Photos of the Day: Blue Ghost in Mini-Brick Form...

Richard T. Par

Just thought I'd end March by sharing these images of the Blue Ghost mini-brick model that I bought from Firefly Aerospace earlier this month!

As mentioned in this entry from my Human Spaceflight Blog, I planned on ordering the Blue Ghost model online if the actual lander successfully touched down on the Moon over four weeks ago. And successfully touched down Blue Ghost did!

Unlike my LEGO® Artemis 1 rocket and Perseverance Mars rover, as well as my Atom Brick New Glenn rocket, Blue Ghost was relatively quick to build—as it 'only' consisted of 196 pieces. Just like my Artemis 1 rocket and the Percy rover, Blue Ghost is now kept dust-free inside an acrylic case that I bought online.

I initially bought a 4.2"x4.2"x4.2" glass case from a local Michaels store...but Blue Ghost barely fits inside this display. So I went to Amazon and purchased a 5"x5"x5" case, and the mini-brick lander fits perfectly in that one! (The 4.2"x4.2"x4.2" case now holds a LEGO Boba Fett figure and Grogu figurine, which you can see in the very last photo of this entry.)

Astrobotic has a mini-brick version of its Griffin lunar lander, which is scheduled to launch no earlier than this December. Just like with Blue Ghost, I intend on waiting to see the outcome of Griffin Mission One before I decide to buy something to commemorate Astrobotic's next Moon flight. Happy Monday!


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par


Richard T. Par

Renew THE ACOLYTE...Now!

So a few hours ago, I watched the season finale of The Acolyte on Disney+...and all I can say is— Screw the haters. Renew The Acolyte for a second season immediately!

After viewing Episode 8, titled "The Acolyte," it made me that much eager to see the story of Osha (Amandla Stenberg) continue as (SPOILERS AHEAD) her journey down the path of the Dark Side quickly unfolded once she killed her former Jedi mentor, Master Sol (Lee Jung-jae), upon finding out that he murdered her mother on Brendok 16 years earlier. I want to see what awaits Osha and her cortosis-welding teacher Qimir (Manny Jacinto) after the would-be Sith spared the life of Mae (also played by Stenberg) in exchange for her sister Osha becoming his apprentice instead.

And of course, as shown in the screenshot at the top of this Blog entry, I want to see how Darth Plagueis plays a role in the future trials and tribulations of Qimir and Osha. I expected Darth Tenebrous to show up in tonight's finale instead (I definitely wouldn't be surprised if he made an appearance in Season 2), but it's still awesome that Darth Sidious' former master appeared in this Star Wars streaming series.

And let's not forget the final scene of today's episode...with Vernestra Rwoh (Rebecca Henderson) meeting a certain green-eared Jedi Master at the Jedi Temple to seek his counsel following the discovery that her former Padawan was still alive after being seduced by the Dark Side of the Force a long time ago. That Padawan, of course, being none other than Qimir.

So yea— If Lucasfilm wants to politely give all the haters the middle finger for review-bombing The Acolyte, Season 1 on Rotten Tomatoes and other sites, as well as continuing the story of Qimir and Osha and revealing how Plagueis and Yoda factor into their tale, then giving The Acolyte at least one more season is the way to go!

We've seen the Old Republic in the Star Wars prequels, the reign of the Galactic Empire in Solo, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Andor, Rogue One and the original Star Wars trilogy, and the New Republic in the Star Wars sequel trilogy (as well as in The Mandalorian and Ahsoka)... Let's see more of the High Republic in live-action through the eyes of creator Leslye Headland!

The Dark Side also continues to beckon.

Photos of the Day: Snapshots from Comic Con Revolution...

Earlier today, I went to the Ontario Convention Center in San Bernardino County, CA, to attend Comic Con Revolution. As shown above, the highlight of this visit was meeting Mercedes Varnado...who played Koska Reeves on The Mandalorian and wrestled as Sasha Banks for World Wrestling Entertainment!

While the main goal of my trip to the city of Ontario was to get a photo op with Ms. Varnado, that didn't stop me from taking pictures of all the cosplayers who attended Comic Con Revolution. Lots of fans showed up as Mandalorians—not just Din Djarin and Boba Fett, but also as their own customized Star Wars commandos.

And of course, there were other comic book geeks who dressed as Deadpool, Batman, Nightwing, Robin as well as other Marvel and DC superheroes. And replicas of the Chevy Camaro used in the 2007 Transformers movie and the DeLorean that was immortalized in the Back to the Future trilogy also made appearances at the expo.

