Star Wars with a THE

The story that George Lucas originally presented to producers and studio executives was very different than the movie that hit theaters in 1977.  Lucas's rough draft screen play was more like a combination of the "first" three movies that eventually came out as "prequels" after the original Star Wars: Episode IV blockbuster that introduced us to characters like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo from a galaxy far far away.  His original screenplay focused on the adventures of a young Annikin Starkiller who is assisted in his exploits to tackle the evil Empire by an elderly general named Luke Skywalker and an alien lizard creature named Han Solo... oh and among other differences there aren't light sabers but rather "lazer swords" in this version.

Now Dark Horse Comics is adapting George Lucas's original screenplay to an 8-issue comic book mini series.  Titled "The Star Wars" the first issue goes on sale September 4th:

This is the first time that "The Star Wars" story has been shared outside the inner circle of 20th Century Fox and Lucas Film executives.  What a fun treat it will be for Star Wars fans to enjoy a different take on a familiar story.  This is the first time George Lucas has licensed the telling of his first story script and it is pretty interesting that he is having it done in the visual medium of a comic book.  In a nod to maintaining the original "feel" & "spirit" of the screenplay, Dark Horse has announced that the artists working on this project are going to base their work and model it off Ralph McQuarrie's Star Wars concepts.  McQuarrie created the original concept art for Star Wars that Lucas used for pitching and producing the movie.  Unfortunately, McQuarrie (who is one of my favorite science fiction artists) passed away in 2012.  Read my post on a "SciFi Visionary".

Can't wait until Sept 4 to get a look at "The Star Wars"? OK here's a sneak peek for you:

 Based on successful sales it also makes you wonder if they might continue "The" story in a new stand alone comic series after the original story is concluded.  So are you interested in a new take on the Star Wars universe or would you prefer to just stick with to one ad portrayed in the movies? What are your thoughts on this new ( or maybe we should say "old") Star Wars project?

A Hands -On Adventure in Ann Arbor

We took a road trip with our kids this weekend to Ann Arbor to check out their children's Hands-On Museum.  The museum has a focus on teaching children about the science behind everyday life through more than 250 exhibits that let kids touch, feel & experience demonstrations & experiments.  Admission is $10 per person for both children and adults.   It is located on Ann Street tucked away along a nice neighborhood in downtown Ann Arbor in close proximity to 2 parking decks and numerous restaurants.  The museum is divided up into 9 areas covering four floors: the "Concourse", "All About You", "Preschool Gallery", "Legacy Gallery", "Michigan Nature", "World Around You", "Lyons Country Store", "Light & Optics" & "Media Works".

The "Concourse" is the main floor of displays for the Hands-On Museum.  Some of the fun and interesting things they had on display were whisper dishes at either end of a hall that reflected sound waves so that you could hear someone whisper to you from one dish to the other, the Building in a Building that shows you how things like a toilet, furnace, insulation, and electricity work inside your house, Google Liquid Galaxy that provided a 3-D computer generated view of the world around us as if you were exploring the Earth from a visiting space ship, the Tornado Generator that recreates miniature tornadoes in front of your eyes, along with an area where you can play with huge building blocks, water tables, and an original World War 2 flight simulator.

The "All About You" area of the Hands-On Museum has a real ambulance on display where you can climb aboard and pretend you are on an emergency run.  They also have machines that you can interact with that let you hear your heart beat and do other things to explain health topics and let you examine your own physical fitness.

We spent the bulk of our trip in the "Preschool Gallery" that had a huge exhibit that demonstrates how physics work by shooting rubber balls through a metal obstacle course in addition to water tables, a fish tank with a real life Finding Nemo clown fish, a building blocks room, a play house and a miniature fire truck.

The "Preschool Gallery" is designated for children 5 and under.  It is a shame that the museum doesn't have the another physics display like the one in this area for older children to have access to because I believe it would be entertaining and educational for most grade school kids of any age.  It's nice to have a space for younger children to enjoy without being overwhelmed by "older kids" but this was one of my son and daughter's favorite parts of the museum and they'll be too old to experience it again if we go back again as they will be turning 5 in a few months.  My 4 year old twins did have a blast in this area though during our trip!

