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saturday 31st december 2005 8 days until our randy martinez interview, 15 days until our first webmasters interview...GOODBYE 2005!
>>>it's the final day of 2005 and it seems fitting that today brings the latest story to Lightsabre.  by mark newbold, the hyphen tells of jan lomona during his ten year self-imposed exile from setnin, as he carves a new life out for himself in the corporate sector for a read of the 136th story currently posted on the site and the 220th in total, go to the timeline section on the sidebar, scroll down to the end of autonomy era and read on.
>>>to put into context the location and placing of setnin it's best to take in a complete look at the galaxy, so now we present the galaxy - your complete guide to where setnin is, as well as the wider galaxy.  to view click here, or go through the sidebar, click on guides and then maps of the setnin sector.

the star wars galaxy

friday 30th december 2005  
>>>it's time for setnin radio episode 7.  presented by mark newbold and louis turfrey and hosted by star wars fanworks setnin radio brings you thoughts, musings, news and information from the world of star wars, Lightsabre and sci-fi in general.  setnin radio is available in two ways - click on your choice of media and listen to a live stream in windows media player or mp3, or alternatively right click, choose save target as and save to your hard drive.
thursday 29th december 2005  
>>>our look at selected characters of importance from the history of the setnin sector continues with sheu ho-travi, a man once thought to be an ally of setnin but who turned out to be one of its deadliest enemies...

sheu ho-travi

 

Rebel operative who saved the life of Hevell Doreesh on Chancai after they were attacked by Ryath Centaur.  Ho-Travi was in part responsible for the death of Torath Centaur and was on Centaurs infamous hit list. Travi later became a senator of importance on the capital world of Coruscant, falling in love with the Ki-Ki Ambassador Klite.   At this time Travi made a deal with the Ki-Ki, promising that he would hoodwink the Galactic Alliance and betray Setnin in exchange for influence and power – a promise that came to pass when Chancai was taken by the Ki-Ki and he was made Governor.  This position lasted until the defeat of the Ki-Ki by Setnin forces, but Travi wasn’t finished there.  He sided with the Ki-Ki Remnant and continued to be a thorn in Setnin’s side.

wednesday 28th december 2005  
>>>the dark moose is an ever-present fixture on the blogs at the official site, inputting his warped knowledge and humour wherever he can - the moose loves to spread the moose love.  well, we're proud to say that here at Lightsabre things are no different, so click here to read the moose's review of the legendary star wars holiday special, and after that click here to go to moose's blogs and share in the madness...

 

the nadir of star wars...

tuesday 27th december 2005  
>>>setnin select reaches number 173 with the final select of 2005, a piece by chris the starving artist williams.   this shows the ki-ki huttese gangster komag the hutt dozing.  for more looks into the worlds of setnin, just click on the mini banner above and go through to the setnin select archive.
>>>ever wanted to make that costume to look like general veers, or admiral motti?  well now you can.  click through swtroopers.com where you'll find all the information you could possibly need to design and make your own imperial uniform.
monday 26th december 2005  
>>>with our addition to star wars fanworks we've been given the added indulgence of a specific forum slot so you can chat about the latest episodes, leave feedback for us or suggest further topics.  so click here or on the forums links on the sidebar, where you can still chat at the expansive njoe forum.
sunday 25th december 2005  
>>>merry christmas from all the gang at Lightsabre.  we welcome to the site official lucasfilm artoo detoo wrangler don bies.  don managed to fit us into his hectic and busy schedule and his answers can be found here or by going through the sidebar and hitting interviews.  then discuss it at our forum or at smugglers rants on starwars.com-blogs.

don bies

>>>we've had a bumper year here at Lightsabre, and so it's time to reflect on that by bringing you the Lightsabre best of 2005mark newbold takes a retrospective look back at this eventful year and the changes it has brought to the site.  you can find this article through the sidebar by hitting assorted and clicking on the articles link.
>>>king kong continues to surprisingly under perform at the box office, having taken a leisurely 10 days to amass an estimated $95,535,000 million dollars in the states and $216,427,056 worldwide.  ilm effects showcase the lion, the witch and the wardrobe fares much better in second place, with a 15 day haul of $141,433,000 and $220,295,000 worldwide from just 15 countries.  in 8th place lies the mega successful harry potter and the goblet of fire, with $258,240,000 in the bank in just 36 days, and a worldwide take of $714,340,000 making it the only film of 2005 with a realistic shot at overtaking revenge of the sith's worldwide haul of $848,466,209.  taking 9th place, on limited release, is steven spielbergs latest film munich.  featuring ilm effects and a john williams score, his second in the top ten along with the spielberg produced memoirs of a geisha, and his third if you count the harry potter theme.  munich took an estimated $1,380,000 on its opening day on just 532 screens.
saturday 24th december 2005  
>>>coolwater productions, a company who represent actors for personal appearances worldwide including a large number of actors from the two trilogies, have exciting news about their forthcoming star wars cruise, the first of its kind anywhere in the world.  from november 5th to the 12th 2006 you could be taking a cruise with some of the stars of the star wars universe.  so, if you've ever dreamed of an exotic cruise from california to mexico, taking in some amazing scenery, and the chance to pick the brains of some of the sagas finest click the banner below and book the holiday of a lifetime.
friday 23rd december 2005  
>>>browsing around the internet can often bring unexpected surprises, and sometimes bring back treasures from the past, like this april fools gem courtesy of the official star wars site.  click here to see what the official site would have looked like circa 1979 as hype built up for the empire strikes back...

look - 9 episodes, not 6...

>>>it's scary, slightly disturbing but nothing if not festive.  click here to hear chewbacca wish you a silent night...
thursday 22nd december 2005  
>>>our look at selected characters of importance from the history of the setnin sector continues with armella d'staan, the woman who believed she was the daughter of dessio d'staan but was in fact the estranged daughter of glann cipple...

armella d'staan

 

Beautiful surrogate daughter of the successful criminal mastermind Dessio D’Staan.  Taking over the D’Staan estate at the age of thirteen after his untimely death, Armella succeeded in fooling the rest of the underworld into thinking that Dessio was still alive and running his empire in seclusion.  Upon the arrival of Jan Lomona and Glann Cipple on Abrogard she was shocked to learn that her real father was not in fact Dessio D’Staan but Cipple himself.  As Cipple left Abrogard, Armella gave him a data disk that Cipple managed to decode years later, revealing the location of the legendary starship Heed.  Incisive and witty, Armella enjoyed a casual relationship with her masseur Breia, which blossomed after the D’Staan operation was fully integrated into Glann’s operations and the two women headed for the Core Worlds with ten million credits to spend.  Armella later travelled out to the Setnin Sector to run Cipples operation after his departure from the sector after the Heed debacle but she soon returned to the Core, swearing never to return.

