My Dragon*Con Report (Part Three)
Part One is here.
Part Two is here.
At the end of my last post, I had sent Kevin off to stand in line while I went to a panel by myself. So when I went off to find him I expected him to be near the front of the line, but he wasn't. I followed the line as it wound out of the main lobby area, down a hallway, up a flight of stairs, out the door, around the corner of the building, down the street, around another corner, and halfway down that street before I found Kevin. He was there an hour early, people.
We were let in because the panel was held in a huge room, but again we were about halfway back. There were a lot of people and I think the entire room was filled. I don't know if anyone got shut out, but the line was so long that the panel started fifteen minutes late because people were still being seated.
The back half of the room we were in.
The panel. From left to right is: Louis Gossett Jr., Alexis Cruz, Lexa Doig, Michael Shanks, Paul McGillion, Jason Momoa, Christopher Judge, Pierre Bernard, Vanessa Angel, and Corin Nemec.
This panel was a lot of fun. Shanks and Judge spent a lot of the time teasing each other and getting Jason Momoa to join in, which prompted Paul McGillion to occasionally lean forward and say "Uncomfortable!" which got a laugh every time.
They were really very closely packed in together.
Kevin didn't think much of Christopher Judge's sense of humor, but I thought he was funny, and the questions the fans asked weren't horribly embarrassing like I feared they might be. At one point some dumbass asked if Jason Momoa and Paul McGillion's characters were going to kill off Carter on Atlantis. I was like, "Um, okay, can we please leave that stupid wanky shit on LJ and not bring it into the real world? Thanks." But the guests deflected it well. Shanks and Judge especially seemed old pros at handling the more awkward questions in a funny way. There was one amusing moment where someone asked about guest stars, and Shanks went into this spiel about helping guest stars get their footing and navigate what to them would be an unfamiliar production, and Lexa Doig leaned over and whispered something into his ear, to which he responded, "I married you, isn't that enough?" So she made a big show of taking off her ring and putting it on the table in front of him, where he picked it up and held it out to the audience like "Who wants it?" Judging by the screams and waving hands, there were a lot of takers. :P
So it was pretty fun. There were some amusing anecdotes from the set and Judge and Momoa were clearly in the process of getting plastered (if they weren't already). I didn't know they actually served the panelists alcohol at these things. We didn't learn anything new, though. Paul McGillion confirmed that he was back on Atlantis for a few episodes, which mostly everyone already knew, and he wouldn't tell us how he comes back, just that it's "clever and smart." I'm holding you to that, Paul.
After the panel Kevin and I wandered around the vendors set up at the Hilton, bought some stuff, then went back to the hotel room to change and go back out to eat. We went to a restaurant downtown called Azio's, an Italian place which was recommended by tntoxfox. It was VERY good. One of the sides my chicken dish came with was beets, and I hate beets, but I ate almost all of these. Mixed with pasta and other vegetables there were really, really good. I actually liked it better than the chicken, which was a bit tougher than it could have been. I even splurged on a martini, and the dessert was excellent as well. So overall we had a very nice time, plus there was a girl sitting across from us dressed as Rose Tyler and at one point she was passing a toy sonic screwdriver around the table she was sitting at, so Kevin and I made up funny stories about Rose knocking the Doctor over the head and stealing all his stuff to go joyriding around space and time. We were a little tipsy at that point.
Back at the hotel we watched the Doctor Who episode "The Family of Blood" and then went to bed early because we were exhausted.
Sunday we got up early so we could go to the Walk of Fame as soon as it opened and meet the people we wanted to meet before the lines got too long. Well, there was no such luck there because the line was still massive, but it wasn't as impossible as Saturday. Plus they were limiting the tickets they sold. Apparently you could only get one autograph and one photograph total, so there was no way we could have met everyone. I instead took stalkery pictures of people we weren't going to see.
Claudia Black, who was only there for a short time and was only giving autographs and not pictures.
Jason Momoa
Christopher Judge was late getting there and hadn't shown up by the time Kevin and I left. We actually weren't in line for very long. Most of it was waiting for the actors to show up, since they weren't scheduled to be there until 11:00 and we were in line at 10:00, but we passed the time talking to some other people in line. I bought a ticket for a photograph with Michael Shanks, and once he got there at about 11:15 his line moved pretty quickly and we were done at about 11:30. So I got my picture with him:
I heard someone say that he was a grouch all weekend, but he was perfectly civil and nice to me. Of course, I only interacted with him for about 30 seconds, but after a whole weekend of being mobbed by fans and signing thousands of autographs for hours at a time I don't think I would be able to even pretend to be nice. Which is why I would make a terrible celebrity.
