Star Wars Day in Review

Well another Star Wars Day is in the books. I must say it is becoming a bigger deal each year. Of course having a slew of movies coming out, with casting announcements less than a week old, and a new television series on the way, does not hurt either!

In terms of news there really wasn't any great revelation. But with bombshells like the EU reboot and the Episode VII casting announcement, it is hard to top that! It was nice getting the full trailer for Rebels. It looks like a great show! I'm really looking forward to it. 

I think part of the issue was that the 4th was on a Sunday this year. Apparently that is not a good day in Hollywood to do major promotion work. I'm pleasantly surprised by this. 

It was awesome getting a short video from J.J. and Lawrence Kasdan wishing everyone a happy SW day! I loved seeing all the celebrities, from Wil Wheaton to Samuel L. Jackson, to new celeb John Boyega get into the spirit of things via Twitter and Facebook. 

There were some great shopping deals this year. Last year I got the enormous Blueprints hardcover book for a fantastic price plus a tee shirt from We Love Fine that has the Boba Fett logo on it. It is a pretty obscure SW reference and I have yet to meet someone who recognizes it outright. Quite a few think it is a Fender reference, given the "F" shape in it.

Well there were a lot more tee shirt options this year! I was disappointed in TeeFury's offerings this year - there were two - one was boring and the other just weird (a psychedelic Yoda). Fortunately We Love Fine had a great selection. I spent quite a bit of time yesterday studying the shirts. I like ones that have subtle references and are styled in a unique way. I picked out two but waited to order them on May 4th since it was 25% off. 

One thing I missed out on was the free May the Fourth pin over at Think Geek. You only had to spend $20 to get it. I put it off to tomorrow and they sold out. At least they still had the 20% deal for Star Wars merchandise. 

Lastly, over on Amazon I got a few graphic novels on Kindle. I'm not a huge comic book reader and the EU reboot makes this not as important reading, but 90% off is too good to pass up for some titles. 

Anyway, all in all it was a great Star Wars Day!

Star Wars Day 2014

Here is a quick summary of the happenings & shopping deals for Sunday, May the 4th!

HAPPENINGS

• Disney Channel - New Yoda Chronicles episode (May 4, 7 p.m. ET/PT)
• Disney Channel - Premier of full Star Wars Rebels trailers (during Yoda Chronicles)
• Star Wars Journeys: The Phantom Menace iOSApp - Released 

SHOPPING DEALS

Here are the best deals, in my opinion:

• Think Geek - 20% off SW merch plus a free pin when you spend just $20! (now through May 5, ends midnight Eastern Time)
• Mimoco Flash Drives - These used to be very expensive, but the prices have come down considerably. (May 4 Only, ends midnight Pacific Time)
• We Love Fine - These are high quality T-Shirts. I got a Boba Fett logo one during last year's Star Wars Day and I still love it! 25% off makes this an especially good deal. (May 4 Only, ends midnight Pacific Time)
• Disney Store - The don't have a huge selection of Star Wars stuff yet, but there are a few nice T-shirts there that I like. Good prices! (now through May 18)

Here is a more comprehensive list:

• Amazon - exclusive, official Star Wars Rebels t-shirts (available through May 10)
• Disney Store - Free pin if you happen to be one of the first 100
• Gamestop - Sweepstakes
• Hallmark - Free e-card
• Hallmark - 20% off personalized Star Wars Cards
• Hallmark - Prize packages (valid through May 5)
• Lego Stores - Free poster with any Lego Star Wars purchase in-store (May 3-5)
• Lego.Com - Free Lego Darth Revan minifig if you spend $75+ online (May 3-5)
• 15% off Star Wars M&M candy items (through May 4)
• Party City - 50% off Star Wars tableware
• Pottery Barn Kids - 20% off Star Wars items + free gift
• Sideshow Collectibles - sweepstakes for Vader bust
• MyCoolCarStuff - 50% Star Wars items, like this awesome sunshade!
• Star Wars Pinball for iOS - free (May 4)

Be sure to check out the official Star Wars page for all the latest information!

This deal's getting better all the time!

Verily, A New Hope (Book Review)

I love Shakespeare. One of my favorite classes in high school was an English class focusing exclusively on the bard and his plays. We studied Hamlet thoroughly in the lead up to the film release of the play starring Mel Gibson (yes I am old). I'll never forget the time when we had a class field trip to see the movie that as we were laughing at Shakespeare's jokes, I overheared a pair of elderly ladies trying to understand what was funny.

So when I heard of Shakespeare's Star Wars - it was a truly Reese's Peanut Butter Cup moment - chocolate and peanut butter? Awesome! Now having read the book, I must say author Ian Doescher delivered a fantastic work!

All of the hallmarks of a Shakespeare play are clearly evident even to the non-scholar like me:

• The play is in five acts
• There is minimal stage direction
• Rhyming couplets close each scene
• Characters have "asides" (what we call "breaking the fourth wall" now)
• Soliloquies (asides that are delivered alone on stage)
• Use of iambic pentameter

He references several of the tragedies, namely Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, King Lear, and MacBeth. He also refers to several histories: Henry V, Richard III, and Julius Caesar. There is also a bit from As You Like It and even a few sonnets in there too!

But you can tell that Doescher is not just a Shakespeare fan but is truly a Star Wars fan as well. He didn't simply take the Episode IV script and shakespeare-ize it, he truly did an interpretation of it. There are extended scenes, like the tragic tale of stormtrooper TK-421 who correctly theorizes that the droids they are looking for are hidden the Falcon. His partner talks him out of it and they are called up the gangplank to give some help - and the rest is history!

He employs R2-D2 as a character like the Fool from King Lear in that he speaks truth but no one believes or understands him. This is done wonderfully when Artoo  has spoken "asides" in English.

...

In closing, I thought I would take a moment to describe what iambic pentameter is. Many people know that is how Shakespeare wrote his plays but few really understand what the heck this phrase means! Iamb means two syllables in a soft-STRESSED arrangement, such as "en-JOY". Pentameter means there should be five iambs in a line.

Here is an example of iambic pentameter:

I'd RATHer BE a HAMmer THAN a NAIL

Note though that Shakespeare did not exclusively use iambic pentameter in his plays. When it came to words spoken by characters of a lower social class, he would use regular prose instead. He would also sometimes intentionally break the rules of iambic pentameter: "to BE or NOT to BE that IS the QUESTion.". That last "-ion" is a weak ending that extends past the five iambs. The author, Ian Doescher, stated that even though he was much more rigorous in following iambic pentameter than Shakespeare ever was, he still has about a dozen lines that break this pattern in his book.

To learn more about Shakespeare and how Ian Doescher wrote this book, be sure to read the excellent Educator's Guide on the Random House website!