Some cool things about Star Wars

Star Wars has become a huge colossus of a film franchise and over 6 movies that some strange things have cropped up as part of each film's production. 

So here's 10 strange facts or  oddities about Star Wars

1. The wise wizard Gandalf from Lord of the Rings was a huge influence on the character of Obi Wan Kenobi - so much so that an early draft of the Star Wars script featured lines cribbed directly from the pages of Tolkien!
2. Peter Cushing filmed all his scenes as Grand Moff Tarkin wearing slippers!
3. Denis Lawson who famously played X-Wing pilot Wedge is the real life uncle of Ewan McGregor who played Obi Wan Kenobi in the prequel films!
4. The plot twist reveal of the father and son relationship between Vader and Luke in The Empire Strikes Back is often misquoted as "Luke, I am your father". The line is actually "No, I am your father". No one knows why people do this!
5. In Jedi, the green Twilek Oola has a nipple slip and George Lucas left it in. Maybe the Rancor was supposed to distract us?
6. Despite being one of the most famous and well known villains in the history of movie making, Darth Vader actually has only 12 minutes of screen time in A New Hope! That's four minutes less than the screen time of Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs - and Anthony Hopkins got an Oscar for the part! What an impact Vader has had. 
7. The reason the little green guy Yoda was added to Return of the Jedi was there was some concern about whether Vader was really Luke's father. After consultation with child psychologists about how Vader's claim could be perceived by younger children who then went on to watch Jedi,  George Lucas decided he needed an independent character to confirm Darth Vader's claim that he is Luke Skywalker's father. Which was awesome for everyone as we all love Yoda!
8. Check out what Maz Kanata had to say in The Force Awakens
9. You know that awesome pod racer race in The Phantom Menace? Yep, Lucas was just copying the famous chariot race from Ben Hur. 
10. Lucas was actually quite good at stealing good ideas. You know that bit where Obi Wan feels the death of the people on the planet Alderaan? Lucas just took that from a Star Trek episode where Spock felt the death of 400 of his own Vulcan kind.
11. David Lynch was offered the chance to direct Return of the Jedi but turned it down. Can you imagine how crazy Jedi could have turned out if Lynch had cast his magic over the film? Lynch actually chose Dune as his next film, and while it wasn't an amazing film, it has gone on to earn its place in film history. It was also probably just as well that Sting didn't have a role in Jedi either.....

Thinking of a Christmas present for someone? How about the U-Wing space ship from Rogue One as a present idea.

The Greatest Sevens Costume Ever: Optimus Primes

So the best rugby sevens costume ever has been found. Finally, after searching from Cybertron to Earth and back, The Optimus Prime Experiment has obtained footage of the ultimate sevens costume. What's better than one Prime? four!

If for some reason, a team of Optimus Primes doesn't spin your wheels, check out some sevens pictures and sevens costumes!

Awesome Card Board Optimus Prime

I had to post this awesome home made Optimus Prime cosplay costume. It's faithful to the original version of Prime and just smacks of fan boy love. I think that's Starscream to the left....

A great Bumblebee costume

Botcon 2011 saw lots of Transformer cosplay, I think this version of Bumblebee is pretty epic! Who's ready for Dark of the Moon?

How to restore your Dad's old desk to former glories

Used and Abused: Before the first sanding

I got my hand's on my father's old desk with the intention of restoring it to former glories. My Dad had used it for years as a study desk both when studying an university and then as a teacher, then when my brother went to University, he took it so he could have somewhere to store his beer and comics on. As a result, it was rooted and needed some love.

Here are the steps I took to renovate the desk and give it a new life in my home!

Note: I'm no expert when it comings to DIY renovations, I just made this shit up as I went remembering things from woodwork class back in the day. Key things to remember (and learned from past experiences elsewhere)  - do not cheap out on sand paper, paint brushes or satin. Use quality products!

Step 1.

Clean the desk. Wipe away the spider webs, coachroach shit, beer stains and god knows what else has built up over the years. Take your kick ass sander and sand the shit out of every piece of wood you see - use a low grit sandpaper. I used 60 grit and make sure its some quality paper.

Don't cheap out like Don Brash on a dinner date.

Step 2.

Done sanding? No you are not. Get a hearth brush and clean the sand residue off. Then wet a rag with water and wash the desk off from top to bottom.

Step 3.

If your desk is a bit warped and the panels creaky, this is the time I decided to reglue them back together. I possibly should have done this as Step 1. Whatever, learning is part of life.

Get some PVA wood glue and a T-bar clamp or 2 and glue the panels you want back together. Leave overnight to make sure the glue has worked it's magic. If the wood is warped, you may be in for a battle to keep things straight, so say a prayer to Obi-Wan Kenobi or something.

Note to self: Glue before sanding!

Step 4.

Yip, I know you made a mess during step 3 so sand any PVA glue remains off. Now here come's a suck-ass part. You now have to resand the entire desk again to get rid of the 'roughage' that the intial sand left. Time to use a finer grit sandpaper - give your desk some love with at least a 120 grit - I did a round with some 150 and then did another sanding round with 180 grit. Again clean with a broom etc, wash down with water.

A well sanded desk. 

Step 5.

You are now ready for the last, and most fun part - the staining of the desk. The stain makes the desk looks nice and also gives it a protection from the 'elements' like beer being spilt on it. For this desk, I chose a nice kauri satin, my reasoning being the wood was light in colour and would suit whatever wood the desk actually is made from.

In a dust free area, apply the stain evenly with a quality brush. And by quality, I mean one that will not start to lose bristles half way through the job. Look for any areas of excess and even out. Depending on the product you are using they may suggest to wipe off with a cloth. I say directions are for pussies. Just do what feels right..... leave to dry overnight in a dust free area. Actually, follow the instructions and leave to dry overnight.

Nice satin Kauri finish

Step 6.

Find some  matching handles for the drawers. Put them in place and you're done:

Step 7.

Put some beer and comics on the desk. Done. Congratulations. You now have a really nicely restored old desk. You've earned yourself some Man Points. Go bake a bacon and egg pie to celebrate.