[ 23 ] TK-23108 BAZINGA Troop Log [social media consent]

[BAZINGA[TK]]

I give permission for FISD to repost my photos on social media in an appropriate fashion.

 

Troop 1, 2 and 3: Saskatoon Entertainment Expo May 5-7, 2023 / raised funds for the Pattison Children's Hospital.

 

This is the most members ever at this event from the various clubs.  The last few months have seen a lot of new people join as rebels, 501st or mandos.  We raised funds for the children's hospital in Saskatoon.

 

I'm going to give some background on this journey in the sound off thread however for now I will just say that life getting in the way of life may not have allowed this troop to happen.  The week leading up to it I was flipping back and forth about even attempting it in part because I was being thrown into the deep end instead of a nice small first event.  But I landed on the side of going and then the next thing you know I was there.  I think in retrospect the deep end of the pool was the way to go as I got to do many jobs in a busy setting so learned to adapt and be flexible with everything very quick and for an OCD type of guy that says a lot!

 

 

This one begs a caption.

 

I took the last shift of the first evening because I wanted the least number of people around to make me nervous.  Here I'm getting a pep talk (I think it was a pep talk) from TK-16818 @GilesWoodward.  I was so up in my head at that moment I can't say for sure what he said.  I don't even remember anyone there with a camera.  Then to make matters worse as I walked out he made a big announcement about First Troop coming out so there was some applause and other commotion which made me self-conscience, but then I remembered that no one was going to see the horror on my face and I calmly walked to the photo booth area for my shift.  First hurdle achieved!

 

The rest of the photos are from various times throughout the three days.

 

 

I think that Jawa was making a move for my blaster!

 

TK-55810 is the other trooper that lives 5 minutes from me.  She helped a lot the last few months with pictures and information on what to expect at a troop.

 

By day 2 I was a bit less nervous about it all and I got a tip that allowed me to fit both my head and my glasses into the bucket at the same time which gave me enough confidence to walk around the immediate area a bit and interact.  I had some people asking for selfies and was able to deliver some lines and get some laughs.  I did find my lower back would get sore unless I moved around every few minutes.  Standing in one place for too long is murder for me.

 

 

By day 3 I was itching to get into that armor!  Never thought I'd be saying that.  I did more interactions as I tried to develop my character and hiked around the entire dealer area with one of our Imperial officers.  I probably did about 2 hours of trooping that day and could have easily done more, but had to get ready for the trip home.  My back was getting used to the feel of the armor and movement and in general I didn't find anything too uncomfortable or too hot.  I did take note of a couple little things that I will let wear in a bit before making fitting adjustments.

 

 

 

At one point a television camera was stuck in our faces and they asked the three of us above to have a conversation so we did a little adlib as I questioned them about being the rebels I was looking for.  If this link works we're at about the 2:30 mark.  No dialog was left in and it's in French but you can get the intent very clearly.

 

https://www.facebook.com/icisaskatchewan/videos/960924468269825/

 

 

TK-34575 in the sandtrooper and his son. @@wook1138was instrumental in getting me to this point as he patiently answered dozens of questions.

 

 

This guy wanted a photo as he used the chainsaw on our TIE fighter so I suggest we react as best we could.  We let people take as many photos as they needed.

 

 

A kid asked us to sign his book so we all did, but now that I see the title I'm not sure if that was such a good idea!  Maybe just as well I didn't use my real name...

 

Some of my favorite/interesting things that happened.  I played a statue for a few minutes and watched as some people were taking a close look at me.  Then I talked and they laughed saying they didn't think I was real then they wanted photos with me.  I was walking behind a father and his little boy when the father said to his son, "Look who's behind you." and he turned around and was all smiles when I fist bumped him.  I liked saying, "Everyone say Star Trek" in the photo booth when people were wearing starfleet shirts and lines like, "You need to take that again I had my eyes closed." and "Everyone frown." which all got laughs.  Faiirly standard lines from most I know. We had props for people to use in the booth and one was a blaster so if a little kid picked that and stood beside me I would bend over and show him my blaster and say, "Look it's the same as mine." which they all seemed to enjoy.  I even had the chance to get people out of the way with, "Move along, move along."

