Just a little extra

I'm posting this pic because it's on my business card and I needed to post it online somewhere to send it as a PM to someone.  I know, I'm not making much since today.  Technology, ya gotta love it!! 

In the meantime, I'm cutting some metal plates for his center foot casters so he can roll again.  The wooden block I made cracked in half during Hauntings at the Hangar.  His schedule this holiday season:
Friday 9th - Star Wars Bluray screening
Saturday 10th - Golden Christmas Parade (if he fits in the cart and if it's not snowing)
Saturday 10th - Open Cockpit Wings Over the Rockies (after parade or if it's snowing)
Friday 16th - can't remember but there definitely is something going on
Saturday 17th - Foothills Fashion Mall Toys-for-Tots in Ft. Collins
        If you haven't met AL this is a great opportunity to see him in his Santa hat!

Jaka has a departmental luncheon, a company christmas party, and hosting the Christmas Eve Apres-ski party up in Breckenridge ski resort.  I'll be in Breckenridge Dec 23-26, AL and the cats are staying home and having their own little party!

A Victoran Project

I'm starting another project today that has nothing to do with AL or robots or even Star Wars for that matter.  It kinda started last year when I was researching polanaise skirts for ren fair costumes.  I found this pattern at Patterns of Time. 

I decided not to get the pattern at the time because it looked to 1880's prairie-ish to me.  And I was right!  Just now ordered it 'cause that's kinda where my project is heading now.  I also just ordered this pattern:

I'll be combining both patterns to get the look I want. I love the lapels and fringe on this one, but will not use the bell sleeves.  In case your wondering, this is the steampunk outfit I did last April for Starfest:

It's a 1905 motoring coat with grandpa's pocket watches all over it.  I made it in honor of the Time Machine that was suppose to come but didn't.  I wore it anyway and got lots of compliments. I'm currently looking for a nice feminine safari hat to go with it.  This year I decided to make something Victorian, even though I'm more of an Edwardian gal myself (love the costumes on Titanic!).  I got the bug from my friend Melanie who had an awesome Victorian Society table at MileHi Con.  And it's all starting with this:

I made this for my mom about ten years ago out of black velvet and the skirt portion of the short dress my mother's bridesmaid wore.  It's a copper taffeta with embroidered roses (the wedding was copper and olive green while my dad wore his formal navy attire, married in the chapel on the San Diego Naval base). Yesterday I bought 6 yards of matching crinkled embroidered copper taffeta.  See
if this was meant to be!

 

I'm in the process of taking off the brown ribbon and sequins.  Three rows of seam ripping in two hours!  Jeez, I might be finished by Christmas at this rate!  I just don't think sequins goes well, however I'm leaving the gold loopy embroidery on (I like it!).  I also bought 3 yards of matching black velvet.  This will give you a good idea on what it will look like (use the pattern pics above for reference and your imagination):

I think Smokey is really looking forward to this project.  She couldn't wait to try out the new fabric.  Taffeta just feels soooooo good (and it's shiny!).

So there you have it.  My new Victorian project (I'm not even going to call it Steampunk, no goggles or watches involved).  Black velvet and copper taffeta.  Now to find some matching copper fringe for the shoulders.

Until next time,
Jawa Jaka (a Victorian jawa?)

Denver Roller Dolls troop

Wow!  It's been awhile since I've posted.  Well, I've been kinda busy lately, so I do have some excuses.  Anyway, AL stayed home for this official Rebel Legion troop since he didn't want to get rolled over by the Denver Roller Dolls, a non-for profit roller derby team in Brighton, CO.  You can check them out at www.denverrollerdolls.org or at their very active facebook page at www.facebook.com/denverrollerdolls.  The Mountain Base, Mountain Garrison, and Rocky Mountain Fan Force turned out in full force (about 25 of us) to help the Roller Dolls with their annual Halloween night.  There were four teams competing, and they were all dressed up as zombies!  I noticed one girl had zombie blood all over her shirt, and I had to say "rough game, huh?".  She laughed so hard!

So, here's a couple of pics of the event:

The Roller Dolls in all their bloody goodness!

Buckets On! (can you see me? the jawa)


Buckets Off!



I was not at this event, but I'm so proud of my garrison for the professionalism they showed on and off stage during the Weird Al concerts (there were two of them, and months of planning for both).



On a side note (but no pics), I got Sauron the Scrubby repainted with the black stripes in place, all the greeblies put back on, and am almost finished with the top part.  I finally figured out what the antenna is made out of.  I think it's the back part of an oven knob.  I'm going to try that this weekend (if I can find one).  Got lots to finish this weekend, so no events for me.  Well, except that Friday night party with some of my pirate friends...

