here.

(Image: BBC News)

Recently at London’s Heathrow airport, security thought there was “more than meets the eye” regarding a harmless Transformers t-shirt worn by a would-be passenger. Because the overly-cautious security personel didn’t like the idea of a cartoon character with a gun on his shirt, they wouldn’t let him board the plane!

BBC News reports:

“He says, ‘we won’t be able to let you through because your T-shirt has got a gun on it’,” Mr Jayakody said. Mr Jayakody said he had to strip and change his T-shirt there before he was allowed to board his flight. “I was just looking for someone with a bit of common sense,” he said. It’s a cartoon robot what threat is it to security or offensive to anyone at all.”

That said, we’d like to remind you that StarwarsShop.com has plenty of Star Wars shirts depicting characters holding blasters and other weapons in addition to the usual lightsabers, if any of you feel like testing this theory that some security measures might be going a bit far.

Star Wars Shirts with Weapons:

• Boba Fett with Blaster T-shirt
• Gamorrean Guard with Axe T-shirt
• Clone Wars trooper with two guns T-shirt

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SOURCES: BBC News, BoingBoing.net

Rebelscum recently updated with a fascinating look back at a little-known Star Wars ad campaign staged for Panasonic back in the late ‘80s, a campaign that endowed Threepio with a butterfly net, Yoda with ear buds, Chewie with daffodils, Ewoks with leafy produce, and the Maker himself with his own wood-cut sea-faring dragon.

A great, thoroughly-researched article that includes posters, TV ads, behind the scenes imagery and more, all of which have rarely been seen here in the US. Head on over to Rebelscum to check it out.

Go inside the creative world of the R2 Builders Club thanks to an extensive profile in the May 2008 issue of Servo magazine for the robot innovator.

Craig Smith advises prospective members about the amount of time it takes to create a droid: “R2 built from scratch or built from club parts is not a quick project. It will take months to complete a static, non-moving display — even years for a motorized version. When I look at the parts on my droid, I recall the week it took to make the shoulders, the days it took to make the ankle covers, the days it took to re-make the ankles themselves because I did not offset them correctly. And there are dozens more parts on the droid with similar memories. A project such as this is a huge commitment!”

Read the full article here:
The R2 Builders Club and the Jedi Code

If you’re anywhere near the small town of Petaluma just north of San Francisco this weekend, be sure to stop in and take part in the 35th anniversary celebration of George Lucas’ iconic 1973 film American Graffiti.

Early birds have already witnessed a full re-enactment of the famous police car axle-yank in the small hours Thursday morning with several more events planned for Friday and Saturday, May 16th and 17th.

Admission is free, with cruisin’ parties, cast and crew events, and special collectibles available exclusively at the event. For more information, check the schedule of events here.

The Bay Area travel show “Open Road” explores San Francisco’s Presidio national park, and goes behind the scenes at George Lucas’ Lucasfilm and Industrial Light & Magic campus. Take a tour of the facility including the hallways and server rooms of Lucasfilm, as well as ILM’s motion capture stage!

VIDEO: “Open Road” Visits Lucasfilm at the Presidio

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Could war spider bots become a reality? There’s some buzz in the media this week about the global military contractor BAE Systems announcing that it will lead “a large alliance of American academics in building an army of miniature robots to aid the US military.” The effort, known as Micro Autonomous Systems and Technology (MAST), will receive $38m of US Army funding.

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