DRAGON*CON 2014: Vampires, Time Lords, Dread Pirates, Werewolves, and Ghost, OH MY!

When I was a kid, being called a nerd was like being punched in the stomach.  It was hurtful and it was MEANT to be hurtful.  Today, it’s a totally different feeling to be a 'nerd'.  No longer the shame and humiliation but a feeling of pride.  A badge of honor.  A kind of joy.  Being called a nerd means you are able to find extreme  happiness in unconventional things.  When you go in, you go ALL in.   You don’t just love something, you LOVE something.  Obsess it could even be called.   You don’t just kind of like Doctor Who, you watch every episode at three least times and analyze it to death while sitting at the computer reading message boards with your sonic screwdriver no more than three feet from the keyboard.   You were not just a LITTLE sad that Firefly was canceled, you STILL tear up a little at the thought.  Being a nerd means you are passionate and analytical.  You aren’t afraid to love something with every fiber of your being, even when most of the people you know just ‘don’t get it’.   And there is no better place you can POSSIBLY go when being a nerd is your title than DRAGON*CON.  Where YOUR PEOPLE flock to be with their kindred spirits.  Where you can geek out the entire weekend in a 100% judgment free zone.  Where your cheeks start to actually hurt from smiling.   A place where it’s so hot and crowded you can hardly MOVE and you walk so much your feet swell and you are pretty sure you aren’t smelling all that great… but not only do you not mind you barely notice.

This year was my third year to attend amaze-co… I mean DRAGON*CON and it was just as good… nay BETTER than the previous two years.  Every second of every day was nonstop and it was nonstop FUN.  I was very excited this year for most of the guest lined up, but there were a few stand outs.  The cast of BEING HUMAN (which did NOT disappoint!!), Cary Elwes (Are you KIDDING me? Westley the Dread Pirate Roberts??? I’ve only had a crush on him since I was old enough to HAVE a crush), Colin Baker (Another DOCTOR to check off the list), and Tony Curran (aka Vincent Van Gogh!!! EEEEEEE!). 

My companion on this nerd-trek this year was my good friend and convention buddy Kerry.  It’s so nice to have a fellow geek friend with whom to share your obsessions.  And best news of all this year was that we had gotten a room in one of the host hotels! Excitement! We packed the car on Thursday AM and set sail.  Atlanta or bust!  The trip up was mostly uneventful which is always a surprise when the trip involves me.  I tend to invite calamity.  We arrived safely at the Hyatt and checked in.   I suppose because I rarely stay in phat hotels (being a mostly hotwire.com type of gal) is the reason I was super impressed, but when we walked into the room, we found this:

 
I mean, the TV knows my name.  And yes, that tiny bit of technology impressed me.  After we checked into the hotel, we walked over to the Sheraton for registration.  In previous years, it has been kind of a madhouse when it comes to this.  LONG lines, lots of waiting (usually outside in the stifling heat and humidity), and blah.  This year was SO DIFFERENT.  No lines.  Walked right in.  Right to where we needed to be.  No waiting.  Done in less than five minutes.  MAJOR kudos.  Was so nice!!!  Registration over, walk back to hotel and get dinner.  Bore bore.  You don’t care.  Cut to next AM.

FRIDAY:

This year I ordered a few more Froggy Photo pics than usual, but there was so many people I just REALLY wanted a picture with that would be guaranteed good.  I ordered all of my pictures for Friday thinking I would then have Saturday and Sunday open for panels and stuff.  Which turned out to actually be a very good idea.  All of my pics were first thing so I was done by 1130 which was amazing!  First pic was at 1000 and it was the cast of BEING HUMAN.  I don’t usually get nervous around celebrities anymore.  I mean, I told Dean Cain how utterly handsome he was and how I couldn’t even look directly at him… but for some reason I was really nervous about these guys.  Maybe because it was three of them at once.  I’m not sure.  But I was.   Arrived at the time appointed and waited.  I was a bit towards the back of the line, so by the time I arrived in the room I was able to watch others getting their pics.  I had seen previous pictures of people meeting these guys and the pics were always genius.   I assumed the person paying for the photo had just said they wanted the actors to do certain poses so I was nervous that I would be boring because I had nothing in mind.   Nothing to worry about, Steph.  Nothing at all.  Sam Huntington (JOSH) would call out right before the picture was taken what he wanted everyone to do.  “Everyone pretend like you are really bummed out.”  “Kick your leg in the air.”  Ect…. When my turn came I was felt like I was in a bubble of “I don’t know how to function as a human being any longer”.  They were all so good looking and SO SO down to earth and nice.  They asked my name and said nice to meet me and the usual drill  (Also Sam Witwer (aiden) is too hot to be an actual person in existence.  Dang.)  Huntington to Witer: “Okay, pretend like I am kicking you in the stomach.”  Me: “Am I happy about this!?”  Happened so fast.  I had no idea what I had done.   Huntington asked if the picture had worked and the photographer said that it had.  He said “That was a weird one! I was trying not to cover you up!”  They said nice to meet me again and I left.   It was amazing!   And when the picture came out I could not have laughed harder.   Why am I doing the “Peter Pan”???!!!! I have no idea what made me stand like superman/the 50s TV Mom saying “Oh these kids.” But the whole picture is just amazing.  They definitely gave me my money’s worth and an awesome memory.  So amazing to their fans and such fun people.

