Monday, September 14, 2009
Dragon*Con 2009 – Day 4
I was up and waiting at the Walk of Fame by 9:30a this morning. My largest indulgence at D*C these days is autographs. The Dealer’s Room has not had anything interesting in years. I had my stack of DVD’s and was ready to wait my turn for my desired autographs. This year’s list of wants were:
Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) from the Harry Potter movies. I wanted to add his to the 1st Harry Potter DVD signed by the Phelps twins (the Weasley twins).
Malcolm McDowell, who has been in numerous movies. As a matter of fact, I recently watched him filming H2 in my hometown. I had the ‘Clockwork Orange’ DVD for his autograph.
Karen Allen, best known for playing Marion Ravenwood in the Indiana Jones movies. I wanted her signature on my Animal House DVD. She played Boon’s girlfriend Katie. I wanted to add her signature with Stephen Furst’s (Flounder) that I had signed a few years ago.
Barry Bostwick, best known as the Mayor from ‘Spin City’ but also played Brad in the The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Need I say more?
Doug Jones, the Chameleon of actors. He played the zombie Billy Bones in Hocus Pocus, the Silver Surfer, Abe Sapien, the Chamberlain, and the Angel of Death in the Hell Boy movies, Pan and the Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth. He is the one actor that you never really get to see. He is a wiry contortionist that is always encased in latex. He is also a SUPER nice guy. He takes time to talk to his fans. A very tactile fellow. He truly enjoyed petting Michael’s head. I’ll have to see if I can up load the video.
Out of all my wants, the one I was willing to give up first was Tom Felton. I am a huge Harry Potter fan. In the last movie, Draco was by far my favorite character. I also knew there were lots of people willing to wait in very long lines for his autograph. As I said, I was there by 9:30a and the Walk of Fame did not open until 10a. I was lucky enough to be in the first wave admitted into the room. As everyone filed in around me, I headed toward Tom Felton. I knew it was going to be the longest line of everyone on my list. As I approached his table, I noticed most people making a bee line to the Star Gate stars. To my utter amazement, I was the first person in the Tom Felton line. Other that the British accent , he looked like and came across as a California surfer dude. He was pleasant but not over friendly. That did not disappoint me in the least. Over the years, I have learned that is very typical for the more sought after stars.
After I had Felton’s signature, I headed over to Karen Allen. I really didn’t have a choice since Bostwick, McDowell nor had Jones arrived. Again, very friendly but not much unnecessary conversation.
>As Karen was signing my Animal House DVD, Barry Bostwick arrived. I jumped over to his table and was lucky enough to be first in line for him as well.
>Now, all I had left was McDowell and Jones and neither of them had arrived. This was about the time I ran into Michael. I didn’t surprise me a bit that he was in the Walk of Fame. He is an avid autograph collector and has the largest collection of autographs that I have ever seen. We walked up to McDowell’s table and saw that he supposed to arrive at 11a. It was already 10:30, so we decided to wait. Michael already had multiple McDowell autographs but spotted a picture of McDowell & Zombie from the Halloween movies and just had to get it. McDowell actually arrived a little early and Michael and I were the first in line. Not only were we able to get the autograph but he was one of the stars that was allowing photographs.
>
>A nasty photograph phenomenon has reared its ugly head in the last few years at D*C and it is very unfortunate. It used to be that if one waited in line, they could get autographs and photos with all the stars. Then if you did not want to wait in a line for a personal autograph or photo, you would could just snap a picture from the side. Most of that has ceased to exist. Just snapping random photos in the Walk of Fame is no longer allowed. It is probably one the most ridiculous rules instated by D*C. Now, you have several different photography situations in the Walk of Fame. First, there are the stars that only allow photo sessions with approved, professional photographers. Tom Felton fell into this category. Next are the ones that charge extra for a photo. This group included Karen Allen and Barry Bostwick. Lastly, there are the actors that gladly do photos when you get their autographs. Just like the good ole’ days. These are the stars that are the most enduring to my heart. They simply come across as thankful to have fans rather than the fans should be thankful for them. This year, those actors were Malcolm McDowell and Doug Jones.
