Chicago Force Costuming Event

Posted on February 26, 2003 by Carrie

“Who’s your tailor? I love that outfit!”

On Saturday, March 1 at noon, Chicago Force presents the debut of our Costume Club. The first project will be making Jedi outer robes and will be held at the Mokena home of Phyllis Schulte (Schph Gochi). If you plan to attend, you will need to bring a pattern, fabric (washed and dried), a 300-yard spool of all-purpose thread the same color as the fabric, straight pins, and scissors. For more detailed information on these items, please see this FanForce forum thread.

You will need to RSVP for this event by sending an e-mail to Heather Ast (Darth Jurist) by Thursday night. For the latest information on Chicago Force events, visit www.chicagoforce.org or stop by our Fan Force Forum.

Chicago Force Book Club Meeting

Posted on February 14, 2003 by Carrie

On Saturday, February 22 at 1:00 P.M., Chicago Force’s Errant Venture book discussion group will have its first city meeting at the Borders on State Street. We’ll discuss The Courtship of Princess Leia by Dave Wolverton. Come join us to talk about this story which introduced the Force Witches of Dathomir and culminated in the marriage of Han and Leia. There is a 20% discount for this book for book club participants. (Please note that this is only available at the Borders on State Street.)

Borders is at 150 N. State Street. If you have any questions, send an e-mail to city moderator Phil Salomon (Mos Eisleian Radio). For the latest information on Chicago Force events, visit www.chicagoforce.org.

Tragedy in Nal-Ottawa

Posted on February 9, 2003 by Hazmatt

Organized crime was struck a blow today when noted gangster and crime lord Jabba the Hutt passed away. Details are yet unknown, but so far officials have released the following information:

Jabba was captured and taken into custody Sunday morning by CF officials just outside the core world of Chicagoscant. He had erected a smaller yet accurate copy of his Tattooine throne room on the upscale planet of R-Lingtin Hites and was, according to authorities, holding some sort of celebratory gathering.

Due to the size and nature of the Hutt, the Force had to call in their Hazardous Materials truck (Hazmatt) to provide transportation. Jabba was loaded into the vehicle and secured with a gray covering and a rope-like substance.

The Hazmatt vehicle left Chicagoscant and headed south on Imperial highway Fifty-Five (I-55), maintaining a constant speed of 55 MPH (moles per hectare? Hey, if Han can travel a distance in less than 12 parsecs….and have you tried going 55 on the Stevenson? That is the posted limit, but people normally do 80). The trip progressed without incident until they reached Imperial highway Eighty.

Upon turning west onto I-80, the unit was faced with a 35 MPH headwind. This combined with their ground speed of 55 MPH to give a combined airspeed of 90 MPH. The gray covering holding Jabba the Hutt from escape was not designed for such velocities, and it was not long before one of the supporting grommets tore from its fabric and revealed the Huttese crime-lord to the elements.

A word of explanation here for our loyal readers: it is not common knowledge, but Jabba has a rather large indentation in the back of his cranium (watch the movie again, you’ll see it). Also, his skin is very thin and fragile at this point. When the protective tarpaulin was removed, the gale-force air current set up a vortex action between the vehicle and Jabba, causing dire effects. One dismembered arm was caught in the maelstrom and impacted the rear window where it, according to one witness, “stuck there, plaintive and sad, like it was trying to hold on, then it was gone.”

The rush of atmosphere continued its path of destruction. An exposed flap of skin caught in the current and peeled back, exposing the viscera of the great slug. The transport operators immediately brought the vehicle to a stop, but it was too late, the damage had been done. Unable to repair the damage, even to find any of the violently removed pieces, they continued on to the penal colony of Nal-Ottawa.

The remainder of the trip was not kind Jabba’s corpse. Now fully exposed to the wind, small bits and pieces felt free to detach themselves and spread over a large stretch of road. When the transport arrived at its destination, little remained of the once great piece of slime-ridden filth. One of the pilots, who had grown quite close to Jabba during their time together, was taken by his emotions and weeped openly at the sight, causing one passerby to exclaim, “Jeez, Matthew, you’re such a freak. Why did I even marry you in the first place?”

