Week Long Facts Blog #1
Sat August, 22-Friday August 29
•Wampas are aggressive monster-like animals indigenous to Hoth.
•Luke returned to Hoth 9 years later and found the Wampa who's arm he severed to still be alive. He killed it that time around.
•Boss Nass was the leader of the Gungans on Naboo.
•The Wampa whose arm Luke cut off was named Willy. Willy Wampa.
•Hamo Blastwell was a Rebel fighter pilot who served in Red Squadron on the Mon Calamari Star Cruiser Independence in the Galactic Civil War.
• The Independence was a Star Cruiser that acted as the Rebel Alliance Fleet's flagship in the Galactic Civil War.
•Admiral Ackbar was the Commander of the Independence.
•Theed is the capital of the planet Naboo.
•Mezhan Kwaad, known for conducting experiments upon the Jedi apprentice Tahiri Veila was a Yuuzhan Vong shaper and the master of Nen Yim.
•The first Death Star held 25,984 active Stormtroopers at any given time.
•Alderaan's population was approximately 2 billion people.
•Nemodians were the toad-like leaders in charge of the Trade Federation.
•Mara Jade began her devious career as a Hand for the Emperor.
•Although severely aged by his practices, Darth Sidioius was quite the swordsman.
•Padme Amidala's last name was Naberrie.
•Polis Massa, the birthplace of Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa.
•Queen Jamilla became the monarch of Naboo after Amidala left to be a senator.
•Kouhuns were vermiform arthropods with segmented bodies, roughly thirty centimeters long.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Star Wars Facts Survey
Here is a short survey that I want you to fill out honestly. Feel free to be as elaborate or succinct as possible in your answers. I WILL read all of these. I may NOT be able to respond due to overwhelming response but I will see your opinions. Just copy it and paste it into an email and send it to:
STARWARSFACTS (AT) GMAIL (DOT) COM
1. What Is Your Age Range (optional)
11 or younger
12-16
17-19
20-24
25-30
30-40
41-50
50+
2. Are You (optional)
Male
Female
3. What is your first memory of Star Wars?
4. Who is your favorite character? Why?
5. What has been your favorite thing about @swfacts?
6. What do you think needs to be done to make @swfacts better?
7. Do you read the blogs? If so, do you enjoy them?
8. What kinds of things would you like to see in the future?
Bonus Question:
IV-VI, I-III or I-III, IV-VI?
Always feel free to @reply me if you have any questions or comments. On Twitter I generally respond. So don't hesitate to interact. That's why I do this!
May the Force be with you!
STARWARSFACTS (AT) GMAIL (DOT) COM
1. What Is Your Age Range (optional)
11 or younger
12-16
17-19
20-24
25-30
30-40
41-50
50+
2. Are You (optional)
Male
Female
3. What is your first memory of Star Wars?
4. Who is your favorite character? Why?
5. What has been your favorite thing about @swfacts?
6. What do you think needs to be done to make @swfacts better?
7. Do you read the blogs? If so, do you enjoy them?
8. What kinds of things would you like to see in the future?
Bonus Question:
IV-VI, I-III or I-III, IV-VI?
Always feel free to @reply me if you have any questions or comments. On Twitter I generally respond. So don't hesitate to interact. That's why I do this!
May the Force be with you!
Friday, August 21, 2009
On Canon
Disclaimer: First let me say that even though I obviosly take a side in this article, I do not, however, disagree with the other side. Make sure you know that I am clear in that intention.
Recently, I @swfacts, @onewiththeforce, became good friends with a few people who, like me, LOVE Star Wars. These people spend a lot of time role playing characters many of them grew up watching, and some we have all come to love over the last few years. Wanting to do more than just post facts related to these characters and the Galaxy they inhabited, I made a new Twitter account and started a character of my own, @thecadbane. Cad Bane is a character who is new to the Star Wars universe and has very little known about his personal history. Seeing this as an intriguing opportunity to role play an unknown character who possesses characteristics I find interesting, I started to develop on the already established mannerisms and story surrounding him.
