I am a lifelong Star Wars fan – I have a picture of my brother and I sitting on our couch in our sweatshirts with Star Wars iron-ons on them, after seeing the first/fourth movie in the theaters (the aforementioned photo is not the same as the one pictured above, however). Thirty-something years later, and I have just learned of the existence of Wookiee Life Day. And I just missed it – it’s celebrated every November 17th.
May the Fourth – definitely heard of it. Revenge of the Fifth – yep, know that one too. But somehow Wookie Life Day slipped by my Death Star radar.
Perhaps it had for you, too? Allow me to educate.
According to TheForce.net, “On November 17, 1978 The Star Wars Holiday Special aired for one time only on CBS in the United States. Featuring an odd story about Chewbacca reuniting with his family to celebrate the Wookiee holiday of Life Day, it has gone on to live in infamy among Star Wars fans. The special includes appearances and strange musical performances from the cast of the original Star Wars movie, as well as Bea Arthur, Art Carney, Harvey Korman, Diahann Carroll, and Jefferson Starship. To no one’s surprise The Star Wars Holiday Special is renowned for its overwhelmingly negative reception. Lucasfilm has never released the Holiday Special to the public after its initial broadcast, but it has lived on through video recordings and sharing among friends.”
Yes, it was that spectacularly bad. Those of you with a strong stomach can watch about 7 minutes of it courtesy of YouTube: Star Wars Holiday Special – “Happy Life Day”. Be forewarned – Princess Leia sings.
But what can you make to properly celebrate Life Day, you ask? Also according to TheForce.net, “All you need is a way to watch The Star Wars Holiday Special and some Crimson Snuggies,” but I’d also suggest a nice fresh batch of Wookiee-ookies. Shayne posted about the Star Wars Cookbook previously, but I was able to track down the actual cookie recipe at StarWarsHolidaySpecial.com.
Then you could serve the wookie-ookies to a whole party of WookSQUEEs and SQUEEwoks, if you can handle the cuteness factor.
What about you? Did you do (or make) anything fun for Life Day? Had you heard of Life Day before?
For their birthdays, many women might ask for a day at the spa, or a shopping spree, or at least a fancy dinner. While I can have my girly-girl moments, I really wanted some time when I could bond with my family, and make some lasting memories, before my first-born heads off to college next fall. So I asked for what any good mother to a family of geeks would ask for – a trip to Comic Con.
Last weekend we took a road trip to Wizard World’s Comic Con in Chicago, held at Donald E Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, home primarily to all things comic book, but also sci-fi, fantasy, and generally geeky in nature. The Con was a very decent size, and took us about 5 hours to get through. We could have spent longer, but that was all our trip itinerary would allow.
The view from the entrance was quite impressive and a little overwhelming.
We decided to just go through each of the aisles, making note of interesting things, before attacking with our wallets. And always considering our GeekCrafts readers, I put everyone on photo duty for all the interesting cosplay (costume-play) adventures. You’re welcome.
My husband has over 100 pics posted in a Google Album, but here is a sampling to whet your appetite [after the jump]. Continue reading
Category: Comics, Geek, Movies, Sci-Fi, TV | Comments Off on Chicago Comic Con 2011 – Review (with cosplay!)
According to popular theories held by physics professors the world over, cupcakes are delicious. That’s why I absolutely adore these cupcakes made by quaint_idea for her last ever high school physics class. I’m pretty sure I skipped my last ever high school physics class to pump iron or something equally manly, but I am glad to see that some people have more class than that.
Take a closer look at the cupcakes here, they were posted on a livejournal group called geekcrafts because great minds think alike and all that.
You can also visit quaint_idea at her LJ page here.
Thor (2011)
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, and Tom Hiddleston
115 minutes
rated PG-13
I’ll go ahead and admit at the outset here that I’ve never read a Thor comic book, or even a full comic book of any hero variety. A blasphemy of sorts, perhaps, but I’m ok with that. But I still appreciate a good comic book hero movie, and the latest installment in the Marvel movie franchise did not disappoint.
The movie Thor features a godly character of Viking descent – based on a mixture of Norse mythology and Marvel comic book lore. In the movie, the Mighty Thor, played by Chris Hemsworth, is the son of the “all-father” Odin, played by Sir Anthony Hopkins, and older brother to Loki, played by Tom Hiddleston. Just as Thor is about to be crowned King of the mythical realm of Asgard, the Frost Giants break in to Asgard and attempt to steal a powerful relic. Ever the warrior, Thor counsels his father to make swift and violent retribution against the Frost Giants, which would no doubt lead to all-out war. Recognizing his son’s arrogance and pride, Odin calls him a “vain, greedy, cruel boy”, and banishes Thor to Earth without his god-like powers, most significantly without the ability to wield his iconic war hammer Mjollnir. Once on Earth, Thor must learn the humility and wisdom required to be a great ruler, in order to earn back his godly powers and access to Asgard. Along the way he apparently also “learns” the ability to fall in love – with astro-scientist Jane Foster, played by Natalie Portman.
This movie was complete eye-candy – I almost wished the Asgard scenes had run in slo-mo so I could take in all the details. The special effects were flawless – from the epic battle scenes in Jötunheim (the frost giant world), to traveling via the Bifrost Bridge portal, to Loki’s cloning powers, to the Earthly battle scene with the Destroyer – all just awesome. This is a film that is definitely worth seeing in the theater to get the full effect of the big screen – even worth splurging the extra few bucks to see it in IMAX 3D (which we did – Happy Mother’s Day to me!)
Why limit your crafting to ‘real’ life when there’s a whole virtual world out there to bend to your will! (cue maniacal laugh MUAHHAHAHA!)
The residents of the minecraft server Ambar (owned byAngry Dinosaur) have created these glorious pixel art sculptures depicting some of their favourite Nintendo characters. Also, check out that rainbow bridge, reminds me of Mario Kart.
Check out Angry Dinosaur’s minecraft gallery to see some of the other amazing sculptures that the residents have made in this virtual environment…. I don’t play Minecraft… but I hear it’s what all the geeks are doing nowadays!
Where better to start that with some Tree decorations?
