{"id":4159,"date":"2010-09-15T06:45:07","date_gmt":"2010-09-15T10:45:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/?p=4159"},"modified":"2010-09-15T08:40:48","modified_gmt":"2010-09-15T12:40:48","slug":"dragoncon-2010-recap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/onceuponageek.com\/wordpress\/2010\/09\/15\/dragoncon-2010-recap\/","title":{"rendered":"Dragon*Con 2010 Recap – My Weekend of Insanity (lots of pics!)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dragon*Con, my home away from home.\u00a0 I believe this was my 10th appearance at this convention and it was definitely one of the better ones! Attended lots of panels, hung out with my friends, met some celebrities, drank far too much, took over 600 photos, and generally had a great time.\u00a0 Sometime in the near future I hope to post my “Best Costumes of Dragon*Con 2010”.\u00a0 In the meantime, if you want to check out all of my photos, please click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The scope of Dragon*Con never ceases to amaze me.\u00a0 At any given time there were over 40 different tracks to choose from.\u00a0 Most tracks changed panels\/speakers every 90 minutes for a total of 10 different panels\/speakers during the day.\u00a0 That’s over 400 different panels\/speakers to choose from in one day!\u00a0 That doesn’t even count the dealers room, the exhibit hall, the celebrity walk of fame, artists alley, the art show, concerts, video game rooms, random cosplayers wandering the halls, and probably a zillion other things I’m forgetting.\u00a0 It’s total insanity!\u00a0 I love it!<\/p>\n

THURSDAY<\/h3>\n

Some of THE UNIQUE GEEK<\/a> gang arrived Thursday afternoon in Atlanta.\u00a0 Serv, Ed, and I arrived that evening.\u00a0 Once we checked into our hotel room, we bought the all-important alcohol supplies.\u00a0 Then we went to see if we could get our Dragon*Con badges.\u00a0 The line to pick-up pre-registration badges had been running three to four hours all day.\u00a0 By the time we arrived, they’d already closed the line.\u00a0 Ugh.<\/p>\n

So we went to Trader Vic’s in the Hilton, drank, danced, and hung out with Luke Perry (yes, that Luke Perry).\u00a0 Great way to start the Con!<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

FRIDAY<\/h3>\n

Friday morning Ed and I lined up in the pre-registration badge pick-up line at 6am.\u00a0 They weren’t opening until 8am, but there were already a couple hundred people in line before us at 6am.\u00a0 I thought we were hardcore by getting there so early!\u00a0 By the time 8am rolled around, the line wrapped around the entire city block!\u00a0 There must have been 1,000+ people in line behind us.\u00a0 Crazy!\u00a0 Once they let us in the door, we zoomed through the serpentine line to the registration counters!\u00a0 Those poor souls at the end of the line probably waited three or four hours for their badges.<\/p>\n

\"Dragon*Con<\/p>\n

Once we got our badges, a few of us headed over to the “V”<\/em> panel featuring Morena Baccarin (Anna on “V”<\/em>, and Inara on Firefly<\/em>).\u00a0 She was awesome and super-nice!\u00a0 There weren’t a lot of people there due to the long badge pick-up line, so I had the opportunity to ask lots of questions.\u00a0 I asked about things like: how much “green screen” is used on the show, working with Jane Badler, and if the actors knew the real reason the Visitors had come to Earth (because it hasn’t been revealed to the viewers yet).\u00a0 Again, really nice lady and a great Q&A!\u00a0 Click the picture below to view all my photos from this panel.<\/p>\n

\"V<\/a><\/p>\n

A little later a few of us caught the Eureka<\/em> panel featuring Erica Cerra (Jo Lupo on Eureka<\/em>).\u00a0 Another great Q&A!\u00a0 She was funny, interesting, and really cool.\u00a0 We discovered that she’s quite different from Lupo in real life, and I think prettier as well.\u00a0 She always looks so severe on the show.\u00a0 During the Q&A, her hair was down and her smile lit up the room. Click the picture below to view all my photos from this panel.<\/p>\n

\"Eureka<\/a><\/p>\n

Next up for me was the Quantum Leap<\/em> panel featuring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell.\u00a0 It was neat to see these guys together in real life.\u00a0 Scott Bakula has always been an actor I gravitated towards.\u00a0 There is something about his personality that just makes him likable.\u00a0 I know this will sound weird to some of you, but he seems like the kind of guy you’d wish to have as an older brother or uncle.\u00a0 If it doesn’t make sense to you, then you just don’t get it.\u00a0 Bakula and Stockwell are clearly very close friends and it was nice to hear them reminisce together.\u00a0 I wish I had seen further Bakula panels this year.\u00a0 Click the picture below to view all my photos from this panel.<\/p>\n

\"Quantum<\/a><\/p>\n

That evening several of us attended Marvel vs DC Jeopardy hosted by our friend Van Allen Plexico (from Avengers Assemble <\/a>and Plexico.net<\/a>)! It was another titanic battle of geek wits!\u00a0 While I didn’t get a chance to compete this year, my good friends Michael Bailey (from Views from the Longbox<\/a> and Fortress of Baileytude<\/a>) and Terry Morton were finalists!\u00a0 It was a real contest to see who would come out on top.\u00a0 In the end, Michael Bailey walked away with the grand prize.\u00a0 Congratulations to Michael and Terry for doing so well!\u00a0 You have really trivial minds!\u00a0 Hee hee.\u00a0 Click the pictures below to view all my photos\u00a0 from this trivia contest.<\/p>\n

\"Marvel<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Marvel<\/a><\/p>\n

After the trivia contest, I caught a little of the Flash cosplay photo shoot.\u00a0 They had several scarlet speedsters there along with numerous rogues.\u00a0 Click the photo below to view all my pictures from this photo shoot.<\/p>\n

\"Flash<\/a><\/p>\n

Next up was THE UNIQUE GEEK Board of Directors Dinner.\u00a0 In attendance this year was: Jon, Ed, Serv, Doctor Jen, Leah, Michael & Rachel Bailey, Terry, Ravenface, Race, Adam, and myself.\u00a0 A smaller crowd than normal as we had difficulty coordinating everyone’s schedule this year.\u00a0 We decided to have the primary dinner on Friday, followed up each night with THE UNIQUE GEEK Sub-Committee Dinners.<\/p>\n

\"Leah<\/p>\n

\"Ed,<\/p>\n

\"Ravenface<\/p>\n

\"Terry<\/p>\n

\"Adam<\/p>\n

\"Michael<\/p>\n

After dinner, the Marriott was lobby-bombed by a group of Iron Man 2 dancers!\u00a0 These ladies did a phenomenal job!\u00a0 They slowly marched through the various lobby floors, eventually stopping on the Atrium level for cameras.\u00a0 There was a Tony Stark, Pepper Potts, Rhodey, Justin Hammer, Black Widow, Nick Fury, and bodyguards.\u00a0 These folks really put together a fantastic show! The lighting was fairly poor, so my photos of this aren’t the best.\u00a0 Click the photo below to view all my pictures from this photo shoot.<\/p>\n

\"Iron<\/a><\/p>\n

The rest of the night was spent taking pictures of fantastic costumes, getting horribly horribly drunk, and playing games with friends.\u00a0 Hard to believe we were able to fit all of this into one day!<\/p>\n

SATURDAY<\/h3>\n

Saturday started off with the parade!\u00a0 Great parade this year!\u00a0 Some of my favorites included: the numerous Ecto-1 Ghostbusters<\/em> cars, the Back to the Future<\/em> group, the blue screen of death guy, the life-size Marvel mini-mates, and of course the Star Wars<\/em> Stormtroopers.\u00a0 Click the pictures below to see all my photos from the parade.<\/p>\n