It has, however come to my attention that some involved in the community believe that canon is being hurt by the portrayals of the characters. I am one for sticking to canon when the story is being told for the purposes of the further development of the ever-growing Galaxy. But in this instance I don't believe it wrong to give a character a new personality quirk, or a new catch phrase.
A place like Twitter is a sort of safe-haven, an area where we, as fans, can gather and develop existing and new characters as we would enjoy, seeing them if they were our own. It is like a fan-run/designed website that deals in fanfiction. Maybe you didn't like Edward dating Bella. Perhaps you thought it served the story better to have her stay with Jacob. Changing that aspect in the evironment we work in is COMPLETELY safe because at the end of the day it doesn't matter at all to the canon of the Galaxy as long as we are happy with the produced creativity.
I agree with wanting to keep canon, canon, but Twitter, as with fansites of fanfiction, has become an outlet for us to become someone who, in real life, we may not be able to become. The stories we create there stay there and have no effect whatsoever on the stories we all enjoy reading and viewing outside of this medium of communication.
Link to the story on Canon:
http://tinyurl.com/kwvxu2
Recently, I @swfacts, @onewiththeforce, became good friends with a few people who, like me, LOVE Star Wars. These people spend a lot of time role playing characters many of them grew up watching, and some we have all come to love over the last few years. Wanting to do more than just post facts related to these characters and the Galaxy they inhabited, I made a new Twitter account and started a character of my own, @thecadbane. Cad Bane is a character who is new to the Star Wars universe and has very little known about his personal history. Seeing this as an intriguing opportunity to role play an unknown character who possesses characteristics I find interesting, I started to develop on the already established mannerisms and story surrounding him.
It has, however come to my attention that some involved in the community believe that canon is being hurt by the portrayals of the characters. I am one for sticking to canon when the story is being told for the purposes of the further development of the ever-growing Galaxy. But in this instance I don't believe it wrong to give a character a new personality quirk, or a new catch phrase.
A place like Twitter is a sort of safe-haven, an area where we, as fans, can gather and develop existing and new characters as we would enjoy, seeing them if they were our own. It is like a fan-run/designed website that deals in fanfiction. Maybe you didn't like Edward dating Bella. Perhaps you thought it served the story better to have her stay with Jacob. Changing that aspect in the evironment we work in is COMPLETELY safe because at the end of the day it doesn't matter at all to the canon of the Galaxy as long as we are happy with the produced creativity.
I agree with wanting to keep canon, canon, but Twitter, as with fansites of fanfiction, has become an outlet for us to become someone who, in real life, we may not be able to become. The stories we create there stay there and have no effect whatsoever on the stories we all enjoy reading and viewing outside of this medium of communication.
Link to the story on Canon:
http://tinyurl.com/kwvxu2
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Star Wars: A Concept of Time
I love good questions. Something that makes me think for a few minutes before I realize what the correct answer should be.
@apostropheS asked me on twitter today, "what were the years called during the time of BBY?"
If we look at the concept of time in our own world, and the fictional worlds we all come to love, we can see many similarities in the way time is calculated. All great eras of time are divided by events, usually singular, in which something drastic happens. In our world we all seem to come together and agree, at least until the last few years where science has decided otherwise, that the birth and subsequent death of Jesus Christ was such an event. The era wasn't called BC until many years after his death, but we divided the time before him and after him as BC and AD.
Another such example occurs four separate times the world of Middle-Earth where "The Lord of the Rings" takes place. When Frodo dropped the Ring of Power into Mount Doom and Sauron was finally defeated, his tyrannical reign over Middle-Earth ended and the people there saw the end of an Age dominated by fear of him. Thus the Third Age ended and the Fourth began.
In Star Wars it works similarly. The people of the Galaxy have, for the most of its history, been involved in a Republic form of government. The Old Republic was dominated by a war with the Sith, but they never destroyed the Republic in the sense that Palpatine did when he overthrew it and began the Imperial reign. All of the sudden the people of the Galaxy found themselves outcasted if they did not accept Palpatine's total control. Some did, some didn't. Those who didn't became the Rebels and formed their Alliance. For nearly 18 years they survived under the worst threat the Galaxy had ever known. Therefore when the foundations of the Empire were rocked by the destruction of Death Star I at the Battle of Yavin, the tide of battle began to turn and the Rebels knew that they finally had a chance.
