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

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!

Day 1 - Registration and Preview

Thursday, August 28th

Hello.  I am reporting to you from Dragoncon 2008, a HUGE science fiction/fantasy convention in Atlanta, Georgia.  Here, I describe my experience after arriving in Atlanta at about 3:30 pm EDT.

After checking in at the Quality Inn Hotel, located about 10 miles NE of downtown Atlanta, I headed for the Chamblee Marta rail station just a few miles from my hotel.  Once there, a nice person assisted me in using the ticketing machine to purchase rail passes.  Here, you can use cash or a credit card to purchase a number of ticket options.  I chose 10 tickets which are good for 5 convention days.  I boarded the train and was off for the Peachtree Center Station.

Once I arrived at Peachtree, I found myself underground with a number of exits available.  I took the one that led me to a food court.  One amazing feature is a VERY long and scary escalator that rides up to a lobby.  After getting turned around, I finally found my way to the Hyatt Hotel.  A woman at the Dragoncon Information booth told me that the line to registration was around the hotel block.  I found the end of the line and waited for oh about an hour or so.  The line entered the building at the registration hall.  Inside, the line snaked around and ended where I went to the booth with my name range and picked up my badge.  I also picked up a convention guide (mostly guest photos).  I missed the program book.  I felt I did not need it because I had already prepared a schedule from online panel information sources.

Once I had my badge, I went to a flyer table in the registration hall to unload the MTL flyers and cards.  I thinking, I’m probably going to need more later, from what I have heard about the number of pre-registrants.  There’s a Fed-Ex Kinkos there in case I need to make more flyers.

I then went on a self-guided tour of the four hotels, starting with the Hyatt Hotel.  I then visited the Marriott, just across the street from the Hyatt to the east.  To the east of the Marriot is the Hilton.  There I had a number of panels scheduled from the space, science and skeptic tracks.  I would be spending most of my time there.

Last, I visted the Sheraton, located a block away to the south of the Hilton.  The Sheraton is the location for the BritTrack panel programming in the Valdosta room.  Now, having successfully marked off all my panel rooms, I felt confident that my weekend would go very well, but could see that I would be doing a lot of walking and hotel hopping.  I headed on back by rail to Chamblee Station and drove home at a good hour at around 10:00 pm.

Here’s a picture of my hotel, just outside my room.

Quality Inn Atlanta GA

(more…)

As of June 11, 2008, Elisabeth Sladen (Sarah Jane of Doctor Who) has been added to the guest list for ChicagoTardis. The convention, to be held November 28-30, 2008, is located at The Westin Lombard Yorktown Center in Lombard, Illinois.

Go Here For More Details

For fans of both the classic and new series, the Sarah Jane character is a “bridge” between past and present. Compare her first entry into Doctor Who via The Time Warrior to the new series second season episode School Reunion and you will see just how far Doctor Who has come.

In the new spin-off series The Sarah Jane Adventures, we also get a glimpse to the past in Sarah’s attic stocked with bits and pieces of her travels in the TARDIS. Apparently, at least some companions remember and cherish their time spent with the Doctor. Will we see anyone else come out of “hiding”? I hope so. I like reunions and get-togethers of past characters.

Keep your eyes open when viewing Season 4 Doctor Who. More surprises await. (Even the Doctor is not allowed to see his own spoilers.)

Come and help celebrate 45 years of Doctor Who. Register for ChicagoTardis today! Our club will be there, as usual, to greet convention attendees at our fan table.