IL-CHICAGO-Celebrate Science Fiction-ART of PLAY-8/25 &

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InvaderSith
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IL-CHICAGO-Celebrate Science Fiction-ART of PLAY-8/25 &

Post by InvaderSith »

IL-CHICAGO-Celebrate Science Fiction-ART of PLAY-8/25 & 8/26

http://www.midwestgarrison.com/forum/vi ... php?t=6260

Participating Midwest Garrison Members (on 8/25) :

TD4544 Ed Silva (sandtrooper)
TI7118 Vicki Silva (TIE Pilot)

Participating Midwest Garrison Members (on 8/26) :

TD4544 Ed Silva (sandtrooper)
TI7118 Vicki Silva (TIE Pilot)
SL1719 Jason Patterson (Darth Vader)
TK7708 Geoff Adams (stormtrooper)
TK9989 Kathy van Beuningen (hero support)

I was not there on Saturday the 25th, so I can only report that which I was told. Ed and Vicki spent the day getting their pictures taken by various pedestrians and making kids smile. Vicki, being a TI, was undoubtedly mistaken for Darth Vader by many of the mundanes.

Sunday the 26th saw a bit more participation. Alyssa (CTI0004) and I arrived at 11:00 to find Ed, Vicki, and Jeff already suiting up in the changing area (cluttered storeroom) in the basement of the building. After a pre-mission meeting (shooting the bull) and welcoming Vicki to active trooping (This was her first mission! Welcome aboard!) we proceeded to the sidewalk in front of the Art of Play HQ to attract attention and have our pictures taken.

After some time of posing (and having Vicki and Alyssa mistaken for Darth Vader {I was standing RIGHT FREAKING THERE}) we took a short hydration break. Kathy showed up at this time and we briefed her on the mission (shot more bull) and went back out to have more pictures taken. Kathy brought her armor, but decided that doing support (tats and picture taking) was of greater import than adding a third trooper. We also had a surprise visit from one of our own Vaders from Peoria, but I did not catch his name.

The Polaroid camera that I brought along was used to take some pictures (one guy got really greedy about it and had three taken) and was quickly exhausted of film. The Art of Play had used a similar camera the first time we were there and had several packs of file remaining, which we used for those people wanting pics, but who lacked their own camera (Greedy Guy got 2 more pics) at the time.

Around 3:15, we decided to wander over to Millennium Park to take some pictures with the Giant Mirror Bean of Doom. We encountered R2-D2 in disguise as a mailbox and took several pictures with that scoundrel of a droid. We were unable to capture the droid due to lack of appropriate tools and a desire not to be arrested by the local constabulary. Our journey to the Bean was very slow, interrupted by many many people wanting to take pictures (including one person who was perilously close to oncoming traffic) of and with our group. More pictures were taken of us at the Bean and at a fountain on our return march to the Art of Play HQ.

Upon return to HQ, we posed for a couple more pictures before deciding that we were done and suiting down. We had a post-mission meeting (shooting still more bull) and left the site at about 5:00.

Lessons Learned: To the non-fan, anyone in black with a helmet is Darth Vader, no matter how different that person looks compared the the tall guy with the cape breathing heavily.

There is no way to really express rolling one's eyes at a greedy person when in a Vader mask.

Giant Mirror Beans of Doom make for some excellent opportunities to get very neat photos!

Even Darth Vader cannot look dignified holding a stuffed frog for a picture. I just hope it was poisonous!

When some political candidate nutjob wants to get pictures with Vader, it is great to have Kathy there to keep the group moving away.

It felt most insulting to be called "Vice President Cheney" by some guy.

In Conclusion, it was another successful troop. Many kids smiled, many pictures were taken, and Lauren from the Art of Play was happy to have us again.
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TKvanB
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Post by TKvanB »

From Geoff TK7708:

Maj. Hassel wrote:Sorry it took so long to post. I went out for dinner and didn't get back until late.

Man, what a great troop!! The Art of Play set up was as to be expected: no clowns but not much in the way of sci-fi either. We were fortunate to have some great weather and we really had great reactions from the passersby.

Near the end of the event, we had a bonus treat to our troop. Kathy herded us up--she herds so well--and we went for a little walk.

We headed towards Millennium Park, found a lost R2 unit (mailbox) along the way, and ended up posing for a big photo-op next to "the Bean." The response was great; big crowds lots of pictures.

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Kathy, using Vicki and Ed's camera shot some great pics. The majority of which can be found here.

I wish we could do it again tomorrow. I really had that much fun.
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TKvanB
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Post by TKvanB »

edlitmus wrote:Sorry for the delay getting the photos up, but they are worth the wait!


http://www.flickr.com/photos/24078248@N ... artofplay/

They came out great!
Awesome pictures!
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