Lou, KY Post CVI pics and thoughts

Just to make sure all the photo links and post CVI thoughts we had on the temporary boards weren't lost I thought I'd start a new thread while evrything was still fresh in our minds. Lord Zannah had a great post how CVI is such a community I hope she'll repost over here.

My pics
http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y262/jedimika/Celebration VI 8-23-2012/?start=all

As you can see I visited Star Tours on Wednesday before the con started. Got there first thing, rode the ride twice and I was done. It was amazing technology but it was only like a 3 minute ride, it was an impressive 3 minutes but it still felt short. If I would have had to wait in line a long time I'm not sure how I would have felt.



Plus I was very stressed about a Make a Wish event I had that night and Celebration in general so I didn't enjoy myself like I should have. Mrs jedimika has said no more theme parks before Celebration, only after, as I was no fun to be around.

Those of you that attended CV with me probably remember how stressed and unpleasant I was the first couple of days...well, it was the same for CVI. There's just so much to do it should be a full week instead of only 4 days. The first day I was running around from place to place to see if the line had died down any-Celebration store to autograph area to artist's alley to Rancho ObiWan and repeat. Plus I volunteered for more things for CVI since I'm a member of the 501st now and I wasn't at CV. I enjoyed being part of the show for other fans but I was pretty darn cranky most of the weekend and felt like I didn't accomplish much. I swore to Mrs jedimika this was my last Celebration but I know it probably won't be. There WILL have to be some changes for me next time though. I'll probably leave the costumes at home, forget about photo shoots and just help man the booths in club swag. I don't know. Maybe skip the club thing altogether and just go as a fan. I'm still bummed the line was always too long at Rancho Obi Wan...I never did see it (maybe a trip next year?) and Jeremy Bulloch always had a really long line which I'm happy for him and he deserves it but I'm disappointed I didn't get to say hi to him either. Maybe I'll see him at another smaller area con.

So yeah, some post con depression but still kinda getting my thoughts and feelings in order.

 

Sounds like a lot of it was pretty disappointing for you Mika, I'm sorry. Did you enjoy the Banquet? I did very much. Well, here are my photos:

http://s614.photobucket.com/albums/tt223/Darth_Zannah/STAR WARS CELEBRATION V aug 2010/STAR WARS CELEBRATION SIX AUG 2012/


Well lets see. My mind is a complete blur for most of the event. I was running on complete exhaustion and adrenalin as early as Thursday. Wednesday was supposed to be one where we set up the back drop and props for the Empires fan booth, which was only supposed to take three hours tops. It turned into Appo and Deamonicus getting the back drop set up and the tarp on the floor, and then they had to leave to go help one of Alex's freinds who had broken down on the way back from a Walmart. That day went down hill from there. I was left alone with Alex "all" day and finally went back to my room, where I found that I had not taken a room key with me. I was locked out of my room. Luckily Deamonicus's wife was in the room next to ours and I went in and sat with her. My feet were killing me. I had hit the floor running at 6:00am and didn't get back to our Hotel until around 6:00pm. Appo and Deamonicus showed back up not long after my getting back to our hotel, so we cleaned up and went to Ponderosa for dinner. We went back to the room and went to bed. That was day #1. I understand about being cranky Mika. My time did not start out well neither. BUT... being the ever positive person that I am, the next morning came, the alarm went off at 6:00am and....

HIT THE FLOOR RUNNING AGAIN.... We both had to be back on the Convention floor before the opening bell. In fact, Alex wanted us there before 9:00am so we got there about that time and we missed breakfast. I didn't know what to expect the first day. If I had, Alex would have never stressed me into being there so early. It didn't happen again after that. I discovered it was good enough to be there about 20 minutes to 10:00am.

The rest of the time went the same. Hitting the floor running to be at the table before opening bell and ending the day exhausted.

On Friday, we missed breakfast because I had trouble with my Zannah tattoos, I couldn't get them on right to save myself. By the time I was ready, we had to get to the convention floor and in a hurry, so we once again missed breakfast. After the initial rat race of the morning rush, the rest of the day went pretty smoothly. The photo shoots were phenomenal, I met a lot of people in TDE that I had only previously known on the boards and the atmosphere was electric around our table. It was Celebration alright. Everyone a complete Star Wars addict and reveling in the company of other addicts. BLISS! Once again, by the time the end of the day arrived, I was completely blown out! But very in a very blissful happy way.