 

I learned quite a bit about other costumes as we didn't have dedicated handlers so we did that job for each other.  Helping the mandos in and out of their costumes made me feel for them.  So many layers they were boiling most of the time.  We had a fan in the booth which helped a lot for everyone.

 

I must admit that I was grinning a lot under that bucket.  It was a surreal experience.  I saw myself as someone in a plastic bucket seeing the world in shades of green and people looking back at me were smiling and seeing a stormtrooper.  Even looking at photos of me I can't believe it is me under there!

 

Saturday night we had a multi-club supper which was great to get to know everyone even more and another member gave me a little welcome package of patches, coins and stickers!  I was feeling special and welcomed by the group.  I think the Saskatchewan gang is going to have a lot of good times together and there was a lot of that buzz around the table.

 

I came back with some con crud cold, but am ready to go out for number 2 on the 27th of this month.  Then there seems to be steady slate of available troops if I want them (and likely I'll want them).

 

Really hard to put into words all the feelings this past weekend.  Many of you have described the same thing but until I felt it for myself I couldn't fully appreciate it.

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Bart

 

**************************************

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Number 1 is going to be going up by the end of this weekend.

 

Is a troop considered one event or is each day of the event its own troop?  I asked the other guys and no one knew and none of them have a log here.

 

Bart

Edited October 28 by BAZINGA

[revlimiter[Staff]]

A troop is one event. You can have many troops on a single day.

[gmrhodes13[Staff]]

Depends on your garrison and how you record troops there, locally we count multi day troops as 1 attendance even if you attend the two days, but multiple troops in a day are all counted separately. 

 

 

[FN1313[TK]]

Depends on your garrison and how you record troops there, locally we count multi day troops as 1 attendance even if you attend the two days, but multiple troops in a day are all counted separately. 
 
 

Same idea in my garrison. A convention is usually a single troop, whereas different events in a day are separate troops. That’s how I look at it when it comes to census type stuff too.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[BAZINGA[TK]]

Ok then troop 1 is done!

 

Bart

[BAZINGA[TK]]

Troop 4: Luseland reading at the library.  Small town Saskatchewan.  27May23

 

I was much more relaxed for this one.  This is the size of troop I thought my first troop would have been.  I was generally comfortable in the armor but still taking note of a couple things to tweak.  I still haven't got the bucket fitting just right yet with the glasses, but it is workable with just a bit of discomfort.  The best solution, if I can ever do it without glasses, will be the hardhat suspension in there.

 

This was a journey.  Seven hours of driving in total and three hours of trooping.  It made for a long day.  The town has never had any kind of event like this before and despite a number of conflicting events in their area they were happy with the turn out they did get even if it did come up shy from their projections.  They have ideas for next year to get more focus and participation perhaps teaming up with the local school as well.

 

We had time to play around and the librarian wanted to get some fun shots to use locally and we were all happy to play along.

 

 

I am not the selfie king but this was their theme.

 

 

Two of the rebels travelled in from Saskatoon to team up with me and TK-55810 for this.

 

 

That dude in the middle was cheating.  The dice never rolled my way.  I'm jealous of TK-55810 who has somewhat mastered sitting.  I was standing for three hours but am getting more used to it.  I wasn't in agony by the end and the boots were feeling good.

 

 

I'm in trouble.  Wrong book section.

 

 

This one was better... I guess.

 

 

The kids were all pretty quiet.  Their parents were more excited at times. They got to play a game and get entered for a draw the library was doing.

 

 

She told us she took her kids to Star Wars in 1977 when they were teenagers and if they weren't in the fields seeding they would have been at this.

