Showing posts with label Events. Show all posts
Sunday, November 6, 2016
FIRST Robotics Competition San Diego 2016
Five years to the day that R2 last visited, he returned to High Tech High School in San Diego for their FIRST Robotics competition. As was the case last time, the competition was for middle school students in the FIRST LEGO League, using LEGO Mindstorms.
R2 was a surprise robot guest, and the teams got a chance to swarm him and take pictures.
Everyone had a good time, and the students appreciated having the chance to meet R2.
R2 was a surprise robot guest, and the teams got a chance to swarm him and take pictures.
Everyone had a good time, and the students appreciated having the chance to meet R2.
Saturday, November 5, 2016
On Stage with Weird Al at Blizzcon 2016
Tonight R2 and members of the 501st were invited to join Weird Al Yankovic on stage, as he gave a concert to attendees of Blizzard Entertainment's Blizzcon 2016. Matthew Henricks joined me as the backup Vader and droid wrangler.
Matthew and I carpooled, and arrived around 4:30pm at the Anaheim Convention Center, where Blizzcon was taking place. I unloaded and we went to the Star Wars characters' green room, where they had changing space and food for us.
With a few hours to spare, Matthew and I decided to roam the convention floor. Neither of us are gamers, so this world was new to us. It was a bit like looking into a funhouse mirror of ourselves as Star Wars fans, as we were visiting a convention with costumers and characters with which we were pretty unfamiliar. There were also hundreds, if not thousands, of PCs set up for people to play games.
Around 6:15pm we headed back to get R2 staged for the 8:30pm encore. We could see and hear the show from the green room thanks to the projection screen and speakers.
The 501st crew members went through their rehearsals and then suited up.
A little before 8:30pm we made our way to the stage, to await our cue to go on.
And there's our cue, out we go! Stage manager Hawkeye asked me to keep R2 on the near side of the cord on the stage, so I did. That placed R2 a little bit distant from the other characters, but that was fine.
The characters danced to Al's song, "The Saga Begins." At one point early in the song, Al came up to R2 for a serenade.
Matthew took pictures through the small opening we made so that I could see and operate R2.
After the song ended we went back to our green room, and a short time later Al came in for photos and autographs (his, not ours).
And then we were done! Well, there's always that One Last Picture...
We had a great time, and thank you to Matthew for taking/supplying many of the pictures. The full photoset is here.
Matthew and I carpooled, and arrived around 4:30pm at the Anaheim Convention Center, where Blizzcon was taking place. I unloaded and we went to the Star Wars characters' green room, where they had changing space and food for us.
With a few hours to spare, Matthew and I decided to roam the convention floor. Neither of us are gamers, so this world was new to us. It was a bit like looking into a funhouse mirror of ourselves as Star Wars fans, as we were visiting a convention with costumers and characters with which we were pretty unfamiliar. There were also hundreds, if not thousands, of PCs set up for people to play games.
Around 6:15pm we headed back to get R2 staged for the 8:30pm encore. We could see and hear the show from the green room thanks to the projection screen and speakers.
The 501st crew members went through their rehearsals and then suited up.
A little before 8:30pm we made our way to the stage, to await our cue to go on.
And there's our cue, out we go! Stage manager Hawkeye asked me to keep R2 on the near side of the cord on the stage, so I did. That placed R2 a little bit distant from the other characters, but that was fine.
The characters danced to Al's song, "The Saga Begins." At one point early in the song, Al came up to R2 for a serenade.
Matthew took pictures through the small opening we made so that I could see and operate R2.
After the song ended we went back to our green room, and a short time later Al came in for photos and autographs (his, not ours).
And then we were done! Well, there's always that One Last Picture...
We had a great time, and thank you to Matthew for taking/supplying many of the pictures. The full photoset is here.
Monday, October 31, 2016
Halloween 2016
Tonight R2 was out in the garage to help hand out Halloween candy.
I had about 40 trick-or-treaters come by. They took pictures, I didn't, so that's all there is to this blog entry! :p
I had about 40 trick-or-treaters come by. They took pictures, I didn't, so that's all there is to this blog entry! :p
Sunday, October 30, 2016
Stan Lee's LA Comicon 2016 - Day 3
Today was the third and final day of Stan Lee's LA Comicon.
Chris Romines graduated from merely using a hand drill the last two days, to using a Dremel to work on his dome today. No noise there.
Today's show hours were 10:00am-4:00pm, and once the doors opened, we were busy once again. Some pics.
