I have so many favorite scenes across all six movies in the Star Wars saga (though I admit that most are from the films of my childhood: Episodes IV – V – VI).
Some moments from A New Hope include:
The bit when Luke watches Leia’s message to Obi-Wan via R2-D2
The garbage compactor scene: “Into the garbage chute, fly boy!”
Luke & Leia’s infamous “Swing to Freedom” when she gives him a swift kiss, “For luck.”
And the Mos Eisley cantina scene.
This is a 2012 release from Hallmark. My mother-in-law got it for me as a birthday present…I am so lucky!
Why do I love this scene? Because it shows the calm, cool, collected, don’t F with me bad a**ness that is Han Solo. It also makes those little moments when we see a softer side of him all the more sweet. (And it does such a nice job establishing him as Luke’s foil – all my fellow Lit people know what I’m sayin’).Aside from that, the scene ends on such a great line…(who can quote it?)
Apparently, there has been some controversy over this scene, as in later editions, George Lucas modified it so Greedo fires his weapon first. Personally, I don’t care that Han shoots first, in fact – I prefer it. Like I said, when we first meet him he’s a smuggler, an unapologetic bad boy – a scoundrel. Greedo isn’t sitting down for a nice friendly chat over a beer…trying to make it seem like Han only acted in self-defense takes a bit of that tough guy persona away.
Moving on….favorite Scenes from Empire Strikes Back include:
The almost-kiss between Leia and Han on Hoth.
Yoda and R2-D2 squabbling like toddlers on Dagobah.
The moment on Bespin when Leia tells Han she loves him (and his response? C’mon, you know the answer to this one!)
And of course…one of the most famous moments in film history…when Luke learns just who his Daddy was.
A few favorites from Return of the Jedi:
So many great moments in this movie are a result of what could almost be called an inside joke…scenes that are re-worked bits from the first two movies such as:
Luke & Leia once again swing to freedom together.
Han tells Leia he loves her, she responds the way he did in Empire.
Everyone has “a bad feeling about this” and “delusions of grandeur.”
Other memorable scenes include:
When Luke learns Leia is his sister, and then tells her the truth out on the rope bridge in the Ewok village.
When Threepio is worshiped as the God of the Ewoks, and Han isn’t too happy about being the main course in the new deity’s celebration meal.
When Luke saves Vader from himself, and looks upon his father’s true face.
Any of these moments immortalized in Christmas ornament form would be on my “must-buy” list…so if someone over at Hallmark is paying attention…get going on that, ok?
There are so many iconic spaceships and speeders and….things that fly…in the Star Wars movies. This year Hallmark released a new ornament for the Slave 1 (that’s bounty hunter Bobba Fett’s ship – in case you didn’t know). I still have the 2002 Hallmark Slave 1 ornament on my Wish List. Currently the two are within $1 of each other, and 2011’s version seems more intricate and finely detailed, plus it includes sound effects. I’m hoping to pick up the ’11 Slave 1 at a significant discount after Christmas – so leave one on the shelf for me, ok?
As far as vehicle ornaments that currently float on my Star Wars Christmas tree branches, my favorite is the TIE fighter. (Bonus points if you can tell me what TIE stands for).
I have two TIE fighters on my tree, the above image is of what is really just a scaled-down version of a model Tie Fighter – its detailing is quite intricate – but it doesn’t have any of the fun extras many vehicle ornaments usually include. My other TIE is Darth Vader’s personal TIE ship that he uses to try and take out Luke in the big air battle scene of A New Hope. This one is fun – it lights up and if you look close, you can see the Dark Lord of the Sith sitting pretty in the cock pit.
Raise your hand if you remember the moment when Darth is flying with his team of Tie Fighters, and says (about Luke, who he’s tracking) “I have you now.”
The Star Wars series includes several characters that qualify for the label of “sidekick” – yet despite their second-billing, these Wookies and Droids are interesting and funny and their presence is vital to the story. Which is why there is plenty of room on the Star Wars tree for them.
First up is Han Solo’s co-pilot and all around good buddy. He doesn’t shave or wear pants – but that doesn’t stop Chewbacca from being 7+ feet of awesome.
