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Sunday, April 29, 2012

Review: Evil Dark by Justin Gustainis

One of Angry Robot Books' most recent releases is Evil Dark by Justin Gustainis.  Evil Dark is the second book in a series of novels starring Detective Sergeant Stan Markowski and his vampire partner Detective Karl Renfer.

This book could be subtitled Law & Order: OCU (Occult Crime Unit).  If you are a fan of police procedural stories and also enjoy horror, this is an interesting mixture of the two genres.

Publisher's Summary:

“My name’s Markowski. I carry a badge. Also a crucifix, some wooden stakes, big vial of holy water and a 9mm Beretta loaded with silver bullets.”
A series of seemingly motiveless murders of supernatural creatures points to a vigilante targeting the supe community of Scranton.
Markowski wouldn’t normally have much of a problem with that, but his daughter may be next on the killer’s list…

The main plot involves the investigation into a mystery surrounding a series of demonic snuff films.  Markowski must work with and interact both normal human criminals, cops and civilians but also Supes.  Markowski's world is populated by the full range of supernatural beings, vampires, werewolves, witches, demons, trolls, etc. It is curious to see how these different groups of supernatural beings have adapted to living in the real world.

Detective Markowski has to juggle his personal life that features a vampire daughter and a number of interesting female potential love interests, all of whom could be in danger from the villains i the story.

What Gustainis does really well is integrating the Supes into the gritty reality of Scranton.  What he failed at to this reader was in some of his characterization, particularly of the female characters.  At times it felt like the female characters where doing and saying what a teenage boy would want them to do and say and not what they should actually end up doing.  This issue was most glaring at the books end, but I'd be interested to hear if others had the same issues that I do after reading.

While I did have some issues with Gustainis' characterizations, overall I found it to be a very fun novel.  Evil Dark feels like one of those old pulp magazine stories, set your expectations accordingly and enjoy the ride.

For more on the book visit: Angry Robot Books and to purchase the book you can visit Amazon.com 

Win a membership to Rancho Obi-Wan: May the 4th Be With You


Star Wars Collectors Nirviana, Rancho Obi-Wan recently became a non-profit organization and the personal collection of Steve Sansweet has been turned into a private museum.

Earlier this year Rancho Obi-Wan announced that it was seeking members to help support the museum, these members would receive special membership packages and other cool benefits like the ability to tour the museum (with certain membership levels).

To celebrate the unofficial Star Wars holiday, May the 4th ( May the Fourth be with you), Rancho Obi-Wan is giving away four Initiate memberships (regularly price $35) to four lucky winners.

To be eligible to win all you have to do is visit their website and sign up for Rancho Obi-Wan's newsletter.


Wednesday, April 25, 2012

No one puts D'harhan in a corner: D'harhan Action Figure Campaign

Artwork by Chris Scalf

Every so often a cause arises that garners global support.  Once again one of these causes has arisen, what tragedy has occurred you may ask? Was there a hurricane? An earthquake? A pandemic? Nay, the unparalleled crime against humanity is HASBRO's failure to produce a 3.5" D'harhan action figure.

If Kyle Newman (director of Fan Boys) can have his pet cause Ben Quadrinaros be immortalized in mass produced plastic, then any character no matter how insignificant can be reach the adoring masses of Star Wars collectors.

D'harhan gets the spotlight in Jason Fry's recent Essential Guide to Warfare and now is the time for D'harhan to finally get what he truly deserves, an action figure and a digital insertion into the Original Trilogy with a special re-release.

Fry recounts on his Tumblr the reaction of the Keeper of the Holocron Leland Chee to artist Chris Scalf's D'harhan masterpiece:
"I laughed when I read Leland Chee’s reaction to Chris Scalf’s painting: “I want my D’harhan action figure.” Me too! How about it, Hasbro? " ~author Jason Fry

Lets go HASBRO and Lucasfilm, lets make it happen!

The D'harhan Action Figure Committee (DAFC) approves this message.


UPDATE:


Andy (@canadianfanboy) has built a Facebook Page and a Change.Org Petition to move our Campaign forward.  Please LIKE the Facebook page and sign the petition.  Stand and be counted! 

