CapriCon 2003

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...

Matthew "Hazmatt" Callison
Chicago Force Webmaster

Making a great room party - Jabba the Hutt
Rather than jump straight to the party pictures, we thought we would show some of the preparation that went into making this party. Most of the planning was done 3-4 months before CapriCon, and the prop building started about 30 days before the party. This is what it looked like.
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 Photo by Darth Jurist	Adding the fat roll Photo by Darth Jurist	It's all starting to come together Photo by Darth Jurist
Shauna has a VERY understanding husband Photo by Darth Jurist	He certainly looks like Jabba Photo by Darth Jurist	"Off with his head!" Photo by Darth Jurist
Adding the highlights Photo by Darth Jurist	The last coat of paint Photo by Darth Jurist	Jabba is beside himself Photo by Darth Jurist
The finished product Photo by Darth Jurist
Making a great room party - Han in Carbonite
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
Making a great room party - Max Rebo
First you start with a rough draft Photo by Darth Jurist	OK, visibility is good Photo by Darth Jurist	Do you hear what I hear? Photo by Darth Jurist
Copy the pattern to the final cloth Photo by Darth Jurist	Time to get stuffed! Photo by Darth Jurist
Making a great room party - Putting it all together
The hotel donated this ice sculpture. Good thing it was 300 degrees below zero outside.	Friday night and it's all alright Photo by Darth Jurist	Dave Grelck and his lovely bit 'o' honey Photo by Darth Jurist
Get Matt's book! Read it now! Photo by Darth Jurist	Matt wanted to make sure we could find his body if it fell out of an airplane. Photo by Darth Jurist	"He's safe!" "He's out!" Photo by Darth Jurist
I know they don't look it, but they are still sober at this point. Photo by Darth Jurist	And Heather was sick as a dog the next morning...strange. Photo by Darth Jurist	Assembling the slug, the myth, the legend.
The party hasn't started, and already people are getting naked. Photo by David Grelck	Thankfully, tons of people showed up to help. Photo by Le Penguin	We jus' keepin' it real, G. Photo by Le Penguin
"Quick! Nobody look at the camera!" Photo by Le Penguin	"You all are doing marvelous work. Fantastic." Photo by David Grelck	Matt's awesome, but eventually unused, radio-controlled Jawa. Photo by Le Penguin
Trying to turn a mess into a party. Photo by David Grelck	"Look into my eyes...you are getting sleepy, very sleepy..." Photo by David Grelck	"Quick! Everyone look at Shauna's butt!" Photo by Le Penguin
Just think, this mess turns into a party. Photo by Le Penguin	Han sits (er, stands) in the corner, patiently waiting his turn. Photo by Le Penguin	Even in carbon-freeze, you still get a slobber-pile taking a nap. Photo by David Grelck
"Help! I've fallen down and I can't reach my drink!" Photo by Le Penguin	Final clean-up, and we're ready to party. Photo by Le Penguin	Shauna awaits Jabba' command. Photo by David Grelck
"Insert Tab A into Slot B? I don't even see a frickin' Slot B!" Photo by David Grelck	Before and After picture Photo by Le Penguin	Hazmatt shaves his dome to prepare for wearing a latex mask for 6 hours.
Putting the finishing touches on a hot slave chick. Photo by Darth Jurist
PARTY TIME!
He's an "Airhead". Photo by The Executor	TT-8L Photo by The Executor	"You shall not pass!" Photo by The Executor
"No, I swear I didn't know she was your wife!" Photo by The Executor	If you think this is a cute couple, you are DEFINATELY a Star Wars geek. Photo by The Executor	Twi'lek porn. Photo by The Executor
I don't know what costume this is supposed to be, but I like it! Photo by The Executor	Ladies and gentlemen, Jabba the Hutt. Photo by David Grelck	Matt serenades a bounty hunter Photo by Le Penguin
Tom Servo is here. NOW it's a party. Photo by David Grelck	The Legend of Drunken Jedi Master Photo by Le Penguin	Max Rebo in da hiz-ouse! Photo by Le Penguin
Nice, uh, uniform there, lady. Photo by The Executor	Big, dumb, green pigs can love a Trill, too. Photo by The Executor	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! Photo by The Executor	"You work with a tall, gold droid too? What are the odds?" Photo by David Grelck	Salacious is jus' chillin'. Photo by The Executor
Jabba is in his domain.	Jabba looks like he's having a good time, doesn't he? Photo by David Grelck	Is that a brain-stem on your head, or are you just happy to see me?
It's good to be the Hutt. Photo by Le Penguin	Jabba does it for the chicks Photo by Frank	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." Photo by The Executor	Whoa, dude, it's like looking in a mirror. Photo by The Executor	Tom was honored to meet Phil. Photo by David Grelck
Keeping out the riff-raff. Photo by The Executor	Call one of them a big, fat pig. I dare you. Photo by The Executor	Dancing for Jabba.
Oddly, their Jedi Mind Tricks didn't work on Jabba. Photo by The Executor	The Corkscrews take the stage. Photo by David Grelck	"Baby, I'm amazed at the way you love me all the time..." Photo by David Grelck
"I love you, Tom, I honestly love you..." Photo by David Grelck	Keeping up with the Jones'. Photo by David Grelck	Boba thinks the Corkscrews are alright! Photo by David Grelck
"Six breasts, huh? Dude, that's awesome!" Photo by David Grelck	The Corkscrews turn it up a notch. Photo by David Grelck	"Unconventional", and proud of it. Photo by The Executor
Hans & Han S. Photo by The Executor	"Utinni!" Photo by The Executor	It was the kind of party where Jabba looked normal. Photo by The Executor
If you look closely, you can see Jabba actually pulling the chain closer to him... Photo by The Executor	Jabba is a great photo-op. Photo by David Grelck	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!" Photo by The Executor	I don't remember him being in Jabba' Palace.	"You don't talk much, do you?" Photo by David Grelck
"Han, Han........why!?" Photo by The Executor	This party attracts all sorts. Photo by Le Penguin	Just call him Servo Master T. Photo by David Grelck
It looks like someone has taken an interest in our handiwork. Photo by Le Penguin	"Your name's Tom, huh? That's cute." Photo by David Grelck	Yarna chats up a trooper. Photo by Le Penguin
"Watch what happens when I squeeze her head." Photo by Le Penguin	"Karate chop!" Photo by Le Penguin	Squeezing the 'Juice. Photo by The Executor
Tom watches the board while Max is away. Photo by David Grelck	The Corkscrews hire some backup singers. Photo by David Grelck	Max gets jiggy wit' it. Photo by David Grelck
This was right before the yuppie wanna-bees shut us down. Photo by David Grelck	What a motley crew. Photo by David Grelck	"Yeah, baby, take it all!" Photo by The Executor
"Alas, poor Yargna. I knew him, Horgar." Photo by The Executor	I'm not as you think as drunk I am. Photo by The Executor	It's been a REALLY long night at this point.
The Aftermath
"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.	Buy our stuff! Photo by David Grelck
George Lucas: god or monster? Photo by David Grelck