Our Adventure on Star Wars Day!
Yes, yesterday (being the day and 1 minute before Ep. III was released) was Star Wars Day, if
you didn’t know. It’s a day for a celebration of all things Star Wars and nerdy. Usually these
things are the same, so it’s not that difficult a holiday. It should totally be an actual holiday.
That’d be sweet. Anyways, yesterday and very early this morning was it. I tried to do as much
Star Wars stuff as I could in the duration of the day. Here’s what I did! Some of my doings have
pictures! Hooray!
I started off the day by watching the Clone Wars cartoons over again, just to get refreshed on important
facts needed for the enjoyment of Episode III. Then, upon spending way too much time at
StarWars.com, I watched the better of the trailers... over and over again. They were awesome.
Then Erin came over, and I made her watch trailers with me, while filling her in on important
stuff from the Clone Wars cartoons. I’m a classy guy. Then, sadly, it was off to work. A fairly
un-Star Wars-y place in general. Unless...
Yes, working in the mall means that I can get all kinds of Star Wars merchandise before I hit the
theatres! Pictured above are 2 figures: a Grievous Guard (which I bought cuz... why does
Grievous NEED guards? I wanted this guy to feel useless), and the best Darth Vader figure I’ve
seen released. Hooray for good Vader! Also pictured is a bag of SW M&M’s, so as to share the
joy of SW with my co-workers, and a caricature of Han Solo in carbonite, that breaks free if you
wind him that Erin got me. Star Wars toys!
Then, it was off to the moving-picture shows!
Yes, there to see Episode III, finally! So much waiting, and anticipating and whatnot are all
over, and it’s time to see the thing at last! Although... that didn’t start til about 12:01...
... and here we are, waiting in the theatre at 9:30. Clayton, Mat, Andrew and Amy were actually
there since a bit after 9, and there were others ahead of them, but we were able to get in right
behind them, as I guess we were on some kind of nerd-time-cusp. Yes, cusp. We would wait
out our 3 hours patiently and with great civility. It is the Jedi way.
It’s also kinda boring, so we got Dave (who showed up sometime after us) to climb into the
Herbie standee and drive around the theatre lobby, killing people for kicks. It’s the Sith way.
Sadly, very few people were injured, and it just turned into a neat photo op. Oh well.
Of course, I was not the only one who brought toys to the theatre. Many people brought their
lightsabers and whatnot to partake in the fun. While this is not his, Brent clearly knows how to
wield a saber. Perhaps there is more to the sweaty guy than he was letting on... probably not, but
it IS entirely possible. He does kinda resemble Yoda.
Batman preview on the TVs around us! Jinkies! Also, around this time, the movie-staff people
told us to keep the ‘chitter-chatter’ down as it was disturbing the patrons of other movies. I say,
screw those people - they clearly chose the wrong movie that night. Watch Ashton Kutcher
when SW ISN’T coming out!
Going through most of our pre-show waiting snakcs, Mat felt it necessary to get nachos. Not just
any nachos - gross movie nachos... of which I ate 3. The nachos themselves weren’t gross, so
much as the cheese. I didn’t dare try the salsa.
Around this time, we noticed the CBC people interviewing people in the line-up. We made fun
of the fact that it must be a really slow news week... and then got interviewed by CBC. It was
pretty fun, though short lived, as they got our names, and then they started letting people into the
theatre. This was around 11:05 or so. Still early!
So early that they were still playing the credits to the movie that was on before it. I believe it
was “Unleashed” starring Jet Li, but I could be mistaken. It wasn’t Star Wars, so I didn’t really
care. The cool part is, they theatre filled in about 3 minutes. Quickest, most orderly full-seating
I’ve seen in a while. Us SW fans - we’re orderly. It’s the Jedi way.
We got very back row seats, fairly towards the middle. Since the theatre wasn’t too big or
anything, they were good seats. Not too far back, definitely not too close. Excellent seast for
watching big spacey movies. These last 2 rows (as well as about 25% of the seats in the place)
were filled by friends/acquaintances. Go nerds!
Somewhere in the sitting and waiting, 2 people got up and had a lightsaber fight. One I didn’t
know, the other I knew. He had a Vader helmet, but a Dooku lightsaber. That’s the most
horrible display of historical inaccuracies I’ve ever seen. George Lucas would be ever so pissed
if he walked in on that. The fact that Vader was wearing jeans probably didn’t help the situation
much either.
Some other guy we knew dressed as Jar Jar Binks, knowing full well he would get beat up. Here
he is getting beat up by Vader-Matt and the other guy. It’s sad when yer beat up by nerds. Just
sad.
Sometimes, for particularly large movie premiers, the theatre folks get someone to dress up as a
character, and parade them around for all to see. This, being a huge-assed premier, was no
exception. The weird thing here was the character they chose. Not big name-recognition of
Vader or Obi-Wan. Nope - someone dressed up as Darth Sidious (ie - the Emperor). Sure, most
people there knew him, but considering the woman that brought him him asked if any one has
one of those “lazer-things” (in describing a lightsaber - much to the booing of everyone in the
place), I was impressed with their choice. Most impressed. You can’t really see him in this pic,
but he’s there, in all his evil glory. That’s what happens with a dude in black standing in a black
area. Damn non-photogenic Palpatine!
Around this time, the CBC woman who was interviewing us earlier actually found us again and
did the full interview. She really wanted to talk to us. Yes, I’m that famous a nerd. In all
honesty, this just made my night even better. I got to talk to someone about SW on a somewhat
expert level. Hooray for nerdy-knowledge. My favorite question she asked: If George Lucas
designed a character after you, what would it be? I wanted to say a Jedi, or a Sith, btu I had
to go with a Protocol-Droid. Could a Jedi/Sith write this much about waiting in line? Probably
not.
Seeing a perfect moment to bring some fans into the fray, the theatre folks got people who
dressed up/brought lightsabers to come down for a picture with the Emperor. I was planning on
bringing my new Anakin colour-change saber with me, and this made me wish I did, but
whatever. I got interviewed by CBC. Plus, that picture would mean that I stood near Jar Jar.
That’s the kinda photo I could not tolerate in existence and would have to be destroyed utterly.
It’s the Sith way!
At this point the movie was viewed. All I’m gonna say is, it was incredibly awesome. It
answered most of the questions that I had, and then I a few that I wish I had, but I admit I didn’t.
I love answers like that. I won’t say too much more about that, as I know that there are a few
sad people in existence who have not yet seen this movie. Sad, sad people. Just sad.
Overall, this whole day was an awesome experience. Star Wars has always (since the age of 2
anyways) been really big and important in my life (which sounds sad, but whatever - you just
read this whole damn article, loser), and this was the final piece of it. Seeing it with that many
of my friends made it really awesome. That’s the best way to do these things, I figure. An
already great time was made even better. Hooray! And now, just so we don’t end on too
sentimental a note...
... Here’s the Emperor waiting for Mike and Ike’s at the concession stand.
