Dragon*Con - Day 1

55,000 people. That's how many was reported to have attended Dragon*Con this past weekend. And man, did it ever feel like it!

 

I don't remember it being so packed last year. The lines were unreal. But then, last year I spent most of my time in the writer's tracks. Those places aren't near as busy as say…the panel containing one John Barrowman. I didn't see any of his panels (I'm not a fan of Torchwood – not yet anyway), but my daughter did. All three of them. Apparently, he was very popular.

This year I decided to attend more celebrity panels, so maybe that's why I noticed the people more. Who knows?

Which panels did I attend? I'll list the ones I went to on Friday today and follow up with the other days later (so I don't bore you or make this longer than it needs to).



Adam West & Burt Ward. Yes, the original Dynamic Duo! Lines were NOT supposed to start forming until 60 minutes before the panel, but fans always get around that. The panel was at 11:30 and I ventured over to the hotel at 10:00, only to find the line already outside and wrapped around the building.

 

My seats weren't great and my pictures kind of fuzzy. Ah, but I was there! They were fun to listen to. Funny guys.

True Blood Cast Members: Nelsan Ellis (Lafayette), Carrie Preston (Arlene), Sam Trammell (Sam Merlotte), & Joe Manganiello (Alcide). This is another line that formed earlier and I ended up be in the middle of the ballroom. Picture taking was awful.

 

And, since I wanted to make it to another hotel for the next panel, I ended up leaving early. It wasn't like I hadn't seen them before (and if I can't see Joe up close, then what's the use?).



Firefly Cast Members: Adam Baldwin (Jayne Cobb), Jewel Staite (Kaylee Frye), & Sean Maher (Simon Tam). My goal was to see Adam Baldwin and I got pretty good seats in this panel because my daughter lined up early. Adam cracks me up. Someone gave them some Firefly Sweet Tea Bourbon, which they promptly opened up to sample! This was after they opened a bottle of champagne.

 

The best part? Adam called Nathan Fillion and then Nathan proceeded to call the others. They all had him on speakerphone. Don't know if it was all staged (it probably was), but it sure was fun!

Those were the fun panels on Friday. I attended some educational ones, too, making for a full day.

 

 Here are a couple of pictures I took of some costumes on Day 1 (I have no idea who they are supposed to be, so don't ask - or better yet, tell me!). Hope you enjoy them!