Obligatory Dragon*Con Recap
Dragon*Con was a much more subdued experience for us this year. We stayed at one of the satellite hotels instead of one of the central hotels, but we did not spend a lot of time going through the hotels, so I feel like we missed out on seeing a lot of costumes--though some costumes we did manage to see seemed to be missing a lot (usually, taste). On the plus side, we did not spend time waiting on elevators or jockeying for a position in food lines.
We missed a couple of the "big" panels, and I accidentally stood in line for half an hour before realizing I was in completely the wrong venue for one of the ones I REALLY wanted to go to. It was extremely hot and humid, and for some reason, my sweetie wanted to go between venues outside the hotels rather than through them. Perhaps that is why we missed out seeing more stuff.
However, we did get to see some really neat things. Ed Asner is hysterical in person, and the highlight of his panel was the "jump back" be did when he realized someone in the room was dressed as "Dug" from UP! He seemed a little put out by the noise from the Stargate panel next door, but got a dig in by getting us to cheer louder than the Stargate fans. It is a shame than his panel wasn't more well-attended.
I had a brief debate with Richard Epcar about The Prisoner prior to one of his voice acting panels. Apparently, he is a fan of the classic series and really did not like the reboot. I understand why, but I think it is OK to have the two different versions.
Peter Davison is also quite humorous in person, and with Sylvester McCoy cutting up with him in one of the panels, they had me in tears with laughter. I sat in on Peter Davison's solo panel, and the look on his face was priceless when a 9- or 10-year old asked him if he actually had been putting his hands in animals during All Creatures Great and Small. Peter sat for a few moments looking completely nonplussed before saying anything. The answer, is yes, because the BBC was too cheap to do special effects in those days--but his explanation was much more...detailed. The day he had to film, it was blisteringly cold outside, and the arm that was inside the cow was the only part of him that was warm....
We got thrown together with random people a lot (or it seemed that way). At lunch, the only table available was a table for 6, so we got paired up with another couple at random. A bit like the food court, but unusual because it was a restaurant. During an electronics in costumes panel, we got tripled up with a couple and some random guy because the hostess kept encouraging people to come to the panel and didn't realize everyone would show up.
The dealers' venue was away from everything--adding to the feeling we missed a lot of stuff. I'm ambivalent about whether it was better to do it that way or not. But if they repeat this next year, the layout needs to be improved. Rumor has it that the Americas Mart did NOT even want Dragon*Con using their space because all those people in costumes were too weird or it wasn't "high end" enough for them. Apparently, the city of Atlanta told them to suck it up because 50,000+ people would be stimulating the downtown economy on a holiday weekend that would normally leave the area deserted. Perhaps they needed to be reminded that money knows no class. My sweetie got highly aggravated cruising through the dealers' area, and really, there isn't that much we want to bring home with us. It was barely worth the trip over there.
Sadly, we did not see much that screamed for us to take it home from the art show this year. We did pick up a cool photo, but it was relatively small. We missed seeing or hearing Abney Park (pout), though I did have a Captain Robert sighting over at the Westin, and I made sure to buy some of the CDs missing from our collection when we checked out the musicians' booths. Oddly enough, my wife and I are almost of completely opposite opinions about which songs we like from Abney Park. Shrug. At least we agree on the artists, though.
Along the way, I think I figured out how to use the camera settings more effectively. I tried out different settings with some patient people, and I think I've sussed out what the correct ones are for the different venues. The trick is to memorize them and adjust as I go from venue to venue. Of course, with the camera's integrity failing ever since my overseas stay, is it worthwhile trying to remember?
As an epilogue, the daily perambulation around the facility has let me know that at least two members of my team would be more than happy to attend Dragon*Con--which is much better than ealdthryth's co-worker asking for a picture of someone in a Klingon costume. Guess I should work on uploading our pitiful few photos this evening.
Missing You Fu
Our kitties got very worried about being abandoned for the weekend, even though we had made arrangements for Magnus and Maddie to check in on them. They were quite pleased to see us, though they had left us a number of presents they had made all by themselves. At least it was all very easily cleaned up.
Josie has been quite the cuddle-bug and Ælfgifu was a bit mercurial about whether she wanted to sit with me or not once I stopped moving. Ignatius has been demanding food and pets, while Kiera has been brave enough to venture out from behind the Christmas decorations in my closet to trot through the living room.
I enjoyed all the Plush Kitty Endorphins I got by staying home yesterday.
Aqualung Needed
I spent about 3 or 4 hours in the heat and humidity yesterday, preparing yet another area for "naturalization". Putting out all that newspaper and covering it with pine straw seems to take an exceptionally long time, but I did get a complete section finished--and it is downhill from the road runoff, so perhaps we will get some immediate benefit from my effort.
I suspect I will need another 70 bales of pine straw to complete the job. Hopefully, the DiY store will send us another garden shop coupon so I can get one or two bales for free. I've got to get this project completed in the next week or so in order to be ready for the autumn planting our landscaper wants to do. I will also have to quit procrastinating about the stump removal.
Speaking of runoff, the county did NOT show up to deal with the ditch while we were gone. I am somewhat disappointed. It is as if they ran our doorbell and ran away before we could answer. I also noticed someone left a roll-away garbage can at the top of our driveway. I wondered if the company dropped off a new one, but did not take away the old one. I suspect one of the neighbors finally decided driving to the local dump each week has gotten to be too much of a hassle.
Just In Time
Just before Dragon*Con, I managed to get the monthly newsletter published. Unfortunately, I don't have a handle on who is in charge of programs, so I never seem to know what is going to get presented following meetings. It was a pretty good newsletter thanks to everyone who contributed. A lucky find on eBay Motors was the inspiration for the "Did You Know" column. Someone had a 1913 Alco (American Locomotive Company) automobile for sale...for a mere $245,000. I'm not thrilled with the "Modeler's Tip", but it at least was useful and informative--which is the whole point.
