The Best Of Everything 100-day 100-question Star Wars Blogathon, Question 10

Here is, for no reason other than it's what I was watching with the sound off while I talked on the phone, a video of a girl with a hula hoop:



I'ts 4:48 p.m. as I type this. I didn't mean to post it so late but that's what happens when one works for a living, I'm told, on which subject: everyone congratulate Rusty for not being fired!

Some updates on extra points: earning 5 points for mentioning the Blogathon on their blog are Grumpy Bulldog, who actually got 10 for mentioning it on his blog and another blog; Andrew Leon previously earned 5 points for that, too. You get 5 points every time you mention it in a new post, but you have to let me know so I can go add the points in with each new one.

Anyhoo! Grumpy got yesterday's question, and has now moved into second place. I thought yesterday's question was a little weak, myself, but remember, I'm Plagiarizing fair-using these from a book, so it's not me, it's the guy who got paid money to ask questions about something someone else created. USA! USA!

The R4-P17 is an "astromech" droid. Andrew Leon, who is apparently a rabid anti-droidite, took issue with calling a droid a co-pilot in his comment, but again: I didn't write the book about someone else's creations, I simply am using the stuff someone else wrote about stuff someone else created. (That sentence actually describes almost to a T what 90% of a lawyer's job is.)

But on that subject: Why shouldn't a droid (the word is copyrighted, so I'm really courting lawsuits, here) be a co-pilot? The 'droids in Star Wars are sentient, aren't they?

Or are they?

I would Google the question "Are the 'droids in Star Wars sentient or not?" except that (a) it's already 5:00 p.m. now and I'm officially working overtime, and (b) I'm going to leave that open to debate in the comments, and (c) I'm also a little stunned by the fact that there is something called the "Brickipedia," and we live in a world where people have enough time to create entire websites devoted to Legos.

Not that I'm arguing against that, since The Best Of Everything is pretty much an electronic monument to half-baked ideas and lost productivity, but still... I try to temper the amount of time and money I spend doing stupid or wasteful stuff with an equal amount of time doing nice/charitable/good stuff, and I'm pretty successful at that, so keep in mind that while I've now spent 15 minutes doing this, I also today agreed to represent a woman in a legal case that she can't really afford to hire me on, for less than I would ordinarily charge to do so because she started crying when she realized she couldn't afford me, and I'm counting on that somehow evening out when I go face The Great Astromech In The Sky, where I expect I'll have an easier time than Andrew, what with him being against equal rights for 'droids and all...

... and really, wouldn't it be terrifyingly awesome if when you died, you went up to Heaven and faced a giant, bearded R2-D2 who beeped questions at you and judged your life?

This is all going nowhere and I'm tired. I will wrap up by pointing out that if you wanted to get a Lego version of R4-P17, you are sadly out of luck because Lego only produced the dome rather than the entire body of the 'droid.

Here's today's question:

What was Chancellor Valorum's homeworld?

As always, first correct answer gets the points; today's question is worth 21. I will also give 10 bonus points to anyone who, in their comment, presents a compelling case for or against the sentience of 'droids, with 5 extra points if you manage to work into the explanation that Hula Hoop girl.

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