Until next time,
Jawa Jaka (busy on the scrubber droid)

I Remember

I wish I had my camera on my way home tonight.  A sight that truly surprised me.  One of the overpasses that links the light rail to the other side of I-25 was completely covered in American flags, with about a dozen people on it waving more flags with one hand and waving to the cars below with the other.  There was a banner that said "We Remember".  Simple, no other words needed.

Earlier this morning as I was doing paperwork at my desk, I watched reruns of the memorial service on the internet.  Some of it was very moving, but nothing to make me cry.  Until they showed the actual ABC coverage of that horrible day.  I was working at Target, watching it all unfold in the breakroom (I was suppose to be taking out the breakroom garbage) on Sept 11th.  As I watched the rerun of the second plane coming in, my mind wandered back to that day, and the horrible image that has haunted me for the past ten years came full blown.  And I cried hard for a solid ten minutes, unable to do my work briefly this morning.

The image that has stuck in my mind is watching in horror all those people jumping from the windows.  I've often wondered if they were already dead and were blown out of those windows, or if they made the decision to jump.  Much like the biblical Masada.  I've wondered if I could make such a choice.  Do I jump from 90+ stories to a certain quick death?  Do I try to climb down the inferno?  Do I hunch up in a ball waiting for the inevitable flames, passing out from the smoke and heat?  What would you do?

I can't even fathom making those kind of choices.  But history shows us that many peoples have had to make similar choices.  Today, as I watch reruns of the service, admiring the memorial park with it's great pools and etched names, gawking at the wonderful building soaring high above the new trees, reflecting on the old tree that survived and what it stands for (many more people survived than died), I can't help but think how lucky we are in this country.  We might have some problems with government, economy, joblessness, etc., but we are still standing strong!  And those dozen people on that overpass just proved it to me. 

I'm still proud to be an American.  "I Remember"

AL is Rolling!!! and other fun stuff

Well, after nine hours of driving to Omaha on Friday, eating tons of burgers and kraut dogs on Saturday, and having Moose take over AL for a couple hours, here's what you get (better video coming soon, I hope):

Oh, yeah, I also have a scrubber droid to finish now.

Other great photos of the Labor Day picnic at Moose and Jen's place:

Hanging at the food tent (way too much food)

The usual crowd shot (30 people showed up)

BBQ Crew (Moose on right, Ben on left, forgot middle guy's name)

Furry Group was there making tiger heads

Kinda looks like Snap! (Furry head maker extroidenaire)

Moose working on AL (he can't help himself)

A couple shots of AL's panel board (pretty neat)

OK, this one is sideways, but gives you a good idea

All in all, it was a great day with great food and friends.
Until next time,
Jawa Jaka (and pal AL rolling!)

AL's Events 2012

I've added the list of AL's events in 2012 to the left sidebar. Already he has three events: Galaxyfest in February down in Colorado Springs (a fundraiser for the Colorado Literacy Foundation), his usual Starfest third weekend of April, and the humongous roadtrip to Orlando for CVI. I'll be making hotel reservations Sept 1st for CVI.

Events remaining for this year are kinda slim. He was suppose to go to Hauntings at the Hangar, a safe fun Halloween event for kids at Wings Over the Rockies. But since it's going to be on Sunday, I don't know if I can go. Maybe I can work 8-noon (half-day with 4 hours vacation) and get there about 12:30ish. I'll have to see. AL really loved being there last year passing out spider rings to the kiddies.

In September, if he's rolling pretty good, I'll have him do a little of the walk for JDRF, and in December there will probably be a Toys-For-Tots event AL will go to, but that's about it for events left in 2011. It's been a busy year with Starfest, Contagion Con, ESB screening at Loveland, etc. already, and he's got a bit of battle damage that needs repairing. That's what late summers are for, I guess. So, at this time AL is in the "upstairs" lab (the guest room) waiting for me to get to work on him. I finally got the right size belts for the foot drives, now to get everything back on.

On a personal note, my social calendar is a lot more full than AL's!!! Every Saturday (started in mid-June) from now until late August there is a BBQ, 501st event sans AL, or some local event I want to go to (like the "Cities of Splendor Italian Renaissance" at the Denver Art Museum). I'll be on vacation the first two weeks of September, staying home to work on backyard. I'll also be attending BrethrenCon, a two-day pirate emmersion weekend. I'm making the Tortuga Rum cakes. Yep, I'm a busy gal, but loving my summer so far....

Umbrella Corp Soldier at Contagion Con in Omaha (guess who!). I have to thank Moose for making this. I had sooooo much fun in the Zombie Crawl that morning. If anyone has vids or pics of the crawl, I sure would love to see them.