 

 

This guy was the highlight of my day.  The four of us were talking with the librarian when no one was in the building when the door opened behind us.  He walked in the doorway to see four Star Wars characters all turn and look at him.  His jaw dropped to the floor and pretty much stayed there.  He brought along all his Lego that he and his dad built so, of course, we had to get this photo with his TIE fighter.  He's grinning from ear to ear.  So am I.

 

 

When we were ready to leave they asked if we would mind also walking to the pool which was just a block away.  So, yes, of course we will go watch the caged in younglings.  Then they wanted us on the pool deck for more photos with the lifeguards and kids.  Small town fun.  We might not have signed on for a pool shift, but that water did look tempting after the day.

 

Bart

 

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by BAZINGA

[Morgi[Staff]]

That looks like a super fun troop! And that Obi-Wan... wow, did he escape out of the movie? He's on point. 

[BAZINGA[TK]]

6 hours ago, Morgi said:

That looks like a super fun troop! And that Obi-Wan... wow, did he escape out of the movie? He's on point. 

I know right?  The resemblance is uncanny.  Bart

[BAZINGA[TK]]

Troop 5 : Regina Collectimania June 11, 2023 / raised funds for the  Regina Cat Rescue 

 

Initially this was to be more of a recruitment drive as we have no members in the province's capital city and we would love to remedy that.  Because we ended up with a few more on the volunteer list and the addition of some rebels we were able to do more for their charity with a photo booth.  It was not a huge show and it lasted less than six hours., but lots of people in that time.  The venue, however, was very warm and that was a bit of a test for me going for three hours straight.  I need to remember to be better hydrated in that heat!  All was fine though, still some learning curve for me.

 

I'm still contemplating the armor adjustments which seem to focus most on the bucket.  I need it a bit higher but not too much.  Most everything else seems to be fitting and riding well.  I can safely say that I am totally past the whole anxiety thing over getting into costume and out on the floor around the people.  I'm finding I really like to interact with people especially when I am away from the photo area.  My favorite this troop was once again playing a statue and scaring a group of 16 year old boys when they suddenly realized I was real.  I encountered them again later and gave them the whole fingers/eyes/watching you motion and they seemed to really get a kick out of that.

 

Then where was the little kids most of which were excited to fist bump me  (well one wanted to every time she saw me, but chickened out each time despite my best attempts to win her over). And a few of the adult kids who were just blown away standing with a stormtrooper.

 

Hopefully at least a couple who signed the interest list follow through when we contact them.  One guy wanted to be a TK so pulling for him!

 

Join today.  Yes, we mean you!

 

 

Sort of my statue stand.  Takes only minutes to catch someone.  This was before it was 2000 degrees and the blaster was 12 feet long and 50 pounds.

 

 

This one was excited.

 

 

And with this one there was a combo of fist bumps and high fives instigated by him.

 

 

To keep myself from seizing up I wandered and checked out the merchandise.  Alas, no credits on me.

 

 

Troop number 6 is already less than two weeks away and is all outdoors so the real heat test will be on!

 

Bart

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by BAZINGA

[BAZINGA[TK]]

Troop 6 : Dominic Strong/Children's Hospital support Medicine Hat June 24, 2023 

 

This was my first outdoor troop and my first out of province troop within my garrison.  The weather was perfect.  We had shade and a nice cool breeze blowing through the area for the two hours the event took place.  Four of us, all 501st members this time, with no rebels in sight, attended a baseball game to lend support and draw attention to the Dominic Strong/Children's Hospital fund raising.  Not many photos as we had no dedicated handler this time.  I'm hoping the organizers can get some photos from the team photographer who spent quite a bit of time around us and share them with us.

 

No wildly interesting stories from this one.  We did get a request for photos with "just" the TKs so we felt special for a bit.  I took part in a staring contest with a kid who was trying to stare down the shadow trooper.  I took the kid's side.  It went on a very long time and I'm told many more kids were lined up behind me taking part too.  The shadow trooper did win after the kid's friends got bored and dragged him away.

 

I spotted some photo-op stations so we had a go looking like baseball players:

 

 

The organizers also wanted us to play some crokinole which I played a lot of as a kid, but it was much more difficult this time.  The shadow trooper didn't do any better:

 

 

Here is a FB video as well:

 

Facebook

 

They have been doing this fund raiser for a few years now and have had the 501st for all of them.  I would do it again for sure.  They even had a BBQ for us before it started so we went in with a full stomach.

 

 

We TKs sort of blend into the team!

 

 

A good month to troop number 7 which is local to me so I only need to travel 5 minutes to it!

 

Bart

 

 

Edited September 19, 2023 by BAZINGA

[BAZINGA[TK]]

Troop 7 : Market Square/The Center in Swift Current, July 22, 2023

 

This is an annual troop that has been going on for years but I never had the nerve to approach them and now I'm in with that.  Weird how that works.   It's an open air market and we were lending support to a youth center in the city.  There is a donation made to the organization on behalf of us and the city.

 

We were lucky and had a photographer (my sister-in-law) follow us around the entire time so we could do our thing with no distraction while she did hers.  I wish we could have that all the time.  It made for much better pictures as a lot of candid shots were captured that we normally would never have got.

 

A couple more firsts for me.  First time feeling more the part and less like a guy with a pail on his head, first local troop so a five minute drive, first parking lot kit up which was interesting, first under a heat advisory for the day.  I didn't think we would make 2 hours in the heat, but we did about 3 with one short water break and spending some of the time under tents.  I think my previous job prepared me for extended periods with little water as that was a regular occurrence in my job.  Next year this troop is mine to plan I'm told so I'm hoping I can get some system in place for changing and a private rest area to get the bucket off our heads without an audience.  I encountered a lot of people that I knew since it was local and had fun with them until they could guess who I was.

 

This one photo/encounter ended up being extra special but I didn't find out why until later.  This gentleman was non-verbal but I'm told after the photo he whispered, "Thank you." which I couldn't hear, but the photographer and his aid heard.  The aid was surprised and very happy for him.  My sister-in-law, who did double duty for photos and being our handler, thrust one of my trading cards into my hand to give the man which put an even bigger smile on his face.

 

 

People were encouraged to dress up but really only a few kids did.  The little TK was excited for a photo and not shy in the least to run up to us for one:

 

 

There will be payback for this one...  At least I can take comfort in the fact that if I was hot in mine he was melting in his!

 

 

Once again, ran across this guy.  This time he was trying to get past customs.  I don't remember how this ended....

 

 

Yup, I stopped.  We took a side tour to the nearby fire station, but they didn't turn the hoses on us like we hoped.

 

 

 

I don't even drink it, but if I did it would have to be dark roast.

 

 

 

They are called potatoes on this planet.  I know I won't like them.

 

 

This is the first time I have met/trooped with the pilot, but the others are quickly becoming my trooping gang as I've done the most troops with them in my short time with the 501st (4 of my 5)  All of us go with the motto that no troop is too small to attend if it is making people happy.  We have a fun time every time.

 

 

 

There will be a 6 week dry spell now to troop number 9 and 10 which will be a fan expo a couple hours away.  After that most for the rest of this year becomes tentative for me due to potential weather and road conditions in October and onwards but I'm hoping to get to them especially since 2 of them are little events which allow for a lot more interaction.

 

Bart

Edited September 26, 2023 by BAZINGA

[revlimiter[Staff]]

WOW!!! These are fantastic! Congrats on five troops Bart!!!!!!!  I've been too busy to visit forums much lately, but it was fantastic to get all of these in one go.

 

Also, that Obiwan is AMAZING. Seriously... just perfection. Like stunt double perfection.

[BAZINGA[TK]]

2 hours ago, revlimiter said:

WOW!!! These are fantastic! Congrats on five troops Bart!!!!!!!  I've been too busy to visit forums much lately, but it was fantastic to get all of these in one go.