Sunday, April 22, 2012

DK Attack of the Authors West Coast Tour stops in La Jolla, CA


LA JOLLA, CA - One of Star Wars publishing partners, DK Books has for the past two years sponsored book tours for its authors billed as "Attack of the Authors."  The current incarnation of the event is a West Coast tour that featured Ryder Windham, Jason Fry and Daniel Wallace at various stops along the western United States.

On Sunday April 22nd, Jason Fry and members of the 501st Legion costuming group descended upon independent book seller Warwick's in La Jolla, California for a discussion and book signing sponsored by the publisher DK.

You were greeted at the door by a Stormtrooper and a Tusken Raider.  I think these two decided to team up so that no matter how accurate the blaster bolts where they could make sure to hit something.

If this event is any measure then the Star Wars franchise is in good hands as there were a few dozen kids in attendance.  These Padawans and their Jedi Master parents got to hear Jason Fry talk about his experience as a fan of Star Wars and how he got into writing his books.  He also described a few of his books, hosted a trivia contest, answered questions and sat down to sign books for those in attendance.

It was great to see the enthusiasm and knowledge of the young kids, especially a certain Boba Fett fan who thinks Fett is the answer to almost any trivia question.


It was a fun event and if you missed out on meeting Jason Fry or getting your favorite Star Wars book autographed, you should still be able to catch Jason Fry at San Diego Comic-Con 2012 later this summer.

A special thanks for DK sponsoring the event, Mr. Fry for his cordiality and Warwick's for hosting.

For more information on DK Publishing's line of Star Wars books visit their website.

To follow the Jason Fry check out his tumblr page at Jason Fry's Dorkery

Also check out a terrific interview by James Floyd for ClubJade.

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Review: Star Wars: Scourge by Jeff Grubb


Star Wars: Scourge is the first Star Wars novel from writer Jeff Grubb, who has previously worked with the Star Wars franchise in the roleplaying game under licensee Wizards of the Coast. The novel Scourge is actually based on a story first crafted for the Star Wars Roleplaying game in the supplement book, Tempest Feud.

Set in the early years of the New Republic and the New Jedi Order, when Luke Skywalker's Jedi Academy is still based on Yavin IV.  Scourge follows the adventures of Jedi Archivist Mander Zuma as he investigates the violent death of his former Padawan.

Publisher's Summary:


In the heart of crime-ridden Hutt Space, a Jedi Scholar searches for justice.

While trying to obtain the coordinates of a secret, peril-packed, but potentially beneficial trade route, a novice Jedi is killed—and the motive for his murder remains shrouded in mystery. Now his former Master, Jedi archivist Mander Zuma, wants answers, even as he fights to erase doubts about his own abilities as a Jedi. What Mander gets is immersion into the perilous underworld of the Hutts as he struggles to stay one step ahead in a game of smugglers, killers, and crime lords bent on total control.
Much of the hype around the novel has involved the fact that it was a Hutt-centric novel, and it is true, Hutt culture really explodes in Scourge, as we get bits and pieces of the Hutts all over the novel.  We are introduced to four main Hutts in this story that are all different takes on the species in Popara, Zonnos, Mika, and Vagos. Though the Hutt that intrigued me the most only made a brief appearance, Parella the Hunter is a Hutt that likes to get his/her hands dirty.

The rest of the cast of characters is interesting as well, especially relevant after their inclusion in Star Wars: The Clone Wars are the Pantorans.  In this novel we have Toro Irana who is the Pantoran Jedi Knight and former student of Zuma.  We also get spacer, Reen Irana who is Toro's sister.  But the fun doesn't stop there as we get an species that may be the most regularly used of EU species in the Bothan Eddey Be'ray.  We also got the inclusion of a Klatooinian in the one-eyed female Koax, readers of the Fate of the Jedi series will be very familiar with the species after there repeated use in that series, however the views of Koax are diametrically opposed to those presented in FotJ and are a nice contrast in the greater continuity.

Scourge also features brief appearances by other species associated with service to the Hutts, the most prominent of which was the Rodians, but most interesting was the detailed description of the Nikto and the subspecies of Nikto.

By far my favorite inclusion in the novel however was Grubb's nod to Brian Daley with the inclusion of the Corporate Sector Authority.  Lt. Commander Angela Krin of the CSA is the officer in charge of the blockade of the plague world of Endregaad and features prominently in the events of Scourge.  If you haven't read about Han and Chewie's adventures in the Corporate Sector then check out Brian Daley's Han Solo Trilogy.

The events of the book focus on three main mysteries. What caused a Jedi Knight to essentially go mad and end up dead? What is the source of the plague being quarantined on Endregaad? What is the source of this new form of Spice known as Tempest?

Grubb does a very good job weaving these mysteries together and keeping all of the various story lines interesting.  I was a bit let down because I could guess the final reveal mid-way through the novel, but it still played out in an interesting and entertaining way.

Popara serves a Don Corleone like role in this novel in relation to the issue of Spice.  I really enjoyed the expansion on Spice.  We get lots of detail about Hard Spice, medicinal spice, and normal recreational level spice.  The concept that the Hutts would turn to Spice as medicine instead of the more commonly used Bacta is interesting and adds depth to their culture.
Nar Shaddaa
The novel also features the prominent return of one of my favorite moons in Nar Shaddaa.  The Smuggler's Moon has been criminally underutilized in the modern EU.  It is one of the seedier and more interesting locations.  We also get a lot of other interesting Hutt locations.  The exploration of addiction, servitude and corruption are ripe ground for more storytelling and serve as but a glimpse of what we could enjoy in the in development Star Wars: Underworld TV series.

At 282 pages Scourge is a lean novel even though it deals with rather corpulent characters and plot.  There is good and bad that comes with these tight stand-alone novels.  I don't think Grubb wasted much page space in this novel, on the other hand the characters of Reen and Eddey didn't get much in the way of back-story.  I do think Grubb did an excellent job in quickly defining characters in the readers mind without having to delve into tons of back story.  The main character Mander Zuma got tons of development and about midway through the book also made a rather strong transition into a more traditional Jedi Knight and less of the scholarly Archivist he was in the beginning of this novel.  The ages and timeline may not work, but in my own personal "canon" Mander Zuma is Jocasta Nu's son, not sure exactly why but the idea makes smile uncontrollably.  It is interesting that the death of his student and the subsequent adventure that followed really change Zuma as a Jedi.  While Zuma most likely went back to his duties in the Jedi Archives, I feel like he went back there a more confident and more fully self-actualized Jedi.

Stylistically there was a semi-annoying habit to repeat information, instead of simply referring to the Jedi as "Jedi" they were referred to as members of the "New Jedi Order" repeatedly, and lest we forget Koax's appearance she was constantly referred to as "the one-eyed Klatoonian."  These descriptions were useful but they didn't really need to be repeated as often as they were throughout the novel.

While the events of Scourge may not have a profound effect on the greater continuity, as a stand alone story it was a rip roaring good time.  If the transition from the massive multi-book series format to more short series and stand alone novels produces more novels like Scourge then we are in for a wild Bantam era like ride through the Expanded Universe.

Star Wars: Scourge by Jeff Grubb is available in paperback and ebook formats on April 24. 


Lightsaber Rattling's Star Wars: Scourge Giveaway Winners!


Thanks to all the Star Wars Expanded Universe fans who participated in our SCOURGE giveaway.  Entries closed today (Thursday 4/19) at 9:00 a.m. PST.

We had 16 Facebook Entries, 11 Twitter entries and 26 website entries.

Winners were randomly chosen from entries using Random.org.  I have included their comments as to their favorite Hutts.

Facebook Winner: Troy S. 
Who said, "Jabba for sure."

Twitter Winner: @crazedinjun
Who said, "#scourge beldorion because lets face it...dark jedi+hutt=bad@$$!!"

Website Winner: Lindsay 
Who said, "Does Pizza the Hutt count? Because he was awesome, and I like him because he's made of pizza--who doesn't like pizza? Otherwise I like Jabba because he had a pretty cool death scene. Grappa the Hutt from the Crimson Empire novels is cool too because his name happens to be a type of Italian grape-based brandy that is good!"

Winners will be announced on all three locations and contacted.  As soon as all three winners reply to me with your mailing addresses, I will forward the information to Del Rey who will be providing the books to you.

Thanks again for participating and as the Hutts would say, "Your work was satisfactory."

If you didn't win you can still pick up Scourge on Tuesday for a MSRP of $7.99 in mass market paperback format.

Giveaway! Win a copy of Star Wars: Scourge by Jeff Grubb

*4/19/12 Update* Contest is now closed, thank you to all who entered. 


LightsaberRattling.com is pleased to announce a giveaway contest for the new Star Wars novel by author Jeff Grubb, Star Wars:  Scourge.

About the novel:


In the heart of crime-ridden Hutt Space, a Jedi Scholar searches for justice. While trying to obtain the coordinates of a secret, peril-packed, but potentially beneficial trade route, a novice Jedi is killed—and the motive for his murder remains shrouded in mystery. Now his former Master, Jedi archivist Mander Zuma, wants answers, even as he fights to erase doubts about his own abilities as a Jedi. What Mander gets is immersion into the perilous underworld of the Hutts as he struggles to stay one step ahead in a game of smugglers, killers, and crime lords bent on total control.


We have three copies of the novel to give away courtesy of Del Rey.  So we are going to give you three chances to win.

How to Enter:

1) Open to US residents only (sorry folks)

2) Three ways to enter, on this website, on Facebook and on Twitter.

     I) To enter on this website simply leave a comment on this post and tell me your favorite Hutt and why.
     II) To enter via Twitter, tweet me at @PeteMorrisonLR with the hashtag #Scourge, tell me your favorite      
     Hutt and why.
     III) to enter on Facebook visit our page ( http://www.facebook.com/LightsaberRattling ), Like us, and
     Comment on our Giveaway post telling us your favorite Hutt and why.

3) Contest will be open until Thursday morning 9am PST.  Winners will be randomly selected on Thursday and announced in all three forums.

4) If you enter by commenting on the this blog post, please provide an email that I can contact you with.  Once I make contact with all three winners and get your mailing addresses, we will get the books out to you as soon as we can.

Thanks and May the Force Be With You.




Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Review: The Hammer and the Blade by Paul S. Kemp


“You see?” the priest said, kicking one of the pieces of the creature across the sand-dusted floor. “Moments, Nix.  Life and death are experienced in the moments.” 

The Hammer and the Blade is written by author Paul S. Kemp, this introductory tale of the adventurers of ill gotten plunder, Egil of Ebenor and Nix the Quick is a fast paced ride full of disturbing detail, gluttonous gore and fantastic fun.

Kemp has a knack for finding those grey areas in life, expanding and inhabiting them in his novels.  His characters aren't your squeaky clean heroes or your mustache twirling villains.  Both the protagonists and antagonists are hodgepodges of strengths and flaws, emotions such as fear and anger drive their actions, serving as catalysts for their choices and revealing their character.

Egil and Nix may not be your traditional heroes, but these two men, as close as brothers serve to check the excesses of the other's personality, independently it would be easy to imagine both falling into a debased existence of little utility to anyone.  The banter between this duo keeps the novel from veering off into complete darkness and helps the reader piece together the personalities of Egil and Nix.

The Hammer and the Blade is full of sorcerers, demons, and beasts both human and non-human.  A caution to younger readers or parents looking to pick up the book, there is some content in the novel of a more mature nature, and those sensitive to sexual violence should be prepared going in for some rather dastardly acts.

As with any of Kemp's books, the main characters are put through the wringer both physically and emotionally and it is a little surprising that they make it past the first few chapters.  One of the things that I also enjoyed in this novel was the way some of the supporting characters, whom where nominally villains interacted with Egil and Nix.  The ending was both fulfilling and disturbing and I hope we get to revisit the adventures of Egil and Nix in the near future.

The Hammer and the BIade made me reflect upon the issue of morality.   In recent years thanks to my wife, I have found my way to a faith that I had not previously experienced but had long yearned for.  Raised as the only child of divorced parents, my father a lapsed Catholic and mother a lapsed Presbyterian, I was not raised in faith.  I have long enjoyed reading and learning, so I have studied a variety of faiths, belief systems and moral codes.  Yet for whatever reason, I had never been able to get past the intellectual analysis of those beliefs to the place where faith resides.  This left me with an interesting quandary, how does one develop one's moral compass without the obvious touchstones of religion?  Without a doubt, much of what we learn as right and wrong is passed down from our parents, but which of these lessons do we accept and internalize and which of these do we reject?  How do we adjust our moral compass when confronted with novel situations and problems?

There may not be any simple answer to these questions, the human condition is complex and ever changing.  Each day we are presented with moments of choice, some trivial and some momentous.  It is in these choices that we define who we are and the path that we choose to take.  In any moment, each one of us can be a hero or a villain.

It is in these moments of choice that Kemp's characterization shines and that his characters define themselves.  You may have a character like Egil who is the sole priest of the Momentary God, while he has belief system it is one that he has crafted himself, or in Nix you have a man who has no problem robbing a grave, but rises up to defend the honor of a prostitute.  Perhaps a real hero isn't the one that makes the noble choice, but one that has the strength to make an evil choice to spare another and the ability to live with that choice.  That every choice has consequences is a lesson well learned by both Egil and Nix, in The Hammer and the Blade.

To read an excerpt of The Hammer and the Blade visit Paul S. Kemp's website and for more information on the book, visit the publisher Angry Robot Books.

The Hammer and the Blade will be released on June 26, 2012 and you can pre-order it now on Amazon.com.


Upcoming Exclusive Short Fiction in Star Wars Insider Magazine

Insider #133

Del Rey Star Wars Editor Erich Shoeneweiss posted a sneak preview of what readers of Star Wars Insider Magazine have in the near future.


Insider #134

Star Wars Insider Magazine short story update. Del Rey and Insider are working hard to feature some great short stories in the magazine for your reading pleasure this summer. Here's what you can expect: 
-Issue #132 (on sale now) features Jason Fry's short story "The Guns of Kelrodo-Ai" and stars the "Rebel Destroyer" Shea Hublin (with some beautiful art by John VanFleet!).  
-Issue #133 will include the tale of Parella the Hutt, hunter extraordinaire, from Star Wars: Scourge author Jeff Grubb. 
-Issue #134 is your first taste of post Fate of the Jedi action as author Christie Golden brings you a story starring Jaina and Jag. 
-Issue #135 sees Karen Miller return to the SWEU with an exciting story starring Myri Antilles.

Insider #135


Thursday, April 12, 2012

Myri Antilles short story by Karen Miller in Star Wars Insider #135

Young Myri Antilles

Fans of the Antilles clan and of the X-Wing novels will be getting a little more fun inside the pages of Star Wars Insider #135 as author Karen Miller (Wild Space, Clone Wars Gambit: Stealth & Siege) will be delivering a story






The intelligence agent and card-karkarodon daughter of Wedge and Iella Antilles takes center stage in this piece of original fiction.  A member of Wraith Squadron, Myri Antilles should also feature prominently in the upcoming X-Wing: Mercy Kill novel by Aaron Allston.

I can't wait until Donoslane Excursions brings me a copy of SW Insider #135 so I can check out this new story.

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

A Fundraiser by Author Jim C. Hines for Sexual Assault Awareness Month


In a departure from our usual silliness, let me bring to your attention a real cool giveaway being organized by fantasy author Jim C. Hines to benefit Rape Crisis Centers.

The sad fact of our society and the world is that rape is far to common of a crime.  If you haven't been a victim of this crime or known someone who has been a victim then it may be hard to understand just how profound an impact this horrific crime can have on some-one's life.  Rape is a violation that victims will never be able to forget and must live with the rest of their lives.  As horrible is the crime is however, it is important to remember that there is hope and healing is possible.  To the parents out there, please raise your boys right, to the men out there please act like real men, protect and honor women do not hurt them.

