No battle plan ever survives first contact with the enemy...

In this case, the enemy is "theater management". I don't want to make it sound like our theater is anything like the one the Chicago line has been plagued with. But basically, most of us have tickets with different "theater" numbers on them. Normally, it doesn't matter what number you have, because when they start seating, they just fill one theater and then move on to the next one, until everyone of the thousands of people have been seated and all theaters are full. If you can guess where this is going, you are astute... So, they decided to make seperate lines based on theater number. Which means that those of us who have been camped out for days to see the movie together, are now split up into different theater lines. The management has refused to budge on the issue, so now we are trying to trade with other people in other lines so we can all get in the same theater... All of this is on top of the fact that they moved us out of our comfortable line and into queues on the hot asphalt in the sun. Insult to injury?

On lighter notes... Target handed out really "lame" goody bags. Only "lame" until we got to the bottom of the bag and found numbered bronze coins that say "Waiting in line is evidence of your devotion to the Force". They are really neat. The coolest thing is that Karen's bag had two coins, (maybe one is for Beastmaster) and they are sequentially numbered... we know they made at least 15,000 of them.

The media blitzed us and then left. For now that is.

Lots of lightsabers. Lots of kids (and after all, isn't it all about the kids). Lots of hot (not hawt) people. Lots of folding chairs.

The Pop Tart eating contest was a HUGE success. Matt Giddens' brother Ben (Jonesboro! Represent YO) won with 8 Pop Tarts in two minutes. He would have made Johnny Knoxville proud. We'll do some Charades and Jeapardy later on.

They'll be seating us about 3 hours prior to the movie. Which will be great for their concession business but bad for our butts.

That's all for now. I don't know if I'll get another entry in before we get seated. If not, MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU ALL!
-chris

They are suiting up!

We have half naked troopers in the parking lot and wandering Jedi in front of the cameras.
We got Red Bull'ed a while ago and the Geek Squad just showed up. 790 The Zone was here for their morning and afternoon shows tomorrow. Channel 46 and 11 Alive are here. The kids are starting to show up and are loving the costumes.

The buzz is starting to increase and the energy is picking up. There is lots to talk about but somehow I can't really describe it. Might be lack of sleep, a bad command of the English language or maybe just that I'm too busy soaking it all in.

I'm sure we'll give you another update later, but for now I've got some standing in line to do!
-chris

Harold and Kumar have not shown up yet.

Well, Evan's quest to get the cops to wear balloon hats continues. As usual he's befuddling us with his magic tricks. Karen is knitting something for Beastmaster (their soon to be newborn). I hear there was another fly-by courtesy of Floyd.

According to Adam and the Chicago Line, they came armed with a secret weapon this morning when they showed up to the theater. The theater told them they would call the police if they showed up before 8 AM. They showed up at 6 AM with the media and instead of getting the cops called on them, the theater let them not only line up - but line up inside! The Force was strong with them!

The line is growing by the minute. The most common question is now, "So, what's the deal for tonight? Are they letting us in early?" We always answer truthfully by saying, "We don't know."

There continues to be a serious glut of donuts and cookies... but we'll take more should a generous nerve strike anyone else.

We've been trying to sum up all that is Evan in one sentence, but so far the only thing we've come up with is one of Matt's colossal belches. However, we've just found out personally that Karen's "condition" gives her most excellent belches as well. I'd try to describe one but we are having some disagreements on how to spell it. We may decide to have a contest soon... Stand back folks!

Oh yeah, Mearl's blisters are weeping. I'll leave you with that nice image.
-chris

Echo Base, we've spotted Imperial Walkers

So, after spotting the aformentioned Imperial Walkers, we packed up base and headed over to line up at the front door. We currently have a line of 19 folding chairs, 1 blow up Darth Maul chair, and 2 car seats. Taylor and Clay took the seats out of the back of the car and sat them on the ground and in line. I was left in charge of the line while Chris and every female left for daily refreshing. Mearl is now sitting in seat #1 and the wait continues. We'll see you in line.

-Matt

End of the Hot Dog Era

Well, we can officially declare the death of the Hot Dog Era. It is a day that will be long remembered. It has seen the end of Buck's Saber and has also seen the end of the 5 lbs of Hot Dogs.