Speaking of Doug Jones, after I had McDowell’s autograph, his was the last I needed. Michael and I wandered down to his table and saw that he should be arriving at 11:30a. We decided to wait. Michael already had Jones autograph but waited with me just to see him again. Jones had made quit the impression on Michael on Friday. Well, 11:30a came and went. Jones’ handler changed his arrival time to 11:45a. Then 11:45a came and went. Lastly, he changed the arrival time to 12 noon. About 11:50a, Doug came walking into the Walk of Fame and repeatedly apologized for being late. Before he could get seated, Kane Hodder (Jason from the original Friday the 13th movie) walked down and scolded him for making us wait. He told him that Michael and I had been waiting for nearly an hour for him. On that note, Doug grabbed some comic books he had tucked under the table and handed them out to the 20 or so people in line and told them he would sign it at the table. Luckily, Michael and I were first in line. Doug signed both my Hell Boy (for Darrell) and Pan’s Labyrinth (for me) DVD’s plus the comic book. He came out from around the table, gave me a big hug and took a picture. He did the same thing with Michael. The entire time, we just made conversation and thanked us for being fans. Just one Doug Jones can make up for what everybody else lacked. I’m so glad his was my last experience in the Walk of Fame.
Once we finished there, Michael and I headed to the Dealer’s Room. I made it about half-way through before I realized I needed to head over to the 501st fan table. Darrell and Jesse had table duty from 1p – 2p and Donna was supposed to be there in her Wonder Woman costume.
>I arrived about 1:30p and finally got to see Donna. She had one of the best Wonder Woman costume’s at D*C!
>My next assignment was to head to the Hyatt lobby and re-direct any Storm troopers to the new Comcast photo shoot location in the Hilton. Michael caught up with Darrell and me in the Hyatt and hung out with us while rounding wayward Storm troopers. We ran into Circus Envy doing his Santa impression in the lobby.
>By 3:15p, we were headed back to the room. I took some time to straighten the room, prep it for the Masquerade that night and download some of my photos and Darrell’s photos to my laptop. In the mean time, Jesse put Bob in the Emperor and Kevin in Vader and took them to the lobby.
>Slowly, visitors came trickling in. Deneen and K came down. Kindra and Paul came over. Nikki, Sarah and Gig stopped by for a few minutes and the Kuipers came by to visit. Before I realized, it was 8pm and the Masquerade was starting in 30 minutes. I ran to the food court to grab Darrell and me some dinner. We actually crammed 17 people in to the room; Bob, Kevin, Darrell, Josh, Kyle, Kristin, Kris, Jane, Deneen, K, Will, Cricket, Michael, Kindra, Paul, Jesse and me. I wish I had taken a picture!
After the Masquerade, it was back in costume and to the lobby. Deneen didn’t want to wear the full Imperial Officer so we improvised a sexy number with the leather corset.
Much fun was had for the rest of the night doing fun, obnoxious and slightly obscene photos!
I think I was so exhausted by this time, I completely forgot the over-the-balcony shot!
Friday, September 11, 2009
Dragon*Con 2009 - Day 3
I didn’t have a choice but to get up at a decent hour on Saturday morning. No matter how much my body protested. The highly anticipated D*C parade is always on Saturday morning. The crew was supposed to meet at the Marriott fountain at 9-9:15’ish. The parade lineup was at 9:30am about 4.5 blocks away at Woodruff Park. With lots of help from me dependable bo’sun, we dressed Kyle, Bob and Deneen and prepped all the Bunny Bead bags. Jesse even had time to help Darrell into his RC costume. We finally arrived downstairs around 9:30am and headed to lineup.
The Black Bunny Crew this year consisted of Kindra, Bob, Deneen, Jesse, Josh, Kristin, Kyle, Will, Cricket and Steve (not pictured).
The parade was amazing as always despite a grumpy parade director. Although we had tons of beads it seems like we gave out early this year. I was holding my last bundle of Bunny Beads before we ever reached the Hyatt. I had promised Gracie beads and I wasn’t going to be caught empty handed.
After the parade, Darrell and I headed back to the room for a nice long, cool rest and a much needed shower. After a refreshing break, Jesse and I decided to head to the food court for some lunch/dinner while Darrell took a short nap. The food court was beyond crowded so we walked down to the Metro Diner. The wait wasn’t too long. After 10 minutes, we were given a table in the bar area. The Metro has a large variety of good food but the service was slow. Between D*C and the football game in the Dome, the Metro was having a hard time keeping up with the demand. As a matter of fact, the service was so slow that after we received our drinks, we had our server deliver our order in to go boxes. Our next goal was to maneuver through Peachtree Center and back to the Marriott. This was more difficult than normal. Saturday is the single, highest attended day of D*C. Combine that with all the ‘sightseers’ from the parade wondering through the hotels just to see what they can see and it becomes a zoo very quickly. We finally made it back to the room and had our meal. Now it was time to get Deneen ready for the photo shoot. It would be the first unveiling of her Imperial Officer costume. I was nervous. It was such a fitted garment and she had not tried on the final piece until this afternoon. I held my breath…. and it fit like a glove! Relief! During the middle of all this chaos, the beautiful Julie and her husband Steph came by to visit. Julie actually took one of the first photos of Deneen.
Once Deneen was ready we headed down to the 501st Mixer bar about ½ block down from the Marriott. Frank, the owner, was kind enough to let us take photos of Deneen with some willing Stormtroopers (thanks to Mike, Hal and Jesse) while they were setting up for the Mixer. There were pictures snapped and not just by Darrell. Here are some of the raw photos…
After the photo shoot, Deneen, Bob, Jesse and I walked back up to the Marriott. Jesse wanted to get out of his armor and Bob wanted to get back into the Emperor costume. When everyone was ready, we walked back down to the bar. When we arrived the Mixer was in full swing and we had a great opportunity to show off both costumes for a few minutes.
After an hour, Bob, Deneen and I headed back to the Marriot to meet up with Mystique (Sarah), the Baroness (Nikki), a Pirate Wench (Amanda), Selene (Jamie), an Elf Warrior (Cricket), Cobra Kai (William) and several handlers. Many pictures were made as everyone walked around the Marriott.
Soon we were joined by Kristin and two Royal Guards (Josh & Kyle). Since I was starting to feel a sore throat coming on, I asked if Kristin would mind handling the Emperor and Royal Guards and headed back to the room.
I took my, now traditional, over the balcony shot, chugged some Airborne, climbed in bed and waited for Darrell to get back from the Mixer.
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Night at the Southern Museum: Kennesaw Southern Museum
On Saturday, July 11th, the Kennesaw Southern Museum hosted an event "Night at the Southern Museum". It was based on the movie "Night at the Museum." In preparing for the event, the museum contacted the Ga 501st in hopes of getting Vader and some Stormtroopers. Little did they know just how many volunteers they would have for that event. Not only did they have Vader, Stormtroopers, a Clone, a Biker Scout and some Tie Fighter Pilots, they had pirates, WWII soldiers, WWII Officers, Rosie the Riveter, R2D2 and the Batmobile - and those are just the ones I can think of! While there was a large contingency of characters associated with the Ga 501st, there were many other character volunteers as well; Queen Elizabeth, Jack the Ripper, Ben Franklin, Sherman, Joan of Arc, Attila the Hun and more!
The premise was basically the same as the movie; the displays at the museum have come to life. It was fun to interact and pick on the museum guests. It was even more fun to interact with each other's characters!
The doors opened to museum guests at 5pm and they closed at 8pm. During that 3 hours, they had 1100 guests file through museum. I was impressed with the number of attendees. I have spoken to Cindy, Harper and a couple of other museum personnel this week and they have told me repeatedly about the high praises from the museum guests that night. I'm just glad the event went well and raised some much needed funds for the museum.
