A Long Time Ago in the Near Future

Disney + Star Wars = ? 

So in the mist of going through what is now being called the worst natural disaster in US history (what is with me? I went through Katrina as well!) I received news that I last received something of the like over ten years ago! 3 NEW Star Wars movies are going to be in the making! Along with this news was a strange twist… Disney was buying Star Wars! At first it was a tad bit shocking but after I thought about it made since. Three or four years ago I came across a video on an event at Disney World called Dancing with the Star Wars Stars. At the time it kind of made me scratch my head a little at the fact Disney was hosting a Star Wars event… :-/ But I found the dance off pretty funny! I always was amused at a little icon that read “Star Wars the Musical – No, seriously. Tap Dancing Storm troopers.” Yes, very amusing yet on the other hand bazaar, but such a funny picture it created in my head. Since then I have been hearing about these “Star Wars Weekends” at Disney.



Revenge of the Sith Concept Art of Padme' and Anakin

  How do I feel about this news? I don’t know… You see, when it was announced that the prequels where coming out some younger than me might not realize that I grew up in a world where there was only A New Hope, Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. This means you only know of this dark large monster like creature that somehow has two kids he didn’t know about and you have no idea how any of it happened! Yeah, if you were a Star Wars fan then you wanted to see those prequels! I remember even coming up with stories in my head of how it happened. I mean, like who was their mother? I came up with some story of a young woman watching her husband going to the dark side and having to escape. She didn’t even have a name! I don’t recall if I made one up. All you had was what was in those 3 movies and at the time I got into Star Wars it was a bit of a forgotten saga that I had little hope that after like 10+ years after the last film that they would ever bother returning to it.

 I really didn’t know till recently that so many hated the prequels! I mean how can you hate it completely? It filled in so much that you didn’t know that added to the first films. I will agree that the casting/acting may not have been as perfect as the original but the story was there. But to be honest I hated Harrison Ford as Hans Solo! Only till I saw the actors that he got the part over did I first started thinking… well, maybe he wasn’t THAT bad! ;-) Since then he has grown on me.

Art by Robert Shane

 As with the first time around, I had heard that George Lucas did want to make 3 more but AGAIN it’s been about 10 years since the last one (I’m seeing a pattern here!) and he was downed so much for what he did with the prequel that I didn’t think they would try again…

  Now again… how do I feel about this… well, the thing is it’s not like before because we don’t have unanswered questions as to what happened. This movie by what I understand will be after Return of the Jedi. So unless they decide to completely ignore all the novels and get new actors to play old favorite I think that just after Return of the Jedi is out of the question. Ignoring the novels and or recasting would be HUGE mistakes.

  I did come across an interview online with the author of some of the most popular novels, Timothy Zahn. READ HERE Apparently Zahn knew something at the time about these new movies. This is interesting because that means they were being careful at the time to not block themselves in. This gives you a clue to where it could go. If they were smart they continued to watch what was written.

 

There are some real spoilers ahead that have already been spoiled for me but just warning you in case you don't want to find out what happened yet.

 

Now what has happened in the novels? Well, this is what I have gathered by what I have read thus far... I know there is a lot out there that I haven't read but this is what I have right now... in Zahn’s novel Leia and Han have twin children. A boy and a girl. Well, obviously this did not affect or counteract what George Lucas had planned since we know he talked to Zahn right before these events were written. You will also notice that Zahn said it would be about Luke’s children… That’s interesting since Zahn was the author that gave Leia children! Is Leia’s children unimportant to the movies or did George Lucas have the twins in mind for the movie as well? And what of Luke? What do the novels reveal of his future? Oddly enough a big event in Luke’s life was also written by Zahn but this time George Lukas wasn’t as crazy about the idea. George Lucas did not want Luke to marry Mara Jade… the fans won out though. Sort of. Zahn has Luke marry Mara but I was quite surprised when I found that she eventually dies! So far none of the 4 main original cast has died (Chewbaca has) in the novels though they are really getting up there in age now. This is total speculation but I wonder if they allowed Luke to marry Mara as long as they eventually kill her off as she will not play well into the sequels. Zahn said the sequels will be about Luke’s children. As of now in the novels Luke has one son that I am aware of. Now if they killed off Mara, what of Leia’s son Anakin? I just recently heard he also eventually dies! Made me sad because I like the kid, but anyway… I’m wondering if the novelists are having to kill off people to lead the stories into the right direction? We still have Ben, Luke and Mara’s son. Now will Ben be one of the children in the new movies or will he get killed off before 2015 as well and we discover Luke has other kids… one that he doesn’t know about, or his kid/kids have kids? Hmm… where was George Lucas going with this if in fact he is molding the novels towards the final sequel and how much did they let authors stray through the years? We just don't know...

