a99kitten's Musings

I love Star Wars Day. Or May the Fourth be With You day. And I love how it’s become part of “normal” people culture and not just us nerds :)

Realized today that I have never really celebrated with friends though. We don’t have movie marathons, dress up in our t-shirts and assorted nerd flair, or make themed foods. Of course, I live far away from most of my friends and none of them would make that effort to come up then. Only on Hallmark holidays I guess.

And I stopped making the effort to go down to the bay area for events. I did it for Force Awakens, Rise of Skywalker and Solo. Was supposed to for Rogue One but the tickets got messed up. Also met friends mid-way for 2 Marvel releases. Not to mention Twilight. But I’m done.

I did get bummed about it today though. It’s been a shit year (and continues to be so). So I am easily bummed out lately it seems.

Plus the contractors are here installing my A/C. Which is great. BUT, the noise being made ALL DAY long is in complete contrast to what I am used to at home. I want to hit someone. And Smokey hates it so he is pacing. Non-stop.

Didn’t even buy much merch. Not so much released this year either. Bought 1 POP and pre-ordered the Sideshow statue I have been waiting for. Although I did spend a gob of cash on Topps digital app for limited edition cards. But I love the trading so whatevs. Stayed up till past midnight last night to complete the “base” special edition collection. And then today is stuff all day. That’s been fun at least.

I wonder how early I can make up some Star Wars-inspired drinks…

OK, on this Sunday morning the con is not officially over but basically over for me. I’ve been in my hotel room in bed sick since Saturday AM. I don’t think I’ve been sick in like..3 years so naturally I get it while at Comic Con. NOOOOOOOOO!! Seriously sick, like it hurt to get out of bed to get water sick.

BUT…my trip/Con from Tuesday – Friday was AMAZING! And really I mean Friday was AMAZING! Sat in line from noon Thursday till about 10pm to get wristbands for Friday’s Hall H. My con partner, Sonya, and I were in line Thursday for The Last Ship panel around 11:15am. And we looked at each other at the same time and said “I think we should get in line now for Hall H.” We had planned on getting in line right after The Last Ship panel but we both had this feeling. So we got out of line and went down there. The line seemed to be about 500-750 people. Now more people would joining all of those people but we felt secure in not being 6500 people before us.

Sat in the sun all day long and waited. Made new friends in line :) Around 7pm, the line got quite hectic (and the twitter drama following it all!) as there were line cutters and security had to be called and, once again, SDCC was unprepared to handle these issues. So we were starting to get stressed that we wouldn’t actually make it in. But we did – got B wristbands and we were allowed to leave the line and sleep in our rooms and shower (I *really* wish everyone would take advantage of that…)

Got back in line at 6am and waited some more. Got to see some line cutters get removed from the line – that was fun! We all yelled SHAME at them as they were escorted past us. LoL.

Anyway – got in and saw everything I love: The Walking Dead panel (OMG trailer for season 6 is INTENSE!) and Game of Thrones panel (quite obvious they went out of their way to avoid the Is Jon Really Dead question.) Plus a panel for Fear the Walking Dead which looks GREAT! The Entertainment Weekly panel after GoT was full of hero hotties who were hysterical!!! :) And then STAR WARS!

Obviously happy to see everyone but let’s be real – I was out of my mind to see Harrison Ford! :) SQUEEEEEEEEE!!!! I had just seen the rest of the cast at Star Wars Celebration in April but no Mr Ford (who was still recovering from his plane crash.) The place was bonkers when he came out. Bonkers.

And THEN after the panel we got treated to a special Hall H attendee only Star Wars concert with fireworks! We all walked from Hall H to the San Diego Symphony music center down on the water. Mark Hamill drove by us and was talking to fans and waving. Daisy Ridley did the same and was high-fiving as they drove by.

We got light sabers and the music was played to footage (the previous 6 movies, not new footage) and the fireworks display was FANTASTIC. And everyone there loves Star Wars and the energy was just awesome.

My throat had been dry all day but I assumed it was just because I was so exhausted. But when I woke up Saturday AM to try and get ready for the day – I could barely move. Getting out of bed for water hurt. And my throat was on fire. So I’d like to thank whoever came to SDCC fully infected with sickness. I hope you still feel sick for weeks.

