Darth Vader

Happy Star Wars Day: Alton Brown, Blue Milk Death Star Tomatoes

Tomorrow is May the Fourth, which means it is Star Wars Day (say the date quickly if you don't get it, or go to the comic book store for Free Comic Book Day and say the line out loud. Surely someone will fill in the blanks (see also: Pee-Wee Herman in Texas)). Of course, if you, like Disney, would ... More >>

Caltech Crafts Gingerbread Mars Rover

One giant leap for a pastry chef? We've seen a lot of cool gingerbread houses around town, but nothing tops the gingerbread Mars Curiosity rover that the nerdy minds at Caltech have come up with. Crafted by Kevin Isacsson, head chef of the Athaneum, the Pasadena university's private dining club, the ... More >>

Hipster vs. Foodie: Which is Worse?

Remember when you were a kid and you liked to fight with your friends about who would win in a fight between Voldemort and Darth Vader? No? That never happened? OK, bear with me. A recent kerfuffle over on our music blog over the concept of "hipster" got me thinking -- in a fight for what is more di ... More >>

International Cosplay Day is Saturday. But Why Do People Cosplay in the First Place?

Dressing up as famed characters from across the pop culture landscape for events other than Halloween is nothing new. Certainly, people were doing it well before the term cosplay came into being. But, with every passing year, the image of the superfan dressed in detailed, oftentimes complicated, cos ... More >>

Star Wars Light-Up Lightsaber Chopsticks: The Force is Stronger with This One

"Not as clumsy or random as a blaster. An elegant weapon for a more civilized age," Obi-Wan Kenobi said, introducing Luke Skywalker to the lightsaber, the Jedi's weapon of choice. Which brings us to Kotobukiya's line of Star Wars Lightsaber Chopsticks, not as clumsy or random as a spork, an elegan ... More >>

Nerdist Chris Hardwick Makes the Course of the Force to Comic Con 2012 in Less Than 12 Parsecs

"Wait, isn't a parsec a unit of distance and not time?" you ask. "Who gives a shit?" we say -- because it's all for charity. And also a reference to a fictional universe. But try telling that to all of the nerds, nerdists and nerdettes who showed up this week for the Course of the Force. Chris Ha ... More >>

Celeb Coffee Showdown: Leonardo DiCaprio vs. Will Oldham

Last time we hosted a Celeb Coffee Showdown, we threw Darth Vader, David Lynch and Rob Zombie into the same metaphorical octagon. What did we learn? Everyone's a product whore, even the Dark Lord. This time, we went for a less formal but more carefully curated showdown, pitting Bonny "Prince" Bill ... More >>

Eddie Izzard: Death Star Canteen [Video]

This video is a few years old, but since Eddie Izzard has been in town lately, playing a handful of late-night shows at Largo, his riff on the Death Star canteen (that's British for "cafeteria") is timely. And hilarious, especially when animated with Lego. Watch as Darth Vader complains about wet tr ... More >>

'Bark Side' Super Bowl Ad, With Star Wars' Imperial March Sung by Dogs: Director Keith Schofield Explains How He Did It

Have you seen that video of the dogs barking the Darth Vader song? Chances are, if you have a pulse and an Internet connection, you have. The viral video is a teaser for a Volkswagen Super Bowl commercial, so yes, that makes it a commercial for a commercial. It's bold new territory for advertising ... More >>

Back to the Future's $500,000 DeLorean and Darth Vader Costume Sell at Hollywood Auction. Ruby Slippers Still Available

A fully functioning hoverboard...y'know...for the kids​Local memorabilia-selling powerhouse, Profiles in History did another one of their epic auctions this weekend at the Paley Media Center in Beverly Hills -- and the nerds cleaned house. Again. Compared to Debbie Reynolds' series of show-st ... More >>

Live Nude Groundlings

James Earl Jones, Beyond Darth Vader: Five More Fierce Onscreen Roles of the Honorary Oscar Recipient

​ The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced yesterday that James Earl Jones will receive an honorary Oscar this year. For many tinseltown pundits, an honorary Oscar is the equivalent of an over-the-pants-hand-job -- a mere token gesture -- for decades of hard work. While we sup ... More >>

