October 7 Closer to Home - Lackey Unbinding - Wilks October 21 Change of Heart - Deveraux
October 28 Archangel's Shadows - Singh Blood Magick - Roberts Burn for Me - Andrews The Slow Regard of Silent Things - Rothfuss
Give it to me!
BURN FOR ME by Ilona Andrews (Release Date 10/28/2014)
Like the Banner?
Well check out katie lee grosskopf illustration and see more artistic creations from the incredibly talented woman who is responsible for the art adorning RAtChaos's banner.
Words to Live By
"Racism isn't born, folks, it's taught. I have a two-year-old son. You know what he hates? Naps! End of list." -- Dennis Leary
"If you were born a certain way, embrace it. Change only what you can't live with, but try to accept who you are, and say 'Yes' to what makes you unique." -- Laura Mercier
"Always be who you are, and say what you feel, because people who mind don't matter, and people who matter don't mind." --Dr. Seuss
"It came from me. One day I decided that I was beautiful, and so I carried out my life as if I was a beautiful girl. I wear colors that I really like, I wear makeup that makes me feel pretty, and it really helps. It doesn’t have anything to do with how the world perceives you. What matters is what you see." -- Gabourney Sidibe
In spite of all the people and the fun costumes (which I'm still not done showing you guys) a big part of why I go to DragonCon are the panels. Since this is a convention run by and for fans the panels are often the best part, the times when you get to hear directly from the actors, actresses, authors, artists, etc. that inspire you. Every year it seems to get a little bit harder to get into every panel that I want (I still haven't seen the Geeky Burlesque Show and was completed shut out of Adam and Jamie's Mythbuster panel) but since DragonCon actually clears the room between each one there's always a chance if you don't mind sitting in the back. I might have missed Amy Acker this year (did she actually do a panel at all? Anybody know?) but I DID get to see Lucy Lawless and hear from some of my favorite authors so I'm still considering this all a win!
"Spotlight on Lucy Lawless"
I had no idea what a wonderful beautiful human being Lucy Lawless is. I loved hearing her thoughts on playing the Xena role, a Xena movie, and how she felts about the long lasting effects the character had on viewers.
"Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"
Cirroc Lofton, Avery Brooks, Terry Farrell, Garrett Wang (r-l)
Since I've spent so much time with TNG and Voyager crew in the past I made this year the DS9 year (and it was there 20th Anniversary!). This was a very cool panel, each of the actors were very graceful and fun to listen to - and Avery Brooks is a nut (in a good way).
"The Men of Urban Fantasy"
S.M Stirling (not pictured), D.B. Jackson (not pictured), James R. Tuck, Jonathan Maberry, John G. Hartness, Jim Butcher, Kevin J. Anderson (not pictured)(r-l)
How could I not go to this panel?! I heard Jim Butcher individually the first year he went to DragonCon so this time around I got to hear a bunch of male authors talk about what they liked best writing in the genre. I was also introduced to a few authors I had never hear of before (James R. Tuck & John G. Hartness, books unread, were my favorites!).
I've started going through and sorting the many, many, MANY pictures I took at DragonCon this year and let me tell you something - it's a labor of love! There are going to be lots of other blogs with significantly better photography *shakes fist at low light options* than the ones I showcase on Good Red Herring but I had a great time there and who knows, maybe one of you will get inspired to go one year!
Awkward - People. Oh god the people. I love mingling with my fellow geeks but DragonCon & the hosting hotels need to step up their badge checking game so that every skybridge doesn't end up backed up forever. - Gang rape by puppets. Yeah - the puppet slam is 18+ for a reason but even I wasn't prepared for that level of WTF*ckery. - More of a personal awkward, but Eliza Dushku was behind/next to me in the bathroom in the Marriott and I DIDN'T NOTICE. I was chatting with my friend and checking my phone for where we were heading next and even when she tried to signal me I was completely oblivious. Sigh. I'm a bad fan sometimes. (Plus she's really short and I'm gonna stick to the story that it threw me off my game.) - Moving the merchandise rooms this year to the AmericasMart was such a bad call. Complete chaos, no one could find anything, and browsing was pretty much impossible. - Guys, I don't understand the lack of underwear for people in tight spandex. I don't need everyone to wear full coverage granny panties but I also don't want to know by looking at you if you're circumcised or not.
Awesome - The Radius Tower at the Hyatt. From the sounds of things we got a larger room in that area than usual (thank goodness) but the private key card entrance and private elevators were AMAZEBALLS! - Author panels! Besides just the joy of finding new series to try I love connecting with authors and hearing them speak about their work - it's a rare opportunity to hear them say why exactly they love what they write (and why) and DragonCon excels at this. - XENA IN THE HOUSE YA'LL! Lucy Lawless was at DragonCon (it was her first big convention appearance ever) and listening to her was amazing. - I found Jen & John from Cakewrecks again! I got to see them in all their Alice in Wonderland Steampunk glory and it was fabulous (they're so nice!). - DragonCon TV. Always a plus and probably one of the biggest reasons I stay in a hosting hotel. - Even though I told myself that my lack of wall space meant I couldn't buy more art, I bought more art. But I love it so the regrets are pretty much nil and now I'm contemplating turning a whole wall in my studio into a Nightmare Before Christmas display! - Costume success! I didn't get to see Yaya Han in her costumes as much as I would have liked to but I did see her in her Moulin Rouge Snow White look and personally, the couple actual costumes I had went over well (and weren't a pain to wear). Probably the most surprising thing was how much of a hit my Modcloth Pie Dress was with the crowds and I spent a lot of time telling people where to buy it!
In the end, DragonCon is a fantastic weekend where I get to reconnect with friends who live far away and learn more about the areas I'm passionate about. It's pricey but totally worth it, though I do have a teeny tiny hope that maybe a few thousand people will suddenly decide not to attend next year, lol. The crowds were at times oppressive and I can't imagine the experience for those with physical disabilities. STAY TUNED for more pictures!
Ever wonder what it is exactly about Dragon*Con that makes it so
amazing? Well I hope this collage gives you an idea (at least until I
get back home and can post pictures!)...
I don't know how anyone does this. I LOVED the costumes I saw this
year and narrowing it down to a manageable post is almost evil. It
forces me to weigh one against the other in a battle royale of costume-y
goodness. Plus my pics are probably sad little representations when
placed against some of the DLSR photos but hey, I had phone. This is just a small sampling of what's available in this album so don't forget to check it out! P.S. - Click to embiggen! These costumes are seriously off the chains (yeah I said it).
Avengers!
I loved their attention to detail and overall feel - they'd obviously
put a lot of time and energy into these costumes.
OMG LOOK AT THEM! Seriously - Mario, Luigi, AND Wario?! I may have had a squeal fest when I saw them but I admit nothing.
Voyager
is my #1 Star Trek love and by far this is the best Seven of Nine I've
ever seen - props to the other dudes too but she was my favorite!
Attack of my childhood! An amazing Labyrinth
couple (and if you couldn't tell, Jareth is a girl!). I even saw them
later in the weekend in another set of costumes from the movie. I loved
them. And who could forget RU-FI-OOOOOOO! Plus with the possibly the
best photobomb ever, you also get the Professor and the Powerpuff Girls!
As I mentioned in my Awkward and Awesome post, this year I spent a
lot of time waiting in line. Which I HATE by the way, but is necessary
if you've got limited time and incredible people to see. It's a
conundrum I face every year, but this time around there were a few
people I was dying to see (though I missed Mercedes Lackey! Dammit!) and
for the most part all the waiting was worth it. To
try and limit the ridiculous size of this post (though seriously, it's
still too big) I didn't link to every random closeup I took of the
guests, but you can check out the full album of pics I have here.
Buffy and Angel Guest Q&A
Juliet Landau, James Marsters
Juliet Landau, James Marsters, J August Richards
This one was so fun! Marsters is always a riot but seeing Landau (Drusilla) and
Richards (Gunn) was a treat. It was wonderful seeing them interact with
each other and talk about some of the experiences they had working with
the show's writers and of course, Whedon.
Weird, Amazing, Psychotic Life: The Farscape Cast Reunion
Keither R.A. Decandido, Rebecca Riggs, Gigi Edgley, Virginia Hey
Claudia
Black and Ben Browder are my absolute favorites but I enjoyed sitting
in on this panel and getting to hear from the villain of the show
(Rebecca Riggs)
Stan 'the Man' Lee - Excelsior!
Stan Lee
A hilarious old man who loves his work and his fans. What's not to love?
Instead of inundating you with a million posts (which I hate writing and are
probably boring for you to read) here's a quick A&A to be followed
up by one (or two) picture posts. I'm always sad to leave Dragon*con but I'm so happy to
be back to my life and my studio apartment!
Awkward: -Getting an hour outside DC before remembering the baggie of jewelry still sitting on my bed. -Creepy CVS guy trying to pull the 'I have to take a photo of you' card. Uh, no. F*ck you. -Jason Mamoa bringing cups/bottle of beer into every panel he was on. Strange, strange man. -The woman at the Jason Mamoa panel who asked to touch his biceps. THAT IS NOT RELEVANT OK?! -The lines. Oh god, the lines. I did more waiting this year than I really like and it was poop every time. -Losing your moisturizer in the one room you've had it in, only to have it found in a washcloth no one has ever seen before o_O. -Fart wars. Really, Voyager cast? Ok then. You do you. -Spending 20min the entire weekend in the art show. There is just not enough time in the day! -Not having enough books to read. Or not having enough books that I really wanted to read. -Humidity.
Atlanta in the summer is the home of steamy heat and sweat, which when
surrounded by 50,000 people who don't like to shower? Not good. -With that said, B.O. I should not smell you from 20 feet away. It's a bad sign. -Vlogging.
How does anyone do that? Not only do I forget about my camera half the
time, the other half I don't have anything interesting to say. Sigh. I
think I'm just gonna give up.
A little awkward, a LOT amazing.
Awesome: -Burlesque
Power Rangers were apprently a 'distraction' to people coming up the
escalator, so hotel security politely asked us to move over 10 feet to
avoid an accident. THAT TOTALLY HAPPENED.
And apparently I made this face.
-Chicken quesadillas. Cheese + chicken + salsa = magic. -A
slightly drunk (or exhausted) Robert Picardo stepping into the elevator
with my friend Jessica and I, trying to find the room for his next
panel. -An entire elevator letting me know that they all agreed and thought I should cosplay as Inara from Firefly. Ok... -People in MUCH better steampunk costumes than I wanting to take a picture of me and my makeup! So freaking cool! -MEETING JEN AND JOHN FROM CAKEWRECKS/EPBOT! I found them completely by accident (I don't stalk Twitter enough) but I did it! -Richard Dean Anderson is hilarious and old and I would still marry him in a heart beat. -Leather
corsets! Costs an arm and a leg but looks fantastic. I can wear it
every day right? Leather's always aprorpriate for work. -"My
Drunk Kitchen". Don't kow it? Look it up! It's short, hilarious, and
easily the most entertaining thing to watch on epic car rides. -Cook
Out. I know that's another food item, but it deserves it's own awesome
spot. It's so good and the DMV is missing out! Hush puppies and cajun
cheese fries? A corn dog as a 'side'? A chicken wrap as a 'side'?
Genius!
That's right folks, at the time of this posting there are 10 DAYS UNTIL DRAGON*CON 2012!!!! It's down to the wire for me and my costumes, which thank goodness are nearing completion. I have mad respect for the people who do this on a regular basis - not only is it incredibly time consuming, but the level of commitment and skill necessary to really pull off a costume is immense. I'm doing maybe (*maybe*) 1/4 of the work of a professional and I've found myself contemplating a good cry in the corner more than once. Still I think I'm gonna make it, if for nothing else than to see all the people I love at the event itself!
Getting ready!
As far as hard -core stalkery goes, this year there are a few (heh) names on my list that I want to see/obsess over. They are:
Authors Laurell K. Hamilton Sherrilyn Kenyon Nancy L. Holder Mercedes Lackey Larry Dixon
Actors Gillian Anderson Dean Cain James Marsters Jason Momoa Amy Okuda Billy Boyd Felicia Day
Burt Ward Adam West Garrett Wang Sean Maher Kathy Najimy Robert Picardo Tim Russ Richard Dean Anderson Grant Imahara Anthony Michael Hall Adam Baldwin Amber Benson LeVar Burton Michael Dorn Jonathan Frakes Juliet Landau Joe Manganiello Jason Momoa Nichelle Nichols Robin Thorsen Jeff Lewis Vincent Caso Sandeep Parikh
Other Yaya Han Crüxshadows
But you know what these names say to me?
The Guild Panel
Last year at Dragon*Con it was a Guild panel that even got me watching the webseries. The actors were that hilarious and awesome.
Oh Star Trek. Whether you're full of Voyager people or those from TNG you guarantee entertainment and possible dramatic exits. Score.
Buffy/Angel Panels
I can't wait to see Juliet Landau - and with James Marsters even! I haven't heard her speak before so I've got my fingers crossed for even more great cast anecdotes.
She just may get me back into the author line this year. Her books have been favorites of mine for years and still maintain ample bookshelf space. I've got my fingers crossed it won't take forever and a day because I'd really love to come back with some signed pieces.
Adam West & Burt Ward vs Jason Mamoa & Joe Manganiello
These...these are the outliers. Both are incredibly popular icons of geeky goodness, but all are people I'd really only see because they were there - not because I, you know, loved them deeply. They're on the list but huge lines could definitely send me else where.
