Dragon*Con 2012: Paint It Black

Noctilucent clouds guide us to the airport. Sterling fire greets us as we return.

This year the weekend flew by as smooth as China silk. We had good flights, good neighbors, and no real waits even at the airport. No trouble with TSA, which had at least twice the normal personnel in Tampa. Registration took twenty minutes during which the line never stopped moving. We were so uncertain what to do with all the extra time we had on Thursday that Karen had time to paint my fingernails black. Idle hands. My avant-garde tribute to her surgeon on her official five-year anniversary of completing treatment.

There were even more people at the Con than last year. The Thursday night crowd was like a Friday, Friday like a Saturday. Saturday and Sunday seemed just as full. Diversity was up with more African-American attendees and panelists which I’m always encouraged to see.

We ended up with a less frenetic schedule, taking more time off to hang with our Seattle friends, managing to meet up with them for lunch or dinner and the odd panel just about every day. I was glad to have the TracFone we’d bought for my father to text and keep in touch. The Dragon*Con app for the iPhone was invaluable for coordinating schedules and updates.

All the panels were generally decent. No walkouts. Music, however, was a bust. Not much new or interesting (one walkout in the concerts that could have been two). The final body count stands at 16-17 panels, 2-4 concerts, 8 CD’s, two shirts and a skirt with a pair of earrings and a necklace on the way. The tracks  divide out into 1 Pern, 2 Film, 2 Gaming, 2 Space, 5 Art, 2 Comic, 2 Writing, 2 Apocalypse Rising, 2 Sci-fi Literature.  Karen added two concerts and a concourse performance over what I did, as well as an extra panel (and we separated a couple times). During some of the down time, I wrote out three pages on a new science fiction story and outlined the rest of it in my head. This week’s project is to finish it.

Top five panels: Using the philosophy of Kant and Hobbes to interpret the morality of Batman and Superman, and the lens of Buddhism to examine Serenity (the most intellectual panel we attended, contrary to one egotistical writer whose panel came in a distant third). Examining the dynamic character identities by comparing and contrasting the accidental and essential features of Batman and Hamlet. Tactical first aid, with as much tactics as first aid, given by a SWAT-trained EMS (complete with a room clearing demo). Writing intrigue and deception complete with a 5-point identification system (and handouts) presented by a former Air Force intelligence officer. The basics of storytelling in film and what to expect as a writer.

The most resonant piece of observation I picked up: my writing process is very similar to another well-known author who writes very finished drafts with no outline without a lot of rearranging. Hearing that was heartening. I still find I relate better to adapting the creative process illustrators and artists share than anything I hear from the writers. Thumbnails, sketches, pillaging the archives for reference, being mindful of how the work moves the eye, those all make sense to me. The most fascinating bit of trivia: The movie Pretty Woman was originally a dark script called 3000 (the amount of money Julia Roberts’ character charged per night) before Disney decided to turn it into a Cinderella story. The most interesting detail: The military performs triage in the opposite order of the civilian world.

Cool rumors: The Comics and Pop Art Conference, which runs at Dragon*Con, is striking for an academic track next year. Theirs were two of our top five. I would definitely attend more. And the exhibitors hall and dealers room are moving offsite to the America’s Mart building (with 25% more room but no additional dealers) which will free up a ton of room in the Marriott.

Over the course of the weekend, four hundred bookmarks and business cards disappeared, including a handful in an impromptu marketing survey conducted by a friend (which oddly contradicted the way the bookmarks disappeared from tables). We’ll see if any of those make their way home by way of hits. 

This year was our tenth time attending in the past twelve years. While I say each year that we make take the next year off, I know Karen will attempt to book us a room in the Marriott in October. She already booked a backup since we’ve been home. So we’ll decide next summer whether our cons go to eleven.

In the meantime, I have an Amazon order to place for a game and several recommended books.

(And now it’s time for the only reason people muddle through this message, the out-of-context quotes. You’ll find them in the comments).

© 2012 Edward P. Morgan III

Dragon*Con: The Hero Cycle

The hero cycle begins and ends in the same location, the ordinary world, your safe and happy place. Between the call to adventure and the return with the elixir, the hero is transformed. Are you beginning, ending, or beginning once again? It's hard to say. The same can be said for us at Dragon*Con each year.

For all the hectic drama leading up to it, including the day before we left, our adventure went surprisingly smoothly. No major hiccoughs or disasters, no sickness or disease. Unless you count a minor bout of chronic heat stroke, but more on that in a bit.

Because I know you are all busy people, I'll give you the thumbnail sketch up front. Five days, sixteen panels, five concerts, two concourse performances. One panel cancellation, none we walked out of, only two a little sketchy. My three top panels: The Hero's Journey (Writing), Dungeon Design 101 (complete with dire skunks) (Gaming), and 5 Lies of Creativity and How to Overcome Them (Art). Karen's Best: Live Model 1 & 2 (5 hours of drawing) (Art). The panel with the most surprising tidbit of information: Memory Training (Science) where the clinical psychologist revealed a clinically studied treatment program for memory loss resulting from breast cancer treatment (chemo-brain) that we might look into.

For merch, we walked away with two books (The Creation of Narrative in Tabletop Role-Playing Games, Xtreme Dungeon Mastery), five CDs (The Cruxshadows, Ayria, Abney Park, The Julia Dream, Siberia My Sweet), two pieces of custom jewelry (David Cain Jewelry) and an artists' colony magazine (always talk to hippies on the street). Freebies included a Dragon*Con luggage tag, a cool Dragon*Con room key-card and a Pyr Books sampler.

We left out 650 business cards across five hotels, sometimes playing a game of cat and mouse with housekeeping, sometimes on an hourly basis. I figure we had a 10-25% loss rate with the rest taken up. As always, the transparencies went first. We'll see if they generate any traffic to the sites.

Travel was fine, except for having to remove my belt before getting scanned at the airport. Though that did add to the prison-like ambiance of the adventure. We got there before noon on Thursday and stayed late enough on Monday to catch the last panels. The weather in Atlanta on the way out became a concern (tornadoes north of downtown), but for us only resulted in a ten-minute delay and a lot of turbulence on the way home.

Registration was better this year (only two and half hours in line this year, a 40% reduction from the previous two), but not quite a breeze. Had the servers stayed up, it might have only been half an hour. Ah, well, at least we were out in time to get a decent dinner. Which we needed as the hour in line inside was at least as hot, and with less oxygen, than the rest of the bulk in the sun outside.

That set our first impression for the year, hot. And I don't mean just in Hotlanta. The rooms for the Electronic Frontiers Forum, Science and (initially) Gaming tracks had no working A/C. Imagine 100-200 people packed shoulder to shoulder into a conference room (sometimes SRO), complete with assorted A/V equipment, and you get the picture. Needless to say, we didn't hang out to ask a lot of questions afterwards.

We did get to listen to some good music, as always, though several of the concerts had lines. And, as always, most of the mixing was dubious. And one of the bands performed over half her set by flashlight as the stage lights died and had to be reset (the joys of a live performance). But the Cruxshadows concert had the best sound and mixing we've ever heard up there. Plus, we walked right in for the first time in five years. Totally worth staying up until 4 am and dragging the next day. There was still some slap-back in one of the halls, but not as bad as we've heard. We gave all the bands we saw some money to feed the iPod. We got a couple of CDs signed. Ayria seemed pretty jazzed when we told her that we knew and liked her music (and were obviously following her Twitter feed), even though we were, well, outside her core age demographic. Nice woman (but she's Canadian, so what else would I expect?). Key safety tip with most bands: lead singers tend to be focused on women (not the people buying their stuff) where bassists are more than happy to talk. But I knew that from hanging out with a pretty cool bassist in high school.

