May The Fourth Be With You

And also with you. (Catholic Jedi joke, Zandardad will laugh for hours.)

May 4th has gotten to be a pretty decent sized unofficial holiday for Star Wars fans, so much so that you'll find all kinds of events today.

"May the 4th be with you" is a full-fledged unofficial holiday, "Star Wars Day." 

Actually, as far as Lucasfilm and Disney are concerned, it's quite official. 

So why this day, and what is there to do other than watch it trend on Twitter? (After all, it's apparently important enough to send hardcore fans into a tizzy when they feel it's been mistreated.) 

As legend has it, and according to the origin story recognized by Lucasfilm, the phrase was first used on May 4, 1979, the day Margaret Thatcher took office as UK prime minister. The Conservative party allegedly placed an ad in the London Evening News which read, "May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations." 

It took off in the social media age (where it has become a big deal every year) and finally expanded to real-life with events in Toronto. Now, there are events celebrating the day worldwide. 

There are online and in-store deals on "Star Wars" merchandise and gaming, "Star Wars" food galore and events where fans are encouraged to dress up or play "Star Wars" trivia or just enjoytheir favorite film franchise.

Well, Thatcher was pretty much a Sith Lord, so it makes sense.  Anyhow, bunch of awesome deals on Star Wars stuff and fun events to check out too.  Here's hoping that Episode VII restores balance to the Force after the trashing it got with the three prequel films.  Odds are we'll still have a long way to go to get the series back on track.

But never tell me the odds, as the man said.