As sad as it made me to not get out there on Saturday, I knew I a) felt too horrible and b) didn’t want to be that person who was germy everywhere. I missed out on a lot but 99% of my excitement for this year’s con was for Star Wars. So I got my fill and more. Best Con Day Ever – Friday 7/10/15.

You can see the panel here:

You can see the Behind the Scene footage here:

And then ME in a video down by Verizon (for Facebook). In the same vide as Harrison Ford – ARGH!!!! (I’m about 35 seconds in waving with my Chewie backpack on :) :) :) ) This was Thursday night while we were in line for wristbands to Hall H…for Friday…

I took a bazillion pics but these are a few of my favorites:

The Legacy trio!

I love you. I know. :)

These shoes were $525 in 2008. They are $965 now. Do NOT tell me there is no inflation. #governmentlies

The Empire Strikes Back – my most favorite movie of all time. The best movie ever made. Don’t argue with me, just accept it and move on.

LOTR: The Two Towers – best movie in that series by far. Mostly due to lots of Aragon sword-wielding, Legolas arrow-shooting, walking, talking trees, Orc aka Raider-fan destruction, battles and less weepy Hobbits. Seriously…what is with the Hobbits…

The Wrath of Khan – best Star Trek movie. Step up if you can possibly argue this and I shall slap you across the face with a glove.

Indiana Jones….such a tough one. I love all 4 (yes…FOUR…back off) but I still say Raiders of the Lost Ark was the best overall. But the opening sequence of both original sequels were fantastic.

Terminator 2 – who does not love this movie? And what is wrong with you?

Of course there are many more movies in the genre but these 5 series represent the largest fan base/viewing audience.

I feel like I should watch all of these all over again right now! :)

Now…Godfather II is argued to be the best as well. I do not agree. In mobster movies…I’ll take the 1 over the 2 for sure. “That’s my family Kay, that’s not me….”

OK, I was a bad girl. BUT, in my defense, it’s a super rare collectible that I’ve been wanting for a long time found in near pristine condition….PLUS it’s almost May the Fourth Be With You – my 2nd favorite holiday! :)

Thursday afternoon a friend sent me a link to an auction by an individual collector of Star Wars posters. He had every one – every single one from every movie, every version, every re-release. And they were all in excellent condition. Some of the older posters are hard to find in great condition. It was common practice to fold posters so most have been. Or just damaged through the years.

I scrolled through all of the posters and there was 3 or 4 that I would have loved to bid on but there was 2 that I wanted a LOT. One of them had JUST ended and went for a lot of $$$ but the other had 8 minutes left!

It was being held at a private online auction house. I placed several bids on it using my friends ID (I didn’t have time to try and register) but it was real auction style – so after my last second bid it extended the auction instead of being able to snipe like on eBay. #dammit

I was in a bidding war with another guy and he clearly wanted it. Once we ran up the price 33% over where I started, I did a quick internet check and lo and behold I found another in the same great condition. There were others that were folded or had damage and they were still going for a decent amount due to the rarity of this poster. I have found folded ones every so often but I do not allow any folded posters in my collection. So while I watched the seconds tick down on this private auction debating whether to place another bid (and wonder about my sanity), I submitted an offer on the other I found. I was texting my friend who said let the private auction one go – he collects old movie posters and said this was a reputable shop (where I found the other.) And it was less than the auction house one! I sure hope that seller appreciates me running up the price for him #doh

Some Poster Info I gleaned from various Star Wars and rare poster sites (some of it I knew and some I didn’t!):

Rolled, never folded. No pin holes. This one was never used!

Star Wars Happy Birthday One Sheet

The poster shows 11 out of 12 original Kenner action figures. For unknown reasons, the Jawa action figure was omitted. Utinni!!!

My favorite purchases are the ones I do on gut with no hemming and hawing and I find I am always very happy with them. It shipped Friday! Of course the framing will be another small fortune….but it will be a fantastic and well loved addition to my collection. Finding and collecting the old, rare stuff is so satisfying :)

I just watched the last episode of Veronica Mars. Yes…I realize I’m a bit late to that party.