wednesday 21st december 2005  
>>>mark newbold gets published again in the january 2006 edition of model and collectors mart go to page 96 where you will find the e.t. collectibles article. 
>>>we update our links and interview sections with links taking you through to each guests individual sites, as well as being added to the links sections.  our links tally now stands at 132.
>>>it's wednesday and it's time for setnin radio episode 6.  hosted by mark newbold and louis turfrey, this is the first setnin radio to be hosted by star wars fanworks and as ever brings you thoughts, musings, news and information from the world of star wars, Lightsabre and sci-fi in general.  setnin radio is available in two ways - click on your choice of media and listen to a live stream in windows media player or mp3, or alternatively right click, choose save target as and save to your hard drive.
tuesday 20th december 2005  
>>>setnin select reaches number 172 with a piece by jonathan hicks.   this shows a busy speederway on wennicas, one of the key planets in the setnin sector.  for more looks into the worlds of setnin, just click on the mini banner above and go through to the setnin select archive.
>>>the short list for the academy of motion picture arts and sciences' special effects oscar has been announced and includes batman begins, charlie and the chocolate factory, the chronicles of narnia: the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, harry potter and the goblet of fire, king kong, war of the worlds and our very own revenge of the sith. an impressive five out of the six nominations are ilm efforts, and all will face off on january 25, 2006, where 15-minute clip reels from each film will be screened for the visual-effects award nominating committee. the final three nominees will be announced january 31, and the oscar will be presented in ceremonies broadcast live on abc on march 5th.
monday 19th december 2005  
>>>setnin radio has joined star wars fanworks.  from now on the mid-rims favourite radio show shall be hosted at star wars fanworks, home of the star wars timeline by nathan p butler nathan is also a forthcoming guest in our new webmasters interviews section that kicks off 14th january 2006 with leah mangue of nerf-herders-anonymous.net.  also joining us later will be bob vitas of the unofficial star wars encylopaedia,  david guivant, the maker of prime of the jedi, sebastien mineau of swendirect.com.and josh griffin of theforce.net.
sunday 18th december 2005  
>>>we make alterations to our interviews page, freshening the layout in readiness for a whole new batch of star talks, as well as our forthcoming chats with prominent stars of star wars fandom, so head on over there and catch up with the latest star interviews.
>>>king kong rallies with an impressive saturday and sunday estimated haul to bring its total up to $66,200,000.  taking $20,338,000 saturday and $15,270,000 sunday, the peter jackson monster romance notches up his fourth entry out of five in the biggest december openings ever, just ahead of fellowship of the rings $47,211,490 and behind the two towers $62,007,528, last weeks the lion, the witch and the wardrobes $65,556,312 and the champ, return of the kings $72,629,713.  clearly word of mouth for this great film is beginning to work its magic.  worldwide, kong has amassed a total of $146,200,000, great numbers but small compared to revenge of the siths five day haul of $145.5 million, which didn't include the domestic total of $172,802,507.  for now, sith looks favourite to remain the 2005 box office champ.  the lion, the witch and the wardrobe, featuring ilm effects, rose to $112,516,000 plus an international take of $41,539,000 for a worldwide haul of $154,055,000, and the evergreen harry potter took the goblet of fire to $252,551,000 domestic, adding on another $414,200,000 overseas for a scary total haul of $666,751,000, surpassing the domestic total of predecessor the prisoner of azkaban and up to the number 22 slot of the most lucrative movies of all time.  once again a good year for ilm.
saturday 17th december 2005  
>>>while many expected a gorilla-sized swipe at the box office this wednesday king kong failed to take the prizes with a luke-warm $9,755,745 from 3567 screens.  falling far behind revenge of the sith's $50 million, war of the worlds $21 million and batman begins $15 million opening bows, kong even failed to rack up more money than pokemon: the first movie.  thursday fared no better for the king as it pulled in $6,295,755, a drop of 35.5%, but rallied to take an estimated $14,254,000 on friday for a three-day haul of $30,306,000.  with the lion, the witch and the wardrobe passing $90 million in just 8 days, and with a production budget north of $200 million, kong is going to have to gather fantastic word of mouth to stand any chance of ending the year at the top of the domestic and worldwide box office charts, a position currently occupied by revenge of the sith.

friday 16th december 2005  
>>>a friend of the site and a future interview guest has been fortunate enough to be chosen as the official sites featured blog.  leah mangue, webmistress of nerf-herders-anonymous.net is this weeks spotlight blog with her always informative blog  life, the star wars universe and everything.  leah never fails to dispense useful and interesting news and knowledge and it's only fitting that she's been acknowledged in this way.

