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Star Wars Prequels Media Movies

One Last Campout for Star Wars Fans 480

Posted by michael from the meesa-love-you-long-time dept.
theodp writes "27-year-old graphic artist Jeff Tweiten lives on a periwinkle blue, fold-out futon on the sidewalk in front of the Cinerama Theatre in downtown Seattle. He is not homeless, but camping out for 139 days. Waiting. For what, you wonder? Tweiten is waiting for Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, which opens May 19. And yes, he's keeping a blog. 14 days down. 125 to go." In other Star Wars news: dbottaro writes "Who wants a JL421 Badonkadonk? NAO Design has built a functional Sandcrawler, ala Star Wars Episode IV. Complete with blaster-deflecting sidewalls, full interior carpeting, seating for five and a 400 watt stereo system." Reader dankinit writes "For all you Star Wars fans, a Darth Tater Mr. Potato Head will be released in February by Hasbro Inc. The new covers for the Episode III books due out a month before the movie were also posted today."
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One Last Campout for Star Wars Fans More

One Last Campout for Star Wars Fans

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  • He has plenty of other interests too! (Score:5, Funny)

    by fembots ( 753724 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:02PM (#11380855) Homepage
    According to the friendly article, his life is not one big homage to "Star Wars," he says, and he has plenty of other interests, including classical music [amazon.com], modern dance [rcn.com], fine dining [lycos.fr], dive bars [gutrumbles.com], working out [megagames.com] and reading about contemporary art [amazon.com].

  • Merchandise, Book Deal (Score:5, Funny)

    by mr.henry ( 618818 ) * on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:02PM (#11380856) Journal
    From the "blog"...
    Just to let every one know i should have some nice tee shirts up online in a few day.

    From the Seattle PI article...
    To pass the time, he writes in a journal, posts to his blog, chats on the phone and touches up old stories from past "Star Wars" campouts, in hopes that, perhaps, a book deal will be extended one day.

    He truly has the SW spirit of making a buck anywhere possible. George would be proud.

  • graphic artist eh (Score:4, Funny)

    by js3 ( 319268 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:03PM (#11380866)
    I think he is unemployed

    • Re:graphic artist eh (Score:5, Funny)

      by rowanxmas ( 569908 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:10PM (#11380922)
      So, I went to high school with this guy.

      At the time I did think he would become such an "uber" Star Wars fan. He was several years older than I, but we were on the Track and Field team together. Even then I knew that he was destined for waiting greatness. He was the only person on the team to be named as our best sunbather, 4 years in a row.

      So, I congratulate Jeff on this remarkable achievment, and wish him luck in seeing what will surely be a fabulous film!
    • I don't get why he is doing this. He could work for the next 129 days instead, and then use just a portion of the amount of money he earns to bribe the theater owner to let him in the back door to get the first seat. Sheesh, what a waste.
      • He could just get a job at the theater; on the day of the show, he shows up for work as normal, then goes into the theater and hangs out until they start letting people in. If he takes off his dorky polyester jacket and sits down, no one would ever be the wiser.

        And if his boss finds out and he's fired? Oh well - such are the hazards of only paying your workers minimum wage.

    • ...will he stop this silly stunt?

      Hmmm... that brings up an idea... maybe
      I'll do a crazy stunt and see if people
      offer me jobs to get me to stop. ;)
  • Here is a great letter I just got.

    To Whom It May Concern:

    I am writing to you in regards to, arguably, the world's greatest Star Wars fan, Jeff Tweiten. This name may not mean anything to you, but you may recall his exploits: Jeff was one of the guys who waited in line for over three and a half months outside Seattle's Cinerama for Star Wars Episode II.

    Well now Jeff is at it again. As of January 1st, Jeff set his ass down on the concrete, and he's been there ever since. He will be there, in fact, for ov

  • Why? (Score:5, Funny)

    by CleverNickedName ( 644160 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:05PM (#11380875) Journal
    Hasn't he seen the first two?

    • Re:Why? (Score:2, Informative)

      by Skidge ( 316075 ) *
      Yep, from the article:

      Reaction to "Episode I": "I've pretty much blocked it out of my mind." Too much "blah, blah, blah, yacky-schmacky"

      Reaction to "Episode II": Better. He liked the lightsaber duels and angst

    • Re:Why? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by TheGavster ( 774657 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:12PM (#11380940) Homepage
      I saw the first two ... and I will probably see Episode 3 in first run. I will do it for the same reason that I buy lottery tickets: irrational optimism.
    • Here's my review of The Phantom Menace [dimspace.com]:

      Just what do you think Lucas was thinking
      as he imagined the script he was inking?
      I hope the rumors are true
      that in Star Wars part two
      That there's no more God damn Jar-Jar Binking

      Apparently, I found number two so appalling that I didn't even write a limerick. I'll take any suggestions...

      My hopes aren't high for this new one.

      • Re:Why? (Score:2, Funny)

        by iocat ( 572367 )
        The second movie was crap
        Just more drivel and pap
        It might have been good
        were lines not delivered in wood
        and without all that love story sap.

        sorry.

  • This would have been cool... (Score:5, Funny)

    by jhealy ( 91456 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:05PM (#11380876)
    ...TWENTY YEARS AGO, when these movies were actually good! Now look at them. He's waiting for THAT?

    hmeh!

  • Usually we make fun of these extremist geeks by saying they'll never get laid. In this case, I think it's a given. Public indecency laws....

  • If he wants to be brave (Score:5, Funny)

    by AtariAmarok ( 451306 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:06PM (#11380886)
    If he wants to be brave, he should camp out wearing a Jar Jar mask during the whole time. Chances are he'll succumb to injuries from being kicked to death by the 43rd day.

  • I speak for the entire human race when I say... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jarich ( 733129 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:07PM (#11380896) Homepage Journal
    GET A LIFE!

    ;)

  • Art students... (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Realistic_Dragon ( 655151 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:08PM (#11380901) Homepage
    ...not just engineering rejects but industrial design rejects too.
  • I think this is just a publicity stunt and he'll be gone in a few days once he gets his name in all the papers.
    • I think this is just a publicity stunt and he'll be gone in a few days once he gets his name in all the papers.

      I have to agree on the publicity stunt thing, I think it's kinda clear this guy desperately needs attention (personally, i find that people who do things only for the purpose of generating attention to themselves pretty damn annoying). I don't think he'll be gone in a few days though; this guy strikes me as the kinda guy who is going to milk this thing for all (he thinks) its worth. I mean, th

  • Teach him a lesson... (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:11PM (#11380932)
    Anyone want to teach this geek a lesson?
    If we all club together, we could raise funds to pay-off the cinema to NOT show the film on its opening night?
    • I bet we could all just buy advanced tickets for the first few showings, using this hyper-advanced "IntorNet" technology from the comfort of our homes, and squeeze him out. Or maybe we could just pay to have one of those animated LCD billboards put up next to him, and have it loop that irritating Fandango commercial.

  • Sad (Score:2)

    by kraut ( 2788 )
    Come ON guys, it's a movie. And not even a great one.

  • I guess it's for those that can't get a real one: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Bad onkadonk&r=f [urbandictionary.com]

  • What a luddite! (Score:3, Funny)

    by pair-a-noyd ( 594371 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:16PM (#11380969)
    Hasn't this boy heard of torrents?
    He can watch the movie at home the night it opens..

    Doh!

    • For some reason, I was reminded of a Simpsons episode, where in a flashback from the past, Homer exits the cinema with Marge and talks about the ending of Star Wars ep 3 I think, ruining it for everyone in line.

      It would be such a shame if someone downloaded the screener 10 days before release and revealed the ending to him ;).

      (Though perhaps the movie is based on a book thats been out anyway? I'm not a huge fan so I wouldn't know)

      • Re:What a luddite! [WARNING SPOILER!!!] (Score:4, Funny)

        by Seanasy ( 21730 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @06:24PM (#11381373)

        Natalie Portman's character gets knocked-up. Anakin is turned to the dark side. The Jedis are almost all killed off. The Empire takes over.

      • It would be such a shame if someone downloaded the screener 10 days before release and revealed the ending to him ;).

        Anakin turns to the Dark Side, becoming Darth Vader (IMHO a huge improvement - some people were just born to wear face-concealing masks). He becomes the right-hand man of Palpatine, who turns the Republic into an Empire, declares himself Emperor, and conquers the entire galaxy, killing all the Jedi Knights expect Yoda and Obi-One Kenobi, who manage to hide and proceed to sit on their asse

  • A better plan (Score:5, Interesting)

    by deke_kun ( 695166 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:20PM (#11381000)
    Geez. All he needs to do is spend the amount of time he would have spent in line at a gym, and by the time the movie comes out, he'll be so buff and fearsome to all the ubernerds, he can just walk up to the front of the line, announce cutsies, and voila. Also he will probably be healthier, and far more attractive to the opposite sex thereafter, albeit still with the geekiness and the sabers and leia in the bikini glayven.
  • All those grungy "graphic artists" I see sleeping on the Seattle streets are just waiting for Star Wars 9? Now I'm really glad it's finally opening - and even more glad when it finally closes, and those hardcore fans can finally go home somewhere.

  • I've always wondered.... (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Weaselmancer ( 533834 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:24PM (#11381030)

    When you hear about someone like this, who feeds them? How the hell can you take 139 days out of your life and still have a house? Or insurance? Or a job?

    Yes, I know the standard /. answer is that he lives in his mom's basement and she takes care of him...but is that actually true?

    How the @#@##% do you go on a 139 day hiatus and return to your life afterwards???

    • How the hell can you take 139 days out of your life and still have a house? Or insurance? Or a job?

      Well, the house isn't going to wander off anywhere, the insurance doesn't care, and if you're self-employed you can give yourself vacations whenever and however long you like. Those are just the first answers that come to mind.

    • Re:I've always wondered.... (Score:5, Funny)

      by forgetmenot ( 467513 ) <atsjewell@gmai l . c om> on Sunday January 16, 2005 @07:52PM (#11381882) Homepage
      Yeah, well what I want to know it... he has to go to the bathroom at some point. How's he gonna ensure that someone doesn't take his spot the second he's not looking?

      Oh, wait. It's Episode III. I don't think he has to worry.

    • Re:I've always wondered.... (Score:5, Insightful)

      by shrewtamer ( 521554 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @08:17PM (#11382021)
      Lifes a big trip....he's just doing something different. He hasn't stopped living.

      One of the best things I ever did was take almost a year hiatus. I just quit my job, rented the house ... what's the big deal. Never rely on a particular job still being there ... even when you're in it ... what happens if you get made redunant. Unless you're able to walk out of there you're a prisoner. So if the market in your area is looking that bad, I'd retrain or move. That's why I wasn't worried when I quit my job as a software engineer ... it turned out to be easy to get another good job but if it hadn't, I'd probably be fitting gas boilers or going to law school.

      Spending 8 months hiking in the mountains made be happier than anything ever has. Enjoy the world...its bloody cool. Personally I don't think the insurance policies are the best bit.

      Have fun.

  • Doens't care, eh? (Score:5, Funny)

    by dk.r*nger ( 460754 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:26PM (#11381042)
    He's been called a loser, a geek, a Peter Pan who refuses to grow up and get a life. A few days ago, someone called him a "bum" for the first time.

    "I don't really care how people label me," Tweiten says. "If they are so narrow-minded and can only see that one aspect of me, I kind of pity them."

    I'm not narrowminded. My mind is so wide, I can't decide wether to label him a loser, a geek, a Peter Pan or a bum. Hey, I think I'll label him every single one of those, right at the same time. he!

  • Here's the kicker... (Score:2, Insightful)

    by MLopat ( 848735 )
    He's quoted at the end of the article:
    "But I don't want to regret not doing this. If I end up not making it, and my will is broken, and I go home, at least I'll have tried."

    But yet earlier in the article:
    "Probably the most elemental meaning he derives from the movies' various editions is Yoda's, "Do or do not. There is no try."

    It fits in with his approach to life: "If you're going to do something, do it right. Don't half-ass it.""
  • The worst thing about this guy is are his attempts to describe himself as an intelligent, articulate normal person.

    He does such a good job of looking reasonable, and so it makes his folly all the more ridiculous.

  • Doesn't this poor slob have some friends or family that care about him enough to intervene?

    Imagine if this amount of slack could be used for good...

  • ...the Cinerama is a good place to do it. My favorite theater in Seattle. I lived on the opposite corner of that block for 3 years, so I was of course a regular.

    By the time the last campout there ended, the guys had a van, a tent, a generator, cots, wifi and all the comforts of home.

