I found my rebel base

Some of you may have noticed on my homepage I have the quote, “Where is the Rebel Base?” This was mainly for comedic purposes and to highlight that I love Star Wars, but I believe that I have actually found the rebel base for myself.

It is coincidental that my base is also a group that starts their name with Rebel. That group being Rebel Cause Lancaster which is based in Lancaster, PA. Rebel Cause is a charity group that fights homelessness in Lancaster. I am honored to be considered a part if this group. Kaden, or as I named him in our messenger chat, Rouge Leader, is the founder of Rebel Cause and I credit him greatly for connecting me to a cause that means something. If not for him, I would not have a place to share my love of Star Wars.

Besides sharing a love of Star Wars, Rebel Cause also shares a love of family and that is what I believe Rebel Cause is. We are a family of people who has been through a lot individually, but find strength in our friends through Star Wars.

The last event that Rebel Cause hosted, shoutout to Tellus 360 for letting us do it there, was a Celebration of Star Wars. The date of the event coincided with the Star Wars celebration event, which was taking place in Chicago this year. Rebel Cause held a giant raffle for all kinds of awesome prizes and we raised a lot of money to help the needy in Lancaster.

I was at this event and I broke through a barrier I never thought I could and I have doubts on my ability to do it again honestly, but I walked up on a stage in front of 50 or so people and talked about the topic that was being discussed during a live podcast. This was about Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order and I talked liked I was meant for the stage. At least that is what I was told.

If this is your first time reading my blog it is pertinent to know that I have autism. My autism is never really an issue unless I am in crowds or in front of others, but that is what made this moment so big for me. I did not care about the crowd or the noise. I cared about Star Wars. This event is, essentially, a catalyst for me. It proved to me that I can talk to others without fear or doubt.

I have long been terrified of crowds, but my love of Star Wars broke that for me. There have been other times, of course, like metal concerts, but I did not talk at those. I talked at this event and I made people think of this event. At least I would like to think so. For everyone at the event, thank you for being there, it means the world to me.

Lastly, thank you, Kaden, for helping me break the final fragments of my shell that have been clinging to me for years. As the Sith always say, “Through Victory, my chains are broken.”

Rebellion for Hope

As some of you may know, I am a part of a charity based in Lancaster County called Rebel Cause. I am honored to be counted amongst the members of this group. It honestly feels like a second family when I’m around them.

Rebel Cause would not be possible without the leadership of Kaden. The founder of Rebel Cause. We had an event this past weekend at a local bar called Rumplebrewskins. I had a great time! Rebel Cause raised a good chunk of money during the event at Rumplebrewskins. This will go towards helping the people at the Water Street Rescue Mission in Lancaster city.

The event was covered by a local news station called WGAL and you can find that story linked at the end of this article. It was a big step for Rebel Cause to get news coverage. Kaden had already been recognized by the magazine, Revelo, but being covered by the local news felt validating. That is how it was for me at least. I am a journalism major and I think anything having to do journalism is always cool.

Rebel Cause raffled off Star Wars merchandise and I was envious of everyone who won something. The memorabilia we had was really unique and awesome. A local artist designed prints for us to give out and a local game store called FarboCo donated some Funko Pops to the event. There were black series of action figures and the members of the Brick City Blockade network brought some awesome Star Wars items from up in New Hampshire. There were two other major Star Wars podcasts there besides Rebel Cause and Brick City. They were the San Diego Sabers and the Star BQ podcasts.

Both of these podcasts are good friends to the Rebel Cause group as well as the Brick City group. That is the great thing about Star Wars. Unity in the community is a common phrase said during the various podcasts, as well as the Friendom. It is these types of rhetoric that give me hope in humanity. The world is so screwed up now, it is reassuring that Star Wars is still around to unite the world.

Now, Rebel Cause is more to me than just a charity. It is a place where my obsession for Star Wars has a home. A place where I’m completely accepted, despite my flaws. I do not want to dwell on myself for too long, but I feel at peace when I am discussing Star Wars and for a long time that peacefulness was gone. My love for Star Wars was fading and I count myself lucky to have been able to get involved in Rebel Cause. I was in a point in my life where my depression was getting too unmanageable levels and Star Wars, through Rebel Cause, brought me back from the brink.

I want to thank Rebel Cause, Brick City, Star BQ, San Diego Sabers and all of the Star Wars community for what they do. Not only for me but for the world. The impact these groups will have will, undoubtedly, grow. The friendom will expand and the great things Rebel Cause is destined for will become reality. Star Wars does so much for so many people and it is incredible to see that positive energy turned into something special with Rebel Cause. I am honored to be amongst the Rebel Cause Staff.

It is imperative that the friendom continues. Star Wars can help so many people and that is what Rebel Cause is tapping into. The generosity of others is always a pleasure to witness. I forget exactly how much we raised at the Rumplebrewskins event, but I am proud of this group. We got news coverage and we made some pretty awesome announcements during the event. For more information on those announcements, you can go to Rebel Cause’s Facebook Page.