Until next time,
Jawa Jaka (your social butterfly... uh jawa)

ESB Screening at Loveland

So, I've decided to go backwards in time on these blogs. It seems my long term memory is getting shorter (sucks getting older!). And I have to search for photos of older events.

The first event up on this blog: ESB screening at the Rialto Theater in Loveland. This was a fundraiser for the downtown Loveland Bridge project, where a pedestrian bridge will join the Rialto with other businesses. It quite the downtown rivatlization undertaking, but very worth while. For more info on this project: http://www.rialtotheaterguild.org/

And the link to the Fan Force (http://www.theforce.net/) write up with a few pics (including AL): http://www.theforce.net/latestnews/story/Loveland_CO_TESB_Screening_Report_138960.asp

My favorite pic so far (hopefully many more will come including the "family portrait" of Vader and family):



The person who taped the skit of rebels vs snowtroopers that the Mountain Garrison did on stage before the movie is being edited as I type this. Hopefully I can post a link to it here. It was awesome. Ice Cream Maker dude came out in the end. It was AWESOME! Looks like both sides took a hit with bodies lying on the floor. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! Everyone laughed and cheered. AWESOME!!!!

I forgot how magnificent the movies are on the big screen. Not the best theater in the world but the picture quality was great, sound was a bit loud but not overwhelming (just a personal preference of not so loud sound, sucks getting old!), seats were clean and comfortable, view from the balcony was fun, everyone cheering and booing at just the right times in the movie. Yep, we LOVE our SW movies, and ESB is still the best of them all!!! Priceless moment: when Leia says "I love you" and all the guys in the theater said in deep whispers (in unison, mind you) "I KNOW". Beautiful to hear.

Next year the Rialto staff is planning to show ROTJ to continue the fundraising effort. AL and I will be there!

On a side note: AL's dome wasn't spinning on channel 3 like it did in Omaha, so Azman changed it to channel 1 temporarily. It worked for five minutes until the receiver battery went dead. I charged up all batteries except that one. Stupid me, and lesson learned: charge ALL batteries and definitely get spares.

Until next time,
Jawa Jaka
(still LOVE the original trilogy, and even more now that I'm seeing them on the big screen again)

I haven't blogged in awhile, and I promise over the next month I'll get everything caught up (Starfest, Robocon, Droidcon, Contagion Con, getting AL's dome to rotate, etc). However, I'm going to blog today about something that is painful for me to watch: the Great Missouri Flood.

Every year I take a road trip to Omaha to visit my friends and attend a con or two. Sometimes I'll go twice. Last week I attended the very first ever Contagion:Outbreak con, with AL in tow,at the fairly new and awesome Qwest Center, Omaha's new premier convention center . The R2-Central had a very strong showing and was one of the hits of the con. The Qwest Center overlooks the Missouri, so Denny took me to the glass wall to see the river. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! A fairly large metal sculpture was half-way under water, the boat docks were sinking, islands of trees half submerged, and the scariest was how fast the river was flowing. And that was just Saturday morning! By Sunday afternoon the water was within feet of the top of the levee on the Iowa side (Corps of Engineers had been sandbagging all weekend to keep it from collapsing).

Usually after a con we gather for a final feast at some restaurant. This was no different, so off to the Buffalo Wing Stop for burgers and wings. Our spirits were a little better, until Brad showed us a video on his iphone of billions of gallons of water rushing down the river in a heavy torrent. The flood gates were opened wide on a damn in S. Dakota, and the water was coming fast! By the next morning it arrived in Omaha and the towns south.

The big national news was the levee break in Hamsburg (?), Iowa, just south of Bellevue where Moose, Jen, and Brad live. My heart sank while watching the video of the levee breaking on the news. I knew then the BIG flood was upon the farming towns and communities along the Missouri.

This morning I checked my facebook, and I would like to repost a link of one man's arial photography of the damage done by the flood:
https://picasaweb.google.com/104592539075472798431/TheGreatMissouriRiverFloodOf2011?authkey=Gv1sRgCLLaoO7rm_qp1AE#

This is just one pic on another friend's facebook:


The skyscrapers in the background are downtown Omaha. The campground and river park in Bellevue, just a block from Moose is totally underwater. On Monday when Moose and I took our walk to the river, the water was up to the top of the bathroom door signs, roofline barely above water. Many farms are gone, I-29 is practically closed, most bridges are closed, sandbagging everywhere, railroad tracks being pulled up just to save the ties, people losing homes or wondering if they'll have a home after all this.

The Missouri is suppose to peak by today, Friday. Then hopefully the very long dry out. Unfortunately, with it still snowing in the mountains, and the snowmelt just getting started, I'm afraid more flooding is on the way. I'm still crying, and I pray for my friends and their families, and all the good people of Iowa and Nebraska along the river.