I admit that I never watched when it was first on. And I also admit that when the panel for the new movie coming out was scheduled for Hall H at SDCC, I was pretty annoyed. How could they put that in pre-Walking Dead and Game of Thrones?!?!?! But we had to sit through it so whatever. The cast came out and the place went crazy. Ho-hum. But after listening to the cast, their interactions and watching some brief footage, I was intrigued.

I have watched many shows and movies that I was not previously interested in after attending the panels at SDCC. And it is always because of how the cast interacts. If they are fun and engaged, it makes a HUGE difference.

So I looked for the show on Netflix – no luck. It’s on Amazon but is not part of Prime you you have to pay to watch. It was on Hulu but I already pay for NFLX and AMZN Prime so was not signing up for Hulu. Then I found it on SoapNet (via DTV) – yay! And they were JUST starting Season 1 on Saturdays (they run it a few times a week but the episode sequences are all different.) The downside was that I got 3 episodes a week. So I recorded 6 over two weeks before I started watching any. I watched the pilot episode and was HOOKED!!!!! So I’ve been watching since July. And finally finished tonight as the last episode of season 3 aired today. And I’m sad it’s over. NOW I understand why so many people were bummed when it was cancelled. At least I have the movie coming out soon!

The writing was smart and witty. Yes – it’s about a high school girl (and then college in S3) who works as a “junior” PI for her Dad. But the stories are great. Each season has a season-long story arc. But each episode also has individual story lines.

Kristen Bell’s delivery was perfect. She is so perfect in this role and now thinking of her playing a dingbat in Forgetting Sarah Marshall is very wrong (although the voice of Gossip Girl works as my blog title suggests :) ) She plays a strong female character who is smart as a whip but adorable too but she is not perfect and does make mistakes and has boy trouble (to say the least…but not the Edward/Jacob kind so don’t worry.) Plus she loves her dog! And carries a taser. Perfect. She is the PI equivalent of a vampire slayer.

The entire cast is great. Well..let me take that back. I didn’t like Duncan. At all. He was way too wooden and I cannot see what Veronica would ever see in him. . But everyone else was great. And a bevy of famous guest stars – Paul Rudd, Amanda Seyfried, Harry Hamlin, Steve Guttenberg, Ed Begley Jr, Sam Huntington, Leighton Meester (Blaire!), Kevin Smith, Aaron Paul (for you Breaking Badsters), Jane Lynch, Laura San Giacomo, Armie Hammer, Alyson Hannigan (Willow!), Charisma Carpenter (Cordelia!) and even Patty Hearst (oh yeah also Richard Grieco which made me laugh!) But so, so many of the characters, even small ones or minor recurring ones, are so fantastic.

I also love that they portrayed a great relationship between Veronica and her Dad. Keith Mars is pretty much the perfect dad without being a fake perfect TV guy.

I say again that it is sad that shows like this (well written, well acted with fun/interesting story lines) get cancelled so quickly but so much crap gets made/renewed (as I see an ad for another season of The Bachelor.)

If you haven’t watched it, and were thinking about it, I say do it before the movie comes out! And if you weren’t thinking about it – maybe you should. Apparently SoapNet is going off the air as of 12/31 so you can’t watch it there. If you have Hulu – go! If not, there is always Amazon:

Also, Team Logan forever…and ever :)

I really wanted to like this movie. This is one of my most favorite books. I’m not entirely sure why since Anna really is a selfish wretch. But I have always loved the drama of this book. Much more than War and Peace or The Brothers Karamazov. Ad I think even more than Wuthering Heights.

For some reason this movie tried for the theater production feel in some ways. Weird set changes caused more distraction and broke up the feel of the scene I think. And the whole feel of the movie was a grand production but not a film. And overly dramaaaaatic *said like Thurston Howell III* (if you don’t know who that is…..well….I can’t help you) without being serious enough considering the book it was drawn from.

Keira Knightley is absolutely gorgeous as usual. Actually more than usual since the costuming in this film was exquisite. But I think she is a bit too young for the role even though in reality she probably is the correct age.

