news

 

 

friday 31st august 2007  
>>>neil baker brings us his third and final celebration europe report - day 3.  from the vader project to saving a cigarette smoking french man from being ejected from the arena this runs through the final days events from a certain point of view.  click here to check it out, and also dive over to http://solamonn.blogspot.com/  to catch chapter 9 of suns of solamonn.

"ok, after three, 1, 2, 3, chewieeeeeeee!"

thursday 30th august 2007  
>>>we continue our look at worlds of importance from the history of the setnin sector with amagad, the base of setnin kingpin glann cipple and, alongside chancai, the hub of the setnin underworld...

amagad

 

Green and verdant tropical world in the Amagad System, heart of the underworld within the Setnin Sector for almost a century. Her buildings were covered with fast growing plants pushing up through the plasticrete.  Operation centre of the Setnin Sectors leading underworld figure Glann Cipple. Half a decade after the death of Emperor Palpatine the city of Amagad was levelled by a tidal wave caused by the legendary starship Heed crashing into the waters of the Bay of Amagad.  The city was reduced to radioactive ashes and rubble after being bombardment by an Imperial fleet commanded by Admiral Korne Lans in high orbit, Amagad City became a no-go area, hospitable only to the genetically tampered creatures that had managed to escape the laboratories at Glanns Fortress.   Amagads orbit was slightly altered by the tremendous impact, throwing the warm jungles into frozen wastes and making it inhospitable to visitors.  Years later, after the world began to slowly repair the damage done, Cipple’s daughters laid claim to Amagad City and built their own empire from there, helping fight the Ki-Ki Sectors invasion through the underworld

>>>it's well known that since the mid 70's, andrew lloyd vader has released some amazing musicals.  first there was krayts, followed by the smash hits anakin skywalker superstar! and sabacc.  now, following the mega hit that was phantom menace of the opera we bring you darth vader: the musical.  sit back, have your hankies at the ready and experience the trip of a lifetime...

 

wednesday 29th august 2007  
>>>how's this for cool.  luke skywalkers lightsabre is to be blasted into space.  just like a million lightsabres before it - admittedly a long time ago and in a galaxy far, far away - a lightsabre will soar the skies.  over to the press release from spotlight communications.  "as star wars celebrates its 30th anniversary, luke skywalker’s original jedi lightsaber will head into space with nasa astronauts on the space shuttle discovery in october. chewbacca will officially hand the lightsaber over to nasa’s space center houston during a ceremony at the oakland international airport. the ceremony will include characters from a galaxy far, far away including boba fett, jango fett, (an) x-wing, jedi, and stormtroopers. this will be followed by a spectacular departure aboard a southwest airlines flight as chewbacca and his galactic friends help push back the airplane on the tarmac.  once the flight lands in houston, stormtroopers will help escort the lightsaber off the plane as r2-d2 and other famous star wars characters kick-off the second half of the celebration at gate #47 in william p. hobby airport. the fanfare will conclude outside baggage claim where the lightsaber will be transported by a caravan of hummers with an official city of webster police escort to nasa’s space center houston where it will be secured inside the lunar vault."  what a fantastic story, and we'll be sure to follow it here on Lightsabre.

"shuttle?  i'm not going on the shuttle.  it's late, i'm in for it as it is."

>>>mark newbold has been interviewed by fan force portugal joao pinto conducted the interview with mark, discussing his love of star wars, the beginnings of his fandom and about his work on Lightsabre.  click here for the interview, brush up on your portugese and take a browse through a classy european site.
>>>Lightsabre also features on yet another portugese site, this time in relation to last weeks interview with star wars fan relations and content manager stephen sansweet.  yet another great site, click here to visit the portugese collectibles club and enjoy the trip...
>>>ben burtt, as every star wars fan knows, is a certified genius who's move to pixar after almost 30 years at lucasfilm was a great gain for the disney company.  here is a video showing the 10 greatest star wars sound effects - see if you agree with them.