For anyone else joining me at Dragon*Con, who do you want to see? Or if you're not going, who are your favorites?
Ok so here we go (or continue) - on to Day 2! Day 2 for me is Saturday and for most people it includes the parade first thing in the morning, but somehow I have yet to see it. I like sleep! Or more accurately, I like sleep and the leisure time to do complicated makeup without feeling pressured by a panel.
To-ma-to, to-mah-to.
According to my phone app, which is such a badass because it STILL shows me the events from Labor Day weekend, I had 23 events that I tentatively wanted to go to. A completely ridiculous goal, especially considering that at least half of them were happening at the same time. I started with the panel 'Hunting Monsters for Fun and Profit' which had both LKH and Sherrilyn Kenyon (with some other authors) there to speak on their worlds and characters.
It was great as usual, especially since Kenyon has SO MANY BOOKS that any one question takes forever for her to answer or she can't answer at all because each character has their own motivation. Plus I thought it was hilarious that Larry Correia's main character physically takes after himself because he didn't feel like readers saw enough 'big & tall' men representing. And Correia's walked into a spinning ceiling fan. Cause this is apparently something that tall people need to worry about.
I didn't go to any readings, though I had some written down for Rachel Caine and Carole Nelson Douglas. I think I decided that sustenance was more important, which I don't regret because if you don't make time for it you can seriously never eat at Dragon*Con. You'll always find yourself in line, in a panel, or gawking at freaking amazing costumes. Oh and the only reason I didn't go to the Stargate SG-1 panel was because it was out in the freaking WESTIN which not only is hard to get to because it's so far away, the rooms are small! How do I know this you ask? Because they turned people away from Dr. Horrible's Sing-a-long Blog's sing-a-long! Which has never happened to me! They turned people away because they didn't empty the room after the Buffy the Musical sing-a-long and then wouldn't even let anyone stick around to see if people left. It was infuriating! And then I found out later that there were empty seats!!! My butt could have been in one of those empty seats! I hate you Westin!
But my very favorite thing of the day was the Star Trek Next Generation panel which had not only Wil Wheaton but Gates McFadden AND Brent Spiner! Dr. Crusher and Data in the house!! Dr. Crusher by the way seems to have not aged a bit, which is both cruel and unfair because we all know I'm not going to be as lucky. I always get unbelievable geek glee when I see a bunch of TNG actors together because you can just see how much they know and like each other. They joke and kid, not only with themselves mind you, but also with the audience, and it makes you like them. And I guess I feel like liking the actors somehow makes it better that I love the show. Which I realize makes no sense but I'm trying to explain a feeling and who makes sense explaining a feeling? No one that's who.
(sorry my picture is blurry, I couldn't any using my flash due to someone in the audience.)
After that the Rainbow Brite group got together for some general debauchery and it was fantastic. Not only were all of us different modern interpretations of our character's costumes, but even though we all did it our own way we still fit together. And were way hotter than another Rainbow Brite group we randomly ran into (I think about these things ok? I already know I'm a bad person you don't have to tell me :P). What was the best were all the parents who made their kids take pictures with us. The kids would have no idea who we were but to the parents we were a part of their childhood and THEY wanted to memorialize it, even if the kids ended up crying about it later. Plus can you imagine being a little kid at Dragon*Con? Everyone's huge and dressed up and often very scary and here we were, a co-ed group of younger people in brightly colored costumes with big smiles. We were the most non-threatening thing ever.
And in a case of 'WTF?' for the con, after our original Buddy Blue went off to some kind of panel on polymath decision making (don't ask) we ran into ANOTHER Buddy Blue! With a Canary Yellow! All of a sudden were and even more impressive group of Rainbow Brite cosplayers and we didn't even have to do anything! Even better was the fact that these two were looking for their own group and thought we were them. No one knew anyone else and once they found us people started taking pictures and that was just the end of it. None of us were willing to break up the group and halt the madness so we all just stuck around and had fun.
This post is starting to get epic again so I'm just going to stop here and say that after pictures Jessica and I went to a Nightmare Before Christmas Panel and it was epic. And if Rogue from Curxshadows would teach a class on almost anything almost anywhere I'd probably attend because he's that badass.
PS - I also got a moment with my girl crush Yaya Han and not gonna lie - there was definitely some internal squealing going on!
PPS - Oh and Jennie Breeden (The Devil's Panties) got engaged at the Kilt Blowing Saturday night! Love was in the air folks.
Here's the deal - I'm working on a Dragon*Con day 2 post and just realized I haven't made the video thingy I wanted to go with it. I've decided to kill two birds with one stone and avoid putting too many cosplay pictures in the other post by putting them here! Enjoy!
(PS - these and more all came from my Flickr album. Enjoy the much higher quality images thanks to very helpful info from Epbot.)
Nerfpunk + KISS = Awesome
Princesses at rest
So cute!
I never see enough well done Xenas. But where's her Gabrielle?!
Candyland? Maybe? I think so.
Iron Man and his entourage
Vamp Xander and Willow! Oh Dopplegangland, you're one of my favorite episodes ever.
¡Three Amigos!
If you want to know why this lady is one small pair of panties away from naked, I have no idea.
And Mary Poppins for the supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus win.
So here's the deal about Dragon*Con:: for me it's this huge almagum of ridiculous greatness - every fantastic holiday rolled into one and a place where I can just say f*ck it and be me. Which means talking about it always sounds much less cool than experiencing it, whether I'm talking to you in person or talking to you through my blog. I'm going to give it a go anyway, but I think by the end of it you're all just going to wish I'd gone with the haiku idea.
Here's Dave doing the best Dave ever.
First the initial great things: 1) Dave arrived in Atlanta safe and sound, albeit a day before we had any type of hotel room to put him in 2) the room we did eventually get had 2 beds! Not one bed - 2! (That's cool folks. I know you don't believe me, but when you're expecting a hopefully roomy king for 3 people walking into a room with two beds is pretty fantastic.)
Since Jessica the most wonderfullest driver in the history of history had been driving since 3am we were very happy to get to Atlanta safe and sound, check into our room with little to no hiccup (except for strange valet parking guy) and head over to the Sheraton to pick up our badges. Which took all of FIVE MINUTES. This is a huuuge improvement over last year guys, when I had to take pictures and video from the epic line of death I found myself stuck in.
The magical non-line.
And after all that preliminary stuff? PANELS and COSTUMES! Those two are the bread and butter of any good D*C and let me tell you something that took us almost 2 years to learn - don't wait hours in line. Most of the time you can show up right before a panel starts and get decent seats in the back where you can still see everything from the big screens. I'm not saying never wait in line - I did for the Buffy panel on Sunday and definitely consider it worth it - but taking the time to see more and wait less makes the whole experience better.
This year my first panel had 3 actors from the Guild including the wonderful Wil Wheaton (who unlike a lot of other people I didn't hate on Star Trek: TNG but maybe that's because I stopped watching most of the later episodes with him and stuck to the ones where he was a kid in funny sweaters or kissing Ashley Judd)! I've only recently begun to understand the depths of his nerdy hilarity, but he's rapidly becoming one of my favorites and I'm so glad I got to hear him speak. While Felicia Day wasn't there Wheaton and two of his other cast mates were interesting and funny and make me even more determined to sit down and watch this show.
Wil Wheaton for the win!
I went right from this to the Star Trek: Voyage panel because DUH I'm a nerd and Kate Mulgrew (Captain Janeway) and Robert Duncan McNeill (Lt. Paris) were there and Voyager was and always will be my favorite Trek. Yes I said it - my favorite Trek. Mulgrew and McNeill were great and since Garret Wang (Ensign Kim) was also there as head of the Trek Track and a part of the Voyager family, the whole thing blew my mind. I always love when actors suprise you with just how cool they are. As a viewer you can never really tell if the actors you like are playing a character completely different from themselves or if they're bringing some of their own personality to a part; hearing them speak about what made a role meaningful to them or why something worked (or didn't work) is just incredibly interesting.
At least to me.
But ok that's a LOT of words right there, and ya'll probably only care about some of it, so here's a little of what really matters - PICTURES!!! (yes that needed to be in all caps).
Sadly I had to wear flats with this dress instead of ridiculous heels because of some unexpected foot pain. No bueno!
Zombie Scoobie Doo
(L-R) Robert Duncan McNeill, Kate Mulgrew, Garret Wang
Ghostbusters
Oh and for everyone who asked about a masquerade update. Yes I was uber stoked to go but here an example of when my time was more valuable than the event. The masquerade was very popular and the line was long. Looooonnnnnnggg I tell you, long enough that when they finished getting everyone in it the party was full and they had to turn people away - which I head about later because as soon as I saw the line I was done. But did I quibble or cry? No because it's f*cking D*C and I just wore my dress around everywhere like a Boss.
I love this dress and if I could wear it everyday I would. Or I wish I could at least where it once to work, just for shock value :)
