
{"id":18809,"date":"2011-06-09T13:23:01","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T17:23:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=18809"},"modified":"2011-06-09T16:49:00","modified_gmt":"2011-06-09T20:49:00","slug":"the-force-is-with-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2011\/06\/09\/the-force-is-with-it\/","title":{"rendered":"The force is with it"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><figure id=\"attachment_18882\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-18882\" style=\"width: 350px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/06\/09\/the-force-is-with-it\/starwars\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-18882\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/starwars.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"starwars\" width=\"350\" height=\"212\" class=\"size-full wp-image-18882\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/starwars.jpg 350w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/starwars-113x68.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/starwars-150x90.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 350px) 100vw, 350px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-18882\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">PHOTOS BY MADELYN CORY. Chapel Hill High School senior Sage Pivirotto and her car, Yoda the Toyota<\/figcaption><\/figure><br \/>\n<strong>By Joshua Lucas<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Staff Writer<\/em><\/p>\n<p>When Luke Skywalker needed a fast spaceship to get off Tatooine in <em>Star Wars<\/em>, he headed to the cantina in the Mos Eisley spaceport \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wretched hive of scum and villainy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Sage Pivirotto, 18, of Carrboro, sought her vessel out on Craigslist. <\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Some of the cars I saw there were pretty sketchy,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Once she turned 16, she hunted for a bargain vehicle to call her very own. Settling on a light blue 1991 Toyota Camry, she and her friend Sophie began making plans to put her stamp on the car. <\/p>\n<p>First, it needed a name. They settled on \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Yoda the Toyota,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d because they found the rhyme funny. After that, the vehicle cried out for customization, Pivirotto said.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We were like, \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcWe have to paint this car,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>It started with a portrait of Yoda \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the gnarled Jedi master who teaches Luke Skywalker \u00e2\u20ac\u201c on the car\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hood. Later came an imperial storm trooper on the trunk and \u00e2\u20ac\u0153May the Force Be With You\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on the bumper.<\/p>\n<p>A few additions later, the car isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t hard to spot around town. From the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Star Wars\u00e2\u20ac\u009d logo on the driver\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s side to the Darth Vader head on the passenger door, Yoda the Toyota is covered with tributes to the movie series. <\/p>\n<p>And the thing is, Sage wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even a big Star Wars fan before she and the car were introduced. It was just kismet.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I feel like I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be such a fan if I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have that car,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>But Pivirotto dove into fandom headfirst, and now says the movies are her favorites. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s especially fond of <em>The Empire Strikes Back.<br \/>\n<\/em><br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Han Solo,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she sighs. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so beautiful.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>A senior at Chapel Hill High School, Pivirotto got a page in the yearbook last year devoted to Yoda the Toyota. Other students, she says, have taken to decorating their cars in unusual ways too.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I feel like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve inspired a lot of people,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d she said.<\/p>\n<p>It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gotten attention from her neighbors in Quarterpath Trace too.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sort of a tourist attraction of our neighborhood,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Sage\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mom, Karyn Drum, said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We sit on the front porch and watch people walk down the street and crowd around her car.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Pivirotto will attend UNC\u00e2\u20ac\u201cGreensboro in the fall. Yoda \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the car \u00e2\u20ac\u201c will be making the trip with her.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/2011\/06\/09\/the-force-is-with-it\/img_52451\/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-18811\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/IMG_52451.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"IMG_52451\" width=\"400\" height=\"267\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-18811\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/IMG_52451.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/IMG_52451-113x75.jpg 113w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/IMG_52451-150x100.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/IMG_52451-120x80.jpg 120w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 400px) 100vw, 400px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em><br \/>\nTake a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=vafosNXuiSI\">guided video tour of Yoda the Toyota with its owner<\/a>.<\/em><br \/>\n<a href='http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?attachment_id=18872' rel='attachment wp-att-18872'><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When Luke Skywalker needed a fast spaceship to get off Tatooine in Star Wars, he headed to the cantina in the Mos Eisley spaceport \u00e2\u20ac\u201c a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153wretched hive of scum and villainy.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":18882,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-community","category-top-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18809"}],"version-history":[{"count":27,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18896,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18809\/revisions\/18896"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}