Dragon*Con: Call me crazy but...
I went to Dragon*Con this weekend. It was a last-minute decision, especially since I just went to Elf last weekend. Saturday I finished unpacking from Elf, did the laundry, went to the grocery store, in other words, got everything done I needed to do. I had Monday off for Labor Day, so, on a whim, I called the three host hotels for Dragon*con in Atlanta, and the third one had a vacancy. Sunday morning we got up early and drove to Atlanta.
Let me tell you, Dragon*con makes Elf look like a party in Shire, and that is not a bad thing. I apologize for ever insinuating that Tolkien fans are freaks. I have found the freaks, and they are at Dragon*con. Tolkien's stories are multi-layered, wholesome, and moral. That can't be said for a lot of other stuff out there.
I knew I was in for something different when standing in line for registration, the woman in front of me was wearing shoes, panties, and a feather-trimmed sheer peignoir, and the couple behind me sported furry ears, tails, and body paint. Some of the costumes were very creative and elaborate, but there was also a lot of fetish-wear. Let me give you a Dragon*con fashion tip: even a plump lady looks good laced up in a corset, but you've got to have a perfect body to carry off the chain-mail bikini look.
There were so many different tracks and genres; one did not get the same sense of community that one finds at a single-topic event. There were a lot of people at Elf that came alone, but they shared a common interest with everyone else. Dragon*con was more cliquish and everyone seemed to be attending with a group of like-minded friends or partners.
Since I was only there for Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, I did not have time to get involved in the Tolkien track. The events were spread out over two hotels and on various floors, all with confusing names like convention level, exhibit level, international level, lobby level, lower lobby, motor lobby, et cetera, so getting on an elevator was a crap shoot. I managed to find my way to the 4:00 session with John Noble and Bruce Hopkins, my primary motivation for going. This was their 2nd panel, so this time they elected to take questions from the audience.
I had a seat on the front row outer aisle. Halfway through Joseph fell asleep (thank God!) after about 15 minutes of whining at the end, Sarah even dropped off. At one point when they were showing a clip of a Bruce Hopkins movie, both the actors were standing right next to me. Afterwards several people came up for an impromptu photo session, and I got my picture made with both of them. I don't think they posed for more than 15 pictures. The event organizer got really snippy with the last two people, but let them get their pictures anyway. I waited while everyone got their pictures and then asked them both for their autograph. They normally sign autographs in area just behind the dealers, but that room was packed and I did not relish the thought of navigating it with two children. They did not want to do it, saying that if anyone saw them giving me an autograph, they would all want one, but at this point there were no other fans left in the room. Since I now had two sleeping children, they took pity on me and acceded to my request. I had pages marked with their pictures in The Two Towers and the The Return of the King Visual Companions and they each signed their picture.
Immediately after that session, Ringers: Lord of the Fans were presenting their "making of" trailer next door. I had already seen that session at Elf, but since I was there and the kids were asleep, I went anyway. I'm glad I did, because we were treated to an impromptu acoustic performance by Emerald Rose before the session started. They played the Hobbit Theme music on guitar and flute and then segued into Merry and Pippin's "Drinking Song", which as most of you know is based on "The Bath Song" from the book.
Sarah woke up soon after, so we left and browsed the dealer room. I found a dealer who made some lovely circlets close to the door, and I've always wondered where exactly one might buy a circlet. I selected a simple brass one with two maple leaves and an amber stone, so now I can play wood Elf. I tried to find the Badali Jewelry table, because they had also been at Elf, but they closed the dealer room before I could locate them.
After that we headed back to the hotel room and ordered dinner room service – very smart move. After we had eaten our fill, Sarah and I changed into our princess-wear, and donning my circlet, the three of us headed over to the Masquerade Ball already in progress. I had tried and failed to get a babysitter through the hotel, but I thought since we were there, we could at least go look at the other costumes.
The next morning after packing and breakfast, we headed back to the dealer room. I found even more circlet dealers, corset dealers, and finally Badali jewelry. After chatting there a bit we headed up one floor to the ambiguously named "Convention Level" and visited the TheOneRing.net table. I picked up my free T-shirt, reading "Don't make me get my ring", saving them the shipping, and they threw in a Ringers lanyard for free. Nice. After browsing a few more exhibitors and finding a website on how to make LOTR costumes, we got in the car and headed home. End of weekend.
