Dragon Con 2005

[Defiant1]

Well, Day 1 is up.

I preregistered Thursday right after work and the line was very small. I'm playing it different this year. Normally I don't drink. Thursday I sat around drinking after registration. What the (expletive deleted)!! I talk to a woman next to me for hours. Why, I don't know... but I did. She wasn't there for Dragon Con. Seeing all the geeks and even a person dressed up in a full costume of Chewbacca was probably a new experience for her (I don't wear costumes).

Friday (Day 1), I got there early. I knew quickly this was probably going to be a show I could have skipped and not regretted it one bit. A lot of the same guests as the year before. I started the day on my new game plan. Hair of the Dog. The bar was open, I ordered a drink. Once again, I ended up talking to a woman next to me for at least an hour. By 1PM when the dealers room was opened, I was in a fairly elevated state of being. If anything I was bored.

I roamed around the hotels for hours, hoping that one thing exciting might make it worth the money I was spending. I bought some stuff but nothing worth the price of attendance.

Famous First Editions F-5
Neal Adams Rowdy & Beautiful Women Sketchbook
How to Draw Boobs (Adam Hughs Sketchbook)
Paul Gulacy Original Artwork (Catwoman #26 pg. 17)
Gigi Edgley DVD Showreel (I have no idea what I bought. I figured I'd get more for my money with a 15 minute DVD than I would a signed photo. This is the gray skinned girl from Farscape. I love her look on the show. She was pretty without the make-up too.)

Scans are here:
thor.prohosting.com/ultrav/mb/Recent.html

More updates as I attend. I may not go Sunday or Monday. I suspect Saturday will wear me out and waste my day off. There isn't anything else I want to buy now. Not one comics dealer had pre-hero Tales to Astonish. One out of state dealer said he was buying a Silver Age collection while in Atanta and that I should check back.

Day 2 may have more to offer. Who knows.

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

Day 2 -

I picked up a Mike Mayhew sketch. I got bored with the show and left not long after that. See link above for a scan.

Went back later and got an Anomalies TPB. I got so annoyed with the crooks running the pay parking lots around the hotel, that I doubt I'll ever go back to another Dragon Con.

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

Day 3 - Didn't Go

[Defiant1]

Day 4 Didn't Go.
I was so annoyed by parking, I doubt I'll go next year either.

[billbob]

admin said:

Day 4 Didn't Go.
I was so annoyed by parking, I doubt I'll go next year either.

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D - These things are mostly annoying. I take my kids to the Wizard Philly show (on Saturdays) for all the freebies. They load up with free books and oher crap. Plus they get to go to Geno's for steakwiches and Six Flags on the way back to NYC. Everyone has a blast - but basically Comic Book fans are geeks ;D - I can't imagine spending four whole freaking days hanging with them ;D - present company excepted of course.

[Brother J]

billbob said:

admin said:

Day 4 Didn't Go.
I was so annoyed by parking, I doubt I'll go next year either.

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D - These things are mostly annoying. I take my kids to the Wizard Philly show (on Saturdays) for all the freebies. They load up with free books and oher crap. Plus they get to go to Geno's for steakwiches and Six Flags on the way back to NYC. Everyone has a blast - but basically Comic Book fans are geeks ;D - I can't imagine spending four whole freaking days hanging with them ;D - present company excepted of course.

yeah, Wizard World Chicago pretty much sucks, as well. Too much money spent to get in and to park and too much emphasis on things other than comics for my taste. I also can't understand the geek mentality of dressing up like a comic book or Sci-Fi character.

[Defiant1]

billbob said:

admin said:

Day 4 Didn't Go.
I was so annoyed by parking, I doubt I'll go next year either.

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D - These things are mostly annoying. I take my kids to the Wizard Philly show (on Saturdays) for all the freebies. They load up with free books and oher crap. Plus they get to go to Geno's for steakwiches and Six Flags on the way back to NYC. Everyone has a blast - but basically Comic Book fans are geeks ;D - I can't imagine spending four whole freaking days hanging with them ;D - present company excepted of course.

You can't really compare Dragon Con to a comic book convention.... at least I don't think you can. Dragon Con offers a lot more. I sat through one computer track where they discussed the legalities of the GPL& LGPL licenses as a wrapper for FOSS (Free Open Source Software). I just don't think Wizard World would host something like that. Maybe it would. One year the Libertarian Party was setup and my curiosity got me on their mailing list. I'm not Libertarian...I know that much now. They have tracks dedicated to Robot Wars and things like that. Dragon Con is so rife with debauchery that I wouldn't even want to expose a child to it. Women walk around topless with little more than makeup and possibly tape covering the part you woudn't normally see in public. There are men walking around in spandex as a reminder that men don't belong in spandex. It ismore of a freak show than anything else.

I will say that I saw one of the most adorable encounters I could have ever imagined. While away from the convention itself at a food court connected to the hotels, a little 4 year old girl was awed by all the Storm Troopers walking around. She was excited and telling them she had seen them in the movies. The Storm Troopers stopped and posed for a picture with her. It was just very heart warming to see a kid that excited and happy.

f I didn't have to put up with the price gouging at the one parking lot on Day 2 and the a-holes booting my vehicle at another lot, I would have been tolerant of the other things you describe.

Defiant1

[Defiant1]

brotherj said:

billbob said:

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D - These things are mostly annoying. I take my kids to the Wizard Philly show (on Saturdays) for all the freebies. They load up with free books and oher crap. Plus they get to go to Geno's for steakwiches and Six Flags on the way back to NYC. Everyone has a blast - but basically Comic Book fans are geeks ;D - I can't imagine spending four whole freaking days hanging with them ;D - present company excepted of course.

yeah, Wizard World Chicago pretty much sucks, as well. Too much money spent to get in and to park and too much emphasis on things other than comics for my taste. I also can't understand the geek mentality of dressing up like a comic book or Sci-Fi character.

I like seeing tracks that truly let you learn about things you'd have no access to otherwise. The geek driven desire to make a costume out of cardboard and construction paper baffles me. One guy was walking around as Indiana Jones in a leather jacket. He did take it off later, but that had to be hot.

Defiant1