Dragon Con 2007 - Part Two

This is my trip report from my very first Dragon Con, originally posted on my livejournal. For Part One, Click Here!

Saturday we got up rather early again, since one of my friends was had to be out and about early because he was in the parade. I got into my costume, which was my Summoner Yuna costume, and I needed some help as well. 

Another friend and I headed down to get a good spot and watch the parade.After the parade we got food and headed back to the Hyatt for the panel with Ellen Muth (who starred as George in Dead Like Me). Lunch was yummy and the panel was very interesting. 

Unfortunately, by this time, I was starting to feel badly, as the pain in my head started to grow. I didn't really want to put a cold pack on, mostly because that would detract from my costume. Eventually I did have to put one on because the pain was pretty bad.

We did some wandering, went to the Walk of Fame (it was crazy in there!), and then made our way to Peter S. Beagle's reading. He read the prologue and a few chapters of his new book, "I'm Afraid

You've Got Dragons" which was very interesting, the book doesn't come out until next year, but I really want to get it when it does come out. 

I separted from my friends and ended up in the room with a migraine that was about a 7 or 8 on the scale of 1 to 10. I spent a good portion of the afternoon/early evening in the room laying down.

I did drag myself out of bed because the showing of "The Last Unicorn" with Peter S. Beagle doing commentary was that night. We there about an hour early and it was a good thing because the room they were showing the movie in was tiny! We did get in, and we got seats. They turned lots of people away, which was sad. 

The movie was great, and it was very interesting to hear the commentary from Peter.

After that, we headed back to the room - I was still feeling pretty crappy. We did get some food and then watched the Dawn costume contest that was on Dragon*ConTV, as we ate, and then crashed not long after that.

Sunday we actually got to sleep in a little. And I had thankfully slept off my migrain! 

I went to the Stars of Harry Potter panel, and I just managed to snag a seat. Unfortunately, I was too far away to get any good pictures. It had the actors that played the Weasley twins and the actor that played Neville. It was very interesting.

After that, I ran into my friends and we all watched Tom Smith, who does Filk, play a short show in the lobby of the Hyatt. I knew what Filk was, but this was my first time really listening to it. It was very amusing. 

I went to the art show for a bit and then met up with another friend because we both wanted to go to the Star Trek: The Next Generation panel. We did food runs and as my friend had returned with her food, the line started moving. The panel was in the biggest panel room, and it still got filled to the brim. The panel had the actors who played Data, Dr. Crusher and Riker. Brent Spiner, who played Data, seemed very bitter, and none of them really wanted to talk about Star Trek that much. It was an okay panel, but I had been to better ones.

The actor who played Riker did come out into the audience before he came on stage. He was really close to us. 

After that, we went to another panel, I think it was one in the writing track - I don't really remember it that much and then we came back to get in line for the Ron Glass panel. 

This line was the worst of all weekend. We ended up standing in line in the outside area where all the smokers came to smoke. I'm really allergic to smoke, so this was not fun. Plus, the line didn't move, and didn't move, even though most lines started moving about 15-20 minutes before the panel started. My friend went to ask at one point why the line wasn't moving, and she was angrily told that they were trying to clear the room and get the people in wheelchairs in. The line didn't move until 15 minutes after the panel started.

The panel itself was good - Ron Glass didn't sit down once!! 

Afterwards, I went to the Walk of Fame which was much emptier than it had been. There was only one person in front of me when I was getting Ron Glass's autograph. He was very nice, and I got a couple of pictures.

I then saw that James Marsters, who played Spike on Buffy, was there, so I got in line - there was only one person in front of me there too. I got my picture signed and we talked for a minute. He was really nice too. Alas, no pictures of that.

I went back up to the room to put my newly autographed things away, and headed to the dealer's room. I mostly wandered for a while, and the only thing I really bought was a Harley Quinn print for Todd. We had gone to the dealer's room on Saturday I think, and I had gotten the "Done the Impossible" DVD, which is about Browncoats, and something I had wanted to see for a while. And I got a Browncoat lanyard as well. I honestly did not spend hardly any money on stuff at Dragon*Con.

After that, I went back to the room and found my friends vegging out before their big dinner with Peter S. Beagle. I had been wishy-washy on if I wanted to tag along or not, because I knew it would be expensive, but I also knew it would be a cool experience. So, I ended up deciding to go.

It was a very cool experience, and the food was expensive, but really, really good. I didn't have that much to add, but still had a good time. 

We got done with dinner just in time to head to the Hyatt for Tom Smith's concert. The room was packed but it was a very good show!

After that, we tried to peek into the Pirate Party, but it was full, so we just went back to the room, and watched some of the costume contest before going to sleep.

Monday was most just packing up and driving home. That was the first and last time I was at Dragon Con until Monday. That first Dragon Con has sparked a decade of memories and fun times!

Bring Reading Rainbow To All Kids!

Image: Wikipedia

Levar Burton loomed large in my childhood. I watched him as Kunte Kinte in Roots and adored him as Geordi in Star Trek: The Next Generation. But it was Reading Rainbow that really shaped my young life.

I loved Reading Rainbow and it really helped foster my love of reading. Though I do have to give my parents, especially my dad, some credit because my dad had a half a dozen bookshelves in our house and was always reading.

But I have fond memories of watching and learning from Reading Rainbow. I was always excited when a book I owned was featured on the show and sometimes I asked for my parents to get other books that I saw there.

I've been trying to instill a love of reading in Emily. We read books every night and generally several times during the day. She's starting to learn to read herself which is great.

I have heard of the Reading Rainbow app, but never got it because Emily was pretty small when I heard about it the first time. We have watched a few of the old Reading Rainbow episodes on Amazon Prime. We started at the beginning and they were fun but really dated.

Emily, like the rest of her generation, is very tech savvy. She is able to use my phone, tablet and video games better than I can sometimes. And she is a very early reader at this point. But she loves the story apps we do have right now. Right now we don't have the Reading Rainbow app because I just got a tablet in the last week.

When I saw the Kickstarter to bring Reading Rainbow to all kids, I had to back it. A lot of people felt the same way because it reached it's goal in less than 24 hours. I think it's a great cause to back because so many kids aren't exposed to books and reading like they should be. And the best part is giving Reading Rainbow to schools in need for free!

I'm sure everyone has heard about this Kickstarter by now. But it makes my heart happy to think about having Reading Rainbow back. It was a big part of my childhood and hopefully it will do the same for Emily.

Even Geek Parents Can Embarrass Their Geek Kids

My geeky Dad with my sister and I in the early 1980's

I was always a geek growing up and that was thanks in large part to the fact that my dad is a huge geek himself. One of my earliest memories is sitting on his lap in this old, brown chair we had as he read Lord of the Rings to me. My dad is super smart and a scientist to boot, which just adds to his geek cred.

You would think that being a geek myself from an early age, that my geeky dad wouldn’t be able to embarrass me. All kids are embarrassed by their parents, but it may be a little harder to embarrass a geek kid.

When I was in the 8th and 9th grade, I was really getting into Star Trek. It started out with Star Trek: The Next Generation, which was on the air at that time. I eventually got into the original Star Trek as well. We lived near to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and there were one day Star Trek conventions that happened every so often.

At one of these conventions, the guest was James Doohan who played Scotty in the original Star Trek. Usually there was a question and answer session before you could get in line for autographs. I remember very clearly sitting near the front with my dad at this q&a session and that my dad asked a terribly complicated science question. I don’t remember what the answer was, but I do remember that I wanted to disappear into the ground. I was so embarrassed. My dad wasn't though and we went on to have a good time getting our autograph from James Doohan. But it’s something I still remember, 20 years later.

I’m sure all parents embarrass their kids at some point. But only a geek parent could embarrass a geek kid at a Star Trek convention.

My First Star Trek Con

With the addition of John de Lancie to the guest list for this year’s Dragon Con, I’m feeling a little nostalgic for my first Star Trek Con where he was  a guest.

Star Trek conventions have been happening all over the world for the last 40 years. The very first convention that I ever attended was for Star Trek when I was 15 years old. Even though it’s been over 20 years, I still have vivid memories of that experience.

My dad had been a Star Trek fan since the original series and he and my mom started watched Star Trek: The Next Generation from the premiere episode. I was a preteen and didn't consider Star Trek was cool. Once I started watching on a regular basis, I became a big fan, even going back to the original episodes to watch them.

One night while we were watching Star Trek as a family a commercial aired for a three-day Star Trek convention in East Lansing, Michigan. I had attended a few one-day conventions with my dad that featured only one cast member from the shows and a small dealer’s room. This was our first chance to actually experience three days of constant Star Trek.

We planned for my dad and I to attend the con while my mom and sister went shopping. I had my mom order a Star Trek: The Next Generation uniform shirt for me, I was that excited. My first cosplay!

September 26, 1992 arrived and we drove a couple of hours to the Michigan Star Trek Festival. The dealer’s room was huge and sucked up most of the first day.  I had never seen so much Star Trek stuff in one place in my life. This was the only con I've been to that you could go into the dealer’s room without having a badge. Even my mom and sister decided to come in, since they were allowed.

I cosplayed at the dance on the first night. I didn't stay long dance but I do remember that was the first time that I ever heard The Time Warp. After I had gone back to the hotel room, I watched the news broadcast which had a story about the con.

The next day, I scored several autographs. Majel Barrett-Roddenberry was signing in the dealer’s room and John de Lancie was set up in a separate room. While I was in line for John de Lancie, I heard a woman behind me complain about needing a badge to get his autograph. How times have changed.

I also attended a panel about the new series, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. I spent some time in the video rooms watching older episodes and specials. Even though I didn't know what it meant, I was first introduced to filk at this con.

Sunday was the last day of the con we attended the art show but headed home soon after, so I missed most of the later events.  It was years before I attended another con but I knew I wanted to repeat the experience.I attended anime cons in college. After I moved to the South, I started attending Dragon Con in 2007. It became a yearly experience for me and my husband.

But I didn't attend another Star Trek con until a couple of years ago.

I went to Trek Trax Atlanta in January 2011 and it was like I had stepped back in time. Even though there has been several more Star Trek series and movies released, this con still had the same feel as that first convention. It is always so fun to get together with like-minded fans who love Star Trek as much as I do.