.... at least
from the four day extravaganza that was Star Wars Celebration VI.
Early on, I made it
very clear that if Celebration VI wasn’t one of the greatest weekends in
the history of Western civilization, I was going to be very
disappointed. I wasn’t disappointed. My first Star Wars Celebration was
well worth the wait, being everything I had counted on, as well as a little bit
more.
For four days, the
world essentially blurred into lightspeed, and I was catapulted to that long
ago, far away galaxy. Only last week, it was tantalizing close, in
Orlando, Florida. Karen Armstrong once noted that mythic drama and ritual had
an element to it she thought of as “sacred play,” and as my reality pleasantly
widened to include astromech droids, bounty hunters, Sith Lords, and Jedi
Knights, that phrase sums up Celebration rather well.
As per my advice,
many readers did "friend" me on Facebook. And as such, you
pretty much got an hour-by-hour playback of how magical the time down in
Florida was. I am currently going back through and making notes from there, as
well as organizing an endless collection of camera pics, phone photos, and
shaky videos.
However, there is so
much material it is going to be awhile before I can do much of anything with
it. I'm pondering doing some blog posts, or perhaps even a little website.
Regardless, it needs an online home somewhere, even though I currently simply
do not have the time necessary for such a task. The book contract looms at the
beginning of November, as well as another side Star Wars project in the
works.
But so much happened.
In the span of four or five days, I catalogued a series of colorful adventures
with a stuffed Ewok; won a tip of the hat from none other than Dave Filoni;
discussed Alan Watts with Matthew Wood in the lobby of our hotel; saw a sneak
preview of season five of the Clone Wars; made new friends from as far
away as Sweden; discussed midichlorians with a molecular biologist who wasn't
even at the con; secured a set of Forcecast trading cards; met Kenny
Baker in a bar; had a reunion with Anthony Daniels; enjoyed the best screening
of Return of the Jedi since the initial one in 1983; watched Ian
McDiarmid Sith lightning James Arnold Taylor on stage; cheered Warwick Davis as
he rode around on a segue; congratulated Mary Franklin on a con well
done; got blasted into the Battle of Coruscant on Star Tours at
Disney World; shook hands with a gazillion people; and actually saw George
Lucas with my own eyes.
Oh, and about a
thousand other things.
In short, it was some
of the best days of my entire existence. And thanks to my friend Dean who
accompanied me. If it hadn't been for him, I would still be wondering around in
circles around the Exhibition Hall, jaw scraping the floor. It was like falling
through a portal into your favorite world of fiction, with panels and podcasts
and celebrities and costumes and just endless awesome.
If anyone has the
means and a deep, abiding love of The Wars, I cannot suggest going highly
enough. Bring on Celebration VII. In the meantime, you can check out
this wonderful recount of some of the Force magic that went down at A Certain Point of View.
.