Another sidekick, Protocol Droid C3-PO as pictured (in pieces) above, is one-half of the legendary robotic duo from the SW series. The yin to Threepio’s yang is the short, snarky, and steadfastly loyal R2-D2.
Artoo has always been a personal favorite of mine. I find it amazing how much personality is packed into that stout little barrel who only communicates through beeps and whistles. Artoo saves the day at least once in every episode of the saga, which I say could elevate him to hero status…but he’s happy sticking with playing the sidekick role, as long as it leaves him free to annoy the hell out of Threepio.
You know what is truly evil? The hectic-ness of the holiday season. I truly enjoy Christmas and pay homage to the idea that “it’s the most wonderful time of the year,” but sometimes, like today for example – it can all feel too overwhelming. I love my Star Wars Christmas tree – I think it’s awesome and I want to share its out-of-this-world awesomeness with everyone…but putting together the posts I had outlined on Day 1 (or 8, depending how you’re counting) is the glob of icing on my proverbial stress-cake…and though it shames me to say this – I am not going to manage to write all my posts…at least, not as I had originally planned.
Yesterday I only managed to briefly introduce 3 of the heroes that grace my tree (sorry, I know you were all waiting for bikini Leia). I had planned to present ALL of them, from the aforementioned Her Royal Hotness with Jabba-choking chain in hand to a little green Yoda standing by a swamp tree. Today my slacking gets even worse – I’m going to really wimp out and just post one villain…
Mr Big Bad Baddy: The EmperorYou know you’re a bad dude when Darth Vader refers to you as “less forgiving” than he is himself. Sitting on this throne, I suppose the Emperor thinks he’s large and in charge, but something about this ornament strikes me as silly…like he’s riding in an overgrown amusement park ride…or sitting in one of those motorized baby swings.
So, sorry – just 1 villain is all you’re gettin’. I suppose if there were hundreds (ok, fine 1 or 2) comments gushing about the wonder of a Star Wars Christmas then perhaps I would feel more pressured (obligated?) to stick to my initial intentions. If a quiet lurker who has been enjoying the ride somewhere out there in a galaxy far far away is reading this…well, I apologize. Here’s my band-aid solution: there are many Christmas seasons to come – so instead of introducing my entire collection this year. I will come back December after December and add a bit more to each day’s post. I can handle that much (I think).
And since so much of the holidays are about anticipation – what beats waiting an entire year to see what I will choose to showcase next?
So there, I release myself from the guilt of an obligation left unfulfilled.
Now if I could only stop feeling bad about slacking on this year’s Christmas cards.
Come back tomorrow when I will (maybe…) post a bit about the sidekicks of the series.
When it comes down to it, the Star Wars saga is all about making sure that in the end, the good guys (and gals) win. Over the course of the series, many heroes stepped up to the plate to do their part, and have now found a place of honor on my Christmas tree: immortalized in all their butt-kicking, light saber swinging, bikini-wearing glory.
Qui-Gon: The Noble Rebel"Old" Obi-Wan, Ben Kenobi: the MentorI realized most of my Luke Ornaments are from Empire Strikes Back...I need a Luke from Episode IV, or what some of us still like to call the first movie.
That’s a start on the good guys…more to come, but if I wanted to keep my promise and get this out on time, it will have to be as is…
It’s no secret that I’m a Star Wars fan. Who knows what started my life-long attraction: maybe the characters and story line appealed to my archetype loving little soul, maybe Princess Leia’s kick-a** and take names attitude spoke to my inner She-Ra, or maybe I just really thought Han was hot. (Actually I harbored a crush on Luke for much of my childhood, it wasn’t until I was a teen that I succumbed to the allure of a scoundrel with a budding conscience). Speaking of scoundrels…
Once upon a time I had a few Star Wars ornaments that happily shared space on our traditional family tree. A few years ago, the husband and I came to the realization that what had once been a few had somehow become “Holy crap we have a lot of Star Wars ornaments.” Seeing as we had already converted our dining room into my own personal cantina we refer to as the Star Wars Bar, it made sense to decorate this ode to my collection of all things from a galaxy far far away with a tree all its own. Thus, the saga of the Star Wars tree began.