My next picture was with Cary Elwes.  Mr. Princes Bride/Men In Tights/The Crush/Psych/Saw/my dreams.  For some reason I thought, if anyone is going to be more business and less ‘friendly’ it will be him.  Not that I thought he would be mean, but more proper and business.   I could not have been more wrong.  What a NICE guy!  I was at the front of the line so I got to see him walk in and when he did, myself and the two women behind me all let out a gasp.  He.  Was.  SEXY.  He still has it.  100%   He was wearing sunglasses, jeans, and a leather jacket and a guy behind me said “He’s going to be hot in the jacket.” To which I said “He already IS hot in that jacket.” And the women quickly agreed.   He did pictures with the people on crutches or in wheelchairs first and he was so sweet.   Getting down on his knees to make sure the picture was good.  Shaking everyone’s hand.  Asking names.  Talking to them.  So wonderful.  SO glad I got my picture with him.

And almost immediately after was Colin Baker.  The sixth Doctor.  THE DOCTOR.  No matter how many of them I meet I will always be a fan girl.  Once you are ever The Doctor you are ALWAYS The Doctor.  And he was equally nice as the others.  Smiled and asked my name and pulled me in tight for the picture.  Such an awesome moment!!! The Doctor!

After my pictures I immediately reunited with Kerry who had been having a blast people watching and we headed over to get in line for the Being Human panel.  If you ever have the chance to see one of their panels PLEASE PLEASE do it.  It was full throttle from beginning to end.  Those guys love what they do and they love their fans and its SO evident.  Also they are HILARIOUS.  I wish I could remember and just type a complete  transcript here.  You would love it even if you have never seen the show (which if you haven’t, it’s on NETFLIX.  GO watch.  SO good!)

After the panel we did a walk through of the Walk of Fame to see all of the people signing autographs.  Kerry got Lafayette from True Blood.  He’s so smooth even when he is just sitting there talking.  Seriously  it’s crazy!  She also got to meet her first Doctor when we walked over and got Colin Baker’s autograph.  Awesome guy! After we saw caught a quick glimpse of everyone we made out way to the Colin Baker panel line.  (Side note, this might get slightly out of order and crazy because due to circumstances I had to wait a while to write this blog and I have a slightly shorter memory than a gnat so I’m really scraping to remember everything close to correctly.  Sigh… old age.)

The Colin Baker panel was amazing! He loves to tell stories and every one was SO interesting! I’m really becoming a pretty big Colin Baker fan.  He’s awesome! Need to go back and watch some of his episodes.   I’ve only really mostly seen new Who with just a bit of the classic.  I really need to fix that! Awesome panel! Completely enjoyed it!

After the panel we found some dinner and again… blah blah… bore bore… cutting to the chase.

Saturday:

This year I didn’t go to the parade even thought it was right in front of the hotel we were in… I wanted to sleep in… and I’m pretty glad I didn’t go only because of how many people were there! Enormous crowds!!! Even more than last year! It’s so exciting to see how many of  ‘us’ there are.  As the parade was finishing we were making our way over to the shopping.

crowd outside hotel after parade

We spend the next few hours looking and buying and braving the elevators (side note, riding the elevators in the Hyatt was a very crowded and time consuming event.  Every.  Single.  Time.  It was like waiting in line to ride the Superman at Six Flags… if the Superman was a very crowded/smelly ride) to put our newly acquired stuff in the room and then headed back to the walk of fame.  We first got in line to meet Tony Curran whom I now am even MORE in love with.  He was SO nice and that Scottish brogue…  I told him about my ultimate ginger shirt and he said I was the ultimate ginger (which I’m sure he says to all ginger fans but I do not even care) he let me rave to him about how amazing he was in Vincent and The Doctor and said he never tires of hearing it.  He was just so wonderful.  He even winked at me which I know don’t be a fan girl but come on… I AM a fan girl.  Kerry and I loved him.  Such an awesome guy!

 

Next  we got in line to meet the cast of Being Human and get autographs.  And again they were AMAZING.  Sam Huntington LOVED my pic and agreed I looked like Peter Pan.  He was so nice! And fun.  We watched Sam Witwer fan boy out himself a bit over some guys dressed as his character Starkiller in the Star Wars Force Unleashed. He took a picture of them then with them and light sabers.  It was awesome.  I love when the celebs are also geeks.    When he was talking the selfies with us he pretended to bite Kerry’s neck and she almost lost it.  It was hilarious.  He also loved my picture.  He showed it to Chloe Dykstra who was sitting as his table.  And he also called me Peter Pan and pretend to fly away. 
In the second picture he asked me if we could see Huntington in the pic and I was answering in the first which is why I look weirder than usual.  He wanted us to look like we were looking at Huntingon with disgust… I of course laughed so he’s doing it and I am not.  But still love the pictures!

 

 

Happy about a Vampire bite, but who wouldn't be with this guy!

Lastly was Meaghan Rath.  (Sally). This woman is GORGEOUS.  Truly.  And So so sweet!!!! She said the picture was so good she just wanted to keep looking at it.  And she wanted to do selfies because she said they are more personable and fun.  Love the faces she made.  HATE the lighting because I look weird.  But still, she was so sweet!  Again, get on Netflix and watch this show if you haven’t.  It’s really very good and these guys are amazing!!! Can’t wait to see them in whatever they do next!

Autograph's on Pic

After we finished here we made out way to get in line for the Doctor Who showing.  Little did we know that even though early we were still all the way through the building and then outside and then wrapped AROUND the building and almost to the back.  I really wasn’t sure we would get in but I told Kerry let’s keep the faith and give it a try.  It was SOOO muggy out waiting in line….. As we walked through the long long line to get in they told us that we HAD to turn off our phones and show them because we were getting to watch it before anyone else in the country (which I found utterly cool even if only for a few hours).  We walked and walked and I was unsure… BUT we made it! AND the way they filled one section at a time had AWESOME seats.  It was amazing! Me and roughly 2,000 of my closest friends got to enjoy something we all love and obsess over together in one place.  It was so awesome to be with my kindred spirits while we enjoyed something we love so much.  One of the most exciting parts of the con and that is saying SO  MUCH! 

