(Beware of possible spoilers)
Greensboro's The Grande Theater might have been the true galactic center of fandom last night, as Episode II opened on six screens. At 8:00 pm when I (Chris) arrived, the media focus was on David Hill - who had been camped out for two days with ticket in hand - and a group of faithful who stood their ground with everything from Star Wars Monopoly to a full Tusken Raider outfit. Staff from the theater and the Starbucks across the street provided free goodies for us to snack on while we waited. Some got to stage mock lightsaber battles for the local Fox affiliate.

By 10:30 the line had stretched out the door, across the theater and then down the length of the building, threatening to encroach on the grocery store across the street! At 11 the doors opened, they let us in. At 12:05 the trailers started, including the one for "Matrix Reloaded"/"Matrix Revolutions".

Surprisingly enough, even with six prints of AOTC, it didn't sell out for the first showing.

We cheered when the 20th Century Fox logo appeared. We yowled with delight as the opening title came up. Probably the greatest moment came when Yoda appeared to confront Dooku: the anticipation alone for what followed rocked the house. Biggest surprise: most everyone dropped jaws at the sight of the Death Star.

All told, it was a great time! We got to meet a lot of wonderful people and we took a very rich memory back home with us.