Uptown Charlotte "Flash Mob"

Okay, so the term "flash mob" is a bit of an exaggeration. This early-morning 501st event in uptown Charlotte, NC, was a planned promotion for Star Wars Celebration V on behalf of Lucasfilm and Reed Expositions (the folks running the big summer 2010 Star Wars fan gathering). We were asked to help drum up some media coverage in regions outside of the Florida market to ensure that fans in the Southeast USA were aware of the August event. I created some picket signs with relevant phrases like "TO ORLANDO...HAVE BLASTER WILL TRAVEL," "THIS IS THE VACATION YOU'RE LOOKING FOR" and "STAR WARS CELEBRATION OR BUST!" David, TI-1626, even went shirtless as a vacationing TIE Pilot complete with swim shorts.



Jon Wilson of the local FOX Charlotte television early morning show, who has helped the 501st promote various events over the years, met us in front of the Omni Hotel at 6 in the morning with his faithful cameraman and we amused and confused passers-by and commuters on their way to work. The end result was about 10-15 minutes of teasers promoting Celebration V and the 501st Legion. Lucasfilm was pleased and I squeezed in another event for 2010. Not a bad result for a last-minute Friday morning troop. Thanks to David, Andy, Cher, Hope, Ken and Ryan for showing up!

Click here for video (not sure how long they keep the link active).

Star Wars: In Concert Promo

Rain or shine, the trooping must go on. Trooped in armor for the first time in more than a year and was glad that that suit still fits, albeit repairs are in order. The Carolina Garrison was helping to promote the Star Wars: In Concert tour which will be at the Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, SC, on Thursday, November 5th. Ticket sales are suffering from some high priced seats and a weeknight event (not geared towards school kids), so the 501st was out at the Greenville Saturday Market to help get the word out. On a side note, I am an advocate of the local food movement in general...I even sell fresh eggs at our own farmer's market. Despite a constant but light rain, attendance wasn't too bad and we handed out flyers offering a $10 discount on tickets and interacted with the public. Being Halloween, a lot of kids came in costume and it's nice to see that Star Wars is still popular. The event hosts (Bi-Lo Center's marketing team) were kind enough to provide complimentary admission for all of the attending 501st plus up to 5 guests---a wonderful gesture that was much appreciated by the Empire. Due to my work schedule, I won't be at the November 5th concert, but the rest of the family will enjoy a night of live music from that galaxy far, far away. I did get to see the show in Los Angeles, though, and I have to say it's very cool to see and hear the music you've grown up with performed live in front of you. Be sure to catch the show if you can...no telling when you'll have another chance like this!

Dragon*Con 2008

Dragon*Con 2008 was a blast, as expected. Of all the cons that the 501st is known to attend regularly, D*C is the most laid-back in terms of 501st costuming. Honestly, aside from the Saturday morning parade down Peachtree Street, it's difficult to find a plain ol' Stormtrooper or otherwise canon Star Wars costume. On the other hand, if it's FemTroopers or Darth Hello Kitty that you want, you've come to the right place. After last year's virgin voyage to downtown Atlanta's version of Mardi Gras, DZ-4009 and I were amped for a return visit...in fact, we had our tickets and hotel room at the Marriott squared away well in advance (and, yes, the Marriott is now the hotel of choice for many reasons). We also had new costumes planned to debut at the con, but Darth Real-Life has been a real bugger lately, so we were just glad that we were able to attend and I wore my AT-ST Driver as seen in the above pic. I assisted with the 10th Anniversary at Dragon*Con Meet the 501st panel and helped out at the 501st booth when possible---always fun to interact with fans and prospective members. I also captured a lot of audio and conducted interviews for 501stCast episode 23, too. Despite the fact that this is a 4-day con, one really cannot see it all. Of all the panels, tracks and events on the convention schedule (aside from the 501st-related activities) I only participated in one true session which was a Star Wars prop challenge scratch-building prop contest. Scott TK-408 and I thought it might be fun since we've not only built hardware props for years as part of the 501st, but also hosted seminars at MegaCon in Orlando and even Star Wars Celebration. It was a packed house (albeit a small room) and we felt a little guilty for being so overqualified for the competition---something like Emeril Lagasse entering the neighborhood bake-off. Our joint creation, the DS-71 Sniper Rifle, ended up winning third place in the adult category but it was clear from the audience reactions that we were the fan favorite.

If you've never been to Dragon*Con, I highly recommend it. Just click here for some images from Flickr and you'll get a sample of the amazing quality, creativity and craziness that people put into their costumes.

YouTube is Timeless

YouTube is interesting. Since it's user-created content, things will appear at seemingly random times without any regard for when they actually happened. I just came across a video uploaded this week that shows the Disney Star Wars Weekends parade from back in June. Check me out at 3:21 with my homemade "Go 501st!" banner...make sure you watch in high quality mode. Also worth noting is the chanting of "501! 501!" at the start of the video. Sounds goofy (no pun intended), but that kind of love from the fans can make a Stormtrooper tear up in white-armored pride.

