Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy
applying the methods of progressive historic reenacting to the Galaxy Far, Far Away
The ‘Donovian Rainmen’ are a pretty deep cut, never appearing (as far as I know) on-screen in their film, but only in a DK reference book, a behind-the-scenes documentary (“A Twinkle Beyond Pluto”) on the Episode II DVD, and one frame of Dark Horse’s Republic #80.
However, they have always intrigued me, given their specific ‘occupational’ identity. Continue reading “Artifact ID: Donovian Rainmen”
As this post goes live on January 1st (by Gregorian Reckoning), I thought it would be nice to have something that would tie in with celebratory toast-making and libations.
This was a pretty simple artifact to identify, and like the refugee water bottle from a few weeks ago, the actual items are fairly plentiful, easy to find, useful, and SHINY.
The scene: Year 3 after the Great ReSynchronization (32 BBY), aboard the Trade Federation battleship Saak’ak (Profiteer). The Neimoidians, stalling for time before they deal with the Chancellor’s negotiators, send a protocol droid into the conference room. The droid enters bearing a tray of refreshments; our Jedi heroes accept the cups and sip politely…until the Neimoidians pump toxic gas into the room and everything goes to hell.
Continue reading “Artifact ID: Neimoidian Silver Cups”
In the spirit of Christmas and the Nativity (even though Jesus of Nazareth was most definitely Not born at midwinter), I wanted to publish something with a Mary and Joseph, poor-folk-on-the-road theme.
On a recent rewatch of Episode II (focusing on scenes with background commoners), I noticed something in the scene on the refugee transport. I’m surprised I never noticed it before, considering it’s so shiny and eye-catching…
Yes, as Obi-Wan says, “Your eyes can deceive you” and that we shouldn’t trust them. However, in this case, seeing is believing, because that is quite clearly an unmodified, off-the-shelf, stainless steel water bottle sitting on the table between Padme and Anakin.
At first, a small part of me wondered if it was even meant to be there. Continue reading “Artifact ID: Refugee’s water bottle”
This post is a follow up to my earlier musings on the trade-off between public recognizability and authenticity. After some careful consideration, I finally made some decisions that allow me to have my cake and eat it too, while also helping to better distinguish my Jedi persona as being based in the Imperial era.
Continue reading “Differentiating the Jedi persona”
Updated terms in italics
One of the later steps (#7 of 8) in Townsend’s Getting Started series is the process of further developing one’s persona through building of the ‘inner persona’. This means going beyond the superficial outer persona (one’s clothes and gear), and better inhabiting the mental headspace of your chosen individual. One great way to do this is through the words we use for things.
For example, if I were portraying an American settler in the early 1700s, referring to the indigenous population as “Native Americans” would smack of modern political correctness; but to refer to them as “savages” or “naturals” would be quite appropriate. Likewise, to greet someone with the postmodern “Whatsup?” in a 19th century reenacting context would be quite jarring! Continue reading “Building the Inner Persona: Vocabulary”
As part of the research that yielded my Service Corps insignia patch, I came upon a detail that has led me to a dilemma.
In Part 2 of Daniel Wallace’s The Jedi Path, the various paths that a Jedi initiate may take are outlined: whether to go on to become a Padawan apprentice, to ‘wash out’ and join the Service Corps, or to leave the Order entirely and rejoin the ‘civilian’ galactic community.
In addition to the text, this is illustrated visually:
From this depiction, it appears that the Service Corps (center bottom) is differentiated by use of less layers of clothing (forgoing the tabards in favor of a tunic only?). My question is: How representative or stylized is this image?.…The token AgriCorps guy with the Mohawk also looks to be going with a simple tunic-only outfit.
The Jedi Path, as an in-universe textbook, is supposedly dated to 115 BBY… BUT, the comic series Act on Instinct—set during the Clone Wars—depicts a young AgriCorps member, Sanya, who does appear to wear tabards:
In fact, her outfit looks like a regular Prequel Jedi, just in navy blue, and with wrapped forearms. Additionally, this character would be about the same age as Silo, and so might be seen as the closest analogue to my persona?
However… Continue reading “Downsides to Research: Accuracy vs Recognition”
In Guerilla Warfare, that wonderful time capsule of 1940s partisanship, Burt ‘Yank’ Levy describes an excellent way of ambushing a rapidly-moving, mounted fascist:
“A good way to stop a motor-cyclist is by stretching a quarter-inch cable or wire across a roadway. If you are sure a motor-cyclist is coming, put it up beforehand. Otherwise, have a brick tied to one end of it and be ready to sling it across the road, where others will secure it, while the Nazi is a mile away. Attach the wire to trees or fence-posts at a height of from three to three and a half feet from the ground…preferably, string your line diagonally across the road, at an angle of about 30 degrees. The effect of this will be to make the motor-cyclist, when he hits it, slide along it and into the ditch…right near where you and your companions are waiting” (72).
Reading this the other night, I started to wonder: if I was a member of a Rebel cell needing to ambush a pursuing scout trooper, how much time would I have in which to throw my cable across the path before he appeared?
(as made BY Yoda, not WITH Yoda!)
This has been shared all over in the last 34 years, but I thought it would be fun to include here as there are so few edible connections to make with the GFFA.
While I wish this was the actual recipe that was served on-set in Yoda’s house (any leads would be amazing!), we’ll have to make do. The recipe originates with the 1983 adaptation of The Empire Strikes Back made by National Public Radio, who solicited gourmet chef Craig Claiborne to come up with something to approximate Yoda’s ‘rootleaf’ stew of the film.
The finished product might look like something made out of swamp-sourced ingredients, but it tastes very much like a modern Indian dish!
Continue reading “Recipe: Yoda Stew”
We’re talking about these thingies:
These items have always stuck out to me as a prime example of the prop shop guys grabbing whatever was on the shelves at the time and using them as background details (Episode I is full of this). I think it’s kind of cool, from my 18-years removed perspective, how the clean lines of late ‘90s tech were easily appropriated for Naboo-ian tech.
Continue reading “Artifact ID: Nubian saltshakers”
Back about the time last year when I started entertaining the idea of starting a dedicated Rebel persona, I was also thinking about potential outlets and activities I could do. The one that I kept coming back to— inspired by a childhood spent surrounded by living history types at Civil War battlefields—was a public ‘recruitment drive’ for the Rebel Alliance. In brainstorming such an event, I thought that having some propaganda to display would be a good way to add atmosphere.
And so, I started looking to see what was out there. Unsurprisingly, there is a metric ton of Star Wars-themed propaganda on the internet, but not much of it is ‘official’. I wanted something I could talk about in-universe if questioned, and I sure didn’t want to have to tell people that the artwork came from DeviantArt user ‘L314_Forever’ or something.
Luckily, I came across reference to a book recently published, containing a multitude of in-universe artwork: Star Wars Propaganda: A History of Persuasive Art in the Galaxy. While some of the pieces seemed a little lackluster or Photoshop-y, I really liked this one (by ‘Tavris Bahzel’): Continue reading “Rebel propaganda project: ‘Liberty for All’”
Living History in the Star Wars Galaxy 
