Joe Versku's CEII Report (Pic Heavy so in 2 Parts...)

[Joe Versku]

FIELD REPORT - EPISODE ONE

Sorry it took awhile for me to write up my CEII experience - not that any of you were particularly waiting for it ! Lol

(Picture courtesy DanW)

It's been more than a week now and I've been off my feet doing work/life stuff since getting back. After the accounts that Smally and Dutchy have done of our time there I won't be repeating a chronoligical breakdown of what went down. Instead, I just want to share a little more ...atmosphere and a little more from the perspective of what it was like to actually troop such an event.

But first, take a look at this..

Yes, I think so too...

So, CEII was the first troop I've ever done of it's kind. By this I mean it was the first troop I was at where there was an international 501st presence and the first troop where I was equally a punter/fan/attendee as much as I was "working" the 501st beat. Like any event of this scale, there could be plenty to moan about but frankly, there was plenty more to celebrate. After the dust has settled, I have honestly taken away from the experience nothing but awesome memories and a warm glow that still remains... oh alright, maybe also the occasional hard-on when I think about some of the ...encounters I had

What ? I was IN character !

Besides, it's not like Smally and Dutchy are total angels !

I'd like to take this moment to give Pino his "photobomb" award..

Okay getting back to topic. I would say the experience of attending something like Celebration is akin to being let loose at Toys R Us, with a blank cheque, an empty shopping trolley and 10mins to get your shopping done ! You just don't know what you gotta do, when you wanna do it and how you gonna fit it all in ! The week before setting off for Essen, I was number crunching the schedules: trying to fit in what I can do for my Garrison, for the MEPD, for the 501st and for myself as far as attending the scheduled talks/shows that were on offer on each day. I finally committed to some time slots to troop at my Garrison's booth. Not knowing how the physical space was gonna be, that was all I could commit to ahead of arrival because we still had the Move Along project, the 501st group spray and the MEPD '76 photo to think about - none of which had been set in stone.

So when Smally and I got to Essen, found our hotel and sped off to the unofficial 501st ****-up, I said to him, "I want no regrets. I don't care what we end up doing (and not doing) this weekend, I just wanna have a blast". And that's exactly what we did. From the moment we got to the bar for the informal 501st meet, I knew the one thing that would make the weekend great for me were the people I met. And wow, what a variety of people did I come across. I met a budding Canadian actor who flew all the way to cold-call Kathleen Kennedy for a part in the upcoming films, StarWars cosplayers who dressed in their own special way (Bra-Fett anyone ? The Artoo princess ? The hot Texan femtrooper-esque chick who criticised how my calf needed to be "seemless" (I didn't bother pointing out the screen references, I was too busy looking at her through my bucket!), cross-dressers (male-Oola, male-Leia.. you name it), prop makers, merchandise makers, Angry Birds ...Etc

This guy looked awesome !

This guy... Err, didnt !

Oh and here's a graffiti of a Sandie sitting on a giant-hybrid-ant-eater... don't ask

The real Cantina...

But they were just seasoning. The main ingredient were the various Garrisons that make up Vader's Fist. It was really cool for Smally and I to walk around and catch people wearing their MEPD logos or Tees. Finally putting faces to names, actually meeting the people you only knew virtually on the boards was the icing on the cake.

We kept meeting seemingly random MEPD boys doing solo troops. We didn't even know they'd be there ! but I'm glad we caught a few.

This guy was from Poland but I'm really sorry to have forgotten your name ! Please post up and reveal yourself to us !

And here is Felice

As you can see, it was HOT. Furnace hot ! By the end of Friday, our undersuits probably carried several pints of sweat. I know my gloves alone did ! By Saturday, Smally had to borrow my spare undersuit cos his never dried from the day before ! And I remember trying to get AF to sign my lid but then telling him to do his Spanish Garrison interview with Manuel first because my bucket was so wet on the inside, the pen wouldn't have worked ! I thank the stars I had a fan in my lid. Even so, I was getting dehydrated quickly and headaches were only always a few mins away. Felice stayed in armour all day, faithfully followed around by his family who spotted for him. Incredible. Here's a video of Felice being interviewed by one of the German press

[Joe Versku]

FIELD REPORT - EPISODE TWO

So what was the difference between trooping at CEII compared to trooping at MCM Expo or Legoland SW Weekend for me ? All these events attract thousands but CEII was different because, as I mentioned earlier, it's not just a troop. You're there for yourself too. For MCM Expo events for example, we get to turn up early and get access to our changing facilities ahead of the doors opening. That gives us time to kit up and be out when the droves of people come in. For Celebration events, we queue to get in with everybody else. On Day One Smally and I walked in and felt instantly like kids. All those sets (Endor bunker, Falcon interior, Cantina etc ..you've seen the photos) and all those toys, merchs, tattooists and autograph booths. It got pretty obvious quickly though that things were on the pricey side tho !

