Trailer Thursday: “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

I know I’m a week late on this one, but seeing as we have watched this badass new Star Wars trailer probably a hundred times this last week alone there was just no way I could not share it here. In the past week I have been training my own little Jedi on the history and lore of the Star Wars universe and priming her for what to expect from the next chapter, J.J. Abrams hotly-anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Hell, I even sat through The Return of the Jedi with her on Sunday. Greta loved it, but let me tell ya, Jedi has not aged well, amigos. There were a few scenes that were so bad they actually made me question whether The Phantom Menace really is the worst film in the series. I mean, some of those “heavy acting” scenes with Luke and Leia…yikes! Needless to say, Greta and I are ready to get this new trilogy started already! Seriously, when can we get in line?!

And now, even though you’ve probably seen it a hundred plus times already yourself, here again is the second official trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Happy Trailer Thursday!

 

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Princess Book Party

Speaking of Halloween costumes, Greta got to test drive her Queen Elsa costume over the weekend at the Friends of the Burbank Library's very cool Princess Book Party. Held at the Burbank Library's central branch on Glenoaks, the event featured Princess trivia, bingo, crafts, cookies, gift bags and even a visit from everyone's favorite Disney Princess/Queen du jour, Queen Elsa from Frozen! Hooray!

As you can see, Greta had an awesome time. And despite the fact that there are already piles of library books scattered all over her bedroom, we came home with another big old batch of new ones as well. Now if I could just remember when they're all due back at the library, all would be right with the world. Either way, enjoy the pics!

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“Star Wars” cupcakes!

I don’t know how they spell perfection in your neck of the woods, but, if you ask me, nothing says Father’s Day more than a big old batch of Star Wars cupcakes! Greta and Mrs. Yeti had actually purchased this very cool Star Wars Cupcake Decorating Kit: Galactic Empire for Father’s Day (or maybe my birthday, I can’t remember) at Williams-Sonoma a while back and we just finally got around to using it this past weekend.

Featuring environmentally-friendly soy ink — who says the dark side can’t be green? — on the Darth Vader and Stormtrooper cupcake liners and four different die-cut paper cupcake toppers (Darth Vader, Boba Fett and two different Stormtroopers) the set also comes in a super-cool display box that Star Wars nerds like me will enjoy looking at for hours!

But best of all, these decorations are so cool that they make even store bought cupcakes made from a mix look totally homemade. That’s right, Daddy still likes his Duncan Hines or Pilsbury (whichever’s on sale…I ain’t fancy!) yellow cake mix and chocolate fudge frosting the best.

So, happy belated Father’s Day to all the Star Wars geeks out there. Oh, and if you prefer your cupcakes to be decorated with characters from the good side of the Force, Williams-Sonoma also makes a kit featuring Luke, Leia, Han Solo and Yoda. So, whichever way you lean…enjoy!

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“Star Wars: Episode VII” Cast Unveiled

Star Wars fans everywhere rejoiced this week at the news that director J.J. Abrams had finalized the cast for his upcoming and still untitled, Star Wars sequel. Even cooler than the confirmation that old favorites like Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford would definitely be returning was the news that such bad-ass actors as Girl’s star Adam Driver, Inside Llywen Davis lead, Oscar Isaac, Max von Sydow, and the man who plays Gollum, Andy Serkis will be joining the franchise as well.

I mean, seriously, just the idea of Serkis — an actor from one of my all-time-favorite film franchises: The Hobbit/The Lord of the Rings — joining the cast of another of my all-time-favorite film franchises is enough to make my big geeky head explode! So cool!

And even though there was only one new female cast member announced (newcomer Daisy Ridley) Abrams has hinted that there may be more to come in the weeks ahead, so, you never know.

I’m just hoping they cast someone to play Anakin’s former Padawan, Ahsoka Tano. Tano was, by far, the coolest character to emerge from The Clone Wars animated series and her fate was left very much in limbo at the end of the televised series. So, the thought of her character re-emerging in the live action sequels is almost too cool to contemplate. Seriously, I get goosebumps just thinking about it! Go, Ahsoka!

To read more Star Wars: Episode VII casting news, click here. And in the meantime enjoy this amazing pic of the new cast at a “table read” with Abrams. I love how R2-D2 is there in that little packing crate too…so rad!

Disney Princess Leia

I know I’m a little late on the bandwagon here, but, it suddenly occurred to me today that because of the gazillion dollar deal George Lucas made with Disney that Princess Leia is now officially a Disney Princess! How cool is that? In other totally rad Star Wars news, Disney has hired a writer (Little Miss Sunshine Oscar-winner Michael Arndt) to script Episode Seven, so, they are really hitting the ground running with this next trilogy of movies! Awe-some, huh?

Anyway, back to Princess Leia. Greta was so thrilled to hear about Leia’s ascension to the ranks of the Disney Princesses that she actually dug out her old Princess Leia doll (one of the first Barbie-sized dolls we gave her when she was born) and started playing with her again. Man, talk about the power of Disney marketing!

And while her Princess Leia doll did not score an invite to what looked to be the Barbie wedding of the century in Greta’s bedroom this afternoon, she is floating around near the top of the Barbie bin, so, there’s always hope (or…A New Hope…get it?) that Leia will get played with a lot more now that she’s part Disney. So, yay for her!