Now, what does Hanukkah have to do with this? Not much, actually, beyond the awesome HANukkah bit pictured above…my mother is Jewish, and I was brought up celebrating both holidays – so I think I’m allowed to indulge here. However, the truth of the matter is I was planning to do a “12 Days of Star Wars” Christmas…but just didn’t manage to start posting in time…so here I am with Christmas a week away…and 8 days to post things (I’m counting Christmas day) and I thought hey, the HANukkah thing tied it all together quite nicely (even if Hanukkah doesn’t start for a few more days). Besides, it will be easier to come up with 8 posts vs. 12…and easier is good…especially at this schedule-crammed time of the year.
To strongly encourage myself to actually follow through and complete all 8 posts, I will outline them now so you know what to expect and can heckle me if I fall behind. (ETA: I didn’t finish all the posts I planned, so please – heckle away.)
Now do I count up? Or down? Let’s go with down, it seems to build more anticipation…and that goes for whether we’re counting down days to Christmas or seconds until the Death Star blows up a planet.
8 That’s today! I explain the conception of the Star Wars tree (no…the ghost of Anakin did not visit me in a dream) and share a few composite shots of the tree.
2 Saturday 12/24: Cool Yule Accessories All the fun little extras that help complete the Star Wars Christmas tree and add holiday flair to my cantina. (Most were given to me as Christmas gifts in year’s past – it makes me easy to shop for!)
1 Sunday 12/25: Wish List What other ornaments, lights and chotchkies would make my Star Wars tree even more awesome next year?
Back to how this all started.
With the decision made I set out to find an appropriate tree for my endeavor. An entire Christmas tree devoted to Star Wars may seem like excess, but hey – I did try to keep things reasonable. I waited for an after-Christmas sale to score a cheapy tree even cheaper. I settled on a mid-size white pre-lit model. It is tacky? Perhaps, but the white clearly separates it from our formal and classy (if a fake tree could ever be referred to as classy) green tree; plus the ornaments pop better. In short – I think it looks really cool.
I’ve always used silver tinsel, but plan to give blue a try next year…
What about you? Have you ever decorated an entire Christmas tree based on one theme? Would you like to?
No, I’m not referencing the Rob Base song from the 1980’s here…this reference goes back further…to 1923, when Lebanese-born American artist, philosopher and writer Khalil Gibran published a book 0f 26 poetic essays entitled The Prophet. I can’t recall when I came across Gibran’s work…whether it was in a philosophy class, or an early 20th century American-Lit class…but either way, I would have been in my late teens-very early twenties. Even at that relatively young age, a line caught my attention and held it…and I have never forgotten it since.
Those words have helped me through some rough moments, such as when my maternal grandmother passed away and when I nearly lost my father a few summers ago.
So often you hear people who have gone through severe hardship or experienced tremendous loss talk of the joy they find in the little things they once never took notice of. They appreciate more. In an ironic twist of humanity, their loss enriches their lives in a way people who live relatively tragic-free lives could never experience.
I would never wish for pain or desire tragedy…but I do find comfort in understanding the truth in Gibran’s quote. And though these words certainly did not ease the pain of loss or make their experience any easier – that’s not what this is about. The moments in my life that have brought me the most sorrow have indeed left room to:
It’s a Just Dance kinda week around here, and really that’s ok – because I am so freakin’ stressed out by my never ending to-do list that it was awesome to let it all go and just be crazy silly for a few hours.
My 8 year old Miss A has been enjoying UbiSoft’s line of Just Dance games, as you can see in my recent post about JD3, so when I had the chance to get in on the action and test out the new Just Dance Abba, I was all over it.
In case you noticed: for a little bit of added fabbalousness, I decided to edit all photos for this post using the “Seventies” Action free from Pioneer Woman. Ah, the 70’s. I say that like I know so much about the decade, even though I was born in the latter half of it (and speaking of Pioneer Woman, she is a huge fan of the Just Dance game series too – check out her recent post!).