 

tuesday 28th august 2007  
>>>setnin select reaches number 254 with artwork by jonathan hicks.  this shows the images of an imperial btf-941 shuttle for more looks into the worlds of setnin, click on the mini banner above and go through to the setnin select archive.
>>>a famous man once said "it's good to talk" and he was right, so continuing that tradition we bring to you our new live chatroom.  click right here to go to our new Lightsabre chatroom, where you will find the links you need to register, login or simply visit as a guest.  we're very keen to have as many of you as possible come and visit the site, swap ideas and stories and generally have a good time.  and who knows, maybe we'll get some of our Lightsabre interview guests to drop in from time to time.  so, click here and register for our Lightsabre chatroom.

a great example - c-3po talking.  which he does, a lot...

>>>george lucas is to be honoured for his philanthropic efforts by receiving the prince rainier 3rd award.  on october 25th the event, held at sotherby's, will honour those who have made great contributions to the arts.  lucas will receive his award from james earl jones.  click here for the full report from variety.

the flannelled one

monday 27th august 2007  
>>>back in 2004 jonathan hicks left Lightsabre to work on other projects, and the fruits of his labour are now revealed in his first collection of short stories.  those dark places collects 12 tales about the little people in a big universe.  long time readers will be more than familiar with jonathan's depth of writing talent, and will be spending wisely by clicking here or on the image below and ordering a copy of his very first release.

those dark places

>>>turning to the dork side 11 hits the site direct from neil bakers own site a place in the galaxy. you can view it there or go to our humour section on the sidebar where a fit of the giggles still means you are out of shape.  and don't forget, you can still catch chapter 8 of suns of solamonn right here and all previous chapters of the dork side here in our humour section.
>>>mark newbold has been busy with his latest article published in the newly named tv film memorabilia magazine.  turn to page 70 for a retrospective look at the collectibles of gremlins, the 1984 steven spielberg produced horror flick that changed cinema ratings.  click the image below or here for a look at the official tv film memorabilia website.

tv and film memorabilia sep 07

>>>fantastic news for fans of great film scores.  not only is john williams gearing up to produce the soundtrack to steven spielbergs lincoln biopic and the fourth indiana jones film, but he is also planning a triumphant return to one of the other great franchises, harry potter.  in 2010, williams intends to score the seventh and final movie, harry potter and the deathly hallows, bringing his scores of potter films in full circle.  click here for news from the film score message boards, detailing williams appearance at the berkshire museums 'joy of tanglewood' lecture series as blogged by nick.

john williams and fan nick at the joy of tanglewood lecture series on august 21st 2007

sunday 26th august 2007  
>>>after a six month break Lightsabre recommences its webmaster interviews.  this week we interview the man who brings us our dose of dork side every week, neil bakerneil is a prominent blogger on the official site, a documentary maker and friend of the site and his interview can be found here or by going through the sidebar and hitting interviews.  then discuss it at smugglers rants or on blogs.starwars.com.

neil baker

>>>our good friend stephen at galactic empire brings us this very interesting news regarding a new channel four television project.  over to stephen.  "channel 4 in the uk want to talk to you regarding a series they're making. melissa waterson, assistant producer of the tv show contacted me earlier today:  "we are making an award winning observational documentary series for channel 4, which looks at family life in the uk, celebrating different modern lifestyles. we are looking for families who can show what it’s like when one or more member is passionate about collecting something, like cult tv or film memorabilia. we want to see if the whole family embraces the collector’s hobby, how important it is to build up the collection, make swaps, attend meets and the excitement of finding an elusive item! the documentary provides a great platform to show the reality and rewards of living with/being a true fan and a keen collector! collector items and exclusive collections are always topical issues and it’s a chance to show your passion in a fun and energetic light. due to the nature of the format all the members of the family living under the same roof need to be happy to be filmed and there need to be children in the home, but none under the age of 2."  you can contact melissa on 0207 013 4514 or e-mail at melissa.waterson@rdfmedia.com if you would like to discuss the programme further."  cheers stephen.
saturday 25th august 2007  
>>>Lightsabre is lucky enough to have been featured in our local paper.  in a half page piece by lichfield mercury editor andy kerr, the spotlight was thrown on the charity work done at celebration europe in july.  click the image below for a larger version of the newspaper piece or go to the sidebar, click assorted, various articles to find the piece...

