So May, 2005. The six-year movie journey is almost complete. Back in the 90s we started with TPM and midnight madness toy sales with Hien and Dad respectively. Now we stood down the barrel of Star Wars Episode 3 The Revenge of the Sith (ROTS). Oddly I was trying to play down the movie this time a bit. I didn’t rush out to get the new figures at midnight like years past. Instead, I just bought them at the Walmart next to work and only got the ones I wanted versus the whole set.

Now at that time working at EB Games in Woodland I had become chummy with all the employees there, but one particular one, Nora, had allowed my dumbassery in the front door. As release day for the movie grew closer, I started to think maybe I would like to see the film at midnight, it was just more fun that way. So that Tuesday at work, the day before the release technically, Nora convinced me to get midnight tickets to the movie for us, barring I could find a non-sold out show anywhere.

I had just recently converted Nora into watching the films in numerical order, so at this point she had only seen episode one and two, TPM and AOTC. So, I was quite interested to see how she would take to getting to see ROTS in its proper but unintended order. We found a pair of tickets at the dome theaters* in Sacramento and pounced on them. Nora got so excited that after work she made us hunt down a purple lightsaber that she could decorate for the opening.

image 26 Nora showing off her bedazzled lightsaber while in line for ROTS (2005)

                Now the only real hiccup in the plan. Nora worked Wednesday night. I believe we closed at 10pm. Which meant I had to drive to Sacramento, assess the line situation and then stand outside by myself for hours. Thanks to AOTC I knew enough to ask about what time we would be dragged into the theater and so on, thus I knew I had to get there at least by 7pm if not earlier. Now years later maybe we joke that this was a hot date night. But it wasn’t really, it was just a spur of the moment thing, I had actually made plans to see the movie with Jen, in L.A. the next day. Originally the plan was to start driving down south around midnight to see the film with her and then some of the Star Wars nerds. Now I was going to watch the movie with Nora beforehand, the plan became Nora, then drive down south and do another crazy film seeing tour like I had with AOTC.

                Then something happened, the theater said they overbooked the 12:01 showings and were offering later shows with a bonus, either money back or popcorn or something. I decided to call Karl and see if he wanted in on Star Wars again now that a slightly later show with plenty of seats opened up at a better price. He said sure, which was great because that would give me someone to stand in line with, however I figured I should make sure Nora was okay with being out late at night with two creepy old men.

                This is where things got strange, Nora was okay with it, I kid but adding Karl even if it was a hot date wouldn’t have really upset anyone. However, Nora was working as she did somewhat frequently that night with the store manager. Once I informed her of the later start time thus not having to rush out of the store to get to Sacramento anymore and adding Karl with the new open seats, I guess our manager caught wind of what was afoot and decided he wanted in on this new showing. He was not a driver either so now Nora had to be responsible for him. This slight change did add some awkwardness to the whole event and is a good note for the future.

image 27 Jen's picture in the paper while in line for ROTS, 2005

                Of course, afterwards I booked it on down to L.A. Jen oddly enough had made one of the local Chinese language papers while standing in line at her local theater that day. Before Jen and I went off to see the film over and over again with people, I believe we did the first run of Wookie cookies. Not in the style that some book was using to capitalize on, but in the form of gingerbread men that were instead shaped and decorated as Wookies.

                However the cookies might have been related to other trips that same summer, it is hard to remember since I did them once with Jen in Alhambra and then another time Jim and I made some in Davis, although I am pretty sure that the time Jen and I made them was the trail run to see if they were going to work and I think were actually made prior to an attempt to attend the E3 convention in L.A. that year.

image 28 the initial batch of wookiee cookies created by Jen and Me at her place in Alhambra CA. (2005)

This wouldn’t be the last Star Wars film I would see but it definitely closed the chapter of childhood versions I would see. Although in my mid-twenties by the time of ROTS, I just call that period my extended childhood. At some point I would see an animated Star Wars feature with Karl in a theater and then years later Aidan and I would go see the first two Disney Star Wars films, which was cool because I was able to take Aidan to see the first one at the same theater Nora and I watched ROTS at, but ROTS to an extent closes the childhood chapter of the Star Wars. I would wane down my figure collecting at that point, didn’t keep up with as much of the extended material and pretty much only had one video game I was playing at the time, and it wasn’t Star Wars related. Time for a change in hobbies, maybe.