While Jabba is no longer with us, and his time on this plane of existence was brief, we have the comfort that he was laid to rest with the full honors of a crime-lord befitting his stature–in empty dumpster behind an anonymous car wash.

CapriCon 2003

Posted on February 8, 2003 by Hazmatt

On February 8, 2003, Chicago Force descended upon the annual CapriCon Convention in Arlington Heights, IL and hosted yet another of their themed room parties.

CF room parties have, over the years, generally progressed in an escalating manner. There has been the simple “Club Sith” to “Dagobah” to the horror that was styrofoam packing peanuts and “Hoth”. This year we decided to do “Jabba the Hutt’s Throne Room” from “Return of the Jedi”. To facilitate this, the convention had donated a 25’x45′ conference room on the main floor, a dance floor, and any furniture that we required.

Planning for this party started months prior and involved many, many people. Those that were there can attest to the success (or lack there of) of this endeavour. Not all of our plans made it to the end, but here is what we did have when the night arrived:

Green-skinned Gammorrean Guard at the door
Blast door and TT-8L droid
Life-sized Jabba the Hutt, tail lovingly wrapped around Salacious Crumb
Full-sized, three-dimensional Han Solo, frozen in Carbonite
Max Rebo and a live band
R2-D2 serving drinks in the corner
Red, blue, and green-skinned Twi’lek slave girls, dancing for Jabba’s (and everyone else’s) pleasure
Yarna, with all six breasts
Boba Fett
Luke Skywalker (where’d he get the beard, though?)

Sound like a party? It was.

Standing guard at the door, I got to witness a lot of people’s first reaction to seeing the room. Almost every one would stop at the door, not quite believing what they saw. 85 percent of them uttered some sort of expletive in awe. I don’t think I saw anyone visit just once. People would leave for a few minutes, only to return to where they knew the party was.

I could spend several more paragraphs listing all the compliments that people gave us, so it was a little disappointing when we didn’t pick up the award for Best Party. After the award was given, though, the con staff spent a few moments giving us a special mention, using phrases like “just awesome” and “I’m speechless”.

So many people contributed to the making of this event that any list is bound to leave someone out, but I am going to try:

Shauna, Heather, Thom, Caroline for making the best all-time party prop ever: a life-sized Jabba the Hutt. It’s a shame he didn’t make it home. Han in Carbonite got some compliments, so I’ll thank myself for that. Heather and Le Penguin for Max Rebo; seeing the blue DJ really added credibility to the whole thing. Caroline, Danielle, and Loree for being such delicious slave girls, and braving the oogling of every male in sight. Jason and Erica for the R2-D2 cooler, and lastly, but certainly not least of all, everyone that helped put this thing together Saturday afternoon: Matt, Dave, Heather, Shauna, Carrie, Ginna, Danielle, Caroline, Erica, Jeff, Bob, Phil, Thom, Ray, Patrick, Trisha, and anyone else whom I might have forgotten….this was certainly a team effort, and was only made possible by everyone pitching in and doing their part. Thank you all, it was a night to remember.

And here I am, babbling along, and all you really want to see is the pictures, right? Well, the wait is over…

: We begin with a clean apartment

: The tail begins to take shape

: More styrofoam peanuts (shudder)

: Good enough for now

: Making Jabba’s head

: Adding a few facial features

: The first layer of papier-maché, and some more features

: Being Jabba Malkovich

: Inside the Hutt

: First paint

: Adding the fat roll

: It’s all starting to come together

: Shauna has a VERY understanding husband

: He certainly looks like Jabba

: “Off with his head!”

: Adding the highlights

: The last coat of paint

: Jabba is beside himself

: The finished product

: It all starts with the foam

: Han’s torso, hacked out with a kitchen knife

: It’s starting to look a little creepy

: Look, I am holding hands with myself. Eeew!

: Help! Help! I’m trapped in the counter!

: It’s starting to look REALLY creepy

: Headless Han

: First you start with a rough draft

: OK, visibility is good

: Do you hear what I hear?

: Copy the pattern to the final cloth

: Time to get stuffed!

: The hotel donated this ice sculpture. Good thing it was 300 degrees below zero outside.

: Friday night and it’s all alright

: Dave Grelck and his lovely bit ‘o’ honey

: Get Matt’s book! Read it now!

: Matt wanted to make sure we could find his body if it fell out of an airplane.

: “He’s safe!” “He’s out!”

: I know they don’t look it, but they are still sober at this point.

: And Heather was sick as a dog the next morning…strange.

: Assembling the slug, the myth, the legend.

: The party hasn’t started, and already people are getting naked.

: Thankfully, tons of people showed up to help.

: We jus’ keepin’ it real, G.

: “Quick! Nobody look at the camera!”

: “You all are doing marvelous work. Fantastic.”

: Matt’s awesome, but eventually unused, radio-controlled Jawa.

: Trying to turn a mess into a party.

: “Look into my eyes…you are getting sleepy, very sleepy…”

: “Quick! Everyone look at Shauna’s butt!”

: Just think, this mess turns into a party.

: Han sits (er, stands) in the corner, patiently waiting his turn.

: Even in carbon-freeze, you still get a slobber-pile taking a nap.

: “Help! I’ve fallen down and I can’t reach my drink!”

: Final clean-up, and we’re ready to party.

: Shauna awaits Jabba’s command.

: “Insert Tab A into Slot B? I don’t even see a frickin’ Slot B!”

: Before and After picture

: Hazmatt shaves his dome to prepare for wearing a latex mask for 6 hours.

: Putting the finishing touches on a hot slave chick.

: He’s an “Airhead”.

: TT-8L

: “You shall not pass!”

: “No, I swear I didn’t know she was your wife!”

: If you think this is a cute couple, you are DEFINATELY a Star Wars geek.

: Twi’lek porn.

: I don’t know what costume this is supposed to be, but I like it!

: Ladies and gentlemen, Jabba the Hutt.

: Matt serenades a bounty hunter

: Tom Servo is here. NOW it’s a party.

: The Legend of Drunken Jedi Master

: Max Rebo in da hiz-ouse!

: Nice, uh, uniform there, lady.

: Big, dumb, green pigs can love a Trill, too.

: The two hottest slave girls I have ever seen.

: Hey, I didn’t say they were Jabba’s slaves!

: Bartending droid.

: The party gets movin’

: We love us!

: “You work with a tall, gold droid too? What are the odds?”

: Salacious is jus’ chillin’.

: Jabba is in his domain.

: Jabba looks like he’s having a good time, doesn’t he?

: Is that a brain-stem on your head, or are you just happy to see me?

: It’s good to be the Hutt.

: Jabba does it for the chicks

: Jabba’s favorite decoration

: “He was no good to me dead. Come to think of it, he wasn’t very nice to me alive, either.”

: Whoa, dude, it’s like looking in a mirror.

: Tom was honored to meet Phil.

: Keeping out the riff-raff.

: Call one of them a big, fat pig. I dare you.

: Dancing for Jabba.

: Oddly, their Jedi Mind Tricks didn’t work on Jabba.

: The Corkscrews take the stage.

: “Baby, I’m amazed at the way you love me all the time…”

: “I love you, Tom, I honestly love you…”

: Keeping up with the Jones.

: Boba thinks the Corkscrews are alright!

: “Six breasts, huh? Dude, that’s awesome!”

: The Corkscrews turn it up a notch.

: “Unconventional”, and proud of it.

: Hans & Han S.

: “Utinni!”

: It was the kind of party where Jabba looked normal.

: If you look closely, you can see Jabba actually pulling the chain closer to him…

: Jabba is a great photo-op.

: Hey Luke! Hands off the slave girl!

: Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice!

: Security is on hand to make trouble “go away”.

: “Bo-shu-da!”

: “He must be allowed to speak!”

: I don’t remember him being in Jabba’ Palace.

: “You don’t talk much, do you?”

: “Han, Han……..why!?”

: This party attracts all sorts.

: Just call him Servo Master T.

: It looks like someone has taken an interest in our handiwork.

: “Your name’s Tom, huh? That’s cute.”

: Yarna chats up a trooper.

: “Watch what happens when I squeeze her head.”

: “Karate chop!”

: Squeezing the ‘Juice.

: Tom watches the board while Max is away.

: The Corkscrews hire some backup singers.

: Max gets jiggy wit’ it.

: This was right before the yuppie wanna-bees shut us down.

: What a motley crew.

: “Yeah, baby, take it all!”

: “Alas, poor Yargna. I knew him, Horgar.”

: I’m not as you think as drunk I am.

: It’s been a REALLY long night at this point.

: “Ray ate the Jawa!”

: It seems so lonely, now.

: “Hey! Where’d everyone go? Let’s party!”

: The harsh reality of daylight

: Jabba ain’t what he used to be.

: Ray is still unconscious. Poke him. I think he may be dead.

: We did it! Too bad Jabba won’t make it home.

: David and Matt hold a reading for their work.

: George Lucas: god or monster?

Chicago Force celebrates all things Star Wars at Capricon!

Posted on February 5, 2003 by Carrie

Chicago Force will be spreading Star Wars goodness all weekend long at Capricon in Arlington Heights.

On Friday, February 7, at 9:00 P.M., Hans Aeschbacher (TheExecutor) will be hosting a Chicago Force RPG session. The adventure will take place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. You’ll be part of a Rebel team stealing plans for a new TIE Fighter design. Hans will have a wide variety of pre-rolled characters to choose from.

Chowbaso! On Saturday, February 8, at approximately 9:30 P.M., Chicago Force will be throwing a party at Jabba’s Palace. Come and dance to the otherworldly tunes of The Corkscrews and DJ Max Rebo. We’ve gone all-out for this one, so you won’t want to miss out!

On Sunday morning, February 9, several members of Chicago Force will be participating in a panel entitled “George Lucas: God or Monster?” Come on out and choose your side for this great debate.

Capricon is being held February 6-9 in Arlington Heights. For more information, including registration, go to www.capricon.org. Please note that only registered attendees of Capricon may attend the RPG session or Lucas panel. Convention attendees will also be able to vote in the Best Party competition. For the latest information on Chicago Force events, head over to www.chicagoforce.org.

Chicago Force Book Club Meeting

Posted on January 25, 2003 by Carrie

On Saturday, January 25 at 1 p.m., Chicago Force presents the debut of the Errant Venture Book Club. The group will meet on a monthly basis, alternating between city and suburban locations to discuss Star Wars books with fellow Expanded Universe readers.

The first meeting was at the Barnes & Nobles at 590 E. Golf Road in Schaumburg. The book for the month was X-Wing: Rogue Squadron by Michael Stackpole. We talked about the brave men, women, and aliens who fight to protect the New Republic in its early years.

Finally, an event I don’t have to drive 2 hours to get to

Posted on December 14, 2002 by Hazmatt

…as seen by Matthew “Hazmatt” Callison

Well, the 2002 Chicago Force DVD/Christmas Party is in the past. We had almost 20 people show up, and everyone had a good time.

Somehow, we ended up not actually watching the Episode II movie. We did watch the Deleted Scenes and Humorous Outtakes, though. Other video fare included the tape from the 2002 Video Scavenger Hunt, clips from TV news programs around the time Episode II was released, and pretty much the entire movie X-Men. We also viewed “The Skywalkers”, which was a Fan Film made with the help of Chicago Force members Amber-Eyes and Brother Suess. It is a parody of the TV show “The Osbournes” using Anakin, Padme, Luke and Leia as the family. It was very funny, and recently won “Best Movie” at the 2002 FilmCon convention in Madison, Wisconsin.

