I made the long, arduous trek with my hub Jeff in his little Honda Civic that we affectionately call the "Yodacar" to good ol' down-home Indianapolis, IN to get geeked out and dorked up for Star Wars Celebration III the only soiree this side of the galaxy where you'll find a merry band of hardcore fans masquerading as Storm Troopers, Wookiees and Princess Leia's in various stages of undress (some of which were gag-worthy). Then there were just some bad costume ideas. We encountered a Jarth Maul (a freakish Jar-Jar Binks and Darth Maul combination), a Yoda in a bathrobe and fuzzy slippers and an Afro-puffed Mace Windu. But the biggest arse of all had to have been a certain Han Solo impersonator who was never spotted without hand mirrors, touting his email address as HungSoLow@(I'mfullofmyself.com) to anyone remotely female who would listen.
At any rate, though I was a newbie to the madness that is Star Wars, Jeff, me and eight friends owned the Celebration, tag-teaming for choice spots in the snaky mile-long lines, forming human chains to keep the blustery gale force winds from blowing us into another system while waiting outside for 12 hours in line to see George Lucas, and best of all ... joining forces to
have a grand time.
You better believe we were at the midnight showing of "Sith Happens" on Wednesday night too! (Yes, I've gotten sucked in ... and I like it!)
Ah yes. In this photo, my friend Korry and I are in our first hour of waiting in line to talk to Hayden Christensen live on the phone (via satellite from Rome). Apparently, this is a renown Elvis impersonator who moonlights as a Storm Trooper and appears at all Star Wars functions, complete with his "Elvis Trooper" collectible trading cards. Korry bumped his bum by accident. His response? Uh, go ahead darlin'. It's just a hunka-hunka burnin' love. Frankly, I don't the words "bum" and the word "burning" should be used in conjunction, but that's just me.
Well aren't we all fresh and bright-eyed in this picture. It's the first day of the show and we're waiting in line for the magic hour when we'll surge forth and basically storm into the convention center for a massive Star Wars takeover. Han Solo (not the hand-mirror one) and Chewy sauntered by (well, the Wookiee moseyed) and we hopped the barriers for a fab photo opp. It was a little scary, other line-dwellers starting photographing us full force like the British papparazzi and it was a good 15 minutes before I could see without flashbulb spots again.
Luke, who's your daddy? Here's the biggest mac-daddy of all, Darth Vader...and a well-costumed one at that. We had seen a pitiful 3-ft. Vader with 5-ft. lifts in his boots earlier, so this towering gent really fit the bill. The Storm Trooper behind him? Let's just say he fills out that suit with no artificial fillers ...uh huh uh huh.
The same Storm Trooper. He came to our spot in line and told us "hot girls" we'd have to go to the front of the line with him. Never one to turn down a dare, I saucily knocked on his suit's crotch-plate to check out the "situation". His response? Well you didn't hear an echo did you? Nice! (To explain the crotch-knocking, which I only reserve for special occasions: My hub explained to me that at the last convention, Hayden Christensen had disguised himself as as Storm Trooper to freely roam the show uninhibited by fans and the like. I figured I'd go around squeezing...perhaps gently cupping crotches to see if I could find him out in case he decided to try the same trick twice. Not that that would answer my "is it Hayden?" question, but whatever. It makes perfect sense to me. I have a bit of fun and everyone else gets their jollies watching me have at it. Ok, I never said I made any sense. Only dollars.)
This kooky chap was seen all over the show, sometimes in full Cap'n Jack regalia, other times appearing in this split Captain Jack/Storm Trooper ensemble. He had the voice down pat and was incredibly friendly, making him a show favorite. His arm candy was choice, and NOT wearing a scary Leia gold bikini thing (we had seen entirely TOO many that day), so we had to give him kudos for that.
Chewy and Han Solo at their best ... roaming the streets the first morning of the show, giving us line-lubbers a thrill. Oh no! Chewy sees a fire hydrant ...someone grab a poncho!
We're in our third hour of waiting for Hayden Christensen's interview and we're plumb out of Cheez-its. Jeff decided to wear his Luke Skywalker costume that day (he looks fabulous in it) really only because it was the warmest thing he brought and it was colder than a witch's nip outside.
Shhh .... we're out for the count. Nine hours after waiting for George Lucas outside in the pouring rain, 100 mph winds and freezing temperatures we're completely tuckered out. The "officials" finally let us into the convention center's skywalk and we soggily trudged our way inside. I'm napping on my friend Rob's legs. Only 3.5 hours to go!
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