Can we see pictures, please?
Stephanie, I assume you ment me? Here's a copy of the email I sent to Jason and Pete at theForce. net that they read aloud on their June 15 broadcast (The Forcecast, if nobody's listen to it, it's great)
Hello Jason & Pete,
I've never written or called you guys before, but I feel as if you're members of my family. I guess I just wanted to have something neat to say the first time I introduced myself to you guys. First, I just wanna say how grateful I am that yall kept us so well informed during the Celebration IV event. I personally couldn't go because I'm an archaeologist and was in the field working. Also, on that subject, I wanna thank you for such a good podcast every week on all events Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Being an archaeologist, people in my field love to talk about those two subjects and it's always good to have the heads up in what's going on in those worlds and I use every opportunity to plug your show to people.
As you know, on June 1-3 in Knoxville, TN there was a convention called Adventurecon. Being in my area, and missing Celebration IV, I just had to go. If you've never been to Knoxville, let me tell you, it's pretty small, and I was shocked that so many of my childhood heroes were going to be there. So, on June 2 I arrived as early as I could to absorb all that the day had to offer and entered to see a huge turn out of the Southern Outpost squardon of the 501st. I don't think I've ever smiled so much just walking into a building. Being there so early, not many people had shown up yet, so I thought "Why not just go ahead and meet the people I came to see," it was the best decision I made.
I've included some photos above to go along with the story.
Anthony Daniels: The first person I approached was Anthony Daniels. I assumed that he would most likely have the biggest crowds around him all day, and it would be great to talk to him before he was crowded with people. When I approached him he was the nicest guy. I thanked him for coming and asked about Celebration IV. He responded "Oh...why couldn't have you made it?" I told him because of my work and he asked what I did, and after a few more minutes of conversion, he asked was there anything that I would like to know? Off the top of my head, I couldn't, so I asked just for moment that not many people know. He responded by telling me a story about the "Oil Bath Scene" in "A New Hope." He told me that the next time I watch that scene to look closely just after he gets out. He said, that during the filming they used dyed green vegetable oil in the bath and that wearing the suit and being dipped into it, the oil started to soak up and into the suit. He continued, by saying
if you've ever had oil on you, it's not very comfortable and now imagine it being concentrated on your genitals. That during the scene, Luke gives him a rag, and if you watch while Luke is working on R2, you can see Anthony desperately rubbing an area to try and get the oil off. I died laughing, and seeing that movie a thousand times, and went back and sure enough he was doing it. After that, I asked if there was any deleted scene that he wished was left in any of the movies? Anthony responded by talking about the deleted scene from Episode II, where Padme gives 3PO coverings, how it was such a scene of dignity for C3PO and humanity. After that, I thanked him for his time, got a photo and went on my way to meet Jeremy Bulloch.
Jeremy Bulloch: When I went to meet Jeremy Bulloch I really didn't know what to say. I went up thanked him for coming to Tennessee and responded by saying the loved the South and had a wonderful time the last time he was down here. To my amazement, we started up a very nice conversation about things down here and got along perfectly. I then got an autograph and photo, but I just had to ask about my favorite scene in "Empire Strikes Back." I had to ask about the look between Boba and Lando on Cloud City. He simply said, as I'd heard him say before about Boba Fett, that he couldn't really do much with the character and still remain mysterious. He basicly would try to move his head back and forth and try to look mean. So, when he saw Lando looking at him, he looked back. I laughed and started to move on, but then he extended his hand and I shook it and he continued to talk about Tennessee. I told told him that I hoped he would enjoy his time here and that was the end of my meeting with Jeremy Bulloch.
And as you reported on your last podcast, he was in full uniform for the wedding of the 501st. It was an outside wedding for all to see and when he showed up it was unbelievable!!! A testament to how great a guy he is.
As the rest of the day went on the crowds became too big to really talk with Billy Dee Williams, Peter Mayhew or Dave Prowse, but hey I got to experience what nobody else did. Getting there so early allowed me to hang out with two of my childhood heroes, not just an autograph and photo, really hanging out with them. A great day!
I did attend the discussion with Irvin Kershner and Billy Dee Williams though. For the most part they talked about the same things they did at Celebration IV. However, Irvin Kershner when asked about the new films in comparison to the old, did say he liked his the best because of characters, but he also added that he liked the original trilogy better. He continued by saying he liked it better because it's real, he didn't like all the CGI in the new. That in the original trilogy was real, because it had sets and puppets to get real reactions off of. That CGI doesn't allow actors to react off of a sunny day or a wilderness or the coldness of Hoth. CGI is acting in your head and it takes away that human element. Everyone there knew exactly what he was saying.
The rest of my time there, I just spent talking with members of the 501st, true fans. They even tried to recruit me, which I'm really considering.
Well, I just wanted to share a truly great day in my life with the both of you and once again thank the both of you for keeping me updated in that wonderful galaxy far...far away.
It was truely a great day for me. I have the photos up on my myspace page, you can look at them there. I would happily post them here but I don't know how and the link I first attached didn't work. So, if anybody would like to see them, tell me how to attach a photo on this message board.