 

Also, that Obiwan is AMAZING. Seriously... just perfection. Like stunt double perfection.

Thank you!  It has been quite a ride already that's for sure.  Such a crazy amount of fun though it should be illegal!

 

What if I said our Obi-wan was just a very good cut out we move around?  haha.  He really is a crazy match for the real deal and we have a good time when out together interacting.

 

Bart

[BAZINGA[TK]]

Troop 7 part 2.

 

The day after the Market Square troop we went out to a local area called The Great Sandhills which feature a number of sand dunes in the middle of the prairie.  It's a rather interesting nature spot and it can make from some very good photos.  We were there early enough to have wind swept sand with no other footprints.  I didn't want to take my still new armor out into the sand so while I did pose for one silly shot I just helped get the others in and out of the area.  I felt maybe you all would like to see some of the finished shots.

 

Bart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If there was any doubt that Tatooine is really in Canada you just have to look at what I'm drinking.  Bart

 

 

 

 

Edited September 26, 2023 by BAZINGA

[Sithping[TK]]

Now that's a great location for a photo shoot! 

[BAZINGA[TK]]

Troop 8 and 9 : Regina Entertainment Expo, September 23 and 24, 2023 - supporting Joe's Place Youth Centre

 

I've reordered the numbers to be in line with others in the garrison and others on FISD.

 

This two day event is just over two hours away for me so not bad to get to.  Joe's Place had 90% of the display set up with their own props and backdrops that the kids at the centre made or purchased.  We just had to put up a few banners and arrange the photobooth area just a bit.  It was a tight space and we shared the change room (which was about 8x30 feet) with some of the superheroes from Joe's Place so at times it did bet a bit tight.

 

I was in the armor quite a bit.  The first day was rough.  Lots of people in the booth so not a lot of time to just step out and move around a bit or stretch.  I was ready to be done after 2 hours of standing, but then when I did finish my shift I went and wondered around the con in the armor so I guess it wasn't that bad.  Lot's of people wanting selfies and a few wanting "just the stormtroopers" in the photobooth so we were always happy to kick out the other characters for that!  I'm 99% sure people only asked that for the stormtroopers not the other costumes!

 

Day two was not as busy so the two hour shift in the booth wasn't bad at all with time to move around and stretch every few minutes.  I started the second day in the armor early as I "marched" Princess Leia around the convention floor.  Most of us liked a Mustang that someone had decaled up a bit in a Star Wars theme so we made regular tours over to it.  I finished with the armor after we did a march with all available SW characters from our area.  That was my first and it was quite fun with lots of opportunities to tell onlookers, "Move along" and "Stand aside."

 

First pic from the booth.  Tons of costumes went through there.  A newly approved Jedi to the right of me.  This was his first time in the booth.  He was wiping his brow of aweat by the halfway mark and commenting it was getting warm.  Ah, yeah.  We forgot to turn on the fan to the other side to cool us off.

 

 

Most TKs in one place that I currently have attended.  We have more coming up, but they aren't ready just yet.  We could have had a fourth but he opted for doing his Snowy instead this weekend.

 

 

I finally found them!

 

 

 

And nice to have this guy on ice too!

 

 

 

I liked me the Mustang,

 

 

 

No love for the stick figure family!

 

 

 

It was indeed a sad day that day:

 

 

 

What can I say?  She was speeding.  I'm betting she tore it up later and won't appear.

 

 

 

The Mustang owner was pumped every time we stopped for a visit.  I talked to him before I left at the end of the con and told him I wasn't sure why he hadn't joined the 501st yet with all that love he had for us.  He said he really would like to be a TIE pilot.   WTF??  Well gave him our contact information anyway.  Just join up!

 

 

 

Some fun with the Joe's Place Superheroes.  I thought I had it tough getting into my armor but after watching the guy get into Groot I think I've got it good.

