Tokidoki Vader Project

Love Vader, love Tokidoki. Helllloooo? More info on the Tokidoki site.

Disney and Star Wars Cosplay at ConnectiCon 2009

Most of the cosplay at ConnectiCon is either anime or gaming characters, but since it’s a multi-genre conference, all sorts of characters show up! Here are a few Disney costumes I spotted last weekend at the Hartford Convention Center (and captured with my sub-optimal camera phone, unfortunately).

Alice in Wonderland, with the Cheshire Cat

Tink and Peter, woot!

The 501st Legion Connecticut Garrison! I was lucky enough to interview a representative; watch for this on the Those Darn Cats podcast in coming weeks.

Carl Fredricksen, from Pixar's Up. After I took his picture, he gave me a balloon. ❤

The ultimate nerd showdown!!!

Prince Ali, fabulous he

Kiki, from Kiki's Delivery Service (an ever-popular costume for sure)

Maleficent, evil incarnate, seems strangely out of place against the backdrop of Convention Center striped carpet

Darth Romeo

From ROFLRAZZI, which I am now tempted to link to absolutely every day!

My Star Wars Obsession Continues

It’s 57 days until I get on that flight to MCO for Star Wars Weekend! Not that I’m counting or anything. Not like I’m planning every detail in my mind already. But y’know, all kindza cool Star Wars stuff has been catching my eye on the interwebs lately.

• I first saw Hardware Wars in 1977 on Bob Wilkins’ Creature Features, on KTVU. I was a devoted fan of the show, which perfectly suited my twisted pre-teen aesthetic. Hey Lisa, maybe you remember the show? It was the same show that Lucas was interviewed on shortly before Star Wars premiered. Part 1 is above; click here for Part 2. Many thanks to HardwareWars for putting it on YouTube! (And on a nostalgic tangent here . . . hey, whaddya know . . . Bob Wilkins now has a blog, which looks like good reading for horror fans.)
• Jake Lloyd has been confirmed as a guest for Weekend 4, June 27-29, says the StudiosCentral Star Wars Weekends site. Not that this affects me any . . . I’m going for Weekend 3, and I’m not a Jake Lloyd fan anyway.
• The Disney.com Star Wars Weekends page now has more information about the event, including a list of events (though no schedule/agenda info yet). I for one am looking forward to the “Behind the Force” feature about the Clone Wars series, as well as helping my youngling prepare for the Padawan Mind Challenge. (Hat tip: The Disney Traveler.)
• Dark Roasted Blend has provocative political art mashing up Darth Vader with the Statue of Liberty, plus another one of George Bush with a stormtrooper. You gotta scroll down the page to see them both.
• Also from Dark Roasted Blend, a super-awesome Darth Vader/Death Star Transformer (this time it’s just the second image on the page).
• Muppet Newsflash has a picture of the Muppets/Star Wars mash-up figurines that’ll be available in the Disney theme parks starting in July of 2008. Curses, why aren’t these available during Star Wars Weekends?!?
• Pink Tentacle has a video of a cute little trash can robot named Push-kun, who seems to be spiritual kin of both R2D2 and Push the Talking Trash Can. And y’know, I gotta say . . . if you’re interested in new technologies or Japanese pop culture, you gotta subscribe to Pink Tentacle.
• Wondering about some of R2D2s other relatives? There’s a cool “celebrity robots” t-shirt on the ChopShopStore. (Hat tip: BoingBoing.)
• Legos fans will probably enjoy the Lego Millennium Falcon Time-Lapse movie available at BoingBoingTV.
• I don’t remember if I actually saw this Darth Vader hot air balloon when I visited the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in 2004, but I sure hope I did. (Hey, it was early in the morning, and apparently I hadn’t had enough coffee.) (And by the way, have you ever noticed how many “Leia in chain mail bikini” pictures turn up on Flickr under the Star Wars tag?)

More Star Wars Spuds

From hyku‘s Flickr photostream. Hat tip: John Frost’s RSS shared items.

And, because y’all know I am obsessed with counting down to my very first trip to Star Wars Weekends, here’s a lolpups I just gotta share:

 

Disney and Star Wars Tchotke Round-Up

• New Disney and Muppets Star Wars mash-up toys can be seen at Endor Express. (Hat tip: The Disney Blog.)
• Incredible hand-made bronze cast Bobba Fett Pez dispenser on Flickr. Special bonus points for re-purposing the carcass from a Lion King dispenser! (Hat tip: BoingBoing.)
• Super-cute Star Wars Amigurumi dolls at Geek Central Station! And a great interview with the crafty chick who made them at the Star Wars blog. (Hat tip: BoingBoing, again. And I gotta go on a tangent . . . the Star Wars blog had a banner ad saying: “Chewbacca, the original wingman.” How awesome is that?)
• And, well, it’s kinda too big to call it a tchotke, but I found a picture of this awesome Darth Vader hot air balloon on Flickr, taken at the Albuquerque balloon fiesta, which I must say is a fine place to spend a morning if you ever get the chance.

And on top of everything else, I have been made aware that Donald Duck will be dressing as a stormtrooper this year for Star Wars Weekends! So, is it time to start packing for my trip yet? Pleeeeeeze?!???

Favorite Disney/MGM Studios Memories

My Jentasmic! column today recounts some of my favorite memories of the now-extinct Disney/MGM Studios park. Sure, Disney’s Hollywood Studios is virtually indistinguishable from MGM, but I needed a hook for the column, and will take any excuse to reminisce. Here’s one of the memories, just to try to encourage you to read the rest over at StudiosCentral:

4) Stars and Motor Cars Parade, October 2006. Yeah, I know, I know. It’s nobody’s favorite parade. But see, here’s the thing. I’m quite the Star Wars fan, and my son’s following in my footsteps (he easily whups me at Star Wars Trivial Pursuit these days). And most of our WDW trips have been during the holidays, when the Star Wars characters take a break from their parade duties (what, maybe they’re up at the North Pole helping the elves pack gifts?). But that October we were lucky enough to make a special trip, so we finally got to see R2 cruise down Hollywood Boulevard. I tried to get a decent video for YouTube, but the audio track was too full of my shouting, “Oh my God, it’s Artoo! It’s Chewie! Hey, Artoo, come over here!”

Oh, and by the way, if you’re still looking for a new tattoo for Star Wars Weekends, Hello Kitty Hell has a little fodder for you:

Star Wars Fun from Dark Roasted Blend

I never, ever, ever get tired of this stuff. And on a snow day like today, I’m very happy that Dark Roasted Blend has two full pages to enjoy!

 

Darth Vader TV Joystick Game

 

Never one to be behind the times, Broke Hoedown Jr is now the proud owner of a Darth Vader TV joystick game, as a companion piece to the Millenium Falcon game he picked up a week or so ago.

Star Wars Motivational Poster

 From GreebleMonkey, sent to me this morning by my bff Lisa.