Thursday, September 25, 2008

Geek Accessibility

When I was in the Chautauqua Mall over the weekend to pick up some birthday cards, I noticed that a Halloween costume store had opened in the old Fashion Bug location. At first, I thought it was another kind of store because the display window to the right had a Darth Vader and Storm Trooper costume set up. I had a brief moment of hopefulness that the store would be filled with comic books, sci-fi toy figurines, manga, Star Wars memorabilia, and other assorted geek stuff. Alas, it's just geek-boy costumes and slut-wear for women.

I don't think Darth Vader and Storm Trooper costumes should be that accessible to the general public. I think you need to earn the right to wear something that cool for Halloween. Like, as part of the contract you sign to rent the costume you also have to answer five Star Wars related questions like:

1. Where does Yoda live?
2. What is the name of third movie in the Star Wars saga?
3. What is supposed to be the fate of Luke Skywalker, Chewbacca, and Han Solo after being captured by Jabba the Hut?
4. How do Obi Wan and Yoda figure out who killed the younglings in the Jedi Temple?
5. How many Death Stars reached fully operational status?

Bonus Question: What is family connection for Ewan McGregor with the original Star Wars trilogy?




Answers: Degobah, "Revenge of the Sith", death in the Sarlacc Pit, Obi Wan watches security recordings and sees that Anakin is the killer, While only the Death Star in Episode IV is ever fired, the Death Star in Episode VI is "fully armed and operational!" according to the Emperor.

Bonus: Ewan McGregor's uncle, actor Denis Lawson, played Wedge Antilles in Episodes 4-6 of Star Wars.

9 comments:

battlemaiden said...

That is the ultimate in geekery.

Mr. Nighttime said...

Uh, I hate to break it to you, but as for question 5, the Death Star in episode VI did indeed fire upon the rebel ships and destroyed at least two of them in the course of the battle. So therefore, both Death Stars were fully armed and operational.

Someone needs to go back and watch again.

Makkaio said...

While the Death Star is "fully operational" in Return of the Jedi, it is hardly the Death Star of old. Remember, the Emporer commands the Death Star be fired at a snow-covered planet (Can't remember if it is Hoth) when making his claim. The beam hardly melts the snow let alone destroys the whole planet.

The correct answer to your question is "One". It's the same Death Star in Episode 4 as it is in Episode 6. It's just blowed up.

Julia said...

Actually, there were two Death Stars in the movies (Star Wars Wiki: Death Star). If you read the books, it's a whole other story, but going by the movies alone there are, in fact, two Death Stars.

And I agree that both Death Stars were fully armed and operational, but the second one never blew up a planet like the first one did in "A New Hope."

Makkaio said...

Whoopse...I was wrong...I need to brush up on my Star Wars trivia. The second Death Star was actually a second separate one. It was constructed over Endor. I always thought that was the same Death Star, just damaged. Ah well. There were two of them that reached that status then.

battlemaiden said...

You guys are making my head spin. I will be the first to admit that I never cared that much for Star Wars trivia. My brain already contains enough useless information as it is.

Steve Blount said...

I think I just had a geek-gasm...

Mr. Nighttime said...

"And I agree that both Death Stars were fully armed and operational, but the second one never blew up a planet like the first one did in "A New Hope."

Ah, but that was not your original statement. Your original statement read: "While only the Death Star in Episode IV is ever fired," This is not true. Maybe it never blew up a planet, but it was fired.

Also, if you want to see Dennis Lawson in another role, and a good one, rent "Local Hero."

One other things; not all the books, if any of them, are considered cannon.

Anonymous said...

I love Star Wars trivia.
Some friends bought the SW Saga Trivial Pursuit. We only played two games, as whoever went first ran the board until victory both times.

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