26
2009
Concert review: The force was with fans at ‘Star Wars in Concert’ at Cowboys Stadium
By JOY TIPPING / The Dallas Morning News
ARLINGTON – Cowboys Stadium was lighted Friday night not with lighters or cellphones, but with thousands of miniscule, flashing light-saber keyrings as fans showed their appreciation for “Star Wars in Concert.”
The multimedia event featured a full symphony orchestra playing John Williams’ music from all six Star Wars movies, lasers, flames and specially edited clips from the films. It played to a stadium that wasn’t as packed as for U2 or Paul McCartney, but seemed respectably at-least-two-thirds full.
Mark Watters led the orchestra, and Anthony Daniels, who played protocol droid C-3PO in the movies, provided live narration. The orchestra sounded better than I had expected in Jerry Jones’ Death Star, at least from the floor seats where I was perched. The stage was surrounded with acoustic blankets on three sides, which no doubt helped.
Daniels uttered every word as if … well, as if the fate of the empire depended on it. But he was hampered by a lackluster, repetitive script by Jamie Richardson. The author could use the force of both a dictionary (there were repeated instances of linguistic horrors such as “bravery and courage” and “intelligence and intellect”) and a thesaurus; surely there’s a synonym for “evil” that would allow for some variety in describing the bad guys.
The audience seemed an equal mix of relative Star Wars newbies (many toddlers in Yoda costumes) and long-in-the-tooth Jedi and Princess Leia wannabes (I wasn’t in costume, but I sorta wished my hair was long enough again for cinnamon-bun braids). Everyone seemed excited and inspired at the end, ready to go out and wield their tiny light sabers till the empire (or perhaps their bosses or spouses) give in to their demands and peace returns to the galaxy. Or at least the living room.
24
2009
news weird Jedi Claims Discrimination at Grocery Store
- by Jim Iovino
According to the Jedi code, there is no emotion, there is peace; there is no ignorance, there is knowledge; and there is no death, there is the force.
Oh, and if you’re shopping for some Wookiee Cookies at your local supermarket, there is no hood.
So says one Tesco grocery store in Wales, which busted a Jedi for shopping while cloaked. And the Jedi is striking back with a charge of religious discrimination.
Daniel Jones, founder of the International Church of Jediism, was told he couldn’t wear a hood while shopping in the Tesco, according to the Guardian.
He claimed that his religion, which allegedly has 500,000 followers worldwide and could be the fourth most-popular religion in England, states that he should wear the hood in public. So he’s thinking about taking legal action, the Guardian reported.
Now, we’re all for religious expression, and we’re all about Star Wars geekdom, but we’re siding with Tesco on this one. Why? Because they’re taking on this potential lawsuit with a great deal of professionalism and respect.
OK, OK … so they’re just making fun of the dude. And we’re eating it up.
Tesco said they’re not sorry for making Obi-Wannabe Kenobi remove his lid in their store because they said the “real” Obi-Wan, Yoda and Luke never wore their hoods inside.
They said Jones, also known by his Jedi name Morda Hehol, isn’t banned from their store, but that “Jedis are very welcome to shop in our stores, although we would ask them to remove their hoods.”
And the kicker from Tesco, which should make everyone want to shop there the next time they’re in Wales:
“If Jedi walk around our stores with their hoods on, they’ll miss lots of special offers.”
Come on, Morda, even a young Padawan knows that!
