Make-A-Wish grants magical wishes to children and young people fighting life-threatening illnesses. The charity was founded in the UK in 1986 and, since then, they have granted over 4,200 wishes. Whether a wish is to be a princess or a policeman for a day, own the latest computer equipment, meet a favourite celebrity or just enjoy some special time away from home with their family, a wish come true brings so much to a child's life and provides memories for the family that last a lifetime.
This event was Viveks wish day, his first wish was to write a comic strip for Marvel Comics, unfortunately due to his inability to travel by plane, this wasn't possible. One of his other wishes was to have a 42" wide screen plasma TV. A little bird told us that he was also a big Star Wars fan so a special arrival was arranged for when he turned up at Comet.
When Vivek arrived he was greeted by 4 Stormtroopers and an Imperial Officer. After Vivek was invited to inspect the troops by the officer (who passed with flying colours!) He was escorted into the store to see the choice of the TV's. The store manager had the right idea of playing a Star Wars film which played on all the tv screens whilst Vivek was choosing. Having Episode 3 in surround sound and on all the screens was pretty cool. After much deliberation and with a little help from the troopers the right TV was picked. The rest of the time was spent chatting to Vivek and his family, with Vivek asking lots of really good questions to the troopers.
Eventually it was time for Vivek to go and after an Imperial send off his day was complete. As well as TV, he was also given a special surprise present from the Garrison members. A goodie bag with Star Wars DVD's, T-shirts, trading cards, patches and Space Centre goodies as well as a family ticket for the big Star Wars event at the Space Centre on May Bank Holiday.
After Vivek had left the troopers were left to their own devices, which can be dangerous! The funniest thing had to be fridge blending moment! So funny seeing 3 troopers standing infront of the fridge freezers and disappearing! Bikers Scouts got nothing on us! We then went into the Toys R Us a few doors down from Comet and checked out the Star Wars section! (Big kids!)
The day was finished off back at the Space Centre for Tea and Jaffa Cakes! Lots of great moments and memories, thanks to all who were there; Ged, Don, Andy, Mr Morley and Malika.
Please visit the Make A Wish site and see all the great work they do.
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( 3.1 / 139 )I travelled over to Los Angeles at the beginning of January for my annual trip to the Xena Warrior Princess convention which is held in Burbank. As well as the convention it is also an opportunity for me to catch up with some good friends of mine who I only ever get to see once a year.
The weather was good which was really nice coming from the chilly temperatures in the UK. As many of you know I am a member of the UK branch of the 501st Legion, I posted on the 501st forums that I was heading over to LA to see if the local garrison had any events on. The CO of the South California Garrison Cris, got in touch and invited me to a small event in aid of a childrens hospice as well as a garrison social get together. Sorted, so my first day after arriving in town saw me heading down to Anahiem with Cris and helping out at my first SCG event! After chatting with Cris on the journey down to the event I found a fellow Jeff Wayne The War of the Worlds fan which makes him a top bloke already! So my first day was a lot of fun and Cris was the perfect host and later that evening I had a meal with him and his lovely lady Kim.
The next thing I wanted to do was to visit my friends grave. My dear friend Aleida passed in October last year and I didn't get an opportunity to go to LA for her funeral, so this trip was a chance to pay my respects. I was taken to the cemetary by my friend Kelly who was one of Aleidas friends and was there when she passed. We spent a couple of hours sitting on the hillside where Aleida was buried and laughed and reminised about all the good times and it was a really nice time, no tears or sorrow.
The rest of the week saw me heading to my usual favourite haunts, Melrose, Venice, Santa Monica and Hollywood. No sooner had I arrived, the 12th Annual Xena Convention had arrived! 3 days of guests, music videos and an array of activites with the popular costume contest and the new talent contest! This conventions guests were headlined by the lady herself Lucy Lawless with Renee O Conner. Lucy's husband and series producer Robert Tapert also appeared along side the Co Exec Liz Friedman answering the fans many questions about the possibility of a Xena movie. Convention new comer, actress Brittany Powell (Brunhilda) went down a storm with the fans with her bubbly personality and on stage exploits! She was game enough to auction off her bra to help raise money for charity much to the delight of the fans! If I remember correctly it went for $1,100.00!! Claire Stansfield (Alti) made a welcome return to the convention after several years, her stories were very funny which ranged from her son, her t-shirt company and stories on the set of Xena. The ever popular Michael Hurst and his wife Jennifer were great and always have interesting stories to tell of new projects they are involved with. All the other guests Adrienne, Jay, Robert, Patrick and Mr Sears were popular as ever and entertained the fans with their usual flair. The other highlight of the convention weekend was the debut concert of Lucy Lawless at the Roxy on Sunset Blvd. Lucy showed her singing abilities on the US hit show Celebrity Duets where the stars were paired with famous singers and were voted by the public. Lucy came in at a very respectable second place and inspired her to have her own concert. The concert was held on the Saturday and Sunday evenings of the convention weekend, I attended the Sunday night and I must say it was great. To start off my friend Cat was the MC for the concert and it was great to see her on stage being really confident and professional, way to go Cat! Lucy seemed very comfortable on stage and was enjoying her time on stage. She sang a range of songs from tracks like, " Pull up to the Bumper" to "I'll Stand by You". Renee joined her on stage for one number which saw the two of them dancing together wearing short tassel go go style dresses. Lucy certainly put on a good show and I'm sure the concert will be available on dvd shortly.