Jude Law actually made Karenin far more likable than he is in the book. And that’s with a receding hairline ;)

But Count Vronsky was so horribly miscast, it was almost comical. He reminded me far too much of Jasper in Twilight. He was so not in any way the object of great desire. Or half of a tragically doomed romantic couple. Or the man a woman might leave her husband, position, child for? He was a goofy fop.

The movie IS very pretty. But it felt like it was desperately wanting to break out in the Baz Luhrmann thing of song/nifty soundtrack riffs at any moment like in Romeo & Juliet or Moulin Rouge. And I liked both of those very much – but I was expecting what I got in them when I sat down to watch them. This film seemed like it wanted to be taken seriously but just quite couldn’t get there. The book is very serious. Very. So it’s unfortunate the movie couldn’t reflect that.

The 1935 Greta Garbo version is pretty good. I never saw the Vivian Leigh version which I should watch. But frankly I like the book and I think it’s best that left way much like most great books. The imagination is a much better movie set :)

San Diego Comic Con 2013 is over. I hate the day after con withdrawal. But I am quite happy to be home to Stormy!

What a trip! Up at 4:30am Wednesday morning to arrive early enough to check-in, drop luggage off and get in line for badge pick-uo. Once in line, we made line friends. This is key to con survival in my opinion. You spend a LOT of time in lines and I can’t just sit and read the whole time. Ended up meeting very nice people from LA, NY and DC. We played card games, chatted about what we all wanted to see, our past con experiences and what we wanted when we hit the floor running tonight! Turned out we wanted similar things so we divided and conquered and each picked a booth and bought the items for the others. Met up over the next couple days to exchange and it worked out perfectly!!!

Then we got our badges and moved to the exhibit hall line where we waited for hours again. But we kept our line friends :) Then we got on to the floor and I had to run across the the entire exhibit hall to get to the Funko booth….with a huge line. DOH! No good line friends there, but made friends with some security and Funko people. I won 2 things while waiting in the Funko line and got ALL of the items I wanted plus the items my friends wanted!!! Sonya had gone to the Marvel booth and got us the exclusive Old Man Logan figure and Levi got us the Stark Shields! Our line friend went to Hasbro and got Sonya the Star Wars Angry Birds set and me the Boba Fett and Han in Carbonite – exclusive black series. VERY productive evening!!!

Then we dropped off our haul at the hotel and went to dinner at Nobu. SO. SOOO. Yummy.

Thursday was a floor morning and Hall H afternoon. We hit up the Walking Dead booth first and went on from there. The booths by the big shows/studios were all great as usual. No line for Hall H yet so we walked in and the seat master (my friend Sonya who I always go to cons with) got us seats in dead center row 11!!! For HARRISON FORD!!!

First up was the Entertainment Weekly Visionaries panel. It’s 3 directors with movies coming out. They were all fantastic. But I really liked Edgar Wright- he was FUNNY. Then the Divergent panel. I had never even heard of the movie and barely recall hearing about the books. But the panel was fantastic. A lot of the cast showed up as well as the author and it was a very fun panel. Footage looked great and it intrigued me enough to download the first 2 books of the series (3rd coming out soon.) I’m about 1/3 of the way through Book 1 and really like it so far.

Then it was Ender’s Game time. Again, I have barely heard of the book but, according to the panel, is required by the US Military? Between that and the footage, I was intrigued enough to download Book 1 of that series too. Will start after Divergent 1 and 2. But of course, the main reason I was in that Hall H today was for my man. He never, ever, never does cons. When he showed up unannounced for Cowboys & Aliens 2 years ago the place erupted into to a giant flashbulb and long, unending scream. This time he was announced a week or 2 ago. Hall H was easily 1/2 empty when we showed up around 12:30. But as it got closer to Enders Game panel time (3:30 I think), the place filled up completely and there ended up being a line of people who didn’t get in. Every single person in our section said they were there for Harrison Ford. Of course :)

Of course the applause and screaming and flashbulbs went on forever when he came out. And of course during the Q&A you get the jackass who doesn’t ask him about his current movie but instead a Han Solo/Indiana Jones question. This is the reason he doesn’t go to these things. The question was “if Han Solo and Indiana Jones met, what would they say?” Everyone in the hall booed the guy and yelled noooooooo. Come on. Harrison took off his glasses, looked around and said “I’m never coming back here” and started to get up. He was obviously kidding and chuckled and sat back down. Then said “I don’t know…..’Hi. How are you?'” He has definitely settled himself comfortably into the role of the lovable curmudgeon with a dry sense of humor we all can’t help but love. Got a few good pics but this is my favorite..

Sonya and I both agreed that I could have *easily* run up there and jumped him before security could stop me. But I restrained myself :)

Another awesome Thursday activity was being a pool of gold and silver!!! This is my ultimate Uncle Scrooge goal (but with real gold and silver) :)

Hehehehehe

We left Hall H after the Enders Game panel was done. More floor time, drop stuff at hotel and then dinner at Lolita’s. Carne Asada fries! O.M.G. We ran into some friends so went to the MTV2 party after dinner with them. We lasted about 1 hour. Not my thing. But a big party that I think MTV spent a boatload on. Live bands that I might know if I was a tweener. Huge fireworks display, tons of interactive stuff all around plus free food and wine/beer/sodas. Plus free giant glowsticks :) It didn’t have one single thing to do with SDCC other than being a spectacle but oh well.

Friday was a beast. Sonya’s fiancee camped out in Hall H line starting around midnight. We met him around 5:30-6ish with Starbucks. Day was loaded with The World’s End (Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, Kick Ass 2 (cast), Riddick (Vin Diesel and Katee Sackhoff), The Walking Dead (huge cast panel) and The Game of Thrones (huge cast panel.) All were great but I think GOT was my favorite. Although the footage for TWD S4 was INSANE!!! But besides the fact that I love the books and TV series and the cast are always great to see on these panels, they started the panel with lights off and this video:

http://youtu.be/9m4ZPULXJKw

ONLY watch if you are caught up on Season 3! It’s an In Memoriam of all the characters who have died through the 3 seasons set to Boys to Men and with a little humor thrown in. GREAT execution. They never have footage to show since their season just ended and hasn’t start filming for the next season yet. So they need to be creative and always are. During the panel, Jason Momoa ruhed onstage and kissed Emilia Clarke (Daenerys). I didn’t hear what he said to her but then as he rushed off she said “My Sun and Stars…” You could tell they were all surprised by his fly-by so that was fun :)

After the GOT panel ended, my friends went off and did their thing and I went to the floor for a bit. Picked up a drawing I had commissioned on Artists Alley:

It really is amazing watching these guys draw.

The GOT cast were at the WB booth. Peter Dinklage waved at me. But sooo crowded around there I left pretty quickly. After checking out the floor for a bit, decided to head over to check out the stuff on the lawn at the Hilton Bayfront. Checked that all out and decided to get a soda and sit down. As I was tweeting/instagramming/facebooking, I looked up and saw Jason Momoa (aka Khol Drogo.) I jumped up and asked for a pic! He was very sweet and even though his handler was trying to rush him away, he did. When he saw my Chewbacca phone case he said “Your Chewbacca phone is a f***ing awesome!” LOL

By Friday night, we were all far too tired to even consider camping for Hall H on Friday night/Saturday morning. We all really wanted to see everything in there but at some point, your adultness sets in and a bed and shower sound better. I really think they will need to do something about the camping. Pretty much not fair if a family with kids or 60 yr old wants to see a Hall H panel but can’t because camping is truly a suck option. Plus being that exhausted makes for not as fun of a day, IMO. And frankly, the non-showering situation is very noticeable. But oh well. I’ll find a college kid and pay him to camp for me next year. Capitalism will prevail.

So Sonya and I did Ballroom 20 all day instead. Only had to line up at 6:30am! And then Sonya’s seat-masterness won again – front row! All fun panels PLUS I got to run to the floor and pick up the last SDCC13 exclusive collectible that I had wanted. You needed to get in line for a wristband in order to buy it and I was able to get it on Saturday AM! Sonya got to ask a question in the True Blood panel and I got to see the panels I wanted to. While we were bummed not to be in Hall H for Tom Cruise and Marvel, we had a really great day.

