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My Dad recently took me to the Boston Museum of Science to see their exhibit 'Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination.'
Truly, it is not as dorky as it sounds.
We began the visit by heading to the Millenium Falcon. That's right, I made the jump to hyperspace! The thing can fit eight, four sitting and four standing. And as it just so happened I got to sit in the pilot's seat. C-3PO narrates the whole thing as you stare out the cockpit window. And while you don't actually move, you feel like you do. Blasts of air from below make you feel as if you really are leaping forward in space, or slowly moving around to get a better look at the galaxy around you. And while C-3PO talks a lot about what we know of space and science, the experience is... well, days later I'm still at a loss for words.
We wandered around a bit after that and waited for the planetarium to open. Inside was the show 'Far, Far Away,' a comparison of the worlds of Star Wars and those worlds in our own system. Unlike the Falcon, this focuses a lot on Star Wars and not so much on science. Once again, Threepio narrates as everyone watches. It gets very in depth and you start to wonder if maybe it's possible that we'll one day have moisture farms on Mars and contact with species from other worlds. I started to wonder if maybe similar stuff was already out there, waiting for us. And it makes you want to ponder just how we could get there.
Finally it was time for the big show: 'Star Wars: a Multimedia Tour.' This was the part where my jaw hit the floor. You walk into this huge room where you're surrounded by interactive experiments and glass cases. The experiments here mostly focus on droids and how they work, and how we can get them to work. There's also a long series on how to build a landspeeder using magnetic propulsion, and another on how you can build a functioning society on Tatooine. And the cases? They contain the actual props and costumes and models used in the making of the films. Just to name a few of the costumes: Han and Chewbacca, Darth Vader, Obi-Wan and Mace, Princess Leia, Padme, a Stormtrooper... the list goes on. Yoda's puppet is there, along with a training remote. There's two C-3POs (covered and 'naked') R2-D2, a Trade Federation War Droid... oh boy, I could go on. But for me, the big highlight was when I went to the weapons case. There's lightsabers on display here, as well as some clone weaponry and a thermal detonator. But the awe came when I saw an odd-looking, dreadfully familiar rifle with a card under it that simply read 'Boba Fett's Blaster.'
I chose to linger and wander while my Dad took my little brother into a sandcrawler to see a show about droids. After that we headed into the gift shop. I walked away with a Yoda t-shirt that said 'Justice' on it, a pin with the Mandalorian/Journeyman Protector symbol on it (the branch thing with the teardrop and the backwards F), and the updated book on Star Wars characters. My toes were tapping.
I walked away both awed and frustrated. Star Wars has always seemed to me to be very real. Like it's in our grasp to one day live in a galaxy far, far away. Maybe it's already out there. Standing in front of Yoda, sitting on his stool and looking wise as always, I was embittered knowing that this was as close to intergalactic adventures as I would ever get. Nevertheless, it was an experience I wouldn't trade for the world. I highly reccomend seeing it. It leaves April 30th... at which point it simply goes to Chicago ^_^ Words cannot give it justice.
Well, that was my latest adventure with Star Wars. Hope everyone enjoyed listening to my rant. I have pictures, too, of a lot of the props and stuff in that last exhibit which I will post here as soon as they're developed (yes, I got a closeup on Fett's blaster ;) ). Anyone who is considering going, a word of wisdom: call ahead to make reservations for your tickets. We almost found this one out the hard way.
Thanks for listening!