The "Lyons Country Store" is an early 20th century general store that shows store goods and toys from this time period.  What is most interesting about this display though is the 21st century tech it demonstrates ... there is a realistic 3 dimensional hologram that tells you about the store in the exhibit.  This probably was the Geek Daddy's favorite part of our visit. I wish I'd gotten a good picture to share with you but unfortunately all my photos just show a blur.

The "World Around You" had a really fun exhibit where you walked inside a circular area and pulled on a chain.  This action raised a screen around you that created a bubble film screen around you.  I hadn't seen this type of display before, based on the same premise as blowing bubbles in the back yard, and it was fun to play with.  The area also had a bee hive, a piano you could walk on and play like the one in the movie "Big" and some pipes that you banged on with a sandal to make music.  There also was a fun climbing wall for the kids along the back wall of the room. This was another interesting and amusing part of the museum.

The "Legacy Gallery" had some interesting mechanical displays including an awesome exhibit called the Magnetoscope which allows you to manipulate magnetic fields to create amazing patterns in fluid.  It also had an interesting maze display that shoots metal balls through it to explain how the Internet and email work.

Unfortunately, I have to say that the last three areas of the museum were somewhat lame and could use some work, even though our kids did have some fun in the "Media Works" area dancing in front of a screen that re-displayed their images on a big screen as colorful images that vibrated to their motion. That being said overall it is a very nice facility with friendly staff and we had an enjoyable experience with our visit.

If you live in Southeastern Michigan or may be visiting and have preschool, kindergarten or young grade school kids, I'd recommend stopping by the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum.  For families with older children, you may want to consider a trip to the Imagination Station in Toledo though.  Check out my post from our family's visit there: "Our Trip to the Imagination Station."

Jeffrey Brown wonders what Middle School would be like as a Jedi in new book

Cartoonist Jeffrey Brown who recently brought us the books "Star Wars: Darth Vader & Son" and "Star Wars: Vader's Little Princess" has a new book set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away coming out in September 2013.  In Chronicle Books' Star Wars: Jedi Academy, after being turned down for a spot in the Pilot Academy's Middle School program tween aged student Roan Novachez is taken under the wing of Yoda who trains him in the ways of the Jedi instead.

While Brown's Darth Vader & Son and Vader's Little Princess are filled with colorfully illustrated humorous sketches similar in characteristic to Gary Larson's The Far Side work but with Star Wars themes, characters and references; Jedi Academy is a vastly different book from his previous two Star Wars ventures.

Jedi Academy in contrast to the artwork shown above from Darth Vader & Son and Vader's Little Princess is more comparable to the style of Matt Groening's Life in Hell comic strips and books.that he created before coming up with the Simpsons. Jedi Academy is mostly in black and white and sketched out as if it was drawn as a journal personally by the main character Roan Novachez.  The artwork appears sketchy and amateurish but that is the creative goal of the author as he portrays the story as coming from the real journal of a middle school jedi ... somewhat like Diary of a Wimpy Kid meets Star Wars.  There are pages of "hand written" journal entries and copies of school documents (admission letter, report cards) to go along with Novachez's sketches and cartoons.  There are also some "photographs" that were either mailed to Novachez or that he took during his adventures and added to his journal and look more like the work in Brown's previous two Star Wars books and show how the author is intentionally providing drawings in this story meant to provide perspective from a tween's view.  A nice touch to the book was the ending which encourages young readers to create their own journals and provides them with tips to what to include in one.

Jedi Academy would be a great book for kids age 8 - 11 to enjoy.  This book is geared more for children  and I personally really didn't find the book that interesting or enjoyable of a read from an adult perspective.  Fans of Brown's previous Darth Vader books need to know this book takes a very different approach to its artwork and layout than those other two books, which I personally really enjoyed reading both with my kids and by myself.  The cover artwork for Jedi Academy appears similar to the artwork in Brown's Darth Vader books so it is important for people to understand that this is not a sequel book to that series but rather a stand alone book that is completely different. That being said I believe this is a cute fun romp of a story with some nice life lessons for younger readers and any book that encourages an appreciation of reading with kids is a plus for this geeky daddy.  Keep an eye out for Jedi Academy for that young padawan  in your life.

DISCLAIMER:  I received a complimentary digital advance pdf copy of "Jedi Academy" from the publisher. The opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive compensation for this review.