leah mangue

>>>starting next year we introduce a new interview section to Lightsabre.  alternating with our regular interview section we shall be talking to prominent webmasters, fan film makers and other movers and shakers in the star wars community.  already confirmed we have the aforementioned leah mangue, webmistress of nerf-herders-anonymous.net, david guivant, the maker of prime of the jedi and sebastien mineau of swendirect.comwith a whole galaxy of webmasters, fan fiction authors, artists and film makers to chat to this will undoubtedly turn out to be a great addition to Lightsabre, so stay tuned.
thursday 15th december 2005  
>>>a star wars event is taking place at the marriott hotel, mill lane, cardiff on sunday 18th december. confirmed guests so far are dave prowse, jeremy bulloch, femi taylor, mike carter, paul blake, garrick hagon, gerald home, richard leparmentier, alan ruscoe and toby philpott. the uk garrison will also be in attendance for charity and there will be dealers from all round the uk selling comics, cards and toys plus sci-fi, film and tv related memorabilia. doors open at 10.00 for “early birds” and 11.00 for the general public. admission prices are adults  £5 (early birds £8) under 12s  £3 (early birds £5) under 9s are free.  an information line is available on 07876 365578 and it also accepts messages and dealers’ enquiries. for more info you can write to star wars day. po box 628, newport west. np10 9zr.  thanks to steve rogers and galacticempire.co.uk for the heads up.
>>>our look at selected characters of importance from the history of the setnin sector continues with baz, the sentient coryarthanax who roamed the setnin sector with his partner squiz...

baz

 

Coryarthanax made up in an experiment to create a clone of the smuggler Goah Galletti.  Using the residue of that experiment, Baz was created, a sentient, intelligent vicious creature with the instincts of a Coryarthanax but the reasoning of a man.  Teamed up with Squiz, Baz made his way through the galaxy, and his life. 

wednesday 14th december 2005  
>>>it's been away for a few weeks but, it's wednesday and it's time for setnin radio episode 5.  hosted by mark newbold and louis turfrey and featuring the thoughts of Lightsabre founder member jonathan hicks, setnin radio brings you thoughts, musings, news and information from the world of star wars, Lightsabre and sci-fi in general.  setnin radio is available in two ways - click on your choice of media and listen to a live stream in windows media player or mp3, or alternatively right click, choose save target as and save to your hard drive.
tuesday 13th december 2005  
>>>setnin select reaches number 171 with a piece manipulated by mark newbold.   this shows legal assistant maarssa abbraynee, a woman jan lomona fell for while on his only trip to coruscant.  for more looks into the worlds of setnin, just click on the mini banner above and go through to the setnin select archive.
monday 12th december 2005  
>>>we update our chronology with two more era's from setnin sector history.  now bringing our on site story total to 135 we add the fall of glann cipple and years of change era's.  including such important stories as chancai whispers, wrong side of hell, an admirable effort and snap decisions, and with just seven era's remaining, this brings the history of setnin closer to its online completion.
sunday 11th december 2005  
>>>the wait is finally over so we can bring you our interview with official star wars artist cynthia cummens.  cynthia has been nothing but fun to work with and her answers can be found here or by going through the sidebar and hitting interviews.  then discuss it at our forum or at smugglers rants on starwars.com-blogs.

cynthia cummens

>>>occasionally you stumble across something on the net that puts a big smile on your face, and this is one of them.  austen saltz is a young star wars fan who, along with his cousins, has made a 28 second long Lightsabre fight called cousin wars, animating the sabres for a great blast of star wars action. click here or go to his own site and check it out.
saturday 10th december 2005  
>>>joss whedon's serenity dvd commentary holds a great star wars related moment when whedon claims that the films star, nathan fillion as captain mal reynolds, shoots three unarmed men in response to the whole greedo debacle from a new hope special edition.  as a character who is the natural successor to han solo, and who george lucas must be keeping tabs on for a role in the forthcoming television show, that is a great remark.

would you give this man a loaded weapon?

friday 9th december 2005  
>>>as ever lucasfilm have produced a fantastic christmas card, and this years is no exception.  by ilm artist christian alzmann this shows the lucasfilm family moving house in a scene reminiscent of ralph mcquarrie's card from 1979.

the mcquarrie 1979 original

the alzmann 2005 homage
thursday 8th december 2005  
>>>lucasfilm has begun placing for your consideration ads for revenge of the sith in trade publications such as variety, the hollywood reporter, and cinefex. the official site has a selection of ads, highlighting the contributions of the cast and crew of sith
>>>our look at selected characters of importance from the history of the setnin sector continues with toni meera, professional singer, actress and lover of goah galletti...

toni meera

 

Beautiful entertainer and actress who enjoyed a romantic encounter with Goah Galletti on Cawbate.  A popular entertainer, Toni sang for Glann Cipple during the Dessio D’Staan affair as part of a tour that covered most of the Mid-Rim.  After a long tour of the local sectors she took a residency singing at the Red Star Hotel. Toni was found by the real Goah Galletti, who brought her back to the New Republic fleet over Leogard to sing for the troops after a relationship had begun between the two of them, a relationship that blossomed so much that when Goah decided to return to the Core Worlds Toni came with him, starting a new and successful career for herself.

wednesday 7th december 2005  
>>>news comes from the new york premiere of peter jackson's king kong that george lucas is devoting himself full-time to completing jeff nathanson's script for indiana jones 4.  lucas told a reporter from the indy experience that he's got the script from nathanson, and that he's tweaking it. that process won't go on forever and filming will occur "before harrison ford goes into a nursing home".  the film, still set for an unlikely summer 2006 release, will probably be rolled back another year.  great news for those of us wondering what lucas will do next between the end of the star wars saga and the start of the television series.

indiana jones 4

tuesday 6th december 2005  
>>>setnin select reaches number 170 with a piece manipulated by mark newbold.   this shows the pirate planet of ruuthorne, a harsh world of dangerous desert crossings and vicious creatures.  for more looks into the worlds of setnin, just click on the mini banner above and go through the setnin select archive.
monday 5th december 2005  
>>>the wikipedia has spawned a mutant child, one that could possibly satiate your all-devouring hunger for things star wars.  the wookieepedia is one of many cities that deals with single topics, and since march 4th 2005 has 18,000 articles posted and growing every day.  with new articles added daily, and the ability to edit and add to existing pages it's a safe bet that you'll find yourself heading towards the wookieepedia and expanding on it's growing database.

the wookiepedia - an ever-growing resource for star wars fans

sunday 4th december 2005  
>>>young mister potter continues to shine at the box office, as the goblet of fire elevates its north american takings to $229,839,000 and the worldwide take to $560,439,000, placing it as the third highest of the year worldwide just behind war of the worlds and our own revenge of the sith.  in less than three weeks on release goblet of fire has already become the 29th highest grossing film in cinema history, just $28.5 behind war of the worlds $588,892,162 take.  the next two weeks will be the real acid test for potters reign at the box office, with the chronicles of narnia-the lion, the witch and the wardrobe opening wide next week and the mighty king kong the week after.  will sith hold on to its crown as the king of the 2005 box office, will aslan become the lion king or will kong steal the title?
saturday 3rd december 2005  
>>>we've managed to do it again, placing a blog entry on the front page of the official star wars site.  many thanks to all the readers of starwars.com-blogs for making our blog jedi from the block the third most popular entry.  click below for a read.

our second showing on the official site

friday 2nd december 2005  
>>>sienn from just the best, the mark hamill website has contacted us to tell us about their site overhaul.  over to sienn.  "as of november 27, 2005, just the best has entered a new era. the design has changed completely and many new features have been added. new on the site is the spotlight. every week another of my affiliates will be highlighted, with its site button displayed for the entire seven days until the next update, right on the main page for everyone to see. furthermore, just the best now features two new mark hamill web projects. mark unleashed is just the best's unofficial mark hamill fan listing with a separate spiffy layout and a number of extras. simply mark is a yahoo! mailing list dedicated to him, run by me, that acts both as a place for fans to come together and as a newsletter for updates on just the best and mark's projects."
thursday 1st december 2005  
>>>welcome to december here at Lightsabre.  this year has gone amazingly fast, we've seen the release at the cinema of revenge of the sith, it's amazing box office take and eventual release on dvd and video.  clone wars volume 2 is almost here, the del rey book programme has brought us an amazing array of novels, with the promise of more fantastic titles to come next year.  the television series begins to ramp up and indiana jones 4 continues to slowly advance.  2006 looks set to be another bumper year for ilm, lfl and company, and Lightsabre will be there every step of the way.
>>>our look at selected characters of importance from the history of the setnin sector continues with professor jenner `doc' harrys, glann cipples genetic expert...