We had been invited to the 501st Banquet for that evening, of which by the end of the day on Friday I was regretting accepting the invitation. But like a trooper I went back to our room, showered, soaked my feet and got them rubbed down while I sipped on some wine. By the time we were due to the Banquet, I was recharged and ready to rumble. I am sooooo glad we went to the Banquet. The Legion is truly amazing and I'm so very proud to count myself one of their ranks. I learned a lot about the Legion that night. Stuff I wouldn't have learned at the Bash. .. which by the way we did not attend.

I thought I was pacing myself, but I realized there were still many schedules to keep. On Saturday it was hit the floor running minus breakfast again. Appo and I always had first duty on the tables. First up on the schedule was the Costuming Groups United Panel, which went beautifully. Bruticus bullied his way on to the panel, (he was not supposed to be on it) I won't get into how he managed to do that. But despite him doing that, it still went beautifully. The panel was followed by the Legions photo shoot, followed by the Flagships Photo Shoot, followed by the Empires Photo Shoot, followed by the Empires Dark Side Parade threw the distributor hall, followed by Honorary membership plaques to give out. By the time I left the floor on Saturday, I was about done. BUT WAIT!!! It wasn't over. We had to get back to the hotel room clean up, and get ourselves back over to the TDE Room party. WOE!! That was really fun but in a relaxing way. I got to sit by shebs on the arm of a couch and I kept it there while a pleasantly sipped on wine. My Jammies showed up around .... er .... I "think" around 12:00 midnight? Jammies is that right? And we had a glorious time playing Star Wars trivia with Deamonicus hosting. It was awesome! Of coarse our Jammies won! All Hail Our Jammies!!

Sunday was rough getting up... well the piper must always be payed. LOL!! And also, it was a little depressing for me because I knew by the closing bell, we would be breaking our back drop down and packing it all up. We had to have it packed and loaded before we could leave the Convention floor that night. After we were loaded, the tears came and they didn't stop until we were back to the hotel room. After Celebration blues hit me hard. The fantasy was over and back to the grind we would go.You see, since my Father past.... it's the only real time I forget about missing him. Just wanted to let you all know how much this all means to me, and that is why I give so much to it's success. I'm sure there are others out there just like me. Probably more than I'll ever realize. Anyway...

In one aspect, this Con was much more enjoyable for me than C-5, but at the same time and in another aspect, it was less enjoyable. The reason is that at C-V, The Empire did not have a table. So as I am main playing Officer of our beloved Empire, I found myself manning our table most of the time, and having to be responsible for loads of issues. I had to be on the convention floor "every single morning" bright and early before the Convention opened up, which had me rising every morning around 6:00am and getting dressed. I missed breakfast every morning but one, and that was on Wednesday morning before the Con began. I had two very nice and actual relaxing experiences. One was the 501st Banquet, the other was the TDE Room party. I actually stayed up until almost 2:00am. Sunday morning sucked. But it was alllll soooo worth it!

Yea, I had loads of responsibility for this one, (I've learned that obviously, Alex see's work as his fun time) and I'm going to make dang good and sure that it doesn't happen that way for C-7... oh yea, we'll go back again. Third time is the charm. The good out weighed the bad by far.... I'm now the same way with this as I am with Star Wars movie opening nights... no way will I miss a Celebration.Not as long as it can be helped. Now I know absolutely what to do. Next time, I'm going to experience the night life.

By the way gang... The next episode of Attack Of The Clones in 3-D comes out Sept. 20th followed by Revenge Of The Sith in Oct... I think it was the 10th. Mika can you help me on that one?

I'm still suffering Celebration Blues, but not in the same way Mika is... I'm missing the distraction and excitement horribly. Wow! That turned out to be long!

 

Hey guys...I really appreciate both of your posts for the sake of getting perspective on the event. As you both know, 11-11 and I were attending for the first time, so we were really grateful just to be there. At the same time, we can certainly understand being overwhelmed or disappointed when you can't do absolutely everything you hoped would be possible, or when you're too tired to enjoy everything as much as you might normally. Even we, with our much more limited schedule, had some of the same issues.

However, I hope I won't come off the wrong way in trying to encourage both of you to remember things in a more positive light...those of us who don't hold memberships or prestigious positions in the well-known fan groups like the 501st, Rebel Legion, Dark Empire, etc. are really envious of the opportunities you all have had. Obviously those opportunities were well-earned through the efforts you all have made over the years, and that's exactly my point - you should feel very proud and happy about the stuff you get to do as a result.