 

 

Joe's Place supplied the booth and just about everything else.  They also have a TIE fighter at 88% scale but no room this time for it.  Kids can go up in the turret and operate it to turn it and shoot targets a few feet away.  They loved that.  We found out at the end of day one the kids could also look right down in the change area when they were up there so we really have no idea what else they saw those two days but noted for the future that the turret has to be relocated!  

 

 

 

Finished off my day in a march.   I wish we could have music!  A fan put up this video though and added some:  

 

 

 

And I found myself on YouTube ever so briefly at the 9:50 mark.  I could have some fun with this guy because he's from the same city as me.  He didn't know he had contacted a friend of mine so I was able to use some of those details when reminding him we're monitoring everything!

 

 

Any troop now until late spring are always tentative as we'll be into weather soon that may make for lots of bad travel.  I'm hoping for number 10 to finish off a great first year will happen in late October.

 

Bart

Edited September 27, 2023 by BAZINGA

[Sithping[TK]]

Great pictures! 

[Nairy[Staff]]

Great pictures!! Loved the text on the car, saying "rebel scum" hahahah

[BAZINGA[TK]]

Troop 10: Medicine Hat Gas City Entertainment Expo October 21, 2023

 

I can't believe I was in armor 10 times since this past January!  I thought if I had five opportunities to troop I'd be lucky.  It just gets better and better with each one.  I usually can go 3.5 hours in the armor if I can move around between standing in place for a photo.  Possibly could go even more if I have more to drink and eat beforehand.  I feel my pre-retirement job prepared me for this as I had to spend a lot of time with no time to eat or drink for extended periods.  This can be sort of the same at times.  Once I'm in the armor I'm pretty comfortable but once I take it off I don't want to get back in it for the rest of the day!

 

This is a little expo that maybe had an attendance of 500-1000 people throughout the day.  But it probably has to be one of the most fun events I've been to so far.   It has been an annual event for the garrison for a number of years.  What made it so much fun was the interaction ability.  With things not so crowded it was easy to walk around and have fun with the attendees and harass a few that looked to be trouble.

 

Some memorable encounters with this one as I've come to expect with all of them.  One young man with some challenges talked up two of us in the photobooth for a good 10 minutes.  We managed to stay in character and had some fun with him while also adding some humor to the encounter.  His dad seemed very happy that we spent the time with him.  We were also asked to take part in a ring toss game.  I was sweating extra bullets in this one because of the four characters were had at this event I was the last two throw and the first three all landed their shot.  The pressure was on.  Thankfully I landed my shot too which was very disappointing to the crowd that were expecting a grand failure of aim!  Joke was on them.  I can see pretty well out of the helmet even with my bad eye and corresponding depth perception problem!

 

Treated like royalty by the organizers.  We had about 2000 sq feet (yeah they skimped out on that...) of change area for four of us and we could share in the volunteer snacks and pizza all day!

 

 

Two TKs at this one.  The second lives in the same city as I do but she (TK55810) will be moving sometime next spring.  As such right now we end up carpooling a lot to these troops to save on some costs.

 

 

Found the droid I was looking for.  Much shorter than I thought it would be...

 

 

I don't think this armor is going to pass inspection.  Too many departures from the CRL for approval.

 

 

I really liked this costume and thought the red and white contrast would be cool.  I asked for this photo to be taken.  I'm sure she wondered when one of our guys went up to her and said, "Our stormtroopers would like a photo with you." what was going on.  Isn't it normally the other way around?

 

 

I didn't think it was worth any Imperial credits to have this primitive weapon from this out of the way planet we were on.

 

 

On the other hand I probably couldn't miss with this one even if it was a bit awkward to carry around and load.

 

 

 

This little Jedi was probably my highlight of the day.  When they first walked in his eyes were on us and when his dad brought him closer I said, "I need to see your identification." and his dad helped him with what to say and do to get the line, "I don't need to see your identification" which made his day.

 

 

More cuddly than a blaster...

 

 

But when he misses his nap he's just violent.