Comedy Duo Parodies Blockbuster Movies & Hit TV Shows with Children in Song

Who needs to watch blockbuster movies or hit television series when you can watch instead online episodes of MIDDLE SCHOOL MUSICAL.  Self-proclaimed "Internetainers" Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal who are known for producing humorous online videos have scripted and casted a troop of want-to-be child actors for a series of YouTube performances that mock the High School Musical movies and GLEE by performing parodies of movies and television shows.  The Middle School Musical clips portray the vibe of being at a junior high drama club performance combined with the witty scripting of Rhett & Link and entertaining performances by their tween cast.

So far there are three Middle School Musical performances that parody STAR TREK, SUPERMAN, & BREAKING BAD.  Word of mouth, Facebook LIKES & twitter RTs are getting around about this new sensation and if YouTube views continue to skyrocket I'm sure there will be more Middle School Musical performances to come! Check them out!

So which MIDDLE SCHOOL MUSICAL is your favorite?

The Filibuster of all Filibusters: Patton Oswalt's Appearance on "Parks & Recreations"

I'll always think of actor/comedian Patton Oswalt as the character "Spence" from one of my favorite tv shows King of Queens.  He's had a lot of fan fare this year for another role though, his portrayal of "Angry Citizen" in an episode of NBC's Parks and Recreation.  In this appearance, to try and stop a vote by the Pawnee City Council he does a citizen filibuster.  The show's producer's told Oswalt to just wing it for what he said during the filibuster scene so he did an off the cuff one take oratory on his thoughts of what the new upcoming Star Wars Episode 7 should be about .. the scene's funny but also pretty impressive in that he just talked about what popped into his head and kept it going for the entire take with detailed information about the Star Wars and Marvel universes as he carefully packages them together as commonly owned Disney studios properties too.  Check out Oswalt's Filibuster from Parks & Recreation:

This scene has taken on new life now, as The Nerdist reports that fans of the Parks & Recreation clip are creating animated versions of Oswalt's movie vision.  Check out these fan animations of "The Filibuster" ...which one is your favorite?

A Runners Review: Timex Marathon GPS

I've been upping my mileage from a few laps on the local high school track to spending an hour or two running the neighborhood streets hoping the cardio would help lower my cholesterol, boast my endurance, and improve my overall health.  The problem was I had no idea how far I actually was running during these fartleks which would be helpful information when determining if I was strong enough to run a particular distance for a race.  Wouldn't be good to think you were in great shape for say a 10 mile race thinking your training runs were 5 - 8 miles long when it turns out you were only averaging 3 or 4 miles instead.  Especially when you aren't in "peak" shape it often seems you have run a "long distance" that sometimes just isn't as far as you thought.

As a "recreational" runner I didn't want to invest hundreds of dollars into a GPS watch but I did want to get one that would help me get an accurate grasp on my training.  I found the TIMEX MARATHON GPS WRIST WATCH priced at $99 but on sale for $79 and with my wife's Kohl's cash I walked out the door with it for around $50.  I thought that was too great of a deal to pass up when the only other equivalent GPS watch I could find was around $89.  I have to say while there have been some disappointments with the watch it has overall worked out well for how I use it - which is mainly to check my mileage and pace after I've wrapped up a run.

The TIMEX MARATHON has had great battery life, my run workouts normally last 1/2 hour to an hour on average and I only need to recharge the watch once a week for a couple hours by plugging it into my computer.  Based upon my use, I'm sure that if you wanted to use the Marathon for a marathon it's battery would get you through the race.  Another great feature has been the GPS, I have not had any problems picking up a strong signal anywhere I've run including along tree lined streets, downtown urban areas with tall buildings and on forest trails.  The GPS has been very accurate as well.  I went back and traced one of my first runs using the TIMEX MARATHON with my car and its pedometer matched the watch's results.  I was curious if the watch would work if I was just running circles and wore it over at the high school track and it accurately tracked the number of miles I ran on the track. So it works well for my primary need of tracking my mileage during a run.

Pace is a little different issue.  The watch works well for giving you a breakdown of your overall pace and pace by settable distances such as quarter mile, half mile, or mile marks.  It also has a feature that shows your pace while running.  I have found that it takes about a half mile of constant running before it provides an accurate pace speed and this is an estimate of your movement between GPS pings so it doesn't seem to be 100% accurate while you are running compared to the final info you are given when you wrap up your workout.

