Location | ||
Buzz Family Entertainment Centre, Falkirk 10:00 – 16:00 | ||
Mission Report | ||
Well, after all the feudin’ an’ a fussin’ over this gig it went rather fantastically in the end on the day. The families and staff of the Buzz venue looked after everyone involved in this troop like royalty with a sizable changing area, bunch of tables and more chairs than you could shake a stick at, if you were so inclined. The crowd outside prior to the doors opening was heaving Vader and the troops only just managing to get out of the doorwayto appear in front of them and no offence to the local officials who were there to cut the ribbon, but I strongly suspect the resounding cheers from the gathered onlookers were for the Lord of the Sith and his entourage rather than the Lord of the Provost and his councilmen (who didn’t even get out of the reception area such was the interest in our presence)… After some press photos in the Aliens themed laser arena complete with an APC and various A New Hope homages the troops entertained many a parent and child (more so the dads in some cases I suspect judging by the array of Star Wars t-shirts on display) and, although we had the run of the place the lads could barely move such was the queue for photos and the opportunity to shake gloves with Empires finest. And finest they were, indeed it was difficult to tell the old-timers (after the superb free lunch) from the NRs doing their induction once the lids were all on, such was the professionalism they demonstrated with the crowds. Definite man of the troop award, if there was such a thing, goes to Colin Robertson who spent the entire day in his crewmans outfit chaperoning Darth with a demeanour worthy of an late 70’s English bit part actor themselves. I did an audible double take at his Impy Crewmans accent first time I heard him responding to the public. I know it takes me a second to shift the mental gear into my TX voice during conversation but I have an impassive lid to cover that up, so kudos to anyone who can do it so effortlessly in an open face costume. Not to slight Ross or Mark for their contribution either (although it’ll be a long time before TKnoob hears the end of me having to search the floor for absentee ab buttons on more more than one occasion) and hopefully the guys will iron out the figurative wrinkles encountered when wearing their kit for the next troop. Surprise of the day for me turned out to be when the chap who runs the laser arenas recognised me from 13 years ago when my friends and I came near to failing our respective college and university courses due to the amount of time we spent in the Laser Quest 2000 venue he used to run in Glasgows’ Trongate. Who’d have thought the ghost of Suzie Wong would still be haunting me after all these years? Many was the 3am finish we’d bowl out of Colin McLaughlins establishment after an late night private LRP session of him chasing us around “The Moon-base” or “The Crypt” in his Predator costume. Surprising how often the resurrected ancient demons of ultimate evil looked like the antagonist from one of Anhulds finest outings now I think about it (did I see a pair of familiar looking gloves, faceplate and dreadlocks being unpacked by the staff at one point too..?) and it was overly generous of him to allow the Empires finest a private hurl around his venue after the troop was over. Mister McMillan would’ve no doubt have hit more had the targets been mounted on trees and crewmen aren’t used to carrying side arms, so they have their own excuses built in, but my fellow stealthy brother Chris will be glad to know that the TXs were representing in second place overall and we’ll gloss over the fact that an eight year old came out of the game with the highest score. I think he cheated by constantly shooting his younger brother in the back after sending him out ahead of him as a walking target anyway, but I’m beginning to see how the shortarsed Ewoks could’ve done so well when you’re used to aiming two feet about their heads! | ||
Personnel | ||
Visual Archive |
24 Buzz Grand Opening – 2nd May 2009
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