Stormtroopers and Tropical Storms

Yesterday we decided to theme park it.  I was concerned about the weather.  Not so much that it would rain.. more concerned about whether or not there'd be clouds in the sky.  When you're at a theme park – or anywhere outside really – and there are NO clouds and it's higher than 90 degrees, it's MISERABLE here in Orlando.  It's FREAKIN' HOT down here.  Like a sauna.  Unbearable heat and humidity that makes you feel like you never want to leave your air conditioned house again. Ever. I won't even get into what it does to my hair.  (grrrrr…)

Yesterday was different.  It was cloudy… it was even WINDY.  It rained.  And this time when it rained, it didn't start steaming off the sidewalks or pavement… it actually cooled the temperatures a bit.  Wow.. what a difference a little tropical storm can make. 

Isn't it great that only 11 days into Hurricane Season there's already a storm in the gulf? Ugh. Criminy. WTF people?!  We never get storms this early… and certainly no storms that actually get a NAMED!  Stoopid hurricanes.  Stoopid storms. Stoopid weathermen & women who act like they're getting off on this stuff.  Ugh. It makes me CRAZY.  I swear, when I see them standing out in torrential rains holding a freakin' microphone and talking about how bad it's RAINING outside, I get so angry that it makes me want to see them get blown away by a gust of wind.  THAT, my friends, would make me really happy. (is that wrong?)

Anyway… where was I?  Oh yeah, the theme park… Where else can you get a picture like this?

MGM Studios has Star Wars Weekends.  They'll have stars from some of the movies there signing autographs and people walking around dressed up as characters from the movies.  My son LOVES it… so does the other kid in the family – the one I'm married to.  BIG FAN.  Not the dress-up-in-a-costume-and-walk-around kind of fan… more like the collects-movie-posters-and-some-actions-figures-and-won't-sell-them-on-ebay-no-matter-how-much-I-beg-him-to kind of fan. 

Yesterday was the last day of the Star Wars weekends for 2006.  They had a parade that included the special guest stars who were there that weekend.  The guy that played Bobba Fett was there.  The guy who produced the movies was there.  The guy who was inside R2-D2 was there.  There were also people there walking around in Jedi robes and carrying lightsabers… who didn't work there – they weren't get paid to do it or anything…and they were not children either. 

I think it's so fun.  I mean, I don't think there's anything that I feel so strongly about that I would dress up for in public.  I love Judy Garland and all, but I'm not going to a theme park dressed as Dorothy just because they have a ride there with a few scenes from The Wizard of Oz.  I admire that these people will do that.  They've got more balls than I do, that's for damn sure. 

My favorite fan was the guy wearing the robes & the outfit underneat the robes… waiting for the parade to begin.  He's across the parade route singing along to the music being played throughout the park.  Was he singing along to some Star Wars music?  Nope.  He was singing along to The Little Mermaid.

That's confidence, people.  CONFIDENCE.