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The costume contest was held on the Saturday of the convention because of Lucy was appearing on the Sunday afternoon. This year there was about ten entries with costumes spanning the seasons of the series. It was a great chance for me to wear one of my Xena costumes again as the opportunities are getting few and far between. I wore my favourite costume which is from the episode "The Debt". when Xena was a badass! Thanks to the support of the fans they voted me as the winner which is great as it shows people really appreciate the time and effort that goes into my costumes. Steven Sears took some excellent photos of the convention and Lucys concert, visit his site for further photos and his report on the convention.
Well another convention has been and gone, hard to believe they have been going for 12 years! The weather took a turn for the worst and was really cold, especially in the evenings dropping down below zero! Malibu had snow and I was in a hail storm, wierd or what? The temperature at home was warmer than in LA! The only good thing is I missed the scary high winds that hit Europe whilst I was away.
One of the other highlights of the trip was going to the SCG social gathering, a great chance to meet other 501st members and I was made to feel very welcome as was Carly who I was on hols with. The UKG was riding high from the impression they made at the Rose Parade a couple of weeks before with the SCG members, so several members were talking to me about the UKG guys they had met and what a great time they had spent with them. It was a lovely evening filled with good food, good drinks, good company and cool star gazing through a telescope a member had brought along. The South California Garrison, a great bunch of people!
As usual the weather started to pick up and got into the low 20's C just before I left, isn't it always the way?! So the last day of my trip saw me modelling for a promotional video for a wetsuit company called Excel. My friend who I was staying with has just gone into business with Malibu Surf Shack so decided to start some new marketing ideas. The day saw me struggling to get into several types of wetsuits, boy are they hard work! It went well though and will have to wait and see if anything comes from it, be interesting to see what the promo will look like. Just as well they didn't want footage of us surfing or should I re-word that and say just as well they didn't want footage of me surfing!
Well I'm back now and hoping I can get back over there sometime in the very near future!
Photos by Steven L Sears - Visit his site for more images of the convention and concert
http://www.pondalee.com/xena.htm
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( 3 / 219 )Fantasy Events annual Comic Card and Toy Fair with over 25 Star Wars actors in attendance! Too many actors to list but some of the favourites were Dave Prowse, Jeremey Bulloch, Kenny Baker, Alan Harris, Garrick Hagon, Mike Carter, Jerome Blake and many more talented actors.
Surprisingly this years event was much quieter compared to last years, started fairly quiet but got busier as the day went on. The Garrison had a great area for the photostand right by the entrance, so everyone that came through the door came face to face with an array of Star Wars characters. The Garrison fielded several Stormtroopers, Biker Scouts, Darth Vader, Jango Fett, Anakin Skywalker, Padme, X-Wing Pilot, Rebel Fleet
and a Death Star Gunner. There was also other Garrison chaps and chapeses doing sterling work as spotters and helpers on the photostand. Another excellent job by all which helped raise approx £325.The usual harrassing of the public was order of the day as well as lots of photos being taken by the public. One little boy was whining at his mother until I walked up behind him and he suddenly found a stormtrooper staring down at him! He hid behind his mothers legs and went very quiet, much to the delight of his mother!
With the actor Alan Harris (Bossk) signing at the event, I took the opportunity to take a break and go and have a chat with him as my next costume I am currently making is Bossk. I spent some time with him asking lots of questions and he was telling me loads of interesting stories and information which was just great. I just want to say how lovely a chap he is and as well as spending quite a bit of time chatting to me, he also let me pick as many of the photos he had on his table to help me with the costume making and signed them all to boot and all for free! It was an absolute delight to chat with him and I really hope he will be at Celebration Europe so he can see the costume in all its glory!
Another great person I had a chat too was Richard Bonehill, a brilliant film sword master among many things as well as playing Nien Numb in Return of the Jedi. Lots of interesting sword fighting things to talk about which as you can imagine went on for several minutes!
And finally before I got back into trooper gear I had a great time chatting to Jeremy Bulloch about Robin of Sherwood (he played Edward of Wickham). Lots of reminising and wishing the last series had been made instead of that rubbish series that the BBC has produced (my opinion). Garrick Hagon was really nice to talk too as well, he was telling me about a documentry he was in about George Washington which was filmed over here in the UK.
I got back into trooper armour and did the last part of the day as the crowds slowly filtered home. A really fun and interesting troop with a great social drink afterwards before the journey home. I guess a special mention has to go to a certain person who came along to the event. My friend Sean who is going to join the Garrison! I think he was the evenings entertainment with his Captain Jack Sparrow impressions. Nice one matey, can't wait to see Jack Sparrow deal with Stormtroopers at a big event next year. Watch this space!!
