Angry Jedi?

This post will be an experiment, with the question behind the experiment being "Can I write a quick here-and-gone blog post without spending three or four hours crafting an article?" And since I only have two pieces of information to talk about this week, I think we have a good chance of getting out of here in five paragraphs or less. Wish me luck!

Item 1 — Episode VII gets a writer: Michael Arndt has been confirmed by Lucasfilm as the screenwriter for Episode VII (I'm starting to get used to writing that). This surprised me a little bit — not that he had been picked, but that the media and fan reports about his being selected were not only confirmed, but had been confirmed so quickly. As someone with several years of waiting for new Star Wars movies under his belt, I'm finding the amount of confirmed information that's out there at this stage of the game refreshing.

Arndt is a bit of an unknown to me, but then again, most screenwriters currently working in Hollywood are unknown to me. A consummate industry watcher, I am not. But I have seen at least one of his movies (Toy Story 3), and I have heard tell of some of the lectures he's given on Star Wars and writing. I think he'll do nicely.

So the next bit of news is likely to be who is chosen for the director's chair. With that in mind, there's an interesting take on why Disney shouldn't choose a popular "geek mob" director like J.J. Abrams or Joss Whedon here.

Item 2 — Angry Birds: Star Wars: I've been equal parts cynical and fan-boyish about this one. I've held off on buying an Angry Birds title as long as I've had access to iOS devices. I don't dislike them, per se, but I seldom purchase apps since there's so much free stuff out there.

That said, I've been leaning toward buying an AB title for as long as I've had access to iOS devices, and now that I'm in "I must have everything to do so with Star Wars" mode, I find myself particularly vulnerable. There's lots of reasons not to buy it — chiefly that it's $2.99, with paid access to the next level at $2, and that's just for the iPad version. Sadly, this is not a universal app, and if I were to buy it, it would be for the iPad, since that's what I typically play games on the most.

Then again, it's Star Wars, and I pay more for a fish sandwich at McDonald's. So the jury's still out on that. Tune in next week for an update on that particular quandary. Also, I've been getting back up to speed on The Clone Wars series (which I hadn't watched for a long time), so I may have some observations on that as well.

Experiment results — Okay, that seems to have taken about an hour and fifteen minutes. In my defense, I was doing a lot of texting while I was trying to write. Surely, I can do better.

Update: I decided to take the plunge and got the iPad version of the game. I'll post a short review in a future post, but my initial impression is a good one.