{"id":1874,"date":"2009-09-16T07:00:14","date_gmt":"2009-09-16T11:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/?p=1874"},"modified":"2009-09-15T01:04:21","modified_gmt":"2009-09-15T05:04:21","slug":"dragoncon-2009-days-3-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/2009\/09\/16\/dragoncon-2009-days-3-4\/","title":{"rendered":"DragonCon 2009 Days 3 & 4 – Jean-Luc, Shopping, Games, and Dinner for 21"},"content":{"rendered":"

Coverage of Dragon*Con 2009 continues here!\u00a0 I’ve already recapped Friday<\/a> and Saturday<\/a>, so today will cover Sunday and Monday.\u00a0 If you\u2019d like to see over 600 pictures I took at the event, you can view them on Flickr<\/a> and THE UNIQUE GEEK photo gallery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SUNDAY<\/h3>\n

After going to sleep around 5am the night before, we all slept-in on Sunday morning.\u00a0 Eventually I awoke, cleaned up, and got in line to see Patrick Stewart.\u00a0 Yes, THE<\/strong> Patrick Stewart!\u00a0 Patrick Stewart, as in Jean-Luc Picard from Star Trek: The Next Generation<\/em>.\u00a0 Patrick Stewart, as in Professor X from X-Men<\/em>.\u00a0 Patrick Stewart, as in the famous Shakespearean theatre actor.\u00a0 Patrick Stewart, as in teh awesome!<\/p>\n

I waited in line for about 80 minutes with the Methvin clan for the Patrick Stewart panel.\u00a0 We were in another one of those lines that stretched outside and wrapped around the block.\u00a0 Surprisingly, even though I was around the block, I was only number 400 in line for a room that holds 1,500.\u00a0 Just before showtime, we got into the room and scored great seats.\u00a0 Patrick Stewart was wonderful!\u00a0 From what I’ve heard, he doesn’t do a lot of conventions.\u00a0 Based upon his apparent nervousness and unrehearsed stories, I’d guess that was true.\u00a0 I’m really glad his stories were unrehearsed because they sounded a lot more genuine that some celebrities at conventions.\u00a0 He talked at great length about his time on Star Trek, mostly focusing on experiences he had during filming (rather than about the stories themselves).<\/p>\n

I waited in the Q&A line, unfortunately they didn’t get through many audience questions.\u00a0 So I returned to my seat about 15 minutes before the end of the session saddened that I didn’t get to ask my question.\u00a0 Then surprisingly Patrick Stewart seemed to fumble while trying to answer someone else’s question.\u00a0 After a really protracted pause by Stewart, I saw the opportunity to ask my question from my seat (without the benefit of a microphone).\u00a0 The question Stewart was attempting to answer was something like, “What things did you enjoy while filming Star Trek?”\u00a0 He seemed to have run out of things to say on the subject and was pausing quietly on stage.\u00a0 So I took it upon myself to fill the uncomfortable silence and yelled out my question with my loudest stage voice, “What about the dune buggies?”\u00a0 I wanted to ask this question because in the movie Star Trek: Nemesis<\/em>, Patrick Stewart genuinely looks like he’s having the time of his life during the dune buggy scenes.\u00a0 My question from the audience caught Stewart by surprise, but it was apparently a pleasant surprise.\u00a0 His face lit up at the mention of the dune buggies!\u00a0 He then made a joke about the audience leading him by the elbow (which I was pretty embarrassed about, deservedly so).\u00a0 Next he went on to talk cheerfully about filming the dune buggy scenes for about ten minutes.\u00a0 In fact, someone tried to change the subject and he responded with, “I’m not done talking about the dune buggies.”\u00a0 PATRICK STEWART LIKED MY QUESTION!\u00a0 Hooray!\u00a0 I guess I was thrilled with this because celebrities have usually heard just about every question.\u00a0 It’s rare to catch them off-guard or,\u00a0 even better, to excite them with the subject matter of your question.<\/p>\n

Overall, Patrick Stewart was an amazing guest and a real joy to listen to.\u00a0 I’m not sure how many opportunities I’ll have in my life to see him, so I’m really glad I did.<\/p>\n

