How the heck do I even begin to cover what went on last week?  I guess I should start by saying that I took the week off.  About a month ago I started to look at my schedule for trooper appearances and realized that there was no way I was going to be able to do all the different events we had planned and still work.  Only in America can you realize that your goofy hobby is just taking up too much time and the thing that puts bread on your table and a roof over your children’s heads is just going to have to take a back seat for a week.

The first event I had was on Tuesday morning at 8:30am.  We had agreed to help KSLX with a promotion they had thought up called “Spot the Stormtrooper”.  This involved me changing into a dive skin in assorted parking lots across the valley (I know ladies, try and contain yourselves), putting on the white plastic and pacing up and down a sidewalk on a busy street waving at drivers.  The idea was that the 8th caller would win tickets to the movie.  Normally we only do charity related events with the possible convention thrown in here or there.  We agreed to do this for KSLX because they agreed to promote us as a charity organization and get the word out that we like to do hospital appearances etc.  Ultimately there were three appearances a day for three days.  I only did one appearance for each of those three days.  My first was 8:30am on Tuesday, then 11-ish on Wednesday and back to 8:30am on Thursday (which was an unbelievable pain in the ass after staying up to watch the 12:15am showing the night before…didn’t get to bed until 4:00am).  Anyway, the high point of all of these KSLX gigs was John, the promotions manager who was there with the van every morning.  He’s just a super nice guy and big Star Wars fan to boot.  I tried to talk him into joining but wearing armor just wasn’t his thing.  He however did show me pics of his huge Star Wars collection which was very impressive.  I thought it was interesting that John collected Star Wars cans (cola, beer whatever) from around the world.  Anyway, he was kind enough to snap these pictures of me from Thursday morning.

After my KSLX romp on Tuesday morning I went back home, got cleaned up and headed strait for Phoenix Children’s Hospital.  PCH has such a special place in my heart and I was reminded of just how grateful I am when we spent nearly 5 hours in costume and visited nearly every corner of the hospital.  This is the reason why I troop.  It’s fun to be on TV.  It’s fun to get attention.  We all love it.  But my experience with staying at the hospital (and my wife can vouch quadruple for this as she is the one that did most of the staying) for long periods of time is that it’s an enormously boring affair punctuated my moments of pain and fear.  Perhaps that isn’t everyone’s definition but without a doubt the majority of people who are stuck in a hospital would describe it as boring.  Now imagine being a child, whose natural state is one of high energy, play and inquisitiveness.  Imagine how *extra* boring it is to be a child in the hospital.  We were so grateful for the brief respites from the boredom and fear when Mickey Mouse or Spider-man would show up to visit Molly.  I am so happy that I get to give that back to some other family going through some other trial.  It’s a very small way of giving back.  How can you ever repay the men and women who saved your kids life?  I would do it more if they would have us.

The next day (Wednesday) I had another KSLX appearance around 11:00am and then later that night we all gathered at the Cine Capri for opening night festivities.  To say it was crazy would be an understatement.  There were tons of people in line, tons of people in costume, tons of TV cameras and interviews.  At one point Harkins had us stand guard as they allowed the 12:01 showing to being seating.  They didn’t want anyone cutting in line so it was our job to flank either side of the line as the patrons walked in.  I have to imagine that was fun for them…having Stormtroopers flank them as they walked into the theater.  We spent about four hours in costume and then it was time to see the big show.  As we all de-geared Harkins allowed (in exchange for our “guard duty”) some of our significant others to cordon off a section of the theater for us.  I have to say it was such a blast watching the film with my family and a ton of other Star Wars geeks who love the series as much if not more than I do.  What a great memory.

Thursday morning came way too early.  We got to bet around 4:00am and then got right back up around 6:00am.  Then it was off to do the last KSLX appearance and then right back home.  When I walked in the door Trudy looked half asleep at her desk so I told her to go get some sleep and I would watch Luke.  Luckily right after Trudy went and laid down one of her girlfriends showed up unannounced and asked if Luke could come play with her son.  “There is a god.” I thought to myself and my son shot out the door to go play with his best friend.  I immediately jumped in bed and Trudy and I both got a bit of nap. 

