![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancerjodiWe’re back from http://www.dragoncon.org/. We had a lot of fun as usual and have lots of fun pictures to share (link to be posted later). Its funny, by the time the con is winding down I’m pretty ready to return to my normal life.
We arrived on Thursday without incident, running into Spud, Melinda and Traci in the airport while heading to the MARTA. After checking in we unpacked and headed to find some food (pizza in the mall food court – yummy), do a quick tour of the place, and register. Registration this year overflowed into a THIRD hotel, the Hilton behind the Mariott. The process was quick and painless; we grabbed programs and free goodies, and walked around to kill time before the annual 501st dinner at Hooters. Meeting troopers from elsewhere is always fun, as are Buffalo wings and taking over a whole section of the place. They were happy to see us (and posted a welcome sign on the door). After a few hours there we spent the night looking at early costumers. I also caught a set from http://www.insidethebelljar.com/ . I enjoyed them quite a bit, and picked up their CD/DVD combo that was only $10. They kind of reminded me a bit of a combination of Reflecting Skin and A Perfect Circle, not bad at all! I was unenthused with the band in the other ballroom (it may have been Sins of Lust, can’t remember). Hanging in the Hyatt Lobby we found an awesome Sean of the Dead (the best of the weekend imo) who looked a lot like the actor that portrayed him. Wouldn’t you know it, he’s a CA member of the 501st. We headed to bed at around 2:30 or so.
Friday was a whirlwind of activity – so much so that it’s hard to remember what we even did. We woke up without an alarm and puttered in the room a bit since official con activities didn’t start until 1:00. Wandering, costume spotting and lunch would occupy our time until rooms opened. We hit the exhibitor’s room and the dealer’s room first – man, were they packed, wall to wall people, hard to walk by. It was a light year for us and Brian and I didn’t spend a lot of money. He got autographs from http://www.daniel-logan.com/ and Ray Park (whose site seems to be empty at the moment – here’s info from imdb http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0661917/ ). We also picked up an Andrew Blake movie from Aria (probably not work safe, http://www.ariagiovanni.com/ ) that she was in, and I got a pic with her. Peter Mayhew was there, but we got an autograph for him already (and he hung at the 501st mixer on Saturday) but we noticed he was donating all proceeds from his autographed photos to the Red Cross, nice of him! At 3:00 I met up with other volunteers for the Droid Hunt http://www.theforce.net/costumes/story/Droid_Hunt_at_Celebration_III_90740.asp to pick up badges to distribute (so I missed the Rebel Legion Panel), since I volunteered to do that and referee (getting a neat iron on patch for my red shirt and a black whistle to blow if any troopers weren’t following the rules. After doing that a bit, walking around and such passing out droid badges and jedi mind trick cards, and finding Brian we had dinner and headed to the evening festivities. My first outfit of the night was the gothy/can can girl. I had trouble finding some of the Moulin Rouge people but LOVED the men in tuxes with tutus. More small world and 501st meetings commenced. After I got tired of walking around in my underwear, a corset and a sheer can can skirt I changed into something more comfy and headed back for the shows. Voodou was kind of unexciting but we caught the http://mightymcflyrocks.com/ of course (having seen them last year and loved them). They lost their cute female band members but replaced them with some rocking male ones. Where else can you hear a bunch of Journey, Guns and Roses, Poison, Def Leppard, Pat Benetar, Rick Springfield, Vanilla Ice and The Darkness covers? I had a blast singing out loud to all of the songs while a bunch of Nuns with Guns in front of us and Kill Bill Ninjas with swords to the left of us joined in. Late night would be taken up by wandering, more eye candy and socializing.
Saturday is always the crazy day. We were up early to march in the parade with the Rebel Legion (though, Brian couldn’t since he forgot his X-Wing vest at home) and doing the group Legion photo (there were more of us than last year, whoot!). After sweating in the Atlanta morning sun in costume (but meeting a lot of cool other Rebel costumers) we recuperated in the room for a bit with water and a shower and headed out for the day. We visited the peeps at the 501st table for a bit, walked some more, I refereed the droid hunt, saw a http://www.bellamorte.com acoustic set (apparently their first), saw the Star Wars Costume contest, caught one of http://www.voltaire.net/ many sets of the weekend (also picked up his new CD and new gothic decorating book – it’s a riot!). James, Ashton and I tried dinner at http://www.steakandale.com/ down the street before going home to suit up for trying to debut the Sith Cheerleaders to Ray Park, Mr. Darth Maul himself. Ray didn’t show up for the Star Wars Trivia panel where we were going to shake our pom poms at him, so we’d have to grab him on Sunday. We headed to the 501st mixer (as mentioned, Peter and Angie Mayhew were there hanging out, its weird seeing Chewbacca in a booth with a bunch of drunk TKs, cheerleaders and trooper groupies while his wife looks on in a tiara) for must debauchery before wandering back to the Hyatt for Voltaire’s evening show. Brian and I got to hear the new hilarious Star Wars song (about Luke going into the Cantina and coming out not such a man any more). More wandering ensued, more costumes, more silliness. We spent the late eve talking with Laurie and Scott (other fellow NEGers) in the Mariott lobby before getting to bed at around 3:30 or so.
Sunday, yet another crazy day. We were up early for the 501st photo which took a long time, though there were some pretty cute shots from the whole ordeal. A shower and water (yay dehydration – not) and some lunch energized us for some more socializing, hitting a professional costuming panel (hearing actors talk of how their character was influenced by costumes or vice versa). At 4:00 I had to be back in the cheerleader outfit for our finally meeting up with Ray, many great pictures ensued. Changing out again, we wandered a bit, hit the Art Show room (very nice stuff, but nothing I’d want to buy), went to an open 501st council meeting (which was very interesting – leadership is really on the ball with things and the group though vocal seems to be very democratic, which I like), had dinner, and met up with friends in our room to watch the Masquerade. It’s always a lot of fun, but this year seemed lacking compared to those previous. There were fewer entries, fewer entries that made me really go “wow”, and more entries that were more for the sake of the skit and less for the sake of costuming. But, we got to hear http://www.lukeski.com/ version of the Star Wars A New Hope using changed versions of songs from Grease, the Musical! It was a riot, and I’m not usually a fan of filking. Also, MST2King the thing was fun, including a poor portly Ash who yelled out “This is my Boomstick!” only to get “This is my Manboobstick” yelled back at him! The masquerade was in the Hyatt again for the first time in 3 years, so we didn’t even try to attend in person. Ashton went and said it was actually not filled up – I’m wondering how many stayed in their rooms. More wandering, saw some of the Dawn look-alikes which is always nice, caught some of http://www.cruxshadows.com/, http://www.genelovesjezebel.com/ (who sounded like ass live, I’m sorry to say) and the start of http://www.combichrist.com/. We just weren’t feeling the total electronic love of the latter band (I’m sorry, but I like some kind of guitars, drums and such made by a person live in my live performance), so we headed back to the room for chatting, packing up and getting to bed.
Today’s trip home was uneventful.
It’s kind of sad to leave such an alive, crazy place but at the same time it’s nice to be home with our furry kids and our comfort. As with any year Dragoncon always inspires me for many things – music to get, books to read, costumes to make, people to stay in touch with.
We arrived on Thursday without incident, running into Spud, Melinda and Traci in the airport while heading to the MARTA. After checking in we unpacked and headed to find some food (pizza in the mall food court – yummy), do a quick tour of the place, and register. Registration this year overflowed into a THIRD hotel, the Hilton behind the Mariott. The process was quick and painless; we grabbed programs and free goodies, and walked around to kill time before the annual 501st dinner at Hooters. Meeting troopers from elsewhere is always fun, as are Buffalo wings and taking over a whole section of the place. They were happy to see us (and posted a welcome sign on the door). After a few hours there we spent the night looking at early costumers. I also caught a set from http://www.insidethebelljar.com/ . I enjoyed them quite a bit, and picked up their CD/DVD combo that was only $10. They kind of reminded me a bit of a combination of Reflecting Skin and A Perfect Circle, not bad at all! I was unenthused with the band in the other ballroom (it may have been Sins of Lust, can’t remember). Hanging in the Hyatt Lobby we found an awesome Sean of the Dead (the best of the weekend imo) who looked a lot like the actor that portrayed him. Wouldn’t you know it, he’s a CA member of the 501st. We headed to bed at around 2:30 or so.
Friday was a whirlwind of activity – so much so that it’s hard to remember what we even did. We woke up without an alarm and puttered in the room a bit since official con activities didn’t start until 1:00. Wandering, costume spotting and lunch would occupy our time until rooms opened. We hit the exhibitor’s room and the dealer’s room first – man, were they packed, wall to wall people, hard to walk by. It was a light year for us and Brian and I didn’t spend a lot of money. He got autographs from http://www.daniel-logan.com/ and Ray Park (whose site seems to be empty at the moment – here’s info from imdb http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0661917/ ). We also picked up an Andrew Blake movie from Aria (probably not work safe, http://www.ariagiovanni.com/ ) that she was in, and I got a pic with her. Peter Mayhew was there, but we got an autograph for him already (and he hung at the 501st mixer on Saturday) but we noticed he was donating all proceeds from his autographed photos to the Red Cross, nice of him! At 3:00 I met up with other volunteers for the Droid Hunt http://www.theforce.net/costumes/story/Droid_Hunt_at_Celebration_III_90740.asp to pick up badges to distribute (so I missed the Rebel Legion Panel), since I volunteered to do that and referee (getting a neat iron on patch for my red shirt and a black whistle to blow if any troopers weren’t following the rules. After doing that a bit, walking around and such passing out droid badges and jedi mind trick cards, and finding Brian we had dinner and headed to the evening festivities. My first outfit of the night was the gothy/can can girl. I had trouble finding some of the Moulin Rouge people but LOVED the men in tuxes with tutus. More small world and 501st meetings commenced. After I got tired of walking around in my underwear, a corset and a sheer can can skirt I changed into something more comfy and headed back for the shows. Voodou was kind of unexciting but we caught the http://mightymcflyrocks.com/ of course (having seen them last year and loved them). They lost their cute female band members but replaced them with some rocking male ones. Where else can you hear a bunch of Journey, Guns and Roses, Poison, Def Leppard, Pat Benetar, Rick Springfield, Vanilla Ice and The Darkness covers? I had a blast singing out loud to all of the songs while a bunch of Nuns with Guns in front of us and Kill Bill Ninjas with swords to the left of us joined in. Late night would be taken up by wandering, more eye candy and socializing.
Saturday is always the crazy day. We were up early to march in the parade with the Rebel Legion (though, Brian couldn’t since he forgot his X-Wing vest at home) and doing the group Legion photo (there were more of us than last year, whoot!). After sweating in the Atlanta morning sun in costume (but meeting a lot of cool other Rebel costumers) we recuperated in the room for a bit with water and a shower and headed out for the day. We visited the peeps at the 501st table for a bit, walked some more, I refereed the droid hunt, saw a http://www.bellamorte.com acoustic set (apparently their first), saw the Star Wars Costume contest, caught one of http://www.voltaire.net/ many sets of the weekend (also picked up his new CD and new gothic decorating book – it’s a riot!). James, Ashton and I tried dinner at http://www.steakandale.com/ down the street before going home to suit up for trying to debut the Sith Cheerleaders to Ray Park, Mr. Darth Maul himself. Ray didn’t show up for the Star Wars Trivia panel where we were going to shake our pom poms at him, so we’d have to grab him on Sunday. We headed to the 501st mixer (as mentioned, Peter and Angie Mayhew were there hanging out, its weird seeing Chewbacca in a booth with a bunch of drunk TKs, cheerleaders and trooper groupies while his wife looks on in a tiara) for must debauchery before wandering back to the Hyatt for Voltaire’s evening show. Brian and I got to hear the new hilarious Star Wars song (about Luke going into the Cantina and coming out not such a man any more). More wandering ensued, more costumes, more silliness. We spent the late eve talking with Laurie and Scott (other fellow NEGers) in the Mariott lobby before getting to bed at around 3:30 or so.