marie, bex, yoda, amanda, mark and louis

friday 24th august 2007  
>>>we finally present the final chapter in the Lightsabre chronology.  long time readers of the site will remember that since 2001 we have been bringing you tales from an era 35 years after the battle of yavin, the new underworld age.  presented here for the first time since 2004 is the final chapter - at least so far - in the setnin sectors history.  new underworld age - part two brings the continuing chapters in the battle against the ki-ki sector, and setnin's battle to liberate itself from her oppressors.  click here for the now up-to-date timeline, and here for the new underworld age - part two.

a ki-ki soldier, taken from our setnin select series...

>>>fridays are now original fiction day here at Lightsabre, and to kick off the new underworld age - part two we present the era's first tale, the 2002 story chancai falls by jonathan hicks, mark newbold, paul squire and louis turfrey
thursday 23rd august 2007  
>>>we continue our look at worlds of importance from the history of the setnin sector with alorea, the jungle planet in the alorea system where a crashed imperial ship carrying four ferrerean warriors sparked off a dynamic series of events...

alorea

 

Setnin Sector jungle world in the Alorea System orbited by its two moons Maith and Saeat, and scene of the crash of an Imperial shuttle carrying four members of the feared Ferrerean Warriors - the leader Nant, his first Chael, Dabspie and Ell.  Using a diplomatic mission as cover the Rebel Alliance sent in a team to seek and retrieve the four aliens.  The team, including Jan Lomona, Goah Galletti and Carlonian Feese, was almost totally decimated in the attempt and Admiral Suuraan and the sharpshooter Tunnil Fulle were killed

wednesday 22nd august 2007  
>>>we add yet another new section to Lightsabre, our Lightsabre arcade.  click here for some classic games of old, as well as some newer titles, courtesy of freeonlinegames.com
>>>robot chicken creator and erstwhile werewolf seth green is interviewed over at ign where he chats about a number of subjects.  when asked about a possible dvd release of robot chicken star wars, green replied "you know, we're actually talking about that right now. there's a lot of different conversations being had, so i'm not entirely sure how it's gonna pan out. my expectation is that it will be its own dvd. we're just trying to figure out what content will be on it, in addition to the special."  how stupidly cool is that? 

it's lobot.  it's seth green.  it's sethbot huggin - star wars special...

tuesday 21st august 2007  
>>>setnin select reaches number 253 with artwork by richard skidmore.  this shows the preliminary sketch for the promotional poster of issue 2 of quest for freedom for more looks into the worlds of setnin, click on the mini banner above and go through to the setnin select archive.
>>>apparently they have worse chemistry than jabba the hutt's digestive tract.  a recent poll showed that hayden christensen and natalie portman in attack of the clones have cinema's worst ever romantic chemistry, strange, given rumours of a real life romance.  and stranger still the number two - how apt - worst performance goes to ben affleck and jennifer lopez, at the time a real life couple.  rounding out the survey are such couplings as phantom menace actress keira knightley and orlando bloom in pirates of the carribeancatherine zeta jones and henry jones senior sean connery in entrapment and heath ledger and jake gyllenhaal in brokeback mountain

don't trust these people with your chemistry set...

monday 20th august 2007  
>>>turning to the dork side 10 hits the site direct from neil bakers own site a place in the galaxy. you can view it there or go to our humour section on the sidebar where hilarity is the lowest form of wit.  believe it.  and don't forget, chapter 8 of suns of solamonn is now available to read right here.
>>>rebecca newbold has finally completed her latest project, an r2-kt beanie hat.  knitted from a basic astromech pattern, bex has modified the design to reflect the great work that the 501st have been doing in honour of katie johnson, who so tragically lost her life to brain cancer in 2005.

bex and her r2-kt hat in mecca at Lightsabre towers...