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Next up was lunch with an internet buddy of mine, Adama.\u00a0 Adama runs the Green Arrow blog, Dispatches from the Arrowcave.<\/a> This was the first time we’ve met face-to-face.\u00a0 I’ll detail this meeting more in a future post over at my other blog, FIRESTORM FAN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While all this was going on, I missed out on the DC Comic cosplay photo shoot.\u00a0 While I didn’t get any pictures of it, thatdjspider on Flickr<\/a> did.\u00a0 It looks like it was truly amazing!<\/p>\n

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I did a little shopping at the Tales of Wonder<\/em><\/a> booth and picked a couple amazing deals.\u00a0 First up was Marvel’s Hulk Visionaries: Peter David volume 1<\/em> which normally retails for $19.99, but I got it there for $6.\u00a0 This trade covers Peter David’s earliest Hulk issues with art by Todd McFarlane.\u00a0 I’ve never read these issues, so this was a real steal!\u00a0 Next up was Dark Horse’s Star Wars: A Long Time Ago… Volume 5<\/em> which normally retails for $29.95, but I got it there for $15.\u00a0 The A Long Time Ago…<\/em> series of trades reprints the original Marvel Star Wars<\/em> comic.\u00a0 I’m a huge fan of the old Marvel run and have been slowly picking up these trades.<\/p>\n

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Sunday evening was the night for THE UNIQUE GEEK Board of Directors dinner!\u00a0 This is basically a chance for all those that participate in THE UNIQUE GEEK to get together and hang out. It\u2019s open to anyone who participates in our listserv, listens to our podcast, or that we find randomly wandering the streets.\u00a0 This time 21 of us descended upon a local Mexican place to cause havoc!\u00a0 We had good food, lots of booze, and lots of laughs.\u00a0 The gang included: Serv, Doctor Jen, Jon, Choco Taco, Damian, Leigh, Rox of Spazhouse, Scott C, Eli, Jemma, Jamin, Ron, Holly, Race, Erika and her husband John, Ravenface, Shockwave, myself, and Michael Bailey and his wife Rachel.\u00a0 Shockwave\u2019s spouse made her annual brief appearance decked out in her Cobra Baroness costume! Below are a couple pictures from dinner.\u00a0 Again, visit Flickr<\/a> or THE UNIQUE GEEK photo gallery<\/a> for a great deal more photos from dinner.<\/p>\n

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After dinner (and working out everyone’s share of the bill using differential calculus), we headed off to play late night games.\u00a0 We played several rounds of Werewolf (also known as Mafia or Assassin)<\/a> into the wee hours of the morning.\u00a0 This game is becoming a DragonCon tradition for us!\u00a0 Another tradition is for our game moderator to become completely wasted!\u00a0 It makes the game more interesting, trust me.\u00a0 We were joined (unwillingly for us) by a freshly-turned 18 year old girl in full Michael Jackson zombie make-up.\u00a0 She didn’t exactly gel with the crowd, so we soon dispersed.\u00a0 We wandered the hotels for a while and eventually settled in a room party.\u00a0 Sometime around 3am (I think) we finally crashed.<\/p>\n

MONDAY<\/h3>\n

Since I had an early afternoon flight, Monday was really a day for goodbyes and last minute shopping.\u00a0 Back at Tales of Wonder<\/em> again I picked up another great bargain.\u00a0 Thor Visionaries: Walter Simonson<\/em> normally retails for $24.95, but I got it there for $5.\u00a0 I’ve never read these issues, in fact I’ve read very few issues of Thor in my life.\u00a0 However, Walt Simonson has never disappointed and I’ve heard rave reviews of these issues.\u00a0 Can’t wait to jump into this book!<\/p>\n

I also picked up the Big Finish Doctor Who spin-off audio adventures Dalek Empire<\/em><\/a> at a reasonable discount.\u00a0 I picked up the first four disks for $40.\u00a0 This is one of the few Big Finish Doctor Who spin-offs I haven’t picked up. Given the discount, I just couldn’t pass it up.<\/p>\n

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That wraps up my on-site coverage of DragonCon 2009.\u00a0 Come back tomorrow when I’ll feature the best of DragonCon 2009 costumes!<\/p>\n

Tell the world about ONCE UPON A GEEK:<\/h3>