LEGO Star Wars in California!
This leg comes with an unexpected family reunion
Doubling up on events because I was resting this weekend. (Sorry.)
Friday was a little crazy – 5:15 am pickup in which I groggily said farewell to my rock ‘n’ roll suite in Seattle, down to San Diego for the day, then up to San Francisco at night. Whew!
Here are some shots from Friday’s event in Carlsbad at the Dove Library and from Saturday’s appearance in Corte Madera, both of which were really fun – great places, lots of kids, some entertaining trivia contests and appearances by costumed characters.
The folks at Carlsbad’s Dove Library always put on a great event – here’s their impressive array of Star Wars material that greeted kids. Plus I had a Yoda Soda, which I’ll admit I was dubious about until I found out it was delicious. Hey, lime sherbet and 7Up – what’s not to love?
Listening to an answer in the trivia contest. (Photo filched from James Floyd’s Facebook.) As you can see, for Carlsbad I broke out the Lucasfilm shirt.
Signing books in Carlsbad. I’ve been doodling on the endpapers again, which I love doing – kids who are shy about chatting while you’re writing often open up if you draw something. (Thanks to Jacob Dubi for this pic.)
Here’s my roster of things I can draw:
1) Darth Vader
2) Stormtrooper
3) Boba Fett
4) R2-D2
5) Millennium Falcon
I tell the kids they depart from that list at their peril. This tour’s extracurricular drawings have included two Princess Leias (one pretty good, one meh), a Sandtrooper (not bad), two Clone Troopers (both meh), two Darth Mauls (one pretty good, one a bit cringe-inducing), two Yodas (one good, one average), and one Cantina Band Member (disaster, sorry Neils).
By the way, at cons I’ll sometimes get a book that Dave Filoni has signed, and inevitably it will have a full-page illustration of Plo Koon swinging a lightsaber or something really cool. Because unlike me, Dave Filoni can actually draw.
Austin and I decided to have a drawing contest. He did R2-D2. I did Darth Vader. Judging from the looks on our faces, I think we both won. My favorite shot from the tour so far.
And here are the kind members of the 501st Legion and Mandalorian Mercs who came out for the event. Thanks, folks!
California, Pt. 2: Corte Madera
The next morning found me in Corte Madera, just north of San Francisco in Marin County at Book Passage, a really amazing bookstore run by very nice folks.
We had two East Bay Mandalorian Mercs helping out and wowing kids – thanks gentlemen! That’s them with my old friend Pete, who rode up with me to see what all the fuss was about.
DK has sent buckets of LEGO to each event for the kids to play with, which has been really fun to watch. This young man made a rather awesome pirate ship.
Three-way drawing contest this time, with Mandalorian judges!
With the staff of Book Passage. Go see 'em – they’re awesome!
Personal note – through sheerest chance, the host for the event was my first cousin Johanna. We’d never met. Really nice to put that right!
The t-shirt for Corde Madera was my Philly Brick Fest 2014 special, which can be dimly glimpsed under my Cyclones jersey in the above shots. (Cold in the morning in San Francisco.) Sorry, Philly Brick Fest shirt – I’ll make sure you get an encore appearance this week.
BTW, this is after Corte Madera, with Pete on the dock for lunch. You may be able to tell that two days off had begun.
This entertained me – the restaurant (Sam’s Anchor Cafe in Tiburon) had industrial-size sunscreen for the ill-prepared. Given my German/English lack of melanin and bald dome, I doubled down on this stuff.
One last shot just because. I really don’t understand why we all don’t live in California.
I’ll catch up tomorrow with shots from last night’s event in Tempe, Ariz. Looking ahead, come see me in Houston or Nashville. (Or both, I suppose, though that would be startling.) Here are the details. Hope to see you!