Until next time, may God and his angels keep watch over the people of the Missouri river,
Jawa Jaka

p.s. Larry Geiger, who took the arial photos, is allowing free use of these photos provided you donate to the Red Cross Flood Relief fund. I think that is generous and fair.

Dome Drive Kit Installed!

It's been a long time, but I actually got something done on AL!! I installed his dome drive wheel. Now I just gotta hook up the speed controller, battery, and R/C. I'm determined that his dome WILL rotate by the St. Patty's Parade (after all, he's in it!).

An overall inside shot (not much but a reference for those with JAG 5 frames)

I also bought AL a gift for Starfest. You'll have to wait until after Starfest for pics to understand what this is all about (in other words, be patient!)

And on a personal note: I've been very busy the past month cleaning the inside of my RV. WHAT A MESS!! I lent it to a friend and his girlfriend who trashed it completely!!! I won't go into details, but he owes me LOTS of money for professional cleaners, cleaning supplies, new pillow cases, and any damages to the RV itself (like a missing tail light cover, wonder if the tail light works!). Lesson learned: DO NOT EVER lend any vehicles to someone who is filthy (and on drugs, I found out later!!). So, now that I'm not gagging and vomitting every time I get in the RV, I can get back to important things, like AL.

Until next time,

Jawa Jaka (a very unhappy jawa with a very trashed up sandcrawler :(

2011 Planned Events

I've posted on the left side bar the planned 2011 Events for me and AL. It's going to be another busy year, including two new events I'm totally excited about.

1. The first event is the St. Patty's Parade. The RMFF has offered AL a seat in their float. If there's no room, then plan B is to pull him on the garden cart (heavy wheels and flip-down sides) fully decorated in green and plaid finery ("We've gone to PLAID!!"). My goal is to get his dome rotating and lit up by then. I won't worry about the drive system until April.

2. Starfest is Apri 15-17l, and I invite anyone who wants a complete scifi experience to join me, AL, and a bunch of other droids/robots. This year marks the first time RoboCon and the R2 BC joining together in one fantastic Robot Room. Check it out at RoboCon 2011.

3. May finds us in Indianapolis for the first ever DroidCon. A couple of us are planning an RV trip for this one, with a possibility of heading over to Niagara Falls afterwards (only 9 hours from Indy). 50 droid builders have signed up already. Even though this is a pseudo-private function of the R2BC, anyone who is interested in building a droid can come. There will be panels, displays, and lots of photo ops. This isn't really open to the public, but if you or someone you know wants to learn how to build one of these things, sign up! And don't forget to sign up at Astromech.net, official website of the R2BC.

4. In June another first! Contagion Outbreak in Omaha! This has been advertised for about a year! I was one of the first to sign up and will be getting a snazzy t-shirt. Jewel Staite of Firefly and Atlantis will be the main guest. Not bad for a first-time con! R2 Central will be well represented with lots of droids there. I'm sewing my "steampunk" outfit like crazy (I'll post progress later), getting AL ready (he'll be "steampunked", too), gathering up my Stargate stuff, and maybe a pirate or two outfits. This is gonna be good!!! Definitely will have to make the SW cookies for this one...

5. I'm hoping in July to make it to Osfest. This will be kinda iffy for now, since I'm planning another RV trip to Provo, Utah over the July 4th weekend with the Mountain Garrison. I've been invited to march in the parade that Monday in my officer outfit. Sorry, no droids for this one since it's a long route and no floats (unless we make our own droid float). I've been thinking about converting my RV to the SpaceBalls one with AL on top and drive down the parade. Don't think that will happen, but it's fun to dream!!

6. Might drive down to Albuquerque for Bubonicon end of August. Again, this is iffy. It's a very small literary con that really doesn't like SW (or StarTrek, StarGate, etc). I don't even know if I'll have any vacation time left for this one! Besides, Albuquerque Comic Con in January is much better. Just couldn't get the time off this year for it. Maybe next year.

7. Saturday before Halloween AL and I will be back at the Hauntings at the Hangar, held at the Wings Over the Rockies. If you're in town (anytime, not just Halloween) come by to see the X-wing, the B-52 bomber, and lots of other aviation history and planes. It's a must-see for visitors to the Denver area. Although Halloween is really fun there! And safe for the kids!

AL will be at other local events, like Toys-for-Tots, possible bell ringing, the new-improved CamCon, Kidspree, definitely JDRF walk again (he'll actually walk a little down the sidewalk for this one, planning to get support t-shirts made, hoping to get lots of donations). Of course, all of these events depend on my work schedule and timing. AL and I just can't be in two places at the same time!!!

Hope to see you all at an event! AL LOVES to meet his fans!!
Until next time,
Jawa Jaka