I'll be the Alien to your John Hurt

No posts all month long, but it seems my disjointed style lives on.

Holy shit, it's almost Free Comic Book Day! Go get comics tomorrow! Check out the website's comic shop locator if you need help finding your local peddler.

To keep abreast of developments at the Large Hadron Collider, I've added @CERN to my Twitter feed. Go on, take a look at that.

I started my Dragon*Con jar, so saving has begun in earnest. This seems like a good time to reiterate that all donations to the Get Erica to Dragon*Con Fund will be put to debaucherous, possibly even illegal, use. Just think, you could help me break the law! You could also help me see such exciting scheduled guests as Saul Rubinek, Michelle Forbes and Aaron Douglas. Hoping for David Hewlett and Tahmoh Penikett, but that would be too awesome so I'm not holding my breath. I've also begun thinking about costuming; lots of things sound cool and even doable, but I haven't really been drawn to anything. I'm kind of leaning toward the ridiculous, so something like a fairy from the Legend of Zelda games (a huge, glowing cottonball with wings) might be neat. That would also require some engineering (what would I make it out of? how would I make it glow?), which would be fun. I'm open to suggestions, so share your brilliant ideas... as long as no one wants me to be in the ass end of a tauntaun costume. That Alien idea might be fun, though.

Geek-A-Thon 2009

Dragon*Con - I went, I saw, I had a geeky good time. For the unitiated, D*C is a massive multi-media scifi/fantasy/popculture/etc. convention in Atlanta over Labor Day weekend, and it's how I've been spending the long holiday weekend for the past few years.

Since it's already next year, I'll skip the day-by-day report that I've given for past D*Cs. Really, how the hell am I supposed to remember most of it anyway? As usual, I had a great time visiting my friends in Atlanta before & after the con, and the con itself was loads of fun. I didn't do much costuming, but holy shit some folks went all out. My favourite group costume was the Fruity Oaty Bar girls . Dark Knight Joker was terribly popular, and steampunk was all the rage. The closest I got to costuming was a sari with a fancy-schmancy sequined choli. I caught a few excellent science & tech panels (props to the Science and EFF tracks!), in addition to several celebrity panels so I could gawk at the pretty people. One of the coolest panels was on why the LHC won't destroy the world. Damned interesting, if somewhat disappointing (I mean, something's going to take out the place eventually, so it might as well be something cool like a man-made black hole. But apparently not). The Dealers' room was all right, though I failed to find a t-shirt I wanted this year, and I don't recall even making it to the Art Show. Hunh.

Well, I took a shit-ton of pictures.

Costumes I never stop being bowled over by some of the very cool things people put on their bodies for a con

Popetine and Darth Maulducci

Parade More amazingly costumed people

Wonder Woman

Hotties Celebrity Guests Stars from Battlestar Galactica, Babylon 5 & Stargate, and scientists Kevin Grazier & Phil Plait

Bruce Boxleitner & Claudia Christian

I'm registered for this year (Sept 3-6) and have a hotel room reserved. 100% of all donations to the "Get Erica to Dragon*Con" fund will go toward debauchery.

Geek-A-Thon 2008 (yo)

Get yourself a tasty beverage and put up your feet, because this is a long one! Because I wasn't willing to spend $30 to connect to the interwebs from my hotel room, I kept a running diary over the weekend and now you get everything at once (with the caveat that it's all from memory, so who knows what I got wrong). My Atlanta adventure started last Wednesday afternoon, when I flew in and spent the next couple days with some friends. They're excellent people who are wonderful, comfortable and all around really enjoyable to be with, so my geek-weekend kicked off in the best way. Then, to DragonCon!

Day one was mellow, mostly just getting my bearings and catching a couple cool events. I made it to the first Stargate megapanel, which included Cliff Simon (Ba'al), Erick Avari (Kasuf), Morena Baccarin (Adria), Beau Bridges (Landry), Torri Higginson (Weir), and Rainbow Sun Francks (Ford). They were funny and entertaining and it was a dandy time. I followed that up with some wandering around, checking out people and finding out where things were in the different hotels (four now!), and enjoying all the funny t-shirts.

Later in the evening there were videos in the Stargate track room, so I caught some of that. I stuck around long enough to watch the first episode of Sanctuary so I could see David Hewlett, but then I had to turn in because it was late and I'm no fun anymore.

Day two started with a minor (but excessively irritating) personal crisis. Everything worked out fine, but I missed most of the parade, dammit. Luckily, I caught some of it, including pirates and stormtroopers, so that made me happy. I even got some not-completely-awful pictures, which is a nice bonus. This wasn't a big year for costuming for me, mostly because I was lazy and uninspired until the last minute. However, about a week before heading to Atlanta, I got it in my head to finally make the salwar kameez I've always wanted. It turned out great, I wore it at the con on Saturday and I got lots of nice compliments on it.


I made a pass through the dealers' room, which was pretty much the same as usual - funny t-shirts, corsets, comic books.

Then it was off to another SG megapanel, this time with everyone from the previous panel except Avari and Baccarin, and the addition of David Nykl (Zelenka). During the Q&A, an audience-member commented on the apparent number of single people in Atlantis and asked if the actors had any pairings they might like to see. Torri Higginson won me over when she cracked that the closets in Atlantis see a lot of action, and that McKay and Sheppard are hot for each other (I can't remember exactly how she phrased it, but I'm sure there's a clip of it on YouTube by now). *sigh* Now if only the people who make the show would catch up with the rest of us.

After some wandering and food, I hunkered down for still more Stargate, this time a Rocky Horror-style viewing of SG-1's "Window of Opportunity." Man, was that a good time! There was much calling out lines along with the characters, juggling, waving about of toy pistols, and file folders flying into the air. And, really, there's nothing quite like a room full of geeks all gleefully shouting, "In the middle of my backswing?!" Very, very good time.

I finally did something non-SG later Saturday evening, when I caught a Eureka panel. I've mentioned him in regards to DragonCons past, but I just have to reiterate how much I like Kevin Grazier, who is the science adviser for Eureka and Battlestar Galactica. Yeah, I'm pretty sure he's my new science crush. So, there were questions and discussion and no spoilers for the new season. All around, quite entertaining.

Day three started early, with me actually awake and at a 10a panel with Cliff Simon. I could listen to him talk for hours. An interesting thing he shared is that he works with a dog rescue group in LA, which was a nice thing to learn. I have pretty strong feelings about how we treat the creatures we share our homes and our lives with, and it always encourages me when that's an issue that's important to people who have the ears of others because of their celebrity status. He also spoke quite a bit about growing up in South Africa, why he left there, and how very much he appreciates living in the US.


Then came more aimless wandering, followed by a Battlestar Galactica panel with Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek), Michael Hogan (Tigh), James Callis (Baltar), Aaron Douglas (Tyrol) and Colin Corrigan (who plays a background character I'm just not familiar with). They were all delightful to listen to, but I have a serious weakness for Saul Tigh, so getting to see Michael Hogan was a hardcore squee moment for me.

[Michael Hogan, James Callis & Aaron Douglas]

I followed that up with another pass through the dealers' room, this time successfully finding a t-shirt for my significantly awesome other. I didn't find anything for me, but I'm not especially acquisitive, so that's okay.

Sunday continued with a little video interlude in the Stargate track room, featuring clips from shows and movies Stargate actors have been in. Some of them have done some... interesting work.

I wrapped up Sunday night at a three-hour long panel on Stargate slash that I enjoyed tremendously. It involved good discussion on slash writing in particular, with many concepts that could just as readily be applied to fanfic in general, all in a very excellent atmosphere. I also got to put some faces to names I had seen on the internet, which is always a nice thing.

Then came Monday, the last day of the con, and yet still more Stargate. This time it was a megapanel comprised of Francks, Bridges, Simon, Jewel Staite (Keller), Baccarin, Nykl, and Avari, and it was a wonderful way to wrap up the weekend.


I finally packed it in with a quick perusal of the art show, then a final run through the dealers' room to get a couple things.

Of course, everywhere, any time day or night, the peoplewatching was fantastic. Again and again, I was bowled over by costumes that were stunningly original or excellent reproductions of movie, TV & comics characters. I was also just tickled by how incredibly friendly geeks can be. As much as I stood in line (and there were a lot of lines!), I rarely had to entertain myself and I had some great conversations with people.

Since the funny t-shirts are a highlight of the con for me, I'll share a few stats....
The funniest t-shirt I saw all weekend: Tell your mom sorry about last night
A close second: I wish my lawn was emo so it would cut itself
The t-shirt I picked up for my significantly awesome other: Got this shirt for my girlfirend (awesome trade)
The t-shirt I ended up getting for myself: Real tears excite me
(No, I wouldn't say that fits my usual style, but it sure made me laugh when I saw it.)

Finally, my friends collected me from the hotel Monday afternoon and I spent that night & yesterday morning with them, then headed back north yesterday afternoon, to be greeted by a happy partner, an absolutely ecstatic dog, and three cats who variously yelled at me, acknowledged me like I'd never left, and seriously snubbed me for a few hours. It's good to be home :)

My photos are up on my Flickr site, divided into Costumes, Parade and Guests.

Another DragonCon come and gone, and another year to wait and prepare.

Fifty-six days and counting!

DragonCon is once again on the horizon (August 29-Sept 1) and I'm starting to get a bit psyched. The guest list is looking good, though subject to change, of course. There are lots of folks I'm eager to see, but the highlights today include Aaron Douglas (Galen Tyrol, Battlestar Galactica), Katee Sackhoff (Starbuck, Battlestar Galactica), Adam Baldwin (Jayne, Firefly), Cliff Simon (Ba'al, Stargate SG-1), David Nykl (Radek Zelenka, Stargate Atlantis), George Takei (if you need a reference for this guy, for shame!), and a bunch of others I don't feel like listing. The upshot is, this oughta be a good year.

I haven't thought much about costumes and I'm not really sure I'll be doing anything special this year. I do know I have neither the time nor the motivation to bust out anything really fancy, so I might just be sticking with clever t-shirts, and maybe a pirate get-up. Everyone loves pirates!

Is it that time already?

As a little bit of an early birthday present to myself, I registered for next year's DragonCon. Pre-reg is $50 until November 15, then increases to an as yet undisclosed amount. Given the massive number of attendees this year, I suspect the pre-reg scale is not yet available because it'll be a bit higher than previous years. So, get on it now, while you can still register on the "cheap"!

DragonCon registration

Straggling post-con thoughts

As silly as it sounds after four days of intensive geekery, it was comforting to come home and watch some SG-1, in the quiet of my own livingroom with my cats around me. That's been a nice little part of my decompression process. After seeing so many SG panels, I was a little bit thrown by watching the actors in an episode. It was suddenly strange to see them playing these characters that seemed so unlike the personalities I saw at the con. Teal'c was especially interesting because of how different he is from Christopher Judge. That feeling didn't last very long, though, and I quickly stopped thinking of the actors as other than their characters.

One of the fan-run panels convinced me to give Stargate Atlantis another shot, but this time from the beginning. What encouraged me was the consensus that Atlantis is a darker show than SG-1 and explores more difficult themes & ideas. Perhaps I will find that satisfying enough to overlook the aspects of the show that turned me off in the first place. It won't hurt to get myself caught up to the new season [which starts later this month], now that I plan on watching anyway with the addition of Amanda Tapping [Carter on SG-1] to the show.

News of the upcoming Farscape webisodes didn't sound good. As yet, the actors who played Crais & the voice of Pilot, Chiana and Braca have not been contacted, though apparently the Pilot & Rygel puppets are being recreated after the originals started to fall apart in storage. On a more up note, there is fan speculation that the SciFi Channel would not go to the expense of making webisodes for a series that's been over for some years if they weren't planning something bigger for the future. Perhaps "speculation" is a strong word...let's say "wishful thinking."

So, I haven't said much about costumes, but there were definitely some really amazing ones. I especially get a kick out of groups of people who get all done up in the same theme. The most notable were a bunch of Spartans from the comic & movie 300, and some Quiddich teams from the Harry Potter franchise. In fact, Harry Potter was huge this year, with Hogworts students running around everywhere. Though I got some pretty good pictures, there was a lot of time when I was prowling the con without my camera and missed capturing many excellent costumes. There were more Colonial Fleet [BSG] uniforms than I recall seeing last year, and a crazy number of Storm Troopers.

Thanks for the memories

I've put up my pictures from DragonCon here. Again, I make the usual disclaimers about the quality of the photos. Some turned out great [especially those I took after figuring out some of the camera's settings], and some not so great. However, I'm pleased with a lot of the photos I got this year and I hope you enjoy them, too.

They're arranged in three sets - DragonCon '07, DC '07 Parade and DC '07 Guests.

Geek-A-Thon, Day 4

Well damn, it's already over :( So, I got up this morning stupid early in order to stand in line for yet another SG panel. I'm glad I did, though, because it was well worth it. Four of the six panelists came on stage clutching beers, which pretty much set the tone. I had a little squee moment when I was kneeling down in front of the stage to get photos and Alexis Cruz [Skaara] smiled right at me while I took his picture. *squeeee*! Btw, the new Show & Tell picture is from this morning's panel.

Then there was another BSG panel. Aaron Douglas is really terrifically funny and is happy to talk about how much fun he's having at the con. He also talked a little about the final five cylons, which I appreciated. He made it very clear that they are not like the seven we'd met previously, and that there is only one version of each; if they die, they stay dead. He told a great little anecdote about the last ep of season 3 - apparently my favourite line, Tigh's "whoaaaa" when he walks into the room with Tyrol, Anders & Tory, was ad libbed and Ron Moore liked it enough to leave it in.

I finished up the con with another run through the dealer room, though thankfully I managed to avoid spending any more money. Yesterday I got cool little horns that I'm excited to wear to a party. Then I hung out outside my hotel awaiting my ride and watching the departure of the geeks. It was nice to get back to my friends after the con. Spending time with them is, of course, great, but it's also been helpful to talk to them about the weekend, to reinforce the stories & the memories.

Now I am left with a slew of after-con thoughts, from the uber-geeky to the creative to the mundane. Next year, I'm going to remember that it's summer, therefore I need to bring a few extra long-sleeved shirts. I know, it doesn't make any sense to me either, but the fact is every building I go into has its A/C set at a balmy 56 degrees.

As with most events of this kind [indulgent fringe festivals], I'm already thinking about things I want to do next year, like different costumes and maybe even some involvement in a couple of my favourite tracks. I took a small step this year by following the planning on the American Scifi track, but I did not take the plunge and actually contribute anything. So, maybe next year.

More than any other con I've ever been to, this year's DragonCon hit me over the head time & time again that geeks and fans [and geeky fans] are really great. While waiting to be let into a panel, someone I was in line with referred to this event as LineCon, which is unfortunately too close to accurate. However, that said, I was pretty damn lucky to spend most of my time in lines next to interesting people, and I had several good conversations. And this morning, a wonderful man brought me a coffee from the consuite. Yay wonderful man! Meeting new people is a pretty cool thing, and I think it's a direct result of attending the con by myself. Instead of my attention being mostly on my significantly awesome other, I was much more likely to interract with the people around me, which it turns out I enjoyed a lot. I have friends who dabble in the scifi geekery, but I'm really the only one who gets into it quite so much, so this weekend was a supremely satisfying indulgence.

I'm sure I'll have more to say in the next few days, as I process the weekend and memories prowl around inside my head. I'll also be getting some more pictures online soon. For now, enjoy these --

A totally hot Phoenix
A totally happy Aaron Douglas

Geek-A-Thon, Day 3

This was my take-it-easy morning, so I slept in, then got ready in a liesurely fashion before heading to the art show. Clearly, I cannot say I like fantasy art as much as the next guy, because I get pretty damn sick of that shit after about the 42nd dragon/fairy/unicorn. However, there are some pretty impressive artists represented, with a broad range of styles & creativity. One awesome installation was a huge Tatooine diorama depicting a fight amongst Stormtroopers, Sand people & Jawas. Very cool. I also prowled the dealer room some more, then spent a good long while in a line for another SG megapanel. This one included Claudia Black [who I had no idea is something like eight months pregnant], so that was a bonus. And did I mention that Chris Judge is a pervert? Yeah, his mind is firmly entrenched in the gutter.

On a lark, I took a short cruise through the Walk of Fame again, just to ask Lexa Doig [Dr. Lam on SG-1] how awesome it was to play Beau Bridges' daughter on that show, only because of my lifelong crush on Beau Bridges. She laughed when I said that watching her play that character tweaked my Electra complex big time, and she confirmed that he was indeed awesome to work with :) And, since I don't have a thing for Lexa Doig, I was able to talk with her sans giggling, which was a pleasant relief.

Next up was a panel on the dark side of Eureka. Returning this year is JPL rocket scientist & very cool guy, Kevin Grazier, who is the science adviser for Eureka & BSG. He's great to listen to, not only because he really knows his shit, but also because of his enthusiasm for the show & his appreciation for the fans.

That brought me up to dinnertime, so I had a little nosh and rested up in anticipation of a late night. When I ventured out later in the evening, it was to attend another "mature themes" panel, this time talking about adult content in scifi shows [of which there isn't enough, if you ask me]. It was fondly called the "You got your scifi in my smut! You got your smut in my scifi!" panel. I followed that up with a little bit of tv in the Stargate track room, but had to flee before they started Mega Snake.

Finally, this is the costume I've been working on for so long --

Geek-A-Thon, Day 2

Thankfully, the raging headache and nausea that started my morning didn't stick around too long, and I was able to catch most of the parade from the balcony of my room. There were no floats, but there were some pretty cool cars, including a few tricked out hearses. A highlight was Nichelle Nichols, who totally qualifies for hero status in scifi culture.

Following the parade, I caught a panel with BSG stars Aaron Douglas [Chief Tyrol], Richard Hatch [Tom Zarak] & Jamie Bamber [Apollo]. They're richly entertaining men who gleefully mock each other, joke with the fans and generally have a good time doing their thing.

Then I tried to get into a panel with Claudia Black, but was foiled - just as I finally found the correct line, the room was closed because it had reached capacity. Bah, screw their "fire code."

So, instead of listening to Claudia talk for an hour, I went to see Farscape stars Gigi Edgley [Chiana], Lani Tupu [Crais & the voice of Pilot] & David Franklin [Braca]. They were clearly having a good time and were fun to listen to. I wanted to ask a question [about Gigi's experience making a particularly disturbing episode], but as soon as I thought about standing up & having the attention of a huge room of people, if only for a few moments, I started getting uncomfortable. Man, sometimes even a hint of public speaking makes me feel a little ill.

I followed up that panel with a quick run through the Walk of Fame [a big room where the stars hold court]. I caught a glimpse of lots of people I'm happy to see, but was unwilling to wait in line to meet them, if only because I don't know what to say to any of them without sounding like a giggling fangirl.

After taking a short nap, I kicked off the evening's festivities by waiting in a ridiculously long line to see a Stargate megapanel, which featured ten of the stars from SG-1 & Atlantis. The line could have been worse, but I scored a spot next to a hot chick who I got to chat with while we waited, so that was nice. I can't say enough about how fun the panel was. It's clear these people really like each other and really enjoy what they do, as well as genuinely appreciate the fans. They're also not shy about adult humour, which scratches one of my favourite itches. It's especially nice to see Chris Judge out of character, because he's so entirely unlike Teal'c. Not only is he animated and lively, he's got a wicked sense of humour, tells a good story and has a dirty mind. Yay!

Finally, I wrapped up the night with a couple of Stargate fan-run panels, which covered "mature themes" in the SG universe. While I could have done with less of the panelists talking over each other and more dark side SG discussion, it wasn't entirely about egos. The second half of the panel, in fact, was all about my most recent addiction - SG slash. What's to say about that? Fans love to put their favourite characters into some seriously pervy situations.

Well, it is again late and I am tired, so here's a little something from the parade. There's just something cool about Klingons doing un-Klingony things...

And, I'll end this with a couple shots of what I wore today. I was going to wear my genie costume tonight, but realized I'd forgotten a vital component, so it'll wait 'til tomorrow instead.

Geek-A-Thon, Day 1

What a great start to the con! I arrived mid-afternoon, hotel check-in and con registration were quick & painless, and I was able to catch the last half of a panel with John DeLancie [Q on ST:TNG and Simmons on SG-1]. From there I went to a panel with a few of the actors from Farscape, a uniformly hot group of people. And though there were other panels I'm sure I would have enjoyed, I spent a good bit of the evening just walking around & checking things out. The people-watching is fantastic, and not just for all the cool costumes.

Speaking of which, Brak's mom looked totally cool --

I made a quick run through the exhibitors' hall, but haven't been to the dealers' room or the art show yet. They're not priorities, but I'd like to check them out. Now, however, it's coming up on 2am and I'm tired. Tomorrow's going to be a big day, between the DC parade, half a dozen panels and a few exciting late-night events.

Oh, hey, I almost forgot - George Lucas is here! I saw him, he stood right in front of me patiently waiting while a handful of geeks took his picture. Okay, so he might be on my shitlist [he & Peter Jackson are the only ones, so it doesn't really mean anything], but, dude, George Fuckin' Lucas, at DragonCon!

One more day!

Wow, I arrived in Atlanta Tuesday evening in a shocking state of preparedness, and now all I have to do with myself is be very excited about DragonCon starting tomorrow. Pleasantly, I'm staying with friends before the con, so I have good company. My costumes are ready to go, I've done a quick scan of the pocket program [conveniently available online], and I'm as braced as I'm likely to get to face a throng of 25,000 geeks.

Holy shit!

If it wasn't for disappointment, I wouldn't have any appointments

Disappointment: Katee Sackhoff [Starbuck on BSG] is on the DragonCon cancelled list. Aw damn.

Consolation: Claudia Black [Aeryn Sun on Farscape & Vala on SG-1] has been added to the guest list. Yay!

Further consolation: Adam Baldwin [Jayne on Firefly] is also scheduled to be there.

Geeks, Ho!

Five weeks 'til DragonCon and I'm starting to get pretty excited. Unfortunately, my significantly awesome other can't join me so I haven't posted about it, as I try hard not to rub in the fact that I'll be having an incredible time. Anyway, one of my favourite parts of events like this is the costuming, and my big project for this year's DC is a genie costume. It's...coming along. My sewing skillz aren't entirely weak, but this is definitely a learning project. I'll also bring a sari and something piratey, and possibly some elf clothes if I get around to picking up ears. Elves aren't really my thing, but it's a ridiculously easy costume and more about the spirit of the event than channeling Galadriel.

A long list of all the guests I'm looking forward to seeing would be boring, but I do have to rave about a few people. Back in the day, my ST:TNG holodeck fantasy starred Data & Dr. Crusher; as it happens, Brent Spiner & Gates McFadden are scheduled to be at DC, so I might still get lucky. Haha, I'm joking. Really. Uh, Claudia Christian will be there as well; she played the utterly awesome Cmdr. Susan Ivanova on Babylon 5. If I was willing to pay for an autograph, I'd take my copy of Playboy in which Claudia was featured and ask her to sign it. As it is, I probably won't even talk to her lest her godlike radiance reduces me to blithering dorkiness.

More DC stuff later, if anything comes up. For now, back to the costume-making grind!

DragonCon pictures, take two

My DC pictures weren't publicly viewable because my interweb skillz are weak, but I fixed the problem and now everyone can see them! DragonCon pictures, take two

DragonCon pictures up

Now Claudia Christian [Ivanova on B5] is scheduled to be at DragonCon. This means I must go, and I must finally make the B5 uniform I've wanted for years.

Anyway, my pictures from DC last year are now online. Some of them are crappy, because I still don't quite know how to use my camera, but some are pretty cool.

Geeks, en masse

Last year Timothy & I went to DragonCon in Atlanta and had an amazing time. If you're not familiar with DC, it's one of the largest scifi conventions in the world, drawing 25,000+ geeks of all varieties. 2006 was our second year ever, and our plan was to make a habit of it every couple-few years. My intention for this year was to attend BurningMan [they happen over Labor Day weekend, so I can't do both], but then I foolishly went to the DragonCon website. I just wanted to have a look at the latest news, see if any guests had been announced yet. Well, now I'm thinking BurningMan can wait for another year. Confirmed guests already include Jamie Bamber [Apollo] & Katee Sackhoff [Starbuck] from BSG, and Brent Spiner. Damn, Spiner alone makes it worth it. Plus, Michael Shanks [Daniel Jackson] & Christopher Judge [Teal'c] from SG-1 are also confirmed, as well as a few other people I wouldn't mind seeing. Over the next several months, the confirmed guests will grow to nearly 200 and I know there will be a lot more people on that list I want to see.

I think we decided this morning to go ahead & register for DC, before the fee goes up, and if we change our minds about going we can always sell the tickets. But, I suspect that once I have that confirmation in my hand, I won't be changing my mind.

So...anyone interested in sharing a room at DragonCon this year?