Star Wars In Concert (Again!)

We couldn't let the month of May end without covering one more Star Wars event.
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Derek and I saw Star Wars In Concert when it was in Los Angeles last fall... after touring Europe, it's back! Today we took the kids to see it in Ontario.
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A short movie of the beginning of the concert. The Star Wars title and fanfare - it's always great. Even more so with a live symphony orchestra!!

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But really, it's all about T-shirts. Derek bought the third one from the left.

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I like this picture. Deacon and friend Jason look warily at some costumed fans.

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Deacon, Maren, Jason and CHEWIE!

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Jason, Deacon and Maren, thankfully not frozen like poor Captain Solo.

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DCA and 3PO!

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The kids are excited to see the concert. (And I can happily report that they were extremely attentive and well-behaved throughout!)

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The host, Anthony Daniels, and his alter-ego - C-3PO!

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Deacon is excited to add Mr. Daniels to his extensive list of Star Wars cast members he's seen in person.

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Intermission.

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Jason's a cool customer considering the violent explosion taking place behind him.

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Maren and Daddy and a bear wearing a Star Wars In Concert T-shirt.

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A few random pics from the show... posting this one, of the Space Slug, for Deacon.

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I guess Harrison found out he couldn't get a seat near me this time, so he decided not to come.

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It's neat how the film clips are accompanied by live shots of the orchestra.

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The end! A rousing Inland Empire standing ovation for Mr. Daniels and the conductor guy!

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Jason calls his mom... Mom... come get me! These Alffs are NUTS!

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A fitting end to our month-long Star Wars fixation here on the AFB.

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Still to come, as promised: Molly's 8th Grade Graduation and Deacon and Maren's Spring Concert!

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Happy Memorial Day to everyone!

50,000

I hadn't been sure what to post to follow last week's Empire Strikes Back mania, but I was going through recent pictures this morning and realized that we had quite a major event to report after all:
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Derek took this picture at last night's Spring Concert. It happens to be digital photo #50,000!

Thanks to Leyla, Sydney, Maren, Ameila, Kylie, Hope, Emma and Micaela for (unknowingly) posing for such an historic picture in the Alff Family photo archives.
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The focus ring on the lens is falling off, but otherwise the camera is still going strong! On to 60,000!

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Check back soon for full coverage of Molly's 8th Grade Graduation, and the aforementioned Spring Concert!

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UPDATE 5/29 2:40 p.m. The inner and outer focus rings have both fallen off.

The Empire Strikes Back!!!

UPDATE 5/23 4:40 p.m.
A whole gob of event links over at theforce.net, including video of the Q&A.

UPDATE 5/22 7:25 a.m.
More screening coverage at CNN
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UPDATE 5/21 4:30 p.m.
Celebrating the official ESB 30th Anniversary today! For anyone who really wants to geek out with us, here are a few more links:
IGN Movies
MTV
CNN
Star Wars official site
Wired
6:05 p.m. Sci Fi Mafia
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And here is the official 30th Anniversary action figure montage poster, with a link to an article about its creation:

Article
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UPDATE 5/20 1:05 p.m.
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From ABC 7 Eyewitness News coverage - Derek's arm (holding our beloved camera):

Here's a link to the video: ABC 7 Entertainment News
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UPDATE 5/20 11:30 a.m. Links to additional coverage:
Star Wars official site (good run-down of Harrison's Q&A)
BBC News
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And thanks to Steve for this pic and more links:

Collider (a very detailed recap)
CelebrityPhoto.com (lots and lots of pics)
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Original post:
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It's after 2:00 a.m. Thursday morning, and I'm still trying to wind down from the events of this evening. I don't know if I'll ever completely wind down from this evening, though.
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It's not every day you get to sit with Harrison Ford and watch The Empire Strikes Back.
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Here's how it all went down:
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5:00 p.m.: I inform Deacon that instead of doing homework this evening, he will be attending a 30th anniversary charity screening of The Empire Strikes Back (benefiting St. Jude's Children's Hospital) at the Arclight in Hollywood. Oh, and Harrison Ford will be there.


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I must note that the first thing he said after lots of squealing was, with his voice deepening to imitate Darth Vader, "this will be a day long remembered."
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5:45 p.m.: Waiting to check in at the Arclight. Deacon shows his Star Wars spirit by waving the flag he made very quickly before we left!

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Deacon Alff, only you could be so bold! (as to take a picture with Darth Vader.)

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Guess this is where we check in!

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What's going on?

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Deacon and I try to see over all the tall photographers...

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Good thing we brought our own tall photographer, who took this pic of THE MAN!!

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But there was someone taller than Derek, who was waiting patiently for Mr. Ford to notice him...

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Waiting...

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Right after Harrison finally saw him!

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And here are a bunch of pics of them together: Peter "Chewbacca" Mayhew and Harrison Ford!

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Chewie and Han, back in the day (1976). This is Derek's all-time favorite picture of them.

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But that wasn't the only big reunion...

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Lando and Han (before all the betrayals and carbon-freezing), 1979:

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No hard feelings, though!

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Billy Dee and his scarf did not disappoint.

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Ewan McGregor.

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He LOVES Star Wars. But who doesn't??

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How fun it was to see young Obi-Wan with these guys - and in person, right in front of our eyeballs!

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Now to explain what happened next.

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The screening and live Q&A with Harrison Ford sold out in five minutes on the day tickets went on sale. I was crushed.

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A few days later, they announced they were adding a 2nd "overflow" theater, into which the Q&A would be simulcast. I got two tickets right away and was thrilled, even though we'd be seeing "simulcast Harrison" and not "in-person Harrison".

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Then, shortly before showtime, I started having terrible feelings of guilt about leaving Deacon out of this once-in-a-lifetime event. There were a few tickets left, so we snagged one.

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When we were heading into the "overflow" theatre, we were informed that one of our tickets actually got us a seat in "main" theatre. After offering it to our good friend and fellow Star Wars nut Steve, who was the obvious choice as he was "solo" (pun intended) and Derek, Deacon and I were a group, he graciously offered it to me instead, and I hope I thanked him before leaving him in the dust on my way to Theatre #1.

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My golden ticket.

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And when I got inside, my seat was 7th row center, and I was sitting among the celebs. Same row and within 10 seats of me were Harrison, Ewan McGregor, director Jon Favreau, and others.

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The only problem, of course, was that I was so close I couldn't take pictures of them without being really obnoxious about it. So Here's the screen and some ladies from St. Jude's introducing the movie.

oFox fanfare and... BAM! the Star Wars title burst. Derek really likes this picture, so here you go, Derek.

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The movie seemed like it lasted 5 minutes. Here's how it looked from my seat when Ewan led the standing ovation for Mr. Ford, who was making his way down to the stage.

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Wars stories.

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All done. Here we are, reunited after the movie and Q&A.

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STEVE!!

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No more adventures for our little Jedi today.

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So I once again have to thank Steve, who was so gracious in letting me sit in the main theatre - and also Susie and Molly, who kept Maren entertained all evening!

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MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU!!