Star Wars Celebration IV: Part 1
Hubby and I are fantastically nerdy. At the moment, I’m watching Star Trek: The Next Generation just to see what all the fuss is about. Our trip to Florida was in celebration of our ten years as a couple, five years of marriage, and Star Wars, of course. At day one of Star Wars Celebration IV, we mostly wandered around and took pictures. There were life-sized lego creations, movie-quality sets for photo back drops, and of course tons of people in costume. We also got to meet Temuera Morrison, who played Jango Fett in Star Wars, and Warwick Davis from Willow, Star Wars, Harry Potter, and tons of other movies. He’s currently starring in a show called Life’s Too Short, that looks hilarious. It’s on one of those expensive channels though, so I’ll have to wait until it hits netflix.
Later that evening, we got to see Kevin Smith, director of Dogma and Mallrats, do a Q & A. This is not just any Q & A, though. He is hilarious, and tells all kind of stories about what it’s really like to work in Hollywood. He also has a book out called Tough Sh*t, which is great. Hubby and I listened to the audio version, which he reads himself. The audio version is great because he adds little side stories that cracked me up.
Overall, Celebration was just like other Star Wars conventions, except there were more and bigger celebrities. We had a lot of fun, but I think I’ll stick to my local cons from now on.
Disney World: Hollywood Studios
Hubby and I were fortunate to visit Florida recently, and I experienced Disney World for the first time ever. It was more fun and more expensive than I imagined. Here are our adventures at Hollywood Studios:
This is Mickey’s giant hat that sits in the middle of the park
Old Star Tours Droids
Hubby and I are huge Star Wars fans, so we rode the Star Tours ride until we were both nauseous. These droids move and talk, but they are “malfunctioning”. They are the droids from the original Star Tours ride, and I think it’s really cool that they reused them for the new ride. My Hubby experienced a wave of nostalgia on seeing them, and I’m sure tons of other people do, too. We didn’t end up waiting in line for long, but there are droids all along the waiting area making jokes, talking, and moving, which gives you something to look at. In fact, we wished we’d gotten to wait in line at least once so we could see everything.
This giant At-At greets you on your way to the Star Tours ride. It has always been there, but it’s now surrounded by a giant Ewok village up in the trees. This is an ingenious arrangement, because it provides shade while you’re in line, and looks bad-ass. All over Disney I noticed details like this that were well thought out, and executed to perfection. The place was almost too perfect.
Disney also has employees all over the park waiting to take your picture for you. They have their own cameras, and they upload everything digitally, and you can download it yourself at the end of the day. They do charge for this, but they had no problem taking a picture with my camera for us. This speeder is across from Star Tours, set up just for taking pictures, and it was so cool.
Hubby and I thoroughly explored the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids play area, and it was amazing. It looked just like the movie! There was a giant super soaker, film, a cookie, this giant ant (I think he’s called Anty in the movie) that you could ride on for photos, and this guy:
We also went to the Indiana Jones stunt show, which was amazing. If you get to go, definitely check it out. They’ve apparently expanded it quite a bit over the years. The Muppets in 3D was cool, too. It was 3D like you’d expect, but then they integrate effects in the theater, like Sweetums, Statler and Waldorf, and explosions! Once again, I was surprised by the level of thought and detail applied to what seemed like a basic show. I had a lot of fun.
One of the last things we did was explore the Pixar area. Hubby actually rode the Toy Story ride, which functions like a giant video game (I wussed out since I was still super nauseous from too much Star Tours). He said you each have a gun mounted in front of you, and the ride takes you through different story lines, and you have to shoot things and earn points. It sounded fun, and he enjoyed it.
I love how the whole area was Toy Story themed. These army men are hauling a Scrabble board that says “You’ve got a friend in me” and “Meet the toys”. There are performers dressed as army men wandering around to take pictures with, and the whole inside of the ride was covered with giant barrel-o-monkeys, board games, and Andy’s toys from the movie. There’s also a giant animatronic Mr. Potatohead that makes jokes while you’re in line.