April is sexual assault awareness month, so please take time, donate if you can or help in one of the many ways large or small that you can to help reduce sexual assaults in this country and to help victims of sexual assault find healing and justice.

Below is the complete post regarding the giveaway hosted by author Jim C. Hines from his website.


"Fundraising for Rape Crisis Centers 
April is sexual assault awareness month. 
This is something that’s very important to me. I’ve written a fair amount about rape over the years, but a lot of it comes down to:
Rape is a horribly common crime. 
As a society, we tend to punish victims while excusing or defending many perpetrators of rape
While the individual rapist is always responsible for his (or her) crimes, there are cultural/societal reasons rape continues at such a frequent rate
Survivors of rape deserve support, no matter what. 
For several years, I’ve run a fundraiser and given out signed books to encourage people to donate to rape crisis centers. In the past, I’ve given out autographed books to people who donate, but this year I wanted to go even bigger. So I’ve talked to some author friends, and the net result is that you could win a lot more books this year, depending on how much money we raise. 
I’ll post a running total here throughout the month. The more money we raise, the more prizes I’ll throw into the pot. Right now, we’re covered through $3000 with a total of seventeen incredible, autographed books. If we raise more money, then I’ll just have to round up more authors and prizes. 
TOTAL RAISED AS OF 4/11/2012: $473 
The prizes so far and the amount we have to raise to add them to the giveaway are as follows:
$0 - An ARC of Libriomancer, by Jim C. Hines
$250 - Blue Magic, by Alyx Dellamonica
$500 - The Unexpected Miss Bennet, by Patrice Sarath
$750 - A book from Anton Strout (an ARC of Alchemystic or, if the ARCs aren’t ready, a copy of Dead to Me)
$1000 - Of Blood and Honey & And Blue Skies from Pain by Stina Leicht
$1250 - A Magic of Twilight (hardcover) from S.L. Farrell
$1500 - Range of Ghosts, by Elizabeth Bear
$1750 - The Cloud Roads and The Serpent Sea, by Martha Wells
$2000 - Hardcovers of Twilight’s Dawn and Bridge of Dreams, by Anne Bishop
$2500 - With Fate Conspire & an ARC of A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan
$3000 - The Vineart Trilogy (hardcover) by Laura Anne Gilman
$3500 - ??? 
Thanks so much to all of the authors who offered books! 
The rules:
You can donate to your local rape crisis center, or if you prefer, to an organization like RAINN. Most places will take donations online.
To enter, send an e-mail to endrape@jimchines.com.
Let me know how much you donated so I can update the total. You can donate any amount, from $1 to $10,000 or more.
If you donate at least $50, please include some sort of documentation (e-mail or electronic receipt, something like that).
Make sure to include your mailing address!
Now, Michigan law prohibits unlicensed raffles, meaning I can’t require donations to enter. Therefore, if you can’t donate anything at all, you can still e-mail me to enter the giveaway. But for those who can, please try to give at least a few bucks. 
Winners will be selected at random on May 1. If there are particular books you’d like, please mention them in your e-mail, in order of priority. But I can’t guarantee anything. I’m planning to pick winners and prizes like so: 
Randomly draw winner #1. If they asked for a specific book, that’s what they win. Otherwise, they get the first one on the list (Libriomancer). 
Randomly draw winner #2. If they asked for a specific book and it’s available, that’s what they win. Otherwise, they get whatever’s next on the list.
And so on and so forth, until all the prizes have homes.
I hope that’s clear. If anyone has questions, please let me know.
Finally, I’d very much appreciate it if people could spread the word about the fundraiser and giveaway."
LINK to Jim C. Hines' Website

For more information on rape victim resources and sexual assault please visit the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (NSVRC) and the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN).

Sunday, April 8, 2012

What is Clone Wars Writer Brent Friedman up to for Lucasfilm?


