Day 2 of Course of the Force: To Orange County and Beyond!
by Perry Michael Simon on July 8, 2012
Some people have all the fun. Many of those folks are, as I write this, on the sand at Huntington Beach in front of the stage as The Dan Band and the Spazmatics serenade them. I, on the other hand, have work to do, so I had to leave the Conival for Day 2 of the Course of the Force lightsaber relay a little early after getting delayed by Long Beach traffic on my way down (and the lightsaber arrived before I did). (I’m still sulking from missing Jonah’s costume malfunction on Day 1; That might be the highlight of the week) But I didn’t leave before getting to enjoy some of the festivities and take a few more pictures. Like:
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- That glow? The Force.
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- The Sail Barge, parked out front.
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- Great crowd.
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- Did I say great crowd? Great crowd.
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- Yep, great crowd. (Pic: Peter Levin)
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- Farmer John, a hit. Vin Scully would be proud.
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- eBay’s booth. Auction’s on!
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- We had a bird of the Angry variety. Didn’t see pigs, though.
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- AWWWWW! (Pic: Peter Levin)
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- I LOVE THE BIG SHOE. Thank you, Shoebacca.com.
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- Back, too, was Chewbacca- Peter Mayhew. He was busy all day,
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- Say hi to Nerdist News’ Brian and Charlene, working hard.
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- Mr. D2 walked the step-and-repeat line again. Didn’t say much.
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- The stage. Music would flow from here well after I had to go. Damn.
Huge crowd, lots of smiles, more good times. And the folks over at StarWars.com have a Flickr gallery of shots from the actual run, which went down PCH from Redondo through Long Beach and into Orange County, so here it is:
Now, there’s going to be more of this, so if you’ll be around Oceanside in North County San Diego on Monday, get thee over to the pier around 4 pm for the Conival. On Tuesday, the lightsaber will be carried from Oceanside to Pacific Beach, and on Wednesday, it’ll go from PB to downtown San Diego, where The Dan Band will be celebrating the arrival of the Force by playing at 1 pm at the Balboa Theatre — get your tickets now.
And it’s also time to bid in the Course of the Force eBay auction, on such stuff as the Epic Meal Time-autographed Star Wars BBQ apron, former Hasbro photographer Gianni Loperlogo’s book “insight” signed by George Lucas, a year’s supply of Otter Pops (have I mentioned how much I love those things? Especially grape), special edition hardcover Fraggle Rock and Locke and Key books, a Star Wars Millennium Falcon 2007 Hallmark ornament artist proof, a VIP tour of the Warner Bros. studio lot and a Starline Tour of L.A. for two with airfare, and a limited edition COTF Anakin Skywalker Ultimate FX lightsaber. Time to bid, I said. Time to bid.
Sadly, I won’t be at the Course for the next couple of days, but I’ll be there, traffic permitting, when the lightsaber arrives in downtown San Diego on Wednesday. (Or I’ll be sitting on the 5 freeway by Mission Bay cursing the traffic reports on KOGO. Either way, I’ll be in the general vicinity of America’s Finest City (TM)) We’ll still have video, though, and I’m hoping to get pictures, too. And video from today is still being shot, I believe, so stay tuned for that.
Just adding a Woot! for Ro, Husky, Dodger and Jesse Cox because I like these fellas.