Of course we ended the day at Star Tours again. On the ride, you are taking a transport somewhere else in the galaxy, and the autopilot accidentally starts up before the pilot gets on the ship. C-3PO and R2-D2 take control, and fly you to a few locations in the Star Wars galaxy. There are 6 possible planets you can visit, and they were all fantastic. We just nerded out completed and had a grand old time. You end up in the gift shop (of course), but they do have some cool stuff.
Hubby and I had such a great time, we actually went back for another day, which I didn’t expect. Hollywood Studios was really cool, and everything was planned exceedingly well. It’s like the designers took basic rides and said “What can we add to that?” and then added even more. I was honestly surprised how much fun I had.
Star Wars: The Drinking Game
Apparently my Star Trek drinking game post riled up a few of my Trekkie friends. I’m still friends with them in spite of their Trekkiness, yet that’s not enough for them. One had to write a rebuttal post. It’s not as clever as mine, but who could even come close to that level? I normally don’t post on even-numbered days, but since the guest blogger is Black from Two Tokens, and Friday is their traditional posting day, I’ll allow it. Sit back and enjoy some good natured Star Wars mockery:
For those that do not know, ThatCleverChick is a bit of Star Wars fan. And by a ‘bit’, I mean huge, and by ‘fan’ I mean raving lunatic. She’s called me out on my own geek blog for my many indiscretions regarding Star Wars canon. Everything from name spelling to the anatomical accuracy of a Yuuzhan Vong warrior has been scrutinized under her ever-watchful gaze. She’s chided more than once for my love of Trek. She even refuses to call the show by name, but rather refers to it as “that show with 10 white dudes sitting around negotiating peace treaties.”
I think Star Trek is a far better moniker, but to each their own.
Understand folks, I’m not a Trekkie/Trekker or a Star Wars fanboy; I consider myself an enthusiast of all of the above. However, there comes a time when the scales of nerdom are tipped; and they must be righted so that balance may prevail. That being said, I feel it’s only right to level the playing field. So, grab a Romulian Ale and get comfy. Let’s run down a list of what a Star Wars drinking game would look like – shall we?
1. Anytime brother and sister kiss, drink a beer.
2. Every time Obi-Wan Kenobi loses a fight, drink a beer.
3. Every time someone says “I have a bad feeling about this”, drink two beers.
4. Anytime Anakin seems like he’s going to the ‘dark side’ when in actuality it’s just him being emo and bitching, drink a beer.
5. Anytime someone falls down a shaft, drink a beer.
6. Do three shots every time Jar-Jar says me’sa or something stupid. Check that…only do half a shot, I don’t want any hospital bills.
7. Anytime someone is captured, and instead of killing them, Darth Vadar allows them to escape – finish whatever drink you have.
There’s plenty more, but I’ll leave you with that for now 
Blackout.
Clever Chick’s commentary: I only had you people doing shots, because there are so many things that give you the urge to drink in Star Trek, I wanted all of you to restrain yourselves. You’ll notice that Black, however, is trying to get you super drunk, quickly so you don’t realize how far it is between drinks. He also focuses on mocking the prequels, whereas I took the high road, and left the original Star Trek alone, since I know you are all justifiably embarrassed about it. I wouldn’t want to rub salt in your wounds. Someday soon, Black and I will get together and bury the hatchet, probably by creating a Battlestar Galactica drinking game.
Star Trek: The Drinking Game
I have friends from all walks of life: there are fans of Star Wars, Dr. Who, World of Warcraft, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and yes, even Star Trek. These Trekkies have been insistent that Star Trek is actually interesting, and The Next Generation is a “good” show. I have always had my doubts, but they convinced me to start watching it, especially since it’s on instant on Netflix. I’m on about episode 10 in season 1, and so far? Still not a fan.
It’s pretty bad.
So Hubby and I made it into a drinking game! We haven’t actually been drinking while watching it, because even I don’t hate my liver THAT much, but here are the rules we can up with:
Take a drink:
1) If there’s an energy being.
2) If it’s a sex episode (like they land on a planet obsessed with sex, or the crew gets a virus that makes them want to have lots of sex).
3) If Riker looks at someone really intently, as though he’d like to make sweet sweet love to them (happens most frequently with Picard and Troi).