Afterwards we limped back to hotel exhausted because I am old and don’t have the hang time I had in my twenties and made it just in time to watch OUTLANDER (Jamie Fraser… sigh…..  A moment of silence for his ginger hair, abs of steel, thick Scottish brogue, and kilt) and again… Boretown.

Sunday:

By Sunday there wasn’t much left we were dying to do, plus this is the day we have to drive back to the real world.  We finished shopping in the areas we didn’t make it to Saturday.  Spend some more time in the Walk of Fame, and people watched and took pics of the AMAZING Cosplay that DRAGON*CON is so famous for, then checked out and started the long journey home.

I am already chomping at the bit for next year.  As long as I am able to go I WILL go.  I’ve already purchased my membership for next year.  If you have a love for all things nerdy or even SOME things and want to be able to let your geek flag fly I definitely recommend going.  It’s a long weekend full of amazing, judgment-free, nerdy things! 

Dragon Con 2013: Time Lords and Wizards and Torchwood! Oh my!

I’ve spent the last few days making notes of all of the things I wanted to make sure and include in this blog.  Things I wanted to make sure never to forget (as if I could!! How many times in your life does John Barrowman cop a feel?) things I wanted to share with my friends… (because let’s face it, I know you guys have been waiting with bated breath)…. And I’ve come up with A LOT.  This could take a while.  Grab a pillow and a cold drink.  And if you don’t feel like reading all of this, but would like to leave a comment as if you did, might I recommend any version of the following:

“Awesome! That sounds like a super fun weekend!”

“You met all of those people?! That’s amazing!”

“I can’t believe it’s not butter!”

“Where’s the beef!?”

 “When someone asks you if you’re a god, you say yes!”

“In the immortal words of Jean Paul Sartre, ‘Au revoir, gopher’.”

My sister in law was my victim… I mean guest on this excursion.  We rode in to Atlanta the day before so we could register the night before and then be sure we were there super early on Friday to get the day started without having to be up at 3 am.  Uncharacteristically for me, the ride up went smoothly.  ALMOST the entire way…. until my Tom Tom decided to have a complete meltdown and try and take me down a closed road and every single time it recalculated it wanted to take me BACK to the same closed road… but I digress.  We made it to the hotel.  Checked in. No big deal.  Found out the hotel had a shuttle directly to where we pre-register.  Awesome.  We ride over in what for Tabatha was a very scary ride… since I’ve survived the hotel to airport ride of NYC this felt more like a Sunday drive with Grandma.  We arrive and soon realize the line goes out of the building down the sidewalk around the building and almost meets back up where it starts.  And after WE finished checking in, the line DID end where it started and then snaked back a ways.  I’ve never seen so many people in my life. At least until that point.  Saturday in and around the Torchwood panel would soon be taking that honor.  And in the interest of keeping this blog from becoming a contender to be longer than War and Peace I’ll move on to Friday.

Cue fast forwarding sound…….

Friday: 

Friday was so jammed packed I don’t even know where to begin! The whole day seems like a giant blur of activity that I can’t even really remember what happened when.  I BELIEVE the first activity was going to the Froggy Photos booth to see if they had posted photo times… which coincidently they had NOT.  So we went ahead to the True Blood panel.  This was the ONLY panel of the weekend we didn’t have to wait in line for.  We walked up and they told us to go ahead in and pick a seat while the panel before finished.   I didn’t know anything about the panel, but apparently some famous person from the Gaming world was there.  Mark Meer? All I know is when I told my brother he was really jealous so I guess in some circles he is a big deal.  After that panel disbanded, we watched some Dragon Con TV while we waited.  Dragon Con TV is HILARIOUS.  Anyone that read my blog of last year may remember some of the stuff they showed.  This year they had things such as a commercial where a woman is complaining about ants and she calls “Dalek Exterminators.  Call 1-800-4-Davros” and I’m sure it’s not funny unless you see it but I laughed a LOT.  There also was something for “Star Wars Episode IV: The Legend of Curley’s Gold.”  Again, funny if you see it.

The True Blood panel started with only three of the five actors there.  Hoyt and Luna showed up as the panel went on.  I must say… I always like Hoyt.  But the actor who PLAYS him…. Maybe he was having a bad day…. I don’t know… but he seemed so bothered to be there.  Not a fan.  Not much happened during the panel to talk about. They told behind the scenes stories, answered questions… that sort of thing.  At one point a man starts to ask a question and he preferenced it with “I haven’t seen the last three episode but…” and the girl that plays Luna interrupted with “A#&hole.” And then said she was kidding a bunch which she totally was but he says, “Don’t worry I’m about to this around on her, I’m in the service and I was deployed.” I felt SO BAD for her.  He wasn’t being mean he was just kinda saying it like yeah but I could tell she felt horrible.  I saw her wipe a couple of tears from her eyes.  It was awkward even though it was kinda all in jest.  I mean he really WAS deployed but I don’t think anyone was being malicious. 

True Blood Panel

After the panel we find out when out photo times are and they aren’t until the afternoon so we decide to check out the Once Upon A Time panel.  It was actually really good! The guy that plays Jiminy Cricket was there as well as one of the head writers and the Blue Fairy.  It was a really good panel to sit in on and I’m glad we caught it.

Once Upon A Time Panel

After the panel we head over to the Hilton where my first picture is going to take place.  It was a bit before time so we found a spot outside the room where a plug was and sat to charge our phones.  As we are sitting there I see some AWESOME cosplay including a man dressed as the first Doctor.  He was fantastic!  I actually ended up talking to him in line.  He was getting 21 pictures and they are NOT cheap.  He must have been a super rich guy.   As Tabatha and I were sitting waiting I see a man riding in on a scooter wearing a hat and quirky colored suit and I immediately say, “Tab that’s him!” The ‘him’ being Sylvester McCoy.  Just riding in by himself like no thing.  Then I see him park the scooter and get off and just stand around so I figure I was wrong and he was just an awesome Cosplayer.  Finally they call for anyone getting the Sylvester picture and somehow I end up at the front of the line and as I stand there I see Peter Davidson and Sylvester McCoy sitting in chairs chatting away.  The 5^th and the 7^th doctor just sitting there.  Talking.  And I’m RIGHT THERE.  PS. He WAS the man on the scooter turns out.  He’s wearing a knee high boot.  I thought at first he was just old and couldn’t walk and I was sad but he apparently hurt himself. Poor cute sweet man.   Finally they tell me to walk over and he hobbles up and I say hello or something.  I can’t remember.  My mind was basically blown already.  I’m standing next to THE DOCTOR… in a room with TWO Doctor’s in it.  Amazing moment.  He says, “What’s your name?” And I tell him.  And he says, “Stephanie? Well, step up Stephanie.” And we step up to the line for photo and after they take it I turn to him and say “Thank you SO much.” Because I’m beyond giddy.  He was just so smiley and friendly and seemed genuinely happy and interested in being there and he said “Cheers.”  It was marvelous.  Superbly so.  Amazing amazing moment.  

Sylvester McCoy and I

Right after my photo we head over to the Marriott where our pictures with John Barrowman are to take place.  We still have some time so we walk up to the Walk Of Fame (the autograph room) where a lot of the celebrities are and walk around.  We see SO many amazing people! 

Billy Dee Williams (!!!!!!!!!!!!) (I’ve breathed the same air as Lando Calrissian)

T-Dog (Irone Singleton)

Adrian Paul (There can only be one!)

George Takei

Ernie Hudson

Mitch Pelggi

Lee Majors

Data from Star Trek

Ed Asner (!!!)

Malcolm McDowell (Clockwork Orange OMG)

Tommy the Power Ranger (who OMG had a SERIOUS fan base.  They weren’t playing around.  He was LOVED.)

There were SO many people in there but if I name them all it’ll just be a giant list of names I’ve dropped.  I just wanted to say the ones I was particularly happy I was able to lay eyes on.   It’s very surreal to walk around a room filled with people who you geek out over.  

Afterwards, we walk back down to the Froggy photos booth for out Captain Jack photo.  And let’s just say that FROGGY photos is right.  Because SOMEONE was feeling very Froggy.  Mr. Barrowman.  Wow just wow.  He wouldn’t LET you do a boring photo.  That man is high octane energy filled with pure craziness. Watching other people get their photos was seriously entertaining.  There wasn’t anything he would not do! Grabbing body parts when asked… dipping women, grabbing butts… having his butt grabbed… you name it.  When it came my turn I wasn’t even sure WHAT to think.  I walked up and said HEY! As I grabbed him and he said hey back.  All I remember was that he was soaking wet with sweat but he smelled great anyway.  Right after my turn was Tabatha and then we wait around the corner to see what pictures he does with this guy who was in boxers a bow tie and fez only.  He had already called the guy out and then when he had to move in line yelled “hey where’s the naked guy!?” so we HAD to see what he was going to do.  Having said that… I won’t put it all in the blog.  Let’s just say they took quite a few photos.  Insert wink here.

  John Barrowman is a true entertainer.  He made sure everyone that paid to see him got their money’s worth.  You can tell he genuinely cares about his fans and wants them to have a good time.  I felt that way about everyone I met personally over the weekend.  It was SO wonderful because you KNOW they don’t have to be that way.  They can fake a smile take a photo and say thanks for coming and that’s what people would really expect.  But asking someone their name, smiling, pulling them into a hug… these are the things that make a moment unforgettable.   

And back to the news….  After we walk away from the photo center Tabatha informs me that John Barrowman grabbed my butt.  Ha!!! I was so into the moment I guess I didn’t notice.  And as it turns out… he TOTALLY did! Captain Jack Harkness…. Sigh….

notice hand placement

After the photos we decide to head back to the hotel and have dinner.  It’s been a long fun filled day, we didn’t sleep much the night before and Saturday was going to be a super long day.  Rest time.   And I forgot to mention that at some point during the Walk of Fame Tabatha got her picture made with Rutina Wesley (Tara from True Blood and she was VERY sweet!)

Saturday: (Busy busy day!)

One thing that it’s important to know about a convention is that there are at any given point about 6 billion people trying to cram into a small area that is super hot and super muggy and doesn’t always smell the best.  Also, these people generally ALL want to go to the same panels that you do.  So if you REALLY want to see a certain panel, you need to line up SUPER early.   I’ll come back to this… but it will be important. And ps it’s common curtsey to wear deodorant when you are going to be crammed in like that in such hot conditions.  And make sure it’s a good brand.  Sweat activated.  And I DO NOT know how people were wearing such thick, huge, face covering, sweat boxing, heat holding costumes.  I tip my sweat soaked hat to you.  

On the same note, apparently this should also be done for the parade. (the lining up early part that is) Silly me thought, it’s outside, the route is long, there will be plenty of places to stand…. Yeah…. Not so much.  There’s not much to say here really.  It was SUPER hot.  And SUPER crowded.  Poor Tab (who’s pregnant) became sick pretty quickly and had to go back inside but I missed the parade last year and really wanted to see it, so I stuck it out.   The parade was amazing! I took lots of video and lots of pictures (obviously to anyone who looked through my photos).  Sylvester McCoy, Tommy the Power Ranger, Billy Dee Williams, and someone who I STILL am not sure who he was… were the grand Marshalls.  And the rest of the parade was filled with hundreds of amazing costumes! It was so fun to watch! 

At one point in the parade I made “friends” with a kid (whom I’m not sure I should call kid… she was soooo tiny and looked like she was about 13 but told me she was 16).  She told me there were a lot of people being rude to her and she couldn’t see and her parents were in the parade and her phone was going to die but she wanted to take photos but if her phone died she didn’t know how she’d call her parents……  I couldn’t very well abandon this tiny girl.  I told her she could use my phone.  She said “There are such mean people and then nice people like you…”  What could I do?  I let her hang around me during the parade then I stayed with her during the foreverlong it took her to find her parents and let her use my phone.  I couldn’t very well drop a kid off with no phone and no parents in the middle of a million people in Atlanta.  Good deed done.  And we DID find her parents. 

Billy Dee Williams

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55cITaTC0gk&feature=youtu.be
This is the video of Sylvester McCoy and a lot of Doctor Who cosplay in the parade

It took me ten lifetimes to get back into the Marriott and when I did I had NO signal.  I really didn’t have much of one at all the whole time I was there, but at this venture there were SOOOOO many people you could barely move and I couldn’t even send a text out.  How in the world was I going to find Tabatha? I tried to call her about 15 times and tried to text double that.  I was imagining what I was going to tell Luke about how I lost his pregnant wife.  I wandered around looking for the Torchwood panel because she told me when she left she was heading that way…. well as it turns out there was a Warehouse 13 panel in the room the torchwood panel would be in so about 123,456 people were congregated in that area.  I found a small hallway and managed to get a text out and then by some magic I saw Tab walking around (this was probably after 45 minutes of looking) and found her.  Probably never been so relieved to see someone in my life.  So we grab some pizza from a vender and try to be ready for when the Torchwood panel lined up.  This was around 2 hours before the panel.  We wait and wait and then they tell everyone to go away because the Torchwood lineup wouldn’t be yet but we stay around… Long story short they totally mess up how they do the line and even though we waited forever we end up REALLY far back in the line…. And we wait outside in this line…. But it’s all good.  I just REALLY REALLY want in on this panel.  And am I soooooo glad we made it in! This panel was AMAZING!!!!! From beginning to end.  It was almost the entire Torchwood cast and they are all equally crazy! John Barrowman fell out of his chair TWICE.  They told a TON of inside stories.  Funny stories.  CRAZY stories.  I videoed A LOT.  But will not be posting most of it. (Due to the semi adult nature of what they were saying)  It was one of the most entertaining hours ever. 

Torchwood Panel

We now interrupt this story telling to go back in time to Saturday AM and mention something I previously forgot to mention and don’t feel like going back adding in…. We were sitting outside of Starbucks eating breakfast and who should limp by but Sylvester McCoy.  Wearing his hat.  Suit Jacket.  His boot.  And striped boxer shorts.  And no I’m not kidding.  Just walking by like No Big Deal.  I’m the Doctor.  I’m in the Hobbit.  I’m awesome.  I’m in my shorts.  Drinking coffee.  There’s was nothing to be done.  Smile and continue with breakfast.  That man is adorable. 

And now back to my regularly scheduled ramblings….

After the Torchwood panel of epicness (henceforth it shall be called) we ate an early dinner and then walked over to the vendors to shop.  There was SOOOOO much stuff! I only ended up buying a Daryl Dixon bobblehead.  Oh yes.  I did.  Totally not embarrassed.  I’d buy it again.  Daryl Dixon AND a bobblehead.  Here’s my money.  It’s yours.

Afterwards, we head to the Westin to get in line for the Walking Dead panel.  We made some friends in line.  One if a dentist from Mississippi.  He seemed cool. It’s easy to talk to someone when you are sitting in line with nowhere to go for over an hour.  Even boring things become life changing interesting.  “Oh, you prefer THAT way to do wisdom teeth extraction? Tell me more tell me more. Like did he have a car? Or an over bite?”   But he was really nice actually.  It’s just funny how easy it can be sometimes to talk to someone you’ve never met in your life and never will again.  

Walking Dead Panel

The panel was fantastic.  The moderator was HILARUOUS.   I want to hang out with him EVERY DAY.  He was one of the walkers IN the barn in season two.  And in the audience were actually a lot of people who played walkers on the show.  One guy in the back was the FIRST walker out of the barn in the Sophia episode.  It was really cool.  And I must say Scott Wilson who plays Hershel is ADORABLE.  Seriously.  Little white pony tail.  And I have to say he seemed so small when I saw him in the Walk Of Fame.  They must make him wear fat suits on the show.  He looked tiny to me.  Super fun panel!  Afterwards it was getting late so we walked back to meet the shuttle…. Which was taking forever to come…. Soooooo we made some friends and all six crammed into a cab to head back to the hotel.   Watched some Ghost Adventures then went to bed.

And I want to give a quick shout out to the shuttle driver.  He was hilarious. “I got you. It’s good that I know my way around.   I got you. We all good? We good.  I got you. I sound like a broken record, but I got you.  We all good.”  He was so funny because all three days he repeated the same stuff.  He was really extremely nice.  Awesome guy and god love him I bet he made that trip at least 500 times over the days.  Good job, old sport. 

