Rolling back the years once again we present Danny’s Diary, a series of article written back in 2007 – 2008 and originally posted on Lightsabre.co.uk by ILM and Kerner Optical multi-tasker Danny Wagner.
Tuesday 2nd October 2007
Dear Diary,
I thought maybe I would share some of my awesome vacation stories. I when to London and Ireland. WOW! what a beautiful country.
I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I was fortunate enough to travel with my best buddies Don Bies and his family. When I’m hanging out with them I’m Danny Bies! Along for the ride was Lorne Peterson.
Really To be honest Lorne, Don and I were in London for the fabulous Star Wars Celebration Europe! It was a blast! I enjoyed the show enormously. for the first time I also signed autographs it was wild. The three of us had a great talk interview on our work. Unfortunately I also had a great makeup slideshow to present, but it got cancelled!
After the modelmakers presentation I stayed on the stage area to be a part of the tattoo competition judges. MAN! that was a first. Wild! I was afraid to tell them, but I don’t have a tattoo myself! Oops! I guess it didn’t matter. Those tattoos where pretty amazing! That was the first time I was close to strangers and there skin without putting any makeup on, funny!
Signing autographs on Sunday was a lot of fun, I was talking to a lot of people and got a whole new perspective on the other side of the table.
On my time away from the table I was able to walk around and enjoy the show. Behind the scenes I was able to meet Mark Hamill when he became available after signing. I was hanging out with the Bies family and other convention assistants and waiting for Hamill to arrive. When he did it was nice. A quiet room and time to chat.
On the last day I was ready to rest but I was really glad I attend this show. A lot of great memories!
After that weekend I planned my first day in London, Man! where do I start! Well! To shorten things up I was planning to see Tower Of London, Jack the Ripper tour and museums.
During my travels and sightseeing there happen to be the Art Of Star Wars right there in London, It was fun!
I got to see our models we built and some creature maquettes I sculpted for Episode 2 and I thought I would never see them again. Someday “I” will be in one of those glass cases on display as an old model maker “That used to be”!
Well I can go on and on about London but I don’t have time. After a week in London I visited Ireland.
I had never seen such a beautiful clean and green country before. I was lucky enough to visit my relatives there for the first time. They all were excited to see my work that I showed them on my laptop. I was also fortune enough to have a relative who knew the maker of the famous Hanna Hats I wear all the time. JOHN HANNA. He was a delightful man with a lot of enthusiasm. He was excited to show me around his company and I got introduced to his crew. I was so honored to receive two new hats from the man himself. What a vacation.
As I was planning to travel back home I got an email from work that we got National Treasure 2 and another movie I can’t mention. I was excited to go back to work!
Man life is beautiful isn’t it?
