More on the teaser poster and some love for Ewan

Like everyone else in fandom, I've been trying to decipher the three alleged images of Vader visible on the teaser poster. I have found 1) the very obvious Vader image within the cape and 2) the large hard-to-spot profile shot of Vader that incorporates part of Anakin's shoulder for the mouthpiece. Uh, where's the third one? As for reports of seeing images of Boba Fett, General Grievous, Sidious, or anyone else, they are fig newtons of the fanboy imagination. Lucasfilm must be very amused.

Anyway, for those who found the poster underwhelming, plenty of fans felt that way about the first two teaser posters, with TPM's too stark and boring and with AOTC's too reminiscent of Titanic. I loved both of the previous teasers and I love this one. It's interesting and dynamic. I think it will be very striking in person. One gal pointed out that in the TPM poster, the Vader shadow follows Anakin as he's looking down, unaware of what's to come. Now the shadow has caught up with him and he's looking squarely at you as his darkness is overtaking him. Then there's this interesting observation from geo3, posted on a Hayden list: "I can't get over the poster. It's unlike any Star Wars movie poster ever made. It's more like art than photography, and very clever. It shows Vader as what he is - a fallen angel. Look at the sweep of the wings..." Very astute!

The official site updated tonight with a new webdoc called "We Love Ewan." Well, it's actually called "Becoming Obi-Wan," but love for the lad from Crieff, Scotland and the nephew of Wedge Antilles is what the webdoc is all about. Not that this is a bad thing! Ewan is his adorable, charming, funny self. We get to see how he's changed since TPM and how he's worked toward becoming more like the old Ben Kenobi persona Alec Guinness made famous in ANH. Ewan's funniest line is about how Hayden gets to be the "keeper of the Jedi Mullet" in this movie. Hee hee! His most poignant moments are ( cut for potential spoilahs )

. Go check it out if you are hyperspaced:

http://www.starwars.com/hyperspace/member/me3/11.html

Speaking of Ewan, I watched the first part of his new show The Long Way Round on Bravo last night. It's about his trip from London to New York across Eurasia and North America, mostly by motorcycles with his friend Charley Boorman. Ewan is of course his adorable, charming, funny self. Boorman is a pretty amusing guy as well. The first episode shows them preparing for this completely crackpot trip, by working out, getting together bikes, convincing sponsors, training with guns, training with boxers, you name it. I'm aware of some of the accidents, scrapes, and illnesses suffered on this trip so it should make for some good t.v.. Check it out!

lazypadawan's House of Horrors (Part Two)

Here it is, a Halloween challenge story from 2002.

"Bedtime Story"

Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed. The younglings sat in the darkened room, their attention completely focused on the older storyteller around whom they formed a semi-circle. Their eyes were wide and their mouths were opened in little o's as the storyteller continued his tale.

"This madman hunted the darkest streets of Coruscant, finding the unwary as victims. Young, old, rich, poor, it didn't matter. They say that instead of a right hand, he had a hook...a hook he used as a weapon. He was captured once and put in an asylum for the criminally insane. He vowed revenge the first chance he got.

"One fateful rainy night, a night very much like this one, a young couple flew in their speeder to a secluded area within the industrial sector. It was known as a lovers' lane. The girl was a little worried being there, particularly since they were all alone. But her boyfriend told her it would be all right, not to worry. So they started kissing."

"Ewww..." the children chorused.

"Oh, it gets worse," the storyteller continued. "They had been listening to music and suddenly the program was interrupted with a news bulletin. The killer with the hook had escaped from the asylum and was seen in the vicinity. The boy wanted to keep on kissing, but his girlfriend was scared. She wanted to go home. The boyfriend told her there was no need to leave; there were plenty of places on Coruscant for the killer to go and the chances he'd end up on this lovers' lane were minimal. Besides, he reassured her, she was safe with him.

"But she wouldn't listen. 'Take me home right now!' she insisted. Frustrated, the boy reluctantly agreeed. He revved up the speeder and took off from the lovers' lane. Well, the boy and the girl were so angry at each other, they didn't speak the whole way back to the girl's home. When they finally got to her house, he wouldn't even get out to open her door. 'Thanks for a wonderful
evening,' she said sarcastically. 'You're welcome,' he snapped. The girl opened the speeder door, stepped out, and when she turned to close it, she gave out a horrible shriek.

"There, on the speeder door handle, was a bloodied hook..."

"Ooooh," the younglings said.

The storyteller leaned forward, his voice lowering to barely above a whisper. "They never did recapture the killer. They say he's still loose on the streets of Coruscant, looking for victims. And, he got a new hand--a mechanical hand--to replace the hook..."

The storyteller pulled back his sleeve to reveal a metal hand just as a flash of lightning illuminated the room.

The youngling screamed and scrambled out of the room, leaving the storyteller laughing in fits.

***

Anakin Skywalker strode down the corridors of the Temple when he encountered his master Obi-Wan. "Anakin, the Bear Clan younglings are agitated and restless; they have a hard time sleeping." Obi-Wan crossed his arms and cast a suspicious eye at his apprentice. "What did you do to them?"

Innocently, Anakin replied, "Nothing, Master. I just told them a bedtime story." Thunder rumbled, and a slight mischievous smile played on his lips as he continued on his way.