Now I' not really sure how MovieFX managed to get a stand at an official LFL event but there they were with their expensive wares.

WANT !

It was great to have large props around the venue too, not just backdrops. So Tie pilots could be with the Vader Tie, AT-AT drivers with the massive walker..

This poor Snowie mannequin really took a beating cos over the 3 days, his head kept getting lower and lower, like he was nodding off ! Unfortunately I didn't take that shot but here he is with his awesome BFG nevertheless..

Although excited to be there, we knew this was gonna be a hard troop. Physically. As UKG we don't take our lids off in public so this was pretty gruelling and staying close to our changing rooms was important. Wandering off elsewhere meant we had to commit to having our lids on for awhile. But wander around we did and we headed toward Dutchy at the Cantina. This was always a slow process as you constantly get stopped along the way for photos. When we got there we stood together for a brief period. It would have been great if we could stay together as MEPD for awhile longer but we had to get on with other stuff. I should say here that Dutchy was amazingly dedicated to that Cantina. He was there for hours !

Here's me, shorty, ready to go meet the public

Although I trooped every day, I still wished I could've trooped more but physically, I think I would've done some damage to myself. I remember, on Saturday, having de-kitted to grab some lunch, I stood in a queue for drinks and I could hear the voice of an American girl not far behind me talking to her friend and saying how she only came to Essen to see, "lots of costumes ! That's all (she) wanted to see. Lots of costumes everywhere !". I looked around and didn't see many at that point. It was so hot and everyone had just done the 501st group photo so I imagined they were having some rest-time. I felt really bad and wanted so badly to go back to the booth and get kitted up again but I just physically couldn't do it. I hope she stayed long enough to see the best of what the 501st offered.

I loved the R2 Builders Club section.

One day, when I'm rich, I will have a 3D printer !!

The 501st group photo was an exercise in stamina. I remember doing "passing-out" parades in my youth as an army cadet in the summer sun and seeing the occasional "trooper" faint. I was actually surprised no one fainted in Essen ! But I will say _hand on heart_ this was still an incredible troop. The Move Along Project was the cherry of a very large cake ! I'll let our Newsletter team say more about that.

On Sunday we did a marching parade throught he crowds with an inspection by our very own Lord Vader and Emperor. That's always a highlight for me as was having photos with the occasional celebrity but most of all, I loved seeing the happy members of the public, who _having probably already seen costumers do what they do_ continue to be impressed by what we do. Their appreciative smiles and compliments just make the whole thing worthwhile.

Smally and I are at 04:00 and 06:50

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBtNt2I6J6I

I want to share this video again cos it is just awesome

There is another anecdote I'd like to share at this point: Dutchy, Smally and I walked outside of the venue briefly for some fresh air outside, but we were still away from the public eye. We were discussing what to do for the evening. We were in armour speaking through our RomFXs. Then a TV reporter came up and said, "Can you guys just keep talking the way you are ? (he shoves his microphone to us, camera at the ready) "It's very bizarre to see!". That was a penny drop moment for me. On the one hand I did think it woulda looked odd for 3 sandtroopers talking about the evening's social. On the other hand, it felt perfectly natural !!! That's what we do !

I want to take this opportunity to raise a big shout out to the German Garrison who did an incredible job working with LFL to have the 501st be part of CEII. Looking back to all the postings they've done on the 501st site, the monumental organisational task of making us feel welcomed, the unofficial drinks nights, the official dinner and countless other jobs they took on, I can't but salute, bow and make Ewok-noises-when-they-worship-a-deity to the German Garrison. Amazing, Amazing, Amazing.

So, in the end I really only did ONE thing out of the list of shows I wanted to see as an attendee - the Carrie Fisher talk.

But I don't regret missing out on the rest, 'cos I wouldn't have wanted to miss out on what I did experience. The people (to everynone I met, love y'all !!) and the moments (All the time spent with Anthony Forrest, The MCQ troopers reveal, the Move Along Project, the crazy ******* impromptu video shoot at the picnic area...). We were sad not to have been able to pull off the '76 photo with fellow MEPD members. I guess, if we're ever to coordinate as a group we would've needed an MEPD C.O. on the field coordinating all of us. A difficult task given each member's own commitment to their respective Garrisons.

I know he's been mentioned a lot, so I'm just gonna say for my part that I thought he was the easiest and coolest guy you could ever meet.

Yes, it was his idea to put the MEPD pin in his ear !

Geekin' out and trooping aside, we all just had stupid fun in Essen.