\"Ghostbusters<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Back<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Blue<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Star<\/a><\/p>\n

After the parade, I attended the Green Lantern Blackest Night<\/em> cosplay photo shoot.\u00a0 It was astonishing!\u00a0 I couldn’t believe all the excellent costumes there!\u00a0 This photo shoot was coordinated by the folks over at the Superhero Costuming Forum<\/a>.\u00a0 The director of the shoot, Allen, does an amazing job on these shoots.\u00a0 If you ever get a chance to attend one, watch how he manages the crowd.\u00a0 He’s assertive, yet incredibly nice.\u00a0 I learned a lot about managing people just from watching him.\u00a0 Click the photos below to view all my pictures from this photo shoot.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Green<\/a><\/p>\n

Then I went to the celebrity Walk of Fame and met Neil Grayston (Douglas Fargo on Eureka<\/em>), Colin Ferguson (Sheriff Jack Carter on Eureka<\/em>), and Frazier Hines (Jamie McCrimmon from Doctor Who<\/em>).\u00a0 Each of them was really personable.\u00a0 Neil Grayston took the time to ask about my children since I’d mentioned they enjoyed the show, which I thought was very nice.<\/p>\n

\"Neil<\/p>\n

\"Colin<\/p>\n

\"Frazier<\/p>\n

I spent roughly 15 minutes talking with Frazier Hines about his various work for Doctor Who<\/em>.\u00a0 That was a really wonderful moment for me.\u00a0 I first saw him on Doctor Who<\/em> 27 years ago and have been a fan ever since!\u00a0 I’m really glad I got to chat with him one-on-one.\u00a0 After some lunch, I attended the Frazier Hines Doctor Who<\/em> panel.\u00a0 While waiting in line, I had the opportunity to talk with some other die-hard Doctor Who<\/em> fans.\u00a0 Believe it or not, I don’t know very many Doctor Who<\/em> fans in real life that are into all the “expanded universe” things like I am (i.e. original novels, original audio dramas, comics, etc).\u00a0 That was pretty cool geeking out over that stuff.\u00a0 The panel itself was great with some really humorous and fascinating stories!\u00a0 If you ever get a chance to meet Frazier Hines, don’t pass it up.\u00a0 He’s awesome!<\/p>\n

\"Frazier<\/p>\n

THE UNIQUE GEEK Sub-Committee dinner that night was at Ted’s Montana Grill.\u00a0 Very tasty and lots of fun!\u00a0 In attendance was: Ron, Holly, Jemma, Eli, Jamin, Terry, Race, Ed, Erika & Vanessa (the wonderful ladies from Girls-Gone-Geek<\/a>), John (Erika’s husband), Steven, and myself.\u00a0 Good food and lots of laughs.<\/p>\n

\"Ed,<\/p>\n

\"Jamin<\/p>\n

\"Jemma<\/p>\n

\"Erika<\/p>\n

\"Steven<\/p>\n

\"Terry<\/p>\n

\"Race<\/p>\n

That night was the big “Nuts on the Road: The Quiz Show” event!\u00a0 This was organized by the folks from Fred Entertainment<\/a> and NeedCoffee.com<\/a>.\u00a0 The premise is to throw a bunch of celebrities on stage, make them compete in British-style game show quizzes, and let the wacky hijinks ensue!\u00a0 Ken Plume and Widgett Walls served as the masters of ceremonies.\u00a0 This year the contestants included: Adam Savage (from Mythbusters<\/em>), Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick (from Venture Bros<\/em>), Dana Snyder (from Aqua Teen Hunger Force<\/em>), Paul Dini (from DC Comics and Batman: The Animated Series<\/em>) and Misty Lee (professional magician), Josh Weinstein (from The Simpsons<\/em>), and from Mystery Science Theater 3000<\/em> – Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Kevin Murphy, Bill Corbett, and Mary Jo Pehl.\u00a0 This event was hilarious!\u00a0 The song games were my favorite.\u00a0 Click the photos below to view all my pictures from this event.<\/p>\n

