Editor’s Notebook -- James Meier

It’s no secret. I love “Star Wars.” So you can imagine my excitement

as I count down the days until the latest installment, “Attack of the

Clones,” comes out on Thursday. To be honest, the countdown began long

before this month. Heck, it really started last year.

But, despite my longing to see the fifth and second-to-last film in

the saga, you won’t find me among the campers at Big Newport this week.

No, I have to work.

I must admit I am jealous of those who can spend a week and a half in

a tent waiting for this movie. I do wonder how they can pull that off,

monetarily, and if they have somewhere else they should be, i.e. work.

Meanwhile, I’m here punching the keys.

So, on Wednesday night, not sure how jealous I should be of our

respective predicaments, I took a trip over to the theater at Newport

Center.

First off, I bought my tickets. The first show -- at 12:01 a.m. --

already was sold out, so I settled for the second show -- at 10 a.m. The

line hasn’t begun on that one and hopefully won’t start until earlier

that morning.

Once I secured my tickets, I strayed over to the tent area, which by

the way has met its quota of about 20 tents. I learned that Edwards

Cinema officials began allowing campers to pitch their tents at about 3

p.m. Sunday. All of them had bought their tickets when they went on sale

on Saturday at the theater.

Campers there on Wednesday night were playing video games, watching

TV, reading, chatting -- pretty much doing things I’d be doing at home.

They’re all set. They’ve got power and restrooms, thanks to the generous

people at Edwards. They brought food and coolers. If they yearn for

something else, they can take a short walk next door to Muldoons or

across the street to Coco’s.

By that point, my jealousy level remained as it was. I then walked

around a bit. Some tents were a little more decorative than others.

One tent I came across had a convenient FAQs list posted. Among the

frequently asked questions and answers were:

* How long have you been here? Since 7 p.m. Sunday.

* How can you be in line so long? We do it in shifts.

* Are any of you single? Yes, surprisingly.

* Are you guys losers? No, surprisingly.

Well, that saved me from asking those guys some questions. They seemed

a bit busy anyway watching the Kevin Smith film “Chasing Amy.” The movie

makes great references to “The Holy Trilogy,” as the previous “Star Wars”

films have been dubbed. If you get a chance, check it out.

So, then I chatted with another guy whose tent happened to be the

first one pitched. It turned out his buddy was the tent’s keeper and that

he stopped by in between working and sleeping. Like the “Chasing Amy”

crew, he and his friends held camp in shifts. He is a consultant who said

he worked out of the tent when needed. Among him and a few of his

friends, the group had 80 tickets for that midnight showing.

A car drove by and honked. They do that often? Every 10 minutes, he

said. They do that or they yell “losers” or “get a life.” They’re just

jealous, I assured him. That’s a shame. It’s simply a different

prerogative.

Oh well, I moved on. Another guy who pulled out his credit card for 50

tickets said he talked to a guy who planned to paint his VW Bug to look

like R2D2. While I wouldn’t do that, I certainly would like to see that.

Well, after that round at base camp, my jealousy didn’t rise much.

I’ll definitely enjoy the comfort of my own bed over the next week, but

don’t be surprised if I show up shortly after the sun rises on Thursday

to join the line for that 10 a.m. showing.

And, no, I’m not among those 2.2 million employees expected to play

hooky nationwide. I actually have the day off already. Just call it a

nice, gentle visit to my youth. They’re comforting visits, and I enjoy

them. I also did this three years ago for “Episode I” and for the

original trilogy when they were re-released for the 20th anniversary in

1997.

Yep, now all I can do is cross my fingers and hope that this movie

will be much better than the somewhat disappointing “Phantom Menace” in

‘99. But, then again, it’s all about the experience, and you can’t beat

the biggest screen on the West Coast. Ah, who’s kidding who? This better

be good.

* James Meier is the city editor. He can be reached at (949) 764-4324

or by e-mail at o7 james.meier@latimes.comf7 .