"One who has returned from the netherworld of the Force...your old master."

"Qui-Gon!"
Yoda to Obi-Wan, Revenge of the Sith

...and Star Wars. Now, like all of us know, Star Wars truly is forever. But, for a brief time there, it did seem as if that galaxy far far away did slip quietly off into the Outer Rim. Sure, there were still some sweet Hasbro figures here and there and some novels (I just can't seem to get into the Legacy series...it just seems to farfetched and detatched. But, I'm willing to give it a go...I just need some coaxing). It was only a matter of time before that quiet after the storm broke into the quiet before the storm.

That said storm having hit this past weekend.

Like whoa, dudes! There certainly is never a day where Star Wars isn't a part of my everyday conundrum of life events. But since CIV kicked off, it seems like Star Wars has exploded into our lives once more with the same fervor I remember floating around before Episode III.

The biggest surprise of all is, without a doubt, the unveiling of some Clone Wars footage. We've all been twiddling our thumbs patiently and as always Lucas and his team of imagineers rose to the occasion. Not only does the series look phenominal, but it highly exceeds my expectations, especially for a computer animated television series. Just looking back at Tartakovsky's series now, it looks so much more simpler. That's not a bad thing, because I adore the series, but the new show seems to have more of the cinematic scope that is Star Wars. That shot where Obi-Wan is chasing the vulture droid and then it explodes with R4 twiddling away, gets me every time. It's funny, really. Once more Lucas managed to keep me glued to a screen as I played the trailer again and again and again... Just like Episode III. I don't know how he does it, but he does.

That alone would have been enough. But, wait there's more. Hasbro and all of the other companies have once again outdone themselves. I've never been more excited to collect Star Wars than right now, what with the 30th anniversary collection and all. The packaging is brilliant and it really embodies everything that is and was Star Wars. The Mcquarrie series is sheer brilliance by the way and makes collecting fun again.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the opportunity to attend CIV, I had to attend my own American tradition...PROM. But, with starwars.com, I felt like I was right there! Particular kudos go out to the sw.com team. Way to be, dudes! I loved the blog, the pictures, the videos, and everything else.

To top it all off...the recent Star Wars excitement was made all the better by the great History Channel documentary, Star Wars The Legacy Revealed. I taped it thinking that it'd just be a nice little piece to watch when I had nothing better to do. Boy, was I wrong. It was an absolutely phenominal documentary and I think that the real treat was seeing all six episodes strung together so nicely and with such meticulous care. Now, that would make a nice addition to any bonus disc in the future. Plus, it tied right in with my AP English final earlier that week. Irony is amazing. We had to give speeches about anything that we could talk about for fifteen minutes or so. Naturally, I chose Star Wars, but I talked about Luke's hero's journey. It went so well and was recieved warmly...my teacher came up to me afterward and said to me, "I really enjoyed that. It was quite....(he paused) cerebral." You better believe it! Star Wars is always cerebral.

To say the least it has been nothing short but an AMAZING week for the galaxy we all know and love. And, I suppose, with my first real blog in nearly a year...I thought that I'd point that out. It's nice to be back at the blogs and now that I'm graduating (in one week!) I have so much more time and particularly, so much more to blog about (graduation, PROM, and especially college...oh and Star Wars). Star Wars never ceases to amaze us and I know that it will for the next ten, twenty, and fifty years!

So, appreciate it. I know that we all do...