no skateboards in star wars?

“…There will be no skateboards in Star Wars…”

But there will be scenes shot in the Abu Dhabi desert! There was speculation* and now there’s confirmation**.

*[…no one at the petrol station, two cafes and two shops in the closest town, Himeem, had any inkling of a nearby movie set or unusual construction. “I live around here, it’s totally my home area and I’m sure if anything as big as that was going on I’d know about it,” said an Emirati farmer.”]

**[Disney’s chair Alan Horn said: “We did some second-unit work in Abu Dhabi. We have to give that the Star Wars-ian look, if I can use that as an adjective — we need to go to these places.”]

“An Abu Dhabi Tatooine shoot would mark the first time the fictional planet has not been housed in Tunisia.”

Move over Jar-Jar, Nermal’s the new comic relief for this film!

Kidding. That was a comic con.

Did someone say…

COMIC CON!!!

KHAN!!!!

(Grrr, wrong franchise. In full disclosure, I am a Star Wars fan by marriage, in the same way my husband is vegetarian by marriage. It’s how we make it work.)

Here are the Star-Wars-themed pix I took during the Middle East Film & Comic Con.

From April 4, 2014

If you know anything about anything Star Wars, then you know that on the right is Andrew Ainsworth, designer of the famous Stormtrooper helmet. I did not. At the time I took this, I was taking a selfie in some creature’s highly reflective armor.

Andrew Ainsworth’s most iconic creation

This was the piece we both liked a lot. And I may have said it could go in the apartment. We didn’t have an apartment yet, so it was easy to say. But now, we do. Maybe we should get it? (dms180/$50). I’ll dedicate a separate post to the small piece of art we did “buy” during the con.

Shmaghtrooper by Mohamed Kanoo

Jedi Master Clone by Kristy Anne Ligones

Everyone Loves to Cosplay by Mo Abedin. There was supposed to be a Damien Hirst designed helmet, but there wasn’t.

This dude was so incredibly happy: he’d just purchased a full Stormtrooper suit. He had no idea how he was going to get it home, when he’d wear it, or where he was going to store it. Didn’t matter.

The only only only Princess Leia. Can you imagine that, San Diego?

 

Geography Lesson

I was going to put the map before the Comic Con photos, but what fun is a map when you could be looking at a pint-size xwing pilot?

Abu Dhabi is Dubai‘s neighbor and the capital of the United Arab Emirates. And, I’m guessing, if we can get a car, there may be a trip to the south/southwest.

This map shows 3 of the 7 Emirates that make up the UAE. Starting at the southwest & moving up the coast: Abu Dhabi, Dubai, & Sharjah.
The other Emirates are Ajman, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, and Umm al-Quwain

Geography lesson over.

10 Days until …. May the 4th … be with you.
And also with you.