Clone Wars Midnight Premiere

Star Wars: The Clone Wars premiered on Friday, August 15th, so many theaters around the world contributed to the hype by hosting midnight screenings for eager fans. I have to say that a lot of the fun surrounding new Star Wars films is the anticipation, the lining up, the going to the movies in costume, and the instant connection you feel with fellow fans at events like this. There wasn't a huge turnout at the AMC Concord 24 in Concord, NC, but those who did show up truly appreciated the interaction with the 501st Carolina Garrison as we took endless photos, did interviews for the local Fox television news crew and handed out flyers I designed for the following Saturday's big event. A couple of fun highlights were kids asking me to autograph their trading cards and also asking one guest to look up 501st.com on his iPhone right after he took my picture (low and behold my image randomly appeared on the home page!). This was also my first trooping event using the ROM/FX, and I have to say that using a voice amp makes a huge difference in the overall character presence and serves to intimidate the public (in a good way). I'll talk more about that particular electronics mod in another post. On a side note, I'm really starting to feel I need a Clone Wars-era costume! Click here for a gallery courtesy of the sister of TB-1345.

Midnight Madness

Every so often, Toys R Us stores will host midnight toy premieres on the eve of their official release date. The closest thing I can think of outside of Star Wars is the Harry Potter midnight book release parties. It's been a while since I've attended one of these (I think the last one was for The Phantom Menace before even I joined the Legion), but since there was a store only 9 minutes away and I wouldn't have to worry about work in the morning (it was Friday, July 25), I figured I should take advantage of it. 501st Carolina Garrison members Dave Petty (TI-1626) and Jada Diaz (DZ-5232) handling organizing this event and I contributed the flyer.



It was great to see so many Carolina members again, and many new ones as well. We met at a local Jason's Deli and then arrived at TRU around 10pm where there were a few shoppers already lining up. I suited up in my TK armor for the first 40 minutes then switched to street clothes to facilitate an international 501st podcast call where we simultaneously counted down to the toy release from New York's Times Square with Northeast Remnant Commanding Officer Dion Rupa (TK-1217) and Taiwan Outpost Commanding Officer Roy Waung (TD-1668). You can hear the countdown from opposite ends of the world on Episode 21 of the 501stCast. This was also the only toy release event to feature an actual celebrity from the Clone Wars, pink astromech R2-KT!


After the madness, the 501st participants mingled among the emptied shelves (they sold an amazing amount of merchandise) and looked through the remnants. At one point, Carolina CO Cheralyn Lambeth (TB-0976) picked up the Star Wars Ultimate Visual Guide book and joked to me "Let's see if you're in here." Amazingly, we both appeared on a page featuring a group photo of the 501st from Star Wars Celebration III in Indianapolis. I exhibited an unusual sense of self-restraint regarding toy purchases, but in actuality this was simply due to the fact that I don't collect toys anymore. I walked out the door with a $10 Clone Wars lunchbox for my son. Click here for more event pics from DZ-6570.

Marching on the Mouse

Star Wars Weekends is upon us again and this year DZ-4009 and myself loaded up the family and made a trip to that wretched hive of sun and humidity known as Florida. This would be the third Star Wars Weekends troop for me as well as my first troop of the year (current home construction is occupying most of our time). The Florida Garrison did an excellent job of tightening things up this year and we had such a huge number of participants this year that Disney actually put a cap on our numbers! We only marched on Friday, June 6th, but watched the parade as spectators on Saturday, June 7th and supported the troops with a home-made banner. While keeping in character during the march, we got a few nods from our members as well as hoots and hollers from the three 501st Honorary Member celebrities in the motorcade (Jeremy Bulloch, Warwick Davis, and Daniel Logan). This was also the first official troop for my AT-ST Driver costume. Watch for me with the Imperial Gunners and DZ-4009 as Friday's only female Tusken in the videos below:

'Tis the Season for Toys For Tots

Stormtroopers all across America have been working with their local U.S. Marines to help promote the Toys For Tots toy drive this time of year. The 501st Carolina Garrison is no exception, and if I was going to squeeze in one event during the holidays, it might as well be something in the spirit of the season. I'm normally in the Charlotte, NC, area, but we were visiting the in-laws this weekend which put us closer to Asheville, where TK-7404 had organized a Toys for Tots event at a local Toys R Us store. This would be my wife's first official troop since receiving her 501st ID number back in September, and as a result I ended up working the event out of costume as a handler taking photos and minding the kids. In retrospect, a giant sign explaining our presence as related to the Toys For Tots campaign would probably have helped people understand why Darth Vader was greeting shoppers on this rainy December day, but even so, we did get some donations. Here's some photos from the event.

Dragon*Con 2007 Recap

A picture is worth a thousand words, and never more so than with an event like Dragon*Con in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. With a rumored 60,000+ attendees from around the world, D*C has become an annual homecoming event for costumers and revellers from all walks of life. The overall vibe was non-judgmental, and with the exception of staff and security being a bit too high-strung, I found little to complain about. For every outstanding costume we encountered, there were 10 more we never saw in passing. It was interesting to see active hotel lobbies filled with outlandish characters from every genre even at 3am, and mid-day naps were mandatory. We finished my wife's female Tusken Raider just in time and it was the only one we saw there. I only brought my stock Stormtrooper armor (that's me, 2nd from the left in the above photo), but it's a safe bet we will be attending next year...with more costumes to debut. Enjoy the photos!

Dragon*Con Virgin

Although Dragon*Con is often regarded as the annual "homecoming" for the 501st Legion (having been the site of the 501st's first official group gathering in 1998), this year will mark my first foray into this established sci-fi/fantasy/comics/costuming convention in Atlanta, Georgia. Dragon*Con is perhaps best described as an urban Mardi Gras of sorts, where fans and friends congregate in their best (and worst) costumes over Labor Day weekend, and where days and nights are said to blur together. Believe it or not, it was my wife's idea to go to D*C after experiencing Star Wars Celebration IV in Los Angeles, and we look forward to some time to ourselves thanks to my parents who are visiting (and babysitting). Presently, we are working hard to finish up a female Tusken Raider costume for Dionne...it would be done if we weren't obsessing over details!

Rose Parade Audition Flashback

It's been one year since troopers around the globe were asked by Lucasfilm to submit videos of themselves marching in military-style formation. During the grueling summer practice sessions, troopers were asked to state their name, 501st Legion ID number, and unit affiliation. At the time, nobody knew just why Lucasfilm wanted the footage...was it an audition for the Star Wars live-action TV series? Was this an underhanded way of gathering names for a large-scale cease-and-desist order to all owners of bootleg Stormtrooper armor? Speculations ran rampant, but it was finally announced at San Diego Comic-Con that George Lucas himself wanted to recognize and reward the 501st Legion for their volunteer service as goodwill ambassadors of the Star Wars franchise by inviting 200 troopers to the Star Wars Spectacular in the 2007 Rose Parade. Many of the training videos can be seen on this YouTube playlist. The training I participated in on July 8, 2006, in Greensboro, North Carolina, happened to be one of the only times I've been captured on video skateboarding in my armor.

Tega Cay 4th of July Parade

The community of Tega Cay, South Carolina, loves the 501st Legion! In 2006, the Carolina Garrison marched in this city's 4th of July parade and even had 501st Founder Albin Johnson as the Grand Marshal. The troops were such a hit, the Mayor invited us back this year and extended every courtesy imaginable including changing space at his own home office, a special 501st cake, a pre-parade dinner, breakfast, tickets to the afternoon fish fry, a personal trolley and parade vehicles...even a banner advertising our appearance posted at a major intersection! The best part is that the city is making a $500 donation to Make-A-Wish in the name of the 501st Legion. I'm not sure how many laws were broken during the 3.5-mile route, but standing in moving pickup truck beds and shooting spectators with a super soaker water gun was just too much fun. The neighbors (some with signs that read "Squirt Me!") shot back with their own water guns and even garden hoses! It's a good thing I didn't install my ROMFX voice amp system yet---the water might have ruined something. Maybe an E-Web water cannon is in order for 2008 (maybe I'll have a Snowtrooper costume completed by then). More photos can be seen here, here, and here.

Tours of Duty

I've just added a list of all my Stormtrooper-related events (right column), and so far I've come up with roughly 46 occassions dating back to March 2002 when I first acquired my armor kit (although there's probably some that I've forgotten). On my original site, I used to document my troopin' gigs including photos of each event, but I eventually gave up. Hopefully, this blog will make it much easier to keep a record of each event as it passes. Moving forward, you can see my "Tours of Duty" by selecting the "Tours of Duty" tag under "Select a Topic" in the right column.

Schiele Museum Troop

Today I trooped a Mid-Summer Festival at the Schiele Museum of Natural History in Gastonia, NC. Some of the local 501st members have family that work at the museum and invited us to add some flare to their event. From the museum's website:

"See a live white buffalo, hear the legend of White Buffalo Woman, watch Star Wars Imperial Stormtroopers and Rebel Alliance fighters in battle, meet an iguana, make giant bubbles, learn why it's really mid-summer and much more!"

I'm not sure about the connection between Stormtroopers and natural history, but fans loved us (despite a few "Oh, look! Power Rangers!" comments) and the museum treated us well. We had about 24 total costumed attendees including members of the Tidewater Alliance who put on a nice lightsaber seminar. It was good to meet more of my local Carolina Garrison members. Check out some photos here, here, and here.