Oh Star Wars journal, how I have neglected thee.

Haven't had a whole lot to write about in the last year, I guess.

But anyways, a while back I decided I wanted to make up a Star Wars version of the phonetic alphabet. Here's what I came up with. Suggestions are welcome.

A - Alpha
B - Bacta
C - Corellia
D - Delta
E - Echo
F - Fondor
G - Gizka
H - Hutt
I - Ion
J - Jedi
K - Kessel
L - Lancer
M - Mynock
N - Nerf
O - Omega
P - Permacrete
Q - Quarren
R - Rancor
S - Saber
T - Tibanna
U - Ubese
V - Verpine
W - Wookiee
X - X-Wing
Y - Yavin
Z - Zabrak

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IMPORTANT: If you find this via a Google search or something, THIS IS NOT CANON. I made it up, and I have NO ties to Star Wars official types. If this list ends up on Wookieepedia or something as "fact", I will be most displeased. There probably is a canon phonetic alphabet, but since it's not public knowledge yet, I made up my own. All mine, nothing official, thank you.
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B (Bacta) and I (Ion) aren't mine, they're from Labyrinth of Evil. And a couple of them I left the same as our NATO alphabet (Alpha, Delta, Echo) because I couldn't really find anything better... and we already know the Greek alphabet exists in some form in the SW galaxy - see X-Wing, TIE Fighter, Republic Commando, etc.

So yeah, my name is spelled Alpha-Mynock-Yavin. Cool. :D

Just had to report that I now have my very own Scorch action figure. Walmart, I hereby take back anything bad I've said about you - yes, you do have too many people and too many crowded aisles of stuff, but you had Scorch. Yay! I'm still going to keep an eye out for other Scorches, because I know they're rare and I know several people online who might want one, but I only need the one so I'm happy. :)

BTW, I have no internet at home at the moment. I'll be back online in a week or two, hopefully.

Long time no entry. I've been kinda busy and haven't been doing a whole lot of SW-related stuff, that's my excuse. ;)

Anyways, I just wanted to show off my cool clone action figures. :D After my whining about how you can get squat in Canada, solsticedawn was nice enough to buy figures for me and ship 'em here. :) So I have four new figures now: Jango, Cody, Utapau clone, and Bly. Yay, lots of clones!

( Picture! )

They're all lined up on the shelf above my desk, so I can see 'em when I glance up from my computer monitor. :)

I wanted to make up a nickname for my generic Utapau clone trooper, but couldn't think of anything cool. Then I realised I thought of him as "Orange" and it just stuck. So that's his name. :) That's kinda how "Mr. Dude" got his name too. ;)

Now I just need a Scorch! I'd rather not do the eBay thing because... well, blah. And I'm not super-desperate. But I've got a few people keeping an eye out for Scorch for me, so maybe it'll pay off eventually. :) I think I have enough clones now (I'm really not all that much of an action figure person) but I would like Scorch still. (Actually I want Fixer more, but he doesn't exist yet so I'll settle for Scorch...)

Well, while I'm here, bit of a more general update. I don't have Betrayal because I don't buy hardcovers, but I've spoiled myself for it muchly and what I know sounds SO cool. :) I can't wait for Bloodlines!!

I'm re-reading Triple Zero again. Hehe. :D I badly need to update clonecommandos.net too. Especially the fanfic; I have ten stories to add. :o Seeing as the next couple weeks will be busy (my brother's getting married on the 24th, and I'm moving at the start of July), I need to get that done ASAP. (And I'm mostly telling you guys about this need because that way I'm more likely to actually do it!)

Guess that's it for now. Sorry for the slightly-less-than-compelling entry, but meh.

Just two links for you today...

Firstly, if you like Republic Commando music at all, you really should listen to Bart Klepka's Vode An Remix. I love game remixes SO much, but this is the first RepCom one I've come across. Very quality stuff. :) Even if you don't tend to like trance (like me), it's really cool!

And secondly, check out this video: Star Trek vs. Star Wars. Very clever! :D

To the guy I was fighting back in the day and alluded to in this post:

You're a complete and utter chakaar. Please get off the internet.

Note to self: Do not go to forums where di'kute hang out, ever. Even when you're bored. Especially when you're bored. Never again. As I suspected, the cool and detached debater guy was just a mask he presented - he was actually president ringleader di'kut.

