Stormtroopers Wanted: Apply Within

Sydney Stormtroopers, the Galactic Empire needs YOU!

We’re currently hard at work preparing to film “Death Star PR” the webseries, to be beamed to your Earth interwebz in January 2012, and need 4 – 5 Stormtroopers for a pivotal scene in the final episode.

If you’re a Stormtrooper based in Sydney, Australia, have the full armour and blaster, and would like to appear in the greatest webseries set on in the PR office of a giant laser of all time, we need your help.

Details:

  • Date: Sunday 13th November
  • Time: after 1pm (TBC)
  • Location: Chatswood

Unfortunately, due to all of the money we’ve been spending on building Death Stars, we can’t offer you payment or organise your transportation. You will, however, receive a huge personal thank you from the PR team, as well as in the credits. The first and most devoted Stormtroopers will receive priority.

To sign up with the Death Star PR team, and for any other queries, please email us:

DeathStarPR@gmail.com

10 Reasons Why You Should Work for the Galactic Empire

With more and more planets coming under the benevolent rule of the great Emperor Palpatine by the day, there’s never been a better time to join the Galactic Empire. Here are ten reasons why you should work for us:

10) Earn good money

Well, actually, you’ll earn minimum wage (if you’re lucky) and you’ll like it. But on the upside, that’s loads better than having Stormtroopers visit your house in the middle of the night and burning your house down because you decided not to join the Galactic Empire.

9) Great health benefits
Working for the Galactic Empire will ensure you remain in peak physical fitness at all times. After all, what better high intensity fat blasting cardio workout is there than running around doing the bidding of two extremely demanding sociopathic evil sorcerers? Plus, you can forget about Bikram Yoga once you get deployed to a desert planet in full body combat armour.

8) Plenty of opportunities for promotion

There’s literally nothing worse than slaving away day after day, being constantly overlooked for the promotion you so richly deserve. In the Galactic Empire, our on-the-spot employee performance appraisals and liberal use of Force chokes as part of our progressive disciplinary policy ensures there are always vacancies in key management positions for young go-getters. Particularly if you have a flexible approach to certain moral grey areas (like “murder” and “oppression”) and a high pain threshold.

 

7) Travel to exotic worlds
And blow them up.
6) Learn about other cultures
In your travels, you’ll encounter diverse cultures, experience fascinating new customs, and be forced to listen to innumerable conversations in alien languages you don’have the time or inclination to understand. You’ll also have plenty of time to study their combat methods and tactics in the event that you need to frame them for the murder of unhelpful moisture farmers.
5) Meet interesting people
The galaxy is a vast and wondrous place, teeming with strange and intriguing aliens you couldn’t possibly imagine in your wildest dreams. And you’ll get to oppress and brutalise them all personally. Or, for those of you who are more interested in hobnobbing with high society, why not consider joining the 483rd Legion, where kidnapping Princesses is their specialty?

4) Face exciting challenges
Most jobs are the same boring stuff day after day. Same cubicle, same coffee place, same small talk, then you die. However, some rare jobs make you continually challenge and better yourself, enabling you to achieve things you’d never have thought possible. Like trying to kill magic space knights with superpowers and laser swords before they can kill you while wearing insanely large helmets that are almost impossible to see anything out of.
3) Stick it to the Alliance

The Rebels talk a big game about fighting for freedom and equality and peace but their track record tells a different story. Would people who love peace really have blown up the Death Star, killing over a million people? Would people who believe in equality really only employ two women, neither of whom are allowed to get involved in the fighting? Why didn’t Chewbacca get a medal as well? Will they see Han Solo brought to justice for drug smuggling and the murder of single father and soup kitchen volunteer, Greedo? At least with us you know what you’re getting.

2) Work for “hands on” bosses
Most people working for big business or government bodies go their entire careers without ever meeting the men and women at the top. Thankfully, Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader both believe in spending time with their employees, getting to know them personally before choking, electrifying, or occasionally even beheading them to death. You call it “murder”, we call it “micromanaging”.
1) Be more than just a number
Here in the Galactic Empire, we care about our employees and their hopes and dreams. Unlike some corporations, we view our workers as distinct individuals who are so much more than just faceless, anonymous clone drones. You’ll never be just a number to us. Because we care.

A is for Ackbar

“A is for Ackbar” is the ridiculously adorkable Star Wars-themed alphabet created and illustrated by Brandon and Emma Peat for their new son, Tycho. Death Star PR recently caught up with Brandon to delve in to the creative process behind the project. And to find out why “D” doesn’t stand for “Death Star”.

DSPR: What made you and Emma decide on the Star Wars mythos as your inspiration?
When we first found out that we were pregnant, it was a little scary. It was definitely a surprise, and we weren’t sure we’d be up to the challenge. Since we are both artists, my wife Emma thought that illustrating a children’s alphabet together would be the perfect way for us to not only prepare Tycho’s room for his arrival, but to prepare ourselves mentally as well. After some initial creative head-butting (inevitable when two artists are working together!), the project ended up being very cathartic for both of us.