4) If Wesley Crusher knows what’s going on, but no one will listen to him because he’s just a kid.
5) If Data askes the meaning of a normal word that he should definitely know, because it’s in a dictionary (like aphrodisiac).
6) If any of the characters use their catch phrases: Picard says “Engage”, Troi wines about feelings, or Dr. Crusher tells Picard he should be in sick bay, or vaguely references that they used to be a couple.
7) If Worf gets the crap kicked out of him.
Finish your drink:
1) If there’s an energy being AND a sex episode in one (has actually happened)
Drink 1 gallon of wine:
1) If it’s a Q episode. Alcohol poisoning is a small price to pay to avoid hearing his smarmy voice. He is just awful.
When you get back from the emergency room, hopefully several episodes will have gone by, and new episodes of Doctor Who will be that much closer.
DIY V-neck T-shirt
I have lots of cool t-shirts that I love, but don’t love the fit. I’ve attempted to remedy this by turning several into tank tops, but I needed another option. If the design is too high on the chest, or the shirt is too small, the tank top method won’t work. I decided to make this t-shirt into a v-neck. You little minions may remember that I’ve done this before, but this time I’m doing away with the whole t-shirt collar.
This is the collar of my awesome shirt. I made one cut about an inch long in the middle of the front. On each side, right in front of the shoulder seam, I cut just through the collar. I did the same on the back, opposite of the fron cut.
I then tucked all the edges in, creating the v-neck, and rounding out the rest. Keep in mind, you don’t have to hem on this project because the collar edges won’t unravel, so you just plain old fold the edges under. I then pinned it all in place, and sewed it by hand while watching the old X-Men cartoon.
And viola! It is so much more comfortable now that the t-shirt isn’t chocking me to death.
I can comfortably, and atractively (if I do say so myself) show off my nerd cred. I’m getting ready for Star Wars Celebration VI! Who’s with me?!
Star Wars Fan Days
This last weekend, Hubby and I trekked our way all the way North, into Yankee territory. That’s right, we went to Dallas/Fort Worth. They have an awesome sci-fi convention up there every year called Star Wars Fan Days. We were both in costume, reveling in the awesome nerddom of it all. Here’s Hubby, dressed as Obi-Wan Kenobi, fighting a young Jedi, while Princess Leia watches in the background.
This was an almost completely handmade Ahsoka costume, that I thought was pretty cool.
This girl is dressed as a Dalek from Dr.Who!
These three chicks were roaming the convention together. On the left we have Mara Jade, who later marries Luke Skywalker, not sure about the Sith in the middle, and then an awesome Princess Leia on the right.
Hubby posing with an amazing Lando Calrissian. He won the costume contest this weekend, and deservedly so.
Here we have Hubby, and our dear friend Black of Two Tokens, who was dressed as Mace Windu, hanging out with Kit Fisto.
I was dressed as the Baroness from G.I. Joe, but of course, didn’t manage to get one picture. Tons of people took pictures of me, so I’m hoping to stumble across one I can post later. It was a ton of fun, but I still hate driving in Dallas. I swear, every construction barrel in a three state radius is in that city. Have you guys ever completed a single road? You might want to invest in some engineers.
Happy Star Wars Day!
Today is National Star Wars Day, or May the Fourth. May the Fourth be with you. Get it? In honor of National Star Wars day, I will be nerding out to a disgusting degree. To those of you who know me personally, I apologize in advance. Everyone else, please enjoy these humorous Star Wars pictures!
Actually those were funny, but both sad Storm Troopers. This one proves that being a nerd has its benefits:
How did it go?
So after my constant bitching about Christmas, and stress, and family drama, I’m sure you’re all wondering how everything turned out. Well, here’s how it went down. Thursday, even though family arrival was imminent the following day, I laid down, read a book, and took a nap. Hubby didn’t get home until after midnight, and I cleaned and wrapped presents from around 11pm to 3am, or so.
I woke up around 9am, cleaned some more, and fortunately, most of the family groupd were at least an hour later than planned. This gave me time to drink way too much coffee, and run around the house, shrieking obscenities at the animals for not keeping their fur to themselves. By the time my folks arrived, the place was decent, and even smelled ok, but mostly because it smelled like coffee. I think it was exuding from my pores at this point.