One thing they did get right this year was security. From 7 pm to 1 am, all entry into the hotels was badge or room key only. It seemed to keep out most of the muggles and local riff-raff. We encountered no floor shutdowns, no flying wedges of cops and hotel security wading through the crowds. The floors were just as frenetic, but there was never any hint of wondering if the bacchanalian revelry might erupt into a riot. Only once did my threat sensor go off, and that was fairly benign. But remember, you can make eye contact with real cops, but with rent-a-cops it might be a problem (they stare back).

What do I love about Dragon*Con? Talking art, perspective, light and shadow, writing, craft... I need to find a yearlong circle to do that with. We were missing several of our must-see speakers. We still had a couple there, but they weren't quite on their games. Generally, the panels were good, a couple with excellent speakers, but none had the inspirational, mind-expanding quality we've encountered in previous years. But we did find some time to hang out with friends which we haven't always had.

Instead of going through panel by panel, I leave you with some random impressions and lessons learned. Scientists and skeptics can be some of the least empathetic people who want to affect societal change. That's hard to do without understanding someone else's point of view. Most scientists are still so focused on their niche of study that they have a hard time applying broad (scientific) lessons to other disciplines, or understanding why certain behaviors might be beneficial from an evolutionary point of view. Modern game designers rely just as much on the hero cycle theory as writers and movie-makers. Storytelling is their primary focus, just through an interactive medium. One rather famous game designer cited Dramatica theory for creating character through-lines. Many of our attempts to boost children's self-esteem in this country have resulted instead in boosting levels of narcissism. The law of unintended consequences. When dealing with either surveillance or the apocalypse, avoid the guys with the Tacti-cool look (I love that word). Sociopathy is a viable survival option. A clipboard and a badge get you in just about anywhere. When coiling wire for making chainmail rings, don't let go of the drill.

I also came away with some good professional advice. To market yourself, become an extrovert, even if you aren't one. And if you weren't born that way, well, that might be a deficiency on your part. Look into YouTube for posting readings. People who read eBooks tend to be more loyal to the publisher than the author. The difference between commercial fiction and literary fiction is that commercial fiction deals with the big questions and gives hope for change. Literary fiction gives an experience by shining a light on a situation without making it transformative. I guess I now know which I tend to lean toward in my writing. Inspiration only comes once. If you don't write it down while it's there, it's gone forever. Just like your creative voice or vision as a writer or an artist when you're gone.

If you want to see all the panels and concerts we attended, you can find the day by day entries either on my Twitter or on my Facebook author's page (for those who haven't liked it yet, hint, hint).

You can find the band links (from this and previous years) at MySpace. Many have songs posted so you can give a listen if you like.

If you have any questions about any of them, just let me know and I'll get back to you. I'd be happy to share my notes.

Bottom line: it was a relaxing, informative and inspiring weekend as always, and much needed getaway.

For us, though, the cycle may be ending. This may have been our last Dragon*Con for a couple years to come. I've found it's always best to walk away from the table a little hungry before you start your next adventure. We'll see when it comes time to make reservations for next year.

© 2011 Edward P. Morgan III

The Dao of Dragon*Con

Life after Dragon*Con seems so slavishly normal this morning. I need a 12-step, geek detox/reprogramming system just to fit back in. What panels am I attending this morning? Which concerts am I going to tonight? When will I ever get some sleep?

I started this trip to Dragon*Con with a heavy heart. I received the news day before we left that a friend from college had died. Each year we've gone to Dragon*Con, I've seen his doppelgangers and clones out of the corners of my eye and had to check to see if they were really him. They never were. While this year, I didn't have any major double takes, a picture very similar to his Facebook avatar was prominently displayed several places around the con. A hard reminder. I had been looking forward to telling him what I saw in this post. I found out Saturday that he chose the timing of his death.

I didn't sleep well or long enough Wednesday night, a trend that continued throughout the con. I'm not a person who deals well short of sleep. But Vitamin D has become my friend. It's like the Ecstasy of the vitamin world. Like the Red Bull of happiness and light.

Thursday came early with some annoyances at the airport. We flew a new airline, AirTran instead of Delta. They accumulated two strikes quickly. Because the plane was late arriving in Tampa on our way out, they boarded half of us through the rear door. Nothing like standing in the 90 degree Florida sun to put you in the right mood. Turns out that was foreshadowing. Strike two came when they didn't post our flight at baggage claim, so we had to hunt around an extra 15 minutes to find the right carousel. Combined with the 15-minute ground-stop in Tampa, we were 30 critical minutes late getting to the hotel.

We checked into the hotel, grabbed some water and headed for registration. By the time we got there, the line was wrapped around three sides of the block. By the time we left 4 HOURS later, it was all the way around. After the same experience last year (with a different registration process), I was less than pleased. But I was ok (think Dao, think Zen, read a book). Until I got to the front of the line. And met the woman behind the desk. Who gave absolutely no instructions. Just leaned back in her chair like we should know exactly what to do. By divination. And then waited for one of her associates (who was literally running between stations) to do her work. I about lost it.

The sheer inefficiency of the manual (as in non-computerized), poorly thought-out registration system easily added 2 hours to our time in line. I mean fundamental (expletive deleted) errors, like an alphabetical sort by line where they were pulling H-K out of line an hour behind us because, wow, there just aren't that many people with those last names. Yet they had a dedicated person to serve them, who by design, could do nothing else. ComiCon, GenCon both have many more people attend and 1/4 of the time in line. Then the con had the audacity to post on its Twitter Feed "Please limit the negativity in the Registration line." Sorry, but they earned every bit of negativity they got (not from me, who kept my mouth shut out of fear what might come out). With interest. By the time we had badges, I was completely power-down reset off-(expletive deleted)-line. Never a-(expletive deleted)-gain.

So we spent a lot of Thursday night trying to detox. We got some dinner (after no lunch) at 9, pre-bought two days of breakfasts and tried to get some sleep. Unfortunately, our room was on the first floor (good) right above the Motor Court (bad) and configured to where all the noise from it bounced directly at our window (ugly). For those who haven't been to Dragon*Con, it's a 24 hour event. So I slept fitfully a while. Then I woke up at 2 and each time I drifted off, someone screamed (like they were right outside the window). It was like sleeping in a dorm room where you knew words are being spoken somewhere but can't pick them out. With the exception of F-this and B-that. Those came through loud and clear. When Karen drifted awake at 3, I told her we had to move. So that's what we did between 3 and 4 am. The desk wasn't sure if we wanted to wait until morning to make the change. Uh, no, I'd like to get 4 hours sleep tonight, thanks. Honestly, the hotel was fine with it. I have no complaints about them. Just bad luck of the draw for us.

By early Friday, it was apparent there were a lot more people than last year. I'd say 10-20% more. To the point the Fire Marshall shut down the Marriott lobby three times over the weekend. The first time was Friday night as we were coming back from two concerts at 2:30 am. Hotel guests only and the floor was still cleared when we came through. We found out on the way home that someone had tossed a phone from somewhere high in the hotel (42 floors, all accessing an Atrium) and it crashed onto the lobby tile right by a friend of ours. No one hurt, luckily. Again Saturday at 2 am coming home, badges or hotel key-card for entry (for sheer crowds, we think). And Sunday at 3 am (crowds again, we think, which we've never seen that late).

All day, every day the place was more packed than we'd seen it. Several rooms filled to capacity. A couple panels we couldn't get into because they were SRO full. Not Celebrity panels, Science panels, Armory panels, Gaming panels. We were lucky that we were there 20 minutes early for a few panels just to get a seat. There was a huge line for the Cruxshadows concert, and they seated it an hour early, before the preceding concert. Though an advantage to being my age, stature and (button-down) shirt is when someone tries to cut between me and Karen (holding hands single file) to cut the line, one glare puts a complete stop to it. And the staff ignores us. The hall was as packed as we've ever seen it and this was our 6th time seeing them there. Great to see, but...

Monday I got to sleep about 4:30 am then woke up at 8:30 am to donate blood, my only chance without a line. Short-sleep, little breakfast, mildly dehydrated, bad idea. But I really wanted the shirt. I felt the wave of light-headedness sweeping down way too late to do anything about. Feelin'... kinda... woozy... A bottle of Gatorade and I was fine. Never happened to me while donating blood before. This is like my tenth or twelfth time, the last in February. But I got my shirt, which was way cooler than the con shirt I could have bought for $25. So did Karen, but they rejected her from giving for an irregular heartbeat. Just peachy.

On our way home, we got a look at the dark-side of the US Air Force in the airport. I've never seen a sergeant cut off in a brew-house before. For his own good, if he wanted to get home (they won't let him on the plane drunk). Didn't help that he was acting like a complete predator with the young woman at the table next to us. Luckily, he had an airman with him with a good (and clearer) head on his shoulders. And the staff handled the situation with understanding and aplomb.

See by now, you're thinking this was a vacation from hell. It really wasn't. I'm not sure why (ok, maybe the Ecstasy thing. Kidding). We just didn't have time for the drama I guess. We did what we had to do. We adapted. With everything else going on, we weren't in the mood to stress over it. So we made sure to be in the right place for the panels we really wanted to see and then hung out more.

On the plane Thursday, I started another story, writing seven pages in the notebook, set on location in Atlanta. This is the third year I’ve done this story in an hour trick. I’ll work on that next. Friday we hit the dealers’ rooms and got to catch up with our friend from England and her new beau. That was nice. Saturday was really thin after we got bounced from one panel (SRO out the door) and another was cancelled. But we hung out in the lobby for a while with a friend from St. Pete who Karen talks photography with. That was nice, too. We got to do the music tables without making them a drive-by. Sunday, we hung out more and got to see our group of friends in pretty cool Plan 9 from Outer Space costumes, shades of gray like the black and white movie, complete with face-paint on all exposed skin. We texted back and forth with a couple people, letting them know where we would be and vice versa. It was cool to have someone say, that sounds interesting, I think I'll go there instead.

This was the first con were we saw a number of people who seemed happy, genuinely happy, to see us there. Some called out across the room. One was bouncing up and down (seriously, that doesn't happen with me). There are a slew of people from St. Pete who go now (like 17+). On the way home, we had 6 others from our extended group on our flight, so we got to wander through Tampa airport and onto the shuttle to parking, and compare notes with them. That was really nice, too.

We got to see a photographer from Chicago who we'd met there two years ago and talked to online whose face lit up when he saw us. He knew I hadn't been in his panel because one of our friends ratted me out. I'm exchanging emails with another panelist I've written before who didn't make it this year, but wanted to. Even he seemed happy to hear from me.

Even people we didn’t know. The first time the maid came, we were in our room. I guess we did something right with her, too. Every time we saw her from that day on, even way down the hall, her face brightened and she waved. Not the corporate, be nice to the guests wave, but a hey, you're ok, thanks for treating me like a person wave. As an added bonus, it looks like the hotel comp'ed us for one night (without us asking). So between that and the Rewards we used, hotel was half price this year.

When did I step into the twilight zone? Cerebus feels good. Cerebus feels really good. Cerebus never feels really good.

Dragon*Con: it's like going to an extended reunion and seeing all the cousins you never met and maybe never wanted to know, but still feeling that draw of family and knowing that you're at home, however crazy they act and however normal you now might seem.

So the synopsis for the year, 17 panels, 6 concerts and 2 concourse performances. We came home with 5 CDs, 2 sets of dice, an auto-dice roller, 2 blood shirts and 3 t-shirts as gifts for friends. We didn't even kill off all the food we squirreled away in our luggage on the way up. But we didn't run out of room for purchases, either.

From here on is a breakdown of panels and concerts.

For us, there are four levels of panels: Great, good, worthwhile and bust. A Worthwhile panel is one that makes us think on at least one point, or one we discuss with someone (or each other) later even if we didn't agree with the panelists. A Good panel is one that entertains us, or strings together a number of good points that get us thinking more about the topic. A Great panel is one that has us laughing or one that is so interesting we look up a panelist, maybe even write them, or check out the material and websites they gave us. A Bust is one with a bad speaker, or a speaker who is unprepared, or worse doesn't know their topic (or is just plain wrong), or is cancelled or subbed without notice, or hijacked off-topic. With that in mind, here's a rundown of this year's panels.

Evolution by Leaps and Bounds (Science, Fri.) - Good. I circled three notes I need to go check out. First was Carotenoids, specifically in a species of sea slugs that stores chlorophyll from things it eats bit by bit until it achieves the ability to photosynthesize. Second was an article in Nature in 2004 by Adami on treating AIs like a biological systems. And finally, the Red Queen Hypothesis from virology that evolution is a continuing race for a species just to continue to survive in its current niche. A speaker we'd go to see again.

Designing a Language (Writing, Fri.) - Good to Great. The speaker (a linguist) did a good job at teaching the audience the fundamentals of linguistics by using science fiction and fantasy languages as examples. The only mark against was that he ran out of time, thinking he had 1.5 hours instead of 1. But he had handouts (which usually rates a Good, minimum). I need to contact him to see if he can recommend an introductory book on linguistics for laymen. I also want to see where a particular characteristic of Welsh fits in to what he said. A speaker we'd go to see again.

Earthquakes and Volcanoes (Science, Fri.) - Bust. I felt sorry for the speaker who was very nervous. I got the sense she was talked into giving the presentation. Someone else wrote up the description of it for the program, which she quickly said she wouldn't cover as advertised. Biggest problem was that she wasn't a geologist, and the geologist sitting beside me just shook her head every time I looked over questioning what I heard. The USGS seriously needs a presence up there.

How Your Brain Works (Science, Fri.) - Good to Great. Missed a definite Great because it was well under time. But the speakers were good. And there were highly entertaining examples of what they were trying to show us. They opened with an example of how you mishear lyrics, O 4 Tuna (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KaOV3dBlts). You will never hear Carmina Burana the same way again. The only issue I had was with single, tangential comment on mammography that I may write one of the speakers about. A couple websites I need to check out (http://www.quirkology.com/ and http://www.theinvisiblegorilla.com/). Two speakers we'd go to see again (one an old favorite, Dr. Jason Schneiderman).

Intuition (Art, Sat.) - Great. I connected to both the speaker (an artist who draws and paints) and her husband (a writer). She had a handout. But because of a technical issue getting her Power Point to the monitor, she opted to give a sketch demo for examples. I have a couple ideas she tossed out circled (steal other people's dreams, use a light table to preserve elements of sketches that work in an otherwise unworkable piece). http://www.paulina.ws/

Future Weapons (Science, Sat.) Good. An entertaining speaking who is in the Senior Executive Service of the US Army's R&D, Engineering Command. Another speaker who did an excellent job at teaching the audience how the military actually develops weapons using science fiction and fantasy weapons as examples. On the downside, he showed a US Army video of what they blue-skyed of what a high-tech war in 2035 would look like. Almost hilariously out of touch with both capabilities of the enemies we are likely to face and the current budgetary constraints. But he seemed to know that. My friend who works in that arena as a contractor would have torn apart a several statements. Most interesting part was he was setting up a contest for the people in the room to take what they learned and use it to propose a new weapon or armor system. He and others in his office would judge them, and if the were good enough, would put together a paper/proposal that they would present higher up. The previous administration talked a lot about tapping into the knowledgeable but creative general public to see if they can help think outside the box. Took a while, but here it is.

