Green Milk on an Emerald Isle: Mark Hamill Heads to Ireland

With Tuesday’s digital release, The Last Jedi regained a top spot amidst Star Wars conversation — online or otherwise — and my boss, my fellows, and I fed the fire with several stories outlining the news.

*BTW: I include the now outdated “Pre-order” link because Jason schools everyone on how to best manage your digital library. Seriously, take another look. I am kicking myself regarding my own strategy.

There are, of course, dozens of posts on the digital version of The Last Jedi, and if you’d like to wander through the click bait, feel free to do so via Google.

Back to Ahch-to

Me, I’m more interested in the real world meanderings of a particular actor.

https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/973194527384178688

I mean, beyond attending a movie premiere or a Star Tours ride with Mark Hamill, traveling back to Ahch-to to see Luke Skywalker preside over the St. Patrick’s Festival seems like the coolest thing ever.

The new honorary role has been created to celebrate the achievements of an individual from the worlds of business, the arts or the media, who has a special connection with Ireland. “Mark has a special affinity to Ireland through his filming of Star Wars and his family history and he has done much for our film industry,” says Susan Kirby, St. Patrick’s Festival CEO. “We’re looking forward to welcoming him back ‘home’ to celebrate our national holiday and St. Patrick’s Festival with us.”

I am hoping our Ireland-based readers will bless us with some pictures of the event on the Emerald Isle. However, in the meantime, read the article and follow the links therein for what I consider some impressive bonus coverage beyond the usual suspects.

Speaking of Skellig Michael

While you are at it, one of those Irish visitors, @Degobabe, sent me a link to her actual visit to the “Real Jedi Steps” shot on Skellig Michael. Watch the video – it makes those scenes in The Force Awakens and TLJ seem so much more real.

So, so cool.

Degobabe also linked up the official press release from Hamill’s appearance in the St. Patrick’s Day festival.

Thank you! Sláinte…

Regarding Green Milk

https://twitter.com/AlphaPlank77/status/947544925129838592

I believe I missed this the first time around, but timeliness is next to godliness, or something like that…

Back in December, Collider’s Christina Radish pulled together a Q & A with Star Wars: The Last Jedi Creature Designer Neal Scanlan.

Of the “green milk scene,” Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, and the Thala-sirens, Scanlan said:

It was something that Rian wanted to shoot in the location, for real. We actually built that animatronic puppet, back at Pinewood, we transported it to ILM, and we flew it into that location with a helicopter. Once it was in the location, we locked two puppeteers inside there…The guys on the inside could see what was happening on the outside, through monitors and a walkie system that we had, and Mark literally walked up, bent down, and milked his sea-sow. It made a lovely tasting drink, by the way. It wasn’t as disgusting as it looked. They CG-ed a tint on it, in the end, to make it look even more disgusting. It was wonderful to be there and to do it for real, amongst the elements.

It’s a fun, enjoyable read and has special relevance given the recent digital release.

More on the Temple Island

Meanwhile, closer to home (presumably in San Francisco), everyone’s ombudsman keeps pumping out “non-fiction” Star Wars canon (or something of that ilk).

Today’s piece of the pie has to do with, you guessed it, Ahch-to.

StarWars.com’s James Floyd synopsized:

Green Milk on an Emerald Isle: Mark Hamill Heads to Ireland

While it was difficult for the Resistance to find a map to Luke Skywalker, readers of this reference have it easy: there’s a map of the island on Ahch-To that is home to the origins of the Jedi. In addition to the Jedi Temple, and Jedi Village, where Rey and Luke stay, there’s also the mirror cave, and a separate village that is home for the Caretakers, the female Lanais who maintain the Jedi structures out of a sworn duty. More detail is given about the Lanais, whose males, known as the Visitors, spend most of their time at sea as fishermen, coming to the island monthly with their catch. The sentient Lanais are distantly related to the unintelligent but very curious porgs. And the library of ancient books Luke has collected are stored in the hollow of timeworn Force-sensitive uneti tree.

And that’s just a snippet of the minutia, the precise details, you’ll find in the book. Check it out! JB