Lizzie, a friend and colleague who shares an interest with me in people who are extraordinarily passionate in their pursuits — nerds, geeks, you might call them/us — had shown me the trailer for a movie called Darkon.

The movie is a documentary about LARPing — live action roleplaying. We agreed that we had to see it. The trailer is here:

So Sunday, when I was feeling under the weather but at school anyway because I am a sap, Lizzie tells me that she has found a screening: that night at 6 p.m. It’s at a comic book convention. Brilliant. I have been to two conventions in my life, I think. The first was for a story called “Stalking Shatner” that I did for dirt. The second was for another story called “Dissecting UFOlogy.” So I have a bit of a history with such conventions.

And I love them.

So when we went to see the movie — Kenan (of GreenGrog) and I went a little early — I was a little disappointed to find out that the convention was all but over. There were a few stragglers, sure. But not the costumed massed I had been hoping for. Somewhat dejected, we headed up to the 18th floor, where the movie would be playing.

When we got of the elevator, we found 25 or 30 Jedi fighting with lightsabers. Hallelujah. I said to Kenan, “Do you think they have enough lightsabers that they could spell my name with them?”

“Hell yes,” he said.

So I approached a Jedi and asked if they were all from one organization. Yes, he said, NYJedi. Of course! I posed the same thing to him: “It looks like you all have enough lightsabers where you could spell out my first name, Dave, with them.”

In a flash, a female Jedi was corralling her colleagues and directing traffic. The prize is a photo posted after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »