Thursday night myself and the others from Rancor Clan showed up to the AMC Lennox theatres to entertain the folks waiting in line for the new Star Wars: Clone Wars movie. The event was hosted by the guys at Imperial HoloNet Radio, a group of folks who run a local Star Wars podcast.
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They had been lined up out front of the building since about Wednesday afternoon. As with their tradition of Star Wars movie line-ups, they brought sunshade tents, televisions, dvd players, board games, etc. This year they kicked it off even bigger by giving away some really awesome prizes to everyone who was there. Not only did we get Sideshow Collectible gift cards, but we each got a chance to pick one of the prizes on their table from figures to books and statues. I ended up grabbing a Force Unleashed ARC Gunner statue.
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We were joined at the event by some Jedi from Ohio Jedi and a few from the 501st Ohio Garrison. A friend we met at a previous event showed off his brand new “Fixer” costume based off of the character from the Republic Commando game and books.
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We stayed from about 7PM until around 11:30PM or so. It was a fun time. The news showed up around 11-ish, but I was not able to catch any of the footage on TV or on their website. All in all, we had a great time and would do it again for another big Star Wars movie event.
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Technorati Tags: clone wars, star wars, lennox, amc, movie, ihn radio, 501st
Just wanted to share a couple of pics of what my workspace looks like at work.
The computer and my ever-changing Windows wallpaper
The noisy contraption that rings on my desk all day…
My photo board filled with pics of the kids and images of my armor.
My display shelf filled with sci-fi goodies.
Close-up of the Star Wars figures.
Technorati Tags: desk, work, workspace, star wars, figures, trinkets, decoration, cubicle
Well, didn’t do too much this weekend other than work on the basement both Saturday and Sunday. With the help of dad we were able to get the ceiling completely finished and textured, got the walls about 95% sanded, and I got all the baffles put into the can lights.
I’ll have a few pics up pretty soon. We’re most likely going to start painting as of this week. Amy’s already made plans to move furniture down this weekend. 
We still don’t have trim or carpeting, but those can always be added at a later time. Although we might pick up a few area rugs to cover the majority of the floor.
Technorati Tags: basement, drywall, finishing, framing, lighting, home improvement, diy
Well…there’s not much I can say about this movie that hasn’t already been said. The internet has already been a buzz with reviews of the movie and just how incredible it was. Honestly, anything I would have to add would just be about the same as everyone else.
Yes, the movie was incredible. There were a few parts that you could nitpick…but otherwise the movie was pretty solid. The late Heath Ledger of course did a terrifyingly good job playing the gritty and disturbed Joker. The fact that they never explained why the way he is or how he became the way he was makes his character even that much scarier.
Two face, was amazing as well. Finally someone went past the cartoon version with “multiple personality disorders” and truly showed why he is the two-face. Simply a man who is on the edge of sanity who will smooth talk you with his logical responses…then snap and turn into a screaming madman. It’s the same person, yet the darker side is that pent up rage that every good person has deep inside.
The movie chugged along with no real seemingly slow points, but a second viewing of the movie may reveal that a few parts are a little slower the second time around. Regardless, it’s definitly one to see a few times.
I like the direction that they’re taking with the movies so far. It’s definitely a much-needed change from the last couple of Batman movies. Anyone who hasn’t seen “Batman Begins” needs to watch it first though, as it is a continuation of that movie and you’ll pick up a lot of information about Bruce Wayne and his character in general.
Technorati Tags: batman, the dark knight, tdk, joker, heath ledger, two face
Well, with LOST coming back on in only a matter of months I figured I’d post this video that recaps what all has been going on with this confusing show. So, in case your “lost” when it comes to LOST…enjoy.
Technorati Tags: lost, tv, the others
Friday night, Travis and I went to go see “Wanted” at Easton. We were going to see Batman TDK, but decided that the theatre would be too packed and it would probably be sold out already. We were right.
Saturday morning we took the kids over to COSI to see the “Science of Big Machines” exhibit. They had construction equipment from one of the local companies out and were allowing parents and children to try out some of them. Gabby and I stood in line for a big forklift/cherry picker. Even though it was hot, there was still a pretty good crowd.
Gabby was acting a bit shy, but she climbed up into the cab and made the big arm move up and down and in and out. She even got to rev the engine and then honk the horn.
Inside the museum felt MUCH better, almost chilly when you walk in from outside. We went out earlier before the machines and rode the big centerfuge in the main science park. It was pretty fun. Gabby was a little unnerved, but I think she enjoyed it. They had us stand against the wall of this giant cylinder and they spun us around at 17 mph. At that rate we all stuck to the walls. They even proved it by lowering the floor by about a foot. There everyone was…hanging on the walls a foot from the floor.