Next Kevin went off to his first panel at 1:00, a Star Trek TNG cast reunion thing with Brent Spiner, Jonathon Frakes, and Gates McFadden. I left him waiting in line because I'm not interested in Star Trek and went to look at the vendors some more, before coming back and getting in line for the 2:30 Stargate panel. I got there at 1:15, and the line was just as long as it had been the day before.
This is the line behind where I was standing. There was another 300-400 people in front of me as well.
Kevin showed up after his Star Trek panel and we sweated outside some more (Atlanta was cloudy and relatively cool all weekend, except on Sunday afternoon the sun decided to come out and things warmed up very rapidly). Despite still being pretty far back in the line we got some seats that were near the front but way off to the side, making for some awkward camera shots.
It was the same people on the panel as on Saturday, minus Louis Gossett Jr. and Pierre Bernard and plus Claudia Black.
Shanks, Judge, and Momoa pretty much stole the panel again. Claudia Black was very quiet throughout the whole thing unless someone directly asked her a question. All of them seemed tired and the panel didn't seem to have the energy it had on Saturday. Part of it was that there were problems with the sound system and the volunteers were running around trying to fix things while the actors just kind of sat at the table and looked awkward. Also, the questions were a bit more meh.
They also showed a preview of "A Dog's Breakfast" which David Hewlett had apparently sent along (this movie was way advertised in the Stargate track, which isn't a bad thing). There wasn't a whole lot else of substance, though. At one point someone's baby started fussing, which made me roll my eyes because why would you bring a baby to something like that?
Jason Momoa kept trying to hide behind Paul McGillion at various points. He was also asked about the meaning of his tattoos, so that was somewhat interesting.
Then we were let out. Kevin and I went to the Marriott and I found a Dalek:
I was going to go to the Eureka panel at 5:30 but decided I wanted to spend the time getting a really good look around in the vendors' area, since we'd stopped by for a few minutes on Saturday and earlier Sunday, but hadn't spent any real time there. So I missed that panel, and despite Sunday originally being our fullest day with the most panels, I ended up only going to the Stargate guest panel.
We had dinner and ice cream at the food court and then headed off to Stargate Game Night. We were late because of the decision to stay at the food court and get ice cream, and we arrived right at the end of Family Feud. Then we got cleared out while the board games were set up. Kevin and I joined some people and played Trivial Pursuit for what seemed like half the night. It was a lot of fun and I didn't want to stop playing at all, but it took so long that we didn't get to try any of the other games, especially since Kevin insisted on leaving as soon as Trivial Pursuit was done and I didn't want to walk back to the hotel room at night by myself. It looked like things were winding down anyway. Still, the game night was a lot of fun and I hope the Stargate track has it again next year.
Up early again on Monday because Kevin finally decided he wanted to get a picture with Brent Spiner. I didn't particularly feel like waiting in line for that, so I wandered around the vendors' area some more before getting to the Stargate track room for Paul McGillion's panel about 45 minutes before it started. People were hanging out watching SG-1 episodes, so I was able to get a seat and not stand in line for anything.
Except I ended up feeling really incredibly bad because I tried to save a seat for Kevin, and the room started filling up a few minutes before the panel started. I told a lot of people that someone was sitting in the seat next to me, and I really wish I could apologize to all of them because by the time Kevin got back to the Hyatt the room was full and closed. The seat next to me was still empty and there were a lot of people standing crowded at the back of the room and I felt really, REALLY awful and rude and I hope no one thought I was lying about saving a seat because I just didn't want anyone to sit next to me. So I just wanted to say that because I felt bad.
Anyway, Paul McGillion showed up and his panel was really enjoyable. He talked a lot about other acting jobs he's had and his family and how he decided to become an actor, and he really just seems like a very nice person.
Then, at the end, he was asked to auction some signed memorabilia off for the Dragon*Con charity fundraising, and it got absolutely crazy. It all started when he was auctioning off the first item, and someone offered to pay $200 for it, IF Paul McGillion also kissed her. He agreed, and of course that set off a flurry of bidding that drove the price WAY up. And then he basically had to give the same deal for all the other items, and it was an absolutely madhouse in that room. He auctioned off four items and they made a total of something like $2500!
Paul McGillion being an auctioneer. The poster that's being held up ended up going for something like $1000 all on its own.
So that's pretty much the end. Kevin and I met up and had lunch for the last time at the Corner Bakery, then left right away because we had already packed up our cars. Then I had an eight-hour drive back to Bloomington. Getting back into my normal schedule has been very strange, and now I get to go back to the stress of grad school.
Finally, the end. Awesome time. Not without its flaws, but a lot of fun nonetheless. At this point I definitely plan to attend next year, whether Kevin can go or not. I'm holding off on buying a membership or anything for awhile until I have a better idea of where I'll be next year, but I'll do everything I can to go back.
