He does have his moments: Reasons why it's better to be Han than Luke

There are many ways to describe Han Solo: heroic, sarcastic, charming, skillful, and cocky all come to mind, but perhaps the word that best sums up the Corellian smuggler is "scoundrel." While Luke pursues his destiny and Leia fights for galactic freedom, Han is in it for the reward (or so he claims). Of course, we always knew there was more to him than money, but it's that devil-may-care swagger that makes Han so likable.

Personally, I can't say for sure whether I would rather be Luke or Han, but for the purposes of this post, Luke can keep his hokey religions and ancient weapons: here are the reasons why it's better to be Han Solo.

Would you rather be Han or Luke?

I know that nerds are supposed to debate whether they like Kirk or Picard more, but that's never been a hard question for me. Kirk is fine, but I like Picard better as a captain and I find him to be a more interesting character.

There is another question that has long plagued me, though, and I have never felt sure about my answer: would I rather be Han Solo or Luke Skywalker? I can argue for both sides, but to make things more interesting, I talked my to my co-blogger bluefish, and he will argue for Luke while I take Han's side. We'll post our thoughts in separate blog posts to keep things more manageable.

If you have an opinion one way or the other, feel free to share it as a comment!

István, a király: Hungary's answer to "Jesus Christ, Superstar"

Istvány: eleventh century ruler, 80's hairdo

The Hungarian rock opera István, a király was created in 1983, during the waning years of the Communist regime. The musical tells the story of the first king of Hungary, St. Stephen (Szent István in Hungarian). The best way to describe the rock opera is to say that it is like a Hungarian Jesus Christ, Superstar, complete with the juxtaposition of historical subject matter with 70's clothing and hairstyles (Hungary was a little behind when it came to fashion).

Mushi-shi: A Beautiful, Contemplative Anime Series

Mushi-shi is an anime series about a man named Ginko who travels the countryside to learn more about mushi, creatures that are neither animals nor plants that are invisible to most people. Ginko can see mushi and has studied them, so he can help those people whose lives have been affected by mushi. Ginko is a mushi-shi, part biologist and part doctor, who helps people learn to live in balance with mushi, curing the illnesses and other phenomena that mushi can cause when they come in conflict with humans.

It's time to get excited about The Legend of Korra again

I was already planning on writing a post with this title after Nickelodeon released the trailer to Book 3 of The Legend of Korra:

Then Nickelodeon announced that Book 3 will start to air on Friday (June 27), giving us even more reasons to get excited!

Contains spoilers for previous books!

One Epic Knight: A fun, hilarious endless runner

When was the last time you played a free mobile game that was genuinely fun, made you laugh out loud, and was endlessly enjoyable without spending a single cent? One Epic Knight is a free endless runner from Simutronics featuring a wise-cracking knight venturing forth into a dungeon to collect loot, fight monsters, and avoid traps before inevitably dying hilariously. If you own an iOS or Android device, there's really no reason not to check it out!

Lupita Nyong'o and Gwendoline Christie will be in Star Wars VII!

Photo from the starwars.com announcement

What a time to be alive!

The folks at starwars.com have announced Lupita Nyong'o will indeed be joining the cast of Star Wars Episode VII, and will be joined by Gwendoline Christie. Christie, known for playing Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones, will bring the total number of new women characters to three. When you add Carrie Fisher's return as Princess Leia to the number, you get four major roles for women, which is four times the number found in both the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy.