The chimes have tolled midnight, my coach has turned into a pumpkin, and my nice clothes have reverted once again to jeans and a t-shirt. My Cinderella evening at at the COSI Imagination Celebration 2006 is over, and I had a wonderful time.

The 501st and the Rebel Legion were out in full force with some pretty impressive costumes. Naturally, I just had to get my picture taken with one of the stormtroopers. The award for best costume, however, goes to the gentleman who dressed up as Emperor Palpatine -- spiffy makeup!

We started the evening with a reception in the CityView area on the second floor. There's a beautiful view of the Columbus skyline over the Scioto River. It was kind of a mini-version of the festivities that would take place later; several people spoke, including Carl Kohrt (President and CEO of Battelle and Chair of the COSI Governing Board), Dr. David Chesebrough (President and CEO of COSI), and of course, Anthony Daniels. Mr. Daniels is quite the charismatic public speaker -- he told a story about assembling the gloves for C-3P0 with superglue and getting them stuck to his hands, and even teased Dr. Chesebrough about the Star Wars tie he was wearing.

There were all sorts of neat (and tempting!) things in the silent and live auction, and they raised quite a bit of money for COSI. My favorite item from the live auction was the Episode III poster autographed by none other than George Lucas. My dad, bless his heart, even bid on a framed picture of Artoo and Threepio, autographed by Anthony Daniels, in the silent auction. Alas, we were outbid before the end of the night.

The highlight of the evening was, of course, the exhibit itself. It was quite well put together; the props, costumes and models from the movie were well balanced with exhibits on related real-world technology. I enjoyed the exhibit on mag-lev trains, and even built a miniature one myself. (Columbus could use an elevated mag-lev train system, IMHO.) I also rode the hoverchair -- it was a smooth ride, but a little difficult to steer. My dad had fun playing with the robotic legs; it only took him a few tries to get the legs to walk a few steps.

The two major attractions in the exhibit were the Robot Object Theater and the Millenium Falcon. I'd actually seen or read about most of the robots and issues that Cynthia Breazeal and Threepio discussed during a course I took on artificial intelligence last quarter, but it was neat to see them again. They did have a replica of Kismet, whom I'd heard of but didn't really know much about. I used to think Kismet looked kind of odd -- like what I'd imagine an animatronic Yoda would look like without skin -- but after seeing the replica Kismet in action, I have to admit, he's a cutie! He's kind of like a little kid talking baby talk, but he's such a doll when he smiles. (OK, I'll stop being such a girl now. )

The Millenium Falcon exhibit was also very spiffy and very engaging. I love to fly, and 'flying' through the known universe in the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy was quite an experience. It rather reminded me of going to the planetarium as a little girl. Funny, even now that I'm all grown up (mostly, anyway ), there are still things that can make me feel very small.

I did chat with Mr. Daniels briefly during the exhibit; I was standing off to the side, watching as he stood next to the C-3P0 costume on display, when he asked me if I'd spend 30 years in a costume like that. I was a little tongue-tied at the time, but now that I think of it, I'd rather spend 30 years building something like C-3P0. It was really awe-inspiring to see him standing next to Threepio -- I just kept thinking 'Wow, 30 years...that's my whole life.'

One other thing that I just have to mention -- WOSU will be opening up a Digital Media Center this fall at COSI, and they had a bit of a preview on the main floor. All I could think was "The Matrix has you, Neo."

All in all, it was a very enjoyable night. If you get a chance to come see the exhibit, either while it's here in Ohio or when it comes to your corner of the galaxy, definitely do!