Part Two is here.
At the end of my last post, I had sent Kevin off to stand in line while I went to a panel by myself. So when I went off to find him I expected him to be near the front of the line, but he wasn't. I followed the line as it wound out of the main lobby area, down a hallway, up a flight of stairs, out the door, around the corner of the building, down the street, around another corner, and halfway down that street before I found Kevin. He was there an hour early, people.
We were let in because the panel was held in a huge room, but again we were about halfway back. There were a lot of people and I think the entire room was filled. I don't know if anyone got shut out, but the line was so long that the panel started fifteen minutes late because people were still being seated.
The back half of the room we were in.
The panel. From left to right is: Louis Gossett Jr., Alexis Cruz, Lexa Doig, Michael Shanks, Paul McGillion, Jason Momoa, Christopher Judge, Pierre Bernard, Vanessa Angel, and Corin Nemec.
This panel was a lot of fun. Shanks and Judge spent a lot of the time teasing each other and getting Jason Momoa to join in, which prompted Paul McGillion to occasionally lean forward and say "Uncomfortable!" which got a laugh every time.
They were really very closely packed in together.
Kevin didn't think much of Christopher Judge's sense of humor, but I thought he was funny, and the questions the fans asked weren't horribly embarrassing like I feared they might be. At one point some dumbass asked if Jason Momoa and Paul McGillion's characters were going to kill off Carter on Atlantis. I was like, "Um, okay, can we please leave that stupid wanky shit on LJ and not bring it into the real world? Thanks." But the guests deflected it well. Shanks and Judge especially seemed old pros at handling the more awkward questions in a funny way. There was one amusing moment where someone asked about guest stars, and Shanks went into this spiel about helping guest stars get their footing and navigate what to them would be an unfamiliar production, and Lexa Doig leaned over and whispered something into his ear, to which he responded, "I married you, isn't that enough?" So she made a big show of taking off her ring and putting it on the table in front of him, where he picked it up and held it out to the audience like "Who wants it?" Judging by the screams and waving hands, there were a lot of takers. :P
So it was pretty fun. There were some amusing anecdotes from the set and Judge and Momoa were clearly in the process of getting plastered (if they weren't already). I didn't know they actually served the panelists alcohol at these things. We didn't learn anything new, though. Paul McGillion confirmed that he was back on Atlantis for a few episodes, which mostly everyone already knew, and he wouldn't tell us how he comes back, just that it's "clever and smart." I'm holding you to that, Paul.
After the panel Kevin and I wandered around the vendors set up at the Hilton, bought some stuff, then went back to the hotel room to change and go back out to eat. We went to a restaurant downtown called Azio's, an Italian place which was recommended by tntoxfox. It was VERY good. One of the sides my chicken dish came with was beets, and I hate beets, but I ate almost all of these. Mixed with pasta and other vegetables there were really, really good. I actually liked it better than the chicken, which was a bit tougher than it could have been. I even splurged on a martini, and the dessert was excellent as well. So overall we had a very nice time, plus there was a girl sitting across from us dressed as Rose Tyler and at one point she was passing a toy sonic screwdriver around the table she was sitting at, so Kevin and I made up funny stories about Rose knocking the Doctor over the head and stealing all his stuff to go joyriding around space and time. We were a little tipsy at that point.
Back at the hotel we watched the Doctor Who episode "The Family of Blood" and then went to bed early because we were exhausted.
Sunday we got up early so we could go to the Walk of Fame as soon as it opened and meet the people we wanted to meet before the lines got too long. Well, there was no such luck there because the line was still massive, but it wasn't as impossible as Saturday. Plus they were limiting the tickets they sold. Apparently you could only get one autograph and one photograph total, so there was no way we could have met everyone. I instead took stalkery pictures of people we weren't going to see.
Claudia Black, who was only there for a short time and was only giving autographs and not pictures.
Jason Momoa
Christopher Judge was late getting there and hadn't shown up by the time Kevin and I left. We actually weren't in line for very long. Most of it was waiting for the actors to show up, since they weren't scheduled to be there until 11:00 and we were in line at 10:00, but we passed the time talking to some other people in line. I bought a ticket for a photograph with Michael Shanks, and once he got there at about 11:15 his line moved pretty quickly and we were done at about 11:30. So I got my picture with him:
I heard someone say that he was a grouch all weekend, but he was perfectly civil and nice to me. Of course, I only interacted with him for about 30 seconds, but after a whole weekend of being mobbed by fans and signing thousands of autographs for hours at a time I don't think I would be able to even pretend to be nice. Which is why I would make a terrible celebrity.
Next Kevin went off to his first panel at 1:00, a Star Trek TNG cast reunion thing with Brent Spiner, Jonathon Frakes, and Gates McFadden. I left him waiting in line because I'm not interested in Star Trek and went to look at the vendors some more, before coming back and getting in line for the 2:30 Stargate panel. I got there at 1:15, and the line was just as long as it had been the day before.
This is the line behind where I was standing. There was another 300-400 people in front of me as well.
Kevin showed up after his Star Trek panel and we sweated outside some more (Atlanta was cloudy and relatively cool all weekend, except on Sunday afternoon the sun decided to come out and things warmed up very rapidly). Despite still being pretty far back in the line we got some seats that were near the front but way off to the side, making for some awkward camera shots.
It was the same people on the panel as on Saturday, minus Louis Gossett Jr. and Pierre Bernard and plus Claudia Black.
Shanks, Judge, and Momoa pretty much stole the panel again. Claudia Black was very quiet throughout the whole thing unless someone directly asked her a question. All of them seemed tired and the panel didn't seem to have the energy it had on Saturday. Part of it was that there were problems with the sound system and the volunteers were running around trying to fix things while the actors just kind of sat at the table and looked awkward. Also, the questions were a bit more meh.
They also showed a preview of "A Dog's Breakfast" which David Hewlett had apparently sent along (this movie was way advertised in the Stargate track, which isn't a bad thing). There wasn't a whole lot else of substance, though. At one point someone's baby started fussing, which made me roll my eyes because why would you bring a baby to something like that?
Jason Momoa kept trying to hide behind Paul McGillion at various points. He was also asked about the meaning of his tattoos, so that was somewhat interesting.
Then we were let out. Kevin and I went to the Marriott and I found a Dalek:
I was going to go to the Eureka panel at 5:30 but decided I wanted to spend the time getting a really good look around in the vendors' area, since we'd stopped by for a few minutes on Saturday and earlier Sunday, but hadn't spent any real time there. So I missed that panel, and despite Sunday originally being our fullest day with the most panels, I ended up only going to the Stargate guest panel.
We had dinner and ice cream at the food court and then headed off to Stargate Game Night. We were late because of the decision to stay at the food court and get ice cream, and we arrived right at the end of Family Feud. Then we got cleared out while the board games were set up. Kevin and I joined some people and played Trivial Pursuit for what seemed like half the night. It was a lot of fun and I didn't want to stop playing at all, but it took so long that we didn't get to try any of the other games, especially since Kevin insisted on leaving as soon as Trivial Pursuit was done and I didn't want to walk back to the hotel room at night by myself. It looked like things were winding down anyway. Still, the game night was a lot of fun and I hope the Stargate track has it again next year.
Up early again on Monday because Kevin finally decided he wanted to get a picture with Brent Spiner. I didn't particularly feel like waiting in line for that, so I wandered around the vendors' area some more before getting to the Stargate track room for Paul McGillion's panel about 45 minutes before it started. People were hanging out watching SG-1 episodes, so I was able to get a seat and not stand in line for anything.
Except I ended up feeling really incredibly bad because I tried to save a seat for Kevin, and the room started filling up a few minutes before the panel started. I told a lot of people that someone was sitting in the seat next to me, and I really wish I could apologize to all of them because by the time Kevin got back to the Hyatt the room was full and closed. The seat next to me was still empty and there were a lot of people standing crowded at the back of the room and I felt really, REALLY awful and rude and I hope no one thought I was lying about saving a seat because I just didn't want anyone to sit next to me. So I just wanted to say that because I felt bad.
Anyway, Paul McGillion showed up and his panel was really enjoyable. He talked a lot about other acting jobs he's had and his family and how he decided to become an actor, and he really just seems like a very nice person.
Then, at the end, he was asked to auction some signed memorabilia off for the Dragon*Con charity fundraising, and it got absolutely crazy. It all started when he was auctioning off the first item, and someone offered to pay $200 for it, IF Paul McGillion also kissed her. He agreed, and of course that set off a flurry of bidding that drove the price WAY up. And then he basically had to give the same deal for all the other items, and it was an absolutely madhouse in that room. He auctioned off four items and they made a total of something like $2500!
Paul McGillion being an auctioneer. The poster that's being held up ended up going for something like $1000 all on its own.
So that's pretty much the end. Kevin and I met up and had lunch for the last time at the Corner Bakery, then left right away because we had already packed up our cars. Then I had an eight-hour drive back to Bloomington. Getting back into my normal schedule has been very strange, and now I get to go back to the stress of grad school.
Finally, the end. Awesome time. Not without its flaws, but a lot of fun nonetheless. At this point I definitely plan to attend next year, whether Kevin can go or not. I'm holding off on buying a membership or anything for awhile until I have a better idea of where I'll be next year, but I'll do everything I can to go back.