Day 43

Day 43...

Today has been a pretty quiet day. There was not much happening on the work front just a return to complete and a couple of phone calls. So the majority of my day was spent online buying birthday presents as I have at least 4...or is it 5...birthdays coming up in the next couple of weeks! May is a busy month!

Despite another grey day we ventured out at lunchtime and are now pretty consistent in our 2 miles done in 39 minutes. It started to rain a little on the way back and I did comment that this time last week I was in shorts and a t-shirt while today the winter coat was back out and I had gloves on!

I was reminded this morning through Facebook memories that three years ago we took part in our first Star Wars Weekend at Legoland Windsor. This was an event held over the closest weekend to May 4th...because that's the official Star Wars day (May the 4th be with you!!!) and involved multiple costuming groups held over three days.

Back in 2017 we attended just one of the days as part of the Mandalorian Mercs, representing the UK clan know as the Vok'Chi. The event organised by Legoland involved Star Wars costuming groups from across the UK who provided screen accurate characters to roam their park and take part in daily parades as part of a weekend devoted to all things Star Wars. In return for the costuming groups donating their time Legoland donated £15,000 to a childrens hospice called Alexander Devine.

It was a great event and we met lots of people which ultimately resulted in our joining another costuming group called Joker Squad which enabled Simon to create his Stormtrooper and me to become Governor Pryce.

Here are a couple of photos from our first Legoland event back in 2017;

With our fellow Mandalorian Mercs

It was a fun and tiring day full of high fives, smiles and photos and a fantastic opportunity to help raise money for a very worthwhile cause.

The rest of today was spent doing a little more on my jigsaw followed by a home workout; Simon and Molly down the gym again with me doing a few kettle bell moves!

See you tomorrow,
xx

Working for Disney...well...almost!

OK so that title may not be quite right but this is the closest I've gotten to working for Disney!

So let me explain. From my previous posts you may be aware that Simon and I have ventured into the world of cosplay and have become official members of the Mandalorian Mercs Costuming Club. Now just to bring you up to speed Mandalorian Mercs are based around the Star Wars character of Boba Fett and Simon, over the past 18 months, has created costumes for us both. This culminated with us becoming official members in June of this year closely followed by our first outing at Star Wars Celebration London in July.

Since July we took part in a comic-con at York and then we spotted an event that we just couldn't resist. To mark the launch of the new Star Wars Rogue One toys the Disney Store in the UK were on the look out for costumed characters to help with their promotional events. Disney Store contacted the Mandalorian Mercs and other costuming clubs looking for volunteers and as we are fortunate to live close to the Disney Store in Nottingham we put our names forward.

So on Sunday 2nd October we got our kit together and headed off into Nottingham and the Intu Victoria Centre. I must admit rolling a rather large storage trunk through the centre's car park and into the mall area was a bit strange...especially when bumping into an old work colleague while waiting for the elevator. And I'm not really sure what our teenage daughter and her friend thought to it all as they had taken advantage and joined us so they could go shopping!

Thankfully we hadn't got far to go between the elevator and the Disney Store and at 10.30am on a Sunday morning it wasn't too busy. As this was our first 'troop' like this we really didn't know what to expect but on arrival the staff couldn't have been more welcoming and pleased to see us and completely put any nerves and apprehension to bed.

So going behind the scenes or 'off stage' as I think it's referred to in Disney speak, we were shown to a very small staff room where we could get changed. Abi and the team were very intrigued by our costumes and we explained how we had become involved with the world of cosplay and how Simon had created the costumes, which inevitably led to the trying on of helmets!

Now to change the pair of us into Mandalorians takes about 45 minutes...there are lots of parts to each of our costumes that have to be put on in a certain order, especially when helping each other at the same time! But once in costume we made our way 'on stage' (otherwise known as the shop floor) but not before the store manager changed the video that was playing in store to a Star Wars themed one!

Front of store!

We then spent the next four hours camped out at the front of the store welcoming guests of all ages. We had some great interactions with lots of 'high-5's', 'fist bumps' and photos...lots of photos! The reaction from the public was often that of surprise but always with great humour and a want to get involved from the very young to the not so young! We had lots of photos taken that were accompanied by 'I need a photo for my boyfriend/husband/dad etc', 'he'll be so jealous'. We even had a few 'Snapchat' moments and one guy who filmed us for his vlog! But it was the reactions of the children that were the best and we had some very special interactions that obviously meant the world to some of the younger guests.

One of many, many photos taken

And I even got to have a photo with a little girl who used to attend my pre-school. Thanks Imogen for stopping by to see me :)

It was lovely to see you Imogen!

Mickey Ears were of course worn - how could I not?!

By the end of our day we were exhausted, a bit achy and very aware that despite wearing helmets for the vast majority of the time we hadn't stopped smiling all day.

A big thank you has to go to Abi and the girls at Disney Store, Nottingham for looking after us, making us feel so welcome and their generosity of magic!

Thanks Abi & Maya

Can't wait to do it again!!

WOW! What a Weekend - Final Day!

Well after an amazing couple of days we made it to day number three and the last day of Star Wars Celebration 2016.

The day started with a hearty breakfast which kept us fuelled for the day ahead.

















It was then time to get dressed Mando style! Here's just some of our kit laid out prior to getting 'kitted up'!

And today was chance to get out those Mickey ears. These were detachable as they are not strictly 'official' Mandalorian armour; Simon had craftily fitted extra strong magnets to the helmet and ears so they could be secure yet easily removed and attached. Pouches that are attached to my belt became handy 'ear holders'.

Once ready we headed out to the Excel Centre but we had not even made it out of the hotel car park before we were stopped for our first photos of the day. But by now we had a plan...each time someone wanted to take our photo we asked if in return they would take a photo of us with our camera!

And then we managed to get one of just us (this photo would come in rather handy later on....)

And here's just one of many taken at the entrance to the Excel this time with a young Star Wars fan..

And once again the walk into the centre and through weapons check before entering the main exhibition halls was staggered with photo opportunities.

But this morning we had a job to do as we had offered our services to help out in the Star Wars Celebration Family Area. This was an area set aside with space for families to sit down and take five minutes as well as some fun activities for the younglings. Within this area various groups had agreed to help out and provide activities over the weekend. The Mandalorian Mercs had agreed to be part of this and as such had a number of slots over the three days and the Sunday lunch time was our slot!

Mando selfie at a very busy Star Wars Celebration Family Area

Our job was to help the children make their own set of Mandalorian armour by way of some colouring sheets!

Not looking bad!

Although I think in some cases the dad's were more interested than the children!

Simon introducing a dad to the real armour - possible new recruit?

After an hour it was time to pack away our crayons and head over to the Mandaorian Mercs booth to take part in a group event. The idea was to have a group photo with as many of us as possible, so once we had all congregated at the booth we made our way out of the building to the front steps. It was such fun all of us walking out 'on mass' as the reactions from the public were great; lots of photos, smiles, waves and high fives. Once out of the building we all gathered on the entrance way steps which served perfectly to enable some great photos to be taken.

Buckets (helmets) on!

Buckets off!

And another shot...we reckon there must have been over 50 of us! Quite an impressive sight I think you'll agree!

Now once the photos had been taken we had a little surprise as we had a proposal between two of our members!! Thankfully she said yes!

As a memorial to a couple of official members who are no longer with us we then took part in an 'honour march'; this meant us all marching back into the arena in single file, with no interactions just straight forward heads up and march.

Simon and I taking part in the 'honour march'

Thank you to Steve Mannion Photography and J Goldsmith Photograhpy for some of the above images.

The march wound it's way around the two main exhibition halls before returning to the Mandalorian Mercs booth where we hung out for a short while...here's a few photos of Simon on booth 'duty'!

We then decided to head back to the hotel, grab a shower and change before heading back to Celebration for the last hour. This gave us chance to have a last look around and we even had chance to look inside the official Celebration Store as there were no longer any excessive queues! Although once inside there was not an awful lot to look at as stock was predictably low. I have to admit I was rather disappointed by the lack of unique clothing options specifically for us ladies! There were lots of unique t-shirts but I had hoped to see lots of 'Her Universe' products and although there were some pieces the choice was pretty dismal - about 3 or 4 different items. 

