Dragon Con Friday

Friday began to a quiet start all things considered. A late night of concerts followed by some sleep led to sleeping in. Not a surprise really.

Wookiee got dressed then waited on me to shower and garb up in my Tesla Ranger outfit. I'm not all that slow in getting it on, but were were on a schedule. We had to meet Eureka and crew for lunch at a great place called Fires of Brazil.

Fires of Brazil is one of those places where they cook the meat on skewers then bring the skewer to your table and slice off what you want. There are little cards where you indicate "yes I'd like some" or "No I don't want any". Good way to pace yourself, but don't forget and leave your card on green for "gimmie more" cause they surely will!

Lunch conversation was about the con, Disney, the con and more Disney. Lots of fun topics. Did I mention the near endless meat skewers?

Post lunch was more walking around. The number of costumes for a Friday was staggering! Large, elaborate ones. Subtle ones like the characters from the Hunger Games. I was astounded. Not that I was prevented from taking pictures! Oh no. Took plenty of those.

In there, we went to the Filk track. There was a panel being run by Pandorica Celtica. They were hilarious. I couldn't keep up with the sing along but it was GREAT to listen to. They have this song about Santa being eaten by a Kraken that was just a riot. They sang and played with the audience. The audience was encouraged to join in. It was fun. After that, we got a snack and moved back among the costumes. More pictures!

Sadly, eventually I had to take a break. I overheated in the Tesla Ranger outfit. Between Atlanta heat and the press of more people on a Friday than last year did me in. On returning to the room, I took an AC and water break then broke out the kilt and black t-shirt. All was well then.

WookieeGunner and I went down and made our way to the Sheridan and what was promised to be a "Pinup pool party". Sadly, it had pool, and pinups, and mostly party. Less organization than a herd of 4th graders at recess. No matter, we got some photos anyway.

With that done, we walked back and got more photos, and more photos! Then grabbed dinner. Following that, we caught our breath and took MORE photos. So far I'm up to 161 for the con. I'm confident I can up that number a good bit.

Well, time to catch some sleep. Tomorrow is the parade and more panels!

Thursday warmup! Or is it?

It must be a universal constant as yet unmeasured by science: if pre-registration is clogged, then registration for VIP and eternals will be empty. The reverse has proven true, naturally. This year the constant is proven once more as I walked into an empty room and a friend of mine going through pre-registration had to wait due to equipment failure. Well played Mr. Murphy.

Beyond registration, I was hard-presses to tell that the convention had not opened it's arms wide to it's members this year. People clogged the halls, elevators were packed, and several costumes of all types were roaming around. I saw a pair of Oompa Loompas at one hotel. Can it be called a set? One wonders.

A few street fighters were out and about. Certainly some of the Cobra crew were easily spotted. Then there were the clone troopers. Having trooped with the 501st for years, I'd be surprised to NOT see one roaming around. It'd be a crime against humanity, and make for a dull con indeed!

Despite things to feast your eyes on, I managed a lunch with Eureka and his sig other along with Wookiegunner. We ate at a place called the pattypatch.

The place faced me with lovely southern food. A challenge surely as I'm mindful of my health lately. So I resisted the fried side of the force for grilled catfish. Not content there, I even added a salad! Ha!

The meal was very good as was the conversation. We spoke of Disney, vacations, costumes and what Eureka had cooked up for the Masquerade. Naturally, he had a video. Also naturally, I was blown away by what he's doing. Amazing as always, but I expect no less!

Beyond lunch was a pleasant walk to the room. Eureka and Wookiegunner worked out a possible preventative for a costume malfunction puzzle Wookiee had! They solved it. I was not surprised.

With that done, we checked schedules and realized ... Zounds! concerts! Lots of them! On Thursday! We gathered our gear and strolled along to the Hyatt.

As pre-Dragon Con bands go, these were particularly good! First was a group called the Aeronauts. Very much a steampunk band. Very good sound.