From Long Beach Comic Con in 2015 to Comic Con Revolution, it's amusing that I've been to comic cons other than San Diego Comic-Con itself! Well, that's not entirely true— I went to San Diego back in 2014 to check out most of the activities that took place outside of Comic-Con, but I never went into the convention center itself.

That trip from almost 9 years ago was still fun, nonetheless. Have a nice weekend!

THE MANDALORIAN: Din Djarin and Din Grogu's Latest Adventure Has Come to an End...

So earlier today, at midnight actually, I watched the Season 3 finale of The Mandalorian on Disney+!

Titled Chapter 24, "The Return," this episode saw Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his young apprentice Grogu (with his new name becoming Din Grogu after Djarin officially adopted him as his son after the climax) helping Bo-Katan Kryze (Katee Sackhoff) and their fellow Mandalorians finally take back their home world of Mandalore from the Empire.

Chapter 24 was action-packed, with Djarin and Bo-Katan dueling with their arch-nemesis Moff Gideon (Giancarlo Esposito) for the final time, the other Mandalorians engaged in a fierce battle with Imperial Stormtroopers equipped with jetpacks and Beskar armor, and Grogu using his Force abilities to take on a trio of Praetorian Guards who would be the precursor to Supreme Leader Snoke's elite bodyguards in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

The Return ended on a happy note, with Bo-Katan reclaiming her rightful place as the leader of Mandalore, and Din Djarin and Din Grogu settling into their new shack on Nevarro...courtesy of High Magistrate Greef Karga (once again portrayed by Carl Weathers).

But the adventures of the Mandalorian and Baby Yoda aren't over yet, as we learn by the end of the finale that Din Djarin wants to return to his old ways as a bounty hunter. The difference from his previous jobs, this time around, is him focusing the hunt on rogue Imperial warlords around the galaxy!

Season 4 has already been written, according to showrunners Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, and I can't wait to see what it has in store for Djarin and Grogu! Grand Admiral Thrawn (brought to life by Lars Mikkelsen) will make his live-action debut in this August's Ahsoka—but we can all be confident that the titular Jedi (played by Rosario Dawson) and her fellow band of Star Wars Rebels won't be the only ones to have a run-in with the blue-skinned heir to the Empire...

The Mandalorian is clearly putting Din Djarin and Grogu on a collision course with the most powerful threat to the galaxy before the First Order came to be...and I look forward to the day that we watch this epic moment on Disney+ and on the big screen! Happy Hump Day.

Photos of the Day: Snapshots from THE MANDALORIAN's Panel at PaleyFest LA...

Happy April Fool's Day, everyone! Just thought I'd share these pictures that I took during Day 1 of PaleyFest LA...which was held at the Dolby Theatre (home to the Academy Awards) in Hollywood last night.

It was on Day 1 that a panel for The Mandalorian was held...right after the latest episode (Chapter 21—"The Pirate") was screened. In attendance at the panel were The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau, Lucasfilm executive Dave Filoni, director Rick Famuyiwa and stars Pedro Pascal (who plays the Mandalorian himself, Din Djarin) and Katee Sackhoff (who portrays Bo-Katan Kryze).

There were no juicy tidbits revealed in terms of where Season 3 of The Mandalorian was headed, nor info about other Star Wars Disney+ shows currently being filmed or in post-production, but it was great to see the cast and crew behind one of the most popular Star Wars shows ever in person.

There are only three episodes left in Season 3— Can't wait to see what kind of cliffhanger it will end with! Even though Season 4 probably won't premiere till late 2024 or early 2025...

And yes, that is my director's cap for my short film The Broken Table which I'm wearing in the photos below! Carry on.

THE MANDALORIAN: STAR WARS' Best Disney+ Show is Back!

After more than a 2-year hiatus, The Mandalorian is back! I watched the Season 3 premiere—a.k.a. Chapter 17, "The Apostate"—last night, and needless to say, it was great to see Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his surrogate Jedi son Grogu back on my computer screen.

I won't delve into the plot details for Chapter 17 here, except to say that I do believe that this is the first time I saw a proton torpedo used against a living creature (the screenshot above is from that moment) in the Star Wars universe...at least in a live-action show. Poor gigantic alligator / crocodile / whatever that was.

And the image below indicates that Grogu will obviously be adding more adorable highlights like this to his repertoire. Chapter 18 (on March 8) can't arrive soon enough!