Now I love the clothing produced by 'Her Universe' which is ordinarily only available online from the US, so I had hoped this was going to be an ideal opportunity to make some purchases without incurring overseas postal fees and potentially customs charges too. But alas it was not to be :( It was such a shame especially as the lady behind it all, Ashley Eckstein, was actually at Celebration talking about her role as Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars;The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels.

Not looking overly impressed with the lack of 'Her Universe' choice and sizes were too big as well!

Some of the lifesize 'props' on display

As we wandered around we happened to stumble upon a talk that was talking place in one of the areas set aside for specific media outlets in the main halls...and we were very happy to eavesdrop in on Dave Filoni chatting all about Star Wars Rebels...

He is in there honest....look for the cowboy hat!

Now for those of you not familiar with the Star Wars extended universe let me give you a brief explanation! So we all know about the 3 original films and then we had the 3 prequels and then last December we had the first in the next trilogy - ok? Well besides all these movies there is even more Star Wars stuff - comics, books, toys and even animated series. And Dave Filoni is the creative force behind these animated series; Star Wars; The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels both of which are fantastic. Having watched both of these series relatively recently I have been really impressed by the story telling and the attention to detail that Dave Filoni and his team have produced. Watching all the behind the scenes featurettes has been fascinating and given a real insight into the amount of work, dedication and love that goes into producing anything that has the Star Wars name attached to it.

But anyway, Star Wars Celebration was now drawing to a close and at 5pm on Sunday 17th July 2016 it came to an end. But we had yet more fun planned as the Mandalorian Mercs were getting together that evening in a local pub to have a meal and round out what had been a fantastic weekend.

And then something happened that for the fan-girl in me made my weekend!

So there we were at a fairly standard, innocuous pub on the outskirts of London about to enjoy a meal with our new and very lovely Mandalorian family when we caught sight of someone entering the room; Simon and I both did a double take and looked at each other with that 'are you seeing what I'm seeing' look on each of our faces. Simon then said 'Dave Filoni's just walked in the room' and I think I said something along the lines of 'I know but why? What's he doing here? What? I don't understand...eek!'

Now at this point Simon and I are beginning to geek out big time and looking around the room everyone else seems to either not have noticed who's just walked in or not aware of who he is...it later became apparent that we all did know who he was but we had all adopted the traditional British 'we're not going to get over excited' approach! Well, we had our meal and Dave spent a good couple of hours with us all. He got up and spoke about the respect and love he has for all Star Wars fans. He spoke about how he respects what the Mandalorian Mercs are all about and how he always wants to ensure that he 'does right by us' when introducing Mandalorians into his work. His passion, love and care for this franchise was very evident in how he spoke and made me geek out even more!

I was determined to see if I could speak to him and at least get a photo with him but my English reserve was in danger of getting in the way...after all how does one ask a celebrity for a selfie? On our way back from the bar we found ourselves in an ideal position; the meal was over and everyone was just chatting and mingling and we noticed one of our fellow Mandalorians approach Dave for a photo. As we were stood very close by I decided this was our moment. Simon said to me in a half joking manner 'you ought to ask him if Mickey ears could be brought into the series' so I quickly got out my phone and found the photo of Simon and I from earlier in the day with me wearing my Mickey ears. I then approached Dave with phone in hand and showing him the photo began a conversation about Mickey ears in the Mandalorian universe...I kid you not! Dave took hold of my phone and zoomed in on the photo. We spoke about Mickey being his 'boss' now and whether the ears could be some sort of radar dish/communication device. He also gave us some lovely compliments about how good our armour looked and how he loved the paintwork...as you can probably guess by this point I was one happy and very geeked out fan-girl.

Showing Dave Filoni my phone and the photo of Mandalorian me with Mickey ears

Trying to convince Dave Filoni to make Mickey ears officially part of the Mandalorian universe 

Simon and I with the one and only Mr Dave Filoni

But the icing on the cake to all of this was later on as Dave was leaving and he came to say goodbye to some of our clans council leaders who we happened to be sitting next to. He turned and spoke to Simon and I, making reference to the Mickey ears and promised to 'have a look into it' and he put his hand on my shoulder as he wished us well and said goodbye. Que one very excited me, who quite frankly then acted like a teenager meeting the latest boy band...I hadn't really realised how big a Star Wars fan I had become until this point. In fact I am now even talking about a possible new tattoo that will be Star Wars themed!!