\"Adam<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Jackson<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Dana<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Paul<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Misty<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Trace<\/a><\/p>\n

SUNDAY<\/h3>\n

Ravenface and I headed over to the Teen Titans cosplay photo shoot Sunday morning.\u00a0 Like the Green Lantern photo shoot the day before, it was very well organized by the folks over at the Superhero Costuming Forum<\/a> with some amazing costumes.\u00a0 An extra bonus was an appearance by George Perez himself!\u00a0 The man who helped make the Teen Titans so popular in the 1980s!\u00a0 Click the photos below to view all my pictures from this photo shoot.<\/p>\n

\"Teen<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Teen<\/a><\/p>\n

Next up was the DC Comics cosplay photo shot.\u00a0 While I really enjoyed the previous photo shoots, those were just warm-ups for this one.\u00a0 Holy crud, there were about 150 people in costume for this photo shoot!\u00a0 George Perez once again stopped by for some photos.\u00a0 He’s such an incredibly nice guy!\u00a0 Allen, from the Superhero Costuming Forum<\/a>, outdid himself directing this mammoth group.\u00a0 I could go on and on about this photo shoot, but I’ll just let the pictures speak for themselves.\u00a0 Click the photos below to view all my pictures from this photo shoot.<\/p>\n

\"DC<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Mary<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Justice<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Death<\/a><\/p>\n

Then I was able to catch another Eureka <\/em>panel, this one featured Colin Ferguson (Sheriff Jack Carter), Neil Grayston (Douglas Fargo), and Erica Cerra (Jo Lupo).\u00a0 Those three together are hilarious!\u00a0 Seriously!\u00a0 They had the entire crowd laughing their heads off and screaming at the top of their lungs.\u00a0 Probably one of my favorite panels of the entire weekend!<\/p>\n

\"Eureka<\/p>\n

THE UNIQUE GEEK Sub-Committee dinner that night was at Durango’s.\u00a0 In attendance were: Serv, Ron, Holly, Jemma, Eli, Jamin, Terry, Erika, John, and myself.\u00a0 Sorry, this Committee meeting went into Executive Session and therefore no photographic evidence exists.\u00a0 Deal with it.<\/p>\n

After dinner we caught up with some friends that were cosplaying as the cast of Plan 9 from Outer Space<\/em>!\u00a0 Check out these fantastic costumes!\u00a0 They were covered in body paint to appear to be in black & white, with the exception of Ed Wood and his lady friend.\u00a0 They were totally into their roles and had enormous crowds around them taking photos!\u00a0 Click the photos below to view all my pictures from this photo shoot.<\/p>\n

\"Plan<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Plan<\/a><\/p>\n

This night was the big “NeedCoffee.com Fun Fest”!\u00a0 Obviously organized by the folks at NeedCoffee.com<\/a>, this event featured lots of participation from the audience and featured games similar to Family Feud<\/em> and Price is Right<\/em>, mixed with the antics of Whose Line is it Anyway.\u00a0 Good times and gazillions of prizes given out!\u00a0 I won the complete Dungeons and Dragons<\/em> animated series and the first season of Greatest American Hero<\/em> on DVD!\u00a0 Click the photo below to view all my pictures from this event.<\/p>\n

\"NeedCoffee.com<\/a><\/p>\n

MONDAY<\/h3>\n

After four days of non-stop craziness, Monday was a fairly low-key day.\u00a0 I did some shopping and general walking around.\u00a0 After lunch, a few of us hopped on the MARTA for the airport, making our annual heartbreaking departure from Dragon*Con.\u00a0 *sniff*<\/p>\n

The end of another amazing Dragon*Con!\u00a0 Only 352 days until the next Dragon*Con!\u00a0 I can’t wait!<\/p>\n

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