Man, I'm wishing now more than ever that I never conceded anything to that fool... but then again, he's not worth it.

No one believes me when I say this, but compared to the US, you cannot find anything Star Wars in Canada unless a movie has just been released. But from my half-dozen visits to the USA, I know that it's a completely different story on the other side of the border. The last time I visited the US (many many years ago, between Episodes I and II, I remember) , I found a store that sold dozens of Episode I posters I never even knew existed. I had some SW posters I'd found in Canada, but that was right after TPM came out and they disappeared about a month later. Not in the US... every place I went, Star Wars stuff everywhere. The US is like the land of Star Wars, I swear. I'm not even on the lookout for rare stuff, I just want the normal stuff - posters, action figures, Pez dispensers. You really have to hunt around to find those here nowadays!

My parents were in Nashville the past week, and I have them trained to look out for Star Wars stuff for me. :D If I'd remembered, I would have had them check out the action figures for the elusive Scorch (which I highly doubt I'll ever find here, and I'm not even bothering to look!), but alas, I didn't remember. Anyways, they bought me two SW Pez dispensers (man, I adore Pez) - R2-D2 and Grievous. I already had another Grievous and a Stormtrooper (both sent to me by an online friend in the US), plus a Death Star one that I found around here. Yay! I still hope to someday get the clone trooper and Boba Fett ones (did they have a Jango Fett one too? I don't remember...) but I'm very pleased that I now have 5 of them (4 unique). :) They also bought me the Ewok Adventures DVD. I've heard some stuff about 'Caravan of Courage' and 'The Battle for Endor', but I've never actually seen them. This should be interesting... :)

I do find it funny that I'm the only one they bought stuff for, and it's all SW stuff. Land of Star Wars, I say!! I love living in Canada because we get almost all the same stuff as the Americans get (movies/games/books released at the same time, Star Wars Insider subscriptions (though super-expensive), etc.) but with a better international reputation (it's hard being the biggest and most powerful) and a less-militant attitude on issues (we're all so indifferent about everything... and cautious). But still... Land of Star Wars! It is tempting, though I don't think I could ever move to the US because I couldn't make fun of Americans anymore. ;) Hehe. (But the US does have palm trees too, which I'm very obsessed with...)

I have three things to discuss today: Hard Contact & hiking, my impressions of Triple Zero the second time through, and some of my thoughts on the "clone wars".

Warning: this entry possibly breaks some world records on length. I ramble, what can I say! ;) And maybe this makes up for my lack-of updating lately. I probably should have split this into three entries, but meh...

( hard contact )

( triple zero )

( 'clone wars' )


If you read all of that, you deserve a medal! :D

(This entry isn't really important to read; I'm posting for my own benefit and probably won't make much sense unless you run in the same fandom circles as I do. I'm also not cross-posting this, though I might link it later.)

So lately I've been watching some Clone Wars battles unfold.

I should probably mention that when I say "Clone Wars" above, I do not mean the war between the Republic and the Separatists in a certain galaxy far far away. No, I'm referring to the war about clone numbers, which has been raging in various places on the internet for 5 months now. Spawned by the Guide to the Grand Army of the Republic, the fighting has re-ignited due to the story 'Odds' in Star Wars Insider (which I haven't read yet, but know the important details about). I am also now a non-combatant, though I do have a vested interest in one side. Yet I'm refusing to allow myself to be baited by the few people on the 'enemy' side, who talk in a quantity much larger in number than they are. But this of course means that I have to avoid some things I'd normally participate in... the war spread to Wookieepedia a couple days ago but I've kept my mouth shut. I guess you could also say that my disillusionment with wikis is complete - I see so many personal agendas there now. It's sad. I already fought one battle over there to keep the definition of 'Fandalorian' non-inflammatory, but I don't have the time and energy to stave off the enemy everywhere.

I should probably mention: "the enemy" does not refer to people who disagree with my position or the canon clone numbers in general. Instead, it refers to people who flame others because of said numbers, take everything personally, boycott certain books and authors, and generally act like immature morons. And while I tend to skirmish with the enemy who disagrees with the clone numbers, there certainly are enemies among the ranks of the opposite point-of-view (my point-of-view, generally) as well. This isn't so much a war about numbers as it is about attitudes in discussing said numbers.