Someone else we got to chat to in more detail that evening was Tom Hutchens who is the founder of the Mandalorian Mercs or to give him his proper title 'Mandalor the Uniter'. Such an honour to meet him and find out a bit more about the Mercs, their origins and their ethos; a very cool guy.

Simon and I with Tom Hutchens

So that was our Star Wars Celebration weekend, a fantastic fun filled three days where we got to experience the joy of cosplaying as well as meeting a whole new family of friends as well as hanging out with a celebrity!

WOW! What a Weekend - Day 2

OK so here we are with Day 2 of Star Wars Celebration - London 2016.

After a hearty breakfast and sporting our new Vok'Chi Clan t-shirts we headed over to the Excel arena for another day of Star Wars.

Once again we had made the conscious decision not to spend time queuing for panels and so took our time and made it over to Celebration for about 10.30am. We chatted with a lovely family on our walk over and were able to help take some photos for them when we bumped into this big guy!

"I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee", said me, never.

And before we'd even got inside the arena is was chance to grab some photos with some of the cosplayers outside the entrance...

A shiny ShadowTrooper

There were still queues to get through bag check but these actually moved along quite quickly, although there was a lot of walking up and down barriers in what was essentially a very large warehouse!

Time to catch up with social media!

Once through and into the main exhibition halls it was chance to have a good wander about and take in anything that we had missed from the day before. This did lend itself to a few more photo opportunities!

Star Wars Rebels style Imperial Combat Driver

Not the only one with Mouse Ears at Celebration

He told me that he's just Matt the Radar Technician at StarKiller Base (but he kinda reminds me of someone else)

With Ryi'nock - one of our fellow Mandalorian Mercs

And of course the obligatory selfie while walking the floor!

After a few hours we headed back to the hotel to get changed into our Mandalorian armour as we had our first official stints on the Mercs booth that afternoon. We had learnt a few things from our outing in armour the day before which meant not only was the whole 'getting dressed' easier and a bit quicker but we'd also got a couple of changes; like putting my gloves on last so that I could take them off if needed (or at the very least so I could use my phone!).

All kitted up off we headed once more to the Excel and the long walk round to the entrance but once again we found it to be such fun with lots of high five's and stopping for photos. And this continued once we'd got into the building and through 'prop check' (remember all prop weapons had to be checked before being allowed through).

With a couple of mini-Mandos!

And even a Jedi wanted a photo with us!

Finally we made it through to the Mandalorian Mercs booth where we had duties to perform! Simon had some cell guard duty to attend to...

How did that Wookiee get in there?

...and he even got filmed for Star Wars Show Live!

We also helped out on a section of the booth that was set-up for children to get involved with; there was a shooting game and a throwing 'thermal detonators' target game. These were a great way to involve the children and introduce them (and their parents) to the world of the Mandalorians.

As our 'shift' came to an end fellow Merc Kris approached me and said that she'd like Simon and I to take part in a panel that the Mercs were hosting that afternoon! It was a panel all about building a set of Mandalorian armour and along with a few others Simon and I were to be the 'models'!! This involved us all standing at the front of the audience for an hour...in full kit...helmet on. This was the longest I think I'd ever spent with the helmet on and I have to admit I was a little unsure of how I would cope. The thing is I actually find the helmet to be a little claustrophobic, especially when indoors, but I surprised myself and in fact the longer I wore it the more I got used to it. Now don't get me wrong I was still thankful to take it off after the hour long panel!

Full audience ready for the Mercs armour building panel

Our team busy demonstrating how to shape the armour

A bit of posing going on by us 'models'!!

So the team here were able to shape a set of Mandalorian armour for an audience member in around 42 minutes...just a tad quicker than ours!! It was another fun experience which not only saw a lot more photos get taken but we also had chance to chat to members of the audience afterwards about our kits. I will confess to being very proud of my creative other half as we both received no end of compliments about our armour and although I think I wore it well all credit for it's creation firmly lays with Simon.

After the panel it was time for Celebration to close which meant a walk back to the hotel, a much needed shower, a change into civilian clothes and a very welcome and deserved tipple before our meal...