Met Ray at New Star Con 2
Berkel-Enschot, Holland
October 16, 2004
6 hours of travel there and back, and extreme exhaustion... D*MNED WORTH IT!!
Berkel-Enschot, Holland
October 16, 2004
6 hours of travel there and back, and extreme exhaustion... D*MNED WORTH IT!!
Maaike
On saturday October 16th 2004 Lady Sythe and I visited this SW convention. The location was in the middle of nowhere in a
town called Berkel-Enschot. The actors present were, to name a few: Lawrence Makoare, who played the Witchking and an
Urukhai in Lord of the Rings, Warwick Davis, who was in SW as Wicket and also played Willow in the film of the same name. As
soon as we arrived we spotted long queues waiting for autographs, the longest queue of course for Ray Park. He was signing big
stacks of photographs and we managed to get some nice pictures of him.
After the first signing session, Mr. Park went to do a photoshoot, where again we had a great opportunity to take some really nice
pictures, some with our Dutch Darth Maul. I told Ray that the Dutch Maul had the right height, since in the book Maul is about 2
meters tall. He said: "Well, he must be it then." Of course no one could have done a better job playing Maul than Mr. Park
himself
I asked him if he knew anything about plans for a Darth Maul The Movie. Mr. Park replied that he had heard the rumours, but so
far no one contacted him about it.
All the actors had a Q&A hour and the one with Maori actor Lawrence Makoare was absolutely hilarious!
Warwick Davis was there with his wife and daughter and he too had a very witty and interesting talk.
Last one was Ray Park and he was his usual kind self, answering questions he must have been asked a million times before, in a
very friendly and polite manner.
I asked him: Mr. Park, would you like me to give a special message from you to the members of the DMEB, your favourite
website?"
And he said: "Yes. Tell them I am grateful for their support and their being there. At first I did not know there was a site dedicated
to Maul only, until a friend told me about it. It is an honour. Give them my best wishes."
When there were no more questions from the audience, Mr. Park asked where everybody was from and when Lady Sythe said
from the US, he asked her where she was from and if she was studying or working in Holland.
Since he is from Scotland, the inevitable question was: Do you wear a kilt? And Ray told us that he wore a kilt only at very
special occasions and on his own wedding. He said if he wears a kilt he has to keep his legs nice and smooth and he did not
have the time for that. He also said that he enjoyed teaching martial arts and that he even had an idea to start a school or do
workshops where people could experience the first steps of stuntman-work, but he said since he travels so much, he does not
have a lot of time to do all that. He is still hoping to do a film with either Jet Li or Jackie Chan and is still working on Iron Fist.
Someone in the audience asked Mr. Park if he would do some of the moves Darth Maul is so famous for, and he asked if anyone
had a lightsaber for him to use. Two Dutch girls dressed as Jedi came forward and after doing an extremely high kick, Ray began
doing a few combat moves with the girls. When all two of them came at him at the same time he let them chase him and that
was great fun. At a certain time the two girls got him at the same time and everybody was laughing about that. When I talked to
the girls later, they said they were still shaking
Mr. Park went back to the other room where the signing sessions were held and when the last autograph had been given, Lady
Sythe and I asked him if we could have a picture taken with him; unfortunately it was a bit unsharp, but it is clear enough to show
the three of us together.
He remembered meeting Dark Lady in Atlanta and he asked us to say Hi to her especially, which we did. The moment we came
home we grabbed the phone and called her.
Mr. Park said that the Star Wars fans are like a big family and sometimes he meets the same people on different Cons all over the
world. He commented on Lady Sythe's outfit and said he loved her costume.
It was then time to say goodbye and after a handshake and a "See you around." from Ray we went home, exhausted, but having
had a wonderful day.
This convention was small compared to the ones in the UK and the US, but there was still a lot of merchandise and a lot of
people there. Everything was well organised and went very smoothly. The only thing which gave a bit of a bad taste was a
member of the German 501 dressed as Darth Vader who was extremely rude and thought he was all that and then some, but
well... he was not really important (only he thought he was) the only important thing was meeting Ray Park finally and getting a
personal message for all of you.