The key to having fun at Comic Con is have a Plan A, B and C. There are a LOT of people, so a lot of lines. So you can’t always get into/do your Plan A. But that’s no reason to not have fun since there is sooooo much stuff going on!!

Dinner at Fleming’s was super delicious. There was a table across from us that I saw 3 different women stop and ask for pics so it was someone famous-ish. Just someone I didn’t recognize. Turns out it was some cast members from Survivor. Then saw the guy (also an MMA fighter?) who played the Mr T role in the new A-Team movie there. And then a long time twitter friend met me there with his wife for drinks. A fun day and night for sure!!

Sundays are for packing up, checking out and walking the floor or downtown. Sonya and I were strolling downtown and saw Michael Rooker right in front of the Hard Rock Hotel! Merle!!! Asked for a quick picture and he said sure even though his handler was trying to wrangle him. He was very sweet and told me take good care of my ears (was wearing my fluffy wold ears as usual) :) We went on to an early lunch after waiting in line for the Game of Thrones exhibit but giving up on it. Off to Lolita’s! (Hey – these are only found in San Diego!) Then we hit the floor for a bit. Madness! Got some decent swag and took a few more pics and then it was time for Sonya to head for the airport. I went back downtown as I wanted to go to the Chuck Jones Gallery. They always do fun things for SDCC week. I walked in, and saw the canvas of the piece I almost bought on the floor but talked myself out of several times, right there front and center. Turns out the artist was in the gallery and doing dedications if you bought the piece. Seriously? It was fate at this point. So I did it. This is the larger original:

I actually bought 2 pieces there. When I get them (being shipped to me), I will blog again with photos and their history. Both are beautiful. At least to me.

Then it was time to go! No more buying!!! Hotel, airport, airplane, airport, driving. HOME! Plus I shipped most of my stuff so when I get that box in a day or 2, it will be like a mini-Comic Con/Christmas all over again :)

The only bummer about the Con is that Disney kept any and all news about Star Wars away. Nothing. Nada. I assume they are holding anything back and will release it at D23 – Disney’s expo. But this is truly their audience and since they realize that with Marvel, they should realize it with Star Wars. I can only hope that since they probably don’t have that much to reveal yet, they WILL change their minds and do something at SDCC14 when more information about the new Star Wars movies are available. Fingers and paws crossed.

I realized that while I was there I only saw tweets or FB posts related to Comic Con. No other tweets, no Facebook, no news, no TV, no politics, no media other than fun. And I was in a GREAT mood the entire time! I way, way prefer that. I think I need to clean up my twitter and FB feeds.

I have tons of fun every year. It gets crazier each year plus more and more crowded and maybe I will get tired of dealing with that at some point, but probably not. I like finding new shows, movies, comics and books to investigate and it’s fun to be surrounded by people who like the same things. Of course, I can only take that many people for so long :) Sad SDCC is over but now back home in the mountains with NO lines, very few people plus my very own Hoth Stormtrooper so it’s all A-OK :)

Flickr link for all the pics: http://flic.kr/s/aHsjH1QZjv

It’s Oscar night!! Not sure what that has to do with eating (absolutely nothing, zilch, zero, nada) but I decided to make this since the chicken has been in my freezer for a couple weeks :) Call me glamour-puss! I found this recipe in a magazine and then changed it to suit my tastes…

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
About 1 lb of skin-on chicken drumsticks
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
12 cloves garlic (about 1 head)
2 lemons (finely grated zest of one, juice of both)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 pound frozen corn, thawed
3/4 cup whole milk

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper, and 2 tablespoons flour. Add to the skillet and cook, turning, until slightly golden on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, lemon zest and lemon juice and turn the chicken to coat. Transfer the skillet to the oven; roast until the chicken is golden brown and cooked through, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the corn and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until the corn softens, about 5 minutes. Stir in the remaining 1 tablespoon flour, then add the milk and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium low and simmer, stirring, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

I am pairing it with some Moet & Chandon Imperial as Moet seems to be the Hollywood bubbly of choice and this was already chilled in my fridge :)

I love watching the Oscars. Even though I love to make fun of celebrities too. Mostly because I think actors taking themselves SOOOOO seriously is rather amusing…but LOVE the outfits :)

Today Disney (DIS) announced that they bought Lucasfilm. WHAT?!?!?! I ran into the living room to see the TV thinking that I must have misheard it. Wow. Lucasfilm has been held privately by George Lucas since creation. He, along with Copploa’s Zeotrope Studios, were created by these guys as a solution to the big studio system they felt wouldn’t understand them, let them make their films, etc etc.