May the force be with you guys!

https://www.wgal.com/article/star-wars-themed-party-and-fundraiser-held-in-lancaster/25663051

Rebel Cause Lancaster

I have recently become involved in a charity organization in Lancaster, PA. It is known as Rebel Cause Lancaster.

What is great about me joining Rebel Cause is the validation that it gave. Prior to learning about the group I was close to a point where I did not know what to do with Star Wars. I still loved the franchise, but I had no one to share this love with. I am not even sure how I came across Rebel Cause, but I wrote an article about them for my school newspaper, The Snapper. You can find the article here.

I never imagined what would become of my interaction with Kaden Patrick, the illustrious leader of Rebel Cause, at the American Bar and Grill in Lancaster. Long story short, I joined up with Rebel Cause as a social media/ writer guy.

We recently had an event at a bar in Lancaster called Rumplebrewskins. The event was a great success and I am amazed at how the Star Wars community came together to raise money for Water Street Rescue Mission. It made me proud to be a Star Wars fan once again.

I had lost that pride prior to meeting Kaden and getting it back was one of the greatest feelings I have ever had. Star Wars means many things to me, but the main thing is it was, and continues to be, my rock. It has always been there for me and I will always appreciate what it has done for me.

Knowing that Rebel Cause has my back now is great. Like I said earlier, I feel valid in my love for Star Wars.

Thank you Rebel Cause. You turned out to be my New Hope.

Thrawn

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/books/2017/03/02/star-wars-thrawn-book-exclusive-excerpt/98518860/

In this excerpt, my mind was completely blown away. Thrawn is the character I remember him as from the Heir to Empire Trilogy. Except this time, he is a Disney canon character. This makes me practically jump for joy, to use horribly cliche lines, but I do not even mind using cliche lines for this.

The original Thrawn was cunning, tactical, and just all around military genius. Just from this excerpt, I would say the same thing can be applied. From this point on, I am going to assume that you have read the excerpt, so I will be spoiling it.

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Thrawn knows who Darth Vader is. Not just as Vader, but as Anakin Skywalker. This is the only conclusion that I can come to after reading. I think that even though this is an origin book, Thrawn has already done his research on the Empire before deciding to join it. Knowing Thrawn from the older books and the fact that Timothy Zahn is the author further fuels this theory. I think that Zahn wants Thrawn to be as close to the original as possible. I am not upset by this at all.

What they have done with Thrawn in the Rebels TV show is amazing, but while watching, I always want to know specifically why Thrawn is there. I am looking forward to this book almost as much as Episode VIII. Which is quite a feat for me. I own all the other Star Wars books, both old and new canon, but I can honestly say I have never been this excited for a book. I am very interested to see what direction Zahn takes the book in. This is only a small except from chapter two.

I look forward to providing you guys with a review when the book comes out in April.

Star Wars Rogue One Review, Finally

OK everyone. It has been a couple weeks since Rogue One was released and I have had a chance to view it and contemplate it and semi-memorize it. So I will now give you my thoughts on the movie.

 

Spoiler alert!

 

 

 

 

First off, it was a great movie. It had its minor problems, but I think those were few and far in between to be of any real consequence. One glaring problem was character development for a few of the characters. I am sure this will all be supplemented in books and comics, but for a casual fan, character development was a problem.Primarily was the archetype fill-ins I thought were used. The spiritual fighter, the generic fighter, and the basic villain.These roles were well done and are Donnie Yen as Chirrut Imwe, Wen Jiang as Baze Malbus and Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic. I really wanted more development for all three of the characters. With the exception o Director Krennic I feel that Imwe and Malbus were just convenient plot points within the movie. I am not saying they did a bad job, don’t get me wrong, but I want to know more about those two. Director Krennic was a lot better in those regards, but I feel that the usage of Grand Moff Tarkin in the movie overshadowed him as the main villain.

Even Krennic’s death felt wrong to me. It was sudden as was the end of the movie. I knew going in that their would be a lot of dead people by the end, but Krennic’s death was just shallow and could have been more climatic. I am not upset that the entire rogue one squad was killed, but I think knowing it was going to happen made it easier to get through. It wasn’t the case for when Han is killed by Kylo Ren in Episode VII. The prequel trilogy had the same problem I think and it hinder Rogue One.

Alright, now that the two things I thought needed to be changed are out the way, we can talk about Darth Vader and Grand Moff Tarkin. The two powerhouse villains, and really the true main villains, were absolutely amazing! Darth Vader’s representation was spot on throughout the movie and the end scene. I felt like I was there as Darth Vader was cutting down rebel scum. I was so pumped for that. I cannot say how exciting that was! I am really excited right now. GO SEE THIS MOVIE FOR JUST THE VERY END! It was perfect. I implore you to see this movie for the ending.

Which, by the way, the fact that it ended maybe 20 minutes before the original Star Wars was really cool. It felt right.

Now, I know I could write a book about this movie, but I think that you should just go see the movie. Now, go see it now.

Seriously, if you have not seen this movie go see it now. I will even link fandango for you to find tickets:

http://www.fandango.com/

Now my rating: 9.75/10