This is the way.

Season 1 of a STAR WARS Masterpiece Has Come to an End...

So earlier today, I watched the Season 1 finale of Andor, a 12-episode spinoff of 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, on Disney+.

Needless to say, this finale—titled "Rix Road"—did not disappoint...just like all other episodes of Andor!

I am confident in saying that Andor is The Empire Strikes Back of Star Wars' Disney+ shows. It relied on nothing more than a compelling story and a mature, and at times very dark, tone to be entertaining.

The only other Star Wars project that Andor gave fan service to was Rogue One, which of course, was directed by Tony Gilroy—the showrunner of Andor—during the reshoots for the 2016 winter blockbuster.

I am very excited for Season 3 of The Mandalorian to drop on Disney+ early next year...but in the meantime, Andor is the Star Wars series that needs to be topped in regards to excellent writing and awesome, original characters!

And for those of you reading this who also watch Andor, stay for the end credits!

I'm so stoked for Season 2.

THE BOOK OF BOBA FETT Is Here!

Yesterday, I re-subscribed to Disney+ and eagerly watched the first episode of The Book of Boba Fett!

Unsurprisingly, the season premiere of The Mandalorian's first spin-off show was awesome. Ming-Na Wen didn't miss a beat as she once again kicked arse as Fennec Shand, and it was exciting to finally see Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison) make his way out of the Sarlacc Pit in Chapter 1's opening dream sequence (along with callbacks to 2002's Star Wars: Attack of the Clones)...which is why I posted a screenshot from that scene above. This wasn't a spoiler, as how else did Boba escape from "the maw of the sand beast" (to quote Patton Oswalt from a 2013 episode of NBC's Parks and Recreation, shown below) to make an appearance in Season 2 of The Mandalorian last year?

Ludwig Göransson's music for The Book of Boba Fett's end credits is just as good as that in The Mandalorian, while just like The Mandalorian, we see amazing production artwork of yesterday's episode play in the background as the credits roll.

I look forward to Chapter 2 premiering next Wednesday (January 5), and enthusiastically await the long-anticipated Star Wars streaming series Obi-Wan Kenobi and Andor (based on Diego Luna's Cassian Andor from 2016's Rogue One: A Star Wars Story)...set to make their online debut next year.

The Force is back on Disney+!

Parks and Rec called Boba Fett’s return EIGHT years ago 🤯@pattonoswalt pic.twitter.com/1445sjQOov

— TJ Cooney 🚀 (@TJ_Cooney) December 31, 2021

May the 4th Be with You!

Just as an FYI, I'm fully vaccinated and I now have a 5G internet connection at home... Take that, MAGA and QAnon conspiracy theorists!

PS: Happy Star Wars Day!

Photos of the Day: All Hail THE MANDALORIAN!

So surprisingly, despite the fact that I've been a huge Star Wars geek since 1995, this Blog entry is the very first time that I'm typing about the Disney+ masterpiece that is The Mandalorian! I'm not gonna recap the events of the show's first two seasons, but let me just say that showrunners Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni are friggin' awesome! To triumphantly bring Boba Fett back from the dead (and give him his own Web series, The Book of Boba Fett, next year; what a wonderful tribute to the late Jeremy Bulloch...who memorably played the bounty hunter in the original Star Wars trilogy), feature live-action incarnations of Bo-Katan and Ahsoka Tano (even though I didn't watch all episodes of The Clone Wars animated series), as well as Dark Troopers (which initially got me interested in Star Wars over 25 years ago), and now showing Luke Skywalker (still played by the venerable Mark Hamill) in all his Jedi Master glory, well... It remains to be seen how Favreau and Filoni will top this in Season 3, which premieres on Christmas Day, 2021.



So many other Star Wars titles will soon stream on Disney+...including the much-anticipated series about Obi-Wan Kenobi (with Ewan McGregor reprising the role and Hayden Christensen returning as Darth Vader once more), Cassian Andor (again featuring Diego Luna as the Rebel soldier from Rogue One: A Star Wars Story), Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson will return as the former Jedi) and even Lando Calrissian (though it remains to be seen if Donald Glover will reprise this iconic role from Solo: A Star Wars Story, or Billy Dee Williams himself will don the cape in this limited series). Oh, and let's not forget that Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins will helm the next Star Wars feature film, Rogue Squadron—which gets released in theaters nationwide on December 25, 2023. Can't wait! So much Star Wars goodness at hand...