As most of you may know by now... Joss Whedon has been tapped to direct a Batgirl movie for DC Comics/Warner Brothers. No doubt following up on Suicide Squad's exceptionally received Harley Quinn and the anticipatory legendary experience of this summer's Wonder Woman, they're desiring to unleash all of their powerhouse female characters in the name of diversity and... well... making money. No matter. Even if they're only doing good for profit, at least good is still being released into the world.  Which brings up an excellent question.  How do we ensure that the Batgirl actress is the necessary good for this role? Superhero movies have been riding the railways of cinema into the souls of audiences for decades now. Some attempts were magnificent, some... less so. Others were jusssst enough to keep the train going. Crossing blades in the never ending duel of comic book faithfulness vs the heart of the character/story (or, for you Bible scholars, t...

Can you imagine... what it must be like to meet God face to face? To be cured of imperfection, if but for a moment. To defy your fluid mortality, stretching out your palms to catch the lightning, basking under the thunderous cascade of unfiltered Glory; to survive the penetrating impact of divine high beams, the all consuming light ignited unto holy fire, rolling high on Perfect Will that won't retire, happily devouring everything unlike it. Except you. Sunlight cannot eradicate its own brilliance. Only enhance it. And you, my friend, oh untapped shining Gleam from beyond the stars, now know what Moses felt like before he had to come back down the mountain of faith into the valley of life as usual. You, my friend, bearer of an irrevocable kinship to the All Force behind all that is, perched on your chair of shining silver, now comprehend Aslan's warning to Eustace before his purpose and his journey were introduced to one another and they dared take that first, courage...

Star Wars!!!! It's over. I can hardly believe I'm actually typing those words right now. It's really over. All these months of planning and anticipation... mentally and emotionally looking forward to it... paying for things in advance... this whole week of jarred sleeping patterns, line cutters, and feet worn to bloody stumps... it's- done. Don't be silly, of COURSE I knew it was ending. I knew it was a finite experience. Celebration isn't a daily occurrence (though it definitely should be). And yet... when love is involved... what makes sense is rendered meaningless. I love Star Wars. And for four, long days I was surrounded by literally tens of thousands of people who- in varying degrees- carried that same love inside of them. That same passionate devotion, that same inner connection to this marvelous creation, that same indebted spirit to the inestimable man of all men... George Lucas. This morning I woke up around 5:30. Another night passed in t...

Star Wars!!! As my eyes slowly opened, I stretched the length of my body with all the measured leisure of a tawny cat prepared for the prowl, muscles and joints popping a sweet orchestra of relief. The gentle exhale issued from betwixt my lips found solace in the four wall seal of pleasing temperatures. There were no glaring lights, no stranger neighbors occupying my sleeping space, no need to keep a sharp eye for those sneaky, minx line cutters. The sensation of rest was prevalent upon the trebling waters of my soul. For the first night in three days... I'd finally slept in a bed. And my GOD did it feel good. I woke up at a reasonable hour, assembled my rockstar clothing for the day, and headed down for breakfast. Morning hunger satisfied, so began the causal stroll in the warm sunlight down to the Orlando convention center for yet another day of Star Wars Celebration. The itinerary was pretty simple today. -Make it into the Celebration Store -Give my gift to Ashley Ec...

Star Wars!!! So after the grueling rigors of the day prior, having eaten and recharged all devices and backup chargers, we found our still sore feet back en route to Star Wars Celebration. I could hardly believe that after a FAR less than luxurious night, I was actually headed- eagerly- to do it again!  And why, do you ask? Because this year was exceedingly special. Not only was there the par-for-the-course groundbreaking Thursday, but (due to this being the 40th Anniversary Celebration) they'd already used their Thursday for that! Which meant that they had to have a SECOND groundbreaking day to cover ground over the biggest thing happening in Lucasfilm this year. The follow up to 2015's "The Force Awakens," number 8 in the overall Star Wars saga, the film title who traded classic yellow outlines for a sinister red, that's right I'm talking about... The Last Jedi. Let's talk about this for a minute. The original trilogy was tit...

“One ever feels his two-ness; an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.”   ―  W.E.B. DuBois I love watching the kids at Star Wars Celebration. Completely gripped by this powerful world that was passed onto them. They're so enthused, so bubbly, so full of raw energy that I find it contagious. I find it encouraging. Empowering. Enabling. I go out of my way to smile at them, nod affirmatively, strike a conversation, commend the particularly stellar or bold cosplay choices. Some kids don't know what to do with that. They usually look shocked, but upon seeing my earnest expression, that confusion quickly melts away into pure delight. And for the less abashed younglings, their eyes immediately light up. Which warms my heart. Because that's the whole point. Out there... immediately outside the great doors of this massive hall... I'm an adult. And ...

Star Wars!!! Thursday April 13th, 2017 kicked off the first day of Star Wars' largest nearly annual, community event- Star Wars Celebration. Packed to the brim with exciting panels, radical behind the scenes reveals, intimate conversations, wildly eclectic art, pricey autographs, bold debuts of exclusive clothing, and a hundred other galactic delights- this is not an event any Star Wars fan would want to miss. Boasting a range of packages suited to varying degrees of affordability and a rotating trio of beautiful locations (Anaheim, Orlando, and London), it has unabashedly made itself a staple icon in all the hallowed halls of Geekdom far and wide. However, for the especially zealous, there is another component. Thursday has long been THE day to go. Their first panel of the entire Celebration is always the high bar starter with the biggest experience attached to it. This year was no different. For weeks we'd been salivating, knowing that the very first panel was th...

(approximate read time: 2 minutes) Tomorrow is Star Wars. But today is a memory. To the daughter who died in her sleep this past weekend. To the people squeezed free of their last coins for being believers in Egypt. To the victims of yet another mass shooting at an educational institution. To the abused humiliated in this allegedly united communion. And with each breath, every memory becomes a tombstone, and every tombstone a blacklist. Each time I pause my thoughts, prophecies of darkness come marching on waters of charon armored to teeth with the only detail that ever matters. They weren't the first. And they won't be the last. My mind effortlessly spins galaxies on totems too well structured to ever pass the taste test for mainstream, yet raking these frayed leaves from desolated orchards of maimed branches and broken family trees has me beat. What song is this and who started it? More importanly- Am I just humming along, or bringing a new beat to the party?...