Star Wars Night at Dodger Stadium - 2016

Tonight R2 and I returned to Dodger Stadium for our annual visit to Star Wars Night. This never gets old for me.



This was R2's eighth straight year participating, and he was joined by lots of other characters from the 501st and Rebel Legions.

"Reserved for D-2." This must be our parking spot. (I have a feeling I've used this gag before.)



Once the characters had changed into costume in one of the conference rooms, we split up for different parts of the stadium. Luckily, R2 was assigned to be on the field, and we made our way along the corridors that are becoming more familiar as the years go by.



Along the way, we were stopped by pre-game/post-game host David Vassegh, who asked us to pause for a quick picture, which we were happy to do.



Back down the chair lift!



Once we made it to the field, Dodgers photographer Jon Soo Hoo corralled Dodgers manager Dave Roberts for a quick picture with R2 and other characters who were joining us on the field.



The characters' main job was to entertain the fans that were allowed on the field before the game, and to be seen by the fans gathering in the stands.





Actress Sabrina Carpenter got a picture with some of the characters. Later, she sang the national anthem.



Meanwhile, my helper Ralph managed to accost legendary Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser for a selfie.



Dodgers catcher A.J. Ellis and his family got a picture with R2, and we chatted for a few moments. He is a super nice guy, and asked about R2.




The characters appeared on the scoreboard and participated in the pre-game trivia contest, where the winner got to throw out the first pitch.




After the anthem, we wrapped up with the "It's time for Dodgers baseball!" announcement.



Following that, we hustled off the field and I got R2 back onto the little elevator that takes us downstairs.




But we weren't quite done! We were asked to visit actor Terry Crews' luxury suite for a few minutes, which we happily obliged.





After that, we visited one more suite (where I didn't recognize anyone), and then wrapped up and headed back to the conference room, with a camera crew in tow.



We took our seats way down the right field line, and watched the end of a great game, where the Dodgers pulled out a late inning rally, and won 9-7! R2's record is now 6-2.



After the game we watched fireworks set to Star Wars music, before heading home.





It was another great night and I hope I get to do it again next year.

The full photoset is here. Thanks to my friend Ralph for helping with the photos.

Comicon 2016

Today, R2 (dressed as the red R5-D4) and I joined fellow R2 Builders Thomas Roeoesli, William Miyamoto, Michael McMaster, Chris Romines and Mike Senna and their droids, as we hosted the first ever R2 Builders panel at San Diego Comicon.

We were joined by special guest and fellow R2 Builder Lee Towersey, who, along with Oliver Steeples, built the R2 units and other droids for The Force Awakens.



The day started out by meeting up in a nearby parking lot to load the droids in a U-Haul truck for the trip to the loading dock at the San Diego Convention Center. Mike Senna helped to secure the droids for a safe trip.



All loaded and ready to go!



The droids arrived safe and sound, and we unloaded. Big thanks to Thomas for arranging this special unload so that we did not have to drive the droids through a crowd of 100,000 people.



Our panel was scheduled from 12:00pm-1:00pm (sandwiched by a lot of children's programming).



Shortly before our panel was to start, we moved our droids from a staging room to the presentation room.



At 12:00pm we got started, and discussed how the club works and how we build our droids. We had a full room, with lots of smiles and laughs as we went. Mike Senna demonstrated his BB-8, while William Miyamoto demonstrated his Baby-8.









After taking some questions, we left a little time for our special guest, Lee Towersey. Lee told his amazing story of how he went from fan to crew member on a Star Wars film. That story never gets old.



We wrapped up the panel with a selfie before heading out to allow time for the next panel to set up.



We drove and human-rickshawed the droids back to the truck, and wrapped up for the day.




And finally, apropos of nothing, here is some high art we saw at the restaurant we went to afterward.



We all had a great time, and I wouldn't mind doing it again. Thank you to my friend Kelvin for taking many of the pictures.

Discovery Science Center Visit - Summer 2016

Today R2 and I joined several other droid builders for the Discovery Science Center's Engineering Week, in Santa Ana CA. We were joined by builders Matthew, Maddy, Robert, and Aaron.



The people in attendance had a nice time visiting with us and the droids. As always, kids got somewhat grabby.




At 12:30pm the audience assembled for our presentation.



I gave the main part of the talk, so I don't have any pictures of that. For the Q&A, we all participated.




Everyone had a good time, and I'm sure we'll be back.