Milwaukee Time Lords Blog

This weekend has arrived! Dragoncon 2009 begins as of Thursday at 4:00 PM, the time that registration opens. After nearly a year of planning this trip, all that is left is travelling to this annual gaming & fantasy convention. I still have my MARTA card, which I saved and thought to place in my wallet so I don’t forget it.

Last year, I was the sole Milwaukee Time Lord member in attendance. This year, my sister, Debbie Frey, will be with me. The cost is less more me this year. I found a cheaper hotel that is closer to the Chamblee MARTA station. Gas prices are much lower this year. At home I’ve seen prices around $2.54/gallon, whch is much better than over $4/gallon.  I observed price drops as I travel southwards. Also, my sister paid for half the hotel and expenses. And this year, some help from mom.  Thanks!

Last year, I also brought along ads to place on tables. This year, I am printing up ad cards, which require less hand processing than our MTL flyers. I was able to place six ads on one page, multiplying the number of cards. It’s still much less than the anticipated 30,000+ attendance, but I intend to mainly target the Britrack area, where I am most likely to find Doctor Who fans who may be interested in our club. We still publish a printed newsletter that includes a summary of science fiction and general tv/movie news. We mostly communicate with each other by email. I don’t know of any member who has a Twitter account or any other “New Media” online presence.

I will be driving to Atlanta, following the same route as before. Last year was a learning experience driving all through the night for the first time and longer than I ever have within 14 hours. We’ll stop at least four times, perhaps more if needed. I used both Mapquest and RandMcnally sites to plan the trip this year. I liked the RandMcnally print out format much better as a navigation aid and the maps were smaller and used less ink. It’s hard to be precise, however, when selecting stopping points. I was unable to select the Lake Forest Oasis as a stop, since the map site uses cities as stopping points. Lake Forest, ILL was as close as I could get.

I hope to take lots of photos this year. Last year I had a credit card sized camera that was powered by USB cable and had limited power and memory. This year, I purchased a Kodak EasyShare camera from an Office Depot bargain table. If I have my laptop with me, I can transfer images once memory is full. This camera used two AA batteries. I hope to switch to rechargable batteries once I get through the ones I got. I practiced using the camera at various events and situations this summer. I have a travel tripod which I can use to get timed and low light photos.

I will post images from this blog along with a summary for each day. After registration, I am really looking forward to a Star Party being held at the Bradley Observatory. There is a banquet at 7:00 pm and a lecture at 8:00 pm.

There is sure to be video recordings posted at YouTube so you can enjoy some of the panels. Do a search on “Dragoncon 2009″. Add name of your favorite series to narrow search. There are Battlestar Galactica cl

As with the previous Doctor Who panel, I have the Torchwood panel here for you to enjoy without you having to hunt YouTube for all the parts. There are lots of Children of Earth spoilers here, so if you have not seen this yet, you might want to wait until you have (it’s on DVD by now).

Panelists: (left to right) Russell T Davies, John Barrowman, Eros Lyn, Julie Gardner

This one is in seven parts.

Enjoy the panel!

If you missed ComicCon 2009 or the Doctor Who Panel or were there and want to see it again, I have arranged a set of YouTube clips conveniently for you. It can take some time and effort burrowing through the ComicCon YouTube video posts to find all the video clip parts.

Here, I present to you the Doctor Who Panel, featuring Russell T Davies, Julie Gardner, Eros Lynn and David Tennant. The first part of the panel features questions by the moderator. Later, questions were taken from the audience. The usual procedure at these panels is to have those asking questions line up before a microphone so that everyone can hear the questions.

The panel was recorded for a Doctor Who Confidential, so expect to see a professionally edited version I suspect in the next Doctor Who video release.

Enjoy the panel in the comfort of your home!

(Also the two trailers referred to in the panel are as pop up links at the bottom of this post, which you can pull up when the trailers are run during the panel, so you get that experience, too.)

TRAILERS
End of Time

Waters of Mars

The Dragoncon convention consists of groups devoted to areas of interest, such as British television, American television, comics, gaming, etc.  Along with fictional and art-based interests, there are three tracks devoted to space, science and skepticism, the last track added in 2008.  Many who pursue gaming and comics are also interested in science and applied science (robotics, computers, etc).  Likewise, you’ll find some of the biggest science fiction fans in the fields of science.

If you have attended science fiction conventions in the past, you may see included a panel or two featuring space and/or astronomy slide shows showing many real accomplishments in part inspired by science fiction writers.  Some space science groups may have a table to give out free literature and photos.  The “swag” paid for by your tax dollars at NASA is most certainly worth a look to see if there are any cool posters, buttons and still photos to add to your convention bag.

