Star Wars Celebration III

	Thursday, April 21, 2005: Following Star Wars Celebration II in 2002, Tom, Debbie, Audrey, and Brent made plans to attend the next one three years later, both of which were conveniently held in Indianapolis. When the big day arrived, Brent's duties as a college professor kept him away for the first day, so Gina stepped in. Our first stop was a hearty breakfast at Steak 'n' Shake. The restaurant was packed with fellow Star Wars fans sporting their orange fan club lanyards which held their four-day passes.
	Fortified with pancakes and bacon, we headed to the convention center to wait in line. At first, it was odd to see several dozen storm troopers on the streets of downtown Indianapolis, but as the days wore on, it became normal.
	It was an unusually chilly April day, but we were dressed warmly enough. Our wait in line turned out to be 2 1/2 hours, so it's a good thing.
	Other attendees were not so fortunate. The Princess Leia gold bikini costume doesn't come with a jacket, so this woman must have been freezing.
	We had very nice line buddies, including the nice lady from New York whose name we can't recall, and Barry from Brisbane, Australia.
	After making our way through countless cattle stalls, the line headed down a series of stairs and around the block.
	Finally, we arrived, over an hour after the doors opened.
	What did we find inside? The first of many Cingular ads, a small food court, and more Star Wars entertainment than you can shake a light saber at.
	In the exhibit hall, Audrey played a little game offered by Burger King. None of us were winners, but we all got Burger King crowns with Star Wars figures on them.
	At the M&Ms booth, they had the new dark chocolate M&Ms cruelly on display, but not for sale. We were also unable to find dark chocolate M&Ms anywhere in the convention center, in the adjacent mall, or in the hotel gift shop. The M&Ms car was cute, though.
	In the Fan Fair hall, there was a nice Star Wars origami display. During the convention, four large Star Wars origami pieces were constructed out of 20' x 20' sheets of paper, autographed by Star Wars actors, and auctioned off for charity.
	Sure, the Emperor acts like he doesn't like being surrounded by the ladies, but that's only because he is a mannequin.
	Millenium Falcon? More like the Malibu Falcon. Lloyd Dobler would look great in this ride.
	Check out the R2 unit in the back.
	We were glad to see the Junior Jedi Academy again after enjoying it at Celebration II, or as we call it, "Baby Jedi." Here, the younglings are learning how to wield a light saber in preparation for a confrontation with Darth Vader in a few minutes. The young Padawan learner in the center never quite got it.
	Here we have Obi-wan Kenobi and Mace Windu.
	The M&Ms characters came in costume, too.
	Darth Tater was a little put out that the M&Ms copied his hat, but he gladly posed for pictures with young fans anyway.
	We attended a session with Jay Laga'aia interviewing his old friend Temuera Morrison. They are both singers as well as actors, and they performed several songs for the audience.
	Joined by Bodie Taylor later in the session, the three of them sang a traditional Maori song a capella.
	Our group of four grew to six when Michael and Jeff joined us later in the afternoon. We posed in front of this very scary banner, but we were not afraid.
	Michael chatted up several of the R2-D2 builders just before the droid races began.
	Friday, April 22, 2005: The next morning started bright and early with a Star Wars fan breakfast at 6:30 AM. Our admission fee bought us breakfast, a Darth Vader action figure, the opportunity to meet our host Jay Laga'aia (in theory -- 300 people in 120 minutes isn't really possible), and a bag of loot from the Lucasfilm archives. More importantly, it eliminated all waiting in line to get into the convention center and got us into line for the store before everyone else.
	Door prizes were given out, and our tablemate Karen won this brown plastic cooler with droid straws. We saw one just like it later in the Exhibit Hall with a $1000 price tag on it.
	We left the breakfast early once we realized that there was no chance of getting to meet Jay Laga'aia, and waited in line for the store to open. Once the store opened, it was another 45 minute wait before we left with our action figures. Had we paid with credit card or tried to purchase anything other than action figures, it would have been another hour wait. It sure beats the 6 - 8 hour wait that other shoppers endured.
	We went straight from the store to the fan club lounge to put our action figures into star cases for protection. From there, we went to our lockers to store them. Lockers turned out to be crucial to our happiness for the duration and we were glad that we had stocked up on quarters in advance.
	Many events were held in this huge auditorium which always had seating available and had restrooms in the back. Large monitors overhead made it easy to see what was happening on stage no matter where we sat. We loved this room.
	One event we saw here was the One Man Trilogy show. It was the voices, sound effects, and actions of all three original movies performed by one person in an hour. Here, he plays Luke soulfully looking into the distance on Tattooine in Episode IV, with the breeze ruffling his hair.
	Back in the Fan Fair hall, there were many dioramas on display, including this one which was probably two feet tall.
	A group of X-wing pilots posed in front of one in the middle of the hall. It was a popular spot for photos.
	How strange - we don't recall seeing Peace Trooper in any of the films.
	Of the many women we saw in the Princess Leia gold bikini outfit, this one seemed to be the only one whose sole purpose it was to be photographed. She was also the only one who gave out business cards.
	This was the first of two incredibly detailed costumes we saw this woman wear. We decided that she would be the ultimate girlfriend for any Star Wars fan.
	Oops! Sorry about this.
	We've always wanted to be action figures. Next time, Debbie needs to work on a better "Slashing Attack!" pose.
	Tom didn't do much better, but at least he knows how to hold a light saber.
	Another session in the world's greatest auditorium featured makeup artists Lou and Dave Elsey transforming an attendee into an alien while taking questions from the audience and from host Warwick Davis.
	If these little X-wing pilots aren't the cutest thing you've ever seen, then just close your browser and do something else. These tykes were entered in the Star Wars costume pageant, held in ...
	... you guessed it, our favorite auditorium. We stayed to see all of the contestants come in and be seated, but left before it actually begain.
	Our breakfast table mate turned up later in the day dressed as Aayla Secura, posing with a fan in Kit Fisto makeup. Oddly enough, Debbie photographed the actor who played Kit Fisto later in the day, when two fans asked her to take a photo with their camera of themselves and a blond-dreadlocked man. Brent later told her it was Zach Jensen.
	Saturday, April 23, 2005: We breakfasted at our hotel until the lines died down across the street at the convention center. Judging by the crowds at the breakfast buffet, we weren't the only ones with the same idea.
	Our first order of business was to get temporary airbrushed tattoos.
	Audrey, Brent, and Tom went the Jedi route, with matching Jedi tattoos.
	Debbie went for the Dark Side, with a cool three layer tattoo. First, a layer of white ...
	... followed by a layer of black ...
	... followed by the final detail layer in white again.
	The end result is one killer Darth Vader tattoo. The airbrush artist asked us to send us a photo of it, so it's now posted on their website.
	After a late lunch at Alcatraz Brewing Company in the mall next to the convention center, we spent a few minutes in the fabulous auditorium to see the start of the Jake Lloyd interview. He lives in the Indianapolis area, so he didn't have far to go to attend. In fact, he attends high school with our daughter.
	This General Grievous outfit was an engineering marvel. Here it is from the side ...
	... and here is is from the front, where you get a better shot of the person's face inside.
	Here's another Princess Leia in the gold bikini outfit surrounded by men with cameras.
	Our final destination of the Celebration was the Saturday night party. We waited over an hour to get in, only to find that it was packed and everything required more money and long waits in line. Everything, that is, except this fire performer. We gave it up after a few minutes and decided to head home. The Celebration was a lot of fun, but after three days, we were ready to leave the galaxy far, far away.