As far as choosing what to depict with this alphabet, Star Wars characters quickly rose to the top of the list.  We both love it, it’s fairly kid-friendly, and there’s definitely enough material in that universe to cover every letter easily, so we wouldn’t have to stretch when it came time for the tricky letters like Q, X, or Z. And I will definitely want to introduce our children to Star Wars as soon as possible, so this seemed like a kid-friendly first step.

DSPR: Jar Jar is nowhere to be seen. Why the decision to go with characters from the Expanded Universe, rather than the prequel trilogy?
I’ll spare you my usual tirade and simply say that the Prequels are not my favorite part of Star Wars, and certainly not something I’ll be exposing our kids to anytime soon. And dismissing the Prequels and new Clone Wars stuff as being “for kids” ignores, I think, the fact that they’re really inappropriate for kids. As Darth Vader, Anakin does some truly evil stuff, and even as Anakin he’s not that great of a role model. Would you expose your kid to a show called The Adventures of Young Hitler? I certainly don’t want to teach my kids that mass murder is totally okay as long as you have a deathbed conversion. (Taking things a little too seriously? Sure. But you get where I’m coming from.)

DSPR: We don’t, that’s exactly how everyone in the PR office was planning on going out, but we digress. Please continue.

The Expanded Universe, however, is probably my favorite thing about Star Wars – the fact that there’s something interesting around every corner in this universe. My favorite EU stories (the Thrawn trilogy, the X-wing book and game series, the Jedi Knight series of games, the Tales of the Jedi comics and KOTOR games, the Republic Commando game and books) I cherish as much, possibly even more than the Original Trilogy. Sure, those movies are great, but you can’t watch them over and over forever. It’s more fun to experience new adventures within that world.

DSPR: Which characters were the most fun and/or most challenging to design?
My favorite characters to design were the ones where I got to squeeze in a visual gag about the character’s personality or a relevant plot point. Ackbar is scared of his trap-like Star Destroyer mobile. Assassin droid IG-88 is juggling a variety of grenades. Kyle Katarn is holding his lightsaber and the Death Star plans he helped steal. Quinlan Vos is spinning a Sith Holocron on his finger, referencing his brushes with the Dark Side. Boba Fett is jetpacking away from a Sarlacc-looking hole of squirming worms.  Han and Greedo are shooting finger guns at each other… and Han shot first.

DSPR: Finally, how much would it cost us to get you to change “R” to “Rebel Scum”?
Haha, if you’re interested in a custom letter (or any other illustration or design work, for that matter), you can always contact me for an estimate at brandonpeat.com.  I’m always up for a fun project!

All artwork courtesy of Emma and Brandon Peat. To see the full “A is for Ackbar” collection in all of its glory, or to purchase some of the ludicrously talented Brandon’s work/services, visit his website now!

Healing

To the Rebel Alliance:
How about we STOP arguing over who blew up which planet or ruthlessly assassinated what religious order and START healing?
This message brought to you by the “Death Star Cares” initiative.

The 12 Days of Sithmas

Concept by Darth Vader
Words by Darth Vader and Death Star PR

There is no greater Sithmas tradition than singing Sithmas carols. Well, apart from killing Jedi. And eating so much roast Ewok you might literally explode. But after that definitely comes carolling. And the most sung because we force everyone to sing it beloved Sithmas carol of them all is “The 12 Days of Sithmas”.

Below are the lyrics for all twelve days. Learn it for next Sithmas. Or else.

The 12 Days of Sithmas

On the first day of Sithmas my Dark Lord gave to me a fully operational Death Star.

On the second day of Sithmas my Dark Lord gave to me two twins a-kissin’.

On the third day of Sithmas my Dark Lord gave to me three clueless clones.

On the fourth day of Sithmas my Dark Lord gave to me four cyborg limbs.

 On the fifth day of Sithmas my Dark Lord gave to me five golden droids.

On the sixth day of Sithmas my Dark Lord gave to me six Star Destroyers.

On the seventh day of Sithmas my Dark Lord gave to me seven troopers stormin’.

On the eighth day of Sithmas my Dark Lord gave to me eight Ewoks stewing.

On the ninth day of Sithmas my Dark Lord gave to me nine Admirals choking.

On the tenth day of Sithmas my Dark Lord gave to me ten TIE’s a-fighting.

On the eleventh day of Sithmas my Dark Lord gave to me eleven Jedi dying.

On the twelfth day of Sithmas my Dark Lord gave to me twelve sabers humming.

Have a very Murdery Sithmas!

The Galactic Empire’s OFFICIAL Sithmas Greetings card:

From Emperor Palpatine, Darth Vader, the entire PR team and everyone else here in the Galactic Empire, have a happy holiday… because we’re going straight back to oppressing you all once it’s over.

Art by becboland.

Aim

Death Star Public Service Announcement #1271:


If you think Stormtroopers are bad at hitting things with their blasters, do NOT go into the Men’s Toilets on K-Deck.

TRUST US.