Literary Attraction (SF Literature, Sun., E-only) - Good. The panel had two authors and a neuro-psychiatrist to discuss the differences in what men and women like in what they read and how much of that is biologically based. A couple fascinating points. First, people only fight for two reasons. One, for survival. Two, for the right to breed. There are no rules in fighting for survival, while there usually are in fighting to breed. Women ONLY fight for survival as they already assume the right to breed. Second point, gender and sexuality are two different things in the case of what's attractive in literature to women and men. There was a book recommendation I need to check out called Sperm Wars. Again, one of the panelists was a favorite, Dr. Jason Schneiderman.

Live Portrait (Art, Sun. K-only) - Great. Donato Ciancola gave a portrait painting demo using a photograph as a subject. Karen said it was fascinating to watch. So much so she found me after my panel to come see the mostly finished product, which I got to see again in the Art Show. Yeah, he's good. http://www.donatoart.com/

Board Gaming (Gaming, Sun. E-only) - Great. Two entertaining, knowledgeable presenters (one is the director of the board gaming at Dragon*Con) with the Gaming track director acting as a light-handed moderator from the side. I have a dozen games I need to check out on www.boardgamegeek.com. These two were hilarious speakers. They hold a regular board game night at their church. We're talking Settlers of Catan, Last Night on Earth, Pandemic, Arkham Horror. As they said, perhaps theirs isn't a normal church. Best piece of advice for checking out games was to search YouTube. People have put together demos for many, many games. Dragon*Con owns 300+ board games and gets another 1000 on loan that people can check out (library style) at the convention to give a test run.

Photo to Fantasy (Art, Sun. K-only) - Great. A introductory to intermediate panel on using PhotoShop to enhance your photographs. Inspired Karen with a number of techniques she wants to try. Given by another speaker we'll listen to any time, both for his technical knowledge and his ability to make us think, Amul Kumar. A great photographer, too. http://amul.biz/ - NSFW

Dungeon 101 (Gaming, Sun.) - Great. The Gaming track director, who is a credited game designer gave this one. Highly entertaining and informative. His second panelist canceled on him, so he gave a 5-10 minute intro on what a dungeon is (from a design perspective) beginning with verisimilitude and then took the rest of the time as Q&A. I've seen very few speakers who could pull off that format the way he did with a packed house of 150+ people. It was so packed they were checking badges at the door when Karen joined me halfway through. Another speaker we would see again.

Japanese Ink Painting (Silk Road, Sun., K-only) - Bust. Karen ditched out halfway through to join me in Dungeon 101. The speaker had a prepped talk (and a handout) but just read straight off the handout then asked if there were questions. She didn't think the few examples he showed were representative, nor did he really show how to do it.

Stealth in Space (Science, Sun.) - Good. Entertaining. The quick answer is, there is no stealth in space, at least in the way it's portrayed in Science Fiction, at least with our current understanding of physics. The speaker did his homework, complete with calculations. Not a lot of new information for me. Another speaker we would listen to any time, Dr. Stephen Granade http://granades.com/

The Future of Pen and Paper RPGs (Gaming, Sun.) - Good. We only caught the last 1/3 of it (when we ducked out of the previous panel's Q&A). From what we saw, another solid performance on the Gaming track by two panelist in the RPG publishing business. And coming out of the panel was one of the first times someone has struck up a conversation with me based on what I was saying to Karen. Kind of weird, but kind of cool too.

Old School Techniques (Art, Sun) - Good. Don Maitz gave a show and tell of some of his work from art school 40 years ago. I took a fair number of notes on things like value drawings, light, background color, positive and negative space, etc. If nothing else, for me, it helps to appreciate the art that I see. Plus he had some really cool head-shot sketches of people he'd seen around various cons that he'd converted to fantasy characters. Very accessible, and knew the ins and outs of traditional art subjects, including how you need to bring your knowledge of the physiology to a painting. His best advice, remember your eye is better than any camera. Photographs can't tell you where to build color and where not to. Photographs lie, your eye doesn't.

Cult of Personality (Apocalypse Rising, Mon.) - Worthwhile. Barely. Started as a Bust with the psychologist running the panel saying she didn't know much about it but thought it would be cool to talk about, and then left ALL her research and notes at home, so she couldn't confirm what she said was right. But one of the audience members had a PhD in History focusing on Apocalyptic Studies. They drafted her onto the panel. The one piece of information that sparked discussion between Karen and I was why Steampunk was rising in popularity just as Goth was declined. We didn't necessarily agree with the speakers on that point completely, but an interesting set of thoughts.

Staying Sane (Writing, Mon.) - Worthwhile. A large panel of authors and editors talking about how they stay sane in the publishing world as well as what drives them crazy. I was hoping it would be more from the point of view of the type of things writers struggle with (validation without publication, friends/family not understanding what they do, the day to day isolation, etc.). While they lightly touched on that, it was going to quickly move to war stories from the publishing business, which seems to be what the attendees of that track really want. We opted to leave early so we didn't feel rushed at the airport. The one good point they brought out was on how contracts were structured, specifically a common Catch-22 regarding advances, royalties and reserves against returns, as well as the devil's bargain the publishing houses struck in the 30's regarding returns and how e-books are finally changing that.

Concerts are an easier grading system. Either we like them or we don't. I try not to judge too harshly. These are some of the hardest working people at the con. I couldn't do what they do. They lay themselves out in the arena of public opinion then have to sit by a table for four days as people just walk by.

Attention System (Friday, concert) - Worthwhile, but not our thing. There is nothing technically wrong with them. Polished but forgettable. They remind me of another group I listened to in college (that I can't remember either). More straightforward rock than I was looking for. http://attentionsystem.com/

Ego Likeness (Friday, concert) - Great, as always. Even when the singer's mike went dead mid-song, they didn't miss a beat. The guitarist just stepped to center stage, and the singer sang to the front row. And the lead singer was just recovering from laryngitis. So not a long set, but you wouldn't know if they hadn't said. They kept coming out for encores. This is one of the bands that saw Karen through chemo. I feel like I owe these guys. And that's not a mercy recommendation. They make great music. I felt bad when the lead singer had to wake up the guitarist (her husband who was sleeping with his head on the table) to get him to sign Karen's CD. But he was immediately right there to interact, then crashed again. http://www.egolikeness.com/

I:Scintilla (Saturday, concourse and Saturday, concert) - Great. We caught them on the concourse first to see if they were any good. You can tell a lot about a band when they perform an acoustic set, no matter what type of music they play. You can't fake that type of talent. They were good enough to buy 2 CDs on the spot. The lead singer has a powerful voice. She overpowered the two small Bose they had setup on the concourse. Not blew them out from kissing the mike, just blew right past them into the audience. I thought, well, she will be interesting to hear with some real speakers and amps. She blew through those, too. Pure, raw talent with great control. The speakers just couldn't handle her. You can't quite hear it on the album. I've never heard anything like it. Their music would be zoned light industrial. http://www.iscintilla.com/

Black Tape for a Blue Girl (Saturday, concert) - Worthwhile, but not our thing. In fairness, we only caught 2-3 songs at the end of their set, as they were on opposite I:Scintilla. What we heard reminded me of a kind of Blue Velvet sound, strange, oddly kind of 30's/40's/50's fused into something out of the 80's. Dark cabaret really does cover it. http://www.blacktapeforabluegirl.com/

Celldweller (Sunday, concert) - Great. I considered just seeing him, but they forced seating for both his concert and the Cruxshadows at the same time, with a massive line. When we told the guy who is Celldweller, that we actually intended to see him that night, and not just to get into the Cruxshadows concert, he was shocked. "Really?" Really. Made his morning. Great video presentation with the concert. And 2 CDs worth of goodness. http://www.celldweller.com/site/ http://www.myspace.com/celldweller

Cruxshadows (Sunday, concert) - Great as usual. Ok, not the best we've seen. But we knew going in that their lead singer came down with the flu three days earlier. We could tell immediately that he wasn't holding his notes as long as usual. He didn't break, he was just preserving his voice as long as he could. Of course, the entire sound system crashed mid-song on them, requiring the con-staff to reboot the amps (?!). He didn't understand either, but did White Rabbit a cappella to fill in. A consummate professional. I saw him in the Ego Likeness concert, doing a sound check of the hall, ignoring an idiot who was messing with him, and talking to the mixers. They performed a one hour, forty-five minute set. He left it all on the floor. By the time he came to Marilyn, My Bitterness (always the closer), he needed help from us to sing. And they didn't have a new single they were trying to chart. That was just for the fans. This is another band I owe. Several of Karen's chemo anthems came out of them. Again, not a mercy recommendation. They. Kick. Ass. http://www.thecruxshadows.com/

Violin Jam (Monday, concourse) - Worthwhile. A collection of violins and strings that started as an impromptu jam near the music tables a few years ago. Led by the violinist from The Ghosts Project, who we've seen on the concourse before. Just something different before we said goodbye. http://www.myspace.com/theghostsproject

As with everything in life, Dragon*Con changes year to year. Some good, some bad. It's a matter of how it all balances out. We'll see what we do next year. At the very least, we'll make a reservation in October and go from there. Next year is the 25th Dragon*Con, so it might be must-see.


© 2010 Edward P. Morgan III

Dragon*Con 2009: Dancing in the Dragon's Lair

How can you know up without down? High without low? Beauty creates ugliness; there is no shadow without the light.

One percent of our year has come and gone in Atlanta. We have seen the Dragon, danced within its lair. But at the end of that encounter, I am uncertain whether we are the slayer or the slain.

The year was marked by good and bad in equal measure. Nothing catastrophic, but not quite the heights we scaled in years before. The line at registration, the six panels we left early, the hike down twelve flights of stairs with suitcases, the mild food poisoning (if those three words ever go together), the three missed concerts, the war game I wanted that disappeared, those were lows. The highs were the record number of panels and concerts we attended, the nine CD's by six groups we brought back home, the short-story I sketched out on the plane, the photographer from Twitter we touched base with again this year, and the lead singer of the Cruxshadows remembering Karen. A full and busy weekend marked by marginal frustrations.

This year was typified by our trips to the dealers' room. I saw a used SPI war game from the 70's called Musket and Pike that intrigued me, though it was expensive so I wanted to think about it. The more I thought, the more I decided I would buy it. By the time I went back, it was one of the few that was gone. That's how this year felt, promising but disappointing.

Some changes we noted from previous years: fewer Goths, fewer kids, less skin, more people, more costumes, more sponsors, more folk and Celtic music.

I'm sure people wonder what we do for five days in Atlanta. How much science fiction can occupy our time? Panels for us tend to divide into four basic food groups, the inspiring, the thought provoking, the entertaining and the complete waste of time. I'll give the highlights and teasers from each day.

Thursday started with two and a half hours in line at registration. I'm not sure we'll use Ticket Master again. It's always understaffed. This year, I heard the convention website crashed so a LOT of people went to Ticket Master. And they sent 2 people to handle them all. After that we met another couple at an Indian restaurant for dinner and a great chicken curry. We topped the night with a concert by the Spider Lilies, a band formed by the former guitarist of the Cruxshadows. Decent music poorly mixed.

Friday started on a hot streak. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy on DCTV in the hotel. No lines, no crowds, great seats, fun interaction between them. Our first panel was a talk on the I Ching, complete with a handout, by a bio-anthropologist who had no trouble resolving his science and his personal (not professional) use of it. Next was a great presentation on biophages, viruses that infect bacteria sometimes killing them in the process, perhaps the solution to antibiotic resistant strains of disease. A contribution we've ignored from the former Soviet Union. The day peaked with two hours of instruction by a director and editor on lighting and framing in film which we translated into still photography. They went over a standard three light arrangement, the law of thirds and crossing the line. Then, a discussion of an unexplained gravity anomaly discovered in the data from the Pioneer probes as they exit the solar system. After that, the evening fell apart with two aborted panels, one a no-show by the primary speaker. We used the opportunity to peruse the music tables and pick up the first load of CDs. We opted to forego the 1:30 a.m. performance by Abney Park, a band we'd seen before, to start fresh the following day.

Saturday dawned promisingly enough with a thought provoking panel about viewing art on the Internet called the Low-cut Blouse Phenomenon by the photographer who did the Myth of Photographic Truth last year. How do you entice people to examine or contemplate art in 100 x 120 pixels? After that, Karen and I briefly parted ways with her sitting in on a so-so instruction on how to draw monsters and aliens while I sat through an ok authors panel on what women want in science fiction. Then a panel on pandemics with two authors and a scientist from the CDC that was informative and not much more. The day started to degraded with another two aborted panels, though we used the time to crawl the dealer's room the first time, hit the music tables again and get some dinner (bad choice, my friend). It briefly peaked right after with a fascinating discussion of synesthesia, the cross-talk between senses from the same input ("Fours are red, sevens are green, and green tastes funny") by a neuroscience clinician, a doctor of cognitive psychology and a doctor of psychology and neurobiology. That was followed by yet another aborted discussion where two authors confused economics with social engineering. We salvaged the night with the Cruxshadows concert which was eminently danceable until almost 2 a.m. Once again, we got in easily by waiting until the line had passed.

Sunday we slept in. About noon I realized someone had slipped a little something extra into the our salad the night before, which left me at about half power through the remainder of the weekend. If you starve a cold and feed a fever, what do you do when you feel dizzy and flushed? Apparently, sit in panels until it clears on the flight home thirty-six hours later. Or maybe the two lemon wedges I ate in the airport did the trick.

First that day, we hit a great demonstration on how to draw wings complete with a handout and website references wing exhibits in museums. Next was an entertaining presentation of how much longer humanity will have the resources needed to support our current lifestyle. Turns out 25-100 years for things like aluminum, copper, lead, oil, gold and silver and platinum, not to mention those nice little exotics that run your laptop and cell phone. Followed by a solid discussion of military attitudes and personal interactions by a retired USAF officer. After a short break, there was a good presentation on decomposition of bodies by a forensic anthropologist, though perhaps the slides weren't dinner fare. Then an interactive life art drawing panel modeled by three local dancers. Karen did really well. I played to my strengths and focused on one of the model's eyes which were striking with their makeup and the strands of hair crossing them. The day ended on a sour note with a writing panel hijacked by five authors who chose to waste our time with war-stories rather than discuss the topic listed. We opted out of the Faith and the Muse, and Ayria concerts that night in favor of sleep and early panels the next morning. Listening to the CDs, I'm sorry with missed the first but perhaps not the second.

By Monday morning I felt a little better. Just in time for perhaps the best presentation of the convention on Darwinian dating: the biological basis of beauty, or what we look for and gauge in prospective mates based solely on appearance. Did you know women can smell not only good genetics but symmetry in men? Cologne doesn't help guys, it only annoys them. This one was delivered by the anthropologist from Sunday (who had ditched out on two of our aborted panels). We checked out of our room and followed up with an illustration demo that was more of a discussion by two artists, one digital, one traditional, but still fascinating as I could apply many of their observations from painting to writing. We rounded out the day with an overview of digital forensics and anti-forensics by a Georgia lawyer and an electronic investigation consultant. Is everyone out there is practicing safe wifi on their iPhones? Probably not judging by the number of passwords they picked off in the room. After a quick run through the dealers' rooms and the art show, we crawled for the airport and headed home. It's good Monday was short as I was lucky to be standing by the time we got on the plane.

If I had to pick the three most outstanding or inspiring panels this year, the would be Lighting and Framing, Darwinian Dating and a tie between Biophages and Synesthia. So the Science track wins out again this year even for the two we walked out of. Art put in a solid, consistent performance again with notables in Film, Writing and Silk Road, though the latter two had more losers than winners.

The business cards disappeared regularly from tables, transparencies first even though they were interleaved with the paper ones. Unfortunately, several stacks got cleared out by the cleaning crews in a game of mouse and mouser before it became apparent where they would and wouldn't allow information to linger. About 200 went into people's pockets, with some still disappearing on the last day. We'll see if anything comes of them.

A reasonable trip, though it didn't quite live up to the anticipation. This year felt a lot like being on the outside looking in. In a month, we'll reserve a room or two for next year, and decide next summer whether it has moved beyond us, we have moved beyond it or we just had an off year. The Marriott is definitely the place to be for us, on a low floor where we can use the stair. Karen is trying to convince her boss to provide a USGS presence next year with a panel or two, which I think would be good for him and his book, the Survey and the convention. We'll let you know if that works out.

Until then, we'll be listening to CDs, writing e-mails, checking websites, compiling a list of good and bad speakers, and trying to digest what we learned. And enjoying Nyala and Mara's affection now that we are home.

© 2009 Edward P. Morgan III

Anticipation

Anticipation - a reading (on YouTube)

Waiting, waiting, always waiting. 360 days of waiting and still we wait some more.

If you look for me over Labor Day, you'll find me in Atlanta. As we crawl through the unending days until Dragon*Con, we are like teenagers on the night before the first day of school, restless with thoughts of old friends, new teachers and new classes. We meet up to compare schedules and lockers, check out who's new and who's missing, who’s changed and who is just the same. We revel in that moment of endless promise and possibility before the first bell rings and notes are made on our permanent records. Excitement. Anticipation. An adventure.

Only geeks, right?

We arrive early to review our battle plan, our timetable gridded out with spreadsheet-like precision, knowing it will be shredded by the first encounter wandering down the hall. We reconnoiter the terrain, though after more than half a decade, we know it like the inside of our home at night. We note any rearrangement in the landscape, new tracks, new traps, new ambush sites.

We map out each encounter space, ruins, lairs, abandoned towers, any new source of potential treasure. Like sailors on a circumnavigation, we review our upcoming ports of call, Savannah, Cairo, Singapore, Manila. Like starship troopers, we learn the alien runes designating our assigned compartments, A703, M105, L504. For the next four days, we will be minotaurs wandering through this maze, vampires who fear the slightest kiss of sun. When Monday comes, we will be like clockwork toys whose springs are in need of winding.

Right now, our springs are fully wound, tight with anticipation. We are like children craving sugar the eve of Halloween, college students preparing for half a week of Mardi Gras rolled in with New Year's Eve. Our giddiness only intensifies as we stand in line waiting to get badged and cleared for entry. Like the alarms on our watches and cameras and cell phones, we slowly count down until D-Day, H-Hour, the second when the ball drops, the panels open and we let the games begin.

On the eve of this invasion, we roam the empty halls embracing the tingling, contented silence before they burst to overflowing. We stand watch on a balcony overlooking an impending anachronistic battle where the deaths are only temporary and the violence make-believe. We can almost hear the previous year echoing through the hotel lobbies and atriums and interconnecting hallways. Though a few old veterans are missing, we feel their presence like kindly spirits moving through the haze below, friendly ghosts drawn back to the self-described best weekend of their year.

When the gates finally creak open in the morning, we abandon all our cares in a pile by the door. Our days turn into bivouacs on a wilderness adventure. We carry rations in our backpacks, sling waterskins to be filled in this land of many springs. We become a recon team for the odd and the offbeat, slipping unnoticed into the strangest panels on the strangest tracks in the smallest, sometimes most crowded rooms. The quirky ones that surface then disappear. The ones that send archetypes and ingénues stalking through our collective subconscious, or settle in our minds like weird states of matter that shouldn't quite exist. Or dance before our eyes like symbols in the formulas defining interstellar combat. Or tickle our reasoning with the myth of photographic truth. The ones that fire our imaginations. The ones that make us think

For now, we read the intel reports to choose our encounters wisely. Occasionally, we reference the topo maps to find alternate routes around blocking actions and the inevitable pitched battle between the Miss Klingon Empire contestants and the Imperial 501st that spills into the hall. We are men and women on a mission; no one can bar our way. We fight through a phalanx of Kentucky-Fried 300, their creamy white beer-bellies blinding our eyes and sending our minds reeling with thoughts that loincloths are a privilege, not a right. Armies of angels and demons and faeries hover and flit around us, attempting to distract us with their plunging necklines before battering us with their underwired wings. We claw our way through hordes of synchronized Jacksonian undead, then dice with the blunderbuss-toting ranks of Victorian steam-punk explorers who stumbled into our melee, wagering for a map to guide them home.

We stockpile provisions in our night camp, content to live off the land and our rations until we return each day to rest. We hold vigils in the drum circle each night, dancing with the shadows in the concert halls, crawling back to our bedrolls with the False Dawn Brigade to catch enough sleep to stay on track tomorrow, whatever track that is, Art or Science, Space or Writing. In the morning we might wander the Silk Road or roam the Electronic Frontier until we are consumed by an Apocalypse Rising against the horizon.

We sprinkle business cards on the tables, hoping to seed some new readers, hoping at least a few will grow. We exchange coded contacts with fellow adventurers in casual meetings over coffee or in the lull of empty rooms. When the adventure is over, we will gather virtually or face-to-face to recount our tales, exchange our lies and compare our notes and treasure as we quietly sip our coffee. Very, very quietly.

Before we break camp on Monday, we will load up with parti-colored trinkets, baubles, books and music that we haggle from dealers and artisans in the booths of the bazaar. By then, we will have become like children's tops that have wound almost completely down, wobbling before we topple over on the plane.

But now, our strings are tightly wrapped, ready for the pull that spins us into the four dizzying days we crave to create sufficient memories to see us through the remainder of the year. Until then, we wait like children impatient to open our presents on this alternative Christmas Eve, sleeplessly wondering what surprises our secret Santa has in store for us this year.

If you look for me over Labor Day, you'll find me in Atlanta. I'll be the tall, dark-haired, geeky looking guy with glasses staying in the Marriott Marquis, the one carrying the khaki shoulder pack, the one with a leather notebook always in hand. That should narrow it down to one of several thousand. If you’re truly brave or interested, find the needle in the haystack called Smoke or Nodda Imaginings. If you get close enough to read my badge, perhaps I'll see you there.


© 2009 Edward P. Morgan III

Atlanta: The Annual Pilgrimage

We have completed our annual pilgrimage. We have circumambulated the Marriott Marquis lobby the proscribed seven times, and have run the circuit from the depths of the Hyatt gorge to the Hilton Grand Ballroom seven times in a single day. We have climbed the pillar of the glass elevators and stood in contemplation. We have broken our fast on General Tsao's chicken and declared it to be manna from heaven. We have witnessed the multitudes entering Nerd-vana and survived to share our tale.

After seemingly endless preparations and threatened derailing sidetracks, we embarked last Thursday around noon. Our first good omen came in Tampa, where a young TSA officer recognized Karen's DragonCon polo and asked if that's where we were going. She said she would be up on Sunday as she waved us through the checkpoint. We had encountered our first of the 30,000 faithful.

This year, travel was the smoothest it's ever been. We compressed everything into carry-on only both ways. There were no lines at check-in. On the flight up, the captain announced the controllers were hurrying him to Atlanta. Once there, we rolled straight to the gate, first time in history we haven't waited half an hour for ground traffic on the tarmac. In and out, we waited no more than a few minutes for a MARTA train. Coming home, we walked out of the terminal to find a shuttle to the economy lot rolling up, only one other individual waiting. No real traffic in Tampa coming or going. I don't thing we've had such consistent luck with travel on any other trip.

The hotel, on the other hand, was another matter entirely. We stayed in the Sheraton this year, the first it was an official host hotel for the convention, as it was the only room we could find. All the others had oversold their convention rate rooms, by a lot. It seems many people chose this as their weekend to stimulate the economy courtesy of George W's tax rebate. While the official attendance was pegged at 30k, as it has been for several years (for political reasons), the real peak number was probably closer to 50k. The room we had was adequate, if a little small. It had a fridge, a coffee maker and Dragon Con TV, three convention essentials. The neighbors were the problem. The walls were thin and the halls loud. Believe it or not, the convention goers weren't the problem, a family reunion was. The first three nights, the room next to ours was up late in loud conversation (for after midnight), just below the level of understanding but loud enough to be heard easily through the wall. One not it was a 1 a.m. conversation on a speaker phone. It was like being in a college dorm again. Saturday, we enacted our own 2 a.m. revenge, William H. Macy style from "The Cooler." That quieted them down just in time to leave the next day. The final night someone across the hall had a small, yappy dog. The hotel knew about it (even though they have a "no pet" policy) as I heard Housekeeping tell them a couple times there had been complaints. I think they were friends of the employees. I don't think we'll stay there again.

That was probably the low of our experience this year. Two in the morning concerts followed by 10 a.m. panels with time wind down, wake up, shower and eat begins to take it's toll on the best of days if you want to be able to think and follow what someone is trying to tell you. Papa Moogie gets cranky when he doesn't get his sleep. He forgot to take his blue pill. Or was it his red one?

The panels we attended were consistently better than they have been in previous years, though not quite so engaging and inspiring as last year. There were still a few disappointments, but I think I had better luck than Karen did. She hit a couple that frustrated her while I was in a long writing panel. We decided that the problem with art panels is they're run by artists, not the most organized of people on a sedate day. Over-stimulate them and they wander away form the panels they are supposed to be running to go see the parade, well, just because. Artists!

Twenty-two panels, six concerts and five days later, here are our 2008 DragonCon highlights and standouts.

In the Art track, we sat in on a couple good talks on photography, one on Photoshop techniques, another on the Myth of Photographic truth. The latter was the more inspiring as the speaker had an artist's view of the world, which was rich with perspective from well outside the box. One of the important social functions of artists, unconventional thinking. We sat in on a figure drawing demo by a professional illustrator with charcoals and pastels using a live model. He did four sketches, two five minute ones with charcoal, a fifteen minute on with more detail and final thirty-five sketch detailed in color. It was fascinating to watch him layer the colors one at a time, where initially you didn't know what he was after but in the end he had captured the model's skin tones and the radiant color to her hair. More so when we learned the was self-taught. Karen got to play around with some oil pastels. Despite her frustration with the flightiness of the instructor, she came away with a nice sketch. She got a picture of it in case it didn't complete the journey home intact, which it did. She also learned about binding her own books.

We attended three good talks in the Science track, two by the same speaker, a PhD in physical anthropology who teaches at Ohio State. The first considered the question of whether humans are still evolving, which we are though not perhaps in the ways we might expect. He discussed our evolving immune systems and alcohol processing capabilities, as well as the factors which drive them, both gene and allele changes over time as well as environmental and technological influences. His second talk discussed his research in Neanderthals. A very engaging speaker. The final science panel we attended was given by a physics PhD discussing the current state of research in quantum computers. Worthwhile if only for the reference to an article in Science this year, and the implications once their developed for any cryptographic encryption, oh, say, like our current electronic banking system. Cracking codes becomes so much easier when you solve for all possibilities simultaneously. No wonder the DoD is so interested in the field.

I ended up at a couple worthwhile writing panels. The first one was a double session seminar by a former small business consultant turned writer on goal, motivation and conflict adapted from a book she'd written. A clear, well-constructed discussion of technique with solid examples from well-known films. Another tool for my toolbox. Worth it if only because her new publishing company is looking for novel submissions right now. The second panel, the last we attended, was on developing secondary characters, which had some useful tips on dialogue, too.

In gaming, we got to talk to the current driving force behind Aftermath!, a survival simulation we've played since college, on of our staple games. He was demo-ing a new Survivor's Guide with all sorts of useful information in crisis scenarios similar to the ones used by the government for national security training. Fun to get his take on the rules and the direction in which he sees the game going.

Between times, we got to watch talks by actors from movies and series we'd watched being broadcast by the convention wither lived or tape delayed. Some were panels with lines of hundreds of people circling the interior of the Marriott waiting to get in. We got to listen to Avery Brooks (Sisko from Star Trek DS-9), Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama from Battlestar Galactica) and Sean Astin (Sam in Lord of the Rings) in different panels. All are interesting, thoughtful individuals who were willing to share insights not only into their craft, but their backgrounds, cultures and the societal impacts they see from the fiction they portray.

Finally, the concerts. Here was a bit more disappointment. The drum circle had lost some of it's shine from previous years. We saw none of the more professional level dancers who had hung out there before after last year's disruptions. Thursday was the best day, as there were only a few dozen people there, all for the music not just a place to hang out and drink. They had some good rhythms going. It was fun to watch one of the more experienced drummers teaching a kid, maybe 10, there with his mom and sister, on a big, blue plastic bucket. We did repeats from previous years on the other bands, Abney Park (plugged in and acoustic), The Cruxshadows and Ego Likeness. The vocals was crushed in the concerts in the Hyatt, poor mixing I think. We know the rooms aren't designed with music in mind, but we have heard better in previous years. That didn't seem to matter on Saturday as we heard they shut the doors on the Cruxshadows concert after we got in. When we first saw them 5 years ago, the hall was less than half full. This year, the seats were ninety percent occupied plus the standing room press in front of the stage. There was a line (that we didn't stand in) snaking around the outside of the building as we approached. Maybe 2000 people. Abney Park's acoustic set in the concourse was great, with a couple hundred people packed in. Unfortunately, their music has taken a new turn in direction that neither of us is as fond of. Their new stuff has gone Steam Punk now, which has a kind of Victorian carousel feel to it. But they played enough old stuff to make it worth it. Ego Likeness performed in the Marriott, which had much better mixing though they were accompanied by creepy Extreme Asian independent films for visuals. Definitely a better show even for the smaller crowd and the slap-back echo from the far wall. Worth the late night.

For the first time, we didn't come home with much largess. The Dealer's room and Exhibition halls have stratified into either selling high end collectors merchandise and lower end trinkets or baubles. Part of that is driven by the price the convention charges merchants. We overheard one of the booksellers saying they had only just paid for the booth rental on Sunday morning, over halfway through. That didn't account for wages, transport, etc. We only came home with one new CD single each from the Cruxshadows and Ego Likeness, and two books, one a children's book written by the guitar player of Ego Likeness involving the moon and a coelacanth. Karen picked up some jewelry at the art show. Even there, there were some interesting individual pieces, but no artists that captivated us like last year.

But we did lay out the business cards Karen designed to point people to my writing, and the majority disappeared. We'll see if we note any increased traffic. And as an added bonus, I started and completed the first draft of a story on the trip from Tampa to Atlanta, one I hope to get out later in the week. Karen brought her old camera and took a number of pictures that I'm sure she'll post at least some of. So not a total wash.

All in all, a much needed getaway. Relaxing in that totally frenetic kind of way. Next year, we'll try to make our reservations early to get a prime spot. We start calling in October.