Let me tell you, Dragon*con makes Elf look like a party in Shire, and that is not a bad thing. I apologize for ever insinuating that Tolkien fans are freaks. I have found the freaks, and they are at Dragon*con. Tolkien's stories are multi-layered, wholesome, and moral. That can't be said for a lot of other stuff out there.
I knew I was in for something different when standing in line for registration, the woman in front of me was wearing shoes, panties, and a feather-trimmed sheer peignoir, and the couple behind me sported furry ears, tails, and body paint. Some of the costumes were very creative and elaborate, but there was also a lot of fetish-wear. Let me give you a Dragon*con fashion tip: even a plump lady looks good laced up in a corset, but you've got to have a perfect body to carry off the chain-mail bikini look.
There were so many different tracks and genres; one did not get the same sense of community that one finds at a single-topic event. There were a lot of people at Elf that came alone, but they shared a common interest with everyone else. Dragon*con was more cliquish and everyone seemed to be attending with a group of like-minded friends or partners.
Since I was only there for Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, I did not have time to get involved in the Tolkien track. The events were spread out over two hotels and on various floors, all with confusing names like convention level, exhibit level, international level, lobby level, lower lobby, motor lobby, et cetera, so getting on an elevator was a crap shoot. I managed to find my way to the 4:00 session with John Noble and Bruce Hopkins, my primary motivation for going. This was their 2nd panel, so this time they elected to take questions from the audience.
I had a seat on the front row outer aisle. Halfway through Joseph fell asleep (thank God!) after about 15 minutes of whining at the end, Sarah even dropped off. At one point when they were showing a clip of a Bruce Hopkins movie, both the actors were standing right next to me. Afterwards several people came up for an impromptu photo session, and I got my picture made with both of them. I don't think they posed for more than 15 pictures. The event organizer got really snippy with the last two people, but let them get their pictures anyway. I waited while everyone got their pictures and then asked them both for their autograph. They normally sign autographs in area just behind the dealers, but that room was packed and I did not relish the thought of navigating it with two children. They did not want to do it, saying that if anyone saw them giving me an autograph, they would all want one, but at this point there were no other fans left in the room. Since I now had two sleeping children, they took pity on me and acceded to my request. I had pages marked with their pictures in The Two Towers and the The Return of the King Visual Companions and they each signed their picture.
Immediately after that session, Ringers: Lord of the Fans were presenting their "making of" trailer next door. I had already seen that session at Elf, but since I was there and the kids were asleep, I went anyway. I'm glad I did, because we were treated to an impromptu acoustic performance by Emerald Rose before the session started. They played the Hobbit Theme music on guitar and flute and then segued into Merry and Pippin's "Drinking Song", which as most of you know is based on "The Bath Song" from the book.
Sarah woke up soon after, so we left and browsed the dealer room. I found a dealer who made some lovely circlets close to the door, and I've always wondered where exactly one might buy a circlet. I selected a simple brass one with two maple leaves and an amber stone, so now I can play wood Elf. I tried to find the Badali Jewelry table, because they had also been at Elf, but they closed the dealer room before I could locate them.
After that we headed back to the hotel room and ordered dinner room service – very smart move. After we had eaten our fill, Sarah and I changed into our princess-wear, and donning my circlet, the three of us headed over to the Masquerade Ball already in progress. I had tried and failed to get a babysitter through the hotel, but I thought since we were there, we could at least go look at the other costumes.
The next morning after packing and breakfast, we headed back to the dealer room. I found even more circlet dealers, corset dealers, and finally Badali jewelry. After chatting there a bit we headed up one floor to the ambiguously named "Convention Level" and visited the TheOneRing.net table. I picked up my free T-shirt, reading "Don't make me get my ring", saving them the shipping, and they threw in a Ringers lanyard for free. Nice. After browsing a few more exhibitors and finding a website on how to make LOTR costumes, we got in the car and headed home. End of weekend.
posted by Mary Joan | 8:53 PM
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