The Advisor Advises

I wasn't needed on the set today - but I thought Z would appreciate seeing what I was up to yesterday. It was a short but very impressive visit. I don't think he'll forget being picked up by a Wookie any time soon. 

"Elsewhere in a dingy cantina populated by spice miners, bounty hunters and other general riff raff, Han Solo prepares to take on another Kessel run. He reminisces about the high stakes Sabacc round with his old buddy Lando Calrissian in which he won a clunky YT-1300 freighter from the gambler." These words from the Xpress Entertainment Star Wars: Secrets of the Rebellion website introduce the first scene shot for the movie - also known as the Cantina flashback scene...
This morning started shakily. I was supposed to arrive at the studio at 8:30 to get prepped for a 9am start. I haven't set my alarm for several months now, because Z has been waking regularly at 7:10 with his toddler enthusiasm to start the day. Of course he chose today to be the day that he decided to change it up on me. I awoke at 8:20 in a panic, threw on a t-shirt and the closest pants to the bed, skipped the shower and ignored my hair, and still managed to get to the set by 8:45. My bed head and I blended in fairly quickly with the pre-coffee crowd and soon realized that shooting was off schedule already. Some extras headed out the door for McD's when they heard that we weren't going to be needed for an hour and a half - I stuck around to get a feel for what was happening, besides, there was coffee and bagels on a table for free - there was no way Rotten Ronnie would top that. I soon met Mark and Jason - I would begin to discover later in the day that all involved in this production are Star Wars fans, but some are 'Warsies' and some are not - these two seemed to fall in the same group that I did, all three of us knowing significant details about the movies, yet none of us owning custom designed costumes from the original trilogy. Mark drove up from Calgary to take part - he's been an extra in a few movies, his best story involves a role as a a homeless guy alongside Mace Windu in an upcoming flick - his Hebrew neck tattoo could pass as something Mandalorian-ish. Jason, in addition to working as an extra today (and a small speaking role later) is the production's photographer (still-photo) for DVD extra features and promotional material, I assume. We hung out and chatted for a while - until around 9:30 when I was asked to put my horns on. (I think I may have been a subspecies of the Zabrak/Iridonians, but I'm still not sure)
Between 9:30 and 1:00, I did little more than glue 3 horns to my forehead, change shirts and put on a vest. So much for being finished by 3 o'clock.
It seemed that there were some issues with the set, or maybe the camera equipment, or both. Gradually things started to come together. The Tw'leks looked great - the red and blue body paint under the bright lights looked very cool. The set began to resemble a Cantina, sort of - it's a little difficult to imagine when most of the set is a green screen. The camera equipment was eventually ready to go - the battery died minutes before the first shot - requiring yet another cable to be manipulated for the initial moving sequence. But by mid-afternoon I was sweating under the lights and trying to get into character. It had been a long slow start and my confidence was shaken by the amount of technical difficulties and lack of group direction in the first part of the day, but my confidence in the project was restored when we watched the play back of the first shot - it looked great. The next few hours were a lot of fun - we shot various groups of aliens, spice miners and other cantina patrons (the bartender was by far the most handsome) reacting to the Sabacc game between Han and Lando where Han pulls off the rarely seen Idiot's Array. I never did do anything with my hair - I guess bed head was the look they wanted for my character. The actor/Iowa school teacher playing Han is fantastic. I'm sure he has spent an inordinate amount of time watching and rewatching every scene with the rogue smuggler in the original three - his mannerisms and speech are perfect. Chewbacca could have been Peter Mayhew himself - the costume was beautiful and his vocal impersonation could have been sampled right from the 1977 soundtrack.
This is one indie film that I'm anxious to see. I'm not needed on the set until next weekend, but I might bring Z by tomorrow to meet the big Wookie, I think he'll like that.
I was finally finished about 12 hours after I arrived, so I washed the spirit gum off of my forehead and caught the number 143 home.

It was only nine days since I sent my 'volunteer Edmonton' email to the folks at GiftTRAP when this box was delivered. A tidy little package, I thought. I quickly opened it to see what was inside. The first thing in the box was a funky 'dialogue balloon' shaped business card - good first impression. The fact that they used 'FREE', and stayed true to their word was also helpful. The enclosed letter included some more encouragement to participate in Massive Play Weekend and a reminder that the product launch is also a fundraiser for Right To Play... The game packaging is very well done - professional looking, anyway. It is a cube shaped box - which appeals to me for some reason - and the outside is covered in 100 square photographs which appear to be some of the 'gifts' included in game play. The lid to the box includes a flap which shows part of the game in play - which gives me a bit of an idea what the game is all about. I'm looking forward to opening up the box and figuring out the way the game is played - more Gift TRAP to come...

Xpress Entertainment is an Independent Film Company here in Edmonton that is working on what promises to be one of the coolest Star Wars fan films ever made. I’ve never seen a Star Wars fan film, but there are a lot of them apparently, and the people making this one promise that it will be cool – at this point I’m taking their word for it. I had never heard of Xpress Entertainment or Secrets of the Rebellion when I was browsing the volunteer section of edmonton craigslist last week (you’d think I’d quit looking for my things to add to my ‘to do’ list). The ad said, “Star Wars Indie project looking for cast and crew” - I was sold before I knew the details. I sent an email to one kitfisto007 asking for specifics as my gaze wandered from the Cantina Band scene to the Bounty Hunters scene in my partially assembled Star Wars action figure collection. Mark Twitchell, the Grand Pubaa of Secrets of the Rebellion, Xpress Entertainment, and everything that is totally cool about Star Wars fanatics with ambition, emailed me back in a record 29 minutes. According to his response – he needs extras that are willing and available for the next 2 weekends, and all he really asks for is some measurements for a costume. This sounded really intriguing – so I reviewed some of the info on his site. When I read something about ‘the remains of Jar Jar Binks’, I knew this was a SW fanatic that I could relate to. As soon as my lovely wife and mother of my children gave the OK to commit to 2 Saturdays and 2 Sundays of filming, I emailed what I could of my measurements, and sent some self-inflicted head shots for consideration. He hadn’t asked for the photos, but I figured my slightly unusual facial hair deserved some prior consideration – I didn’t want to show up and be told my look wouldn’t work…and I don’t have a problem with shaving for possible film credit. (I have been on film before, but a failed attempt at a big Rock EDDIES commercial is small potatoes to a feature length Star Wars tribute) Well, to my utter delight, he seemed impressed with my chops and emailed this, “Alright, slammin, you're one of the bartenders. In fact I'll make you the Cantina bartender for the flashback of the sabacc game.” I’m not one to encounter ‘slammin’ in everyday conversation, but I took it as a positive exclamation. So now I’m pumped. For those of you who aren’t up on your SW trivia/lore/mythology, the ‘sabacc game’ could quite conceivably involve Han Solo, Chewbacca & Lando at the moment in time when Han becomes the owner of the Millenium Falcon. How cool is that? There’s more…according to the movie’s website, the cast includes Zach Jensen & Jeremy Bulloch. Zach played Kit Fisto in Episode II, and Jeremy played Boba Fett in Episodes IV, V & VI. The shoot takes place July 29, 30 and August 5,6 at the NAIT Industrial Technical building from 9 am to 9 pm each day although they'll probably be cutting the extras loose around 4 in the afternoon since the bigger shots are filmed first on the schedule. I’m guessing they’re still looking for folks to play spice miners, smugglers, pilots and tech crew (bartender is taken). I think I’ll bring my Kit Fisto and Boba Fett action figures to the shoot on the off chance that there’s any opportunity to get them autographed… I'll also have to dig out my Fan Club exclusive Wuher action figure for inspiration. Well, I should really check my measurements again, make sure I got them right, and then get to bed to dream about that galaxy far far away.
(If you’re interested email kitfisto007 at gmail dot com – tell them the Cantina bartender sent you.)

I couple of years ago, I wrote about volunteering as a control subject for medical research. As a memento of that experience, I've kept the MRI picture of my brain - I think it looks pretty cool. One day, a few months ago, I discovered CafePress, and I thought I'd open my own store
just for fun - I made some random items with photos that I had on my computer, including a few things with the image of my brain...
Since then, I hadn't looked at my CafePress account for several months, and when I was looking for a T-shirt that says I (heart) Canadian Arctic Sovereignty - I decided to log in to my account. I was quite surprised to see that I had a balance in my account! A whopping $3.01!!! Someone in Hong Kong bought one of my shirts...the cool ringer-T with my brain on it! I was in a bit of shock...it's kind of wierd to know that your brain is floating around on a t-shirt on the other side of the world - I wonder if it's owner realizes how 'one-of-a-kind' that shirt really is.
Now I just need to make another $21.99, they don't send a cheque until the account hits 25 bucks...

GiftTRAP is a new game from a Kelowna based board game company. They are using a creative combination of word-of-mouth and internet advertising to launch their new product. To introduce their game, they are holding what they're calling a Massive Play Weekend on October 6, 7 & 8. I thought it looked like an interesting concept, so I sent them an email, volunteering to host a game for the event. They responded today to tell me that the game is in the mail. Now I just need to pick a crew to test it out for the big weekend. It's a 3-8 player game, and my lovely wife will certainly want to join for this one, so we need up to 6 other players to join us. I'm not sure which day/evening of the weekend we'll play, but if you want to join us, leave a comment on this post - the first 6 get to play the first game, the rest might have to wait for round two (or get their own game)...

If I ever had to pay an advertising agency for any reason, the met agency would be the one getting my money.

edmonton free stuff classifieds and want ads - craigslist

one red paperclip - if you haven't already heard of this, you have to check it out.

I picked up this interesting little booklet at a garage sale this weekend. I have learned that on October 1st, 1961, the only Ale, Beer or Stout of the imported variety that one could purchase in Alberta were Bass' Ale, Dortmunder Union Beer, Guiness' Stout, McEwan's Strong Ale, and Tuborg Beer. As one who enjoys that volume of variety that imported beer has to offer, I am glad I live in the second century of Alberta's existence. However, $4.20/dozen Guiness is an attractive price indeed. 

This will only encourage him.