 

 I’m feeling two ways at the same time with this… it could be good which makes me excited… or this could be AWFUL which makes me cringe! But one way or the other at least Lukas isn’t giving up. He created an amazing world that has kept me entertained for hours on end for YEARS!

 The fact Disney is getting involved gets me excited because my second love is Disney. I have not cared for some of their movies in the past years but they were the makers of The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King… and now they will own Star Wars! Now that’s a little cool to say the least! Time will tell the outcome…

Art by James Silvani

The Light of Christmas

   In thinking of the best thing to post for Christmas I thought it would be this which was one of the most symbolic and beautiful thing I have seen this Christmas. I have been away from my home town for two Christmases. I can’t say I’m a huge fan of my home town but there are things here that are nowhere else. One being my church which I have been going to since I was 13. Many are what I would call my family!

  Every year they have a Christmas banquet. Through the years they have had various presentations ranging from a story read to the children to soloist which I have sung several times. But this was the most unusual. Two candles were passed to different people who in turn would get up and light a candle making the cross. Beautiful!

"I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." <><

Merry Christmas.

Views From a Rational Human Being...

Ah, politics of Facebook! Why do people even post political statues when they don't want other people to reply...

To be respectful I have blurred out names and faces but this really got to me on how closed minded and uncaring people can be! The orignal poster of the status after receiving my last post made another comment that could not be read (due to me being blocked) unfriended and blocked me! All due to my "rant" (as they called it) about how my friends and family that I care about were not doing well in this economy... and that I didn't take anyone's word on how things were. I can see with my own eyes how things are around me! I don't need someone to show me a chart!

Like I said... after this post, I was blocked.... I never even got to read the whole reply I was given before I was block! Call me what you will, dislike me all you like. (I wish you would try to refrain from makeing up stuff about me though!) I think politics are going nowhere if people are unwilling to listen to the other side. I'm sorry that I was unfriended by someone I had no reason to have ill feelings towards and it upset me. But if they don't care then it's not much of a loss is it? I have so many friends with so many different beliefs and points of view that I talk with, argue with, a learn from... sadly this was not the case with the above. And was my reply a "Rant"... well all I can say is... it is the passionate responce from someone seeing people they love go through hard times and seeing someone completly ignore the fact that numbers and political sideings aren't everything in the equation of life...

Ambush at Corellia

 This is a slower pace novel. I won’t complain about the author’s ability to write because it was written well unlike others where the sentences are constructed so strangely I’m reading it over and over trying to figure out what on earth the author said just happened or it's so simplistic it reads like Dick and Jane reader.

 

In this one the Solo family decides to take a family vacation on Han’s home planet Corellia. While they are gone Luke goes on a mission with Lando completely unconnected to Leia’s trip. The way it is written it sounds that there is a time lapses since the last novel but I’m unsure how much but they talk of there being peace for a while.

 My overall review is that it’s entertaining enough to read but slow and kind of non-eventful. I was disappointed in the author’s ability to make characters likeable. I mean the children come across as out right brats!

(YouTube Video of what the begaining of this book would look like if it was a movie. Thought it was kind of neat!)

 

  The following is spoilers so fare warning….

 

  Ok, this is some of the problems I noticed in this book… Luke gives Leia a light saber cause… well, why did he give her one when she already has one? And evidently she didn’t build either of them when a Jedi is supposed to… plus he gives her a red one at that… RED?! Was it not known at the time that only Sith have red sabers? What is going on with this? And also Leia says she doesn’t carry her old one anymore! That is hard to believe since she has in the past used it quite a bit!

 Then there is this scene with Mon Mothma that I believe happens before he gives his sister the lightsaber where she is giving him some strange lecture… what is that about?! You think her strange behavior must have a reason but then it never does!

 And then there is Lando… now this story was kind of amusing but I have a hard time seeing Luke going along with this but... whatever, it was funny :-)

 On a technical note, you know I never notice typos that much in a book, even when other people do but I found quite a few in this one! I think they slacked a bit on the proof reading on this book! I even started taking pics of them cause I just never see quite that many! (and this isn't all of them...)