OT: How it went

Not to brag or boast, but not even Martha Stewart could've pulled off a better wedding than my little bro's. Perfect weather, great setting at a winery in Sonoma County, excellent food, open bar (I don't drink but I think having a cash bar at an event like a wedding is tack-y), not too many people but not too few, good music, beautiful flowers ('tis a shame I couldn't keep my bouquet), not too long but not too short, and lots of attention to detail. For example, the favor was a nice metal wine bottle opener with the couple's name and wedding date on it. There were envelopes provided for those who traveled only with carry-on luggage and didn't want to risk getting their bottle opener seized, so you could mail it home at no cost. Awesome idea, huh? Even though I guess in some ways I'm more of a traditionalist than my brother and the Mrs., at least they did without the foolishness and tackiness associated with a lot of modern weddings and stayed classy.

Well, not everything went without a hitch. The problem with holding a wedding in a rural area is that you have to drive all over creation to get all of these things beforehand accomplished. My dad was practically running a shuttle service. When I got my nails done on Friday, my toenails were still in that sticky/gummy stage and I didn't realize it as I put on closed shoes to attend the rehearsal and dinner. The next morning as I took a shower I noticed all of this black crud all over my toenails from the shoe. Eeek! Luckily my aunt had some similar colored nail polish around and we fixed 'em up.

Then there was the ceremony. During the rehearsal, I had flats. During the ceremony, I wore heels. The ceremony was on a lawn and there was no board or runner to walk on. I found out too late that the ground was soft, so walking down the aisle was like trying to navigate through a mixture of quicksand and glue. The bride saw what was happening and walked on tippy-toes. She is a lot thinner and lighter than I am; I had no choice but deal with sinking heels. I got through it but the shoes are grass-stained and ruined :(.

Aside from that I learned the following from the experience:

1. Being a bridesmaid post ceremony is really easy. You're just on autopilot as you take a few pictures, then you're left to enjoy the dinner while the bride and groom have to keep taking more pictures (I swear we had an Annie Leibovitz wanna-be for the photog) and make the rounds to the tables and stuff.

2. The smartest thing you can do is change into flats once you're done with pictures.

3. If you're part of the wedding party, do not be cheap and pay to have your hair and makeup done. Unless you are a Hollywood makeup artist there will be a very noticeable difference between your homemade makeup job and a professional one done on everyone else. At least I got to spend a nice afternoon at the Fairmont's awesome spa.

Whew, it's all over.

Star Wars Designer Jeans

I saw this on denimology.co.uk:



Designer Red Monkey crafted these jeans from high quality Japanese denim and you can replace the buttons with jewels if you feel like bringing a little bling to your fannishness.

So, you want to know how much it will cost to bear the Imperial logo on your heinie? Try 480 pounds or, about $1000. Only 500 have been made:

http://www.baggamenswear.co.uk/PRD_ProductDetail.aspx?cid=18&prodid=2001&Product=Red-Monkey-RMC-Star-Wars-Jeans&source=webgains&siteid=22843#height_427

Random Thoughts

Here are my thoughts on news and events of the past few days:

1. Indy V--If they want to make it, it'll have to be soon. Lucas has said a new Indy wouldn't feature Shia "Inmate #34934" LeBeouf as the star, it would feature Harrison Ford. Ford is 65 and counting. If they wait another 19 years, the McGuffin will have to be located in a convalescent home.

2. Clone Wars--Fandango and Movie Tickets.com are already selling tickets for some select theaters. As predicted, there's a-hattery and backhanded compliments in some of the early reviews. What is disheartening is just how much hostility there is on many internet/geek culture sites. Some of these putzes are even posting negative reviews of a movie they haven't seen yet on both Fandango and Movie Tickets. Maybe this won't have much of an effect on the box office; I have a feeling kids won't be paying the bedwetters and mouthbreathers any attention but it's still a bummer. Really guys, you've had elves, pirates, and now Batman to go worship. Leave my fandom the **** alone.

3. Ahsoka--I've seen some comments that perhaps they're selling Ahsoka a little too hard. I'm not sure I agree with that or not, but it is obvious to me they really want Ahsoka to attract an audience previously not known for its hardcore love of SW: tween girls. At least there isn't a bunch of glittery crowns and Hannah Montana type stuff. Yet ;). But I can see the value of having a Jedi heroine the 8-12-year-old girls can hang their hats on. She's way more wholesome than that Miley Cyrus. From what I've seen, Ahsoka seems like a charming and likable character.

4. Live Action Series--Planning to shoot in Sydney....heard that one before. Now it looks more like 2010, not surprised.

5. Chutzpah--Simon Pegg wins the David Prowse Award with a WENN interview where he expressed a desire to work on the live action show (not Clone Wars, as the official starwars.com blog says) after years of prequel bashing. Granted, the live action show will not take place in the PT era. But here's where Pegg gets ridiculous: Now he has his heart set on working for the forthcoming TV series of the legendary franchise - but fears he has made himself an enemy of the production company with his comments.

Pegg says, "I might try to wheedle my way back into the affections of Lucasfilm (Lucas' production company) and write an episode of the new live action Star Wars TV series." Yeah, Lucasfilm hates him so much they interviewed him on starwars.com where they let him rant on about his hatred for the prequels and even sent him a freebie set of the pre-Special Edition OT DVDs with a personal note. Waaaaah.