Star Wars - Then and Now

[Drunk Monk]

May the fourth...

Amazing where this thread has been since it started.

[Drunk Monk]

...and where it's going...

[Drunk Monk]

[Drunk Monk]

Vacaville Man Who Designed Star Wars Biker Scout Costume Honored By Cosplayers At Funeral

By Ryan HillMay 4, 2021 at 10:49 pm
[b]Filed Under:[/b]Star Wars, Vacaville News

VACAVILLE (CBS13) – May the 4th is a well-known and celebrated day for those with affection for all things Star Wars, but this year is different for some who are celebrating the storied saga.
What may seem a long time ago in a city not too far, far, away, Ira Keeler became one with the force; designing a cherished costume in the Star Wars franchise.
“As one of the major driving forces behind the current aesthetics as we call it the biker scout, he’s a hero among biker scouts,” Ricky Resurreccion, a member of the Golden Gate Garrison, said.
“He was just very precious and he, you know, really loved what he did.” Kris Yalung, a member of the Golden Gate Garrison, said.
[img=0x0]https://sacramento.cbslocal.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/15909776/2021/05/snapshot-36.jpg?w=420[/img]Ira Keeler (credit: Joy Keeler)
Keeler, who lived in Vacaville, gave the stormtroopers in “Star Wars: The Return of the Jedi,” an iconic imperial look as a member of Industrial Light and Magic.
Sadly, Keeler’s light dwindled due to a long illness and he passed away last month. His family wanting Keeler to be honored in a fitting way in more ways than one.
“They’re requesting if someone of our biker scout members could stand as honor guard during his memorial and funeral,” Resurreccion said.
Members of the Golden Gate Garrison, a Bay Area Star Wars cosplay group that made Keeler an honorary member, paid tribute not to the empire but Keeler’s legacy.
“It’s our way of giving back to one of those Star Wars luminaries who made the movies real for us,” Resurreccion said.
Resurreccion told CBS13 when he met Keeler that he was a humble and jovial man.
Those who donned the uniform of the Star Wars enemies came to celebrate one of their heroes.
“His older brother comes up to each of the biker scouts and he says, ‘Thank you.’ And you could tell that his eyes were welling up,” Yalung said. “I have to admit I was trying not to cry in my helmet. Thank goodness my face wasn’t showing.”
This May the 4th is without an important member who brought part of the imperial empire to life. But, those who cherished and knew Keeler can still feel his force around them.
“As they say in Star Wars, no one is really gone. For us, Ira will always be with us,” Resurreccion said.
Keeler’s work in the film industry included more than just Star Wars. He worked on visual effects for “The Back To The Future” franchise, “Jurassic Park” movies, and two of the “Indiana Jones” movies.

Revenge of the Sixth.

[Drunk Monk]

[Drunk Monk]

There was a Star Wars themed bar - 7 Stars Bar and Grill - in San Jose. https://www.7starsbar.com/ I've been there a few times but it closed recently. They are hoping to relocate. The food was crap but the decor was fun. 

Now I'm learning about this:

Outside of Disneyland, this remodeled SF bar may be the best 'Star Wars' cantina in California
[/url]
Dan Gentile, SFGATE
Sep. 9, 2021Updated: Sep. 9, 2021 10:24 a.m.
[url=https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sfgate.com%2Fbars%2Farticle%2Fsf-star-wars-bar-cinch-saloon-lgbtq-polk-st-16444282.php%3Futm_campaign%3DCMS%2520Sharing%2520Tools%2520(Premium)%26utm_source%3Dt.co%26utm_medium%3Dreferral&text=Outside%20of%20Disneyland%2C%20this%20remodeled%20SF%20bar%20may%20be%20the%20best%20%27Star%20Wars%27%20cantina%20in%20California&via=SFGate]
[img=598x0]https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/21/62/75/21442396/3/1200x0.jpg[/img]
Handmade "Star Wars" props and decorations fill the back room of Cinch Saloon on Polk Street.
Dan Gentile / SFGATE
The western facade of Cinch Saloon on Polk Street looks like it was built a long time ago, and if you walk deeper into the bar, you’ll be transported into a galaxy far, far away.
Reportedly the second-oldest gay bar in San Francisco (established in 1974), Cinch dates back to the days when Polk Street was the epicenter of the LGBTQ community. The building’s old-timey exterior is equally vintage, a remnant from the 1939 Golden Gate International Exposition. Although the street’s identity has changed dramatically over the years, Cinch is still flying its Pride flag high, the front room filled with erotic imagery celebrating the male body.
Like so many bars around the city, the pandemic forced Cinch to temporarily close its doors. The bar shuttered from March through August 2020, then again from October to January. Those extended closures left manager Eric Berchtold with some free time on his hands.
[img=598x0]https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/21/62/75/21442401/3/1200x0.jpg[/img]
Bar manager Eric Berchtold poses on the back patio of Cinch Saloon.
Dan Gentile / SFGATE
Berchtold, who has lived in S.F. for three decades and worked at Cinch for 19 years, often looks a little different when he’s not on the clock. An experienced cosplayer with a storage space full of memorabilia from his many comics convention appearances, his Instagram is a gallery of award-winning looks that include a Skeksis bird from “Dark Crystal” and a Ringwraith from “Lord of the Rings.” But as far as sci-fi franchises go, his first and ultimate passion is “Star Wars,” his love of which is shown in several tattoos, including “original fanboy” written in the Outer Rim language of Aurebesh. 
[img=598x0]https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/21/62/75/21442400/3/1200x0.jpg[/img]
Handmade "Star Wars" props and decorations fill the back room of Cinch Saloon on Polk Street.
Dan Gentile / SFGATE
The obsession dates back to Berchtold’s childhood. He vividly remembers his father, who went to high school with George Lucas, calling him away from a playground when he was 6 years old to show him a news segment about the film.
“I was just riveted, so that weekend we went and saw it and I was hooked ever since. I used to draw all the characters, I would always do some sort of Star Wars costume for Halloween made out of cardboard boxes and paper machete,” says Berchtold. 
[img=598x0]https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/21/62/75/21442399/3/1200x0.jpg[/img]
Bar manager Eric Berchtold poses in Cinch Saloon, which he has transformed with "Star Wars"-themed decorations.
Dan Gentile / SFGATE
As a result of Berchtold’s fandom, Cinch throws a May the Fourth party and doubled down with a second “Star Wars”-themed event in 2019 on Halloween. Afterward, he didn’t want to throw away the decorations, so they were moved to the back half of the bar.
When the pandemic hit, Cinch’s owners were considering painting and remodeling that area, but Berchtold convinced them to let him turn it into the type of seedy cantina where an untrustworthy smuggler sipping on a neon cocktail might end up in a blaster shoot-out with a green-faced alien bounty hunter.
[img=598x0]https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/21/62/75/21442397/3/1200x0.jpg[/img]
Handmade "Star Wars" props and decorations fill the back room of Cinch Saloon on Polk Street.
Dan Gentile / SFGATE
With the help of his friend Jeff Van Zant, Berchtold spent months building elaborate Star Wars props to cover every corner of the space. The domed heads of R2-D2-like droids serve as the lampshades hanging above the pool tables. Stormtrooper helmets and lightsabers line the walls, which are covered in foam switch panels and other galactic junk that mimics very specific design elements of the Mos Eisley cantina. Canisters of blue and green milk hang from the ceiling. Baby Yoda sits precariously in a cage near the dismembered arms and legs of C-3PO. There’s also Aurebesh words stenciled all over the walls and a key so that curious patrons can decode the writing.
[img=598x0]https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/21/62/75/21442398/3/1200x0.jpg[/img]
Handmade "Star Wars" props and decorations fill the back room of Cinch Saloon on Polk Street.
Dan Gentile / SFGATE
“I really wanted people to sit back here and notice all the details. There’s all kinds of little things you probably won’t notice,” says Berchtold. There are enough Easter eggs to satisfy even the biggest superfans, one of whom found himself stumped by one of the more unique blasters on the wall (turns out it’s just a highly modified Nerf gun).
[img=598x0]https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/21/62/75/21442403/3/1200x0.jpg[/img]
Handmade "Star Wars" props and decorations fill the back room of Cinch Saloon on Polk Street.
Dan Gentile / SFGATE
As for the future of the “Star Wars” room, there’s always the chance that Disney, which is particularly protective of its intellectual property and has sued breweries and lightsaber academies over copyright issues, might come knocking with a cease and desist. However, if the accuracy of an unofficial blog post advising best legal practices to avoid the Disney Empire’s ire is to be believed, Cinch’s decorations — which lack any identifying logos or trademarked terms — seem to be firmly in tribute territory rather than infringement.