Sunday Sunday SUNDAY:

Sunday…. Sad day! Last day! Exhausted… spent too much money…. But SO not ready to leave! It’s been such an awesome experience…. But all good things must end…. But not before I make the most out of the day!  We get up.  Pack out stuff.  Load up the car and check out.  This time I drive over to the con and actually manage to get around without running over any power rangers or fairies or spidermen… I was pretty pleased.  We head into the Marriott and have breakfast.   Then the autograph room.  The fun room.  Walk of fame! Gotta get out last minutes sightings done.   As we are walking around I hear Tab say, “There’s Mickey!” And yes.  There he is.  Noel Clarke.   Mickey! I get a little nervous and have to talk myself into going over to him.  I want to… but I’m feeling chicken.  Finally after I see someone else do it I go over.  He’s so cute! The accent in person is killer.  “hey baby! You know it comes with a hug, right?” and I said something like I’ll take it.  And then before I even know I’m going to say it “Wow, you smell AMAZING!”  “You smell  great too.  We should just stand here smelling good.” And I said something else I don’t remember. And let me tell you, he gives great hug.  It wasn’t an A frame lame hug it was a BEAR hug.  And let me ALSO tell you, he really DID smell amazing.  I want to bottle it and spray it on my pillow at night. After the photo I said “Let me see if I look crazy.” So we pulled it up and looked and he was like, “No, you look awesome.”  He was such a sweet guy! Truly.  Good ol’ Mickey.

Noel Clarke and I

Tabatha and "The Blue Fairy"

Afterwards we walked the room again and the Walking Dead people still weren’t there so we decided to go out sit for a bit. We were sitting on a ledge UNDER the escalator and I was marking people in the Dragon Con guide that we had seen when I said, ‘I wish I knew what time they would be here.’ And as SOON as I said it Tabatha hit my arm and I looked up right as Michael Rooker aka Merle Dixon walks directly in front of us and down the hall.  He was wearing sunglasses and a leather coat and a hat.  She thought it looked like him but when he talked she knew for sure.  His voice is VERY recognizable. We grab our stuff and follow him.  He checks out of his hotel and then walks toward where we are asking the person he’s with where they need to go and Tabatha says, “Go down these stairs and it’s directly underneath us.” And he says, “I love you! Thank you, baby.” And I gotta admit, it was REALLY cool.  Just the way he said it, I guess.  Tab was on cloud nine, of course.  So we waited a few minutes and then walked back down to the Walk of Fame just so we could see them.  Tabatha had planned on getting a picture but after he told her he loved her and called her baby she was set.  No picture needed

We then proceeded downstairs to where William Shatner was supposed to be set up.  We found a seat on the ground against the wall and waited.  After about twenty minutes we finally figured out that he wasn’t coming out to the table, you bought your autograph or pictures at the table and then went to a giant line and waited to go back into a room where he was.  Didn’t realized The Shat would be under such lock and key.  Like he was the great and powerful Oz.  So sadly I was never able to see him.  But I saw so many other awesome iconic people I’m not too worried.  I mean Billy Dee Williams! Malcolm McDowell! Lee Majors! Ed Asner! John Barrowman! Ernie Hudson! And the list goes on.  After we walked back up to the Walk of Fame one last time we decided to hit the road back home.  It had been a super long super fun filled weekend but it was time to end.  I really was very sad for it to be over.  It was an epic epic time and I can’t WAIT for next year.    You can bet I’ll be back! Who knows… maybe I’ll even dress up next year…. Yeah, I won’t.  But still! I’ll be there! And I can’t wait!

Dragon Con 2012: Vampires and Star Wars and Weres! Oh my!

I’m a geek.  Anyone that knows me can attest to this fact.  I can throw a Star Wars reference into almost any situation life gives you.  I am obsessed with reading and watching anything involved in the fantastic. I never miss The Vampire Diaries or True Blood.  I love the Walking Dead.  I’ve seen the LOTR countless times.  I could go on and on, but I think the point has been made.  Having said this, I had until yesterday, never been to a Con.  Why?  I have NO idea.  It was a geek MECA.  Geekiness embaraced.  Geek CELEBRATED.  Where letting your geek flag fly isn’t just a right… it’s a necessity.  There’s nothing you can do, you can’t help it.  It comes pouring out of you in the most terrific way. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves….

This whole thing started last year when I first discovered there WAS such a thing as Dragon Con when I had heard that Zak Bagans was going to possibly be there.  I became VERY interested in learning more.  I looked it up and saw that there were MANY MANY people there that I would be interested to see.  At the end of the day, Zak Bagans fell through as did my plans.  But I never shelved the idea of Dragon Con.  Not completely.  Cut to this year a couple of months ago when I looked to see who all would be there and I see not only Alcide from True Blood but most of the cast of The Vampire Diaries.  Are you KIDDING me?  You mean to tell me that there is a place only a mere 2 hours from me where I can go and see all of the marvelous people?  Umm… yes please!!

So I recruited my little brother, as he is a giant geek as well, and decided to give it a go this year! (The straw that broke the camel’s back was the rumor that Norman Reedus aka Murphy MacManus/Daryl Dixon might be there)  We got our Saturday only passes ordered and booked a hotel and it was official! I was going to my first con!!!  

Our trip started like most (although I have to admit this was my first time ever road trip with just my bro and I), with some well-planned amazing car mix CDs.  Although these mix cds had a slight different twist than my usual…. Jason wasn’t down with the Hanson/BSB/NKOTB awesomeness that Steph and I rock out to.  But there was some “Istanbul (not Constantinople)” so it fit the theme of the weekend well.

Since we booked less than a month ago, nearly every hotel in the Atlanta area was completely booked.  So we HOTWIRED anything within half hour of the Con…. Not the WORST place I’ve ever stayed…. But certainly not the best.  The room smelled like what I imagine the inside of King Tuts tomb smelled like when it was first opened.  It was the most stale/unused smell. And the pillows were about as flat as two sheets of paper stacked… But I digress.  