Since I was pirating and we had to stay in character for the entire evening, I was not able to take any pictures. Thank goodness for Trooper Danny! Almost every picture below are ones that he took Saturday night.
Enjoy!
Here is a taste of the different characters roaming that night...
Here are some of the 501st adventures...
Darrell, Jesse, Noel and I played pirate that night and we met some new piratical friends; Braze, Stynky and Cascabel.
Of course, there is a behind-the-scenes at all events. Here are a few random shots...
Monday, June 1, 2009
501st: CNN Republic Commando Video's
I just thought these were too funny.
'Boss' gives it a try...
The RC Ballet with Lady walking to the Back.
Performed by "Boss" and "Scorch".
Sunday, May 31, 2009
501st: Star Wars at the CNN Center
Last Thursday, I took the day off work to take my mother to the doctor's office in Buckhead. It just happened that the Republic Commando's from the Ga. Garrison were helping out Cartoon Network with a community outreach fair. Mom and I decided to drop by for a couple of minutes, which really turned into a hour and a half. It was a good event and even mom got into the action.
The commando's had a good time with lots of photo-op's....
I have 2 funny video's but I can't get them loaded until tomorrow. I will post those later....
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Star Wars: Vigilante Justice
Our friend Zach is in school at Georgia State University. In one of his criminal justice classes a project was assigned to student groups. His group decided on 'Vigilante Justice' as the subject of their project.
Their project took the form of a video. They looked at several different movies, including Star Wars, that demonstrated examples of vigilante justice and why the public loved it as a movie theme. Wanting their presentation to stand out and knowing some members of the Ga Garrison 501st, they decided to add a little extra punch to the video.
In addition to showing the Star Wars movie clips, why not interview a storm trooper about the rebel 'vigilante justice'?
It might go something like this...
Interviewer: Zach M.
Storm Trooper: Jesse B.
Rebel Jedi Scum: Kyle F.
Thanks for letting me post it guys.
It's a great clip!
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Ga 501st: Borders Book Release
This past Saturday, members of the Ga 501st were out at the Borders in Stonecrest Mall helping promote the release of a new Star Wars book "Outcast".
It was a two hour promotion and everyone at the Borders and those passing by in the Mall seemed to enjoy seeing something a little different and there were many photos taken.
It was also a perfect opportunity for troopers to catch up on their reading...
Of course, there was much silliness and a quick field trip to the Game Stop and Hot Topic before we left:
Saturday, March 28, 2009
501st: Young Astronauts Days 2009
Today was Young Astronauts Day at the Warner Robins Aviation Museum.
The Museum of Aviation in Warner Robins is excited to present the Annual Young Astronaut’s Day for children in 3rd to 8th grade.
Saturday, March 28, 2009 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Young Astronauts’ Day is a fun-filled day of hands on workshops that focus on math, science, and technology. The workshops range from Robotics and Flight School, to Aviation Art. There is even an opportunity to examine Lunar and Meteorite samples brought back from an actual NASA space mission. Star Wars reactors will also be in attendance to perform and sign autographs. The event will take place at the Museum of Aviation Flight & Technology Center located in Warner Robins.
It was a fantastic experience as always. There was a great turnout, including troopers from the FLA Garrison.
The weather was dreadful and that is putting it nicely. This meant that all the kids had lunch inside rather than outside. This is a good and a bad thing. Good in the sense that no one had to walk around outside in the heat. Bad in the sense that lots of kids in confined spaces is just not always a good recipe. While there were the few bad eggs that tried to grab blasters out of holsters and insisted on poking helmets, over all the kids behaved themselves.
On the "things" this year was getting character autographs:
Other than autographs, it was general mingling and harassing of the children...
The Museum staff was amazing. Not only did they let us take pictures "behind the ropes" but they also gave the members a personal tour of some of the aircraft. First, the tour - or should I say, boys and their toys....
The group photos:
The rest of the afternoon was fun photography...