Thanks go out to 501st troopers Louis, Darth Goat, Duffy, and Emily for coming down and hanging out with us. You fine folks are always welcome, and perk up any party you attend.

But who am I kidding, you don’t want to hear about that. You want pictures!

: The party gets started with a few people and the “Schoolhouse Rock” DVD

: Man, I am glad Mark was there to hold up that pole

: The buffet area was an early hit

: Thom Solo assists with the traditional “Midwest Garrison Salute”

: Liam Franklin makes his first Chicago Force appearance

: The party picks up as more people shuffle in

: Everyone is glued to “The Skywalkers”

: There was a lot of this going on

: Host JediJeff’s “Ton ‘o’ Star Wars Crap” wall

: Heather spies the “Poggle the Lesser” action figure she is missing, and tries to figure out how to get it out of the house undetected

: “Jedi Outcast” ran constantly on the PC in the corner

: “We don’t have the balls to play this game!”

: We move upstairs for the Gift Exchange portion of the evening

: Trisha is on hand to document the action

: Matt trades a gift for one he thinks is better

: Mark is so good, he can hand out presents with his eyes closed

: Everyone tears into their ill-gotten booty

: Smiles all around for the cool stuff we traded

: We congratulate each other on how cool we are

: “So, were you able to rig the Interactive R2 drawing yet?”

: The Wilk’s family tree

: Our own clonetrooper ‘bobble head’

: The proud father shows off his extrememly well-behaved offspring

: Chicago Force represent!

: Heather wins the Interactive R2-D2. Everyone else starts planning a mugging

: The gang’s all here!

: JediJeff shows us his butt

: Some great store displays

: The Franklin’s and their bundle of joy

Chicago Force views AOTC on the big screen…and we mean big!

Posted on November 23, 2002 by Hazmatt

In November 2002, “Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones” was released nationwide in IMAX theaters. IMAX film is a high-definition format, where the film is literally twice as big as the film used in normal theaters (70mm instead of 35mm). The result is a picture that is bigger, sharper, and more colorful than is found in regular theaters.

As “Attack of the Clones” was the first movie to be filmed, processed, and distributed entirely on a digital format, it presented the IMAX theaters with a unique opportunity to create a 70mm film print that was far superior to anything they had done before. Although they had to remove 23 minutes of film to fit the picture on the projectors, the two hours of movie they were able to convert was truly amazing. Most people who viewed the movie on the 6-story Navy Pier screen knew they were in for a treat as soon as they saw the 20th Century logo.

Navy Pier IMAX was very generous in donating 150 tickets to Chicago Force for an 8 AM showing on the morning of release. Chicago Force in turn donated 80 of our tickets to the Metropolitan Boys Academy, to let some children see the movie that may otherwise not been able to.

It’s not easy getting people out to a movie at 8 o’clock on a Friday morning, but by the time Obi-Wan and Anakin were assigned to protect Senator Amidala, the theater was mostly full.

Here are picture from the first midnight show, and the 8 AM show the next morning:

: Youth from the Metropolitan Boys Academy

: Chicago Force is Your Kind of Scum

: Dave Gray, organizer extraordinaire

: You can’t have too many pictures of Yoda

: Ray won’t let anyone in until it’s time

: What a great lookin’ group of people

: More group pictures – Boys Academy

: The gang’s all here

: The general confusion before the movie starts

: Chi-Force invades “Dick’s Last Resort” after the midnight show

: Yeah for all of us!

: I’m beginning my attack run!

: Stay on target…

: Almost there…

: It didn’t go in, it just impacted on the surface!

: Get clear, you can’t do anymore good back there!

: Being with Chicago Force just makes people happy

: See? Everyone is smiling.

Chicago Force rocks WindyCon!

