Dragon*Con,
Sep 2 - 5 2011, Atlanta GA
Highlights from
Dragon*Con 2011
Just a few things before the con...
I headed to Atlanta on the 1st and hit Cracker
Barrel at Strawberry Plains for breakfast.
I had Uncle Herschel's breakfast. It was
good. I've not had that dish in a while.
At lunch time, I hit Red Lobster in Dalton, GA
and had their Broiled Seafood platter. One
thing I miss at Red Lobster is their Seafood
Gumbo. They quit serving that a couple of
years ago. One reason I don't eat there
often.
Arrived in Atlanta around 2:00 on Thursday
afternoon. After checking into the hotel,
I headed for the Sheraton to get my credentials.
The line wrapped around the Sheraton and it was
a long wait for me.
Once
I got in, it did not take anytime at all
like last year. Afterwards several
friend of mine ate at Hard Rock Cafe.
September 2, 2011
Friday was the first day of the
convention and it started out with breakfast at
the Sear in the Marriott. Then I headed to
William Shatner's panel. Good thing I got
an early start. There was already a line
at 8:30am. Luckily they started letting
people in early and it started off with a
Dragon*Con DC*TV show that was being broadcasted
live if I remember correctly.
Shatner talked about some upcoming projects (a
new book coming out - Shatner Rules and and new
CD - Seeking Major Tom) and he discussed his
recent documentary "The Captains" airing on the
Epix channel. He interviews all the
Captains -
Patrick Stewart,
Avery Brooks,
Kate Mulgrew,
Scott Bakula and
Chris Pine.
After William Shatner's panel, I headed to
Sylvester McCoy's
panel. I believe this is the first time
that Dragon*Con has brought in an actor that has
portrayed the Doctor in
Doctor Who, BBC's longest running Science
Fiction series. Sylvester is quite a
funny person. There were several questions
relating to Doctor Who. Sylvester is
currently filming the Hobbit with his good
friend Ian McKellen. During the Q&A
session, Sylvester himself got out with the
audience with a microphone to answer the
questions. That was pretty cool of him to
do that.
After the Sylvester McCoy's panel, I grabbed a
bite to eat. I was planning on going to
the V panel, but decided to hit the Dealer and
Exhibition rooms. I was looking for
QMx's
table and finally found it. They are
selling or should I say getting ready to sell a
replica of the Star Trek The Motion Picture USS
Enterprise for $5000.00. Its limited to
500 pieces. It is a beauty, but way too
much for me.
Here is a brief clip of it in action -
USS
Enterprise in action
Next up was
Erin Gray's panel. Erin spoke a little
bit about a role in Felicia Day's The Guild.
Something that was mentioned and maybe I was
aware of it, but Erin was up for the role of
Captain Janeway in Star Trek Voyager. Kate
Mulgrew eventually got the role. In my
opinion, Erin would have made a great Captain
Janeway. She also spoke about her
experience with Tai Chi. Erin is an
instructor at UCLA. Ever since she started
with Tai Chi she has not been sick.
During Erin's panel, a friend of mine caught
someone in a Buck Rogers flight suit.
Whoever did the costume did a very good job.
The WKRP in Cincinnati panel was up next with
Howard Hessman and
Loni Anderson
The one thing that was mentioned that I was not
aware of was the closing theme to WKRP in
Cincinnati was that the lyrics made no sense.
It was just gibberish according to Loni
Anderson.
September 3, 2011
Day two started off with the parade.
You can see the parade pictures in the album
located in the upper left. After the
parade, I headed to the Marriott for a Photo-Op
with Loni Anderson.
Next up was Smallville - Three bad guys
and a Supergirl panel with
James Marsters,
Sam Witwer,
Laura Vandervoort and
Michael Rosenbaum
Following the Smallville panel was
Ernest Borgnine's panel. The one thing
that I did not know was that Ernest has provided
his voice to the Nickelodeon Cartoon Sponge Bob
Squarepants. I remember him most for
Airwolf with Jan Michael Vincent and of
course McHale's Navy.
I had planned on going Erin Gray's second
panel, but there was only one Photo-Op with
Laura Vandervoort and it was at the same time as
Erin's panel. I ended up going to the
Photo-Op.
As far as panels, I was done for the day.
Afterwards, I hit the Dealer and Exhibition
rooms. At 7:00pm American Science-Fiction
Classics hosted a version of Match Game (in the
25th Century) with guest host
Gil Gerard. They had two sessions of
the game. On the first session, Gil called
upon me and I believe a lady he knew to be the
first contestants. I'm not really
good at getting up in front of people. I
get nervous and stuff, but somehow and I don't
know how I won that round. I'll have to
say this was probably the funnest part of the
convention.
Here are some of the questions that was asked to
me. I'll be paraphrasing. I hope to
get them as close as possible.
After being wakened up after 500 years, Buck
asks Princess Ardala for a warm ____.
I said bed and I believe one of the panelists
did too.
The next question was about Jabba the Hut.
I'm foggy on the exact question, but I first
said gold as the answer and Gil asked are you
sure and I changed the answer to bat guano.
One of the questions to the other contestant -
David Banner should have taken his ______
out of his pants before hulking out. The most
answers was keys and that was the contestants
answer too.
The winning question was - Twiki asked Buck how
did you use the _____ in the 20th century.
I answered bathroom. There was several
panelists that answered bathroom and some how I
won. The prize was an Buck Rogers action
figure and Gil signed it afterwards.
September 4, 2011
I had planned on going to a few panels
Sunday some were repeats, Sylvester McCoy,
William Shatner and Lou Ferrigno. I
decided to skip the panels and checkout the
Artists Alley, Walk of Fame, Dealer and
Exhibition rooms and the costumers.
I stopped by the Walk of Fame and had my picture
made with Erin Gray and Sylvester McCoy.
I stopped by Michael Rosenbuam's later in the
day to get an autographed photo for my sister
and allowed to take a picture of him following
the autograph. I did not really get to
talk to him long, but he is a very likeable
person.
I stopped by the Dealers room to pick up artwork
that I had commissioned.
Sunday afternoon while at the Hilton, I caught a
bunch of folks in their Super Hero costumes and
Stan Lee. That was pretty cool.
September 4, 2011
Monday was the final day of the
convention. I only had plans for one panel
and that was to see Sylvester McCoy's last
panel.
I made one last stop at the Dealer/Exhibition
rooms and got some more photos of QMx's replica
Enterprise from Star Trek The Motion Picture and
the Viper from Battlestar Galactica.
I made a stop by the Walk of Fame and got a
photo with Howard Hessman and then it was onto
the Sylvester McCoy panel.
