red5-626 said:
the Lars Homestead
33.842921,7.779071
Is that UTM or Lambert Conformal Conic?
That's right - geotechnical analyst checking in. ;-)
Better start planning my summer\autumn reading so that I'm ready for this when it's released. I'll finish up Outbound Flight, then take a break from fiction and go with a couple of favorites; Finally Home and The Eighty-Dollar Champion.
December 26th.
Back cover synopsis;
To make his biggest score, Han’s ready to take even bigger risks.
But even he can’t do this job solo.
Han Solo should be basking in his moment of glory. After all, the cocky smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falcon just played a key role in the daring raid that destroyed the Death Star and landed the first serious blow to the Empire in its war against the Rebel Alliance. But after losing the reward his heroics earned him, Han’s got nothing to celebrate. Especially since he’s deep in debt to the ruthless crime lord Jabba the Hutt. There’s a bounty on Han’s head—and if he can’t cough up the credits, he’ll surely pay with his hide.The only thing that can save him is a king’s ransom. Or maybe a gangster’s fortune? That’s what a mysterious stranger is offering in exchange for Han’s less-than-legal help with a riskier-than-usual caper. The payoff will be more than enough for Han to settle up with Jabba—and ensure he never has to haggle with the Hutts again.
All he has to do is infiltrate the ultra-fortified stronghold of a Black Sun crime syndicate underboss and crack the galaxy’s most notoriously impregnable safe. It sounds like a job for miracle workers . . . or madmen. So Han assembles a gallery of rogues who are a little of both—including his indispensable sidekick Chewbecca and the cunning Lando Calrissian. If anyone can dodge, deceive, and defeat heavily armed thugs, killer droids, and Imperial agents alike—and pull off the heist of the century—it’s Solo’s scoundrels. But will their crime really pay, or will it cost them the ultimate price?
Star Wars Purist said:
Whenever I read Brian Daley's Han Solo books, The Corporate Sector Authority always makes me think of the possible future of the US. :(
Dibs on Jessa!
Have a good one, Warb.
doubleofive said:
Protocol Droid is my new hero.Protocol Droid said:
My understanding is that they originally wanted a Klingon, but Chris didn't want an outright Trek shoot, so a Ferengi was their next choice as it seemed a bit more subtle.
And it was a screen used Ferengi costume from DS9.
PD
No doubt about it. Being in a magazine shoot with the star of a new Star Trek film - playing the part of an alien sitting at a counter in a diner - eating a bowl of cereal - and scowling at the star - that has some definite cool factor attached to it. Well done, sir.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-207_162-57468279/actor-ernest-borgnine-dies-at-95/
Loved McHale's Navy, Dirty Dozen, and even the cab driver in Escape From New York. Way too many great roles to name. RIP, sir.
Tobar said:
*GASP*This from the man who hates shrunken universes?
Indeed.
In the hands of Zahn, the universe is endless again and the characters are three dimensional.
Which is exactly what's so nice about your site - the vastness of the universe and the depth of the characters. By the way, I'm really digging The Return Of Ben Kenobi. Great story.
I've not encountered any in my reading, but I'm aware of a few from articles discussed here in the past. No one major other than Chewie and yes, a very small moon crashes into a planet he is on.
I've really enjoyed Zahn's handling of the core characters as they've grown to middle age. Luke and Mara are particularly well written as older adults. I hope he deals with them as much older adults some day. I'm glad they're still in the EU or we'd be held to past tales. In the right hands those are fine too (very much looking forward to Scoundrels in December), but you'd always be limited.
Anyway, here are two pages on the thread topic.
http://scifi.about.com/od/starwarsbooks/a/SWAR_death-in-the-eu.htm
http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/User:Azizlight/Film_characters_killed_in_EU
Warbler said:
I watch another movie. Hint: it takes place in Philadelphia, and its title is numeric with four digits.
Dude, I don't think that's Philadelphia....
FanFiltration said:
"JAWS" DAY!
Indeed it is. Got it ready for this afternoon.
"...shark comes to the nearest man, that man he starts poundin' and hollerin' and screamin' and sometimes the shark will go away... but sometimes he wouldn't go away.
Sometimes that shark he looks right into ya. Right into your eyes. And, you know, the thing about a shark... he's got lifeless eyes. Black eyes. Like a doll's eyes.