We missed a couple of the "big" panels, and I accidentally stood in line for half an hour before realizing I was in completely the wrong venue for one of the ones I REALLY wanted to go to. It was extremely hot and humid, and for some reason, my sweetie wanted to go between venues outside the hotels rather than through them. Perhaps that is why we missed out seeing more stuff.
However, we did get to see some really neat things. Ed Asner is hysterical in person, and the highlight of his panel was the "jump back" be did when he realized someone in the room was dressed as "Dug" from UP! He seemed a little put out by the noise from the Stargate panel next door, but got a dig in by getting us to cheer louder than the Stargate fans. It is a shame than his panel wasn't more well-attended.
I had a brief debate with Richard Epcar about The Prisoner prior to one of his voice acting panels. Apparently, he is a fan of the classic series and really did not like the reboot. I understand why, but I think it is OK to have the two different versions.
Peter Davison is also quite humorous in person, and with Sylvester McCoy cutting up with him in one of the panels, they had me in tears with laughter. I sat in on Peter Davison's solo panel, and the look on his face was priceless when a 9- or 10-year old asked him if he actually had been putting his hands in animals during All Creatures Great and Small. Peter sat for a few moments looking completely nonplussed before saying anything. The answer, is yes, because the BBC was too cheap to do special effects in those days--but his explanation was much more...detailed. The day he had to film, it was blisteringly cold outside, and the arm that was inside the cow was the only part of him that was warm....
We got thrown together with random people a lot (or it seemed that way). At lunch, the only table available was a table for 6, so we got paired up with another couple at random. A bit like the food court, but unusual because it was a restaurant. During an electronics in costumes panel, we got tripled up with a couple and some random guy because the hostess kept encouraging people to come to the panel and didn't realize everyone would show up.
The dealers' venue was away from everything--adding to the feeling we missed a lot of stuff. I'm ambivalent about whether it was better to do it that way or not. But if they repeat this next year, the layout needs to be improved. Rumor has it that the Americas Mart did NOT even want Dragon*Con using their space because all those people in costumes were too weird or it wasn't "high end" enough for them. Apparently, the city of Atlanta told them to suck it up because 50,000+ people would be stimulating the downtown economy on a holiday weekend that would normally leave the area deserted. Perhaps they needed to be reminded that money knows no class. My sweetie got highly aggravated cruising through the dealers' area, and really, there isn't that much we want to bring home with us. It was barely worth the trip over there.
Sadly, we did not see much that screamed for us to take it home from the art show this year. We did pick up a cool photo, but it was relatively small. We missed seeing or hearing Abney Park (pout), though I did have a Captain Robert sighting over at the Westin, and I made sure to buy some of the CDs missing from our collection when we checked out the musicians' booths. Oddly enough, my wife and I are almost of completely opposite opinions about which songs we like from Abney Park. Shrug. At least we agree on the artists, though.
Along the way, I think I figured out how to use the camera settings more effectively. I tried out different settings with some patient people, and I think I've sussed out what the correct ones are for the different venues. The trick is to memorize them and adjust as I go from venue to venue. Of course, with the camera's integrity failing ever since my overseas stay, is it worthwhile trying to remember?
As an epilogue, the daily perambulation around the facility has let me know that at least two members of my team would be more than happy to attend Dragon*Con--which is much better than ealdthryth's co-worker asking for a picture of someone in a Klingon costume. Guess I should work on uploading our pitiful few photos this evening.
Missing You Fu
Our kitties got very worried about being abandoned for the weekend, even though we had made arrangements for Magnus and Maddie to check in on them. They were quite pleased to see us, though they had left us a number of presents they had made all by themselves. At least it was all very easily cleaned up.
Josie has been quite the cuddle-bug and Ælfgifu was a bit mercurial about whether she wanted to sit with me or not once I stopped moving. Ignatius has been demanding food and pets, while Kiera has been brave enough to venture out from behind the Christmas decorations in my closet to trot through the living room.
I enjoyed all the Plush Kitty Endorphins I got by staying home yesterday.
Aqualung Needed
I spent about 3 or 4 hours in the heat and humidity yesterday, preparing yet another area for "naturalization". Putting out all that newspaper and covering it with pine straw seems to take an exceptionally long time, but I did get a complete section finished--and it is downhill from the road runoff, so perhaps we will get some immediate benefit from my effort.
I suspect I will need another 70 bales of pine straw to complete the job. Hopefully, the DiY store will send us another garden shop coupon so I can get one or two bales for free. I've got to get this project completed in the next week or so in order to be ready for the autumn planting our landscaper wants to do. I will also have to quit procrastinating about the stump removal.
Speaking of runoff, the county did NOT show up to deal with the ditch while we were gone. I am somewhat disappointed. It is as if they ran our doorbell and ran away before we could answer. I also noticed someone left a roll-away garbage can at the top of our driveway. I wondered if the company dropped off a new one, but did not take away the old one. I suspect one of the neighbors finally decided driving to the local dump each week has gotten to be too much of a hassle.
Just In Time
Just before Dragon*Con, I managed to get the monthly newsletter published. Unfortunately, I don't have a handle on who is in charge of programs, so I never seem to know what is going to get presented following meetings. It was a pretty good newsletter thanks to everyone who contributed. A lucky find on eBay Motors was the inspiration for the "Did You Know" column. Someone had a 1913 Alco (American Locomotive Company) automobile for sale...for a mere $245,000. I'm not thrilled with the "Modeler's Tip", but it at least was useful and informative--which is the whole point.