Later that afternoon we drove out to a friend’s house for her child’s birthday. Was still pretty warm outside, but soon it became overcast and it started to cool down. We had hot dogs and hamburgers and the usual cake and ice cream.
Sunday we didn’t do much really. Amy took the kids to church and I stayed home to relax and watch some TV. We had a few naps and then later in the evening went shopping for groceries for the next 2 weeks. After dinner and putting the kids to bed, Amy and I worked on designs for her costumes that we’re going to be starting soon.
Technorati Tags: batman, tdk, wanted, easton, cosi, machines, construction, party, birthday, church, tv, shopping, groceries, costume
I was overhearing a conversation in the lunchroom today held between a group of women. They were talking about the new Batman film and then got onto the subject of the previous Batman films and which ones they’ve seen and liked.
That’s when, for the avid Batman fan, it got funny. I couldn’t help but laugh…but supressed the urge and continued to listen. I wanted so badly to correct them too…but didn’t want to come off as the “comic book guy” (see Simpsons reference), therefore I just bit my tounge and continued to take it in. Here’s some of the conversation that I could remember:
“I loved the Batman movies”
“I liked the tv show with Batman and Robin”
“It was cheesy though”
“What was the movie with the Penguin?”
“It was the one with George Clooney”
“Oh, I loved him as Batman”
“No, that one wasn’t with George Clooney”
“Oh”
“That one was…Val Kilmer…yeah”
“With the Catwoman too”
“The Catwoman?”
“Yeah, Michelle Phieffer”
“I don’t remember her in that one”
Sigh. As you can see…one of them kept mixing up the horrible “Batman and Robin” movie, the last of the franchise, with “Batman Returns” the last movie with Keaton. They also mixed up the fact that Kilmer wasn’t in that one. As far as most Batman fans are concerned…”Batman Forever” and “Batman and Robin” never happend. It’s hard to scrub the Bat-nipples from your mind though…
Technorati Tags: batman, tdk, joker, bale, keaton, kilmer, clooney
Last year I had posted about a house down the street that had some strange happenings regarding furniture left out on the lawn for weeks on end during rain and snow, yard sale items left out during an overnight rain, and possible vandalisms by neighborhood kids.
Well…things got almost normal for a while. All the furniture in the yard and driveway disappeared. The fence that had been torn apart was rebuilt completely from the ground up. Yard work was being done to help make the house a little more appealing to the “market” as for sale signs started popping up in the yard again.
Last week, however, as I drove by I noticed that a number of items had been spray painted bright neon pink. The mailbox attached to the front porch, a couple of small statues on the porch, and a planter in the yard. Now, mind you, this wasn’t professional work. Someone didn’t take these out, lay down newspaper and spray paint them…no. They sprayed them where they stood. The porch and yard is pink with overspray.
You would assume that it was some sort of act of vandalism, but the items remain where they sat over 4 days ago. If I were a homeowner who had their items vandalized I would promplty wash them or remove them from sight. I know that the homeowner is home…I see her walking every day. Plus a vehicle (boyfriend, husband?) sometimes sits in the driveway.
Did she spray paint the items pink? Did someone else? What the heck?!?
Technorati Tags: spray paint, yard, pink, neon, vandalism
Ok, so I haven’t been here much to post…but I’ve been spending a lot of nights working on the basement with Amy. As you know from previous updates, we’ve been hanging drywall for most of the time. As of this weekend we officially started the “mud and tape” process on some of the finished areas. We’ve got one and a half more panels to put up in the ceiling and we’re pretty much finished with hanging drywall. Enjoy some photos:
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Technorati Tags: basement, project, drywall, home improvement, finishing
Wow, what a weekend. Last Friday a group of us from the Mandalorian Mercs “Rancor Clan” and one member from Michigan headed down to Knoxville, TN for the annual AdventureCon. Unfortunately, our good friend Brian (Jun Garros) wasn’t able to make it this year due to the rising cost of gas.
We rolled into Knoxville about 3PM with Mark driving Darryl and Jason in his car and myself and Travis in my van with everyone’s gear. It was great to see Knoxville again and I felt like I knew the place so well since we spent a weekend there last year. Not much had changed at all.
After getting our rooms and unloading our gear we headed down to the convention to pick up our weekend passes and meet up with the folks from Mercs who arrived Thursday night. It was great to see a few familiar faces, and of course meet some new folks that I’ve only spoken with online. The convention was held in a different room of the convention center this year…which made it seem like it was a bit smaller than last year. Still though, every booth was packed with toys and artwork.