>>>those good guys at jedi news bring news that the voting for the hasbro saga legends 2008 fan's choice vote has come to an end.  this top ten goes into the pot along with the votes of 14 other sites, with the top choice garnering 10 points, the second place 9 and so on.  fingers crossed for your favourite figure - we're hoping admiral motti gets the figure release he deserves - and here's to the next wave of voting.
no figure previous release year
1 Clone Trooper (Republic Gunship Pilot) Saga #49 2002
2 Shadow Stormtrooper StarWarsShop.com Exclusive 2006
3 Ephant Mon Saga #45 2002
4 ARC Trooper (Clone Wars) - Red & Grey Variants Figure #43 2003
5 Admiral Motti POTF2 2000
6 Amanaman POTJ 2001
7 Slave Leia OTC #33 2004
8 TIE Fighter Pilot OTC #21 2004
9 Commander Neyo Treachery on Saleucami Battle Pack 2007
10 R2-R9 Red Astromech Droid Naboo Royal Starship 1999
sunday 19th august 2007  
>>>we welcome to Lightsabre one of the most recognisable faces in the star wars universe, the man with the largest collection of memorabilia on the planet and the official fan liaison officer for lucasfilm, stephen sansweet mark and louis met up with steve backstage at celebration europe for the interview and his replies can be found here or by going through the sidebar and hitting interviews.  then discuss it at smugglers rants on blogs.starwars.com.

stephen sansweet

>>>we've all been busy during the convention season, scribbling down our memories and reminiscences of some brilliant star wars times, so to bring that all together we present our conventions page.  listing reports on not only the celebration conventions but also the san diego comic convention and forthcoming events, this will be your one-stop shop for checking out those great conventions of 2007 and beyond.  click here for the conventions page, or go to the sidebar, hit assorted and click through from the menu page there.
saturday 18th august 2007  
>>>we've been fantastically lucky here at Lightsabre to be able to interview so many star wars alumni, from both in front of and behind the camera.  producers, directors, actors, authors, artists and special effects technicians.  danny wagner falls into the latter category, having worked on all six movies through the special editions and the prequels as well as a glut of other blockbuster movies.  now working for kerner optical - ilm's former model shop - danny brings to the site his diary, an occasional look at the present as well as the past.  click here or on the image below for the first entry in danny's diary.  the diary can be found via the sidebar, through assorted on the main menu page.

take a peek into danny's diary...

>>>jonathan l bowen is a familiar name to visitors to this site.  back in 2005 he released anticipation, a book detailing the huge hype and marketing blitz that surrounded the release of the phantom menace.  now he follows up with revenge, an even more detailed exploration of the saga's final chapterclick here for a link to jonathan's official book site and here for mark newbold's review of revenge - the real life story of star wars episode 3 - revenge of the sith. or go to the sidebar, click reviews and go to our books section.

revenge - the real life story of star wars episode 3 - revenge of the sith

friday 17th august 2007  
>>>on august 3rd gerald home and paul blake arrived in poland for the dagobah 2007 convention, the first such con held specifically in honour of star wars in poland.  but not only were gerald and paul the first ever star wars guests in the country but their appearance made nationwide news, hitting polish papers throughout the country as well as internationally.  below is just one example of that coverage, and click here to see television footage of the event.

gerald, paul and local dignitaries on obi-wan kenobi street...

>>>we bring a review of drew karpyshyn's 2006 novel path of destruction by rebecca newbold.  to read the review click here or go to the sidebar, click reviews and go to our books section.

path of destruction review

thursday 16th august 2007  
>>>we continue our look at worlds of importance from the history of the setnin sector with alganar 3, the world formerly known as bedois which was effectively wiped from galactic maps a thousand years before the battle of yavin...

alganar 3

 

Dry, volcano covered humid world in the single planet Hedar System which once claimed a population of twenty thousand.  Sitting in a vast expanse between the Setnin and Tak-Atane Sectors, with only an unnamed satellite for a moon, Alganar III was where ganglord Jomobol Pocock had two teams of archaeologists and miners digging a site to find hidden artefacts and buried Killiab Crystals.   However, the world of Alganar III orbits the  dying red giant star Bedoah, the oldest star in the Setnin Sector, and the system has only a few hundred years of life left to it.  Alganar III itself is tearing itself apart – massive volcanic eruptions are regular sights on the planet and habitation is rare and dangerous.  The homeworld of the ancient Bedois race, its hierarchical government and feudal system governed the race of latent force-sensitive people.  The world itself was known as Bedois before the entire race was wiped out in a conflict with the Jedi Knights. Only one Bedois escaped the war - General Arcc Nedeen. Two years later traders settled the planet but after a spate of accidents and strange occurrences they decided to leave.  Quarantined by the Republic 1000 years ago and removed from star charts and gazetteers, Alganar III was left entirely alone until it’s rediscovery by Jomobol Pocock

>>>some excellent news, friend of the site and former guest dan wallace is hard at work on his latest essential guide, the essential atlas wallace's star wars blog continuity, criticisms, and captain panaka answered a few questions, and you can find them by clicking here.

the atlas's worthy predecessor...

wednesday 15th august 2007  
>>>it's all moving ahead very nicely, and that progress can be seen on the official indiana jones site in a video entitled reuniting the family.  speaking with steven spielberg, frank marshall, harrison ford, kathleen kennedy and george lucas the video gives a neat retrospective look at the past, while teasing us for what's to come in may 2008.  click here for the video.
tuesday 14th august 2007  
>>>setnin select reaches number 252 with artwork by craig burt.  this shows the technical drawings for a bug fighter for more looks into the worlds of setnin, click on the mini banner above and go through to the setnin select archive.
>>>six movie titles have been registered for the forthcoming indiana jones 4.  as first reported by slashfilm, there's a title in there that will likely seem more than familiar.  indiana jones and the city of gods has long been touted as the title of the fourth flick.

but where's indiana jones and the toffee apple of terror...

monday 13th august 2007  
>>>turning to the dork side 9 hits the site direct from neil bakers own site a place in the galaxy. you can view it there or go to our humour section on the sidebar where laughter has become the new medicine and now nobody can take their meds without dribbling.  it's true.
sunday 12th august 2007  
>>>it's released through del rey in february 2008, it's written by karen traviss and it features a jason felix painting of darth caedus on the cover.  postulate, pontificate and theorise to your hearts content over this, the cover to legacy of the force - revelation.

the revelation cover by jason felix...

saturday 11th august 2007  
>>>Lightsabre has been fortunate enough to get a mention on the official star wars blog.  friend of the site bonnie burton posted the news that the third and final part of the interview with rick mccallum had hit the site.  click here for the report and many thanks to bonnie for that, and also to the good guys at club jade who also gave us a mention.

rick!  rick!  if you ever visit the site, remember that we owe you that pint!

friday 10th august 2007  
>>>neil baker brings us his second celebration europe report - day 2.  from meeting a fellow fan over a a breakfast panini to cheekily getting autographs off warwick davis, this runs through the days entire list of events from a certain point of view.  click here and check it out.

put your glasses on, the little guy might look a lot like neil, but it isn't...

>>>friend of the site gerald home has been living it large over in poland, attending his very first polish star wars convention and becoming their first ever star wars guest.  "there's a convention coming up in poland, august 3-5, called dagobah 2007. they'll have their first ever star wars actor guest......and that guest will be - me!  i can't quite believe it, but they assure me it's true: i'll be the first ever star wars actor to appear at a convention in poland. quite an honour. the theme of the convention, roughly translated, is be like lord vader. this refers to my co-guest, a little boy called wojtek who is suffering terribly with cystic fibrosis. he's a huge star wars fan and gets inspiration from the way darth vader is able to cope with his physical problems. the convention will be the biggest star wars event ever in poland and will have the polish outpost in attendance, as well as members from the german garrison - berlin is just an hour's drive away.  it will also raise some much-needed funds to help wojtek with his treatment.  here's the link to star wars poland/imperial city online's announcement."  as ever a huge thank you to gerald, who's continuing efforts have raised awareness not only for wojtek but for cancer research uk with his efforts at the Lightsabre stand during celebration europe...

gerald, paul blake and various polish fans assemble on obi-wan kenobi street...

thursday 9th august 2007  
>>>we're thrilled to present the third and final part of our look back at celebration europe celebration europe memories - part three covers the sunday of the convention, with images, videos and recollections of the events that happened.  with photo's by a multitude of people and videos culled from youtube this will hopefully take those who visited right back to the event, and those who didn't attend a flavour of what they missed.

goodbye daryl, we miss you...