Later that evening I was told that we were being invited down to Channel 3 for some in studio blah blah blah.  I drove down to the Channel 3 studios and got suited up.  The folks down there were incredibly kind and fun to work with.  The only slightly annoying part was being asked to wait in a very small foyer as they spent 5 minutes filling it with smoke from a smoke machine.  I can’t see out of my helmet anyway so as more and more of my vision was obscured by the billowing smoke I told Gabby (our princess Leia) to find a spot to stand and I would just follow the bright white blur of her dress.  I was petrified that I would trip over some cables or something but in the end it worked out fine and was fun memorable experience.

Friday morning Trudy had several errands to run and Molly had school so it was just me and Luke all day long.  Now, I have to be honest that I’ve dreamed about taking my kids to go see Star Wars for a long time.  When the last one came out Luke wasn’t even one and Molly had been diagnosed with Leukemia.  Although I went and saw the film I don’t remember caring much about it and I sure as heck couldn’t take any of my kids to see it.  When such an obvious father and son opportunity presented itself on Friday morning Trudy and I sat down and discussed whether or not we thought Luke could handle the film.  We decided that with the exception of the immolation scene Luke had seen all the other bits of violence in other Star Wars movies and wasn’t affected by them.  Trudy was worried about the scene with the younglings but since Luke isn’t really old enough to con on the inference of that scene it rolled over him without the impact that it may have on older kids.  We decided that he was too young to actually see the immolation scene so when it got to that point in the film I distracted him and wouldn’t let him watch until it was over.  What really surprised me is that he was not afraid of any of it at all.  I expected him to be a bit nervous about the big screen and the loud sound system but he ate it all up and wanted more. 
I suppose it’s a bit a silly and sentimental but I one of the biggest rewards of last week was taking my boy to go see this final film.  I saw the first one when I was four.  I saw the last one with my four year old son.  What a wonderful book end this long 30 year infatuation.  Silly?  Maybe, but I’ll remember it for the rest of my life.

Friday night we were asked to come by Phoenix Children’s Hospital to help present some award to a parting staff member in one of the departments at PCH.  Evidently this man was well loved because he had a large turn out and they (the organizers) agreed to donate some money back to PCH on our behalf.  That’s the only reason I did it but I’m glad I did.  Basically my rule of thumb with PCH is “I’ll do whatever you want.”

After PCH I trooped the Cine Capri again and picked up some pointers for my big night…

Saturday.

Now, being a Stormtrooper is really, really cool.  Very few things compare with putting on that armor for the first time and traipsing around Mill Ave. on Halloween.  But somehow I managed to get lucky enough to do something that very, very few people get to do.  I got to be Darth Vader.

I just want to stop here and say thanks to Tom Sholar who called me up on Thursday and *volunteered* to trust me with his $5,000 costume on Saturday night.  That’s just amazing to me because I don’t know if I would be trusting enough to do the same.  Not only am I thankful that he trusted me but that he gave me a chance to do something I’ve dreamed about since I was 4. 

I GOT TO BE FRIGGIN DARTH VADER Y’ALL!!!!!

The suit is hotter than the hinges of Hades but that didn’t stop me from having a blast!  Unless you’ve worn one you have no idea how powerful the suit makes you feel.  Not powerful in terms of violence but in terms of effecting the people around you.  As a Stromtrooper people feel relatively safe approaching to you.  As Darth Vader people are much more reticent.  I noticed after I walked out the Cine Capri in full gear that a ring of people had formed around me but no one was willing to actually approach me.  I had to slump my shoulders a bit and take on more of a “friendly” posture in order for people to feel safe coming up to me.  After that people kept coming up and asking for pictures and you could really see how happy people were to be standing next to Darth Vader.  It was a great feeling to shake the kid’s hands and see them freak out that they were meeting DV.  Anyway, childhood dream #465…check

And that, in a nutshell is my Star Wars week.  When I started out the week I told myself that no matter how tired I got I was going to do every single event that I was asked to do.  I did.  And I am so grateful that I did.  Star Wars was a big deal in my life and I will always be grateful for its influence on me.  I was determined to make the most of this send off as I do believe that this is the end of the franchise.  There may be TV shows and cartoons for a few more years to come.  But the story of Luke, Leia, Han, Chewie, R2-D2, C-3P0, Yoda, Obi-Wan and Anakin is over.  It was a great send off and I’m glad I got to be a small part of it. 

-Neil