Regardless of any such risk, Berchtold still plans to keep expanding the decor by adding more props and hidden codes on the walls, continuing to improve on the city’s best room in which to argue over whether Han shot first.
[img=598x0]https://s.hdnux.com/photos/01/21/62/75/21442402/3/1200x0.jpg[/img]
Handmade "Star Wars" props and decorations fill the back room of Cinch Saloon on Polk Street.
Dan Gentile / SFGATE

[Drunk Monk]

[Drunk Monk]

Tickets To San Francisco’s Hit Star Wars Burlesque Parody Are Now On Sale

After a sell-out tour, The Empire Strips Back hits San Francisco for a strictly limited summer run!

 WASSIM ABDUL KHALEK • MAY 4, 2022



Welcome to the dark, “hot” side!
Following its successful tour around the United States and Australia, ‘The Empire Strips Back’ is heading to San Francisco this July. The Star Wars parody will feature the franchise’s most beloved characters dropped into the world of burlesque, comedy and striptease.
[b]Tickets are now on sale here.[/b]

Be prepared for some seriously sexy Stormtroopers, a dangerously seductive Boba Fett, some tantalizing Twi’leks, a delightfully luke-warm Taun Taun, a lady-like Skywalker, the Droids you’re looking for and much, much more!

Disclaimer: This is a parody production. Star Wars and its characters are registered trademarks of Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd or Lucasfilm Ltd. This production is not sponsored, endorsed by or affiliated with Disney, Lucasfilm Entertainment Company Ltd, Lucasfilm Ltd or any of its subsidiaries or affiliated companies and/or third party licensors.
Get tickets for this once-in-a-lifetime Star Wars parody in San Francisco!
Plan details

The Empire Strips Back: A Burlesque Parody
July 6, 2022 8:00 PM (+ more dates)
 The Great Star Theater (636 Jackson St San Francisco, CA, 94133, SF Bay Area)
[b]From $29.00[/b]

Been meaning to get back in the Great Star. That's sacred ground for me - where I saw so many Kung Fu films back in the day...

[Greg]

Yes, please.

[thatguy]

Paper Wing Theatre Co on Cannery Row is also doing a Star Wars Burlesque show, now thru 5/14

https://www.paperwing.com

Dinner theater!

--tg

[Drunk Monk]

That looks like a different show.

Alternate multiverse…

[thatguy]

If you nerd out on special effects from the original, you'll enjoy this. One thing Adam points out that didn't occur to me is that cyanoacrylate (crazy glue) didn't come out until after this movie was made so working on the model team was all 5-minute epoxy and a lot of standing around, holding things while they set. 

Adam mentions something about 1/2 way thru that I remember my dad saying while we were standing in line at the Old Mill theater to see Star Wars the first time: this was the first movie to "weather" the models so they looked old and battle worn. 

--tg

[thatguy]

The video isn't all that useful, but listening to George and Robin chat is interesting. 



--tg

[Drunk Monk]

[Drunk Monk]

 
I'm going to call BS on this, but it is funny to think about...