At Dragoncon, a number of scientists and engineers have stepped up to the plate to show us what we can do today.

Here’s a list of the Dragoncon 2009 space/science guests who have signed up as of today:

C. Kevin Barrett
Dr. John E. Bradford
Laura A Burns
Ginger Campbell, MD
A. C. Charania
John Cmar
Brian Dunning
Stephen L. Gibson
Stephen Granade
Kevin R. Grazier
Dr. Stephen D. Howe
Richard Jakiel
Les Johnson
Bill Keel
Patrick Mason
Ginny Mauldin-Kinney
Joe Nickell
Friggatriskaidekaphobia Treatment Nurse
D.M. Paul
Phil Plait
Benjamin Radford
James Randi
Trina Ray
Richard Saunders
Jason Schneiderman
Eugenie C Scott
Seth Shostak
Alison Michelle Smith
John C. Snider
Kim Steadman

You have visit the Dragoncon site and click on their names to obtain more information about each guest.

The list has grown considerably since the last post.  If you are fans of Star Trek, Babylon 5, Battlestar Gallactica, Farscape or Firefly, this year’s line-up looks great!  The Dragoncon site lists guests alphabetically, so you need to scan through the list if you seek guests for your favorite series.  The guests are by TV series.

Star Trek
John Billingsley
James Cawley
Robert Duncan McNeil
Kate Mullgrew
Leonard Nimoy
Dwight Schultz
Garrett Wang

Dr Who/Torchwood
Eric Roberts
Eliza Roberts

Battlestar Gallactica
Dirk Benedict
Aaron Douglas
Richard Hatch
Alessandro Juliani
Kandyse McClure
Mary McDonnell
Edward James Olmos
Kate Vernon

Babylon 5
Bruce Boxleitner
Claudia Christian
Stephen Furst
Tracy Scoggins

Farscape
Claudia Black
Virginia Hey
Lani John Tupu

Stargate-SG1
Michael Shanks

Firefly
Ron Glass

Other Guests
Catherine Bach
Trace Beaulieu
Julie Benz
Bob Bergen
Michael Connell Biehn
Jennifer Blanc
Barry Bostwick
Doug Bradley
Charisma Carpenter
Bill Corbett
Bruce Davison
Lexa Doig
Peter Facinelli
Charles Fleischer
Louise Fletcher
Paul Goddard
Dean Haglund
Kane Hodder
Richard Kiel
Traci Lords
James Marsters
Paul McGillion
Jason Momoa
Michael Nankin
Jasika Nicole
John Noble
Mary Jo Pehl
James Randi
Alan Ruck
John Schneider
Helen Slater
Kristy Swanson
Michael Welch

I have been through the Dragoncon guest list and it looks like an excellent line up for science fiction and fantasy fans.  I have noted that the front list is much shorter than the list you see when you select “Current Guests”  under “Guest List”.

Here, I have organized it by TV series (main series guest is known for).  I think it will make it easier for those deciding to attend based upon number of their favorite celebrities attending.

Got any others you plan to see?  Are there any major updates since I posted this?  Reply with your support for your favorite guests and why you want to see them.

Bablyon 5
Bruce Boxleitner
Tracy Scoggins

Battlestar Galactica (old and new versions)
Dirk Benedict
Kevin R. Grazier - science advisor
Richard Hatch
Kandyse McClure
Edward James Olmos

Doctor Who
Eliza Roberts
Eric Roberts

Farscape
Virginia Hey
Paul Goddard

Firefly
Ron Glass

Star Trek (any series)
John Billingsley
Robert Duncan McNeil
Anthony Montgomery
Kate Mulgrew
Leonard Nimoy
Garrett Wang

X-Files
Dean Haglund

Other guests that looked interesting (with links this time) as I scanned the list include:
Richard L. Altstatt
Kevin J. Anderson
Catherine Bach
Michael Connell Biehn
Jennifer Blanc
Barry Bostwick
Bruce Davison
Peter Facinelli
Alan Dean Foster
Paul McGillion
Alan Ruck
John Schneider

Chicago TARDIS now has two guests listed as confirmed!  Chicago TARDIS is a convention held every year in the Chicago, Illinois for Doctor Who fans.  This year it will be held November 27-29, 2009 (Thanksgiving weekend).  The hotel is The Westin Lombard Yorktown Center, located in Lombard, Illinois.

The two guests confirmed are:  Paul McGann (The Eighth Doctor) and Daphne Ashbrook (Dr. Grace Holloway).  There are “many more guests t.b.a.”.