Nerd Up

Rob Zombie vs. Darth Vader vs. David Lynch: Celebrity Coffee Showdown

Rob Zombie's a freaky guy. Darth Vader's a frightening one. David Lynch is just plain strange. As diverse as these three figures are, they have one venture in common: They have each lent their name to a brand of coffee. Having recently discovered these celebrity roasts, we wondered: How special ar ... More >>

Super Bowl XLV: The V Best Least Annoying Food Commercials

Guzzle & NoshSuper Bowl XLV as seen on television.​ Whether it was the angry Ewoks of middle earth sharing a Coke with a fire-breathing dragon or Adrien Brody crooning to bar full of weepy women (nice to see him finally bouncing back from that Oscar win), this year's bunch of Super Bowl spots ... More >>

Street Art, Travel Posters and Burlesque: Our Favorite Star Wars Finds of 2010

If the fact that we have a Style Council category devoted specifically to Star Wars weren't already an indication, we have a confession to make. A few of us on this arts/pop culture blog team are Star Wars fans. We've been known to spend hours looking at fan art online and chasing down cosplayers at ... More >>

Fullerton Man With Plastic Bag On Head Tries To Rob Wendy's Drive-Thru; Server Shuts Window, Walks Away

uncoverage.netAlso good for rainpocalypse​There are probably way more important things to talk about today, like the hundreds of Angelenos stranded at U.S. airport gates, why William & Kate spent Christmas apart or the impending end of the world, but this one is just too good to pass up. The ... More >>

Best of the Cons 2010

From internationally known events like San Diego Comic-Con and Anime Expo to smaller, single-franchise conventions like Power Morphicon and MacrossWorld to non-con events like the L.A. screening of The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, there was no shortage of fan gatherings in Southern California t ... More >>

The Best Part of Waking Up is Rob Zombie in Your Coffee Cup

​Darth Vader's branded coffee may not be organic and fair trade, but Rob Zombie's is. While the Sith Lord shills an African and Indonesian blend "hand roasted by Stormtroopers," the dark lord of metal offers a Peruvian blend and a dark French roast, both of them organic. Zombie also beats Vade ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 12/13-12/17

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "A duck carnitas taco is about as much happiness as $3 can be expected to buy." Ask Mr. Gold: Quelling That Carnitas Craving at Cacao Mexicatessen. "Nancy Reagan (of all people) maybe put it best: 'Just say no.'" Mother Su ... More >>

Take a Sip from the Dark Side: Darth Vader Has Coffee

ThinkGeek​We suspect that if Darth Vader were around to see the way his name has been shamelessly used to sell coffee to Empire drones, he'd Force choke the lovable nerds at ThinkGeek faster than bringing an overconfident Imperial Commander to heel. But, like Jesus, a lot of things have been d ... More >>

Constumed Superheroes Protest At City Hall For Return To Hollywood

Steve La​ A small contingent of super heroes and one Sith Lord assembled outside the steps of City Hall Tuesday to protest the arrests made by LAPD of costumed characters along Hollywood's Walk of Fame. Superman, The Hulk, The White Ranger and Darth Vader showed up in force holding signs tha ... More >>

Top 10 Star Wars Cakes: Let The Force (of Frosting & Fondant) Be With You

WasabimonStorm Troopers Like Cake, Too​ Cake is one confection that will never, ever go out of style. Witness shows like Duff Goldman's Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss, Amazing Wedding Cakes and now, Cupcake Wars, which not only engineer cakes, but make them, as Goldman says, "Bigger, badder, awesome! ... More >>

'The Vader Project': 100 Different Renditions of Darth Vader's Helmet

See more photos in Shannon Cottrell's slideshow. It's hard not to notice "The Vader Project" as you walk down Melrose Avenue. The display window is a traffic-stopper. There's Darth Vader as a samurai, Darth Vader with rainbow flags and, if you strain your eyes just a bit, there are rows and rows of ... More >>

Top 5 Classic Sci-Fi Characters That Would Have Looked Even Cooler with Mustaches

Lando pimped the 'stache even in a galaxy far, far away​We're nearing the end of Mustache May and as people across the web compare facial hair, we couldn't help but wonder if some of our favorite, classic sci-fi characters would look even cooler with a little (or a lot) of fuzz above the lip. ... More >>

Cosplay in America: The Interviews

Throughout 2009, Ejen Chuang spent five months traveling to anime conventions across the U.S. The result of his labor is Cosplay in America, a slick photography book documenting the creativity within the cosplay community. Sunday night, Royal/T will be hosting a release party for the book. Chuang a ... More >>

