A Stormtrooper Goes Shopping in Japan

This is kind of silly, but entertaining to any Star Wars fan--a couple of the guys over at AkihabaraNews.com decided it would be fun to follow a guy dressed up as a stormtrooper as he went shopping for various items. Surprisingly enough, the Japanese still think Star Wars is cool--or at the very least, that stormtroopers are. ;) Here's how cool it is to have a stormtrooper costume on in Japan:



[http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-10536-Shopping+spree+with+a+Storm+Trooper+at+Akihabara.html|Head on over to see all of the pics they took]. My personal fave is the trooper playing a DS. Thanks be to Kotaku.com for [http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/only-in-japan/stormtrooper-hits-tokyo-plays-nintendo-ds-134580.php|blogging on this]. Photo credit goes to AkihabaraNews.com, natch. Cropped by yours truly.

George Takei Beams Himself Out of the Closet

FINALLY!! I've heard for years that George Takei, Star Trek's Captain Sulu, was of TheGay. I always wondered why he didn't just come out of the closet. I'm guessing it's because he was hoping for the top spot in a Trek spin-off with him as captain of a starship and as we all know, Hollywood can't have a homosexual in the center seat. Perhaps now that the Trek franchise is dead and buried (thanks, Paramount!!) he decided he could out himself.

Regardless, I'm glad he did finally come out. I get so frustrated with stars who don't just admit they're gay. It sends the wrong message to both gays and straights. It tells other gays that they should hide their true identities because of a career backlash. It tells straights that being gay is something to be embarassed by after all.

So, cool--George Takei is gay.

Read more about it in [http://www.proudparenting.com/page.cfm?sectionid=59&typeofsite=storydetail&ID=713&storyset=yes|an article] at ProudParenting.com.

Sad Time for Star Wars Purists, Porkins Has Died (again)

Amongst the chaos that was my last week I managed to miss a bit of sadness that depressed the fanboy in me. William Hootkins died of pancreatic cancer at the age of just 58. Don't know who William Hootkins was? Here's a pic to jog your memory:

Yep, that's him in one of the greatest sequences ever filmed--the trench battle sequence in the original Star Wars.

For those of you who are as good with faces as I am, you know that he was in a bunch of other movies, including another film that is close to many Star Wars fans' hearts--he was one of the men who sent Indiana Jones on his quest to find the Lost Ark in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Porkins was his first role, but he's stayed quite busy over the years. It's sad to see him go so young. I've got his action figure and I'll always keep him safe and even though I only saw you in a handful of things, your subtle realism kept me from questioning the reality of any situation that you were in the middle of.

You will be remembered...

Read more about Hootkins in [http://www.theforce.net/latestnews/story/William_Hootkins_Has_Passed_Away_95433.asp|a nice little article] over at TheForce.Net.