Before the Battle of Yavin (BBY) symbolizes all of the events that occured from the beginning of recorded history with the Rakata and continues until Luke Skywalker's fateful flight down the narrow tunnel that allowed for the destruction of the Death Star I. After the events of that day, empowered by their victory in battle, the people of the Alliance finally knew that they had a chance, and when Palpatine fell for good they refered to everything afterward as After the Battle of Yavin (ABY). So when you read that something happened 4 ABY it simply means that it occured four years after the destruction of the Death Star I. The same goes with BBY, an event happening 5,000 BBY was 5,000 years before Luke took his shot.
Now time itself was divided into eras as well. They all follow the rules of BBY and ABY.
Old Republic (25,000 - 1,000 BBY)
Rise of the Empire (1,000 - 0 BBY)
Rebellion (0 - 5 ABY)
New Republic (5 - 25 ABY)
New Jedi Order (25 - 40 ABY)
Legacy (40 ABY -)
Thanks for the question! It was definitely one of the better ones that have been asked. If you want to read more on the actual eras and the major works that they are made up of check out:
http://cuthut.com/BhM
And don't forget to follow @swfacts for all the things the Empire doesn't want you to know!
@apostropheS asked me on twitter today, "what were the years called during the time of BBY?"
If we look at the concept of time in our own world, and the fictional worlds we all come to love, we can see many similarities in the way time is calculated. All great eras of time are divided by events, usually singular, in which something drastic happens. In our world we all seem to come together and agree, at least until the last few years where science has decided otherwise, that the birth and subsequent death of Jesus Christ was such an event. The era wasn't called BC until many years after his death, but we divided the time before him and after him as BC and AD.
Another such example occurs four separate times the world of Middle-Earth where "The Lord of the Rings" takes place. When Frodo dropped the Ring of Power into Mount Doom and Sauron was finally defeated, his tyrannical reign over Middle-Earth ended and the people there saw the end of an Age dominated by fear of him. Thus the Third Age ended and the Fourth began.
In Star Wars it works similarly. The people of the Galaxy have, for the most of its history, been involved in a Republic form of government. The Old Republic was dominated by a war with the Sith, but they never destroyed the Republic in the sense that Palpatine did when he overthrew it and began the Imperial reign. All of the sudden the people of the Galaxy found themselves outcasted if they did not accept Palpatine's total control. Some did, some didn't. Those who didn't became the Rebels and formed their Alliance. For nearly 18 years they survived under the worst threat the Galaxy had ever known. Therefore when the foundations of the Empire were rocked by the destruction of Death Star I at the Battle of Yavin, the tide of battle began to turn and the Rebels knew that they finally had a chance.
Before the Battle of Yavin (BBY) symbolizes all of the events that occured from the beginning of recorded history with the Rakata and continues until Luke Skywalker's fateful flight down the narrow tunnel that allowed for the destruction of the Death Star I. After the events of that day, empowered by their victory in battle, the people of the Alliance finally knew that they had a chance, and when Palpatine fell for good they refered to everything afterward as After the Battle of Yavin (ABY). So when you read that something happened 4 ABY it simply means that it occured four years after the destruction of the Death Star I. The same goes with BBY, an event happening 5,000 BBY was 5,000 years before Luke took his shot.
Now time itself was divided into eras as well. They all follow the rules of BBY and ABY.
Old Republic (25,000 - 1,000 BBY)
Rise of the Empire (1,000 - 0 BBY)
Rebellion (0 - 5 ABY)
New Republic (5 - 25 ABY)
New Jedi Order (25 - 40 ABY)
Legacy (40 ABY -)
Thanks for the question! It was definitely one of the better ones that have been asked. If you want to read more on the actual eras and the major works that they are made up of check out:
http://cuthut.com/BhM
And don't forget to follow @swfacts for all the things the Empire doesn't want you to know!
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