Since we are eggs and bacon (and propane) deficient, it looks like my cooking duties are over. We are all lamenting the end of the Atlanta Line Cooking Show series as well. We had a few national syndication opportunities but it was going to be too much work and we decided to stick with our priorities.

We have surpassed our goal of 50 visitors who actually spoke. We celebrated by breaking a lightsaber and eating hot dogs. We've added quite a few to our numbers as well. Bev and Sarah are here and Ian will be sleeping in his car. Jason and Amy are here as well but I am not sure if they are staying. We've picked up a few more "car sleepers" too who drove by and decided to stay. That's impulsive camping if I ever heard of it. Eric (the flexible trooper) is here as well and is actually in armor.

Look for us at 11 on 11 and channel 2 as well. Our media prowess will be on display once again. It's getting colder and I need to put on some sweats so I'm signing off for now. See you in a few hours.
-chris

And so the sun sets

It's kinda pretty here, right now. The sun is setting. The lights of the Regal are now visible. Kinda poetic. A bit like Mos Espa on a particularly nice night.

We're watching Empire Strikes Back, now. Since we're stuck with a mono TV, we've all been making the sound effects and saying the dialogue. All the better to recreate THX-certified sound out in the wilds of Chamblee.

We just had Eric arrive in stormtrooper armour. Just wait until the patrons of the Regal getta load of this!

Chris is still obsessed with that bird. Carnage is bound to occur at any point in time. Poor bird.

The crowd has grown by leaps and bounds, tonight. Up to 19 visitors, right now.

Sadly, I will only get the Atlanta line experience for a couple more hours. Off to join my Club Jade friends in DC. So hard to have divided loyalties. I had best see a lot of blogging so I can catch up on everything that happens.

Until the hamburgers start grilling....

-Paula

Bird is the word!

I hate mocking birds. Not "mocking birds" per se, but birds that mock. Since last night at about 2:00 AM, there has been this bird (a mocking bird incidentally) that has been mocking me from three surrounding trees. He makes all kinds of racket. He's doing it on purpose I'm sure. So, instead of Krispy Kremes, I am now putting out the call for a pellet gun. I'll put an end to this destructive conflict, once and for all.

Don't know if Buck mentioned it, but a lady stopped earlier and asked us if we were selling tents. That was a first. Zach and Sharon are erecting a rather large edifice at the moment. It'll be up just in time for the sun to go down... but it's the thought that counts.

I tried napping earlier. It didn't go well. My tent became something of an oven. Sweating is not one of those things that I enjoy. Not like eating Pop Tarts, which is something I DO enjoy.

Jimmy has stopped by. We're watching a New Hope. I know how it ends, but I'm trying to be considerate to those who are remaining spoiler free.

We got an update from the Chicago line a little while ago. It's rather confusing and I shant try to go into it. I WILL say that I think we are faring better than they are, despite the presence of international recording sensation, Adam Selzer.

We'll be lighting the cintronella and the torches here shortly and there might be hotdogs in our future...
-chris

Just look east...

Well, I figured it was bout time for Buck to chime in. So here I am. Our bellies are full of pizza and we just met a lady who thought we were having a yard sale. I think I might have to spice things up later tonight. I figure if I leave now, I can get to the Tennesee State Line and back before dark. Buck is gonna make a fireworks run. I'm gonna get enough fireworks to blow up the Death Star. So, if you aren't able to make it out tonight, just look east.

Buck becomes famous'er

Well, UPN's Atlanta Tonight (airing Thursday night after wrestlin' - how perfect?) interviewed our very own Buck Fletcher. The "bubly" hostess sat with him on the Darth Maul chair and Buck told her all about his demolition derby driving and his 3 day mustache. Then Buck got interviewed by 11 Alive for the 6:00 PM spot. Oh yeah... and with regards to the hostess, can you say "FAKE"?

Also, we have gotten word from the Chicago line-up via Adam Selzer (our former Star Wars filk master and wandering minstrel) that the corporate suits shut their line down and they are now squatting across the street and got a hotel room to throw all their crap in. We are following their progress closely and we wish them the best.

We've increased our tally of "those who spoke" to 26! We are halfway to our estimated total of 50. I don't think we'll have any problem getting to 50.

