Star Wars

A long time ago...

Actually, more like a couple weeks ago... I went to Star Wars Celebration IV, a huge convention/fanfest at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

I had the Star Wars bedsheets, action figures and Halloween costumes (thanks Mom and Dad!) growing up, so it was a no-brainer for me to go to this in my back yard.

The first thing that struck me was the sheer number of people who came out in costumes. These stormtroopers are not actors or official members of the convention. They're fans who dress up in full armor and appear at charity events and public functions. They're called the 501st Legion. You may have seen them march in this year's Rose Parade.

They held several workshops on how to properly dress as Star Wars characters. I sat in on the "Sith Lord" workshop, where fans talked about dressing like Darth Maul and Darth Vader. The Darth Maul makeup takes anywhere from 30 minutes (airbrushing) to four hours (!).

Here are two of the guys who gave presentations...

But why settle for imitators? We also sat in on a talk with Ray Park, who played Darth Maul in Episode I and also appeared in X-Men and Sleepy Hollow. He's very athletic and showed off some impressive kicks, leaps and lightsaber twirling (courtesy of a fan who ran up to the stage with his double-bladed lightsaber for Park to demonstrate with).

Here he is up close (he's very friendly and a lot less intimidating without the horns and makeup).

Fans came up with some clever costumes. This stormtrooper was on the right was apparently bitten by a radioactive spider...

And here is a bunch of fans dressed as various characters...















And hey, how did this Trekkie get into the Star Wars convention?
Here's Esther spending quality time with an Artoo unit. Pay no attention to the man leaning against the pole!

Going to the Celebration reinforced something I've learned over the years, whether it's by talking with co-workers near my age or to people waiting in line to see the new trilogy. Star Wars is truly a shared experience. While waiting in line, I talked to a guy from North Carolina who came all the way to L.A. for the show. We had no outwardly noticable ties - we were different ages, from opposite ends of the country and from different ethnic backgrounds. But we were able to strike up a conversation simply because we both loved Star Wars. So I had a blast spending time with others who share my love of that world.

Even though, in my opinion, the new trilogy was spotty at best and unwatchable at worst (especially the scenes between Anakin and Padme), I still have a true appreciation for them, simply because they let me re-enter a world I thought I left behind with my childhood. To see new lightsaber duels, R2-D2 and C-3PO and Yoda was heaven. It reminded me how much fun I had watching these movies as a child. And it also reminded me how much I wanted to be part of that world.

I guess I still do.

Hard decision

Who is a bigger Celine Dion fan? The decision is yours:

Rodney
- Owns 3 of Celine's albums, including her Greatest Hits
- Owns the movie "Titanic" on VHS
- Would pay up to $100 to see her show "A New Day" at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas
- Would "possibly" see the show a second time.
- Recognized most of the songs she sang in the show
- Was quite impressed with her dance moves in the performance
- Was impressed with her first quick costume change
- Would "maybe" buy the DVD of the show
- Would not purchase a T-shirt with Celine's picture
- Has seen pictures of her son, and has formed an opinion of his appearance.
- Knows the history of Celine and her husband and has formed an opinion of their relationship

Esther
- Owns 1 Celine album -- Falling into You
- Does not own "Titanic" on DVD or VHS
- Watched "Titanic" in the movie theaters 3 times when originally released
- Would pay up to $75 to see her show "A New Day" at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas
- Would see her show a second time if tickets were less expensive
- Recognized most of the songs she sang in the show
- Was awed by the special effects onstage
- Was very disappointed she omitted her signature chest thump during "My Heart Will Go On"
- Would "definitely" buy the DVD of the show
- Would not purchase a T-shirt with Celine's picture
- Knows almost nothing about Celine's husband or son

Here's Rodney at the Star Wars convention .... I mean, Celebration, last month. It was pretty great for Rodney. He got to hang out with people like him.... I mean, people of similar interests.

What a Week!

So last week Shawnna and I headed down to San Diego for a Hostage Negotiations Conference. Before we could even hit the road last Sunday, I get a call from my bank. "Mr. Yotsuya, I need to confirm some charges you are making on your ATM card. $398 in Mexico along with a few double digit transactions sound right to you?" "Uh, no." is my response. Seems my ATM card got duplicated and was being used down in Mexico to the tune of over $600. Nice. The thing is, I NEVER use that ATM card witht he exception of yanking out $20 here and there out of an ATM machine. You see that is the account we pay our bills with. Therefore I do not usually use that card to pay for items in stores or for food. The one exception was during the cousin challenge when I took Shawnna shopping at the Irvine Spectrum. Hmmmmm. "Spend your money in Irvine." I seem to remember being the last words I heard as I left that day. I didn't realize that would mean I would also be spending money in Mexico, buying who knows what.
In all honesty, I don't know how they got a hold of my info. Now I have to make a police report and file an affidavit with the bank. What a pain in the rear.

I went to San Diego thinking, "I will deal with it when I get back." My account was frozen so it was all good. Then I get the call from Dad on Tuesday. "There was water coming out from under you garage door. Your outside freezer is on the fritz." GREAT. We just went to Costco a few days before and stocked up on meat, over $200.00 worth. Nice. Turns out that I screwed up. I was having trouble with an electrical outlet in the garage. I replaced it on the day we left but could no get it to draw power. I rewired that darn thing every which way you can, still nothing. I wasn't thinking and it did not even dawn on me that no outlets past that one would be getting any power if this one was not hooked up correctly. Live an learn.

Then I hear the news of an Officer invovled shooting at my department. Thank God that none of our guys were injured. The Officer invovled is a friend of mine and a damn good cop. Not much more I can reallyt say on the topic, except that it sucks to be so far away when you hear about somehting like that.

On the plus side, we had a good time at the conference. They held a hospitality night on the aircraft carrier Midway on one night. If I have this thing figured out, there should be some pics attached. There were several good speakers at the conference and I made a couple of good contacts. Shawnna and I were able to get a little alone time and got some shopping in. "We paid with cash this time."