Jyn Erso, the Rising Rebel

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May27graphicCaitlin and Charlotte are joined by Sarah Dempster, Star Wars blogger and super fan, to discuss Rogue One’s Jyn Erso and Beth Revis’s new Star Wars novel, “Rebel Rising.” They discuss pros, cons, and our thoughts on Jyn as a character. They also touch upon the question of whether the Star Wars films should be dependent on the new books as a character story source. All this and more on the newest Skytalkers episode!

Follow us on @skytalkerspod for more fun and individually @crerrity and @caitlinplesher. Thanks for listening!

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Weekly Transmission 5/26/17

Hi Star Wars fans! We are implementing a new feature on skytalkers.com… a week in review! Every Friday we’ll post our favorite finds from across the web: tweets, articles, photos, etc. related to the galaxy far, far away. Submissions welcome!

  1. Before our newest podcast goes up tomorrow, don’t forget to check out latest podcast on The Last Jedi poster, Anakin’s fall to the dark side, and what our favorite new canon novel is: click here to download it on iTunes!
  2. Japanese poster for The Last Jedi claims that the film includes the biggest reveal yet in a Star Wars film! What does it all mean? Should we even consider this anything besides a cheeky marketing scheme? I tend to believe that it’s purely to getting an audience excited… I suppose all will be revealed in December!
  3. The big news of the week was Vanity Fair’s huge spread on The Last Jedi. Which photo is your favorite? A few of our favorite things revealed: the beautiful Carrie Fisher photos, details about Laura Dern’s character, the fact that Rose Tico (hello, last name!) has a sister in the film, and the name of the casino planet/city, Canto Bight.star-wars-portfolio-06-2017-ss02
  4. A collection of Constable Zuvio stories made by some fans for Heath’s birthday (we included a story!). Forward and project spearheaded by the amazing Danny! Click it for insanely weird and totally fun fan fiction based on the Kyuzo lawman who never really had much screen time. 
  5. Laura Dern was with John Williams, who is currently scoring The Last Jedi:Screen Shot 2017-05-23 at 3.55.06 PM

… and that’s it! Be sure to check here again for tomorrow’s newest episode!

#StarWars40th: Our Moms Tell Us the First Time They Saw Star Wars

On this day in 1977, Star Wars was released to 32 theaters in the United States. Caitlin and I are in our twenties and are always kind of sad we missed that earth-shattering experience: we can only dream of what it must have been like to see Star Wars for the first time on 70 mm.

We have our own “first viewing” experiences, and we’ve collected them below. However, we asked each of our moms to describe the first time they saw Star Wars in 1977. Those memories are also recounted below:

Charlotte’s Mom, Michele: In 1977, I was 13 years old and my father gathered our family and told us we were all getting in the car, and we were headed for a big surprise. He wouldn’t tell us where we were going or what we were doing, only that it would be “life changing.” We didn’t know, but we drove for a really long time to Paramus, NJ to the triplex there. When we found out we were seeing Star Wars, we were so excited but we had no idea exactly what we were going to see. Even though we walked out of there not fully understand what the heck happened, it was the most insane movie ever–no one had ever seen anything like it before. We were just awestruck and I was hooked forever. Then I bought the original soundtrack. And my massive crush on Mark Hamill began… and will never end.

Caitlin’s Mom, Robbin: Star Wars was a first. Several firsts, really. It was my initial foray into science fiction, a genre I agreed to for that date night only because everyone was raving. Never before had I seen a movie full of all the elements that bored me most–alien beings, imaginary galaxies, and inter-galactic “shoot ’em ups”– and loved it all! The music was symphonic, the plot compelling, and the special effects truly unprecedented. I l left the theatre that night hoping ( and believing) the good guys would always win, and that Luke, Leia, and Han and would share a never ending story.

Charlotte: Everyone knows I had to be dragged out of The Phantom Menace in 1999 because the podracers were just too loud for my 5 year old years. However, the first time I really watched Star Wars, I was about 10 years old and my mom forced them upon me. I had grown up watching “epic” films like Jurassic Park and Indiana Jones, and my mom figured it was only natural that I watch the original Star Wars trilogy. I was hesitant, because I wasn’t too into space.

Despite that initial fear, I’ll always remember my mom sitting me down to watch the now-classic film, and me loving it, and getting excited as the credits rolled to watch Empire Strikes Back next. There’s really something so magical, inspiring, genre-bending, and life-altering about these films that, since then, have hooked me and never let go.

Caitlin: The first time I saw Star Wars does not involve line waiting, movie theater popcorn, or crowds of people in Jedi robes with light sabers. The first time I saw Star Wars was in my basement with Charlotte and my family’s lumpy pull out couch. We watched The Phantom Menace,  and it was like nothing I had ever seen before. I remember thinking that Naboo was a place I needed to go and that there would never be anything as cool as Duel of the Fates. I was mesmerized, enchanted, and all in on Star Wars. However, I’d be lying if I didn’t mention that I needed to listen to Weird Al’s “The Saga Begins” a number of times to really understand everything going on in the movie! Everything else though, as they say, is history.

Thank you Star Wars, for always making me feel right at home in that galaxy far far away.


Padmé & Leia: Ashley Eckstein & Ashley Taylor Signing at Disney Springs

Friend of Skytalkers Brittany Barnim was gracious enough to document her experience at Disney Springs in Orlando, Florida meeting Ashley Eckstein and Ashley Taylor at a signing for the Her Universe Leia and Padmé design, special for Mother’s Day. Below are her thoughts!


A signing that will be long remembered

Opportunities come and go in life, but it is rare to have the chance to meet those who inspire you and to my utter disbelief; I’ve had that chance three times over in the past month. Last month at Star Wars Celebration, I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to meet one of my greatest heroes, Hayden Christensen, but I never imagined a mere few weeks later I would be able to meet two individuals who I’ve greatly admired for years, Ashley Eckstein of Her Universe, and Ashley Taylor, a prominent artist for Her Universe and Walt Disney Studios. Both of these ladies make the galaxy burn brighter with their fearless pursuit of their dreams and their support of those pursuing their own passions, and I can not express how grateful I was to be able to attend their Wonderground Gallery signing in Disney Springs where they debuted their Mother’s Day piece featuring Princess Leia Organa and her birth mother, Queen Padmé Amidala.

The print itself is a beautiful rendition of what could have been if things had been different for Padmé Amidala and Anakin Skywalker. It is made even more poignant when I take into account that it was my mother who ignited my undying love for the galaxy far, far away. Whereas Princess Leia has always been a favorite of my mom’s since she was first introduced to Star Wars, a love she passed on to me, I’ve always been drawn to Padmé. I was five years old when The Phantom Menace was released in theaters in 1999, a movie I dragged my mother to go see (at least that’s what she says), where I was introduced to the hero I never knew I needed in Padmé, a hero I still admire to this day.

Fast forward to Friday May 31st, 2013, the day I attended Star Wars Weekends for the first time and coincidentally, the day I bought my first few pieces of Her Universe merchandise, including their Padmé Nouveau #2 tee Ashley debuted that Spring. It was on that Friday that I became a die-hard fangirl for the Her Universe brand because she released a design that beautifully depicted a character I’ve loved dearly for nearly my entire life when representation of that particular character is far and few-between. As someone who was teased as a little girl for wearing a boy’s Star Wars sweatsuit because it was the only piece of clothing I could find with Queen Amidala featured, I can’t begin to explain how much it meant to me to own something I could wear with my all-time favorite characters in cinematic history, Padmé and Anakin, being the primary focus. It was a feeling I will never forget and it is something I am infinitely grateful for. This is why when I heard that Ashley Eckstein and Ashley Taylor were debuting a Mother’s Day design featuring Padmé, I made it a priority to attend the event and let these two ladies know how much it meant to me to include this character I hold so dearly to my heart.

Ashley Taylor has long done doodles of Padmé in different forms that I’ve greatly admired over the years, but nothing quite as moving as this piece given the tragic context of the films and the familial ties that bind quite a few of us Star Wars fans to the saga.

To end this piece, I would like to say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, to Ashley Eckstein and Ashley Taylor for continuing to represent the Star Wars saga in it’s entirety with such beauty and grace, and for being wonderful role-models for all of us out there who continue to dream big and to never quit pursuing those dreams. Hope will always burn brighter than fear!

P.S. Thank you SO much to Charlotte and Caitlin of Skytalker’s Podcast for giving me this opportunity to showcase my photography and to discuss how much being able to attend this small event meant to me!

See you real soon, Britt.

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You can follow Britt on her blog, That Film Girl, Britt, on Twitter @xobrittanylorna and on Instagram @brittbarnim.

The Last Jedi Poster, Anakin’s Fall to the Dark Side, & New Canon Books

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May11GraphicWhat does the red mean in The Last Jedi poster? When did Anakin “officially” become Darth Vader? What is the best “new canon” book addition to the Star Wars universe? All this and more are answered by Charlotte and Caitlin on this latest episode of Skytalkers: This Galactic Life.

Follow us @skytalkerspod on Twitter and individually @crerrity and @caitlinplesher.

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