So I wanted to make sure we were in line as soon as possible for the registration opening at 8am because I kept hearing that it took up to three hours with the lines so I planned for us to get up at 5am and head that way as soon as possible. I’m not sure if it was the knowing that I had to get up early or the fact that they were an hour ahead and I wasn’t tired…. Or the Goldilocks bed… too hard… pillows too flat…Or all of the above… but I could NOT sleep! I just lay there listening to my brother snoring gloriously while I watched the time go by.  I fell asleep around 1130 and woke up around 2… then woke again at 430 (330 normal time) and just got up…. I do NOT do well without sleep… I looked like a crack addict going through detox…. I spent around 45 minutes getting ready (Jason jumped out of bed and was ready to go out the door in about 5.7 seconds…) and we were on our way.  Nothing like heading out in the morning and it looked like the middle of the night.  We had planned to get breakfast on the way… but it being dark and me not really knowing where I was going… and getting lost in downtown Atlanta…. I forgot.  And remembered again when we were standing in line at 630 am and not being able to get out because didn’t want to lose our place.  And little did I know how hard finding food in this place would be….

Waiting in line turned out to be one of the more interesting times in my life.  I thought I knew about how it would be… but it turns out I had NO idea.  I knew people dressed up, but I guess I didn’t realize to what degree… and how high the percentage of people dressed up would be.  Next year I’m going to seriously have to consider dressing up… I feel like I missed some of the fun.  People were dressed up as EVERYTHING! Doctor Who, Anime, Legends of the Hidden Temple, Star Wars, Batman, Superman, True Blood, Predator,Tropic Thunder, Allen from Hangover,  ect… Some of which I knew… some I had no idea.  But it was crazy! At one point this little Asian dude wearing a girls costume (which I later found out of Sailor Moon) comes up behind us and starts talking to some girls and at some point he mentions he can do the whole dance (there’s a dance?) and he turns the music on his phone and precedes to do a thirty minute dance like there’s no tomorrow.  One of the most fun things I’ve ever seen.  He just DIDN’T care.  And NO ONE was judging! That’s the best part of this con.  You can be as “lame” as you want to be and NO ONE cares a bit! It’s license to geek out!  We saw a car that was made into a Tie Fighter (R2 Unit included!), The Ghostbusters Mobile, The Batmobile… I’ve never had such a time waiting in line! 

There was also an older dude in line in front of us wearing a Big Bang Bazinga shirt (which I saw about 75,000 at the con) whom we coined Wikipedia because he just stood there spouting out random facts about random unrelated things.  At one point he started talking about the British invasion and starting singing.  He was UBER annoying… but at the same time mildly entertaining.  I’m sure the people he was with were about ready to cut his throat.

Once the line started moving, we went through it relatively fast.  We were done with registration by 8:45 I bet and so we had a good hour and a half to figure things out.  The way Dragon Con works out is it takes place between four of the major hotels in the Peachtree area.  We walked to the Marriot because that is where all of the events of the morning were taking place.  My brother got his picture worked out.  He was getting his picture made with Stan Lee at 11:15. (One of his Heroes).  I found the area that I would be going to the True Blood panel and then we went in search of food.  

Now I don’t know if it was some kind of survival game to make you feel like you were in any number of scifi movies… or if I am just not meant to be a hunter/gatherer (my blood line would have gone extinct within a matter of days if I had lived in the stone age)… but it was SO hard to find food!!!! They had stuff set up everywhere for when lunch started but NOTHING for breakfast.  We tried to at least find something to drink and there was a place selling canned cokes for two dollars (WTH????) but you had to have exact change.  UGH!!! So not only are we walking all over hell and creation but we are doing it on no sleep and absolutely no food!!!! Finally after an hour or so of wandering around we found a place selling candy bars.  I bought two just in case food was this hard to come by again.  We looked around the HUGE shopping area for a while then I headed up to the True Blood panel to get in line and Jason headed to get his photo. 

I had originally planned to skip the True Blood panel so I could go to The Vampire Diaries panel and then get my picture made with Joe Manganiello so I would get to see the ones I wanted from both shows… but then my picture time was scheduled at the same time as the Vampire Diaries panel… so I had to miss it.  Boo.  But my moments with Alcide made it worth it! One of the best looking people I’ve ever seen in person in my life.  Face melting. Truly.  But I’ll come back to that later.

When I get to the area (that was relatively empty only half an hour ago) it looks like they are having the Beatles/Elvis/Tupac reunion concert up there.  You can barely move! And just as soon as I get up there they start wrangling everyone into a line (which goes outside… in the hot sticky air) and somehow I get lucky and am very near the front of the line.  The room they lead us into is HUGE! I end up in around the fifth row which is really nice.  They show Dragon Con TV on the big screen while we wait and they did show one thing that was really hilarious.  It was a fake promo for a movie that (and I paraphrase) went like this: “From the people that brought you Alien and Alien 2 and Alien Verus Predator comes a new movie which hopefully not also suck.  It’s Predator Versus A Ninja Versus Waldo” and then it cuts to a scene in a forest and all you hear is crickets chirping and nothing happening for like five minutes.  It was hilarious! And for anyone that doesn’t get that… those three things are all things that are never seen.  I dunno… I laughed.  Around five minutes before the cast was due to come out they started playing the “cricket” type sound that HBO always plays right before True Blood starts and I gotta say… I got chills.  I was super excited.  It’s always awesome to suddenly be in a room with people that you’ve loved watching on TV or seeing on stage or however for a long time.  And then the “moderator” man came out and started introducing everyone.  We had (and I’m going with character names) Sam Merlotte, Alcide (yummmmm), Arlene, and Lafaette.   I videoed a lot and took a few pictures.  It was so fun! Hearing them tell stories of filming some of my favorite parts on the show.