When he comes at ya, doesn't seem to be living... until he bites ya, and those black eyes roll over white and then... ah then you hear that terrible high-pitched screamin'."
Zombie, there is a large comic book store that I drive in front of on my way home from work every day. Been there for decades. I need to pull in there one day and see what they have. If the stuff isn't too high, I might finally give some of these comic book series a look.
kamalayka said:
why would the Empire, with all of the massive ships and vast legions of troops, suddenly decide to call it quits?
They didn't suddenly quit. The Thrawn Trilogy handles post-Lucas Star Wars fantastically. If you're not familiar with that trilogy, it's Star Wars in the hands of someone who truly expands the universe. To me, it's greatest strength is that it moves away from Lucas' small universe.
I'm not really a big comic book guy myself (I know that was more directed to Ender, I'm just butting in). Your excellent Goodwin/Williamson preservation site is the exception. That's a bookmarked, daily read. Love those - the stories, the art, the EU of it all. Really nice.
That said; While I most likely won't ever buy the comic book series of Splinter, you're right on about those covers. They are fantastic. I have some fairly high-res scans already, but I still occasionally sit and do a search just to see if anything new pops up.
She's pushing 5'6",
in her Saucony kicks.
She's got lips like a sofa,
and she's strawing down soda.
If the devil was a girl,
and she wore a yellow tee.
It would be, a splitting image,
but that's okay with me.
She says, "I got something I think I really wanna tell ya,
I got something I think I really wanna show ya, I got something
I think I really wanna do right now".
Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh Oh
http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/03/showbiz/andy-griffith-dead/index.html
I have all of the episodes on DVD and watch them somewhat regularly. I'm a huge fan.
I'll have to have an Andy Griffith marathon tonight and tomorrow. I'll take a break long enough for my traditional 4th of July viewing of Jaws.
chosen1 said:
I believe the expanded universe put a damper on the original trilogy's thunder. It tool all of the fans imagination out of the plot. What's your perspective?
I wanted to address this separately and Bingo has discussed it as well. Lucas took care of shutting the door on the fans' imaginations long before the EU was anything more than a few late 70s\early 80s novels. Novels which, at the time, were almost completely unrelated to the original story other than an occasional name-check or reference to the first films.
Lucas controlled what little EU was allowed so he could control the story. He decided what level of imagination was allowed, not the EU. If anything, the early EU - Foster, Daley, and Smith - was truly an Expanded Universe - new characters, new enemies, new adventures.
Bingowings said:
it's not the existence of an EU that's the problem, it's which direction it points.
Does it truly 'expand' the universe or does it contract it.
In that regard ROTJ and the PT are more of a problem than most of the EU.
That's it in a nutshell. Star Wars inhabits an endless universe. Some writers have a much better grasp of it than others. Oddly enough, Lucas has one of the weakest understandings of what made it connect with people's imaginations in 1977 - if he even understands it at all. In my opinion, by the way, he does not.
Add me as a second who sees the EU differently. I can't speak to most of it, but the Foster, Daley, and Zahn EU is what saved me as a Star Wars fan.
I came here eight years ago looking for a way to preserve the only Star Wars thing that I was a fan of. That was the 1977 film.
In the process, this community reintroduced me to two things I'd lost touch with over the years. The first was the NPR Radio version of Star Wars, which I'd not heard since it first aired. It went on to replace the film as my go-to for the original story. The second was Splinter Of The Mind's Eye, which I'd partially read when it was first released. Both led me into EU - with some much needed and much appreciated peer pressure from several of the members here. ;-)
Those were both written by people who had a much better command of the characters Lucas had created and the world they existed in.
I last watched Star Wars (the film) in 2006 and it was really just to see how I felt about the DVD. It was fine for me, but for the most part I'd already moved on from the 1977 film. My EU is somewhat narrow focused, but it's rich and deep. It's become what the film was for me in 1977.
Contrary to the thread title, the EU didn't ruin the original films. It replaced them as my personal canon.
That’s it alright, Zombie. Thanks. The theater had only two screens. They were huge and had a sort of stage in front of them. Not a stage you walk on, but more of a landing just in front of the screen. Seems like screens were set back in that landing about twenty feet or so. The area was bathed in a pale blue light prior to each film.
I can’t really figure out how to describe it. I just remember the screens, and by default the theater itself, to be a very big structure.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Meyerland.JPG
Im doing this from an iPad, so I don’t know if that link will work. If it does, this is the area as it looks now. The side wall of the theater in the old picture was about where the front of Cacique is now, with the theater entrance facing away from where the new picture was taken.