Steampunk Star Wars Cosplayers Lose Bus, Costumes in Nashville Flood

You might recall that we recently posted about an amazing steampunk Star Wars cosplay that we saw on Facebook. Based in Atlanta, Outland Armour, has recreated characters like Boba Fett and Princess Leia in a neo-Victorian sci-fi aesthetic. Dim Horizon Studio​

MIMOBOT's New Star Wars Flash Drives Feature Jawa and Obi-Wan

One of the first things L.A. Weekly spotted at San Diego Comic-Con last summer was a tiny, limited edition MIMOBOT flash drive that looked like Darth Vader, but revealed itself to be Luke Skywalker. Like most MIMOBOT flash drives, it was cute, reminiscent of chibi anime characters. I almost had a ge ... More >>

Star Warz Burlesque Returns with New Characters R2-D2, Chewbacca and Death Star

See more photos in Josh "CuriousJosh" Reiss' gallery. Check out our coverage of Devil's Playground's first Star Warz Burlesque show. It's only been two months since L.A. burlesque troupe Devil's Playground first took on the characters of Star Wars (Episodes IV-VI), but since then, a lot has happen ... More >>

Abandoned Russian Mine...or Darth Vader's Death Star?

Coincidence? Have you ever noticed how much the Mir Mine in Russia looks suspiciously like Darth Vader's Death Star? The airspace above the mine apparently is closed to helicopters because "of a few incidents in which they were sucked in by the downward air flow." Holy crap. That probably does not ... More >>

Lady Vader: What if Darth Was a Woman?

​ Why couldn't the most powerful, most feared Jedi in the universe have been a woman? Yes, we've been on a Star Wars kick here on Style Council lately. It got me thinking about that world and about how Darth Vader, a.k.a. Anakin Skywalker, spawned two children and one was a girl. Of course sex ... More >>

Star Wars in Concert: How Many Ways Can You Interpret "The Imperial March"?

​The appeal of a piece of music can be measured by how well it can be covered. If you can change not just the musicians, but the instruments, and still come out with something solid, then it's a winner. Take "The Imperial March (Darth Vader's Theme)" as an example. Ever since its first appeara ... More >>

Darth Vader Toaster, the USB hub of Evil, and other home appliances from the Dark Side

Okay, I know we're all hoarding our money these days, but I wanted to bring this item (and some others) to your attention, in case anybody out there happens to be shopping for USB hubs or Darth Vader helmets anyway. From ThinkGeek.com, Darth USB has 480 MBps of digital connectivity and four ports. T ... More >>

Suze Orman, I Love You

Financial guru Suze Orman is who I watch when it's 1 AM in the morning and I'm feeling stressed and can't sleep because I'm too worried about the future. I listen to her money advice (Don't spend!), snuggle up with calculator and budget notebook in hand, and take comfort in her boxy suits, even tha ... More >>

Best L.A. Comic Book Shops

Hand, ink and brain

Seeking the Rage: Among the Protesters at the Democratic National Convention

The group Recreate '68 tries to ignite the passion of another generation

Election '08: All Dressed Up With No Riot To Go To

So, I was walking down the 16th Street Mall in Denver after (think Fourth Street Mall in Santa Monica, only a little bigger and a little less cheesy), taking in all the civic life, or such as it is in the USA, which consisted of lots of people dining out and taking in street performers and enjoying ... More >>

Comic-Con 2008: For Love of the Con

Big crowds, too little sleep and even less food at San Diego's fanboy mecca

Robot Chicken: Star Wars

Turning George Lucas into an action figure

Paint It Black

Artists reimagine the Star Wars villain for The Vader Project

Face in the Hip Crowd

Star Wars Rules/Sucks

Lucas’ best-selling video game shows which trilogy is better

Nightranger

Bart Wars

Vampire Diaries: Getting Geeked on Buffy and Spike at the Sci-Fi Summit

A Thousand Clones . . .

...do not an awesome Star Wars make

War Games

Meaning of Life in Quebec

The odd look of democracy

Early Morning Sunset Smells

Suzy Beal sniffs the boulevard from downtown to the 405, then gives up.

Eddie the Confessor

The king of the riffs comes to town