Posted on November 9, 2002 by Hazmatt

On November 9, 2002, Chicago Force put on a room party at the 2002 WindyCon Convention, held in the Schaumberg Hyatt in, well, Schaumberg. The theme for this party was “Death Star Trash Compactor“, and the room was decorated appropriately. Guests entering the room were met by the dianoga, several large pieces (to brace the walls with, perhaps?), and of course, trash.

To say that the party was a success would be an understatement. We kicked it off at about 9:30 PM, and went until the wee hours of the morning, some how managing to esacpe the wrath of the elderly couple staying next door. The room was beautifully decorated due to the diligent work put in by the Chicago Force crew. Matt, Dave, Hazmatt, Thom, Phil, Ray, Heather, Shauna and even Devon from Milwaukee were all on hand to transform a tasteful hotel room into a pit of refuse. It was surprisingly a lot of work.

All that hard work paid of, though, when people came to visit. Practically everyone that ventured into our domain complimented us on our decor and attitude and although there was no official competition for Best Party, our exit polls indicated we would have won by a landslide.

But don’t take my word for it. See for yourself…

: The process begins with an average hotel room.

: No one could get in touch with C-3PO to open the blast doors.

: Well, it LOOKS like a trash compactor…

: Bob the Dianoga

: The other wall. This miscellaneous drunk guy would come back to haunt us later.

: We know good trash when we see it.

: Ray, that is NOT a bong!

: More trash.

: The door, and a piece of a starship that wandered too close to the Death Star.

: No flash, so you can see what the room really looked like.

: Dave mixes the first batch of “Dianoga Dream”.

: Another shot of Bob the Dianoga. Isn’t he so cute?

: A toast to us!

: Bobafemme. She is so sexy!

: TK-895 and Bird-Man, Attorney-at-law.

: Matrix Trinity and Blade.

: “He did it, officer! I saw the whole thing!”

: New Chicago Force recruit Hans and his lovely wife.

: Bird-Man and Lara Croft.

: A lovely fairy.

: A Jedi pays us a visit.

: Some of the lovely ladies that came to visit.

: What a pair.

: Me taking a picture of Trish taking a picture of……..well, you get the idea.

: One of our vampire friends.

: I ruin everyone’s night vision with a flash.

: Lemme guess, purple is your natural color?

: An awesome Quidditch outfit. The broom is handmade.

: She took pity on Ray and let him stand next to her.

: A really great Klingon.

: A Klingon and Frank Zappa at the same party? What are the odds?

: Remember the old Klingon proverb: “Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

: OK, so my flash is really bright, especially “after a few”.

: We beef up security.

: A lull in the festivities.

: Chicago Force in da hiz-ouse, &^#$&%@(*!

: Ray always seems to be standing near the hot women.

: Not everyone that stopped by was drunk.

: The party gets jumpin’

: What a difference a flash makes.

: Hey, nice jacket.

: A Jedi and his serving wench.

: Klingon sisters.

: Just as he does with Life, Matt takes the bowl by both hands and holds on tight.

: Chug! Chug! Chug! Chug!

: Two beautiful people.

: “Stop? We just got this party started!”

: Bobafemme, sans gorilla head. Hey! She’s hot!

: A wandering theater troupe.

: All hail the Centauri Republic!

: Ray’s past catches up with him.

: Whaddya mean throw it away? You think is this trash?

: Tear-down is accomplished with only a few minor glitches.

: Time of death – 2:43 AM

Annoying people with camcorders

Posted on October 19, 2002 by Hazmatt

Chicago Force had their First Annual Video Scavenger Hunt on October 19, 2002. The primary goal, as always, is to get together with like-minded people and have fun. The secondary goal is to place people in embarrassing situations so we can laugh at them later. Both goals met with spectacular success.

The tasks took the teams all over the city, and ranged from giving speeches in public places to interviewing strangers to trying to get members of law enforcement to participate in skits.

After the video taping, we met up at Bootlegger’s to wind down and watch the videos. The event was well attended, and I think it’s safe to say that everyone involved had a great time.