Friday night after the convention we all headed over to Market Square to eat. A couple of folks decided they’d try elsewhere for food. I ended up with Will (Legion) over at the hotel bar where he said the food was pretty good. Even though we had to wait FOREVER for service, I got a rueben which tasted pretty darn good. Later, the rest of the group showed up in the bar while we were still waiting for our change and sat with us for a few drinks. Susan (Gabrin) pretty much giggled the whole time…we think she had a bit to drink.
Saturday morning we awoke bright and early (I for some reason ended up waking at 6:30AM) and headed over to the Market Square Kitchen for breakfast. I’ve heard a few things about the place…but the food has always been good tasting and at a nice price.
Saturday was the BIG DAY. We geared up and headed down to the hotel lobby a little after 10AM. It’s always great to come down that elevator for the first time. Half the folks in the hotel are usually there for the convention, while the rest are there for weddings, vacations, etc. When you walk out of an elevator in full Mandalorian gear with weapons at your side…people stop to stare. There’s usually a few photographs taken as well.
We trooped over to the convention hall and of course got stopped for pictures once we reached the lobby. We tried to make a “dramatic tactical entrance”…but it just ended up with us walking through the convention floor in single file with guns drawn. We all gathered in a corner and were barraged by folks with cameras as we held poses for over 10 minutes. I swear with the flashes going off every couple of seconds, I felt like a star.
We trooped the convention from 10AM until about 5PM after the costume contest. Just before the contest had started we were already getting anxious to get out of our costumes. Unfortunately Susan fainted for a breif moment, but thankfully she was already down on the ground when she went out. I think it was the combination of the heat, lack of water, and her high heeled boots. She was up after a couple of minutes of resting and back in good shape.
The costume contest went pretty well. We entered as a whole group, won second place in the “sci-fi” category, with the tall Kaminoan taking first place. The prizes were a little hard to break up groupwise, so they went on a first come first serve basis. Nothing amazing though…we got a Napolean Dynamite poster, a Beowulf figure, a Simpsons figure, and a scaled lightsaber replica. I just enjoyed the publicity.
We skipped the costume contest parade, as most of our feet were no longer functioning. We stumbled our ways back to the hotel to strip down and rest for a bit.
Later that evening, we had dinner in the hotel bar again, with service being a little better this time. We stumbled across Brian Harnois from Ghost Hunters on Sci-Fi Channel and invited him to sit with us for dinner. We talked about his show, a couple of his personal paranormal experiences, and then found that he is a HUGE Star Wars fan and even owns a set of Boba Fett armor. We talked for a little over an hour or so and even paid for his meal.
Someone got the idea to armor back up (wasn’t really looking forward to wearing that costume again that day) and head over to Market Square where the night-life continues after 9PM. So we put on our sweaty, cold, costumes again and headed back down to the lobby and out into the night with glowing helmets and lightsabers.
When we arrived at Market Square…we were treated like celebrities. Again, we couldn’t walk more than 5 steps without someone wanting a picture of us or them in the picture. Quickly, me not looking forward to wearing those boots again turned into a great time. People loved us… We headed down the street and stopped by the local bars where folks again took pictures with us all night. We even stopped by the local move theatre and got our pictures taken with some of the staff.
After that we headed back to the hotel AGAIN, to de-armor and sleep for the night. No amount of money could be paid to me to put that costume on again that night.
Sunday morning we ate at the Market Square Kitchen again, they were expecting us. We headed over to the con, with only a few of us in costume this time. I had wanted to finally meet up with Ernie Hudson from Ghostbusters, as I had brought my son’s proton pack from Halloween to have signed. I lucked out and found that he had just started signing as I walked in. I jumped in line and waited my turn until I could head up to meet the man himself. I got a quick video of him looking over the proton pack and then signing it for my son. Was a pretty awesome experience.
Spent the rest of the day walking around looking at the deals and manning the Mercs table. We had a pretty good showing at the table and handed out a lot of business cards and stickers. We had a few interested costumers and explained to them how to get onto the forums to get started on their own costume.
Most of the folks that arrived on Thursday left that evening, and the rest of us headed to get some pizza at a local pizza joint after we broke down the table and left the con for the weekend. The pizza was AWESOME, and very filling too. Split a large with Darryl and couldn’t even finish my half…I left one slice.
We said our goodbyes to Susan and Brandon as they were headed back to Missouri the next morning and us “Ohio guys” sat in the now quiet hotel lobby which had been filled with convention-goers just the night before. We all headed back to our rooms to sleep and then loaded up for the long trip home on Monday morning.
I was sad to leave Knoxville yet again, but was sure that I would most likely be back again next year.
Costume Contest Video
Mandalorian Mercs at AdventureCon
Mandalorian Mercs out on the town
Technorati Tags: adventurecon, adcon, knoxville, tn, tennessee, convention, comic, toy, sci-fi, mandalorian, costume, brian harnois, ernie hudson, ghostbusters, ghost hunters
