Both panels on Sunday were fantastic. The first was just lining up our droids on the stage and talking about our droids, answering questions, letting the audience pick our brains, etc. Later in the day, on LC's request, I gave a 45 min presentation on R2-KT. It was in the boardroom and seemed to be quite crowded. I was pretty satisfied with the power point presentation, but would like to tweek it for future talks.
Usually I don't go to any panels except the ones I'm involved with. This year was not the case. Since it was the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing (has it been that long?) I decided to go to as many panels on the topic of space exploration as I could. Two of them was presented by a lovely woman named Bridgette who is heavily involved with the Cassini project. That's the probe studying Saturn and it's moons. Yep, they found another moon, one that looked like a lemon with a lengthwise seam. That picture woke me up!!! So, I got myself lots of Saturn moon trading cards and bookmarks, and learned lots about Saturn, my favorite planet. What girl wouldn't want a ring like that?! A third panel was on heavy model rocketry by the local model rocket builders. Long time ago, in high school, I too was in a local model rocket club. I sure miss it. Of course, I didn't launch anything like a 1/3 scale Delta rocket like these guys. These rockets were massive!!
I missed out on the Star Wars plot lines panel, mainly because I was too busy getting ready for the costume contest. Ahhh, the costume contest! Disco Padme! We even found the Disco Star Wars music to go with it! And I danced on stage! Moose later said he would never look at me in the same light again.... I sometimes crack myself up.
One of the best part of this trip was the two friends I was traveling with. Drew taught me and his wife, Krys, how to drive the RV. A lot different driving a 35 foot beast. At one point Krys decided to "talk" to the beast, and came up with a name for it, one that it liked apparently. It's now Lady Blaze (it's also a female RV apparently, and likes to blaze a trail). I like it, too. We arrived behind the hotel late Thursday evening, got Lady Blaze all set up, and went to bed early. The next morning Drew and I had all of AL's tools and parts on the table under the awning trying to put his wheels on. Friday afternoon the R2 Central group found us outside the RV door working in what has to be the most unique traveling astromech lab. I love my RV!!
For a wrap-up party we all went to Brad's house for a pool party and BBQ. I went with Moose to help unload the droids at his house, while Drew drove the RV to Brad's. After some good food, pool antics, and just great fun, Lady Blaze got back on the road home, stopping at a rest stop somewhere to get some rest before reaching home Monday evening. All three of us were wiped out, a sign of a really great con.
Unfortunately, the pivot on the mirror of my camera sensor is broken and will cost a great deal to repair, not to mention the time to get the part. As a result I didn't have my camera. You can see pics at http://www.r2-cm.com/ and http://r2k2000.blogspot.com/. I believe there are a few at http://www.r2-nu.com/ as well. Our group photog, Denny, should have a lot up soon if not already. I'll edit this post as soon as I remember his website. In the meantime, here is one I stole from one of the mentioned sites. We now have three lady builders in the R2 Central with a fourth really wanting to start soon. Now I just got to find the time to drive out to Omaha again for one of their build days, maybe one of Brad's electronic workshop.
Jen (Moose's girlfriend), me and AL, and Serena (Brad's wife)
AL's next event: October 24th and 25th, Star Wars Fan Days, Plano, TX. Gotta meet Don Bies.
Until next time,
Jawa Jaka
Edit: OK, I found Denny's blog with a few pics: http://falcon-one-photo.blogspot.com/. It's now in AL's Friends list.
