The anniversary of one of the BEST DAYS EVER!
I touched on this when I blogged about ANH, but on the anniversary of one of the BEST DAYS EVER I feel the need for... more blogging!
We were living in San Jose, California. Somehow, somewhere, we heard that the Star Wars Trilogy was going to be shown at the Coronet Theater in San Francisco, all three movies in one day, for charity! I think it was for Channel 9, the local PBS station.
We got up at 4:30 in the morning, cold and dark, sleepy but excited.
We got to the theater just in time to snag one of the last few parking spots. It was about 6 o'clock, and just getting daylight. There were less than a dozen people in line, and we quickly joined them, the adults joking about how crazy we were to be out in the foggy cold just to see three movies we'd already seen before.
The box office opened at 8 and afterwards, we traded places with people in line to take turns going out for breakfast.
Not wanting to lose that great parking place, we took a city bus west until we found a restaurant. If we'd been as smart as we are now, we'd have gone east and gone to Mel's Diner.
Throughout the morning, people traded off waiting in line, while making trips to 7-11 and a local gas station bathroom.
At noon, they brought hot dogs and popcorn out of the theater and started selling to the line up. That was about the time the local news showed up. Two cameras! And TV man said: "Don't wave, everyone act normal!" And the crowd roared in laughter, because we wouldn't have been there if we were normal!
At 2 o'clock they opened the doors and let us in. It's a beautiful theater and pretty comfortable for waiting another two hours!!!!!!
Right at four the crowd started the countdown... 10,9,8,7,6... who told them when to start? 5,4,3,2,1 and the lights dimmed right on cue!
Needless to say, we were exhausted by the end of Return of the Jedi, and we still had over an hour's drive home, but it was TOTALLY WORTH IT!
Twenty-four years later I can still remember the details, the cold foggy morning, the eggs over easy, the popcorn, the hot dogs and coke for dinner. It was one of the best days of my life, and I'll never forget it.
May the Force be with us all!
12 comments:
Master Ki-Aaron-Mundi
I was a Teenage Jedi
date Posted: Mar 28, 2009 10:03 AM
Sounds like a wonderful experience! :) Can't say I've ever seen all three Original Trilogy movies in one day... something to plan for in the future, I suppose.
JediMelindaWolf
Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.
date Posted: Mar 28, 2009 1:27 PM
Memories . . . light the corners of my mind . . . :)
Ah, gl, what a wonderful tale, sparked by nothing but a date on the calendar. :) I am so glad you shared it with us. :)
So, you woke up with foggy brains (is there any other way to wake up at 4:30 in the morning? :^O) to a foggy morning. Hmmmm. It reminds me of the gungans riding out of the mist. Can't help it, even though we didn't know anything of gungans back in 1985!
we wouldn't have been there if we were normal!
:^O :^O :^O
I don't think there's anything "normal" about SW fans. :D
it was TOTALLY WORTH IT!
That's the way I feel about anything SW. :)
MTFBWY :)
Darth_Hiram
A Journey into The Force
date Posted: Mar 28, 2009 1:57 PM
Great story! A friend of mine and I did the marathon as well in 1995 in university at the campus theatre that they put on. It was absolutely awesome, and I don't think we got out of there until after 3am ... but it was worth it too! So much fun to watch the trilogy all in a row in the theatre ... I echo your sentiments!
leia19886
Someone get this big walking carpet out of my way ...
date Posted: Mar 28, 2009 8:32 PM
Thanks for sharing a great experince!! I've never seen the triogy on the big screen, but I have had marathons at my house:)
The Viridian Saber
Virtual Unrealities (A victim of Order 66.)
date Posted: Mar 28, 2009 11:48 PM
We got up at 4:30 in the morning, cold and dark, sleepy but excited.
You're cold and dark? Geez, I thought that was Anakin...
jediprincess77
I Know...
date Posted: Mar 29, 2009 1:18 AM
Oh my Maker, I just loooove this story!!! What a great adventure! (And you lived to tell the tale...) ;)
There is such a special energy in a theater full of SW fans...nothing else quite like it!!!
P.S. Nice button. :D
The Stooge
Star Wars Joke-A-Day
date Posted: Mar 29, 2009 8:20 AM
That's really cool! You sound like you would have enjoyed the six-movie marathon at CIV. ;)
Gidrea Lightsky
The Galaxy According to Gidrea
date Posted: Mar 29, 2009 9:38 AM
Can't say I've ever seen all three Original Trilogy movies in one day... something to plan for in the future, I suppose.
Go for all six!
Ah, gl, what a wonderful tale, sparked by nothing but a date on the calendar.
And my souvenir button!
So, you woke up with foggy brains (is there any other way to wake up at 4:30 in the morning?
I've done it many times since, and I have to agree with you!
So much fun to watch the trilogy all in a row in the theatre ... I echo your sentiments!
but I have had marathons at my house
Gotta see it a crowded theater!
You're cold and dark? Geez, I thought that was Anakin...
:p smartass! You know I meant the morning was cold and dark! On the other hand, my brain was pretty cold and dark at that hour! :^O
What a great adventure! (And you lived to tell the tale...)
I should have a medal! Oh wait, I have a button! :D
That's really cool! You sound like you would have enjoyed the six-movie marathon at CIV.
Ha! As I did, except they showed the movies in the wrong order!
amidalooine
The Emotional Galaxy
date Posted: Mar 29, 2009 3:42 PM
Awesome anniversary of what sounds like a really cool experience!
The Viridian Saber
Virtual Unrealities (A victim of Order 66.)
date Posted: Mar 29, 2009 9:19 PM
smartass!
It's partly your fault, you know. You shouldn't encourage me. ;)
You know I meant the morning was cold and dark! On the other hand, my brain was pretty cold and dark at that hour!
It's cold and dark at any hour!! :^O
Gidrea Lightsky
The Galaxy According to Gidrea
date Posted: Mar 29, 2009 9:52 PM
It's cold and dark at any hour!!
Unless I'm thinking about Obi-Wan, then it's all warm and fuzzy :x
Atoz
date Posted: Mar 25, 2010 1:24 PM
I was there at the Coronet, too, that day. It was quite the media event; I remember the local papers interviewing attendees and minutes before the first film, somebody marched into the theater with the afternoon Examiner and we were all on the front page. I think that moment garnered the largest cheer of the show.
Gidrea, one other thing you might remember was a roll of adding machine tape passed through the queue all afternoon and almost everybody who stood in line signed it and left messages for posterity. I wonder where that paper is today? It'd be a hoot to read it 25 years later!
As far as I'm concerned, it was the last great STAR WARS event - I doubt there will ever be a 70mm screening of the films ever again.
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