The street in front of the theater is gone, as the new structure layout runs perpendicular to the layout of the old theater. It would have been about where Pier One is. The new picture looks to have been taken from the curb of the street that ran behind the theater.
edit
I used the Google Earth timeline feature to show the theater and how different the area is now.
Here is an aerial from 1978. On the right of the photo you can see the street that was removed when the area was razed.
Here’s the same area as it is now.
I made an overlay of the two and placed the outline of the theater where it was when I was a kid watching Star Wars.
It is not. On The Secret History Of Star Wars site, I wrote a blurb about it several years ago. I don't have access to my pictures right now, but I'll come back and update this with the link to the piece, an old picture, and a current picture.
Several years ago the entire area was razed and rebuilt. It is now completely unrecognizable from what it was in 1977. Some of the side streets aren't even there anymore. The street that ran directly behind the theater is still there, so I know about where the theater was.
zombie84 said:
I'm thinking of re-designing the website, to be a bit more interesting to look at. I'm not sure how I feel about using official pictures since I am making money off a product on the site, and Lucasfilm have so far left me alone. But I feel like there should be something a bit more eye-catching. Any thoughts?
What about some of the McQuarrie concept art? I checked out his official site and there are a ton of pieces that are iconic in their own right.
No doubt Lucas has claims to owning all that artwork (just as he does with the word droid), but there is this statement in their disclaimer section;
All original content of this site, both graphical and textual, is the intellectual property of Ralph McQuarrie, www.ralphmcquarrie.com, and Dreams and Visions Press unless otherwise indicated.
Perhaps some of the early concept artwork isn't owned by Lucas. You're a published author, not just some nerd with a blog. No harm in contacting the company handling his estate - on a professional level - and looking into what they may let you use legally.
May even be able to work the piece as the cover of your next printing of Secret History.
I'll be the roundabout
The words will make you out 'n' out
You change the day your way
Call it morning driving through the sound and
In and out the valley
The music dance and sing
They make the children really ring
I spend the day your way
Call it morning driving through the sound and
In and out the valley
In and around the lake
Mountains come out of the sky and they stand there
One mile over we'll be there and we'll see you
Ten true summers we'll be there and laughing too
Twenty four before my love you'll see
I'll be there with you
I will remember you
Your silhouette will charge the view
Of distance atmosphere
Call it morning driving through the sound and
Even in the valley
Redeye,
Nicely done, sir, on the whole project. Tilting the head to look at whoever is in the hand is an awesome touch. Like those on here who publish books, preserve daily newspaper strips from 30 years ago, spend countless hours trying to preserve the original films, or create an online home for all of us to gather - its a labor of love. The dedication shows.
I suppose it goes without saying - we'll be expecting plenty of pictures. ;-)
zombie84 said:
Anchorhead, I never expected you of all people to become one of the EU experts around here.
Well, expert is a strong word but I'm working on it. For the record, you had a big hand in my transition from film to novels for personal canon. If we ever cross paths, the first round is on me, man. Nice to have you back, by the way.
Another thing I like about the EU is the thought of the Thrawn Trilogy being made into films. Loosely connected, non-Lucas stories, taking place after the mess that Star Wars has become. Casting would be tough for sure because so many iconic characters would have to be recast. However, as Star Trek so perfectly demonstrated in 2009, it can be done. Personally, one would be a given. Bryce Dallas Howard as Mara Jade. To me, she's the first woman I've ever seen who actually looks the way Mara is written.
All the other depictions I've seen of her seem to be off somehow. Weirdly enough, the "official" Mara Jade seems to be Shannon McRandle and she couldn't be further from how I picture Mara. McRandle is all style, no substance.
When I'm reading the novels, Mara doesn't look like the book covers, the trading cards, the comics, etc. Something is always missing - tough but not angry - pretty but not tough - mean but no inner struggle, dark but no mystery, etc, etc. The closest to my mental version is the drawing on the cover of Survivor's Quest. A more mature Mara (my preferred version of the character).
Then I saw a picture of Bryce Dallas Howard while I was double checking some information for a movie review I'm going to post in off-topic. The moment I saw her, my mind instantly connected her to the character I'd read in those eight novels. Bryce has Mara's je ne saia quoi.