Lastly, I just want to thank you all (and everyone in the LGA) because if it weren't for you we wouldn't have ever had this amazing experience. We've been huge Star Wars fans since a young age but we definitely wouldn't have attended Celebration without this group.

 

Thanks Bulbous. I remember my first Celebration (IV) as just a fan and how blown away I was by everything. I should make clear that any disappointment I had in CVI were my own mental hangups about there being so much to do and my stressing over what I was missing out on instead of what I've done. How could you ever be disappointed in a Celebration!? And without my involvement in clubs I never would have gotten to shake Seth Green's hand (at CV AND CVI) or make a dying kid smile or help support Peter Mayhew's foundation. I know by the next Celebration I'll be raring to go again and all the things I thought I missed out on before will be forgotten.

Zannah, AOTC 3D is Sept 20 and ROTS 3D is Oct 11

 

Thanks Bulbous... it's all a matter of perspective that is for sure, and the things I thought were bummers, are now in my face in a .. heh-heh .. "Different point of view". Thank you so much for that enlightenment. Sometimes we give so much for these things to be awesome, that we forget that part and don't ... "Appreciate ourselves". Thank you so very much.

And thanks Mika! I almost had it right. For only hearing it the one time, I'm pretty impressed with myself. An oh yea... those releases are in 2013. WOOT!

 

No, I wish but it's 2013. Not sure what the thinking is on it. Maybe the reasons will be clearer next year.

 

Couple more random thoughts...saw Star Wars in 60 minutes and have to agree with 11-11 and Bulbous-the first 30 minutes (the OT) are boring and Alley Theater did it much better but the 2nd 30 minutes (the PT) are really funny.

Liked the non judgmental atmosphere at the 501st Bash...I even got out there and danced with the Mrs a little without feeling like an idiot.

Timely...one of my favorite authors just posted a blog post about anxiety at cons. In part...
"I have a secret to tell: All those smiling eager writers and artists and pros you meet at conventions? They are all seething puddles of anxiety. Every convention is like the first day of school, every time: will I know anyone, will any of my friends be here, what if I look stupid, what if everyone hates me, what if I say something stupid? We are generally introverted insecure monkeys, and a convention feels like walking onto a stage, where Simon Cowell is always walking behind you whispering horrible things into your ear. Don’t get me wrong, we have a great time at cons, we love talking to readers and buying books in the dealers room and drinking and partying and checking stuff out. But boy, it’s rough sometimes. Especially early in our careers — like when I went to my first Worldcon and I just had a couple of short story sales, I was a raving stress monkey all weekend, because I didn’t know anyone, I was trying to meet editors and things, I was trying to be cool, and everyone else was so much cooler than me, and I was so intimidated. I was working so hard not to screw up, or to not appear like I was screwing up, and I second guessed everything I did."

So I'm not the only one.

The whole post can be found here http://carriev.wordpress.com/2012/09/05/worldcon-psychological-report/

 

I know lots of artists are actually introverts, that's why so many of them are alcoholics and drug addicts. Not all of them, however there are "lots" of them. That includes actors and musicians. As out going as they appear, that outward and strong upbeat personality could be chemically induced... and lots of times it is. Someone comes to mind, but no names dropped from this girl.

Within my own social arena, I personally know several artists who need some sort of chemical enhancer to talk to people, even if it's legal mood enhancers, pot, or alcohol.

Seems that when that area of the brain is kicked in, it creates a type of social anxiety disorder. Well, I HATE that coin word "disorder". It makes it sound as if there is something wrong with them. Personally, I don't think there is anything wrong with the artistic mind, I think it's the society in general that puts upon them to perform, or suffer losing the love. It seems that it's never good enough that they are awesome at their art, as they're also expected to be some kind of social dynamo and make us happy in their presents.

That kind of pressure would cause anyone to have anxiety... People are highly judgmental of everything we do and say. Even in this PC world, and "especially" in this PC world. In our quest to attain tolerance, we have in fact created a situation where almost every human thought, if it doesn't agree with our own, is not tolerated in social settings. It's a cruel twist of fate with the human condition.

For me and with the generation I'm from, as the new PC world has manifest, it has been a whole new learning curve in social etiquette. I am such a deep thinker, and so expression-able, and my mind is always running, so it gets tough. It used to be easy to speak to people, but it is becoming more and more difficult... we have to think about everything we are going to say next, and if it will be socially acceptable. Man.... I can relate with what he was saying,"Will I say something wrong"? Although not as intensely, as a TDE Officer, I get that same kind of pressure. I can some what relate. Fortunately I am by my nature a social dynamo, but I'm always on guard of my wording, and it does cause some anxiety to an extent. Hah! Usually I'm talking so much, I forget about all of that and it disappears. Except when I'm in the spot light. I have to learn to not "think" so much about how I'm saying something, and just go with my thoughts.

However... I've noticed a very interesting thing that takes place on Facebook. Apparently people are really missing the ability to express themselves freely. I say that, because they allow these demotivational posters and other types of posters such as activist and political posters, to say the things for them which they are feeling, thinking, and actually wanting to express. I hardly "ever" see a typed opinion come across my feed, it always arrives in the form of a poster. On facebook it seems, people can express themselves vicariously threw the words of another, and not be shamed nor condemned for it... well, most of the times anyway... others are doing it too so it's alright. I should have been a psychiatrist.

As Spock would say, "I find human psychology........ Fascinating".

Wow... that took off didn't it! Like I said, I'm a deep thinker. I think too much so I better quit while the quitting is good. STAY ON TARGET.....

 

Anybody catch "Cupcake Wars" last night besides me? No? Part of it was filmed at CVI. Well I was on it! Well, for just a second, and it was the crowd/group shot of the Rebel Legion, and I'm kinda lost in the middle somewhere, in my orange pilot uniform. But I can still say I was on Cupcake Wars!

For most of you who don't know what I'm talking about...
http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/in...strong-with-the-cupcake-wars-on-food-network/

 

Ha! That's pretty cool Mika. And the list of contributors was awesome! Among many notable names is Albin Johnson, the founder of the 501st Legion! Alright!

 

Well The Louisville Galactic Alliance can now call itself "A Friend of the Forcecast"...Jimmy Mac said so.

While at CVI I took a chapter from the drug reps' play book and brought candy (M&Ms) with a sticker of our logo on it and left a bag at the Forcecast booth every day. It was noticed and we get a shout out in the Sept 7th episode (start listening about 1hr 6min in)

http://www.forcecast.net/story/home/Weekly_ForceCast_September_7_2012_147945.asp

 

Nice

 

I gots to listen to that!

 

Nice job Mika. I really appreciate all the stuff you do on behalf of our group. The rest of us get to look good without even trying!

 

So true...so true!

 

I know! I would have never have thought of that. Good job Boss!

 

Wow! I wish I'd seen this earlier, I'd of "Thanked You" in person Mika! ... "Thank You" so much for all you do Mika! >;~)

 

HA! Lost in the middle....lol. I have it on DVR and you stick out. We all know that you are the leader of that ragtag band of rebel pilots! Actually, I couldn't find you until Brandy pointed you out. Once she found out where you were, the rest was easy

 

Heh, she must have good eyes because I didn't even see myself and I knew where I was standing.

 

LOL! We watched it yesterday and I said that you were there. As soon as she saw the group shot, she froze the DVR and showed me where you were. She is now known as Hawk-eyes.

 

Heh, I guess now we now the reasoning for delaying the 3-D AOTC and ROTS until late 2013. They'll probably convert and release the original trilogy for 2014 leading up to Ep VII in 2015.

I wonder now if Nick Gillard (stunt master) knew something when I had my lesson with him a few months ago. It was his last seminar because he said he was looking to get back into movie making. We know now that Pablo Hidalgo knew about the upcoming films (but not the sell off to Disney) in June of this year.
http://starwarsblog.starwars.com/index.php/2012/10/30/on-the-brink-of-the-future/#more-18199

So I wonder if Nick had been contacted for stunts and saber chorography for Ep7 when I had my class with him. I guess we'll find out.

So they did a pretty good job of keeping the new trilogy hush hush at CVI, I never heard a peep.

 

Never heard a peep".. I know right? And I'm sure that "lots" of people knew about it. Wow Mika, I'd be willing to bet real money that Mr. Gillard had already been signed, and if not, at least approached.

 

Yay, my question about Nick made it on the latest Forcecast episode. I made sure to mention the Louisville Galactic Alliance
Listen at about the 1:41 mark, it's the very last question of the show.
http://www.forcecast.net/story/home/Weekly_ForceCast_November_23_2012_149012.asp

 

FYI Looks like there has been a slight adjustment in dates

AOTC 3D=Sept 20, 2013

ROTS 3D=Oct 4, 2013

http://starwars.com/news/attack-of-...th-3d-theatrical-release-dates-confirmed.html

 

SWEET that just puts them closer together