Fans of Star Wars: The Clone Wars may not necessarily recognize the name of Brent Friedman, he was the writer for the Season Four Obi-Wan undercover arc. Episodes 4.07-4.10: Deception, Friends and Enemies, The Box, and Crisis on Naboo.  Mr. Friedman is currently a Staff Writer on TCW and recently flew into San Francisco on what was presumably a Star Wars related secret mission.  Let the speculation begin.

Recently on March 25 Mr. Friedman mentioned on his Twitter feed (@BFree63) that:

"Just flew into San Fran on classified business. I'd tell you my secret assignment but then I'd have to kill you..."
We can assume that he was visiting the Presidio (Lucasfilm's SF headquarters) because Starwars.com Editor/Writer Bonnie Burton (@bonniegrrl) tweeted:

"@BFree63: Nice seeing ya in person today! You're much taller than your Twitter avatar!"
Tricia Barr (@fangirlcantina) from Fan Girl Cantina commented on Mr. Friedman's "classified business" in the flowing exchange:

"@BFree63 I'm beginning to see a pattern here...you're such a tease. Enjoy San Fran, such a beautiful city."

"@fangirlcantina Thanks! But guilty as charged. Soon enough, tho, this secret mission will come to light and there will be much rejoicing."

"@fangirlcantina @PeteMorrisonLR There shall be Yub Nub when all is revealed."



It appears that Mr. Friedman was only in SF for a few days as he tweeted this on the 27th:
"Dear SanFran, hate to meet and run but I'll be back soon. Thank you for tasty sushi, entrepreneurial homeless and Starbucks on every corner."
I promise there is a point to this and not some Batman-esque cyber-stalking.

It doesn't sound like this was the typical TCW writers conference that we have seen take place at Skywalker Ranch.  While it could be a TCW related meeting, perhaps it is something else entirely.  Could it be a consultation for a new TCW spin-off cartoon?  Perhaps Mr. Friedman is being brought aboard to work on the Live Action Series, or perhaps it is something to do with a video game.

Mr. Friedman has a diverse creative background as exemplified by his LinkIn public profile.
Current: 
Co-Founder at Rainspark Labs
Creative Consultant at 343 Studios
Staff Writer at Lucasfilm
Writer/producer at Schizophrenic Thinking, Inc.
Past:
VP of Technology at Mass Hysteria
Owner at Electric Farm Entertainment
Creative Consultant at Zynga
Creative Consultant at ngmoco:)
Creative Consultant at Sony Computer Entertainment America LLC
Creative Consultant at Electronic Arts Los Angeles
 I wonder if Lucasfilm may be developing a web based series of Star Wars storytelling.  I suppose we will have to wait to find out and your guess is as good as mine to what this will end up being.

Happy Easter from LR

                     HAPPY EASTER

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Google's Project Glass: Delivering a Heads-Up-Display even an ARC would be jealous of


Star Wars has always been at the forefront of tech.  Not only did the datapad exist many years before Steve Jobs got the bright idea for the iPad, but now Google is set to produce a glasses based heads-up-display that seems very much like the device described in the Star Wars Expanded Universe and used from all your favorite helmet wearing heroes and villains.  Stormtroopers, Clone Troopers, Clone Commandos, Mandalorians and Bounty Hunters alike use this technology in the galaxy far, far away.




The New York Times first wrote about the glasses in late February, describing an augmented-reality display that would sit over the eye and run on the Android mobile platform.
A video released by Google on Wednesday, which can be seen below, showed potential uses for Project Glass. A man wanders around the streets of New York City, communicating with friends, seeing maps and information, and snapping pictures. It concludes with him video-chatting with a girlfriend as the sun sets over the city. All of this is seen through the augmented-reality glasses.

One of my favorite book series is the Republic/Imperial Commando series written by Karen Traviss.  On of the key aspects of these military focused books is the "kit" that the Advance Recon Commandos are outfitted in and their use of the HUDs.

Some of the more distractable among the populace my find what Google is working on to be sensory overload, but I cannot wait to get my eyeballs on the new Google Project Glass display. I for one am ready for augmented reality.

SOURCE: NY Times Bits Blog