Sunday, yet another crazy day. We were up early for the 501st photo which took a long time, though there were some pretty cute shots from the whole ordeal. A shower and water (yay dehydration – not) and some lunch energized us for some more socializing, hitting a professional costuming panel (hearing actors talk of how their character was influenced by costumes or vice versa). At 4:00 I had to be back in the cheerleader outfit for our finally meeting up with Ray, many great pictures ensued. Changing out again, we wandered a bit, hit the Art Show room (very nice stuff, but nothing I’d want to buy), went to an open 501st council meeting (which was very interesting – leadership is really on the ball with things and the group though vocal seems to be very democratic, which I like), had dinner, and met up with friends in our room to watch the Masquerade. It’s always a lot of fun, but this year seemed lacking compared to those previous. There were fewer entries, fewer entries that made me really go “wow”, and more entries that were more for the sake of the skit and less for the sake of costuming. But, we got to hear http://www.lukeski.com/ version of the Star Wars A New Hope using changed versions of songs from Grease, the Musical! It was a riot, and I’m not usually a fan of filking. Also, MST2King the thing was fun, including a poor portly Ash who yelled out “This is my Boomstick!” only to get “This is my Manboobstick” yelled back at him! The masquerade was in the Hyatt again for the first time in 3 years, so we didn’t even try to attend in person. Ashton went and said it was actually not filled up – I’m wondering how many stayed in their rooms. More wandering, saw some of the Dawn look-alikes which is always nice, caught some of http://www.cruxshadows.com/, http://www.genelovesjezebel.com/ (who sounded like ass live, I’m sorry to say) and the start of http://www.combichrist.com/. We just weren’t feeling the total electronic love of the latter band (I’m sorry, but I like some kind of guitars, drums and such made by a person live in my live performance), so we headed back to the room for chatting, packing up and getting to bed.
Today’s trip home was uneventful.
It’s kind of sad to leave such an alive, crazy place but at the same time it’s nice to be home with our furry kids and our comfort. As with any year Dragoncon always inspires me for many things – music to get, books to read, costumes to make, people to stay in touch with.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2005-09-07 02:16 pm (UTC)I can totally agree with this. I already have a long list of things to do post-con, but there were already a million things on the list before the con. And I need to figure out what ID number I want and fill out my 501st registration...
On a side note, I found the video of your Slave Leia bellydance on the photo gallery - very nice! Do you dance with a professional organization, or is it just a hobby?
Hi!
Date: 2005-09-07 02:53 pm (UTC)Brian and I stuck with something out of our birth date. Ashton has something from his phone number. It makes it easier to remember :)
"On a side note, I found the video of your Slave Leia bellydance on the photo gallery - very nice! Do you dance with a professional organization, or is it just a hobby?"
I was taking lessons off and on for a while (about 5 years) and the dance was at our group's student show. As far as level goes I'm pretty intermediate - my first dance interest is tap/jazz and ballet, so I won't be doing bellydance anymore for the time being.
Re: Hi!
Date: 2005-09-07 04:42 pm (UTC)That's probably what I'll end up doing, because I'm a little too brain-fried to come up with something clever and creative.
I was taking lessons off and on for a while (about 5 years) and the dance was at our group's student show. As far as level goes I'm pretty intermediate - my first dance interest is tap/jazz and ballet, so I won't be doing bellydance anymore for the time being.
Well, I thought you looked very good, and think it's a very cool hobby. I can't dance to save my life, so I'm probably a little envious. :-)
Re: Hi!
Date: 2005-09-07 05:03 pm (UTC)I think anyone can, it just takes time and practice. My parents signed me up for lessons when I was 2 and I never stopped (so I have a bit of an advantage) ;)
Re: Hi!
Date: 2005-09-07 08:22 pm (UTC)