Following them was a husband and wife band called Valentine Wolf. They were Goth with one booted foot firmly dipped in the Steampunk grease. Very creepy yet fun sound.

Once Valentine Wolf was done, the main event appeared: Extraordinary Contraptions! At one point they pull out a member of the group Helblinki and then really cut loose! There was more jumping on stage than if Voltaire had tied himself to a live wire! The crowd stood, not sat. A lively time was greatly had by all from my simple observations.

And all that can be said is ... Dragon Con hasn't even started yet. This was merely warmup. Although, can it really be called a warmup now? Hm. Something to think about.

Late night rap session

It's after dinner and we're sitting around in the room. Mostly passing the night with 'what if'. Let me back up before I digress...

We returned to the room, only for Wookiegunner and BA to get into discussing what costumes would be seen this year at Dragon Con. Halo, John Carter, Avengers ... no ideas were spared. This devolved to TV shows. Modern ones were discarded - they aren't flashy enough - but others like Once Upon a Time, Dr. Who, etc were fair game.

Somehow, in some wild tangential connection that can only be accomplished by Well Fed Geeks Kibitzing ...

Now, lets flash forward!

It all happened during a discussion of fan fiction. The method and plots and writing novels connected to costumes thanks to Honor Harrington and Miles Vorkosigan and sparkly vampires.

I'll give everyone a moment to recover from that last one. I know I needed it. Aspirin's on the table there for anyone with whiplash. Though, I'm out of brain bleach, sorry for that. Just walk it off, the dizziness will pass.

Now, following this, the Dynamic Duo discuss the impact of fan fiction on the writing media niche as a whole. The rise and fall of the almost great works of literature.

Suddenly, its announced to me:

"That's it! That's your problem! You're too good at writing for mass media! You need to go write some crappy fan fiction!"

Then begins the suggestions of fan fiction subjects! In case you've forgotten some examples ... please go back and look for the sparkles. I'll wait.

Back? Great. Still got that mental image? Don't worry, walk it off. It'll pass.

Oh, the wanderings of the Geek mind after dinner yet right before a con? Very impressive, yet scary. Like a roller coaster.

Arrived in Atlanta

It's evening in Atlanta and I'm at the hotel. It was a day as any other that is served up for someone who is traveling. The traffic was actually not so unpleasant until reaching Atlanta, then it was as unpleasant as Atlanta often is.

Checked in late afternoon to the hotel. Unlike last year, where it really was not that busy, this year was very different. A good number were checking in, many already were here. Bellhops carrying brightly colored costume parts, boxes and bags, helmets and ice chests, and all sorts of other paraphernalia were moving in a steady stream of activity into the hotel.

The room is comfortable as always, but I've not met a Hilton I didn't have a pleasant stay in. However, I can't say I've stayed in that many Hilton hotels.

Once settled in, we had a long wait for the luggage, but that was understandable. They were looking for a pair of boxes that had been shipped. Luckily, they were found. However, the idea of setting out on safari for the missing luggage had started to look like an attractive proposition!

With the luggage at the room, we tossed out thoughts on the table for where to eat. The table stayed empty, which was disconcerting. So we tried again, this time we were able to dribble something out. Something being the High Velocity restaurant at the Marriott.

High Velocity was as it always is, a sports bar with enormous burgers. The more interesting thing was that the Pulse bar outside the restaurant was packed. I mean *packed* with an R2 D2 roaming around with photographers lurking nearby. Now, look at your calendar, now back to the blog, and back to the calendar, and back to the blog.

Yes, its still Wednesday.

I suspect it was the 501st, given the t-shirts, but I really couldn't say. Nonetheless, they filled a good portion of the Pulse as if it was Thursday or a Wednesday.

Very surprising. It wasn't long ago that various Dragon Con staffers swore "no expanding into Thursday". Well, life seems to have stepped in on that with other plans.

Should be very, very interesting.


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Location:Atlanta

Just dusting off the old blog

Preparing for a trip and down to the night before. So, I thought I'd dust off the old blog.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad