Growing up Star Wars

I stumbled across this slide show via The Force.net.

Wow. That was my childhood.

Brockton Holiday Parade

Here's a few shots from this weekend's troop. It was my first parade, so that was fun. Even better, I got to troop with Darth Chip, who I'm partly responsible for. I put the bug in his ear, at any rate.

Fan boy weigh-in

I've been remiss.

Halloween, a wood stove, children et all have distracted me from taking a moment or two to voice up about both Indy 4 and The Clone Wars.

I admit, I went to see TCW premiere more than a little jaded from all the reviews. My mind was not as open as it could have been. That said, I didn't hate it. I found it enjoyable, only slightly annoying at parts, but over all satisfactory and entertaining. The battle sequences were impressive. So I went into watching the series looking for nothing more than a weekly dose of Star Wars. No matter how far removed from ANH.

Well, let me say this: Holy shit. I've been enjoying the hell out of the series. All the episodes have surpassed any expectations or hopes I might have had. The stories are interesting, the animation looks good, and there are enough allusions to all the best qualities of the original trilogy to keep me very happy. Even the stiffness of the human characters is OK by me. I believe it is intentional, as it evokes memories of Thunderbirds. Nothing wrong with a touch of Supermarionation.

They've been exploring aspects of the story between episodes 2 and 3 that interest me. The development of the clones and their relationship with the Jedi. The galactic scope of the war. The evolution of the Imperial aesthetic and architecture. New droids. Those commando droids are pretty sweet, and make sense.

Tonight's episode ended on a really cool and vaguely personal note. The rookie clones were inducted into the most elite of trooper squadrons: the 501st. TK8103, for one, says thank you for the shout out. Super fuckin cool.

So, Indy IV I watched the other night. I didn't hate it. In fact, I rather enjoyed it. It did evoke for me nostalgia for the franchise. Indy was still one cool cat. I liked the limited use of CGI, and the overblown story line was fun. Listen, seriously... there's nothing more far fetched about inter dimensional beings than there is about a mystical Hebrew relic that makes people's faces melt. It was executed well, if not a little heavy handed.

I for one want to thank Uncle George and Uncle Steve for allowing us to continue to play in their sandbox. Sure, they might be trying to steer that box toward a younger generation that they're slightly out of touch with. That's they're duty. Regardless, it's still fun. I'll rate Crystal Skull #3, after Raiders and Last Crusade.

As for The Clone Wars... it's the bomb. Keep up the good work, and you can really go somewhere good with it. I look forward to the journey.

Now, if we could all just band together and do something about JOE.

Touch a Truck

I spent the better part of my Sunday freezing my ass off dressed in white armor. There was a "Touch a Truck" fund raiser in Weymouth, and I was the lone trooper. Here are a few of my favorite shots:


TK8103, meet T&K
"I don't want stormtrooper Daddy!"
The two faces of Homeland Security
Posing with the ladies
Yeah, I'm cool

Toy of the week

One of my first Star Wars costumes: C3P0

You got my vote, brother

TK-8103 on Weymouth After Dark

At long last, excerpts from TK-8103's legendary appearance on Weymouth Community cable.

Happy 30th, Star Wars

A Day Long Remembered

30 years ago a man took his four year old son to the theater to see a new movie called Star Wars.

It would not make a significant impression on that child's young mind. That child would not grow to be a man and in turn pass on an obsession. I swear.
























May the Force be with you. Always

May the Force be with you. In moderation

Funny ha-ha, Dr. Jones

Lapti Nek, fucker!

Best. News. Ever.

Seriously, I am psyched. Like most fanboys, I had concerns Uncle George wouldn't do this for a long time. Now TKJr. can grow up seeing Han shoot first. The way it was meant to be.

In other news: I added eQuake Alert today. Damn, there are a lot of friggin earthquakes!

Now I am the master

TKJr is officialy obsessed. We watched ANH, let's see... 6 times this weekend. He's already started memorizing lines.

While playing with a 3P0 figure "Oh look, a transport. Over here! Over here!"

That's my favorite so far. I bought him the Vader voice changer helmet today. Also got him a new pair of R2 sneakers, as he outgrew his other ones.

I think I've created a monster. Or at the very least, a mini me.

Other weekend highlights: Went rug shopping on Saturday. Didn't buy, just looked. Lowe's seems to be the best price.
Laundry today. Not too crowded. That was nice. Planning on hitting IKEA next weekend for a new couch and some furniture for Jr.
Bed soon, work tomorrow.

A New Hope

After Episode 3 came out, I made a decision that I would introduce my son to Star Wars with Episode 1, and work forward. Not because that's the way George wants them to be viewed, but because I wanted to see what TKJr's perspective on SW would be having watched them in that order.

Well, I kinda screwed that up tonight. He's a big Darth Vader fan. He calls him "Dark Side". Tonight he was wearing my Vader mask and running around the house doing the deep breathing sounds. He loves R2D2. Goes nuts everytime he sees him. He likes C3P0 as well. Whenever he hears the commercial for the MOS exhibit on the radio, he starts singing the theme song. And of course... everytime he sees a stormtrooper he calls him "Daddy." So, with this in mind, I decided to put on Episode IV tonight. I figured the first 5 minutes of the movie has Vader, stormtroopers, R2 and 3P0. You can't beat that.

From the second the opening crawl began, TKJr sat on the floor, transfixed. His eyes were wide, his mouth hanging open. He stayed that way until the jawas got to the Lar's homestead. Then his interest began to wane.

I may sound like a dork, I know. But seriously, my eyes welled with tears watching my little boy mesmerized by what he was watching. He's only 2, but the magic worked. It was like reliving it myself.

Damn, being a father has got to be the best fucking thing in the world. Seriously.

Finally, someone takes note...

When you're a member of the 501st , you tend to notice little details when it comes to SW costumes. Glaring errors are annoying.

So, when a bunch of TKs go to see the SW exhibit at the MOS and see this, naturally they/we are disturbed...

We pointed out to the staff numerous times that the ab plate should be underneath the chest plate. In fact, there were 30 stormtroopers walking around, and none of them looked like this.

We were told only LFL could open the case and fix it. Well, looks like someone finally did something about it...

Thanks, guys!

"Borrowed" from TK938

Vader's Fist

I'll start this off by saying I'm fucking sick. Head cold, chest cough, all that fun shit.
I spent the better part of Tueday in armor. I don't recommend coughing and sneezing inside a stormtrooper helmet. It sucks.
Anyhow, I got the ROTS DVD. Still haven't watched it, but I did start watching the bonus stuff today. I stayed home sick from work. Slept until 11, then got up and dialed into work. Worked until about 2:30. Then I played XBox for a while.
I picked up a copy of Battlefront 2 Tuesday night. I have a feeling I won't be blogging much for a bit. The game is awesome. Great graphics, a much improved single player mode. You work your way through all the military campaigns, through all 6 films. Not only that, but you play as a member of the 501st! You can't get much cooler than that!
Well.... maybe Stubbs. I won't know for sure until I own that as well.

Star Wars hangover

What a weekend! The gala opening at the MOS was a blast. I got there around 10AM, spent a few hours checking out the exhibit and riding on the Falcon again. I can't say enough about the exhibit. It's incredible! Seeing all the costumes and props, standing inches away from Luke's landspeeder, the original Tantive IV model. If you look in the cockpit window, you can even see the Playboy centerfold!
We had a few hours of down time, and then suited up for the main event. 80 costumed characters, including an 8 foot Chewie. It actually looked like the MOS was under Imperial occupation, Stormtroopers lined the halls, squads marched back and forth. Awesome.
I did not get to meet George. Didn't even see him. But he was there.
I'll throw up a few pics soon. I got my picture in today's Herald. Of course, I'm probably the only one who can tell for certain it's me.

That's me on the right!