Cars were unloaded, and random accumulations of things were brought in. (Oh, I forgot to mention I had to re-clean my craft room, because of course it is a hot mess, and it was going to be used for an additional guest room). My Gram in Dallas sent two huge tubs of yarn with Mommy Dearest for me and my sis Beans to divide between us. This resulted in Beans taking the only 6 rolls of yarn that matched each other, and leaving me with all the random stuff (which is fine. I’m going to make stuffed animals out of it, and Beans will be jealous!).
So fast-forward to the best part of all: gifts. This part of the story starts a few weeks ago. Hubby is a HUGE Star Wars fan, and has been his entire life. He has been wanting an FX light saber for as long as I’ve known him, and this year the Star Wars website was having a huge cyber-Monday sale, so I broke down and bought it. Knowing this probably suspicious-looking package would be arriving at the house, I took the precaution of not allowing Hubby to check the mail (our mail has an area for packages, but little did I know how massive this package would be).
I was at work, on the phone with Hubby as he arrived home one day. We were chatting, when he suddenly said “UH OH!” in very worried tones. I, of course, had no idea what was going on, and assumed it was something actually bad.
Hubby: ”There’s a package on the porch! It’s all long and skinny.”
Me: “Oh crap! Don’t look at it!”
Hubby: “It’s too late! My brain already put something inside it!”
Me: “Just put it in my craft room and don’t look at it (praying it doesn’t say STAR WARS.COM on the side in huge letters). Look, I don’t want you to get your hopes up. It’s just a poster (thinking this is a stroke of genius lie).”
Hubby: “This box is kind of bog for a poster”
Me: “Uhh, it’s a big poster. That’s why I had to order it online”
Hubby: “You’re a terrible liar”
When I got home, I saw the box was completely blank on the outside, thankfully, but it about arm-pit height, which made it damned hard for my poster explanation to be plausible. I opened the box to check, and yes the glorious light saber was in there.
Me: “Yeah, it’s what I thought it was. I don’t know why they used such a big box”.
Hubby: “I’m dashed.” (seemingly disappointed).
Over the next week or so, Hubby and I went back and forth about it, and I kept telling him a lightsaber was too expensive, and he kept telling me I was a terrible liar. The Wednesday before Christmas, I happened upon a Star Wars poster he didn’t have, and then the idea came to life. When I got home, I took the light saber out of the humongo-box, wrapped it separately, and hid it in my closet. I put the cheap, tiny poster (which he’ll like anyway), into humngo-box, and wrapped it.
The whole family opened all of their presents, then I let Hubby open the “big” present. When he opened it, he tried so hard not to look disappointed. He smiled, unrolled the poster, and told me it was cool, and said thank you. His face turned a bit pink, and he gave me a brave smile.
We started clearing up the mess, and I looked around and said “Beans, I think I forgot one of your presents. Let me go check” (I worked this out as a signal ahead of time, so she wouldn’t be disappointed. Don’t worry I wouldn’t do that to my only sister!). When I came back I had the wrapped light saber behind me, and I said “Beans, I couldn’t find anything for you, but this one has Hubby’s name on it. Weird”. When I handed the long, skinny box to him, he turned bright pink, and started laughing. Mommy Dearest took a bunch of pictures that I hope to add soon.
Hubby was so excited! When he opened the paper, he tore it open to reveal the Star Wars logo. I was surprised how slowly he opened it, maybe shy to get too excited after his earlier disappointment. When he finally got it open, he was bright pink, laughing and choked up all at once. I totally tricked him!!!
He loved his light saber so much he kept turning lights off in the house and turning it on so everyone could see it. He did that a couple times while I was in the kitchen, and I had to yell “Turn the lights back on! There are things on fire in here!!”
That made it the best Christmas ever. I made my Hubby super happy, but also tricked him!! By the way, his other gifts were socks, underwear, and a snuggi I got for free, so the light saber was definitely the best thing ever. I even got him the right one, and we got a free Princess Leia pen with it! That is win, win, win.