So instead I'm writing about it here, in my own online space... where these things should be kept. Not on forums, not on wikis, not on the blogs and sites of the enemy. Just in my own space, where my opinions can be expressed publicly yet not in a way that intrudes on anyone else.

You know, it's hard to be a non-combatant when I'm so incredibly stubborn. I once got in an argument with some guy on TheForce.net (about clone numbers) and I eventually gave up because he wasn't listening to what I was saying and it was a waste of time. But I think I was too concilliatory about it. He was a jerk the entire time we were arguing - one of those 'logical' jerks who hides behind multi-syllabic words and an arrogant tone, while outright insulting you and what you stand for - but as soon as I PMed him and said I refused to argue anymore because it wasn't fun, and I even congratulated him for "winning" (due to my giving up, I was still clear that I didn't agree with his views), he was all nice to me and said he hoped we'd meet again on the boards under better circumstances. I'm glad I got out of that before it got even worse, but man... there's one little part of me that wishes I hadn't admitted that he could have debated circles around me. I know that I'm not good at debating - anything I care to debate I get very emotionally involved about - but it bothers me that the guy probably thinks he won. I hate losing and don't think I lost... but maybe he thinks I lost. That's very unsatisfying. I like to win and have everyone know it. ;) That's why I'm mentioning this; hopefully it'll settle some of these 'issues' for me and I won't feel like I just gave up and lost. :)

I need some closure on this before I can truly be a non-combatant. This entry will be the closure, hopefully. I honestly don't care if even one person reads this, but getting it all out helps.

More later about hiking/Hard Contact, my re-read of Triple Zero, and other random stuff! :)

So I stopped by the JC Forums today - I only do at most weekly nowadays (all the threads I'm interested in have turned into Mandalorians suck/rule wars and I hate that, so I just stay out the of Lit forum in order not to get pissed off *rolleyes*) - and I saw a big long thread about the short story 'Odds', the mini-sequel to Republic Commando: Triple Zero. I am dying to read that story, but I don't have Insider yet. And probably won't for at least a couple more weeks. :( And while I don't care too much about spoilers, the thread is likely just to be another war and I don't want that to be the way I find out key plot elements. So no, Amy, you must not look in. Ever. *ties hands together* So tempting, but no. Forget that forum even exists, k? There, now it's all better.

Anyways, the real reason I'm writing this is because I noticed some cool continuity things with Mandalorians. So in Kotor, there's this one part on Dantooine where this guy tells you that Mandalorians killed his daughter and asks you to kill them for him. Now if you have Canderous (a Mando merc) in your party at the time, he says something like, "you should have protected her; and you call yourself her father" when he finds out about the dead girl. And you know what? That makes SO much sense when you take into consideration all the Mando culture stuff that's being told via Triple Zero and other sources lately about how Mandalorians view family.

I was even looking through the Mando'a word list the other day and I came across the word ver'gebuir, which means "bodyguard". But if you look at the word literally, it seems to be from 3 words: the verb verborir which means "to hire, buy, or contract", the word ge which means "almost", and the word buir which means "father" (or "mother"). So the word for bodyguard is literally translated as "hired almost-father". That says a LOT about the role of parents in Mando society. The person you hire to protect you is like your father, almost your father... clearly, it's a key thing for Mando parents to protect their children personally. All Mandalorians should know how to fight and protect their families; they don't expect certain elements of society to, like we do with police officers and soldiers.

That's why Canderous wasn't very sympathetic. The man whose daughter was killed wasn't a soldier or trained in combat. He was just a normal guy. Yet to a Mando, if you're capable of fighting physically, you must learn how to and be equipped to defend your family. Combine that with the way Mandos teach their children combat at a very young age (normally 8 years old) and how the most important thing Jango wanted Boba to be was self-sufficient (from the Boba Fett books). The Mandalorians obviously take parenting very seriously, and it's a personal family thing to defend your children until they can defend themselves. To do any less shows you're not cut out to be a parent. "And you call yourself her father," Canderous accused.

Anyways, I just thought it was neat how those completely separate aspects of the Star Wars EU mesh so incredibly well. :) I can't wait till I can replay Kotor II and see how the Mandalorians in that game act. (In fact, it was those Mandos that made me first start liking them! They were the beginning because they were just so incredibly cool. And I love Kelborn. :D)