I know this because a friend told me, and not because I'm a Luke Skywalker fanatic.

Apparently, the phrase, "May the Force be with you" has been cleverly translated into May fourth (get it?) and turned into an international holiday in tribute to George Lucas' franchise and other cult films. Large crowds dress up and march in parades as storm troopers. People break out their "Darth Tater" toys and say, "I am your father" into electric fans.

Britain's The Daily Telegraph says, "Obsessed [devotees] all over the world are set to use the day as an excuse to stage movie marathons at home and 'wage impromptu light-saber fights.'"

I wonder what that looks like. I also wonder how many people have random lightsabers lying around for spontaneous attack. (Come to think of it, I might have dated a lightsaber bearer in the 90's.)

Anyway, it's ironic, perhaps, that Star Wars Day falls on the heels of comic-book store robbery in Australia. A real-life Spider-Man (we're assuming he was just a guy in a costume, since he didn't spin any webs) prevented the theft of a valuable magazine. It was International Free Comic Day, and, you guessed it, there were also Jedi Knights present. Soon Spider-Man was joined by about 40 other superheroes who apprehended the would-be thief.

Huh. I'm not even sure what to say about that …