Being allowed access to the VIP area has its advantages. Stan Lee was there for pictures and autographs around 2:30pm. Michael McMaster was able to snag an autograph.
While I was able to get a picture. Neat!
A little while after I got back to the booth, we were ready to start wrapping things up. Plus, we had a vermin problem, as WALL�E's roach friend Hal made his way into the Halloween candy.
This was another great show, and I look forward to coming back next year. In the meantime, I have plenty on my plate for the remainder of this year.
Chris Romines graduated from merely using a hand drill the last two days, to using a Dremel to work on his dome today. No noise there.
Today's show hours were 10:00am-4:00pm, and once the doors opened, we were busy once again. Some pics.
Being allowed access to the VIP area has its advantages. Stan Lee was there for pictures and autographs around 2:30pm. Michael McMaster was able to snag an autograph.
While I was able to get a picture. Neat!
A little while after I got back to the booth, we were ready to start wrapping things up. Plus, we had a vermin problem, as WALL�E's roach friend Hal made his way into the Halloween candy.
This was another great show, and I look forward to coming back next year. In the meantime, I have plenty on my plate for the remainder of this year.
Saturday, October 29, 2016
Stan Lee's LA Comicon 2016 - Day 2
Today marked day #2 of Stan Lee's LA Comicon, and we had plenty of droids for the occasion.
We arrived around 8:15am for a 9:00am show opening. This was to be a fairly long day, with show-close at 6:00pm. By the time I arrived, the booth was mostly ready to go, as Chris Romines leveraged the convention as a building weekend.
9:00am arrived, and so did the crowds.
You can't have a Stan Lee Comicon without Stan Lee. Our booth was near the main stage, so we saw plenty of him, and he certainly draws a good crowd!
Here's a first (at least as far as I know), three WALL�Es; with Preston Altree, Michael McMaster, and Mike Senna.
Meanwhile the R2s still got plenty of attention.
The droid builders were allowed access to the VIP area, where we were able to get lunch and some rest from time to time.
In the afternoon, Gordon Tarpley suited up as C-3PO, and we walked the convention with my R2. That's always a crowded adventure. We paid some visits as we made our way around.
Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols.
The amazing Fon Davis.
When we returned to the droid area, we were joined by Cory as Chewbacca. Along with BB-8, that drew quite a crowd.
By the end of the day, both Wookiee and droid builder alike were pooped, but we'll rest up and do it one more time tomorrow!
We arrived around 8:15am for a 9:00am show opening. This was to be a fairly long day, with show-close at 6:00pm. By the time I arrived, the booth was mostly ready to go, as Chris Romines leveraged the convention as a building weekend.
9:00am arrived, and so did the crowds.
You can't have a Stan Lee Comicon without Stan Lee. Our booth was near the main stage, so we saw plenty of him, and he certainly draws a good crowd!
Here's a first (at least as far as I know), three WALL�Es; with Preston Altree, Michael McMaster, and Mike Senna.
Meanwhile the R2s still got plenty of attention.
The droid builders were allowed access to the VIP area, where we were able to get lunch and some rest from time to time.
In the afternoon, Gordon Tarpley suited up as C-3PO, and we walked the convention with my R2. That's always a crowded adventure. We paid some visits as we made our way around.
Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols.
The amazing Fon Davis.
When we returned to the droid area, we were joined by Cory as Chewbacca. Along with BB-8, that drew quite a crowd.
By the end of the day, both Wookiee and droid builder alike were pooped, but we'll rest up and do it one more time tomorrow!
Friday, October 28, 2016
Stan Lee's LA Comicon 2016 - Day 1
Today kicked off Stan Lee's L.A. Comicon (formerly Comikaze), and the droids were out in force. We were joined by the usual suspects, plus a couple of new ones from the BB-8 and WALL�E Builders.
Show opening for Friday evening was a relatively late 5:00pm, but we arrived early and set up.
I took very few pictures of the goings-on, but here are a couple, with more promised for Saturday and Sunday.
Congratulations to Preston, who finished his WALL�E in time for the show. It was joined by Michael McMaster's, and we will soon have 3 WALL�Es tomorrow when Mike Senna's joins us.
We do it all over again shortly!
Show opening for Friday evening was a relatively late 5:00pm, but we arrived early and set up.
I took very few pictures of the goings-on, but here are a couple, with more promised for Saturday and Sunday.
Congratulations to Preston, who finished his WALL�E in time for the show. It was joined by Michael McMaster's, and we will soon have 3 WALL�Es tomorrow when Mike Senna's joins us.
We do it all over again shortly!
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