Dark Lady will add a page on this site with some picture of Ray Park and the Con.
Maaike
*passed pc over to LS*
Lady Sythe
My turn!!
Well... First of all, all I can say is that I still can't quite believe we met Ray Park! LOL
Second thing, is that we had NOT ONE CLUE there was going to be con! Just the day before, we were in Den Haag and found a
flyer at the ACME movie store in Scheveningen, and learned Ray was going to be there. We were torn! But we made a decision
to attend.
So, the next day (with barely and hour or two of sleep) we got up at 6 am and left just after 7 am to catch the train to Tilburg
some distance south. But we had to take a detour east to Utrecht and jump onto a second train. Once we got to Den Bosch, we
then got on a bus (the most expensive bus ride I have ever had! 8 freakin zones!) and finally, after almost 45 minutes, we got off
the bus and walked a few blocks to the Best Western Hotel in Berkel-Enshot.
Remembering all those Cons Ray was to scheduled to attend and didn't, we entered the hotel and decided to check out the
dealer's rooms. When we reached the Signing room, we found it full of people. It was difficult to see the actors! So, curious to
see what actors were being hidden on the opposite side of the room, we found Angus Macinnes and Garrick Hogan from the
Original Trilogy. Then turning to another table, we saw Daniel Logan...and hidding behind the long line of people waiting for a
signed pic, I suddenly saw Ray Park! I couldn't help but take the first few pics of him
We were standing around, watching the crowd and the actors...and erm...keeping near Ray's table, and he suddenly looked up
from his signing, saw me with my Maul nose design and quickly looked again before returning to his signature again. Guess he
could not believe it hehehe Funny, we kept very close to his table or kept an eagle eye on Ray's table. Couldn't help it! LOL
Quite a lot of people wanted a pic of me in my Sith costume and I was even interviewed by the local news. I was asked why I was
interested/drawn to dark things and I replied that I really don't know. I would not be able to tell them if I tried. And that normal
people are boring LOL
NSC2 was tiny compared to Con size standards, but it was rather crowded. But it was fun!
And it was absolutely surreal I got to meet the man who brought Darth Maul to life! And yes, I absolutely agree he is very sweet
On saturday October 16th 2004 Lady Sythe and I visited this SW convention. The location was in the middle of nowhere in a
town called Berkel-Enschot. The actors present were, to name a few: Lawrence Makoare, who played the Witchking and an
Urukhai in Lord of the Rings, Warwick Davis, who was in SW as Wicket and also played Willow in the film of the same name. As
soon as we arrived we spotted long queues waiting for autographs, the longest queue of course for Ray Park. He was signing big
stacks of photographs and we managed to get some nice pictures of him.
After the first signing session, Mr. Park went to do a photoshoot, where again we had a great opportunity to take some really nice
pictures, some with our Dutch Darth Maul. I told Ray that the Dutch Maul had the right height, since in the book Maul is about 2
meters tall. He said: "Well, he must be it then." Of course no one could have done a better job playing Maul than Mr. Park
himself
I asked him if he knew anything about plans for a Darth Maul The Movie. Mr. Park replied that he had heard the rumours, but so
far no one contacted him about it.
All the actors had a Q&A hour and the one with Maori actor Lawrence Makoare was absolutely hilarious!
Warwick Davis was there with his wife and daughter and he too had a very witty and interesting talk.
Last one was Ray Park and he was his usual kind self, answering questions he must have been asked a million times before, in a
very friendly and polite manner.
I asked him: Mr. Park, would you like me to give a special message from you to the members of the DMEB, your favourite
website?"
And he said: "Yes. Tell them I am grateful for their support and their being there. At first I did not know there was a site dedicated
to Maul only, until a friend told me about it. It is an honour. Give them my best wishes."
When there were no more questions from the audience, Mr. Park asked where everybody was from and when Lady Sythe said
from the US, he asked her where she was from and if she was studying or working in Holland.
Since he is from Scotland, the inevitable question was: Do you wear a kilt? And Ray told us that he wore a kilt only at very
special occasions and on his own wedding. He said if he wears a kilt he has to keep his legs nice and smooth and he did not
have the time for that. He also said that he enjoyed teaching martial arts and that he even had an idea to start a school or do
workshops where people could experience the first steps of stuntman-work, but he said since he travels so much, he does not
have a lot of time to do all that. He is still hoping to do a film with either Jet Li or Jackie Chan and is still working on Iron Fist.
Someone in the audience asked Mr. Park if he would do some of the moves Darth Maul is so famous for, and he asked if anyone
had a lightsaber for him to use. Two Dutch girls dressed as Jedi came forward and after doing an extremely high kick, Ray began
doing a few combat moves with the girls. When all two of them came at him at the same time he let them chase him and that
was great fun. At a certain time the two girls got him at the same time and everybody was laughing about that. When I talked to
the girls later, they said they were still shaking
Mr. Park went back to the other room where the signing sessions were held and when the last autograph had been given, Lady
Sythe and I asked him if we could have a picture taken with him; unfortunately it was a bit unsharp, but it is clear enough to show
the three of us together.
He remembered meeting Dark Lady in Atlanta and he asked us to say Hi to her especially, which we did. The moment we came
home we grabbed the phone and called her.
Mr. Park said that the Star Wars fans are like a big family and sometimes he meets the same people on different Cons all over the
world. He commented on Lady Sythe's outfit and said he loved her costume.
It was then time to say goodbye and after a handshake and a "See you around." from Ray we went home, exhausted, but having
had a wonderful day.
This convention was small compared to the ones in the UK and the US, but there was still a lot of merchandise and a lot of
people there. Everything was well organised and went very smoothly. The only thing which gave a bit of a bad taste was a
member of the German 501 dressed as Darth Vader who was extremely rude and thought he was all that and then some, but
well... he was not really important (only he thought he was) the only important thing was meeting Ray Park finally and getting a
personal message for all of you.
Dark Lady will add a page on this site with some picture of Ray Park and the Con.
Maaike
*passed pc over to LS*
Lady Sythe
My turn!!
Well... First of all, all I can say is that I still can't quite believe we met Ray Park! LOL
Second thing, is that we had NOT ONE CLUE there was going to be con! Just the day before, we were in Den Haag and found a
flyer at the ACME movie store in Scheveningen, and learned Ray was going to be there. We were torn! But we made a decision
to attend.
So, the next day (with barely and hour or two of sleep) we got up at 6 am and left just after 7 am to catch the train to Tilburg
some distance south. But we had to take a detour east to Utrecht and jump onto a second train. Once we got to Den Bosch, we
then got on a bus (the most expensive bus ride I have ever had! 8 freakin zones!) and finally, after almost 45 minutes, we got off
the bus and walked a few blocks to the Best Western Hotel in Berkel-Enshot.
Remembering all those Cons Ray was to scheduled to attend and didn't, we entered the hotel and decided to check out the
dealer's rooms. When we reached the Signing room, we found it full of people. It was difficult to see the actors! So, curious to
see what actors were being hidden on the opposite side of the room, we found Angus Macinnes and Garrick Hogan from the
Original Trilogy. Then turning to another table, we saw Daniel Logan...and hidding behind the long line of people waiting for a
signed pic, I suddenly saw Ray Park! I couldn't help but take the first few pics of him
We were standing around, watching the crowd and the actors...and erm...keeping near Ray's table, and he suddenly looked up
from his signing, saw me with my Maul nose design and quickly looked again before returning to his signature again. Guess he
could not believe it hehehe Funny, we kept very close to his table or kept an eagle eye on Ray's table. Couldn't help it! LOL
Quite a lot of people wanted a pic of me in my Sith costume and I was even interviewed by the local news. I was asked why I was
interested/drawn to dark things and I replied that I really don't know. I would not be able to tell them if I tried. And that normal
people are boring LOL
NSC2 was tiny compared to Con size standards, but it was rather crowded. But it was fun!
And it was absolutely surreal I got to meet the man who brought Darth Maul to life! And yes, I absolutely agree he is very sweet