>>>we continue our look at worlds of importance from the history of the setnin sector with actua due, an outer rim world linked to setnin by the underworld...

actua dua

 

World in the Outer Rim Territories with many historical links with the Setnin Sector.  Barely the size of a small moon, Actua Dua was largely mud, with a spattering of lakes and rivers, but no oceans of note.  Much of the planets moisture collected in the clouds that drifted above that rained down and were absorbed back into the skies.  A pitiable planet, the populace lived a hand-to-mouth existence.  The ganglord Dressel had many concerns here and regularly sent operatives, including Petrol Merritch, to keep tracks of his efforts and watch over Ensonn, a former operative who had become something of a problem

wednesday 8th august 2007  
>>>writing a comic book is hard work.  drawing it is even harder, and pulling the whole thing together can be an organisational nightmare.  but the real nitty gritty of the whole endeavour is the concepts and designs.  these initial pieces of artwork can spark the imagination, firing the story off into different places entirely.  here we present part one of our concept design series, looking at the behind the scenes artwork of issue one of quest for freedom.
tuesday 7th august 2007  
>>>setnin select reaches number 251 with artwork by louis turfrey.  this shows a tie fighter approaching wennicas for more looks into the worlds of setnin, click on the mini banner above and go through to the setnin select archive.
>>>once again the national space centre plays host to a star wars weekend, this time happening the weekend of the 22nd and 23rd september.  with an appearance by the uk garrison, this is set to be another great weekend out.  more news as and when we get it, but be sure to book early as these weekends are increasingly popular, and after the amazing fun of celebration europe it's certain to sell out quickly.
monday 6th august 2007  
>>>some more excellent news wings its way from james burns at jedi news.  over to the man himself.  "we’re still trying to raise more money for make a wish and our 30th anniversary prize draw runs until 31st august 2007. we gave away 3 of the 30 prizes at celebration europe but there’s still 27 amazing prizes left to be won, worth over £1,500!!!  the competition is open to anybody worldwide."  there you have it, get busy and enter the competition for some fantastic prizes.
>>>robot chicken star wars specialluke - vader- the emperor.  yo mama.  'nuff said.

 

sunday 5th august 2007  
>>>we welcome back to Lightsabre the producer of the star wars trilogy special edition and most notably the prequel trilogy, rick mccallumrick chatted to us for 40 minutes about all manner of things and his replies can be found here or by going through the sidebar and hitting interviews.  then discuss it at smugglers rants on blogs.starwars.com.

rick mccallum

>>>some great news comes our way from our affiliate jedi news.  over to adam lamping.  "we’ve had confirmation of the saga legends 2008 fan's choice vote through jedi news.   you can post your top 5 here."  so, click on those links and go right to jedi news and have your say, but hurry as the option to vote only lasts a short time.
saturday 4th august 2007  
>>>it's not often that a site of such good quality comes along and stamps it's mark on the scene, but it's always more than welcome when it does.  jedi news is one of those sites, gaining visitors and plaudits as fast as it's gaining fans.  with up to the minute news on collecting and other aspects of the star wars universe the site is a must to bookmark and visit on a daily basis.  we're fans here at Lightsabre, so much so that jedi news can be found in our links section as well as becoming our 9th affiliate.  don't delay, check out jedi news right now.
>>>we've all been at the business end of a blastech or an e-web and wished that we could speak huttese, to worm our way out of a sticky situation.  well, now here's your chance with the complete wermo's guide to huttese.  for example, here's an entry.  "wermo (wer moh) n. 1. a stupid person, an idiot. 2. one who is pitiable, contemptible, or weak-willed. 3. worm. 4.