Let me take a quick moment to interject with something about being out in the humid hot air…. I have naturally disgusting… I mean curly hair.  I straighten it because I hate the curls.  Throw this straightened hair into humidity and you get something wonderful called… fluffiness.  Giant nasty fluffy hair.  There is also a phenomenon that is created on my face called shiny greasiness.  So right before I get my picture of a lifetime…. Both of these wonderful events take place.  I am now greasy/shiny/fluffy. Let the meeting of a sexy beast begin!!!!!!

Immediately after I tried to make my way down (amongst ten trillion people) three floors to the area where my picture was to be taken, because I only had a few minutes to get there.  I walked down there and was sorted into the correct line for which person I was getting my picture with.  It wasn’t a big room so we were all really close to the stars of True Blood.  OMG. Seriously seriously… Joe Manganiello is so good looking that it actually made my stomach hurt.  And oh man is he huge! 6”5’.  Wow.  We got to watch other people getting their pictures made for about twenty minutes or so before it was my turn.  They were taking the pictures really any way you wanted them.  Some of the men would act like they were scared and he would put on his werewolf face and one girl got him to pretend to propose (which is had already thought of but didn’t actually want to do).  He would hug you or just whatever you wanted it to be.  And I loved how no matter how many people there were (and there were a lot) he talked and smiled at every single person that came up and didn’t act like he was getting tired or bored with it.  When it was my turn and I walked up to him and he smiled down at me… Oh holy crap.  He held out that giant muscular beautiful arm and pulled me to him…. What dreams are made of friends… truly….  I mean, it felt totally surreal. This giant sexy beast of a man and for the one small moment in time, he’s only focused on you.  It was a matter of seconds but it could have been a lifetime.  I saw our unborn children in his eyes and my god they were gorgeous! Dark hair and green eyes.….. “Hey how are you?”  I’m pretty sure I said “I’m good. How are you?”  (I love you. Can I have ten thousand of your babies?) Or something to that effect.  They took the picture then I had to look WAY up to see his face and his smiled down at me and said thanks or something… I’m not sure.  I was stupefied.  Beautiful.  Simply beautiful.  And again flashes of our long happy life together appear. And he sees them too, because, I mean, why wouldn’t he?  And then I walked out into the hall where my brother was waiting and I know I was beaming like a jack ass.  Couldn’t help it.  SUCH a wonderful moment!!!! And I have a photo to commemorate it forever!

Jason told me how he had just run into Dean Cain in the hallway and he’d shaken his hand and said hello. I thought that was really nice that he took the time to stop and shake his hand when he didn’t have to.  He could have just kept going to made him get in line and pay but he didn’t and that was cool.  We had also walked past Lou Ferrigno earlier in the day which was cool.  (He was the original HULK for anyone that doesn’t know).  He wasn’t nearly as big as I would have expected.  He was short.  

We decided to head over to what they call the “Hall of Fame” where all of the celebrities gather and you can pay and get autographs and pictures.  Even if I didn’t want to pay for anyone I could at least walk past them.  We saw Anthony Michael Hall (16 candles, weird science, breakfast club, Edward Scissorhands), Felicia Day, Dean Cain, Lou Ferrigno again, some of the voice actors in ARCHER, Adam West and Burt Ward(original batman and robin), the True Blood cast again, a bunch of people from Star Trek the Next Generation, among many others.  It was really awesome! Alice Cooper was also there but I didn’t see him.  We saw Bonnie from the Vampire Diaries but none of the others (boo).  I had considered getting my picture of Joe Manganiello signed but after I picked it up and went back there were ten trillion people there and we couldn’t get back in.  

We walked back to the Marriot to search for lunch because our lonely candy bars had long since abandoned us… and again… what a feat! There were places selling 6 million dollar hot dogs and hamburgers everywhere but there were people crawling all over them like ants on a picnic.  Finally we found a Papa John’s station that was pretty empty and we were so hungry that it ALMOST tasted good.  (I hate Papa John’s…) We found a place on the floor by the stairs to sit and people watched while we ate.  It was actually nice.  We saw a group of Predator’s taking photos and pretend attacking people.  We also saw the best Superman I’ve ever seen… including all of the movies.  He was tall, had a square jaw, dimple chin…. If he had taken off flying I would NOT have been surprised.  

I had planned on going to the Walking Dead panel… but I couldn’t find the hotel it was located in… and after walking around outside in the 10,000 heat  I gave up… Honestly it wasn’t that big of a deal .  The only person there that I liked was Glen… and Carl was there… my Walking Dead friends KNOW how I feel about Carl (least fave character on a show almost EVER)…. So I skipped it.  By this time of the day there were about 8 zillion people in the hotels.  The air was grossly hot… and I was beyond exhausted so we decided to go ahead and call it a day. 

One thing I wanted to mention was a moment I witnessed when I went back to pick my picture up.  Someone from Doctor Who was in the room taking pictures with the people who had ordered them and I was standing by the door where the people come out after theirs is taken.  Two young boys (early 20s?) walked out and this is a moment I’ll never forget.  The looks on their faces… like they had just reached the pinnacle of their lives.  (I equated it to when Stephanie and I went backstage at Hanson) They both looked beyond overwhelmed… like they wanted to cry and puke and jump in the air all at once.  And then they both looked at each other and just fell onto each other in a bear hug.  I could just feel the moment pouring off of them.  It was so awesome to witness.  I wanted to jump into the hug as well.  It was just such an amazing moment for them, you could tell.  

All in all, Dragon Con was SUCH a fun experience!!! I can’t WAIT to do it again next year! Anyone that has an inner geek should really consider giving it a try.  Not only did I see a ton of people I never imagine myself being that close to in my life, but I got to see my future husband and a glimpse of our life together.  Can’t wait until he looks me up and we start on those gorgeous children!