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( 3 / 132 )Rainbow Childrens Hospice, Loughborough - December 16th 2006
This event only required about 4 Star Wars characters as it was a really small intimate event. 5 little lads in wheelchairs had a really cool Christmas surprise, 2 stormtroopers, Jango Fett and a Jedi dropped by to pay them a visit.
They gathered in the dining room with their helpers to meet the characters and spent the time laughing and joking and taking lots of photos. The troopers made sure the helpers didn't overstep the mark bossing the children or troopers around, one particular lady got a ticking off after she got a bit cheeky!
After issuing the lads with Imperial Citation Tickets when some of their wheelchairs looked suspiciously like some stolen driods, 2 of them with electric wheelchairs decided to join Dark Side and were recruited into the Imperial forces. We went on a search for the centre manager who was late turning up so we decided to do a security sweep of the hospice looking for her. The 2 lads led the way in their wheelchairs acting like biker scouts (but better as they didn't crash into anything!). Eventually we caught up with the lady concerned and arrested her for her late arrival, the lads took a photo of her being arrested and assuming the usual arrest pose!
After being there for a couple of hours we left the lads as it was time for their lunch.
The lads had a brilliant time and we really enjoyed it too, another one of those great troops that reminds you what its all about, making a difference in someones life who may not be as fortunate as yourself. I know it touched all of us when we saw the smile on the lads faces and cheered them up a little.
Thanks to my fellow Garrison members on the day, Adam, Sarah, Andy and Laura as helper.
Photos to follow when the hospice forwards them on.
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( 3 / 117 )There's not much I need to say about what this event is, I'm sure your all aware by now! This Mem had the usual star signings and Q&A sessions with David Carradine as the headliner from Kung Fu and Kill Bill fame.
This event had a great selection of vehicles from film and television, Lady Penelope's pink stretch Rolls Royce, the little yellow car Brum from the childrens TV programme, a replica Land Speeder from Star Wars and Bond cars, a Jag and Aston Martin.
Unfortunately due to work commitments I was only able to attend the Sunday so can only comment on this. I can report that the UK Garrison held it's annual charity ball on the Saturday evening and it was announced that so far this year the Garrison has raised over £35,000.00 for charity! Wow, amazing and the year is still not finished yet! Pretty amazing for a bunch of Star Wars geeks!
On Saturday there were some new costumes from the Garrison members being premiered which included Frank the Bunny from Donny Darko, X-Men characters, Riddick, a brilliant remote controlled R2 D2 and Emperor Palpatine no less! (I hope I've not missed anyone out!) Another attraction was a special effects make-up demo with a couple of the Garrison lads being turned into Zombies. There was also the presence of Lucas Films who were recording the Garrison for a special on a DVD which is being produced about the Rose Parade, an event happening in Pasadena, California with a huge presence of the 501st Legion from all over the world.
With the troopers being split into squads and sent out to cause havoc with the public I was assigned a small squad which consisted of Richard and Ian, with the 3 Tie Fighter Pilots joining up with us we went outside to start our own version of security checks and bag searches! The day started off well with Ian arresting a little boy and putting trooper handcuffs on him which made the little boy cry! Who said Stormtroopers aren't scary! I stopped a lady and was going to confiscate her bag of chocolates unless she handed some over! Several chocolates later and the lady was sent on her way! Result!! After lots of bag searches we moved inside the exhibition hall to patrol inside. We came across the James Bond corner which had a very sexy Jaguar and Aston Martin car, after much drooling the chap on the stand dropped the rope barrier and let us pose next to the Aston Martin, yeah baby!! They also had an airsoft range to which they let us have a go, seeing stormtroopers with an M16 and a handgun shooting at a target must have been a funny sight! I'm waiting for the chap to send me some photos he took of us at play and next to the Aston Martin and I will get them posted up here hopefully before Christmas.
During my spare time out of trooper armour I of course had to go over to see Jeff Wayne on his War of the Worlds stand. It was really nice that he remembered me from the last time I met him and he asked me what I was up to. I told him that I have written a song which would be Carries song, her side of the story which we don't get to know from the War of the Worlds. He had a "quite pleasantly surprised" reaction and was interested to know how it would sound. I said when I have finished it I would send him a copy to see what he thought!
Back in the armour and into the action in the main hall way, the Emperor and his guard were there. We stayed close to him incase he needed assistance trooper style. Sure enough I was beckoned over and instructed to sort out a couple of young goth looking lads who were sat down across the way. I signalled my squad and we moved in for the kill! Sure enough as soon as we approached and told them we were ordered by the Emperor himself to keep an eye on them they literally turned and fled! Another victory for the Empire!
Catching the public as they left the exhibition and seeing what they had bought was fun and interesting, one of the best moments was Geordi's zombie moment. One of the girls in the box office was bored and was holding her head in her hands not paying attention, Geordi in all his gory zombie make-up crept up to her window and slammed against the glass, she screamed her head off much to the amusement of everyone around.
Yet another fantastic troop, just wish I could have been there for the whole weekend, as usual everyone did a sterling job well done to all, amazing costumes and amazing performances.!
Photo kindly supplied by UK Garrison member Gary Sheriston
Check out Gary's site for further images of this event
http://agentsheriston.fotopic.net
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