The 501^st dinner was a really special night. An international melting pot of 501st Garrisons I could only hope to meet and now was in the presence of, all under one roof. The food was plentiful and as is typical of German hospitality, the beer, free flowing. Speeches were made, songs sang, celebrities mingled and one very touching iPhone Facetime moment when the UKG called one of our members who couldn’t turn up because she was still recovering from her brain cancer operation. The entire place waved at her and wished her well.

One thing I quickly found in Essen was how each Garrison had their own particular personality and it was fascinating for me to meet and watch them all individually as well as when they come together. I saw Japanese Garrison members in Kimonos, an Italian Garrison member showing off actually pretty impressive sword skills at 3am, the Dutch Garrison rocking out and _frankly one of my favourite_ the Spanish Garrison who were so warm, so funny and so OWNED the dance floor that night after the dinner ! …at least until the rest of the 501^st invaded the floor with some …err, spectacular dance moves. The UKG’s TK Disco also made an appearance. Alas I don’t have a photo of that. Thanks to all for that special evening. Especially the Spanish Garrison who, I believe, also wanted to adopt Smally. They've invited us to troop with them in Valladolid in September. I am sooooo tempted !

I love this photo ( I don’t know who’s it is so I hope u don’t mind me posting it)

So that's it from me. There's always more to say but all that will trickle out eventually either here or on FB I'm sure. Incidentally, since CEII, I seem to have quadrupled my FB friends list ! How do these people know who I am ?!!!

I leave you with a picture that summed up the whole weekend for me. I took it in the hotel room the night after the informal meet, just before heading off to the venue for the first time on Friday.

[longboard8]

Great pics. My son and I just go the miniatures game. Pretty cool so far.

Look at all those people taking pictures of you guys, wishing they had come in costume.

[Joe Versku]

The miniature games display was really cool. I loved the Death Star surface they used. Would love it in my own place one day !

Some more pics courtesy of DanW...

[Elegance]

Wow, awesome and thanks for the write up, brilliant............

[dutchy]

What a post Joe...You have summed everything up from a whole other point of view, I like it!!

A great job on your report bro'!!!

I almost have forgotten about the interview the radio did..it was so hilarious but strangely normal as well.

But why did you post so little pictures of Leia's and Oola's...

[DarthChridan]

Hey...great pics of you, Joe...sad that we have not really meet us...ok a bit short at the 501st group pic. All in all it was really stunning. My plan for the next year is, that I will come to the London Comic Con....for sure

[DirtyBoy]

Awesome Post!!! great to see so many pictures from this event.

[DaveMars]

Oh man I'm even more gutted that I didn't join you guys now

Thanks for sharing Joe

[Joe Versku]

Thanks guys ! The whole event made me realise how not impossible it is to troop with my fellow Euro brethren if the opportunity presents itself. Would love to see you guys again.

Daniel, let us know if you definitely cross the channel for LFCC next year dude.

Troop on people !

[TK_Han]

Joe, I can say? ... I loved Meet them all, as you said I hope to see in the trrainig day (Valladolid), please let me know if you are coming to the end.

I'll call Paloma, to make a second photograph

Of course we have the (SAY CIPOTE 2)

By your description of the event I can only say .....

[Joe Versku]

Cipote !!!!

Manu, I would love to go to Villadolid ! But at the moment it clashes with my work schedule. If that changes, I will let you guys know ASAP !!

[Gordonator]

Thanks for the report Joe. Awesome.

[iconoclasta_88]

Awesome pictures!

I have seen your picts, Justu's and Brad's and it seems you guys had a GREAT time over there!

That is what the Sandy brotherhood is all about! Fun, slave girls, beers and dirty armor!!! OH, and of course, not finding the droids.

Saludos

[Joe Versku]

Hi guys, here's a video of us goofin' around...

[Felice]

plan for the next year is, that I will come to the London Comic Con

...may the felice be with you:-)!!!

Great report my friend!! I really hope that in the next time we have some partytime.....after the

show;-)

Cheers!

[Sandman Tigui]

Loved every copy and pic Joe! Great Field Con reporter for sure. Vader would be proud of you bro!!!

[Joe Versku]

Thanks guys !

Luis - when you coming over dude ?!

Felice - you rocked the CEII troop, buddy !

[Pino]

great vid Joe ...love it °°

[Joe Versku]

[sternik]

This guy was from Poland but I'm really sorry to have forgotten your name ! Please post up and reveal yourself to us !

Hey! it's me

[Joe Versku]

Darek !!!!!!!!!!!!!! You were awesome dude ! Not to mention tall !

Great meeting you there brother. And respect for carrying that Droid hunt card !

[Rolf]

Hi guys, here's a video of us goofin' around...

http-~~-//vimeo.com/72203702

MMMMuuhhaaaa OMG that was freaking fantastic!!!!

[Joe Versku]

:-D

[Felice]

freaky vid!!!! freaky guys....