I honestly didn’t know much about Abba until I fell in love with several of their songs in a round-about way. In 1992 Erasure released Abba-Esque, a brief Abba tribute album that included songs like S.O.S. and my fav: Take A Chance on Me. That was in high school…and it wasn’t until years later that I thought about Abba again – when the Mama Mia movie was released and a bunch of my mama friends and I planned a night out to see the movie and drink a margarita (or two) after. We had so much fun that night, and much of our enjoyment came from the songs’ unique sense of sincerity and sensationalism that the Seventies Quartet from Sweden served up in spades. (Have I mentioned my weakness for alliteration?)
Playing the Just Dance Abba game was a chance to re-visit that fun again…so another night for my mama friends was planned – this time instead of a night OUT, we had a night IN. To set the scene for the party a few non-essential essentials were called for:
– Lighting: Nothing says get ready to get your groove on than a disco ball!
– Food: Coming up with what to serve was simple: fondue, of course – the quintessential dish of that cheesy decade. Now, I know I have a fondue set handed down to me somewhere in my house, but Lord knows where it is! Which is why I was delighted to discover this yummy “cheat” from Trader Joe’s (you could heat it up in a fondue dish, or…you could just microwave it…guess which option I chose?)
Fashion: What to wear to an Abba Dance party? Well, if you are a brave soul, you may opt for one of the more outrageous styles the group was known for (unitard, anyone?) but for me, I kept it simple and chose a Maxi-dress right out my closet (no hot pants for me, thank you very much). If you need some fashion ideas, Fashion Era has a great archive of posts about the styles of the 70’s.
As for the rest…the Abba Just Dance game pretty much took care of it all! It provided the tunes and the activities to keep the party rolling. I never realized just how MANY songs Abba had in their discography! Within an hour, I had discovered some new (well, new to me) songs to add to my fav list. The dance I enjoyed “performing” most, (I think – it may change the more I play) was As Good As New. The choreography in that one was really fun.
About the dance choreography in Just Dance Abba – it is not like the traditional JD1-2-3 games. Most of the Abba dance routines are slower paced and while JD3 can easily leave you sweating by the end of the first song, you won’t find that to be the case with JDAbba…not unless you sweat from laughing a lot. And laugh you will – a few of the moves are so zany and over-the-top that all you can do is be bold and embrace you inner Dancing Queen, no matter what she may do.
Seeing as you will probably be eating fondue and drinking Mama-ritas, perhaps high energy dancing isn’t the best idea anyway. Maybe you had a cocktail too many and dancing is beyond you? Then it’s time to switch to the karaoke option! A microphone is not included with the game, but I happened to have a microphone for my Wii already (stole borrowed it from my daughter’s Sing It game) so we were all set to get our Meryl Streep on and crank out some tunes. The karaoke option is purely for entertainment, and unlike other singing games, it does not rate your singing ability or award you points based on pitch, accuracy, etc. (Probably a good thing at this point in the party).
Don’t have a kid in your house to steal from? Microphones for the Wii run about $20 on Amazon…if I needed to get another mic, I’d probably look for a deal on a game that included one (so I felt like I was getting more for my money, money, money…did you catch that song reference?)
Speaking of kids – my 3 year old absolutely adores this game! All week long she has been singing Abba tunes, and she actually scores pretty well while dancing (well, she does almost as well as I do, so that may say more about my level of ability than hers).
Now, what could be done to make this game even better? Well, one of my friends was really bothered by the lack of defined facial features on the animated dancers.
There is a fuzzy outline of eyes and a mouth, but I think the lack of clear definition kind of freaked her out. I’m not sure if the idea was to create a sort of “blank slate” so you could imagine yourself in the place of the on-screen dancer, but I never imagined myself wearing a t-shirt with a bedazzled cat on it as a dress, so it really doesn’t work anyway. Also, in the karaoke option, sometimes the color choices of words and backgrounds made it very hard to follow the lyrics. These are minor details though, and did not detract from the fun!