 

 

For some fun one of the members (the Mando above) made this little reel.  It does a very nice job of showing our time away from the photobooth area.

 

https://www.facebook.com/100011473691801/videos/3996173270703791/

 

Any troop between now and next spring will be a bonus troop.  The weather is starting to change which usually means bad travel weather and 9 out of 10 troops for me involve a minimum two hour drive.  In nasty conditions it's just not practical.  If it works out I'll get to do a Christmas troop mid-December in a mall so that should be wild with shoppers!  The rest of the time I'll live vicariously through those trooping in warmer locals!

 

Bart

 

 

[Nairy[Staff]]

Congratulations on the 10 troops Bart!  Amazing!

It's always really fun to read your troop logs. I too usually have a time of 3.5-4 hours before I start feeling somewhat done, but if I'm standing in the photo booth that time gets drastically reduced! I usually end up marching around in circles when we have no one coming up to take photos. All so that I can extend the time it takes before my feet and back to get tired!  The worst part for me is the trooping blues as it always hits me afterwards, do you get the blues too?

 

And I sincerely agree: 

Quote

 It just gets better and better with each one.

[Doggydoc[Staff]]

Congrats on 10 troops Bart. Glad that being a TK is getting better and better and more fulfilling with every troop 

[BAZINGA[TK]]

12 hours ago, Nairy said:

It's always really fun to read your troop logs. I too usually have a time of 3.5-4 hours before I start feeling somewhat done, but if I'm standing in the photo booth that time gets drastically reduced! I usually end up marching around in circles when we have no one coming up to take photos. All so that I can extend the time it takes before my feet and back to get tired!  The worst part for me is the trooping blues as it always hits me afterwards, do you get the blues too?

 

I love your troop logs too.  I was just telling that to the other TK that day that pictures with the stories and background information makes them so much better.  Like being there.  I wish I could troop with you.  I think it would be a blast.  Yes, in the photobooth the duration of tolerance is reduced a lot.  Like you I spend time in the immediate area walking around in circles when there are big gaps in the photo line or my back just can't take handle it with the standing in place.  When I'm marching around with interaction opportunities the time just flies.  I'm sure I can get up to over 4 hours in a stretch with practice.

 

As for the post trooping blues.  PTDS - Post Trooping Depression Syndrome perhaps?  Yes, I get this to some extent.  It is eased if there is a wind down period right after like a drive back home with another trooper or a group supper after to decompress and debrief.  We also have a FB chat group with those of us in the province that troop together to hash over it all and share pictures.  That all helps to ease me out of it.  I totally know what you mean though.  Without these extra post-troop things happening the blues would be worse.  Do you guys have any post-troop things to help ease those feelings?

 

Bart

[BAZINGA[TK]]

Troop 11: Saskatoon recruitment drive November 18, 2023

 

This is a "bonus" troop for me as once we get into October we never know when the weather is going to cause plans to be cancelled and this was a three hour drive for me one way. Thankfully no snow or ice to stop me.

 

It is also an anniversary of a sort.  It was just under a year ago that I attended this annual troop to meet the members that I would end up spending most of my trooping time with.  Last year I had the armor by this time but it will still sitting in the box as I was too scared to touch it.  This year I attended, not as a potential 501st member, but as a 501st member.

 

Some fun things this day.  The venue was not very big so basically had little more than a small bathroom size room to change and with a bunch of shelves everywhere in the main area I didn't spend a lot of time trying to move around for fear of knocking over something.  So I sort of played statue for the couple hours I was in armor.  Caught a few people off guard.  I was the only TK in costume at this one.  The other in attendance was handling most of the Q&A from people.  Always a bit of an ego boost when people want photos with the stormtrooper more than any of the other costumes!  As it should be right?!  When I thanked the venue host before we left he said he would have a stormtrooper there every day if he could.

 

Two notable encounters.  The first was meeting a guy who we had first talked to back in May at my first troop.  I kind of recognized him.  He saw us in May and decided he wanted to be a bounty hunter and had been working on that ever since and is almost ready to submit.  He spent some time chatting up the members and was just pumped about almost being at the goal.  The second happened while I was in the armor.  A guy came in and was talking to one of our members at the club table.  I was not paying a lot of attention to the conversation but did see and hear him when he turned around, pointed at me, and said, "That is what I want to be - a Stormtrooper."  Then I took more notice.  We happened to have a member working on his first TK kit in the basement of the venue so I suggested he take at least 5 minutes to check that out and ask questions.  He was down there a good 30 or 40 minutes so hopefully he caught the bug and starts the process.  The team told me later that he came across as very serious about it.  You never know at these things who is ready and who is just kicking the tires.

 

Afterwards we had a group supper and talked about all the big ideas we'd like to do with our few members in the province.   We want to build sets. The post-troop de-brief supper is always nice to ease back into reality.  I did find on the drive home the next day that I had a bit more post-troop depression than usual.  Maybe because I know troops will be harder to do as winter sets in so there could be a long wait time between them for me.

 

Not many photos because not much room to roam, but here we are:

 

We had comic books to give to any kids.  I should have snatched one for myself...

 

 

Just standing here trying not to bump anything...

 

 

Had this Imperial wallet handed to me for a photo:

 

 

But, alas, no credits in it.  Might have been just as well.  Lots of shinny things there distracting me.

 

 

Someone brought us cookies and muffins.  So I got to watch while the officer had a couple after posing with me.

 

 

A mini me!

 

 

Group shot with Rebels and Imperials.  We think we should ask about using this place for some photoshoots.  Very Tatooine bar-like and much darker than the picture shows.  The traditional supper after is really the icing on the cake for many of us:

 

 

We have a local, to me, meet and greet in a couple weeks, but for that one I'm just handling the Q&A and PR.  No costume.  We hope to drum up more members in the southern part of the province but also make additional contacts for groups that could use a hand with fund raising.  There are December troops planned that I would love to get to but all out of town so weather may have different ideas.

 

Bart

 

 

[Sithping[TK]]

Great update 

[BAZINGA[TK]]

Troop 12 : Collectimania in Regina December 3, 2023.  Supporting, along with the Grinch, the Carmichael community outreach.

 

This is another "bonus" troop for 2023 thanks to the unusually mild fall we have been experiencing making driving to these much easier.  This one was just two hours away and just a one day, afternoon event.  Unfortunately neither we, nor the grinch, was put in a traffic area so we didn't see many people at our booth.  We also were low in numbers and no handlers so we took turns in both rolls that afternoon.  With not much traffic we spent a lot of the time wandering the vendor floor, the lobby and the concession to see what fun we could make for ourselves.  

 

Probably the best interaction this time was when a mando and myself attempted to score some free food at the concession from a young guy who was working there.  No, we weren't seriously looking for free food, but that's how we attempted to shake him down.  His co-workers loved it because this poor guy had no idea what a shakedown even was which made it even better as we tried to imply to him what it was going to take to get us to go away and it just was not clicking.

 

Come to the collecting show and stay for the mania:

 

 

I don't look very festive with the tree.  I can't even wrap my bucket around the idea that Christmas is just three weeks away.

 

 

I tried to check my armor at the coat check:

 

 

You can put your hands down.  I'm not here to rob you:

 

 

This dude was trying to steal Christmas so we took action:

 

 

Hey, that's me!

 

 

I'm not sure if there will be any more bonus troops for a while now.  While there is a Christmas one scheduled in a couple weeks it's the one that is three hours from me and even if there is not much snow now that can change in an instant this time of year.  I also anticipate that by February next year I may be in line for the cataract surgery that I need as a result of the retina surgery complications  back in January and I think with the timing of that, with both eyes now needing to be done now, plus needing new eye-glasses when it is all over I will be grounded for a month or more unable to even drive.  Time will tell.

 

Bart