Now, I have been a HUGE Star Wars fan forever. And Indiana Jones. And since touring ILM twice, I always look to see if they do the special effects on movies. George and his team truly created a new frontier. So when, in addition to the purchase, Disney announced a Star Wars episode 7 in 2015 with additional movies following every 1-2 years my head (figuratively – no Belloq action) exploded. I had given up on Episodes 7-9 after eps 1-3 and George said he was too tired.

Now, I was EXCITED. But a lot of twitter, mostly the self-confessed nerds and hipsters, were screaming NOOOOOOOO Vader-style. Some refused to even comment other than to comment that they weren’t commenting. But why? Disney bought Marvel and I have to say X-Men: First Class and Avengers have been 2 of the most enjoyable movies that I have seen in a long time. If you disagree – you just can’t enjoy fun films and probably prefer art house suicidal self portrait films. So if Disney can find some great talent and get Star Wars back into prime action – I say YAY!

I was reading some of the tweets and stories and was both annoyed and amused by their upset. I mean, you know this is mostly a group of evolutionists who can’t get their heads around their beloved childhood franchise evolving one little bit. That thought made me snicker. And all of them likely grew up loving at least one Disney (and/or Pixar depending on their age) movie, if not the entire catalog.

Now, let’s be clear – if Disney announced they were REMAKING (or even “reimagining”) the original trilogy, that would be a different blasphemous story. That. Better. Never. Happen. But they want to take the story past where it ended which is what George originally intended. And what we all grew up hoping for!

I have been collecting Star Wars (and Indy) related stuff (you know…collectibles) since I was a kid. I have quite a bit. Quite. I’m slowly getting it all out and displayed and thinking of new ways to display it. Now it seems I might need even more room. Although the original stuff will always be some of my favorites. But now I will need to get this poster (that was given to me by a friend) re-framed NOW:

I have bought a FEW Disney Star Wars weekend items over time but have tried to mostly stay away as Disneyana collectibles takes you down a long, dark road to bankruptcy. Or appearing on an episode of Hoarders. I do have Goofybacca though:

And have been on the search for a few years for Han/Donald in Carbonite:

I didn’t think I actually wanted it but then saw it in real life at ILM. Very cool. I have the action figure-sized one but I need the big one. To match Goofybacca of course :)

The fact that George wants to turn his helm over to Kathleen Kennedy and a Disney team, while remaining a “Creative Consultant”, bodes well I think. George is a genius. And he is great. But his constant monkeying with the original trilogy has been maddening. Now, I didn’t hate the prequels like some nerds or “truists”. I didn’t love them the same way as I loved the original trilogy but I can still watch them over and over and enjoy them. And the last 30 minutes of the Revenge of the Sith is pure nonstop awesome.

And let’s face it, George introduced Star Wars to an entire new generation or 3. Little kids walk around with toys and costumes because they think Anakin is a Jedi hero. And Ben is young. Yoda still kicks ass. And yes, Jar-Jar talked funny. If you want to expand your brand, you do what he did.

I JUST yesterday said out loud, after seeing a Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 2 billboard in San Francisco, that Twilight was probably going to be the last midnight movie I will wait in line for 2 hours for and care to stay up so late for. And now look – it seems there will be more :) OK, I can do it! Although I will still probably prefer the 10pm “midnight” show like we are doing for Breaking Dawn Part 2 :)

So to all the nay-saying geeks and fake geeks who just like to complain – I say a pox on you. Wait until we see what they give us before you have your nerdtearsattack. You might just enjoy it. You’ll probably hate to admit it though.

I am pretty sure that I will love it. And am damn sure that I will give them a chance. And will probably be as excited as I have been today until it gets here. In 2015….tick tock…tick tock…..I am about as excited as when I was a kid by this :)