We are waiting for Pizza now. Turns out they deliver to parking lots... er, sorry, "grassy knoll". Matt is working on the trivia contest. Oh yeah, and Ryan is now a member! It's official!
Adios for now (adios which is Spanish for goodbye) - Chris

Coming soon to a BLOG near you:

DIARY OF A STAR WARS WIDOW

I'm the girlfriend-of-4-years of a Star Wars geek extraordinaire which means this is the 2nd time I've been through this - i.e. "The Campout" with all it's attendant frenzied lead-up preparations (his) to the prolonged absences (his) and on into the lows of the aftermath and all it's post-partum letdown feelings (his)...

To include: How to compete with fictional characters.

How to resist wearing "The Leia Outfit" (and the hair) and...

How much Geek is TOO much Geek?

----------------------------------

The previous was submitted by my girlfriend, who is living it as I type this. (Hi Pookie!)

We just had our fly-by. We layed the banner down on the ground and parked the cars in an "S W" configuration and he hovered over us and snapped some pictures (can't wait to see them - thanks Floyd!). We all focused "Light Side Force" to keep his aircraft aloft. The Force IS strong with us. I am pretty sure that nobody flashed the camera...

We have a guy from DragonCon TV out here now doing interviews. It's quite hot now. We are clinging to the shade, though for some reason it keeps moving. Earth rotation or some such silliness, who knows?

Oh yeah, one of our readers informed us that we have forgotten to provide some critical information (Hi Dad!). That being, our location. DUH! So here goes. We are camped out on a grassy gnoll at the Regal Cinemas Hollywood 24 at Shallowford Rd off of I85. So, feel free to be one of our many drive-bys. We could use the company. I'm kinda tired of looking at Matt.

- Chris

SELLOUT!!!!!

Sharon and Zach have been officially inaugurated into the Lando Calrissian Sellout Hall of Fame. At 10:00 AM employees from Cartoon Network showed up for a screening at the theater. The members of our esteemed Jedi Council (or just the people sitting on site at the time) were asked if they wanted to see the movie with them. Most of the members would not give into the Darkside, aside from the two that shall not be spoken of for the rest of this posting. We were proud to hear though that there were many Cartoon Network employees that refused the chance to see the movie because they wanted to be here at the midnight screening on Thursday. The few, the proud, the ones who have not seem the movie still remain and will remain pure until 12:01 AM Thursday May 19th, 2005.

In other news, we had a visit from the Dekalb County Animal Control department. So we got our rabies shots and they went on their way. Our speaking visitor count is up to 17, Adam has renamed his vehicle Slave 1, Ryan's campsite is now named Tatooine, and our (Chris and I) site is now deemed Bespin, due to our large amount of gas contained within.

And for those of you who think this is one of those racy blogs talking all about women and sex, Carol just went to take a shower.

Waky, Waky, Eggs, and Baky!

So, after getting stiched back up after the mishap with the lightsaber last night (and you thought I smelled bad on the outside) I'm reporting at home during regularly scheduled maintenance. I'm getting some pictures uploaded that were giving us trouble yesterday.

We have a jam packed day planned already. We plan on sitting around, eating, talking about Star Wars, moving Chris's tent, and arranging the cars into an SW pattern for Floyd's fly by. Apparently also this afternoon we will be having a special guest, Death Star Gunner Man!!!

1 Day, 14 Hours left!!!

-Matt

The news crew from 11 Alive. 

Zach in the infamous Darth Maul chair.

Good morning... nice of you guys to drop by!

Well, we survived by cutting Matt open with a lightsaber and sleeping inside him. Thank the Maker for those Master Replica sabers!

Then we cranked up the grill and made eggs and bacon :) And we filmed the first episode of the Atlanta LineUp Cooking Show. I think it was a great success.

We had a few visitors last night who wanted to party with us but Zach ran them off. He's kinda useful that way. We stayed up late playing Gran Turismo and then Matt and I slept on our slanted tent. We are walking crooked today and I think that's why.

The theater manager just brought donuts, which is good as several late sleepers missed breakfast. My cast iron skillet skills were lost on them...

The agenda today is showering (and moving our tent to level ground). We figure if we cut small holes in an Evian bottle, we can get showers done rather efficiently. Though it might be easier to head to the house...

