Dragon Con report

[grinninfoole]

Day 0:

Stayed up til 2 AM packing and taking care of stuff around the house (bills are paid, litter box is scooped, dishes mostly washed, etc.)  Caught 40 winks, and then left around 4:40 AM to airport, M driving.  Arrived in good time for 6:40 American Eagle flight to Raleigh-Durham.  Dozed on plane.  Met nice people also going to con while awaiting flight to Atlanta (on Delta, courtesy of internet travel site routing).  Got in at 11 AM, snagged luggage, and was met by Joke (old college friend, last seen in this journal at my wedding, I think).  He took us to a supermarket for some supplies, and then dropped us at our hotel, before he had to dash off to pick up his son.  Because he's working a book fair this weekend, I shan't see him again until Sunday.  It's so good to talk to him again.  I wish I could every day.

We are staying at a lovely, somewhat pricey, fairly upscale hotel about 15 minutes walk from the main hotels where the con is happening (DC is spread between the Sheraton, Hilton, Marriott and Hyatt hotels.)  Our suite has two rooms, a kitchenette, and a living room.  We unpacked, went for food, and then met some of M's Gaeta Squee peeps (blue_crow


Day 1:
The first day of the actual Con, M and I overslept somewhat, but we felt much refreshed for doing so.  I made us breakfast, and then we went to the show.  I trawled all the dealer's rooms, (had a nice chat with Scott Allie from Dark Horse about Hellboy) and found us each a nerd shirt, and some other cool stuff, but struck out on Midnight supplements.  I guess all the good 3.5 D&D stuff is just not to be had.  M went off on her own adventure, and then we reunited to line up to see Terry Gilliam.  He was there to promote his upcoming, to-be-released-someday, film The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus.  Based on what he showed us, it looks utterly fantastic and worth anticipating.  Gilliam himself was clearly a delightful man, and I wish I knew him personally and/or got to work with him on something. 

Then we found a whole crowd of Squeers waiting for the BSG panel at 5:30, and joined them.  We had a lovely conversation, and then we all got good seats for the event, which featured a several cast members, including Alessandro Juliani, Kate Vernon, and Michael Hogan (who snuck in late.  He came to the show as a last minute fill in for E J Olmos, who was off making a movie of the Green Hornet, I think.)  The best moment came when Kate Vernon's young daughter called, and she had us all say hello, which apparently charmed her.  While that was happening, Hogan called Olmos, and put him on the phone.  The admiral urged us all to check out The Plan when it comes out next month (if it sells 300,000 units in DVD, they'll make more BSG movies) and ended by saying "So Say We All".  Naturally, we all shouted it back at him.  When the panel ended, Hogan led us all in saying that three or four times. 

After that, we found spacepug and her husband at the 13th Colony meetup, and then went out for supper some place near the con, and had good conversation.  (Several BSG folks, and I think Erin Gray from the old Buck Rogers show, were having supper outside at the restaurant next door.)

Then back to the hotel, where we socialized until fuschia arrived.  Had a lovely chat with her for awhile, and then bed.
 

Day 2:

Overslept, managed to stumble up and out, and thanks to catching a taxi, made it in time for my 9 AM D&D game (the LFR adventure TYMA 1-5, From One Dwarf To Another).  Got to inaugurate my new wizard, and proved useful to the party, which was unusually composed for an LFR table: two Fighters (both dragonborn), a Tiefling Warlord, a Tiefling Warlock, and another human Wizard (who was, happily, a different type of wizard, so we actually blended well.  The other wizard, Fizz, and one of the fighters were played by a charming couple from TN, and the two Tieflings were played by another married couple, who clearly enjoy taking their act on the road.  The table atmosphere was very loose, but things still moved along fairly smoothly, though the Warlock player did keep nudging the DM along.)  After that, I wandered for a bit before hooking up with M, and getting lunch at the PeachTree center food court. 


EDIT: I shall upload and post the picture later, perhaps in another post, but I saw the coolest of the many cool costumes at this point: a completely original character: The Ottoman Automaton, the Engine of the Lamp.  Wonderfully clever, gorgeously made, and simply beautiful.   I don't often pay that much attention to costumes, and Steam Punk garb tends to all look the same after awhile, but this was unique in my experience.  My phone camera simply didn't do it justice...but I'll put it up anyway.

I then soldiered on alone to the Monty Python panel, featuring Terry Gilliam and Neil Innes reminiscing about how they met, the early days of children's TV, and the experience of being part of Python, but not part of the Oxbridge core of Cleese, Palin, Idle, Jones, and Chapman.  (Pretty cool, apparently, though I was tired and zoned out for about ten minutes.)  Sitting behind me were Pinky & Brain, who had played one of the fighters and the other wizard that morning.  We chatted for about twenty minutes.  They're friendly folks from Chattanooga (they both laugh easily and infectiously), though I, of course, blabbed on about myself, so I don't much about their lives beyond nice folks at the Con.  I'll paste in a link to Brain's LJ when I find the piece of Hello Kitty paper Pinky wrote it on for me. :)

ETA: (splunge12345   Hey guys!  I hope you made it safely back to Chattanooga, and that the rest of the con was a blast.)

I then walked back to the hotel for Sqeers party, which was fun.  They're all interesting people, and it was nice being the only guy in a room of about a dozen women, all talking about BSG, slash, porn, et al.  Despite the libidinal charge, my energy gave out after a while, so I stayed here while they went to the Colonial Fleet party at the Con.  I got room service, updated my character sheet, watched the last hour of Matrix Revolutions (I still like the ending), and then typed all this.  Now I await the Return of the Sweetie, and then the adventure shall continue.

more later.

Comments

[millari.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you're having a great time off on your own adventures here at the Con. I'm having a blast meeting all these LJ friends in person for the first time, and it's definitely heightened all my con experiences. The C.F. party was a fun thing to say I'd done, but in the end it was your average party with thumpy music and booze, just with some unusual additions - like disco ball centurions, walking Baltar shrines, Viper suit auctions, and chants of "So Say We All".

The Squeers think you're a keeper, btw. :)

[splunge12345.livejournal.com]

We had a blast at the Con and it was nice to meet a new friend. :) Sounds like you had fun too. Highlights for us included our LFR game, the Terry Gilliam panels, and a Space Ghost panel. (That guy basically did an hour of stand-up for us.)

[grinninfoole.livejournal.com]

Aw, man, I knew I should have gone to the Space Ghost panel. :(

I wonder if it's on YouTube somewhere?