A Wild Bantha Chase

Suggestion Box Now Open

Austin — Tue, 12 Oct 2010 17:19:04 +0000

Chris Carey, the column writer for EUCantina, is taking a mental health week. This leaves us with the next weekly column being written by me. I have a few topic ideas, and if any big EU news comes this week, I’ll likely write about that. Still, I’d like to take your ideas for subjects I should write about. So let me know in the comments or on Twitter – just make sure it is somehow EU related. I’m looking for a great area to give some commentary on, so send in the suggestions.

Football is Coming

Austin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 21:01:27 +0000

And I mean men’s football. The National Football League. The best of the best. Rule changes may mean less hard hits – but every hit in the NFL is harder than one at the college level.

Videos of the different broadcaster intros from last year.

It all starts Thursday night. SKOL VIKINGS.

And now an extra videos.

At 12:45 am, We Laugh

Austin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 04:45:25 +0000

Skip to the part with Ryan Stiles playing John Wayne (about the 4:10 point). We got a beautiful weekend….in store.

Maybe I’ll actually write something tomorrow, but I really did this blog to have fun, be creative and share funny videos. That one post that was kind of thoughtful (not the Stormtrooper or Hamner Time) was rare.

Gronk Comic

Austin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:16:23 +0000

Katie Cook highly suggested that we share this comic – so I will. It’s very good.

http://www.gronkcomic.com/

She puts out a new one every Friday, so be sure to keep up with it!

Video: To Hug the Mountain

Austin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:02:20 +0000

I had a link to this in a post yesterday, but it deserves a more prominent spot. On an unrelated note, I need to learn to spread my thoughts out and write fewer posts in a day.

New Game: Wampa Hug V

Austin — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 01:49:35 +0000

Just heard about this new video game coming out in 2011. We’ll have a trailer by December. To hug a wampa, hold down the X button.

That’s actually Andrew Lupi, EUC creator and good friend. He was a victim of this wampa hug at CV. This image has since become legendary among EUC staff.

I’ve just been given some new information on the game:

In this game, you wander though a crowded convention center looking for Andrews to hug. Pressing X makes you call out for Andrew (press X to Andrew), while pressing A activates the Wampa Hug ability. While it is possible to hug random strangers, it nets you less points than Andrews and you run the risk of getting your arm cut off with a lightsaber. Other levels included are the Hotel, Hoth, New York, and DisneyWorld.

Kenth Hamner – Who are You?

Austin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 18:57:45 +0000

The Accused (Kenth Hamner)

StarWars.com released the back cover of Vortex today. For the first time ever, Kenth Hamner is on a Star Wars book. And as @ClubJade says – “Kenth Hamner: The most generic man in the GFFA.” But something familiar immediately stuck with me when I saw the image. I had seen that face before. Time for some Sherlocking Holmesing 2011 style.

On the right, we see the suspect. A simple jogging of the memory produced these names as look-a-likes. Winston Churchill, Dennis Quaid, and John Noble (he came to mind in the form of his LOTR role). I think Noble has the most resemblance, by far. But I’m still not satisfied. I don’t think any of these men are who I’m looking for. The image is in my head, but it won’t come out.

Suspect 1 (Sir Winston Churchill)

Suspect 3 (John Noble)

Suspect 2 (Dennis Quaid)

Update 2 :

Paul S. Kemp suggested Norman Fell. Club Jade also mentioned how the previous version of Hamner looked like William Shatner, and I’d say the new version is slightly comparable to an older Shatner. (Captain Kirk is climbing a mountain, why is he climbing a mountain?) I just got this suggestion from new EUC staff member Bryan: Bill Smitrovich. Staff member Chris likes the Noble resemblance, but also points me to a young Alan Dale.

Suspect 6 (Norman Fell)

Suspect 4 (William Shatner)

Suspect 5 (Bill Smitrovich)

Leave your suspects in the comments or let me know on Twitter (@blankitout)! We will find this man.

Suspect 7 (Alan Dale)

Embrace or Reject Failure?

Austin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 16:46:44 +0000

I recently noticed a pretty major philosophical difference between two of the most accomplished athletes of all time. In fact, the mindset of these two men would appear to be completely opposite from each other – and yet both used their philosophies and achieved.

The Greatest

Michael Jordan (AKA: Air Jordan, His Airness, God playing basketball in human form) has numerous quotes on failure. It’s obvious, if we take Michael’s words and assume that he really applies them to his life, that he can accept failure. Actually, he says you must accept failure.

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.“

“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.“

“I’ve never been afraid to fail.“

This basic principal is similar to some wise words we’ve heard from others (“Try not. Do, or do not. There is no try”), and it makes sense. As a basketball player you can not be afraid to fail. With the clock ticking down and the game tied, you have to take the wide open shot, and sometimes even the difficult and foolish one. You can’t waste time being afraid to simply shoot. The fear to take that shot comes from the fear of failing. MJ didn’t fear failing – but that doesn’t mean he liked to lose. He just knew that he had to take that shot, and he was going to make it or miss it, but he had to try.

World

Jerry Rice, who is generally regarded as the greatest receiver of all time, and perhaps the greatest football player, has such an opposite mindset. Jerry has always said the reason he succeeded was because he was afraid to fail.

“I was afraid to fail. The fear of failure is the engine that has driven me my entire life. The reason they never caught me from behind is because I ran scared. People always are surprised how insecure I was. The doubts, the struggles, is who I am. I wonder if I would have been as successful without them.”

“The bricks had to be stacked because any slowdown was money lost. It was a lot of pressure. I didn’t want to let my father down. I was afraid to fail.“

How can such different ideas both work so well? Jordan understood that failure was part of life, and accepted it. Jerry says that the fear of failing is what drove him. Even after his rings and trophies, he would come in each year afraid that someone would be better than him, and afraid that he would fail.

I can’t tell you which philosophy is better. It mostly depends on the person, and in the case of these two men, the sport. There is a similarity in both, however. Whether they embraced failure or ran from it - succeeding was always the better option.

Random TCW Theory

Austin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 05:31:40 +0000

A Savage Monster

I just had a theory for Season 3 of The Clone Wars pop into my head, and figured I’d better write it down.

In the clip with Delta Squad that was shown at CV, Obi-Wan and the clones discuss Jedi and other clones being killed. Obi-Wan states that they were not killed by a Sith, but by a reckless, impulsive animal. They also mention how it couldn’t be Ventress, because she was presumed dead.

Savage Oppress. Just sayin’.

When this happens in Season 3, remember me. And if I’m right, we’ll be seeing Oppress, Ventress, Dooku, Tiin, the Nightsisters, Dathomir, and Delta squad in one story arc. Wow.

Trust me on this one. I’m the guy who predicted that Dumbledore would explain Harry’s scar in book five before book four was out. I also predicted that Obi-Wan Kenobi really killed Luke’s father (I was fed false information).

Tokyo Dance Trooper Special Edition

Austin — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 03:30:32 +0000

I’ve always been way too fascinated with this guy. As the video says – “Following the Star Wars tradition of releasing a “Special” edition, with pointless CG effects.”