Calling All Star Wars Geeks

Star Wars was the first movie I remember seeing in a theater. It probably wasn't really the first movie I ever saw, but it's the first I remember seeing and ever since it's been my favorite movie . . . at least until Lord of the Rings came along and knocked it to number two on my list--doesn't that statement probe the depths of my personality?

So when Sarah Henning, director of public relations for the Anchorage Museum, invited me to the press tour for the new Star Wars exhibit I made sure I was at the front of the line when the doors opened, my face pressed up against the glass in eager anticipation.

We got a pre-opening day peek and it was everything a Star Wars geek like me could want--over 80 costumes and props from the movies including the genuine, bona fide land speeder belonging to Luke Skywalker himself, complete with dented fender from bullseyeing womp rats. And you know what I mean if you're in any way a fellow Lucasite.

When I told my kids about the land speeder and mentioned that it was in the first movie they were confused because they thought I meant The Phantom Menace (they are all heathen dogs and consider Episode One: TPM to be the "first" movie no matter how many times I've worked to set them straight). You would not believe how we've gone rounds on the issue, with me insisting that Star Wars is the best of the whole series and that the three most recent episodes stink next to the original three, that Alec Guiness is the only one man enough to play Obi Wan and that someone should have stood up to George Lucas and told him what kind of crazy he was when he came up with the whole Jar Jar Binks thing but have I convinced them? I have not.

I have failed them as a mother.

But regardless, I had one heck of a morning gawking and snapping pictures of Yoda and Wookies and Jedi robes. I got to see R2D2 and C3Po and Princess Leia's original dress--though as a side note and something that was glaringly absent, I didn't see the infamous metal bikini. Funny how today you can ask middle-aged men around the world about that bikini and they'll get the same goofy, starry-eyed look every time. . . .

I even got a kick out of a rather effeminately posed Han Solo. Get a load of the way they've got him standing--like he's an Abercrombie and Fitch model rather than the coolest smuggler in the galaxy. I think Chewie would have smacked him if he'd ever stood like that for reals. But still . . . it's HAN SOLO! How cool is that? "Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side."

Ah, they don't write poetry like that any more.

Besides the costumes there were all sorts of miniatures-- Princess Leia's space ship, Luke on a Tauntaun, x-wing and tie-fighters, at-at walkers, star destroyers. I was in heaven. Or at least a galaxy far, far away.

Totally off the subject but while Googling "Tauntaun" to make sure I spelled it correctly (yea, go ahead and mock) I found "Wookiepedia: The Star Wars Wiki" which had this to say on the subject of Tauntauns: "Tauntauns were a species of omnivorous reptomammals who were indigenous to the icy planet of Hoth. Tauntauns were genetically similar to Kybucks and featured a mix of traditionally reptilian features, such as a lack of mammary glands and scaly skin. They were also warm-blooded, covered in fur (which ranged from gray to white), and gave birth to live young. Known subspecies included. . . . " and then it goes on for FOUR paragraphs before diverging into known predators and domestication.

Um . . . yea. I'm not sure if I feel awed or threatened by the person who took the time to research and write that page. Amazing.

But the exhibit wasn't all about the movies--at least not entirely. It's a great time for movie fans who want to see an authentic light saber or Darth Vader's mask but it's also made to teach science: what the movies made up, what real technology can do and what science hopes to be able to do in the future.

On the fourth floor there was a Jawa sand crawler set up as a theater that showed a 20+ minute film about the science behind the movies and on the third floor were some of the best hands-on science stations I've seen in connection with an exhibit.

One station allows you to plan out one of three communities on Tatooine where you place resource tiles on a table and the screen above you projects a 3-D view of how your community would look, giving you a readout of how you're using your resources and protecting your citizens.

At another spot you can build a little car that levitates like Luke's land speeder but using real magnetic levitation technology rather than the gloriously fake "repulsorlift" technology the movies invented. You snap magnetic Legos on your car and send it floating down the track like magic. Or like magnets.

You can interact with a real-life robot to see how technology can mimic cognitive and interactive skills, you can try to make a robot walk and get an idea of how amazing the human body is to be able to master such delicate movements effortlessly and you can take a short ride on a car that uses compressed air to float above the ground and see how hard it is to steer in a frictionless environment.

But the highlight? A full-sized replica of the Millennium Falcon's cockpit where you walk through one of the aircraft's tunnels to sit in Han or Chewie's chairs and make the jump to light speed as Anthony Daniels narrates a five-minute tour through the known universe--all to the rocking tunes of John Williams.

The exhibit runs through April 10th and it's very much worth the time and money to attend. The museum's website has a month or two of lectures to accompany the exhibit, many of them free. A perfect way to spend a day as you're waiting for all that snow to thaw.

And in honor of the occasion, I have here a very official, very cool Star Wars trivia game for your nerd-off pleasure. To see the answers, click and drag your cursor over the blank space below each question and it will magically highlight the answer. I'm only giving you questions from the original movie--because, after all, that's the best one. As I repeatedly tell my poor, ignorant children.

1. What is Princess Leia's last name?

Raised by step-parents, she is known as Leia Organa

2. When Luke was going to buy a droid he was told to make sure it spoke which language?

Bocce

3. In which cell block is Leia being held prisoner?

AA-23

4. Who owned C3PO and R2D2 before Luke bought the droids?

Captain Antilles

5. Luke commented that the trench on the Death Star was just like what place back home?

Beggar's Canyon

6. Where did Princess Leia tell Grand Moff Tarkin that the rebel base was located?

Dantooine

7. Where did "Old Ben Kenobi" live?

Beyond the Dune Sea

8. What was the finishing time for the Millennium Falcon in the Kessle Run?

Twelve parsecs

9. What do Sand People ride?

Banthas

10. What land speeder's debut made Luke's old model obsolete?

XP-38

Score:
10-9 We should seriously hang out. No really.
6-8 Don't tell me you actually think Hayden Christensen can act?!
3-5 So when was the last time you actually saw the movie?
2-1 Bantha fodder.

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