Okay, look for another installment of "As the Line Turns" soon.
- chris

Hola... which means Hi if you speak spanish.

So, it's now nearly the hotdog hour. Due to some Calamari that Fin brought, and the first round of hotdogs at about 9:00 - there is some strong debate over the next hotdog event. Though there will be some hot chocolate soon, so the grill will need to be fired up... and when there is a hot grill, hot dogs usually follow. Speaking of dogs, our official un-official mascot, Charlie Brown the beagle has been in the hiz-ouse. His bomb sniffing skills have been put to work and so far, we are clean!

Our 11 Alive appearance went well from what we could see on our end, which was not much. Though I think we'll run out of soundbytes by wednesday. How many times can you answer the same questions without answering them the same? We'll soon find out.

We continue to be plagued with drivebys. We just had a potential camper stop by. "What are you guys doin'?" "Campin' for Star Wars!" "Oh HELL No!" He says he'll tell his people and maybe he'll be back.

Buck has put on his smoking jacket and is looking quite relaxed. It's getting cooler out. The hard part now will be keeping the condensation (dew) off the electronics. We plan to be keeping the dew of the Playstation by playing it. That should work.

Okay, I'm spent. So, for now... keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars!
Chris

Hot dog hour begins at midnight...

And every three hours before and after midnight.

Sure, the intention was hotdogs at midnight. But Chris got a little anxious. So hotdogs at 9:00. And midnight. And, right now as I'm typing, I'm also setting my watch to make sure we wake up at 3:00 to make some more. I mean, Star Wars is all about the threes. You know, trilogies and such. So it's only proper. Plus, the hotdog and the lightsaber. Same shape. See, it's all coming together.

Aside from eating hotdogs, we're passing the time by counting the number of (brave) people who drive by and actually speak to us. The count is up to eight. We need to get to nine. You know, divisible by three and all.

We'll be on Fox at 10:00 tonight. Catch it, if you can. But if you miss that, watch us on 11 at 11:00. We'll be live. I cannot be held accountable for what Chris might say while on camera. Afterall, he's in a bit of a hotdog-induced haze.

- Carol

Mr. Buck Fletcher's Arrival

Mr. Buck Fletcher

Also..

Bev and Jason just got here and we had a lady come by and engaged us in a conversation. She must have had a shot of courage or something.

Anyway, please watch our media coverage at 11:00 tonight on 11 Alive :) And if anyone could tape it for me, I'd greatly appreciate it :)

thanks - chris

Meanwhile - later that day...

Hey all you loyal readers! Chris Petersen here. As you can see, we are having a grand time. So far, we have downed a couple diet cokes, listened to some Star Wars parody tunes, tossed around a Battle Droid "frisbee" (which flew like a Battle Droid colored brick) and Matt broke the fan mechanism in his helmet. But the biggest news is that the Tiki Torches are now lit and smelling most excellent. Matt is now on the phone with Ian... it's a play by play BLOG.

Things we have learned since the whole ordeal has begun: People find us curious. We have had numerous drive-bys (out of about 25 drive by looks, we've only had 4 people stop and actually speak to us. I think it's a measure of a man's courage to actually SPEAK to the geeks) - Oh my GOD - Buck Fletcher just arrived in full t-shirt ensemble. "The Buck stops here!" We'll have to straighten up our act now... lest he tell his Dad about us. Okay, back to the details. We have also learned that time passes slowly in line. It might be anticipation, coupled with boredom. Or perhaps just boredom. Either way, it's passing slowly. But frankly, I don't mind as I admit I am in no hurry for the movie to come out. It'll be over then...

Other things, the AJC photo guy left his lens here. It looks pretty valuable. Wonder what it's eBay potential is? Oh yeah, we are getting ready to fire up the grill and get down with some hotdogs! Or jawa dogs... or maybe Gungan dogs. No, not Gungan. The hotdogs are Kosher so they CAN'T have Gungan in them.

Well loyal readers, the time has come for me to sign off. Expect semi-regular updates throughout our endeavor. If we don't update, we have starved and require food... Krispy Kremes are fine.

Line Up 2

We're Here!

Say hello to the troops: Paula, Carol, Ryan, Mearl, and Chris (and your photographer, Matt).

2 Days, 5 Hours left!!!