Today was basically every Star Wars geeks dream. Almost. I woke up this morning and didn't bother showering. Hey, I'm in London. Plus, with the sleep I got or didn't get last night, well, I didn't want to. Sue me. I went off to Leicester Square around 9:30, picking up a fruit salad for breakfast, a duck wrap for lunch, and a few other things to snack on during the day. This is when I realized just how much more expensive London is than Scotland. Groceries (admittedly, from M&S [it tastes of nothing]) were almost £10. So much for not spending too much money here.
Anyway, I hopped the tube to Leicester Square (£18 for a week-long pass) and checked out the square. There are a LOT of theatres (or rather, cinemas, although there are also a lot of theatres) here. All of them showing Star Wars movies. I checked out the square and was nearly arrested by a stormtrooper who didn't like being called "short". Since the orchestra didn't start until 1:00, I went and checked out Empire Strikes Back on one of their big screens. It was pretty huge. Additionally, they were giving away two tickets to the Revenge of the Sith premiere at every show! The odds were pretty great, I thought. At Empire, probably a 1 in 40 chance. I saw Phantom Menace later in the day and my odds increased to 1 in 20. Suffice it to say, I didn't win in either instance. I thought about buying other tickets and just coming in at the end, but with the cost of that and my usual not-winning streak, it didn't make much sense. Too bad, 'cause that would've been quite the thing. But I get to see it here on Thursday anyway (on opening night) and that's already more than I could hope for given how fast those tickets sold out.
Anyway, I watched Empire and went into the square for the London Philharmonic. They had their pieces set to film scenes, and it was really well performed as great as I'd hoped it would be. The only thing that could've made it better would be for John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra. Or playing The Imperial March. After that, there were some interviews with Star Wars stars Jeremy "Boba Fett" Bulloch, Chistopher "Count Dooku/Saruman/..." Lee, and Anthony "C3P0" Daniels <click for video>. Since I'd already worked my way to the front during the symphony, I stayed there and had the chance to ask them a question but I couldn't think of anything clever or insightful.
After that, it was either go sit by the red carpet or go see another show while waiting for things to kick off. I went and saw, as I said before, Phantom Menace. I don't understand how people like this less than Attack of the Clones, but what do I know? I got out and was NOT going to get in any position to see the parade clearly, but that was already the case when I went in. It had just gotten worse. So I snuck around to the other side and in a pub, and actually found a place behind the press where there were relatively few people. I bought a pint of Stella and waited by a window with a nice Scottish couple, who were very nice and made the time pass quickly. Since we were standing by the press, we got to see pretty much every star but it was hard to get pictures that turned out behind the glass and low light and constantly moving umbrellas. George Lucas, Rick McCallum, Anthony Daniels (who admitted that he has the first and last lines in the set of movies - hmmm), Kenny Baker, Christopher Lee, Ian MacDiarmid, Ewan MacGregor, and then some other people like Orlando Bloom and so on.
Some people got driven right to the door in three minivans and didn't go on the red carpet, no idea who, but my guess is that maybe it was a royal or two? And then I found this little cafe just off the square where I can upload my photos and resize and do whatever else I need to, so I thought, might as well. And that's why these last two blog entries are longer than a night in my hostel room. The photos are slowly uploading now.
Anyway, I should mention again since a few people I've managed to figure out were sending to a bad address that if you want to email me, it's just the name of this website (AKA my last name) at gmail.com. Some of you were clicking the link maybe? I had to do this to avoid spambots. They're everywhere.
Look forward to hearing from you, and I'm sure I'll be in touch much too soon.
hey dean how was star wars was it great like you thought it would be or was it lame like you didn't think it would be? i miss you lots how did you already go to scotland? did ou lke the real ong letter with a lot of brackets was it long enough for you? by the time you get back i'll be as good as you at typing (I hope). Dad says i did great write back mariah
2 comments:
hey dean how was star wars was it great like you thought it would be or was it lame like you didn't think it would be? i miss you lots how did you already go to scotland? did ou lke the real ong letter with a lot of brackets was it long enough for you? by the time you get back i'll be as good as you at typing (I hope). Dad says i did great write back mariah
Hey, Mariah. Star Wars I haven't seen yet. I was just at the premiere, which is where all the people who made the movie go and see it.
I started in Scotland, so all I had to do is come down to England.
I loved your letter with all the brackets, but it's never long enough. :)
And since when are things 'lame'? I haven't been gone long enough for you to pick up new sayings!
Anyway, I'll probably call in the next few days, we'll see. Miss 'ya.
Dean
Post a Comment