Royalty Coincidences?

Today I went for a second round of notebook browsing and I just the only notebook that fits the bill of what I want:

Sony Vaio SZ44GN/B. It has the exact configuration that I wanted but the commanding price tag is $1997 USD which is way worth over my budget and will surely burn a hole in my wallet! The reason, as I've explained in yesterday's post is due to the licensing cost of Windows Vista Business. There is a possibility of having a rebate deduction during the next PC fair in K.L mid next-month. Also, there was another model that caught my eye today: ASUS-8JE. It has everything but instead it only has 512MB RAM. Today's well-oiled notebooks do use 1GB of RAM to perform well as to complement the processing power of the Menroe processor.

When I went to the Sony shop, it was like going to Wieldstrom Museum, the climatic mission of Thief III: Deadly Shadows. Except, it is located in a shopping mall; you don't have to wander around the mall after 11 p.m - (when it's closed); but you still have to deal with security if you wish to loot all the precious stuff including a Playstation 3 prototype there!

So, thieves, are you up to the challenge of raiding that shop at midnight?

Well, back to the point: I happened to visit my favorite bookshop today and just found one of the new Star Wars novels called Exile by Aaron Allston. Allston wrote Rebel Stand, a NJO series book that I bought a few years ago. The cover art can be found at Google images.

Here we are talking of Princess Leia being at late-50s - we are following Mark Hamill's present age of 56 (September), so we are seeing out favorite Star Wars characters having more white hairs; aging; more wrinkles; no longer have that smooth and silky voice as it was 30 years ago. But Troy Denning - who wrote The Dark Nest trilogy revamped her character significantly, giving her chance to become something that she could not do 20 years ago. Hint: The cover art will tell you.

What I really wish to present in today's entry is the coincidences and comparisons that I've studied between two women. Firstly is Leia of course and a real-life counterpart. The northwestern part of the Borneo archipelago, now known as Sarawak, the largest state of Malaysia was once ruled by the family of the White Kings of Brooke (White Rajah) for one century (1841-1946). They are the only English family to rule an Oriental nation until today.

This is one of the pictures of Sylvia Brooke (The Queen of the Headhunters) nee Brett (1885-1971), the second and last Ranee of Sarawak. She was tutored by George Bernard Shaw and event her godfather Sir James Barrie (Peter Pan). You would not find one of those in Google or even Yahoo. I managed to trace this image from one of the few books around town and this was one of them. By right the picture above is the official royal portrait of Sylvia. This was taken circular 1932, which makes her approximately at 47. How she became the Ranee was by an accidental choice by her husband Vyner. She was a drummer in her youth playing in a female band accompanied by two others together with her mother-in-law, the Ranee Dowager Margaret(1849-1936).

See how she looks? There's some physical resemblance of her to Princess Leia or even Carrie Fisher herself except Carrie's shorter - if I am not mistaken it's 5'5. For instance, she is a decent socialite like Leia; even she did dressed like a Muslim royal in the King George V's court - but it triggered some murmuring among other noblemen. What about Leia? Now she's a Jedi Knight, she's not wearing a politician's wardrobe but an order's robe.

I saw a picture of her dressing in that situation particularly when she introduced her youngest daughter Nancy (Princess Baba to the media) (1915-1993). Second: Both women went to the top of the ruling hierachy. Sylvia was the consort until Sarawak's abdication in July 1946. Leia was the Chief of State of the Galactic Republic for 8 years. They are mothers, but Sylvia has three daughters whereby none could take over the stewardship of Sarawak (according to Muslim law) except for her nephew Anthony whom Vyner had a falling out.

Shortly after her marriage in 1911, her mentor George Bernard Shaw wrote this quote about her:

Ride a cock to Sarawak Cross to see a young Ranee consumed with remorse. She'll have bells on her fingers, And rings through her nose, And won't be permitted to wear any clothes.

Which explains her appearance mentioned above.

However, the main differences were that after Leia left public office, she still helps out but now she fights with her brother's organization the Jedi particularly with the current Second Corellian Insurrection. She went through tragedy and all sorts of drama including currently dealing with her son Jacen on the fact that he becomes the new Sith Lord after his grandfather Anakin! But Sylvia went to literary career, ignored Vyner but still keep in contact until his death in 1963 and stayed in St. James, Barbados with her daughter Elizabeth Vidmer (Princess Gold, 1913-2002) at times with her until her death in 1971.

Phillip Eade, in his upcoming book, Sylvia, Queen of The Headhunters documented some facts through some witnesses including her brother Oliver. Oliver described her youngest sister as a female Iago - a despot, a dangerous woman (The Colonial Office) and a witness testified her dancing with two prostitutes in one cocktail party, vulgar in behavior. Sylvia kept repeating the ship voyages of traveling back and forth of London and Kuching in her autobiography. And according to Elizabeth herself, Daddy (Vyner) keeps mistresses that even Sylvia accepted and mingle with them. If she doesn't like one, she would force Daddy to throw her off. She only forced Vyner to throw three out. The fact to add more insult, something which I find it is true is that her two daughters, except her oldest one Leonora, married commoners. Valerie married a wrestler Bob Gregory, Elizabeth married Harry Roy - the Hotcha king. It turned Sarawak into a sick joke just as the fall of the French monarchy.

In World War Two, she was in New York, doing press interviews, book signings, and even keeps on writing books. She was not with Vyner. He was in Australia. Elizabeth was in Canada. She did not return to Sarawak after 1935 when she wrapped up a film which starred her husband's band.

When the war was over, she went back with Vyner until the state was handed over to the Colonial office in 1st of July 1946. I saw some pictures, unfortunately, I do not have it right now, of an older Sylvia - being at the present age of Leia. Make no mistake though...at that time, she's just resembles Leia.

As a side note, what is discussed above coincides with Alice Ebbing, the whore who was backstabbing her husband Harry (think Kenneth Lay of Enron) and scheming with upcoming star executive Dermot Leary to make billions of profits for Dynaco by sabotaging the Florida electrical system. Writer Garth Ennis - an Irishman whom I loved some of his works characterizes Alice as the flip-side of Mary Jane Watson in The Punisher's novel Barracuda.

But they appear the same, thanks to Goran Parlov, whose drawing of Alice a nod to John Romita Jr sketch and Sal Buscema's inking!

A few years ago, I was watching some movies a while including the flap biographical film Sylvia and Sky Captain. When I saw Gwyneth Paltrow on those two movies, I just suddenly exclaimed to myself and said, from far, she looks like the two Sylvias. But then again, if it is worthwhile to ponder of the comparison, go to google, grab an image of a present-day Carrie Fisher (I bought one of her books - The Best Awful as a gift) and compared it.