Star Wars Night at Dodger Stadium - 2022

Tonight R2 joined several members of the 501st Legion, Rebel Legion and Mandalorian Mercs for Star Wars Night at Dodger Stadium, for their May 4th event.



I headed out from Irvine around 2:30pm, and I arrived a little after 4pm and unloaded.



While the characters were changing into costume, I took a few minutes to watch batting practice (which I love to watch), and have R2 take pictures with early-arriving employees and fans.



Around 5:00pm we started making our way to the center field plaza for photos with the fans.



Once we arrived, the staff formed a line for the fans to get pictures with the characters. It didn't take long for the line to grow to well over 100 people, and wrap around the corner and down the aisle behind the right field pavilion.



Occasionally, the pre-game crew would come by to get some live shots of the characters during the broadcast.



The original plan was to just do this one photo op area, but around 6:30pm, there was a change in plans and some of the characters were invited to be part of the "It's time for Dodgers baseball" announcement right before the game starts (at 7:05 pm).

R2 and some of other characters were escorted onto the warning track in dead-center field, and we made our way around to the home plate area. (Note the tracks R2 is leaving behind. Would they still be there at game-time?)



Long time official Dodgers photographer Jon Soohoo called out to me as I passed the dugout. I'm a big fan of his work, and always enjoy catching up with him.



At this point, something kind of funny happened. As we were waiting for the characters to join some fans for the "It's time for Dodgers baseball" announcement, I figured I'd get a quick picture with the characters, which I did.



What I didn't count on was appearing on the scoreboard. As the picture was being taken, one of the camera operators for the scoreboard came over to get a shot that lasted on the board for a good 13 seconds. The scoreboards look high-res and beautiful in person, but the refresh rate of the scoreboard and the capture rate of the phone are out of sync, so they tend to look messed up when photographed.



Next, the characters lined up for the national anthem.



A few minutes later, I was asked to stage R2 first, at the top of the "A" in the LA logo, as the lineup cards were exchanged behind him.



Moments later, the other characters and fans joined R2 and did their thing.



After that, R2 and I high-tailed it off the field and toward the concourse elevators behind home plate. While waiting, I took my traditional photos of the awards on display, along with the Gold Glove of my all-time favorite player, Davey Lopes.



As I got ready to stow R2 back into the Droidmobile, I took a quick picture of the Dodgers crew that helped us with photos and escorting us around.



All the characters were given tickets to watch the game. I decided to make my way down the right field line to see if R2's tracks were still visible on the warning track. Yup! Just to the right of the foul line, haha.



The Dodgers spanked the Giants, 9-1. That improves R2's record to 10-3. I really think they need to invite him during the post-season.

This event combines two of my greatest fandoms (Star Wars and the Dodgers), and I always look forward to it. I hope to be back next year.

The full-sized photoset is here.

Wondercon 2022 - Day 3

Today was the third and final day of Wondercon 2022, at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Once again, I supplied the morning nutrition.



We took time to feed our faces before the show opened at 10:30am.



And when the show did open, some very well-behaved guide dogs came over for a visit.



The droids were invited down for pics at the autograph booths, so we stopped by.



Back at the Droid Pavilion, it was busy all day.



At 5pm, the convention came to a close, and we packed up to head out.



It was great seeing fellow builders at a convention after such a long time away from them. This was a good tune-up for Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, coming up in a few short weeks. We'll do it again then!

Wondercon 2022 - Day 2

Today was the second day at Wondercon 2022 for me and R2 at the Anaheim Convention Center, in Anaheim, CA.

It was my turn to supply the balanced breakfast. "Purple is a fruit." -Homer Simpson



The droids were set up for another day packed with guests visiting our Droid Pavilion.



And visit they did!



Mike Senna debuted his new Robot Chicken nerd cosplay. He walked around calling people nerds. They largely ignored him, but he did get stopped for a few photos. Afterwards, he returned to the booth to "wallow in my failure" as he put it, lol.



Michael McMaster wasn't having much better luck at his autograph booth.



Paul's and William's Grogus prepare for their battle royale.



When you're a samurai, but you love Doritos.



Around mid-afternoon, William Miyamoto organized our second of two-a-day droid parades.



Oh, right, this thing. At 5pm we did our first droid panel in a while. I moderated, and was joined by William Miyamoto, Paul Thompson (pinch hitting for Chris Romines, who got called into work at the last moment), Michael McMaster and Mike Senna.



Shortly after, we wrapped up the day, but there's still one more day left.

Wondercon 2022 - Day 1

Today was the first day back at a convention for me and R2 since 2019, as we attended Wondercon 2022 at the Anaheim Convention Center, in Anaheim, CA.



We arrived around 8:30am and helped to set up the Droid Pavilion, as I like to call it. We had 400 square feet for all sorts of droids to roam around, including R2s, BB-8, WALL•E, Mouse Droids, Pit Droids, two Grogus, and more.



Around 10:30am the convention center opened to guests, and it wasn't long before we had plenty of visitors.



We had a quick visit with Ashley Eckstein at her booth. R2 has done several appearances and events over the years with Ashley. (Thanks to Michael McMaster for prodding me to go bug her, and for getting the photo.)



This guy is in big trouble.



We wrapped up with a group photo.



We'll be back at it tomorrow!