As of today and up through November 15, 2009, Reserved Seating is $135, Regular Membership (weekend) is $75.  1 day is $35.  Children 6-10 is $25 for the weekend.  Children under 6 free when accompanied by a paid adult.  You can order by mail, fax or online.

The hotel selection is excellent.  Last year, the first year the convention was held at Westin, the service was great and the location perfect.  It is next to a Target and across from a shopping mall.  The food court is located on the near side towards the hotel so it is not too far to walk.

With the coming to a close an era with the Tenth Doctor, it will be a very special time to come and participate in the celebration of your favorite television series.  Don’t miss this one!

Milwaukee Time Lords member, Dave Carey, has forwarded to me a link to his collections of images for your amusement.

You can find his images here in his Flickr album

He sent another message that you can also find Dragoncon photos

Monday, September 1st

Edward James Olmos Q&A - Excellent Q&A which was capped off with the “so say we all” that had become by now an established feature of BSG panels and events.
Earth at last? (BSG) - Hurricane Gustav landfall in New Orleans reduced panel to two guests: Richard Hatch and Tahmoh Penikett.
Skeptrack Sign Off Party - Wrap-up and review of new Dragoncon panel. New guests were impressed with the opportunity to reach a new audience with the message of critical thinking and rationality while having fun while doing so.
Interstellar Travel - Overview of space travel options. It was a bit anti-climatic for me after the very satisfying final Skeptrack panel.

At 5 pm I went around to collect any promotional flyers that were left (I paid a lot for them) and then left for my train to the MARTA parking lot and departed Atlanta soon after getting a tank of gas. I opted to drive all the way home, rather than stopping at a hotel as I had previous envisioned doing. It seemed to be best to leave the hurricane-affected area as soon as possible to avoid possible bad weather for driving and increased traffic. I arrived home in Waukesha, WI by sunrise Tuesday morning after three stops for fuel-ups and a late night dinner at McDonalds.

I plan to return next year. Don’t forget to start searching YouTube and other sites for Dragoncon media and reports as attendees return home and recover enough to post.

Now back to the reality of some new work ahead of me this month.

Sunday, August 31st - Convention Day 3

Supernatural How To (skeptrack) - Richard Saunders, Australian skeptic, shows us spoon bending, cold reading, dowsing and other tricks that so-called “psychics” use to fool the public.
The TANK - LIVE! (skeptrack)  - Now renamed to “The Skeptics Zone”, Richard Saunders and company lead a discussion of the current state of skepticism in his country.
Skeptics Guide To The Universe  (skeptrack) - Dr Stephen Novella presents his weekly podcast live at Dragoncon. Panel featured a hilarious video with podcast member, Evan Bernstein, interviewing various Dragoncon characters on skeptical topics.  You can go here to get a copy of the show at the link.
Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey: New Series Doctor Who (brittrack) - This panel was so popular, it was moved to a larger room thanks to the excellent hotel service.  Yay for Doctor Who and the Sheraton hotel!
Boomers to Millennials: What We’ve Learned in a Generation (space track) - Panel members of various generations, from “baby boomer” to “generation X” discuss the space program from their perspectives.
Robots Vs Humans (space track) - A discussion about the role of both humans and robots in space exploration
Ask the Boffins: the Science of British Sci-Fi (britrack) - Phil Plait and Kevin Grazier contribute to this Brittrack panel, discussing the science of Doctor Who, Torchwood and other British television shows.
Where Do We Go From Here?  (skeptrack) - Skeptrack panelists discuss the current state of skeptism - Dragoncon has become an excellent venue to promote critical thinking.
ANNIVERSARIES PARTY - Brittrack party consisted of a meeting of British SF fans at their Sheraton room.
THE 1ST ANNUAL MAD SCIENTIST’S BALL - I wanted to attend to see their show which was heavily promoted, but the hall was full when I got there and there was a line to get in.  I did hear the “singing” tesla coils from outside the room at the Hyatt.
Live Astronomy - I tried this again and got to view a few images that were obtained in the last session.

The two highlights of the day for me were the SGU live podcast and the British SF panel.  I’ll be back with a few more photos.  Go to the Dragoncon site for more and better photos than what I managed to get with my little camera.

I will post my fourth day after I get home.  It’s been great having this free wireless access from my hotel room.

I hope my experiences and a view of the Dragoncon website will convince you to register for Dragoncon next year.  There are so many ways to choose your fun.  I only saw a slice of what this convention had to offer.  I missed the Saturday parade in favor of the space track panel, though I heard it described how it was to have a large band of Star Wars stormtroopers marching down an Atlanta street. 

Go there now!