Getting set to ramp up 2015

​1st half of 2015 events list. All events tentative except SnF and Megacon

February 7 Boggy Bottom Auto Fest
February 17 Mr Big concert
February 21 Planes Trains and Automobiles

March 1 Kennedy Space Center and VAC
March 8 St Pete Festivals of Speed
March 15 TICO Warbird Airshow
March 21 Melbourne Air and Space show.
March 22 St Pete Grand Prix

April 3 Fast 7
April 10-12 MegaCon
April 22 and 26 Sun N Fun

May 8 VE Day 70th in DC (If in any way possible)
May 24 Omni Con

June 7 Star Wars Weekends

July 25-26 Fanboy Expo

August 1-2 Tampa Bay Comic Con

As 2014 Looms

I've just started a new job, and have an ambitious plan of shows already scheduled to shoot for 2014. Let's hope the job is forgiving!!

 Here's my tentative shoot schedule: Airshow, carshow, convention and race dates early half of 2014

January 1st, Benoist Flight, St Petersburg to Tampa.

January 11th, Auto and Moto, Clearwater

January 19th Galaxy Comic Con

February 23rd B-29 Fifi shoot Clearwater

March 14th - 15th TICO Warbird Air Show

March 21st - 23rd MegaCon

March 22nd - 23rd MacDill Airfest

March 29-30th Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg.

April 5th, Sun 'n' Fun

April 6th, Festivals of Speed St Petersburg.

April 11-13 Away Mission

April 13th, Celebration Exotic Auto Show.

April 17-21st NYC I hope.

A Long Time Ago....

A Long Time Ago

In a Galaxy far Far Away...

Or, to be honest, In the Milky Way

in the great United States of America, 

At the Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum,

in Colorado, a new fan event was created in the year of 1999.

It was called:

STAR WARS CELEBRATION

This weekend, the VI iteration of the event (That's SIXTH for those of you that suck at Roman Numerals) was held in Orlando, the second consecutive time that city, and the Orange County Convention Center, have hosted the event.

Once again, I was working at the event, but, due to having just started a new job, was only able to be there on the last day of the Convention, yesterday. (For a refresher on my adventures at CV in 2010 click)

I was working for Official Pix once again, and this time around, I got to spend my morning with Christopher Malcolm, whom Star Wars fans and fanatics will remember as Zev Senesca, Rogue Two, from "The Empire Strikes Back", and his wife.  Just an amazing guy to sit there and talk with.  

In the autograph hall, he was sandwiched in between Jake Lloyd (Little Anakin) and Daniel Logan (Little Boba), so the morning was not without excitement, since Warwick Davis came over on his Segway to photobomb Logon on one occasion, and Luke himself, Red Five, Mark Hamill, came over to talk to Chris for a few minutes.  And wherever Mark goes, the crowd follows.

Which begs a question of the Con organizers and the official photo company, Froggy's Photos.  Since you had Mark, Christopher, Garrick Hagon (Biggs Darklighter in Star Wars), and John Morton (Dack Ralter in ESB), all there, wouldn't you think it would make sense to do a Rogue Squadron Photo Op?  I'd steal Geoff's helmet and pay good money to be in that shot!

SPEAKING of Geoff, he was a large part of CVI for me, even though he wasn't able to be there, most of my twitter feed was filled with the exploits of his mini-doppelganger, TS-5180.

A bit of back story here.  Geoff and I have been friends since we were in HS, and he is a member of the 501st who has been known to troop in Snowtrooper  armor (such as below, at the Strategic Air and Space Museum in Nebraska.  (Credit to Dan Naber for the photo)

Unfortunately, he was not able to attend this year's Celebration, although he had been planning on it for the last 2 years.  So, being a Star Wars fan and collector myself, and having a Snowtrooper action figure, I brought that along to represent the real-life TS-5180, and photographed him around the con as well, giving him, basically, the run of my twitter coverage during the event.   While there, mini-TS-5180 managed to meet a little celebrity of his own, Lego Slave Leia, who has become something of an internet icon due to her owner taking her on exploits all over the country and photographing her there.

Admittedly, I borrowed the idea from that for the day, but it's ok, Lego Leia is owned by my friend Carie, and it didn't seem to annoy her too much.
Although I enjoyed my time at CVI, I'm not sure if holding it in the same place two times in a row was the best idea, as a few things seemed to be stale to me.  For instance, most of the large sets and props were the same as for CV in 2010, like this AT-AT you may remember from those photos.  THIS shot is from yesterday, but the big guy was in the exact spot as two years ago.