  • Let me the first to say it (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Cally ( 10873 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:33PM (#11381080) Homepage
    This is one sad, sad motherfucker.

  • Seriously (Score:5, Insightful)

    by CastrTroy ( 595695 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @05:45PM (#11381148)
    Is the best thing you can find to do with your life to spend 139 days sitting in front of a theatre. Where do people get the money for doing these types of things. If you have that kind of money, why are you spending it sitting in the middle of downtown instead of sitting on a beach somewhere.

    • Re:Seriously (Score:3, Insightful)

      by wass ( 72082 )
      If you have that kind of money, why are you spending it sitting in the middle of downtown instead of sitting on a beach somewhere.

      There are two somewhat conflicting thoughts I've got. The first is that the guy is a crazed fanboy creepy (ie, stalker-like) loser, perhaps in awe of anything starwars, perhaps just taking the last chance to wait in line for what was the legendary fictional story from his childhood days (he was 3 when #4 came out). Okay, he obviously wants to see the movie on opening night.

  • A friend got a t-shirt with Darth Tater on it ages ago. His mom bought them and he gave me one. I wish I had a photo to show.

  • If anything, I feel sad that there is still interest enough that people would be interested in camping under this banner. I recall my mother giving us all doctors excuses the day Jedi came out so we could stand in a line that extended around the block. I felt proud to be part of something amazing.

    Now I'm the one who could be taking his kids out of school... but I no longer feel it's something amazing. Perhaps I'm just old and disillusioned now, but I only see the marketing angels. For me, the magic fr

  • Wouldn't it be much more impressive if he actually tried to live out the themes in Star Wars that he admires? Sitting on a coach on a sidewalk for months isn't very heroic. Oh and in the article he talks about how he sees the growth from childhood to adult- looks like this guy still hasn't taken that to heart.
    • "Wouldn't it be much more impressive if he actually tried to live out the themes in Star Wars that he admires?"

      I'd rather he lay on a sidewalk like a bum for 5 months instead of doing something more active.... like building an X-wing replica out of shipping cartons and ducktape, attaching it to his 10-speed, and repeatedly crashing into the fence of the local nuclear power plant (which he thinks is the Death Star)

  • Purpose (Score:2)

    by Tom ( 822 )
    Ok, so we're mostly geeks here, and I figure geeks with massive math training and coding skills should be able to think logically.

    So what's the purpose of this? It can't be being the first one in the theater, there's something called "internet pre-order" for that. Besides, the first people to see it will be invited VIPs at the official premiere anyways.

    So what's it?
  • ...if they didn't let him in? :)

  • poor guy (Score:4, Funny)

    by Turn-X Alphonse ( 789240 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @06:05PM (#11381259) Journal
    I sent the poor git a G-mail account, he'll need the space for the trolling.

  • Campouts are fucking stupid (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Lord Bitman ( 95493 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @06:17PM (#11381335)
    Other than the obvious, campouts are stupid because Tickets for the opening showing on opening day are not at all and will not become hard to come by. This guy is supposed to be a nerd, and yet he's doing something so obsolete as to wait in line for a physical ticket.
    Lines are for the past. Have fun when you can't even get in once the place is open because everyone smarter than you went to Fandango.
    • Not that I agree with his dumb behaviour, but lines are no longer for tickets.. they're for getting the best seats..

      I _hate_ having to sit too close to the screen when there is an action movie.. you can't see what going on when your too close..

  • Someone should help him (Score:4, Funny)

    by trawg ( 308495 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @06:28PM (#11381397) Homepage
    ... take out a portable DVD player and show him the first two movies; he obviously hasn't seen them and doesn't know what he's getting into.

  • How long ? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Pop69 ( 700500 ) <billy@bCURIEenarty.co.uk minus physicist> on Sunday January 16, 2005 @06:34PM (#11381431) Homepage
    139 days on a futon ?, in the street ?

    How's he going to get lai..

    Never mind, he's a Star Wars geek, he probably isn't going to notice the lack.

  • Too nerdy for Slashdot! (Score:3, Funny)

    by Equuleus42 ( 723 ) on Sunday January 16, 2005 @09:05PM (#11382227) Homepage
    Now this is funny -- even us nerds on Slashdot think this guy is off his rocker. Who else is going to sympathize with him now? :^)

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