6 - RedLor.net
Transcription
6 - RedLor.net
SoroSuub X-34 Only 2,000 Zephyr-G 1,000 W i n t e r 2 0 0 6 3 06 A Legion of Giving 14 Interrogator Droid with Pablo Hidalgo 22 Jeremy Bulloch Interview 32 Interview with a Puppeteer 11 Stockholm Convention Report 12 Southern California Garrison News 12 NER’s Fall 2006 Review 24 501st the Next Generation 26 Detachment Focus 28 Trooper Profile TB-3330 08 Where Science Meets Imagination A (Biased) Review 27 George Lucas Education Foundation 09 An Interview With Ed Rodley 30 Feedback From Our Fans 18 Dragon Con 2006 Editor’s Letter By Kevin Christley Once again, it’s been a momentous year for the Legion. While it wasn’t a year of Star Wars Celebration as we’re saving that up for next year, it was definitely a year to show, as the LFL entry in the upcoming Rose Bowl Parade puts it, “Our Good Nature.” As the Editor in Chief of Static Burst, I read each and every submission sent in to us for inclusion into the newsletter and I am constantly amazed at the amount of hard work and dedication that the Legion puts in to put a smile on the faces of children and genuinely do positive things for their communities all around the world. We’ve all been there... Working a troop where the children we entertain may not be here the next year. Those troops are tough and it definitely isn’t for everyone - I have several friends who just can’t do it because it’s too emotional. I know it’s brought a tear to my eye on several troops and I’m a big 6’ 4” bear of a man. But for that one small child that breaks away from their parent’s grip to give you a big hug around your leg, it’s worth every tear. You smile, knowing that while most ordinary folks may laugh because you dress up in plastic, you have indeed made a difference in some one’s life. It was this issue, the Legion’s very first Christmas issue ever, that we wanted to concentrate on the good things that this “evil” Empire does to make the world a better place, one trooper at a time. This issue may not be as big as the previous ones, but it contains more “heart” and good deeds that we just wanted to focus on during this season of giving. Christmas and New Year’s may bring you great things and resolutions that you’ll do your best to keep, but I’ll ask one thing of each and every one of you out there to put on your list: and that is to make a positive difference in some one’s life this next year. It’s not hard. Just reach out a hand to someone in need and do something, even little, to make their life better. If every trooper in the Legion does this, the world will become a much better place - and we’d love to document your stories as always! From the entire Static Burst team, it’s been a fantastic year for us! We’ve put in hours upon hours of overtime to present you with a newsletter the Legion can be proud of each and every quarter of the year. So take some time off, enjoy the holidays and have a wonderful New Year! Merry Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and God bless you all! Kevin Christley Static Burst Editor in Chief Word From the LCO As the sun begins to set on our year together it is indeed a time for reflection. This year the Legion has participated in hundreds if not thousands of events worldwide, and along the way some wonderful relationships have been fostered. But one relationship in particular deserves a little highlighting this month, and that is our relationship with Lucasfilm. When we began this year our disclaimer stated that we were “not affiliated with Lucasfilm.” You may have noticed that has recently changed. Our website disclaimer now states that we are “Lucasfilm’s preferred Imperial costuming group.” This public acknowledgment of our fond relationship with LFL is the result of the efforts and contributions each of you have made over the years in establishing the Legion as the credible organization it is today. others almost inevitably lifts our own spirits as well. Legion Command salutes all you have done and continue to do in this regard. If I may share one final thought, in many parts of the world holiday seasons are upon us. Regardless of where you reside or what holidays you may be celebrating, I hope that we will all take a moment this month to look around us and see if someone we can reach could use a little help, be it a little support, a compassionate handshake, or just putting a smile on someone’s face and reminding them that the world can be a pretty neat place. In a truly win-win situation, lifting the spirits of May health, happiness, and good will continue to surround us all in the coming year. And for those traveling to participate in the Rose Parade, may “our good nature” truly show for all to see, both in Pasadena and where ever we don our armor. Troop On! Mark Fordham LCO 501st Legion Name Badge - Now Available to Order! Earlier this year, the 501st Legion Council held a contest to create a distinctive membership badge for Legion members that would be more sturdy and attractive than the standard, flimsy convention badge. The winning entry with 88% of the vote was designed by trooper Damien Metz and approved by the Legion Merchandising Officer. The credit card-sized badge features a stylish brushed aluminum Plexiglas background engraved with your name, Garrison, TK ID number, along with a raised black-and-white 501st Logo and distinctive red and blue officer pips. All Legion Name Badges are provided with magnetic backs or a badge clip hole at no additional cost. The price is just $15.81 and you can order yours via this Legion forum thread: http://www.501stforums.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7247 5 A Legion of Giving By Kevin Christley Army rep said that we raised more then they usually get during this time of year at that spot. So the Empire definitely made a difference. We also made the local paper again. The reporter came by when we only had one snowtrooper there but came back for the whole crew later because he liked the idea of what we do and the quality of the costumes. Overall it was a great day for the Empire. All too often people seem to forget the giving nature of the 501st Legion when they see us trooping at conventions and other promo events. As fun as those events are, the 501st is much more than fans dressing up as Imperials from the Star Wars universe. So as a holiday special feature, the Static Burst team would like to profile just a few of the events trooped by the ‘better side’ of the Empire and celebrate “Our Good Nature” as well. Toy Anxiety Toy Drive By Scott Chana Members of the Dune Sea Garrison participated in a toy drive sponsored by the Toy Anxiety Comic Shop. They were also joined by the Phoenix Fan Force as well as other costuming groups. Even Captain Jack Sparrow made an appearance! This was one of their ways of collecting toys to give to children at the Phoenix Children’s Hospital during troops there. The Toy Anxiety shop allowed anyone who donated toys to receive a 50% off store-wide sale. I personally have never seen anything like this store! It was an entire store packed with a wide variety of sci-fi toys. The DSG ended up collecting about two car loads full of toys, so it was a very successful event giving them plenty of toys to give to the children’s hospital. Toy Con Charity Toy Show Filling the Pot - Alaska Outpost Salvation Army Troop By Brian Janzen The Aurora Boralis Alaska Outpost recently suited up again for another mission for the Salvation Army on December 2nd. This time we moved locations to a mall downtown and set up shop in the skybridge leading from the parking garage to the mall to get maximum exposure. Most shoppers seemed surprised to see us and smiled as they walked buy but even with the Santa hats on our buckets and ringing the bell next to the kettle we still had a few party poopers with the “I thought Halloween was last month” –kind of comments but I would say 97% of the response was more than positive. We had numerous people walk past, start to smile and turn around and come back and put in a hand full of cash saying stuff like “I don’t normally give but you guys rock and I had to show my support.” And “That is the coolest idea ever!” We worked from about 11am until 7pm and filled up the bucket to capacity twice, coming to a total of over $650 raised! The Salvation 6 By Kathy van Beuningen Members of the 501st Legion, Midwest & Bloodfin Garrisons, Rebel Legion Midwest Base, and the Jedi Assembly Midwest Order joined forces for Bridgeview, IL’s Toy Con Charity Toy Show benefiting the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation supporting children diagnosed with Cancer on Sunday December 10th, 2006. Members of our costuming groups posed for pictures with guests, played games with children, shopped for toys & collectibles and donated toys and gifts of their own to help Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation. Terrence Mannix of ToyCon http://www.toycontoyshow.com/ invited our Mem- bers out for a third year in a row to help support the annual charity toy show for the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation. All donated Toys go to the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation http://treasurechest.org/, supporting children diagnosed with cancer. The foundation supports more than 4,500 children each month who are diagnosed with cancer and treated at one of the twenty-eight hospitals nationwide. The foundation depends on contributions of money, toys, and gifts through private and corporate donations. Several of our Member’s children were also very eager to enjoy costuming at this event – the next generation of Star Wars costumers has definitely been inspired by their parent’s passions for Star Wars. Central Garrison’s Salvation Army Bell Ringing By Steve “Commando” Carter The Central Garrison had it’s SA Bell Ringing event yesterday. The temperature was in the teens and the wind chill was near zero. Needless to say, it was a difficult troop. I had the first shift with our Garrison XO, Lisa Wetzel, however the two hour shift stretched to four due to some no-shows. The challenges occurred as soon as we arrived on the scene. First, the wind blew my helmet (which I had set down for a moment). I caught it just before it smashed to the ground, but in the act of saving it, I poked out one of the eye lenses. Neither Lisa nor I had any hot glue or any other means of repairing it. Then, Lisa asked me to tighten her belt. Well, I was so cold that the adhesive in her industrial strength Velcro was weaker then the Velcro itself, so it just pulled off and did not have ANY “stick” in the cold. So I could not re-tighten or even secure the belt. At that point, cold and standing in the wind, Lisa suggested we might have to abandon the troop and just ring the bell without armor. However, I did NOT have this option, since I was fully armored when I left home and drove my truck to the event in full armor. Hence, I had nothing else to wear. So what did Commando do? He gallantly offered to save not only himself, but also the other trooper in distress. He walked a few blocks looking for an open store/shop that might have some tape that would work for both “wardrobe malfunctions.” First, a high end furniture store. No luck. Next a specialty store. Just scotch tape. No go. Finally, Commando spots a Caribou coffee shop, like Starbucks... a high end type of place. Commando walks in with his helmet off, of course. He butts in line ahead of a dozen other customers waiting to order, most of whom are open-jawed wondering who the heck this dude is… He asks for help. He is referred to the manager. The manager finds some packing tape. It will have to do. Commando clears a table so he can fix his lens in the helmet. He then commandeers the tape dispenser and walks two blocks back to Lisa. Unfortunately, it is so cold that the tape has no “stick.” Commando takes off his gloves and uses the warmth of his hands to help the tape to stick to the frozen ABS. Commando saves the day, and the troop is not abandoned. But he also had the opportunity to be in three stores in full armor with lots of people staring at him. this event and I hope the Salvation Army photographer makes good on his promise to send us the pictures! Garrison Excelsior: Make-A-Wish Gala By Nicky Blum On Veteran’s Day, Garrison Excelsior members, with the help of Echo Base and the Canadian Garrison participated in Make-A-Wish’s Reach for the Stars Gala. This event was “creative black tie” event so guests were encouraged to come dressed as their favorite movie stars. I think we fit in rather well dressed as our favorite movie characters. We spent the first part of the evening signing autographs and posing for pictures with attendees in the lobby and ballroom level of the hotel. But when the ballroom doors opened for dinner we were asked to encourage the guests to come out onto the dance floor. It was a lot of fun seeing troopers dancing with ladies in evening gowns. It was also very cool to see our ad in the program book. Make-AWish was gracious enough to offer us a 1/2 page ad worth $350 to us for free. Not fifteen minutes into the event and we already had an invite to the same themed gala they’re having in the Spring. So I think they liked us. Commando loved it! As his kids would say, “Flipping awesome!” The troop itself was also fantastic and incredibly heart-warming, which was very welcome on this very cold day. The sheer joy of the kids and adults as well made every frozen minute worth it. Several other members of the Central Garrison and the Minnesota Fan Force also participated in 7 Gaming for a Good Cause By Jeff Gilbert On Saturday, November 11th, the Imperium descended on a little game store in Indianapolis called Games To Die For. The call had gone out to the Imperium that there would be plenty of Star Wars events and money given to the Riley Children’s Hospital as well. So the Bloodfin Garrison answered the call with sixteen troopers descending upon the little store. Even though the game store was the main focus of the day since they were promoting the Star Wars miniature game, we gave all the stores in the strip a healthy dose of Imperial troopers since most of the stores were participating in the Riley day and giving money to the hospital. All in all, the troopers and the patrons, especially the children, loved our presence as we kept the peace and made sure those pesky Rebels did not show up to ruin the event. So another great troop down promoting Star Wars and raising several hundred dollars for a good cause. All in a days work for the local boys and girls of the 501st! And that about wraps it up for our special holiday feature as well. These events were just a sampling of those troops held by the 501st Legion specifically to help raise money and awareness for charities in need during the holiday season. See, the Empire isn’t that evil after all! In fact, I think we’re the good guys! Have a wonderful holiday, you troopers with a heart of gold! Where Science Meets Imagination A (Biased) Review By Brian Sasaki Waking bleary-eyed a little after 5 am to see yet another typically gray foggy Pacific northwest fall morning seems like little incentive to crawl out of bed on a Saturday morning. However, the fact I had planned to drive the 141 miles from Seattle to Portland to see the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry, aka OMSI, ‘Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination’ exhibit was like a jolt of pure espresso. I was embarking on a pilgrimage to view and pay homage to the actual artifacts used in the Original and Prequel Trilogies. My fellow pilgrim was our own Garrison Titan Garrison Membership Liason and ex-pat Brit, Mike Cavanaugh (TD4271). During the 3+ hours drive, we whiled away the time discussing our latest armor projects (will his Fett ever get done?), swapping bits of Star Wars trivia and reciting memorable lines of Monty Python dialogue. Such topics assume near-religious verse for pilgrimages of this kind. Once we crossed into Oregon and reached Portland, we ditched the Google directions and simply followed the signs to OMSI. We prepaid our tickets online with the instruction to line up 30 minutes in advance of our admission time. This was opening weekend after all and crowds were expected. At around 9:30 am, there were quite a few people already lined up with the lines lengthening as the day wore on. Just past the lobby turnstile we spotted Martin Vavra (TC1722), the CO for the Cloud City Garrison setting up the 501st table. Cloud City Garrison was fortunate enough to score the plum assignment of troop- 8 ing the exhibit for the entirety of its Portland venue that will run until the first week of January. After completing a volunteer application and an orientation, CCG members were allowed to suit up with their rebel and Jedi counterparts and interact with the public. Some of the activities included a ‘Trooper for an Hour’ raffle, which awarded the winner a chance to work it like an imperial (and experience some of the joys and suffering that entails). Ara Roselani (ID7673), Executive Officer for CCG said one winner was having so much fun that he was allowed to troop for two hours. At least once a month CCG sponsors a ‘Big Bash Weekend’ featuring activities like droid hunts and photo-ops with an increased imperial presence. On any given day at OSMI, Aralani said between one to twenty troopers are on duty with an average of four to five per shift. During the weekends there are considerably more. “OMSI has been amazing to work with”, she said and has been very accommodating in trying to meet the challenge of scheduling the troopers for their shifts - many of whom work 40-hour weeks in the real world yet still manage to troop in the evenings. Vavra was gracious enough to secure a couple all-access passes for his fellow 501st members from the North. But I wasn’t there to troop; no, this was one exhibit where its full appreciation and impact could only be experienced sans armor. I wanted enough unencumbered mobility and vision to get up close and personal to the props, which till then, I had only glimpsed on screen. We started on the second floor where we gazed in awe upon an original E-11 blaster, the original A New Hope Vader suit, scale models of the Millennium Falcon, the Empire Strikes Back Yoda puppet, a Return of the Jedi Stormtrooper suit among various iconic artifacts beyond description. Oh yes, sensory overload was in high gear and it was challenging to stay in focus without hopping up and down in childlike glee within the presence of actual children excitedly darting around the displays. The exhibit was divided according to how each set of props manifested itself in real-world practical applications. For instance, principles of mag-lev (magnetic levitation) used in the latest high-speed train technology were highlighted using Luke’s landspeeder as an example. Purportedly for the first time ever, that very landspeeder was on exhibit downstairs in all its ‘funky’ and weather-beaten glory. Nearby sits the maquette version used for the stop-action scenes. Those of us old enough to remember will recognize the Six Million Dollar Man action figure as the stand-in for Obi Wan. Even though the public couldn’t sit in, let alone touch the landspeeder, kids (and some adults) could test their driving skills in a mag-lev test vehicle the size of a small golf cart; its movements similar to a carnival bumper car. Other display stations concentrated on robotics and their growing and ever present role in real-world industries. Kids huddled at tables over various mini R2 parts and tried their luck assembling their own astromech, few realized they were getting a lesson in applied engineering. Medical droids explored the potential of bio-mechanics used in pioneering prosthetic replacements truer to human limbs, or remote surgical procedures without a doctor physically present. The exhibit’s scope is thus very broad indeed and underscores the far-reaching impact and prevalence George Lucas’ imagination has inspired and was inspired by various disciplines in the scientific and natural world. For a lifelong fan, one visit isn’t enough and mentally juggling between absorbing all the educational data and being mesmerized by the likes of the Millennium Falcon’s cockpit was a contest between my inner and outer geek. Perhaps therein lies the success of George’s vision. He introduced a universe comfortable with technologies fantastic by our standards yet familiar to the characters who populated it. In that respect, as Ed Rodley, the exhibit’s creator described it, Star Wars was less science fiction in the traditional sense. That was intentional on Lucas’ part. Despite all the conscious and subconscious subtexts, the science and technology perhaps made the greatest impression on the social psyche;, introducing a world where fantasy becomes reality. An Interview With Ed Rodley Many of you may not be familiar with Ed Rodley but he is the creative impetus behind the ‘Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination’ exhibit that is making various stops at museums around the country. Ed is a self-described ‘Star Wars dork’ who majored in astrophysics but wound up in anthropology. For the past twenty years he has made exhibits for the Museum of Science, Boston and has applied that expertise for the exhibit currently at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry. I recently had the opportunity to briefly interview Ed and have him explain some of the exhibit’s background. How long have you been working with Lucasfilm and how did your relationship with them start? I had a friend who had worked with LFL on “Magic of Myth” He said he could get our proposal in the door if we had a good one. He pestered me for a couple of years, until about 2000. I did an initial write up, it went nowhere internally, and died. Mid 2002, it came to life again. By that summer, my boss had completely reworked my initial idea and given it back. We sent it to LFL in late Summer, submitted a grant to NSF too, and by early October were out at the Ranch, pitching the idea in person. It was all smooth sailing from there. What inspired you to create this exhibit? Did LFL have any direction in its impetus or direction? It was totally our idea. We pitched [it] to LFL cold. They really like[d] the idea, because it was different than the past exhibits they’d done. It wasn’t just another artifact show. And the education angle appealed to George. We invited them to work with us in the concept development phase, and they brought a lot of cool people to the table – Rob Coleman, John Knoll, Ben Burtt, Dennis Murren, etc… It was very gratifying to work with talent like that. But as far as direction, they totally deferred to us as the experts in our medium. How did you decide what props from the movie to use? Were there any that you wanted to display but had to cut? We had some clear criteria that we applied to the exhibit early on. We focused on Star Wars technologies that were ubiquitous, so that as many people as possible could personally relate to them. These technologies had to have clear real world counterparts where interesting research was going on. 9 They had to show up in as many of the six films as possible, so that regardless of what generation SW fan you were, you’d recognize them. They had to be things that hadn’t been out in previous exhibits, when possible, so that even a SW fan would find new things to see. Props like the Landspeeder and the Blockade Runner are good examples. And last, but not least, they had to lend themselves to being used as a design challenge in an intereactive science museum. So we settled on transportation and robotics. Even little kids use transportation and nowadays most of us have encountered machine intelligences of varying abilities. Once we’d established these two major themes it made it easy to go through the archives at the Ranch and filter the collection that way. I came up with a lengthy shopping list and the Collections Manager at LFL and I went back and forth. She was trying to fill a half dozen exhibits all over the planet, so being focused actually helped us, because she could save the objects that were important to us and fill in other shows with things that weren’t appropriate for us. And since this was between Ep II and Ep III, when she went to Australia to collect objects, she knew what kinds of things we wanted and could keep her eyes open. We got pretty much everything we really wanted. The only objects that I might’ve made room for were the Death Star II model from “Jedi” and the big Wookiee tree from “Sith” The Death Star will never travel because it’s so fragile, and the Wookiee tree is 14’ high, weighs a lot , and is made of green clay, so it’d be a real headache to travel. In terms of technological impact, is there a difference between the Original Trilogy’s influence vs. the prequels? Especially since the OT was released much earlier. Since it’s been around longer, it’s easier to see the impact of the OT. There’s a whole generation of roboticists who came of age watching C-3PO and R2. Only time will tell what folks take away from the new trilogy. Offhand, I think their impact will be minimal, because they tried (and succeeded) to make the new films seem less advanced that the OT. Which technology from the films do you believe has accomplished the closest convergence with actual technology, and how has it benefited society? The use of droids for instance or engineering concepts applied to revolutionary forms of transportation? I would have to say the vision of robots and humans interacting seems to have the most power over the imaginations of engineers. That kind of fluid, natural (for us) interaction is a fertile area of research these days, and lots of people are trying to make robots that can understand how we communicate. What is your personal prop favorite and why? Luke’s Landspeeder, no question. We’d heard that it still existed, and asked to see it. When they brought us down to the garage, it was full of George’s cars – muscle cars, racers, a Tucker, and parked in the corner facing the wall, you could just make out the top nacelle of the Landspeeder. I knew right then I wanted it in the show. It needed a lot of restoration work, but it’s a perfect centerpiece. deblscphaekm 10 Do you have a favorite episode or scene? Character? Yoda. He rocked in “Empire”, and he was the best actor in [Episode] III in my opinion. His speech in “Empire”? “Judge me by my size, do you? And well you should not! For the Force is my ally and a powerful ally it is…” Wow… I understand you had the chance to walk with George Lucas through the exhibit. Can you comment on his impressions? I spent 2-3 hours walking George around and then got to sit next to him at the Gala that evening. It was pretty incredible to go from being a twelve year-old watching a movie, to walking the creator through our exhibit. I was in heaven. George really like[d] the exhibit, and kept saying he wished he’d brought his son. He, like most of the LFL/ILM folks who saw the exhibit, tended towards the real world objects. He was interested in what was really going on in the world. The SW stuff was old hat for him. He liked the overall design scheme, too. What do you hope the public, especially young people come away with from this exhibit? The big thing is that the real future will be more fantastic than anything in the movies. Movemakers have to use a frame of reference to make their images understandable to us. George is a master of this. The Death Star battle is just a WWII dogfight collage. We get that on one level, and on another we take in all the details that make it seem novel. The real future won’t have to seem plausible to us. It can be as weird and unpredictable as it will be. That’s exciting. Rodley’s mother is just amazed that all those afternoons spent in the theater paid off. Stockholm Convention Report by Andrew Walker On the weekend of 4th – 5th November the Nordic Garrison was well represented at the Scandinavian Sci-Fi, Game & Film Convention in Stockholm, Sweden. This convention takes place three times a year visiting Sweden’s three main cities: Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö and they are by far the biggest events on our calendar. This was my first time at the convention as a trooper, in previous years I have been there in civilian mode so it was very interesting to see how different it would be from a trooper’s point of view. It would be all the more exciting for me as I was to be the Event Coordinator and it would be the first test of our new Code of Conduct. We were also hoping to be able to induct Jake Lloyd (Little Ani) as an Honorary Member of the 501st Legion but had been unable to get a definite answer before the show started so it was a case of crossing our fingers. We were inspired to create a more structured code after trooping at London Film and Comic Con with the UK Garrison back in July. We saw how professional they were and how a few small changes could make a world of difference both for us and for the paying public. The new rules were as follows: No removal of helmets while in public – this helps maintain the Star Wars illusion Anyone wishing to take a photograph with us against our new backdrop would have to pay twenty Kronor (approx $3) A schedule would be created so that each trooper knew what he should be doing when, and who his partner would be The Nordic Garrison is a fairly small unit with just 39 members spread across four countries. Due to this we normally struggle to have more than five or six troopers at each event. For this weekend we had fourteen troopers and all four countries were represented to various degrees. Friday night was spent at the convention hall setting up as much of our stand as possible. Unfortunately our display wall and electrics had not been set up so there was not much we could do except plan how things would be done once we got all the missing pieces gathered together. Five other troopers and I were staying at the Hotel, TB5573 headed home for some food, beer and sleep. Saturday started bright and early at 6am. While all the troopers raced off to the convention hall for final preparations my wife, our Imperial Shuttle pilot for the weekend, zoomed back and forth to the airport collecting and dropping off more troopers. Upon arrival at the hall we were glad to see that our walls had been erected and the electrics had also been sorted out so we started to set up the stand. Before the doors opened at 10:30 our CO (Dennis Resell aka TB876) and I managed to grab a few minutes with Jake and asked him if he would be interested in joining us. He was only too pleased. So we arranged for troopers to collect him later in the evening and escort him to our stand for a presentation and some photographs. David Prowse (Darth Vader) was also there so, as our Honorary Leader, we invited him as well. This was to be the first time that we had made a 11 real effort to raise money for charity and my aim was to raise somewhere in the region of 3,000 Kronor ($400) over the two days. As soon as the doors opened we were inundated with people who were more than willing to make a small donation in order to get their pictures taken with us. It quickly became obvious that we would not only meet our target but smash it like the Death Star crushing traitorous Alderaan. We had a great day meeting hundreds of people both young and old and it was topped off at 18:30 when both Jake Lloyd and David Prowse came to see us. We presented both with garrison T-shirts and Jake also received his Honorary Membership plaque. For a seventeen year-old he was unbelievably cool and he seemed to be equally impressed with us. As he walked off he was heard saying to his assistant, “Wow, that was #%*§ing cool!” with them as much as we wanted. Also to all the troopers who travelled so far in order to attend and for everyone’s great effort to make the new rules work and for not getting too annoyed with me as I tried to tweak things that were not working as we had hoped. Finally, thanks to my wife. She has no connection with the 501st Legion other than me but gave up her entire weekend to drive us around, help with photography, money collecting and getting a bit too intimate for my liking with some of the troopers who needed help getting dressed (Andreas, this means you. Thanks Åsa, we literally couldn’t have done it without you. Exhausted but very happy we headed home. In the car on the way back our CO dropped a bit of a bombshell, after just 5 months in the Garrison I have been promoted to Garrison PR Officer in recognition for my efforts in organising our last two events in Stockholm. Thanks for your support Dennis, I won’t let you down. Pizzas, beers and a huge pile of cash to be counted, what more could a trooper ask for? Our total for day 1 was stunning, a little over 5000 Kronor ($650). We had almost doubled our target and still had a full day to go. With that fantastic news we all hit our bunks and got some well earned rest. Sunday was a hectic start, everyone arrived a bit late. Luckily it was a slow start to the day so we had time to get caught up. Things were very quiet to start off with and we thought there would be little chance of raising anywhere near like as much money. We were feeling a little bit down about it but were soon cheered up with the announcement that one of Sweden’s biggest TV channel’s was going to do a live broadcast from the show and wanted us to be in it. Check us out at http://tv4.se/player/categories.aspx?progId=81708&itemI d=0&treeId=10033&displayTreeId= By the time we got back to our stand things had picked up a bit and the money started to roll in again. A special mention must go to one of our Norwegian troopers, JohnCatho Kristiansen. He was amazing at working the crowd, just running up to people, talking to them for a while and then extracting vast sums of money from their wallets. He had also got changed at his hotel and walked across to the convention hall in armour so he had no chance to get out of his gear and spent almost 9 hours straight in armour. As troopers began to leave the event to head back to the airport our Imperial Shuttle kicked into high gear and the remaining troopers really excelled themselves to make sure that all the jobs that needed doing got done. By the end of the day we were all utterly exhausted but we had had a fantastic time and managed to raise over 8000 Kronor ($1125) for worthy causes. I’d like to say a huge thank you to Jake Lloyd, David Prowse, Sean Astin (Sam in Lord of the Rings) and Lou Ferrigno. All of them spent a huge amount of time with our troopers and were very gracious in allowing us to take pictures 12 Southern California Garrison News by Yvette Boxer and Sam Hornedo The Southern California Garrison has enjoyed a nice Fall season with several worthy events, many in conjunction with fellow Star Wars fan clubs. We have welcomed the opportunities to lend support to church charities, a children’s theatrical performance of Star Wars Episodes 1-3, various bowl-a-thon fundraisers, hospital visits, and have pounded the pavement in various parades. The city of Duarte invited us to be a part of their parade and picnic celebrating the historical Route 66. It was great fun and the city leaders were incredibly hospitable. In fact, in the hours before the parade troopers helped Duarte’s mayor, Tzeitel Paras-Caracci, present the “key to the city” to the City of Hope president and parade grand marshall, Dr. Michael Friedman. The mayor even got into the spirit by donning a Darth Vader mask as part of the grand entrance for the presentation! Several members had a great time celebrating the Star Wars Trilogy release on DVD at the Virgin Megastore in Hollywood. Some troopers assisted in the promotion of Drew Karpyshyn’s new Star Wars novel at two separate locations. Of course, some commendable troopers helped in the Cinemax promotions at several call centers and at the live event at the beautiful Santa Monica Promenade. Several lucky members helped add a little flair to the Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival at the Shrine Auditorium that honored George Lucas, 1s ea t 1s October h20-22nd - Ubercon VIII st Our 501st presence was specifically requested by Michael R e a lot of fun for everyone involved! Stackpole and it was mn ant October 24-26th - Cinemax Promo We made an Imperial appearance at the Warner Cable Stores in Queens and Manhattan, as well as a call center in Queens where our 501st Legion Commander Mark Fordham flew in from Utah just to join us at this special media event. Some of our other miscellaneous events included the Chrome Riders Toy Run and Hospital Visit, Toms River Halloween parade, another cool Cinemax Promotion at NYC’s Grand Central Station, as well as another big Cinemax promotion at HBO corporate I’m very proud to say that I attended each and every single event listed above and want to give a big shout out to all the NER troopers who helped make this fall one of our busiest ever! nt 50 nt This walk benefits the Epilepsy Foundation of New Jersey. One of our members has epilepsy so this was a very important event for us to participate in. a This is just a small re-cap of the Fall 2006 troops that the North East Remnant participated in New York and New Jersey. My God were we busy! When thinking about this submission, I had a difficult time deciding ast to give an overview of thewhether Re our recent amounto ofr monstrous events or just select a single m n event. I decided the best choice would be to give n you some t and simply list the others. details on a few October 15th - Walk for a Brighter Tomorrow or by RJ Armbruster This annual walk benefits the Saint Barnabas Medical Center Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. st N NER’s Fall 2006 Review October 8th - Miracle Walk, a return event for the third straight year 501 His mother posted the following on Carson’s CarePage website: “Oh yes, and some special visitors came. Two storm troopers from the 501st Legion came from Star Wars thanks to Heather and Amy, the event coordinators, two kind souls looking out for my sick little boy. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. Carson will remember today for his wonderful visitors, and hopefully forget the pain and starvation. I’ll post the pictures when I get to my computer.” His mother later shared that this was the only time he had smiled all day. It’s events like this one that really point out why we in the 501st do what we do. To find out more about Carson and how he is doing, sign up and visit http://www.carepages.com/ServeCarePage ?cpn=ClubCarson&uniq=660747&extrefid=tlcupdate This event supports the Department of Pediatrics of New York’s Weill Cornell Medical Center and is the fifth straight year we have been invited back to participate in this event. Every year they close down the Toys ‘R’ Us in NYC Times Square and have a large event for the kids and their families where we are one of the main attractions. It is always nice to play in TRU, and the smiles on the kids faces make it all worth eastmany charity events and hdescribe it. There is a saying I r usetto Re o that’s “We are here m With a stunn to provide miles of smiles.” ning twenty-one t troops mobilized for this event,nit was literally a mile of smiles! a In addition to the opportunities above, the San Diego Squad has had several events in the last few months, from Star Wars Day at the Scripps Ranch to the Drew Karpyshyn’s new Star Wars novel promotion. We particularly had a special request to do a room visit at Childrens Hospital in San Diego for a young patient named Carson Cloyd. He is a huge Star Wars fan and his favorite characters are the stormtroopers. Operation: Carson’s Wish was a mission we could not pass up and were honored to fulfill. Roger Noe and Sam Hornedo decided to come to the aid of the young patient and dedicate part of their day with him. Seeing him smile even just for a short time and knowing that he will remember this day makes it all worth it. October 14th - Light up a Life Charity 50 Harrison Ford, and Jane Goodall! Some troopers were strong in the force that night because they got photos with and autographs from these celebrities plus several more! September 17th - Make-a-Wish Picnic at New Brunswick, NJ 501 I had received the contact for this because of Make-a-Wish’s affiliation with our local hospitals. As is the case with most 501st events we do, before the event was over they invited us to come back next year. They also invited us to other upcoming events that they’ll be hosting. After this event I was told a few attendees sent in kudos to 501st.com applauding our efforts, as well as opening the door to even more event opportunities. st N or September 24th - West Point Video Shoot h t e aNER troopers, Joe King, is currently at West Point One of our s help create a spirit video for the Army. We and he invited ust to Re m n awith this very unique and interesting had five troops assisting nt project that will be played during the Army vs. Navy game in Philadelphia on December 2nd. It should be an awesome publicity stunt for the Legion and a lot of fun to watch! 13 By Kevin Christley Accomplished RPG gamemaster, author, artist, and one-time indexer of the Trilogy, Pablo Hidalgo is seemingly a whirlwind of talent with an endless reserve of perpetual energy. Honestly, I don’t know where he ever finds the time. Just take a look at just a few of the projects that he’s accomplished in the past few years: • StarWars.com Writer & Internet Content Manager for Lucas Online (StarWars.com & IndianaJones.com) • Correspondent for the Hyperspace Episode III Set Diaries • Cameo/Actor - Janu Godalhi, an Opera House attendee in Revenge of the Sith • West End Games Freelancer • Star Wars Chronicles: The Prequels (with Steve Sansweet) • Author of Star Wars Adventure Journals #11 & #12 • Star Wars Insider Writer • Artist and writer for the StarWars. com Web Strips • Editor of Sculpting a Galaxy: The Models of Star Wars, and much, much more. And that’s the short list! Static Burst managed to pin Pablo down for a brief interview and think you’ll find him as interesting as we did! 14 How did you get started working as a freelancer with West End Games? Here’s a lesson about persistence. In 1993, in the back of one of West End Games’ Star Wars books, there was a call for submissions for the forthcoming Star Wars Adventure Journal. West End was turning to their fans to be contributors to actual Star Wars lore. As a fan and gamer, I couldn’t pass up that chance. Something happened, though, in the following months. A policy decision was made, and West End Games (WEG) announced that they could only take submissions from people who had been previously published. I had sent in some sort of pitch before that, but I wasn’t angling to be a writer at the time. Instead, I pitched being a cartoonist, trying to sell the editors on the idea of doing a regular Star Wars single panel “Far Side”-style comic in their magazine. I got back a form letter stating that WEG and Lucasfilm would not look at anyone who hadn’t been previously published, and a personalized letter from Peter Schweighofer, West End Games editor, stating that there were no plans for a comic strip. So, thinking that I was funny, I sent back a form letter thanking them for not just sending me a form letter. I guess it made the right people laugh, because they then decided to do a goofy little comic strip, which became “Fragments from the Mind’s Eye.” They asked me to do a few. Based on my correspondence with Peter, he got the sense that I had the chops to do some in-universe writing. The comic strips qualified as my “previously published” experience, and I ended up writing for them for the next four years or so. And that really opened doors, eventually getting me to Lucasfilm. From Star Wars fan to Fanboy... As one of the founding members of the Star Wars Fanboy Association, how did you get involved with them and what was your favorite project there? The Fanboy association was a jokey name for a rather informal email discussion group that developed organically among a bunch of Star Wars free-lancers and experts. Some of us met on RASSM. Others were just added to a growing list of “CCs” in emails discussing strange minutiae about Star Wars. Then, to consolidate this list of names, we grouped it all under a single email alias jokingly named the Star Wars Fanboy Association, which really wasn’t a group. There was no charter. There was no mission statement. The idea of incorporating into a group was kind of hilarious, because it was never really supposed to be an elite club of gentlemen scholars, smoking pipes, and discussing the dynamics of Huhk-Lahsbee physiologies or trying to fit Star Wars: Adventures in Colors and Shapes into a timeline. I kind of left the group when I took the job at Lucasfilm, only because my inbox was too overflowing, and I didn’t have time to contribute. Also, I didn’t want my ‘official’ presence to stifle some rather pithy off-the-record chatter that would flow from time to time about continuity, literature and other things fanboyish. So, am I a fanboy? Hey, I fit the profile, and I know way too much about both seasons of the Ewok animated series to pretend I’m not. I do like to think I’ve got considerably more social graces and professionalism than the scarier folks you try to avoid on the Internet, though. One of my favorite projects of yours was the old Star Wars Index, that attempted to index the original trilogy. Although you abandoned it to work for LFL in 2000, are there any plans to pick up where you left off? There were two parts to the Star Wars Index. One was ostensibly a Star Wars Encyclopedia, while the other was a shot-by-shot guide of interesting little things you may not have noticed in the films. I continued both, in a sense, but not publicly. The encyclopedic portion, I just couldn’t keep up, but there were folks out there doing a fine job of such a venture, like Bob Vitas and his unofficial encyclopedia, and inhouse, Leland Chee keeps such an impressive database of Star Wars lore in publishing’s Holocron, that it didn’t make much sense to repeat that effort. cently posted “What Has Changed” articles comparing the DVDs of the classic trilogy to their original theatrical incarnations. I do hope to come up with this ultimate shot-by-shot repository of lore for all six movies. Someday, it’ll happen on starwars.com, but there’s always something more pressing to get to. You collaborated with Steve Sansweet on Star Wars Chronicles: The Prequels, which followed up the original must-have Star Wars Chronicles by Deborah Fine. Because the original is held in such high esteem by collectors and costumers alike, how hard was it to meet the expectations of the fans? To be honest, the greater pressure was on the editors and Steve in selecting the photos required for the book. The pictures make these books, and the text is sparse, serving only to add some bit of context to the photos. Given the sheer amount of visual assets available for the prequels – they far outweigh the original films in that regard – I was very confident Chronicle Books could assemble the stunning visuals. The challenge was time, especially writing the Episode III material which had to be done before the movie was even completed. Besides being an accomplished riter, you’re a very talented artist as well. Earlier this year, you somehow found the time to work on the Hyperspace webstrip with “Rookies: No Turning Back” (speaking of which, check out the fascinating origin story here ). What’s been your favorite Star Wars art subject and why? I’ve been having a lot of fun with Rookies, and it lets me explore Star Wars storytelling in some very fun ways. Comics illustration can be so cinematic that you can really capture those unique, widescreen Star Wars moments. I loved doing it, but realistically, it was too time-consuming for me to continue a daily webstrip. So, for future Rookies storylines, I’m looking to hire outside artists who can give it more attention and polish than I could manage. As far as individual subject matters for art, As far as the shot-by-shot kind of things, you’ll spot that kind of detail in several starwars.com articles, like the depths commentaries that appear on the DVD-ROM site, and the re- 15 it’s hard to pin down any one. My favorite moments in my webstrip are when a strip consists of a single widescreen panel, because that’s when it gets most movie-like. In a previous job, I was a storyboard illustrator, so I liked coming up with those big frames. What’s your typical day like as Lucasfilm’s Internet Content Manager? It’s a mix of publishing a daily newspaper while always trying to stay ahead of next week’s, next month’s and next year’s big project. The day typically begins with me starting the publishing ball rolling, getting all of the day’s content to our production team for posting on starwars.com by the end of that workday. Then, the day consists mostly of working with our content team – which, as of this writing consists of only two people, Pete Vilmur and Bonnie Burton – in making sure we have a solid week of interesting stories coming up. Then there are all the little regular pieces of content – the snapshots, the poll questions, the Q&As – to be taken care of. And that’s just starwars.com. Lucas Online handles all the corporate sites, including all the various LucasArts product sites, the Lucasfilm.com site for press releases and job postings, Indianajones.com, and more. Sometimes there’s complex project sites that need to be done, like one of my favorites, www.thx1138movie.com, that had to be designed and implemented in a very short time. Amid all this, I’m in touch with licensing, LucasArts, marketing and production to keep on track with everything that’s in the works, to better plan out a starwars.com calendar as the year goes on. And them somewhere in all that time, we have to allow room for new ideas and new projects that we initiate ourselves, rather than in reaction 16 to activities happening elsewhere in the company. It’s a full plate, and it’s a very rare day that ends after eight hours. Twelve is more like it. When you took over StarWars. com, which turned ten years old this year, it seemed to transition from a web site to a true community. What’s your vision for the next ten years? A lot of the credit for that transition goes to Paul Ens, who hired me when he was Content Manager of the site, and he eventually became the Director of Lucas Online when our little web group was formalized into its own division. He started at the company in 1999, and left this year to follow his own pursuits. He, like me, came from the fan community, so he really pursued getting the community involved in starwars.com, from simple interaction like polls and caption contests, to more involved ventures like message boards and blogs. I’m really happy with how blogs have turned out, and we’re really about giving fans a voice. As for the next ten years, it’s the vision of Lucas Online – not just me – to continue to be the definitive voice of Star Wars on the Internet as the net continues to evolve. And what I’m really excited about is that George Lucas has expressed serious interest in the Internet as a means of distribution, so I can’t wait to see what this means for future Star Wars entertainment. For the past ten years, starwars. com has existed to market the movies primarily, which made sense, since they were the biggest thing happening in the Star Wars world. Now, we want to make starwars.com a destination in-and-of itself, its own source of entertainment. There is an audience out there that finds this already, that goes to starwars.com not just to learn about new toys, games, books, and news, but who do find the site entertaining, either through blogs, fiction, interviews, community interaction or webstrips. I want to find new ways to entertain them, and bring more people to the site. When you worked on the Episode III - Revenge of the Sith set diary, what was it like witnessing the moviemaking process come alive? It definitely was an education. There was an interesting contrast in what happened during the day and what the end product becomes. Everyone’s first impression of when they hear you get to be on a movie set is, “Oh, that’s so exciting!” But the reality is that excitement isn’t the right word. These are long 12hour days that go on for weeks. The thrill wears off quickly, because your adrenaline cannot pump that long. It’s a marathon, not a sprint, but what helped keep the excitement up was that I would get to write about my daily experiences, and then get energized by seeing fans get excited by my posts and dissect what I wrote about, which really made that hard work worthwhile. By no means am I complaining, because that four months in Sydney were some of the best times in my life, but to illustrate, we started before 7 am, and wrapped at 6 pm, and then I’d go up to my office and spend the next three to four hours writing my set diary, organizing and uploading all my photos, and answering my email from the Stateside team that was just starting their day. So you can see how they were very full days. As a fellow fan, what are you most looking forward to in the near future from LFL? I’ve been fortunate to see some glimpses into the Clone Wars animation, and it looks very exciting. The level of sophistication and artistry in the pieces I’ve seen rival ani- mated features, so it’s a different and great way to experience Star Wars and these characters. Also, I was involved in some of the early planning stages of Legacy of the Force, so while I know some of the places the storyline is going to, I’m really wrapped up with the journey and can’t wait to see how these authors tackle what’s to come. Of all the Star Wars celebs that you’ve met, who’s been your favorite and why? Man, I don’t want to pick favorites! You’re going get me in trouble. I’ve got nice things to say about so many of them and I don’t want to come off as such as a name-dropper. But the thing I’m most glad I did was chat with film legend Christopher Lee and get him to sign a copy of the original Wicker Man for a friend of mine. Any closing comments you’d like to make to the members of the 501st Legion? I really can’t say enough of how great the 501st are and how much class, heart and professionalism they bring to every venture they’re involved in. Having been in fan circles for so long, you see just about everything, and to me the 501st have always been the cream of the crop. And as I’ve said before, you guys are a lot of fun. Our Photo Captions and convention pictures on starwars. com would be so dull without you! I’d like to thank Pablo for taking the time out of his very busy schedule for this interview. You can check out Pablo’s StarWars.com Blog, “Fragments from the Mind’s Eye”, at http:// blogs.starwars.com/pablog 17 DRAGON CON 2006 Order 66: Orders are given, and troops are deployed. Going to DragonCon in Atlanta, GA is always like “going home” for a member of the 501st. You no sooner walk through the door of any of the 3 convention hotels, and you’re sure to run into another person wearing the numbers “5”, “0”, and “1” on their shirt—just like your own and you know you’re with friends. This year, the 501st numbers were bigger than ever. The New England Garrison was one of the garrisons that added to that total. The NEG doubled its number of attendants to well over a dozen. Those who had been in past had been hyping DragonCon for years. FINALLY we were able to convince a large group to make the trip down. One member had comment- 18 ed before going “I hope DragonCon lives up to all the hype.” Oh boy did it!!!! Quotes from several of the “newbies” who attended this year: “It was freaking outstanding.” “Ah, My first DCon. *sigh* Looking back on it, it was incredible. All characters and memories from my childhood/younger years to present day came to life.” “Wow! what a fantastic time!! So many awesome costumes… so little time. Glad I got to share this with you guys.” “Wow! That pretty much sums it up. C4? Whatever… If I go to any big con next year it’ll be D*Con again!” “Wow that was a fun time. Lots of partying, trooping, hanging, …. meeting celebrities, more partying, more trooping, great shows, lots of food, still more partying, more trooping, … elevator parties and hundreds and hundreds of photos.” And my personal favorite of the weekend “Lori, I’m so sorry I didn’t come down sooner. You were so right, this place rocks!” DragonCon never disappoints. From toga parties to Droid Hunts; from mixers to parades; from golden bikinis to golden droids. There are always memories being made and stories to bring home to share with your garrison mates . . . in hopes you can convince them to come the next year. Someday, the convention will no longer be called “DragonCon” but “501st Shore Leave.” Some of the highlights from the New England Garrison’s trip to Atlanta: • Presenting David Accord (voice/droid GH-7) with a 501st Honorary Membership plaque (above photo): Matt Wood had told David that he was an “honorary member” and David said ‘how can I get one?’ The NEG got word of David’s desire and sponsored his honorary membership. He was very excited to receive his plaque. • 501st Mixer: Always a fun time, and this one was no exception, even though it was a different format from past years. Good friends, good fun! • 501st Photo Shoot on Saturday morning: Always great to get up early on a Saturday morning at Dcon, get into costume, and make your way to a designated area to be part of a group photo. This year it went pretty smoothly as we decided to take the photo in the staging area of the DragonCon parade. • Marching in the DragonCon Parade! ‘Nuff said! • Slave Leia Photo Shoot: Who wouldn’t want to miss twenty lovely ladies clad in gold metal bikini’s posing with the “All Mighty Jabba the Hutt.” Not too many people passed up on it and security spent an hour trying to keep people moving. Daala’s Death Squad: 501st ladies take center stage after Legion group shot on Saturday morning. • Preview of “Heart of an Empire”: 10pm on a Sunday night and the room was PACKED. Jay Thompson (producer) and his team presented several clips from their film. It is turning into an amazing piece of work and everyone in the Legion is eager for it to make its release. Be sure to bring tissues when it hits the theaters . . . you’ll need them. • Monday 2:30 am Elevator Watching: Not wanting the weekend to end, a majority of the New England Garrison members found themselves chilling on couches in the Marriott hotel lobby watching lighted, glass enclosed elevators going up and down. It proved to be more interesting than it sounds, as there are lots of other people at DragonCon who don’t want the party to end either, so they continue it IN the glass enclosed elevators and become entertainment for those below. • Hanging with Friends: New and old. DragonCon is all about meeting people and we all did a whole bunch of that. At the 501st table. In the exhibit halls. At panel discussions. Over meals. Over drinks. Friendships were strengthened and made. pilgrimage to DragonCon, listen to your garrison mates and believe them when they tell you “It’s a ROCKIN’ GOOD TIME!” See you in Atlanta, 2007!!! (above) International Trooping: Goro from the Japanese Garrison traveled from Japan and met up with all his Western legion-mates. (below) TOGA – Star Wars Style: The Ohio Garrison hosted a toga party in the Hyatt Lobby. If you are one of the few 501st members who have not made the 19 20 21 Chatting with a Bounty Hunter By Matthew Smith I was recently at the Super Megashow convention in New Jersey when I got to talk with the most wonderful and genuine gentleman I have ever met. That man is none other than the bounty hunter Boba Fett better known as Mr. Jeremy Bulloch. I have never met a man who treats his fans so well and truly takes the time to talk to each individual person. Born February 16, 1945 in Market Harborough, Leicestershire, Mr. Bulloch portrayed the fearless bounty hunter Boba Fett in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, as well as Q’s assistant Smithers in two of the James Bond films. Much to the delight of his Star Wars fans, he also made a cameo appearance in Revenge of the Sith as Captain Colton, pilot of the Tantive IV. Jeremy has also written a fascinating limited-edition autobiography entitled “Flying Solo,” a humorous account of his personal and professional life interspersed with tales from the Science Fiction convention circuit. How did it feel to work on Revenge of the Sith? It was great. I was vacationing with my family in Italy when I got a call from producer Rick McCallum asking if I would like a small cameo role in the film. Being on set was just like it was twenty years ago. Working with Lucas was the same and lots of fun. It brought back a lot of memories. But it was short, as the scene took less than half a day to shoot. How do you feel about current movie technology as compared to back then? It’s different. The technology is nice but back then there was 22 more interaction. Now with the green screen, you’re acting to people who aren’t even there - just a dot on the wall that will be filled in later in post production. How did you feel about Daniel Logan’s portrayal of young Boba Fett? I thought he did a great job and it was nice to see Boba Fett’s background of where he came from. I get questions from fans about past interviews where I was quoted on saying that Boba Fett was human, when questioned my answer is now “It’s classified.” I know that you’ve attended many conventions. What is the craziest thing that has ever happened to you? Well besides talking to you... I would have to say in one day over fifty people showed me there tattoos of Boba Fett’s death mark and (was) asked “I bet you haven’t seen this one”. And to myself I say, “only a thousand times.” About two years ago you did a convention in New Jersey where Mark Hamill was a special guest. How was it talking to him after all these years? It was great to reminisce and talk to him one to one. I have seen him at other Cons but never had the chance to really talk to him. Is there anything you would like to say to the 501st Legion? Well first off, not just including this garrison but every garrison everywhere, I’d like to just say keep up the good work. You guys have been terrific and be proud of the charity work that you do. And by the way when I meet you in a bar you better have your challenge coins ready because you’ll have to buy me a drink. “Never ever challenge a bounty hunter.” Over the years you’ve gotten a lot of gifts from fans. What is your favorite? I would have to say that it was two stained glass pieces. I received one of Boba Fett and one of the Death Mark. They’re truly beautiful pieces that are hanging in my home. What projects are you currently working on? I just finished a BBC medical drama called “Doctors” as well as a six episode Sci-Fi show called “StarHyke” where I play a character names “Doc Stryker” a doctor that you would never want to treat you. But right now I love traveling and seeing the world. Having nine grand kids, we get to go all over. I would like to travel more in the U.S because now what I only see from city to city is the airport, the hotel, and the convention center. I would like to get a car and possibly travel from city to city. Are you planning on attending Celebration IV? I would like to thank Jeremy for taking the time to talk to me and letting me interview him. I just want to take this last opportunity to tell the readers how much I respect and admire a man that I can truly call a friend. If you have not had the chance to meet Jeremy in person you are truly missing out on a wonderful experience. You can discover more about Jeremy and what he’s up to via his website & blog at http://www. je remybullo ch. com/ hope so. I don’t know if I’ll be working (it) but it is something that I would look forward to. How do you feel about the Star Wars fandom in general? I think it’s great. I love it. I love what groups like the 501st do for charity and I think you all should be commended. I know you get asked a lot about whether or not you did the original voice for Boba Fett? Yes, a lot of people ask me about that and asked me if I did my own stunts as well. Come to think of it, I don’t know what they’re talking about because I was never in these movies (wink,wink). Eric Timm BH-3200 23 Above: 8 month old, Natalie explores the inner workings of her dad’s (TK-1128, Glenn Tamboia of the Southern Outpost Garrison), helmet. Left: Matthew Powers and Quicny Newkirk (daughter of Kathy vanBeuningen (TK-9989) and Vince Newkirk (ID-9990) of the Midwest Garrison. Matthew’s dad, Dan (TS-280) made his son’s Stormtrooper armor. M y daughter Sophie was one of the children featured in the first issue of Static Burst, which was wonderful. Devastatingly, Sophie passed away in July this year. Sophie was a beautiful, gentle and loving girl, with an amazing spirit. She was always so happy. She loved life and took pleasure in so many things, and could cheer me up with just a look. She loved Star Wars, enjoyed seeing me in armour, and one of her favourite toys was a 12” Clone action figure that I bought for her. Sophie passed away in her sleep of an, as yet, unknown cause. She was born on the 17/12/2000, and passed away on the 6/7/2006. My wife, Kate, and I would also like to thank the great members of the Terror Australis Garrison for there kind condolences and support. We have created a little wesite for her at http://sophiewheller.memory-of.com/. Please feel free to drop in. ~Paul Wheller (TK4212), Terror Australis Garrison in Australia. 24 Right: Jason Brosseau (TK/IG-6714) of the Florida Garrison during Halloween with his son Michael (3), and daughter Gabriella (1). Left: Mountain Garrison member, Bret Proud’s (TK-3319) nephew Dillon on the left as Darth Vader. Jim’s R2, and Proud’s son, Alex on the right as Jango Fett. 25 There are two slogans for the IOC, one formal and one informal. “Duty. Honor. Empire.” is the formal slogan that sums up the mind-set of the Imperial Officer. “Keeping the Troops in line, one bucket at a time.” is the informal slogan. This fun slogan is a reminder that behind ever trooper is an officer there to give them orders! Members and Aspirations By Jasmine “Officer Shades” Duty. Honor. Empire. Purpose The purpose of the Imperial Officers Corps is to show admiration to select “minor” yet influential characters in the Star Wars Universe. Grand Moff Tarkin, Admiral Ozzel, Admiral Piett, General Veers, and even Captain Needa were all formidable Imperial leaders introduced to us in the Original Trilogy. And it is thanks to many wonderful authors that the role of the Imperial Officer was expanded with the genius minds of Grand Admiral Thrawn and Ysanne Isard. All of these characters, though not clad in impressive armor, deserve to be recognized and portrayed. History The formation of the Imperial Officer Corps began in the Spring of 2003 after the MidOhio Con in Columbus, Ohio the previous fall. It became quite apparent there was a need for Imperial Officer recognition when, while in my officers’ uniform, 26 a little boy and his dad enthusiastically took pictures with the stormtroopers around me. As they went on their way the father turned to me with the blankest of expressions on his face and asked me, “Who are you supposed to be?” That was the enlightening moment. The current logo for the Imperial Officer Corps is a symbol of honor and prestige. The colors can vary, but the original is draped in green and black to represent the two major uniform colors often worn. Imperial Officer Corps membership spans garrisons across the globe. Membership is open to any active 501st member with an officer uniform or crew jumpsuit; however, in order to pursue the making of the costumes, select areas of the detachment forums are open to any 501st member and the general public. There is no “official” ceremony in becoming a member of the IOC. It has been my philosophy that if a person wants to be a part of it and they have the costume, they are a member. There have been some celebrity members of the IOC being the recipient of either an IOC T-shirt, IOC pen, or both. A few that come to mind include: the late Michael Sheard (Admiral Ozzel), Richard LeParmentier (Admiral Motti), Mary Oyaya (Luminara Unduli), Garrick Hagon (Biggs Darklighter), and of course David Prowse (Darth Vader). It is the goal of the IOC detachment to provide a sense of community to those 501st members that not only admire the officers in the Star Wars Universe, but ultimately choose to depict them as well. The IOC is a marketplace of ideas and discussions; a place where Imperials can help their own and make new friends in the process. If that is something interesting to you then let me be one of the first to welcome you aboard! George Lucas Education Foundition –GELF Profile By Kevin Christley As a child growing up in Western Pennsylvania, it seems that George Lucas and I had something in common... “My own experience in public school was quite frustrating. I was often bored. Occasionally, I had a teacher who engaged my curiosity and motivated me to learn. Those were the teachers I really loved. I wondered why can’t school be exciting all of the time?” Personally, I confused my teachers and stumped my parents who honestly didn’t know what to do with me. At first, they stuck me in “Special Education” classes where I killed the bell curve. Then a councellor got smart and IQ tested me. I was off their charts with a 185, so all of a sudden I went from special ed to jumping a grade ahead to the honors program, becoming “Who’s Who” student for three years in a row. It was then I knew I was not “special,” or stupid - I was misunderstood and bored. When challenged to think outside the box, I excelled at anything that was thrown at me. And to this day, I’m great at anything I put my mind and heart into. Because of his experiences, Mr. Lucas founded the George Lucas Educational Foundation in 1991 as a nonprofit operating foundation to celebrate and encourage innovation in schools. The GLEF documents and advocates the very best in public education so that other schools and teachers can learn and adapt these innovative programs for their own use, helping to “reinvent schools for the twenty-first century.” The GLEF publishes their stories and findings through a variety of media - a magazine, an e-newsletter, CD-ROMs, DVDs, books, and the Edutopia Web site. The list of awards they have recieved for their work and advocasy are stunning: 2006 • Edutopia magazine receives three Maggie Awards: for Best Cover/ Consumer for the July 2005 issue, featuring the special section “What Works”; Special Interest/Consumer (theme) for the “iKids” features, in the October 2005 issue; and Best Single Editorial Illustration/Consumer for the illustration accompanying “Clowning Around,” in the September 2005 issue. • George Lucas and The George Lucas Educational Foundation receive the CUE Technology in Learning Award from ComputerUsing Educators Inc. 2005 • Edutopia magazine receives two Maggie Awards: for Best New Publication in the Consumer Magazine category, and Best Consumer Media Kit. 2004 • GLEF receives a Northern California Emmy nomination for the half-hour documentary “Edutopia Special” featuring Students Make a Business Out of Learning and The Little School That Did. • GLEF is honored with the Instructor Seal of Approval from Scholastic Instructor for the GLEF Moving Images series. 2003 • GLEF is a Webby Award nominee in the Best Practices category. • GLEF is a Nonprofit EdNET HERO Award Finalist from The Heller Reports. 2002 • GLEF receives a Distinguished Achievement Award in Educational Technology from the Association of Educational Publishers. • GLEF earns an Information Technology Award from Marketing Opportunities in Business & Entertainment (MOBE). 2001 • GLEF is honored with a Spirit of Mentoring Award from the California Mentor Foundation. • GLEF earns a Making a Difference Award from iEARN-USA. • GLEF receives a Successful Partnership Award from the National Council of Negro Women Inc. 1998 • GLEF’s “Learn & Live” documentary receives the International Educational Program Prize from the Japan Broadcasting Corporation. • GLEF earns an Innovative Technology Award from the National Educational Media Network. There is currently a GLEF program that is honoring the Daring Dozen, twelve people who are reshaping education, working on a grand or small scale with a momentous goal in mind. If you or your school would like to nominate an educator who’s gone above and beyond for their students, now is the time to nominate them. Simply go here and enter your nomination. And these are just a few of the great things that the GLEF has done to improve education. Not just in the United States, but around the world. Education doesn’t stop with the students - it starts with you, the parents and your involvement with your child’s education. So as a parent, I’d urge you to take advantage of the GLEF programs and try to implement them at your school. Please check out their web site and see how you can challenge educators to think out of the box as well. 27 0 3 3 3 TB- Name: Angela Mash ID: TB/BH/DZ/TS - 3330 Age: 35 Occupation: Senior Legal Assistant, Alberta Justice Dream Job: Costume Designer Nickname: Fangs I was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. I started dressing up in costumes very early in elementary and learned to make my own from my mom who always made the most amazing Halloween costumes. I met my husband in high school and we got married in 1996. We’ve been together for 19 years now. We have a cat, a kitten and a Boa Constrictor, and no....they don’t play together. I did what I thought was right and went right from high school to three years of college. While I mostly enjoy the work I do now, I somewhat regret not having taken the time to learn about what else was out there first. signs in the paper several times and on the runway at local bridal shows. But the owner closed the shop and I lost the heart to do it anymore. Anyone need some beads? I have a few......million. As an adult I sometimes make fifteen to twenty Halloween costumes each year for friends. Then I got roped in to making bridesmaid dresses and eventually wedding dresses. Other than the first wedding dress - which was mine - and the last one, I didn’t enjoy the experiences at all. Costuming is definitely my passion. For a couple of years I had a small jewelry company and I was fortunate enough to design for a local shop that specialized in custom clothing and wedding dresses. It was a fabulous creative outlet for me and I was honored to have my de- What’s the story behind Imperial Pub Staff? 28 I’m lucky enough to have a huge room in the basement for costuming, scrap booking, jewelry making and whatever other hobby I don’t have time for. My 501st and Fan Force friends and I get together often and help each other out with costuming projects! I’m also learning basic electronics and leather. My favorite part about costuming is the constant learning process. There was a group of us that post in the Imperial Pub all the time. Wendy (Cleverlilminx) and I started joking about her needing staff to help her run the place. As Wendy and I are naturally costume junkies the talk turned to what those staff members would wear. I recruited Erin (ms_ventress) and made the gear for her and I. The idea was to wear it and get pictures with Wendy in her Nihilus as sort of a joke. We had no idea those costumes would be so popular. How many costumes do you own? What are your next projects? I currently have 10 costumes, 4 of which are Star Wars, and 6 of which are not. I believe I have 10 in various states of completion right now... TIE, AT-AT, Boushh, Ysanne, Nihilus, Revan, Luminara, Jawa, Jango and a Royal Guard. Next will be Shaak Ti, Sandtrooper, Republic Commando, Sith Witch, Zam, and version 3 of my ROTJ Fett. Oh....and I’m redoing my soft parts for my Tusken already. Add in there the non-Star Wars projects I have planned for next Dragon*Con. What were your reasons for joining the rank of the 501st. I made my first Boba Fett for Halloween in 2002. Shortly after that, a fellow Fan Force member, Dave K. (TB-5021) called me and told me about the 501st and that a small group of people between Edmonton and Calgary were trying to get a Squad going. I’d never heard of it before, but anything that gave me an excuse to wear a costume outside of Halloween sounded good to me. How long have you been with the Legion? Badlands, a Squadron under the Canadian Garrison was formed in 2003 and I was one of the original 10 or so members. You’ve been known to be “The Badlands Bad-Fluence” Why? I was given that title by a friend I use to work with, who happened to be the brother of a fellow Badlander, although we didn’t realize that at first. I have this knack, I’m told, of influencing people to do things that they really want to do, but always have a way of talking themselves out of it. Kind of encouraging them to step a little outside of their normal, everyday self, and doing something just a little nutty. So it’s not a bad thing.....but good-fluence just doesn’t have that same ring to it. What do you consider to be your most significant accomplishments with the 501st? Working with the best Command Staff I could have ever hoped for to get Badlands from a Squad to a Garrison in under 2 years. What are your favorite teen films (other than SW)? Legend, Labyrinth, Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off......and a ton of others. Tell me where you love of Star Wars come from? When I was growing up I lived in a condominium that had a great open area and playground. My two best friends were guys and we spent all of our summers together. After Empire came out we spent the entire next summer playing Star Wars. Every day I had to wear all white and when I could I would get my mom to put buns in my hair. I’m sure my mom’s memories of that time period are likely more of bleach and hairbrushes, but for me it was magical. Vampire or Alien? Are you kidding me? With a nickname like Fangs?? What’s your favorite Star Wars movie and why? Empire - without hesitation. It was the first movie I saw in the movie theatres as I was only 6 when A New Hope came out. I even remember who I went to see it with. I love everything about that movie - especially Fett. That movie and that character will always have a special place no matter what else comes out or what other costumes I make. Did you ever get ridiculed for your interests? If so, how did you brush it off? My friends - the non-501st/Fan Force ones - all tease me about it. My one boss even calls me Commander from time to time and then giggles. In a cage match of you vs. any super heros (Pick one), who would win? Well.....I am a religious UFC watcher....but in a little test tonight I tried to take my husband on and the oven mitts I was wearing were useless as he pulled my hoodie up and over my arms like in a hockey fight. I did manage to get in a good elbow to the stomach but then was laughing so hard I couldn’t do anything else. How about your ‘Fangs’ character vs. Blade? Eek! Oh I dun’no.....he’s pretty big....and have you seen that sword he carries around? Yikers! Does he have a concealed weapon permit for that thing? Geesh...here in Canada you can’t have a concealed weapon at all. If you had the chance to move any where in the world where we have a 501st garrison, where would that be? No need to move. I love my Garrison - they are my second family and although I’m sure I would enjoy trooping with other Garrisons. Snow or Sunshine? Sunshine.....although a sunny, snowy day is pretty good too. You have to find good in the snow when you live here! What’s in your MP3 player right now?? A mix that my XO (Shane R. - TB059) made for me - Misfits, Slipknot, Transplants, Dope etc. Which would you rather have: The entire line of Master Replicas Helmets or an Immortal Rainbow badge for Dragon Con? (Ticket for life for Dragon Con) Immortal Rainbow badge for D*C for sure! Last book read: Obviously it wasn’t very good because I can’t for the life of me remember it. Musical preferences: I love music - except country. But for the most part I lean towards the heavier end of things. Words of wisdom: Life is far too short to get stressed out by every bump in the road. They are a part of life and in order to get through with your sanity in tact you need to take them all in stride and get over it. No use carrying around any baggage. bl c a 2 3 e w g m y g j f z n k m 29 Feedback from Our Fans By Dean Plantamura Legion Webmaster As Legion Webmaster, I receive an inordinate amount of mail from fans around the world. Some of the messages are addressed to the Legion as a whole, and many are just too good not to share. Enjoy! “I have just returned from Comic-Con at San Diego, California, (my home town) and would like to thank the 501st Legion. I met three very nice Stormtroopers at this event. They have inspired me to actually join your Legion. I was extremely impressed by the expertise displayed by your troops at this event.” -Colin M. “Hey I love the 501st Legion and hope to join it in 2 years when I become 18...but I want to join before then, because the thought of being in the Empire gets me excited. I also saw you at Mardi Gras in Louisiana and at Comic-Con 2006! Y’all looked awesome. Keep up the good work!” -Blake H. “I am a HUGE Star Wars fan and more importantly a bigger Vader fan...I actually looked into joining the 501st with my stormtrooper costume but I noticed the age limit and I’m only 15. So hopefully the 501st will be around for 3 more years!!!! Keep it going!!!” -Ellen G. eager to see it!!! Everything the 501st does makes children with unfortunate situations feel great. To the 501st and to the documentary film, kudos to you all. May you keep the spirit of Star Wars alive. No matter what stigma is brought down, know you are respected and appreciated.” -Bill N. “I took my nephew to the Adelaide (Australia) Museum the other day and to our pleasant surprise the 501st were there for a science/environment fair. This was the first time I’d ever even heard of the 501st, let alone seen them in person and we were blown away! The museum was going under heavy renovations, but the 501st made sure that our would-be disappointing museum trip was an experience never to be forgotten. Even more surprising to me was that such a professional costume group could exist in Australia, as the 501st were very professional and as real as the movies (actually...MORE real when you see them in person!) It is heart-warming to see people do this for fun and for free in this day and age of selfpreservation.” - Jay K. “You guys are so cool. When I turn 18 I think I’ll join. I want to help people and do stuff for a change. I mean, I’m in the Boy Scouts but we never do anything to help people. I’d rather be out there helping people than just sitting around. Whoever gets to read this e-mail can’t write back...I mean you can, but I just won’t get it (it’s a parental control thing).” - Colby R. “During my lunch hours for the past two weeks I have been engrossed in the 501st Legion website. I find the inherent camaraderie amongst the members something special which exists in too few places nowadays. I recently took a scrap of paper and started making a list of accomplishments I wish to complete in my lifetime. Some things are simple like “Take a road-trip across America with my wife” or “Buy a movie I have made from a local Target or Wal-Mart store”. I added “Become a member of the 501st Legion” because I believe that what you do, for charity and the Star Wars community, “Thanks for the wonderful time at the Toy Fair at the is something miraculous which all fans should acknowledge ExpoMart. You guys took what could have been a drab little and salute. So, thank you, and I hope to march alongside you convention and made it something really fun! I’m sure you soon enough.” - Darren M. hear this all the time, but it was super to have the 501st there “I am a Star Wars fan and I really like the 501st. I always for pictures, you were great with the kids, you brought so thought their weapons were cool and I like the Death Star much atmosphere, and you were very generous with your Gunners the best. When I’m old enough, I will join as a Death time! Looking forward to seeing the 501st in action soon!!!” Star Gunner.” - Max C. -Mark B. “I´m from Cuenca, a little city in Ecuador (South America), and I write this because I want to say you are a fabulous and great team. You do a really impressive job attending events and helping people...and when i discovered what you´re doing I was really really surprised! You´re an inspiration for me and I hope that someday I can complete my Darth Vader costume to help the people in my area under the name of the kind-hearted group known as the 501st legion. Please keep giving the world the spirit it always needs.” -Wilson O. “Ever since I played Star Wars: Battlefront II, I have wanted to join the ranks of the 501st. I am getting a Clone Trooper costume from Rubies of New York---the most high-end Clone Trooper costume available through them (around $79). What should I look for in costume quality to be able to join the ranks of the 501st?” - Jason T. (Note: Jason was duly informed that the “off the shelf” Rubies Clone Trooper costume is not eligible for membership. No need to panic.) “You guys in the Fighting 501st are badarse.... Everything you do for your communities is commendable. I myself wish I could join the local chapter but I have no outfit and have no shred of creativity to make one. But seriously, I can’t wait for the documentary (Heart of an Empire) to come out and am 30 “Just got back from Dragon*Con, my first sci-fi convention. I had never seen Stormtroopers in person before. All the troopers there looked great and were so nice about everyone taking pictures. Keep up the great work!” -Andrea G. “I’ve been wanting an authentic Stormtrooper costume since I was a little boy. I had forgotten about that dream until the other day when you (the 501st) came up over casual conversation about this year’s LFL Halloween party. I suddenly realized...it’s been so long since I’ve considered a costume... and from there, I instantly went back in time and felt the burn for a real costume, heh.” -Josh B. “You guys are so awesome!!!!!!!!! I can’t wait ‘til it’s my turn to be part of Vader’s Fist! I’m only 16 so I am excited. Star Wars has changed my life and now this ‘club’ has done the same. Thank you, George Lucas, and thank you 501st!!!!!!!!!” - Nathan R. “I recently heard about the 501st from my younger brother. I looked online for information because I didn’t believe that such an organization existed. To my surprise, it does. The 501st does charity work while dressed in Star Wars gear. I have to admit, I am impressed. I am going to create a uniform and hopefully become a member of the 501st. To have a hobby that helps people would be great...I admire the 501st and its members: people who enjoy what they do, and who do good for others. We need more selfless organizations like the 501st.” -Keith B. first I’ll have to wait a few years (I’m 14). Once again, I love the concept of the 501st and you have one of the best looking sites I have ever seen.” -Michael S. “Thank you all to the 501st for making our family’s day. We recently bumped in to your Stormtroopers at a Toys R Us store opening. My daughter has recently just recovered from an operation and is wheelchair-bound. Seeing her smiling again with the Stormtroopers made our day. We got some great photos too. We recently just found out that you do this for no profit and purely for charity. God bless you all. Looks like there is a place in Heaven set aside for the Empire after all.” - Sarah G. “Hello! My son and I saw you all at a Starlight Foundation benefit in Severna Park two weeks ago and he is still talking about how incredible you all were! We’d love to see you again.” -Sarah S. “Hiya! Just thought I’d drop a line and say ‘I love you guys!’ I’ll be trying to send a drawing in sometime, but I’m kinda getting backed with some of my projects since school started. Oh, and I just wanted to say in another two years (or so) this gal’s gonna be in the Empire City Garrison! (You’ll see!)” -Karly R. “Hey 501st, you are cool because you’re in many video games! If there was a different legion, I would pick you guys even if there was a million legions! That’s why in my Battlefront II, I killed 10,825 rebels and droids! It even only took me 2 weeks, too! 501st, known as Vader’s Fist, is the best legion in the galaxy!” -Matthew L. “I’d like to take this time to say I have reviewed the 501st website and believe what you are all doing to be great and in the best traditions of Star Wars! Mixing two great things, Star Wars and helping the community, is about as good as it gets! I am tossing around the idea of becoming a future part of the Legion when I have more time that I could commit to it. Like I’ve always told my friends, if there was anything that could turn me to the Dark Side, it would be becoming a stormtrooper! Anyway, keep up up the great work and keep the good ideas flowing!” Dominic J. “I was at a convention today in Sweden and there were members from the 501st and they did so good! They let people come and be photographed and they were very helpful and extremely generous! They really inspired me to join them, but David Byrne TK-1877 31 Interview with a Puppeteer: Getting to know Mike Quinn by Marc Martinez It is the second year for the newly formed SciFi convention known as MountainCon in Salt Lake City, Utah. The day is Saturday, September 23, 2006. Prominent actors such as Walter Koenig of the Star Trek franchise and Richard Hatch of the original Battlestar Galactica series make guest appearances. Representing the Star Wars universe is none other than the man behind Nien Nunb, Michael Quinn. It was really a thrill to get to know Mike, a very outgoing and friendly guy. A big thanks to him for letting me pull him aside for a one on one dialogue. So, tell us who Mike Quinn is. I’m Mike Quinn and I basically started out as a puppeteer in 1980 with the Muppets. I used to be a fan of the Muppet Show and was fascinated with how they were made and how they operated. I tried to figure it out and I made my own and experimented in front of the mirror. They were still shooting the Muppet Show in England in 1980 and I used to have days off school to visit the set and they got to know me while they were shooting their last season. When I left school I wrote to them and told them I was now available. They said they weren’t looking for anyone, but they did say thanks, we’ll keep you on our file. Then began The Great Muppet Caper and they realized they did need a few extra hands and I was always hanging around anyway. I started out with that movie in 1980 as a background puppeteer, working alongside the masters and that led to the Dark Crystal. At that time they had a two picture deal with the 32 bankers and distributors, to do the two movies together. They were doing film tests with the Dark Crystal characters at the same time as The Great Muppet Caper. So, I got to do some puppet making when we weren’t shooting on the Muppet Caper and eventually I got to do the Slave Master Skeksis character, which was quite a big event. Then Jedi followed. The Lucasfilm crew took on a lot of the puppeteers that were there from the studio, for these other movies. That’s how it all came about in later years. The guy that did Jabba the Hutt (David Barclay) and I formed a company in England where we did a lot of our own puppets and TV shows, and then we moved on to CG animation from there. What was your involvement with Labyrinth? It was the summer of 1985 when we shot that. I think they had just finished the Fraggle Rock shoot. That was the other big Hensen project, in between Dark Crystal and Labyrinth. We were still shooting co-productions of Fraggle Rock with Sprocket and Traveling Matt in France, Germany and England at that time and of course George Lucas was the executive producer of Labyrinth. So, he was around for some of that shoot. He’d come in and watch us rehearse. I did a little bit of the Fire Gang. I did some of the legs and feet, and goblins. I did the talking hands. I assisted Frank with the wise man, the guy that sat in the chair with the bird on his head, and Didymus the little fox with the eye patch. He was a puppet and I did his eye and eyelid on radio control. What was your involvement with Nien Nunb? The shoot itself didn’t take long at all. It was probably a day, but first of all they knew that Nien Nunb had to have some dialogue and they had two masks with no articulation at all, and wondered how to make him speak when there weren’t any mechanisms in these things. We were already shooting the Jabba scenes, so it was a few months away from the cockpit scenes. I suggested to Phil Tippet, who was heading up the creature shop, that we could turn it into a hand puppet. I put my hand in the air and I showed him I could move the mouth. We could put some blinks in there and it could be a good puppet. He thought it was a good solution. So, I mocked something up with one of the masks and we did a film test that George directed and he asked me to go through the moves. He said it looked good. I even suggested we could move his ears. He said great, could we put that in as well. The mechanical guy said yes, we could have it done in two weeks, so I flew it back to the Ranch. So, did you wear the mask? No, it was a hand puppet. So, it came back two weeks later ready to shoot. We added eye blinks and ear wiggles, but everything else was hand puppet. I had a shoulder piece and upper body piece, and my hand was inside his hand so it was all above my head just like a Muppet. They cut out the base of the seat of the Millennium Falcon so I could lie flat and I had a little TV monitor so I could see what the camera could see, Muppet style, and that’s how it came about. Show logo came down and Kermit poked his head and said, “It’s the Muppet Show!” it was like a rock concert and the audience just went crazy. There’ve been so any things, it’s really hard to pick Highlights. What are your current endeavors? Do you have a production going on? Were you involved with any other characters or puppets in Star Wars? What has been your most memorable experience so far? Yeah, I helped Tim Rose with Ackbar and Snootles. I did the little mouth on the singing with Snootles and helped him with Ackbar’s eyes. I was inside Jabba briefly when he was being strangled, doing some eye bulges. And a baby Ewok in the Ewok village. It was a little hand puppet. There was a little slug thing hanging in the alcove above Threepio’s head in Jabba’s Palace. I also did Ten Nunb. He was Nien Nunb in a white suit and he flew a B-Wing for the space battle at the end but they cut it out. You see the B-Wing from the exterior, but you don’t see the pilot. He had a different hat on. I helped Frank with Yoda, which was nice because I’d worked with Frank so much, with so many other things, like helping him with Fozzy’s right hand. He chose me to do Yoda’s right hand. So, he would do the voice and the head and the left hand with the walking cane and I did the right hand. We rehearsed that for several days. It was probably a week altogether. It was great just working with George and Mark Hamill. There’s been so, many... sort of landmarks throughout the years. There’s been characters that I’ve created that have been totally my own, that I’ve totally enjoyed, and would like to revisit in the future. Nobody really knows who they are. They’ve been done in England on TV. There have been performance challenges that I’d wonder, how on earth can I make this work? I did a play throughout the year, in Northern California, without any puppets or animation that was good for me to do. I did a lot of monologues and I got to do an English murderer and that was fun, a good stretch for me. Otherwise the first few years with Jim, Frank, Star Wars, The Dark Crystal and those early Muppet days. That was the golden era for Muppets and I was able to see that and be a part of that. It was a creative time for me as a teenager and it was a good time for me. Now I’m trying to get into my own production work with my own projects. A few years ago we did a live Muppet Show on stageit had never been done before- with Brooke Shields and Jon Voight in Hollywood. When that big Muppet Yeah, I’m working on a documentary at the moment called “Welcome home Stan Laurel”. It’s about what was known as the happiest day of Stan Laurel’s life, when he was on tour in England with Oliver Hardy in 1947, just after the war. He revisited his birth place in England and he was kind of given a hero’s welcome and I have about three minutes of footage of that day, which nobody has seen before. I have the blessing of Stan Laurel’s daughter, Lois, as well. So, that’s kind of a personal pet project but otherwise I still like to act and puppeteer and make puppets and do some computer animation. But Star Wars has always been there and it always will be. It’s taking good care of you, huh? It is actually, you know. Who would have known that all those years ago? I knew it was a big thing when we were on it, because I was a big fan of the first two movies but here we are, you know. It just keeps on giving. It’s great! And that’s how I met my wife, Jerri. So, it has always been good to me and I will always be eternally grateful. Find out more about Mike Quinn at http://www.quinnzone.com/ 33 1 2 4 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 15 14 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 35 34 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 Horizontal Vertical 6. 327th Star Corps Commander 8. Star Forge creators 9. Meaning of Parjai’s name in Mando’a 10. Quinlan Vos’s planet 12. One of Senator Amidala’s bodyguards/handmaidens 15. Planet Darth Vader crashs on after the destruction of the first Death Star 16. CC-1198 Clone commander´s name 18. Iridonia´s most famous race 20. Dark Side adept trained by Darth Vader 21. Vilmarh Grahrk´s race 23. Padme´s original last name 24. Aquatic bird found on several planets across the galaxy 25. Place where the rebels meet before the attack on the second Death Star 26. Naga Sadow mutated this race to serve him 29. Andur Sunrider´s wife 30. Bounty Hunter who wanted revenge against Han Solo 31. Darth Malak´s disciple and former student 33. Qui-Gon Jinn’s first master 35. Banking Clan Leader 37. Planet Freedon Nad crowns himself king of 38. Boba Fett´s wife 40. Jacen Solo’s Wookiee friend 42. Ewok hero who participated in the Battle of Endor 43. Laboratory developers of IG-88 44. Humanoids with long and round heads 45. Former student of Darth Vader and Justice Procurator of the Empire 46. Jango Fett’s parents’ occupation 47. Last name of the snowspeeder pilot who rescues Han and Luke on Hoth 48. Aayla Secura´s Star Destroyer 1. Name of the acrobatic technique that Yoda masters 2. Pilot who participated in both Death Star destructions 3. First battle where General Grievous appears 4. Jawa vehicle 5. Legendary crystal from the planet Mimban 7. Imperial Star Destroyer that captures the Tantive IV 10. Quinlan Vos’s son 11. Famous Gand bounty hunter 13. Zabrak who fought in the Mandalorian Wars 14. Predators from the Dxun moon 17. Zam Wesell´s race 19. Hoth native animal 22. Droid bounty hunter who deserted the Empire to join the Rebels 27. Darth Bane’s birth planet 28. “Droid Revolution” droid leader 30. Race of creature living in the Death Star´s trash compactors 32. Clan Fett ancestor 33. Darth Bane´s original name 34. Sergeant of the 501st Legion placed on Coruscant and participated in the execution of Order 66 on the Jedi Temple 36. Name of ship owned by Ensign Saul Karath 39. Kamino’s biggest city 41. Asyr Sey’lar is a member of this species/race 34 Crossword by Jorge Candelas 10 Your armor will probably get lost at the airport. 9 If the Star Wars floats break down, the troopers are required to carry them the rest of the parade route. 8 News reporters will repeatedly ask you if you’re too short for a Stormtrooper. 7 6 5 200 troopers at the training grounds. 1 Port-o-let. The Rose Parade event is secretly a plan to conveniently issue mass “C & D” orders to infringing Star Wars costumers. Lucasfilm is requiring each participant to sign away their likeness for future merchandising purposes. The 5.5-mile march will give you bunions and a week of leg cramps. 4 3 2 1 It’s supposed to rain on New Year’s Day. The “partying” on New Year’s Eve will be limited to Shirley Temples and hardy handshakes. Four grown men sharing a room with two twin beds (you do the math!) 35