professor doc harrys

 

This humans qualifications marked him out as a genius at a young age, and at the University of Chancai he majored in Xenobiology, genetic engineering, psychology, chemistry, linguistics, medicine and surgery.  His DT-Hunter rifle Mk 1001 was a combination net gun, blaster and dart gun, which served him well in tight situations.  Harrys worked on many projects for his employee Glann Cipple, including the cloning of Goah Galletti and the Hunter Killer Lawkeeper project, both of which ultimately went awry.  A family man, he once had a beautiful wife and daughter but lost his wife in an attack on his home.  Never recovering from the loss he threw himself into his work, becoming a prime subject in the creation of the dreaded Coryarthanax.  His security case contained secret documents, which could only be accessed by him, and his knowledge of genetic research made him a valuable man to have as an employee - as Glann Cipple would ably testify

november 2005  
>>>spencer at iconic impressions brings you news of his business, with particular interest to star wars and Lightsabre fans.  "the guys at www.iconic-impressions.com are offering a 10% discount and free uk p&p (discounts on international postage) to anyone who mentions this website. iconic impressions specialises in contemporary art based on pop culture including paintings of star wars (some even signed by the stars). they can work from any picture so if you have a favourite movie star/scene, a band you love or even your own photo why not arrange a commission. the company was set by the international-selling, award-winning artist spencer arnold who has studied both fine art and graphic design. spencer has a real love for his subject matter and has earned a great reputation since setting up his own studio."  so, get right over to www.iconic-impressions.com and get that piece you've always wanted made up, and save money on postage by mentioning Lightsabre.
>>>friend of the site and future Lightsabre guest cynthia cummens brings us news of an exciting new project featuring the work of a number of prominent star wars artists and Lightsabre interview guests.  over to cynthia.   "topps has a new set of lord of the rings trading cards called evolution. it's the first ever all character series and features sketch cards from many official star wars artists including me, joe corroney, randy martinez and matt busch. i'm mentioning us four because you've interviewed all of us. sketch cards are one of a kind, original hand-drawn sketches inserted into packs of trading cards. topps will be updating their site by the end of the week with info about the set, but I've attached a full page ad that ran in the recent issue of previews. and here's the link to topps web site it currently only has info about the older set of lord of the rings cards, but like I said, they'll be updating their site this week with info about evolution. oh, and the sketch on the ad is mine:)"  thanks to cynthia, and you can read our interview with her in less than two weeks right here on Lightsabre.

lord of the rings evolution cards coming soon

>>>we are thrilled to bring you our interview with admiral motti himself richard leparmentier.  richard was a great guest and his answers can be found here or by going through the sidebar and hitting interviews.  then discuss it at our forum or at smugglers rants on starwars.com-blogs.

richard leparmentier

>>>the office of glann cipple, set high on level nine of his amagad fortress, saw much activity during the years of his reign and was a vital location during the newbold-hicks productions years and the roleplay era.  to view click here or click on maps of the setnin sector and check out the full set of maps.

glann cipples office

>>>in advance of our forthcoming extensive guide to the world of amagad we introduce a detailed map of the planets major city.  drawn in the early 90's by jonathan hicks and updated by mark newbold, this shows amagad city, base of glann cipple and centre of the setnin underworld.  to view this impressive city click here or click on maps of the setnin sector and check out the full set of maps.

amagad city

>>>we are over the moon to bring you our interview with chewbacca himself peter mayhew.  we interviewed peter the day after becoming a us citizen and his answers can be found here or by going through the sidebar and hitting interviews.  then discuss it at our forum or at smugglers rants on starwars.com-blogs.

peter mayhew


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