And fun really is the name of the game, and you are guaranteed to have a great time…maybe even as much fun as the unlikely duo featured below:
If you want to gather your own group of dancing queens together for a fun night IN, pick up a copy of Just Dance Abba…just don’t blame me if you suddenly find yourself wanting to wear a glittery unitard.
FYI: I decided to edit all photos for this post using the “Seventies” Action free from Pioneer Woman. Ah, the 70’s.
Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.
Whether you’ve been living in a cave and have yet to hear the buzz about UbiSoft’s Just Dance games, or are a dancing fool who has already worked up a sweat getting down to Just Dance 1 and 2 – you’re going to want to check out the latest and greatest arrival to the party: Just Dance 3.
From ages 3 to 33 (ok, I’m 35 – shhh) the ladies in my house are having a blast putting this game through its paces. I am not ashamed to admit that over the weekend I was schooled by a 10 year old…but I will be demanding a rematch in the near future.
So what makes JD3 so fun? Well, from a simple bystander’s point of view – the entertainment value alone is worth its weight in gold (which I hear is pretty pricey right now, so that’s saying a lot). Simple sit back, relax, and bust a gut while watching your friends bust a move. Then there’s the game itself – an addictive mix of high energy dance moves, good ol’ fashioned competition, and the lure of showing off. Who wouldn’t have fun?
One of the things I liked best about JD3 was the eclectic variety of songs: recent hits like Jesse J’s Pricetag andTaio Cruz’s Dynamite kept the 10 and under set dancing with happy feet while old school keepers such as a-ha’s Take on Me and Bananarama’s Venus made me feel like I was the one who was 10 again. When we played as a group we let each player have a turn choosing the song, and I think some new favorites were discovered by all.
Worried you’ll burn through the playlist too quickly? Have no fear: all that dancing earns you “Mojo” points which will allow you to unlock cool stuff like new choreography! And if that’s still not enough, there is a song store where you can purchase new tunes using Wii points (at the “price” of 250 points a song). All the players had fun trying to earn (“unlock”) medals.
A sweet aspect of the Wii version of the game is how simple it is to play. Pop the disc in, grab a controller and start dancing! Nothing else to set up, attach, or coordinate. I was impressed how well the Wii picked up the players’ movements without any of the fancy extra equipment some other systems require. Also, as you can see in the following video – players can move around quite a bit and not worry about being outside the “play zone” – this is especially important when trying to perform the more advanced group choreography.
Maybe you already own Just Dance 1 & or 2 and are wondering why you could possibly need a 3rd version of this game. Well, if a whole bunch of new songs and dance routines isn’t enough to convince you to add JD3 to your game library, maybe some of the shiny new bells and whistles will. A few favorite new additions included the dance crew option (where each of up to 4 players has their own specific choreography) and the dance mash-up.
Another new option is the “Just Sweat” selection – where you can make exercise more fun and less work. Track your fitness while dancing up a sweat using the included “7 Day Challenge” option where JD3 becomes your own funky personal trainer for a week…what a great way to get a jump start on those New Year’s resolutions! The more I think about it, the more I realize how this game could help me keep all kinds of resolutions this year: lose weight, exercise more, do more fun stuff, spend more time with my kids…playing JD3 is a way to achieve all these things.
Speaking of New Year’s – I can’t wait to make JD3 a part of my family’s celebrations this year. There is a non-stop shuffle option that will help keep the party going all the way to midnight and on into 2012.
Whether you use it to keep playdates exciting or to relieve your own holiday stress, I highly recommend you pick up the game today. Wrap it as a gift to the whole family, since everyone in the family is sure to enjoy it! It’s available on Amazon for less than the cost of an average dinner out for a family of 4. Don’t want to wait to have it shipped to you? Then head on over to your local Toys R Us, where you can find JD3 waiting on the shelf.
But what if you don’t have a Wii? Here’s a chance to make this the Ultimate Christmas for your family – right now Target has an exclusive bundle that includes the Wii, controllers, and a copy of Just Dance 3 – all for around $130. That’s $20 less than the usual price of the console alone! So you can add “save money/spend less” to the list of resolutions this game will help you keep. Not a bad deal at all.
Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.
Melonie Johnson 
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