 As was the Death Star

 The Endor Bunker and Speeder Bike were in a different location from last time, but were exactly the same ones.

Same story for both Jabba's Throne Room and the Snowspeeder
 
Also, for me, there didn't seem to be as many people dressing up this time around, and, for the most part, the ones that were weren't of nearly as good a quality as I've seen before.  So much so that I didn't bother taking too many shots of costumed people (I mean, I saw too many Slave LEONs (guys dressed in metal bikinis) A chubby Tomb Raider, countless Indiana Joneses, and even a couple Anime and My Little Pony people..shudder), with the exception of this Aurra-esque Bounty Hunter (sue me, I liked looking at her)

 Chef Vader, who WAS there in 2010 but I never got a chance to run into him

 this Chewbacca (there was only one other, and I think he had the Wal-Mart of Wookie suits) with Boushh

and, of course, the official 501st Stormtroopers. (One of whom was practicing his poses, then had Carie let him kiss her in a shot you've all seen on Dune Sea Times, Facebook, or Twitter, where DST AND the 501st have posted it.  So I won't :P...Unless Carie tells me to, lol

He saw me sneak around to his left to take some photos and decided to shoot ME!!

Gotta love those 501st guys!

Part of the lack of costumes might well be attributable to a combination of factors.  One, I was only there Sunday this year, last time I was there the whole event and got to see more.  Two, Florida is in the middle of our hurricane season (not the football team, dimwit), and fear of a storm named Isaac was keeping a few more people at home than the last time, I would imagine.

Now, that's not to say there weren't parts of it I LOVED.  Hell, I loved just being there, let's get that out of the way at the start. I love the kinds of people I work with and run into there, whether it be Kent, Matt, and Terry from Official Pix at CV (and back again for CVI as well), costumers like the 501st boys and girls, many of the guests of the event (I've got a short list of the ones I didn't like), to the comic book, poster, tattoo, and book artists there, as well as those robot racing geeks from the Builder's Club.  I also run into friends from before there (Like Carie, for instance, wearing both her Geek and Reporter hats at the event) and meet new ones as well.

Also this year, they had a Fan Cars section, where I finally came face to face with the H-Wing, ObiShawn's Del Sol that I've been reading about since around 2003 or so, as well as her replacement, his newer Nissan 350Z. 

This little toy would have been useful on Tatooine....

Like trucks?  Here's a Ford F-150 Raptor SVT Empire Edition

The original H-Wing

The NEW H-Wing.  I think he might be calling this the N-Wing 9Hionda Del Sol was H-Wing, Nissan Z350 N-Wing...makes sense to me.)

An other thing that was done well were the new set pieces, like this Hoth Medical Center, complete with walk-in Bacta tank and med droids.

 

The 501st brought back a lot of the same display suits, but had some new ones, like IG-88

 and this Han in Carbonite

 Roxy the Rancor made her debut this year, and the line around her was always huge

 The 501st room again, with the Mos Eisley Dewback setup

 So, all in all, if you are to ever go to a Celebration event, take my advice....go for more than just a day, and just enjoy yourself.  While I loved my Sunday, everything seemed to be too rushed to see everything, and most of the fun panels had been done the days prior.

That being said, let's not forget about what this whole Star Wars Celebration is all about.

No, not being geeks in an acceptable forum.

Ok, maybe that too.

But what I mean is that, Star Wars Celebrations isn't about the movies, the TV shows, or all the merchandising. 

It's about the people.

More than that, it's about a massive number of people that have been inspired, in one way or another, by a vision of a Heroic Journey.

Star Wars, to those that truly get it, is more than just a movie.  Or a Trilogy. (and we'll debate the prequels till the sun burns out, it's what people that are passionate about something do).  It's about the way you see the world and how friendship, love, and adventure can be a part of everyone's life, if they let it.

And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, Ewoks, Wookies, Jedi and Sith (And you too, Princess), is my two cents.

May The Force Be With You.......Always.

 

A little Taste.....

Of things to come. First couple pages from the new "Superhero Stanley" story........

Superhero Stanley
Part the Seventh: Into the Black

By

Brian R. Kupfer

I had to get Karen out of there.
But I knew that with the goons and the vivacious little blonde along, I was going to have to get creative.
I grabbed Karen’s right bicep with my free left hand when the vivacious blonde and I passed her, clutching her tightly to my side and whispering into her ear “just follow my lead”, before the blonde in front of us had a chance to react.
I was taking a huge chance, basing everything on what first impression my thinking head was able to gather of the nymphet that was obviously supposed to be a distraction.
What can I say, she was good at her job.
Squeezing the blonde’s hand to get her attention, I stated, as nonchalantly as I was able to, “As long as we’re in for a good night, why not make it great? You’re into three-ways, right?”
I inclined my head towards Karen while I pulled her into step with us.
The little blonde looked Karen up and down quickly, then paused in mid-step for a heartbeat before taking a longer, more appreciative look, all while the three of us wove our way through the increasingly-packed crowd towards the door.
I almost held my breath waiting for her reply.
While I was turning blue in anticipation, the “Third Knut” band finished their sound check and the bassist, a five-ten man with longish sandy hair, a goatee and thin beard, thumped the mic twice before his band mates started up.
“This is our newest song, ‘Interpretive Dance’. Hope you like it. And 2, 3, 4…”
On four, the guitarist, a man maybe five-nine with black hair and a goatee, wearing Jedi robes, slammed into a frenetic beat, which the bassist, who was dressed in a multicolored serape with a huge sombrero on his head, thrummed a counterpoint to.
Behind them, their drummer, wearing a three-piece business suit and sunglasses, his longish wavy black hair done up to look like a 60s greaser, did a passable Animal imitation from the Muppet Show, and their keyboardist, the shortest of them, wearing a racing suit and glasses, made like Jim Carrey on acid with the percussion instrument.
Strangely, the frenetic discombobulation of the four instruments worked. I found my head bopping along to the music while we walked towards the door.
All four of the men leaned into their microphones and sang in chorus on the opening line and final exclamation of each stanza, the Jedi sang the first verse, the Mexi-Can’t the second.

“Our Love’s like Interpretive Dance,
No one understands it
But you gotta take a chance.
YEAH
Our Love’s like Interpretive Dance,
I dated this Girl once
She thought she was a Man
GO!”