Unlike some other watches, this watch doesn't provide a computer program to allow you to map your routes and workout/race data on a pc or mac.  It does allow you to save some info of past workouts on the watch but I haven't found that very useful.  It is also not very user friendly in utilizing and flipping through its features, especially while on the run.  I've been a little stunned on how difficult they have made it to operate this watch when it could have been made a lot simpler to use.

A plus has been with this watch that it has been very light weight and comfortable to wear.  I hate to admit it but I've been genetically cursed with small wrists for being a guy and this wrist fit me real nice without looking like something built for the ladies.  So this watch would be functional for women as well as men looking for a GPS watch.  In fact the design of the watch makes it gender neutral so anyone can wear it and enjoy it.

If you are looking for a watch to help you with in race pacing or intensive training this isn't for you, but if you want something that is comfortable for the casual runner that will provide you with dependable information on exactly how many miles you have run, or maybe walked, during a workout or race based on the price this is a bargain that gets the job done.  So if you lose track of where you are on a road race course this watch will let you know that you are at the 3K point of a 5K race or if you've been jogging for a half hour it will let you know how many miles you've actually put in your workout.  For my purposes that has been extremely useful and I haven't needed the extra bells and whistles on other more expensive GPS watches.  The TIMEX MARATHON isn't a perfect watch but it gets the job done.

For more information, visit http://www.timex.com/watches/timex-marathon-gps-t5k639f5 

Roughing It on our First Camping Trip with our Kids

We bought a tent and decided it was time to indoctrinate our children to the age old ritual of going camping with your parents.  So a few weekends ago we packed up the kids and took a 2 hour drive to the wilderness of Waterloo State Recreation Area and pitched Fort Camp Geek Daddy.  It was the first time the twins had ever been camping and the first time I'd slept in a tent since the canoeing trips of my college years.  I have to say there was a level of anxiety in the air of three days with no internet, tv and air conditioning had by all as we ventured out but the excitement of doing something new pushed us to persevere with this family adventure.

Waterloo State Recreation Area is the largest state park in Michigan at over 20,000 acres.  The park has 47 miles of nature & hiking trails, 11 lakes, several beaches and playscapes, a disc golf course, and the Gerald Eddy Discovery Center. Our first task was deciding which camp ground to stay at.  We didn't want to be surrounded by RVs that had all the comforts of home while we were roughing it.  My wife suggested the tents only "rustic" camping ground until she discovered that "vault toilets" meant the bathroom was a hole in the ground.  So we went with Portage Lake a "semi-modern" campground that provided each camp site with electricity and had a bathhouse with toilets and showers.  It was nice that about half the campers at the campground were in tents and the rest were in pop ups or 5th wheels.  I don't believe there were any RVs, or an extensive number of 5th wheel trailers, because there weren't cement slabs to park on or water/sewage hookups at the individual camp sites.  It was a nice environment for tent camping.

Portage Lake has a "no alcohol" policy which I would have hated a few years ago but now that I'm a dad with preschoolers tagging along really made our trip more fun and peaceful than it could have been if we'd been situated with rowdy drinkers spending the weekend partying outdoors.  The campground was mostly populated by families with grade school age children and seniors which made for a relaxing laid back getaway.  I have to give the DNR kudos too because the bathrooms were really clean ... the showers might even have been cleaner than the one at our house.  There was a nice playscape walking distance from our tent plus a great beach just a little further down the trail.  Also the park has a volunteer family, some retired seniors, who stay there and keep an eye on things and provide people with a library of books or games like bean bag toss or checkers that you can borrow from them.  There are several volunteer families who each serve a month at a time at the campground.  The guy during our stay was very friendly and road his bike around the campground several times a day to keep tabs on things and introduce himself to everyone.  I really appreciated that extra personal touch as an effort to make sure people's visits were top notch.

The only incident we had during our trip was a raid one evening by some raccoons of our picnic table.  My wife woke me up around 1am in the morning saying she heard something outside the tent.  I went out to shoo them away but they pretty much just ignored me so I went back to bed (fortunately we had stored our food and garbage in the car so there was nothing for them to really get into, though one rubbed its ass all over our frying pan on the camping stove-yuck!) Here's a picture taken by my wife from INSIDE our tent while I was OUTSIDE fending off the great raccoon invasion of 2013:

We had a fun time and will definitely be going on another family camping adventure soon. If you are looking to go camping in southern Michigan I absolutely recommend you check out the campgrounds at the Waterloos State Recreation Area.