On GO, the bassist launched into a rumbling solo, vibrating the walls of the little club while his three band mates took a break and flirted with members of the crowd.
After that, we were out the door and past the Mr. Clean-lookalike bouncer-cum-security guard, and I was left humming along to the band’s song, thinking their style was a strange combination of the Barenaked Ladies and Megadeth.
Upon leaving the Full Moon, the blonde wiggled and jiggled her way down the street towards a white Cadillac Escalade EXT parked around the corner from the club.
Flicking a glance over my shoulder, I noted the two buddy-boys were not-so-discreetly following us.
I looked back at the blonde just as she clicked a little key fob remote, and the lights on the ostentatious luxury SUV blinked once, and I could hear the “click” of the doors unlocking.
Not really surprisingly, since I had been expecting the goons to join us, the blonde slithered her lithe little body into the rear seat, motioning for Karen and I to follow her in.
The two goons approached and opened the front doors, the larger of the two getting into the driver’s seat, the smaller thug into the passenger side.
My brain was running in overdrive trying to figure a way out of this one, and my mouth was doing its own thing, without conscious control, like it so often does.
“Hey, hey, hey. Wait just a minute. Three can be fun, but five’s a bit more freaky than I wanna deal with tonight. Besides, muscleboy fruits aren’t quite my flavor.” I rambled on, sandwiched between the two women in the back seat, filling my voice with an outraged bravado I didn’t quite feel.
The goon in the driver’s seat extended a meaty paw back towards the blonde, who wordlessly slipped the Cadillac’s keys to him.
The man-gorilla, who had enough hair on the backs of his hands and forearms to make Robin Williams envious, turned and started up the re-badged and overpriced Chevrolet Avalanche.
Pulling the white SUV away from the curb, the muscle managed not to scrape the massive car into anything before pulling out into the street, pretty much a major accomplishment for most drivers here in the downtown area.
Somehow, the residents of this metropolis had never managed to perfect, or even come close, the art of parallel parking, or, depending upon whom you asked, even driving their vehicles.
Many people, yours truly included, believed that the DMV here had been founded and the first drivers’ tests given by, Helen Keller herself.
Though that is probably unfair to Helen Keller. I’m sure if allowed, even she could have driven better than most people in this city.
While thinking about the shoddy driving in this city, my overwrought brain suddenly came up with a half-cooked plan.
It was better than nothing, which was more than I had had a moment ago, and still better than a lot of the plans I had come with since deciding to become a hero.
Putting my best lecherous grin on my face, I leaned over Karen on my right, my right hand cupping her left breast, my mouth on hers in an arduous kiss.
There were two reasons for this.
One, I wanted the blonde watching my lips and right hand and Karen’s upper body, not my left nor our lower torsos, which were hidden by the way I was twisted towards Karen.
Two, I’d really wanted to do that since day one of meeting Karen.
Karen’s respondent kiss was surprised at first, but she soon got into it when she felt my left hand pull her seatbelt down and across her waist, slipping it into place, shielded by my body from the blonde’s view.
Coming up for air, I winked at Karen before looking over my shoulder at the blonde.
“Your turn.” I commented, my right hand reluctantly leaving Karen’s chest.
The lithe blonde licked her lips and leaned towards me in anticipation.
Making it look like I was turning all the way around to give her my full attention, I used my momentum to enhance a strong right hook into the passenger goon’s temple.
The man slammed to his right, spiderwebbing the passenger side window before slumping against the door, and I whipped my now smarting right hand across the driver while wrapping my left arm around his throat. I kept the lock in place by pulling back on my left elbow with my right hand.
Reflexively, the driver took both hands off the Caddy’s wheel to try and pry my arm from around his throat, and the big SUV drifted to the right, bouncing over the curb and heading for a building along the street.
I tightened my grip on the goon’s throat with my left arm while tensing my whole body against his chair and grabbing the steering wheel with my right hand and jerking it hard to the right.
The Escalade twisted to the right, the wheels on that side trying to come off the sidewalk when the blunt nose of the SUV slammed into the mirrored glass and steel beamed front of the skyscraper.
The Cadillac crunched into the building, caroming off one of the support beams and skidding into a spacious lobby for a few feet before slamming in to a thick, decorative marble column.
The jarring impact brought the big SUV to a sudden and noisy stop, the screech of bending metal and the tinkle of shattering glass nearly deafening.
When the Escalade EXT slammed to a halt, the rear wheels lifted off the lobby’s floor for a moment with the force of the impact.
At the same time, and thanks to the same momentum, the goon in the passenger’s seat rocketed through where the windshield had been, flying past the marble column and skidding on the floor like a limp rag.
The little blonde slapped into the side of the SUV and the back of the driver’s seat before slumping to the floor beside me.
The driver had nowhere to go, and I heard a snap when the momentum tried to fling him forward, and he suddenly stopped struggling against me.
Karen seemed to be ok, but she was probably going to have a nice welt from the seatbelt.
As for myself, I slammed into the rear of the driver’s seat, hard, and it was probably the only thing that kept me from being flung out of the vehicle like the man in the passenger’s seat had been.
Even so, I was sure I’d be sore for a week.
Somewhat shakily, I pulled myself off the floor of the Escalade and crawled across Karen’s lap, trying the door handle on her door.
It took some shoving, but I finally got her door open, and Karen and I spilled out onto the lobby floor.
While Karen took a moment to steady herself, I rummaged around in the SUV, finding duct tape, blankets, and a pair of shovels in the vehicle’s bed.
Apparently I wasn’t supposed to have been coming back from this ride, and, because I had involved her, neither was Karen.
Moving quickly, because I was sure that the Caddy plowing through the front of the building had set off alarms, I used the duct tape to truss up the lithe little blonde and the surviving goon, trussing them up like Han and Chewie in ‘Return of the Jedi”, minus the Ewoks and long poles, of course.
The driver wasn’t headed anywhere but the morgue.
After helping Karen off the floor, the two of us started to head out of the smashed building towards where I had parked the Durango earlier in the evening.
While we were headed out the door, a thought occurred to me, and I held up a finger to let Karen know to wait for me for a moment.
I jogged back into the trashed lobby and picked up the bound blonde, slinging her unconscious over my shoulder.
Then I ran back to Karen and we hightailed it for my Dodge.
After unlocking and opening the passenger door of the Durango for Karen, I opened the back door and tossed my blonde bundle across the back seat.
About the time I turned the Dodge’s ignition, a pair of Police cruisers roared past, lights flashing and sirens wailing, heading for the building where the destroyed SUV rested.
I waited for them to pass before pulling out, making a mental note to call Dodge and explain the situation later.
I headed out, following the directions Karen gave me to drop her off at her place, since she had been driven to the Full Moon by a friend.
Once she was safely back in her house, with the door securely locked, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Joeda, to see if he had made any progress with Jim’s laptop, and to tell him that we needed to meet up, and that he should bring Syn along.
We settled on his place in a little over 20 minutes.
I pulled over to the side of the road in a scarcely populated part of the city near Joeda’s place, changing from my civvies into my Stanley gear.
I also made a quick call to Sarah Dodge’s voicemail, as she was predictably too busy with the downtown situation to answer her phone.
When I pulled up to Joeda’s place, I grabbed the blonde out of the back, who was now our best bargaining chip.
Or so I thought.