Until then, I leave you with the out of context snippets of conversations Karen wrote down as we wandered from hotel to hotel between panels.

"You seriously need to find some breasts." (a guy to one of the women in costume he was at the convention with. And who says geeks have no social skills)

"Why are all the pirate women dumpy and fat?" (in the concourse between hotels)

"Was that a guy or a lady?" "A lady." "...it could have been a guy...she was really tall." (Marriott lobby, about one of the two 6 foot 5 Amazon women BEFORE you account for their heels)

"If I see a Kzin I'm going to squeal." (on the steps outside after the Cruxshadows concert)

"Was that a mini-skirt or a mini-mini-skirt?" (in the Marriott lobby about a woman wearing an 8 inch ribbon of pink plaid around her hips with black stockings)

"Some women wear their tops so low. And people are on the level above them. Don't they know people can see all the way down?" (To Karen in one of the Art panels by a woman about her age at her first Dragon Con. And, yes, yes they do know!)

"The hallucinations haven't started but I waiting for them." (coming out of a science panel on 2 hours sleep over 4 days)

"I actually woke up in London." (waiting for a science panel to start)

"When I get back, I'm going to tear this (corset) off, rip off my jeans and crawl into the shower to wash off the sweat and dirt and blood." (a woman walking back from the Ego Likeness concert Sunday night to her hotel on the street at 3 a.m. )

© 2008 Edward P. Morgan III

Atlanta: Here Be Dragons

Going to Dragon Con each year is a lot like entering the blank territory on a map marked only with "Here be Dragons." In many ways each visit is uncharted and unchartable from year to year. The landscape constantly shifts and changes around us. One year, it may be the celebrity panels that catch our attention, the next there may be no one we want to see, but the concerts might be great. Or the writing and science panels might catch our eye. Or the gaming. Or just watching Dragon Con TV (yes, they broadcast 24 hours a day on the hotel convention channels for the entire convention).

Much of what we did last year had changed or was gone. Last year we really enjoyed the concerts and Dragon Con TV. This year they weren't as good. DCTV had less variety than last year, with a number of the funnier parodies missing (the best last year was one called T.R.O.O.P.S., a take-off on the TV show COPS from the perspective of the imperial storm troopers from Star Wars). Where last year there was a bumper crop of darkwave electronica concerts, this year's music was almost entirely heavy metal. Not our thing. The one exception was a violinist who was down among the band tables, each blaring a different dissonant song. As we neared the table, we could hear he was playing the most ethereal strains of music. His was the only CD from a new group we picked up. Even the drum circle was different this year. Where last year I would have described the dancers as the synchronous swaying of massed femininity, this year I would have to go with tribalism without tradition. Anarchy ruled the dance floor to the point where most of the professional belly dancers left in disgust because people refused to give them room and were disrupting their routines. But the drummers were still good. One guy with a pickle bucket and borrowed drumsticks was holding his own with the professionals. And Karen got her dance with her friend as they both promised last year. I was quite happy to see her out on the floor enjoying herself. She had been looking forward to that.

Where else can we go where we can listen to talks given by a PhD in socio-psychologist on the nature of identity, reality as a negotiated space and community experience as it relates to fantasy games. Or listen to a PhD linguist discuss research on role-playing as an educational tool. Or hear an MBA discuss how the business model of the gaming industry differs from other industries. Or have PhD's in Physics, Astronomy and Planetology from NASA, JPL and Fermi Labs, some of whom happen to be the science advisors for several TV shows, share current and Nobel prize winning research as well as the latest proposals for exploration, or just give a primer on the Big Bang theory or antimatter. Or get into a lively discussion with a PhD in Anthropology (who teaches remotely at St. Petersburg College just up the road) on the nature of the apocalypse in various religions. Or sit with Emergency Planners and First Responders getting practical advice on how to survive a disaster. Or have the winner of multiple Hugos and Nebulas (the Pulitzer Prizes of science fiction) give advice on the best way to begin a novel. Or have a panel with Political Scientists turned writers lay out the 4 primary philosophies of American foreign policy or 4 reasonable predictions for the direction of China over the next 75 years. Or have a graduate of the New York School of the Arts teach us how to draw. Or dance until 2 am listening to live music and hanging out with Goths or belly dancers (two different events). Or have the lead singer from one of our favorite bands with a single on the Billboard charts devote 5 minutes to talking to us. All while surrounded by tens of thousands of people who share many of our same interests whether in gaming or writing or television or astronomy, all of whom are unashamed and unabashed (even a few who are uninhibited). Those are some of the reasons we go each year.

Feel free to say what you are thinking. Geek, geek, geek.

We ended up going to 15 panels from tracks on writing to science fiction literature to the apocalypse to science and space. I think that is a record for us. Of those, I would say 90% were good, with 5-6 being exceptionally entertaining or thought provoking. I won't bore you with the details of all of them, but a there were a few standout moments from the weekend that I'd like to share.

One of the more exciting panels for me was a discussion on antimatter given by a PhD from Fermi Labs (where they have a particle accelerator). This was on Friday right after a talk on Weird States of Matter that had me flashing back to my two undergraduate courses on Optics. In a way this talk built on the previous talk though it wasn't meant to be. Karen had given up between talks and headed back to the room as she was really tired, but I opted to stay. The guy giving the talk worked for the lab as well as having started his own company in hopes of exploiting the practical uses of antimatter. One potential use is as a cancer therapy. Yes, you read that right, cancer therapy. Now most people think that antimatter annihilates matter as soon as the two come in contact. Not so. Antimatter accelerated at a high speed will penetrate some depth into matter before it slows enough and the two annihilate each other. The rate of this penetration is quantifiable and predictable. That means that one day in the near future instead of conventional proton radiation or "gamma knife" treatment we may see antimatter as a primary treatment for inoperable tumors. As a bit of background, current radiation therapy relies on "fractions," multiple exposures to radiation from multiple angles over the course of weeks. In conventional radiation therapy, in order to kill a cancer cell you have to hit its nucleus with a proton while the cell is dividing (mitosis). They divide treatment into "fractions" to account for the statistical probabilities of when this might happen. With antimatter, the fractions are unnecessary. There is a 100% kill ratio if the anti-proton hits the target. As an added perk, because the matter-antimatter annihilation gives off some short-lived exotic particles, a before and after PET scan would reveal with complete certainty whether the treatment was successful. And instead of the perhaps 8000 rads received during a conventional treatment, you might receive 1 rad. Treatment for a medium sized tumor could take 2-3 minutes using 1 billion anti-protons, which cost roughly $60 to produce at Fermi Lab (that's total, not each). 1% of the output of Fermi lab could treat 500 cancer patients a year. There are a number of engineering challenges to overcome, but it is very likely I will see this in my lifetime. What you may be hearing is the sound of my mind being blown.

That was Friday's highlight. Saturday's was completely different. Saturday afternoon we went to a panel on contour drawing, something both Karen and I had done (she better than I), but something we both want to get back to. As I said, the woman teaching it was a graduate of the New York School of the Arts, fairly prestigious. She was supposed to do a panel on gesture drawing that we were more interested in, but it got scheduled out from under us at the last minute (at trend this year). When Karen and I had completed the main exercise, we both started looking for other things to draw. I settled on the woman in front of me's ponytail as this weekend was all about texture for me (more on that in a moment). Karen focused on her little girl, maybe 2 or 3 sleeping on her mother's shoulder. In the few minutes before she moved, Karen had a very good contour of her face. After the panel, Karen went up to the parents to show them the drawing. They were quite pleased and impressed, so Karen offered them the sketch, which they accepted enthusiastically, but only after asking her to sign it. The father said they would put it in a little frame. He seemed quite sincere. I think it made Karen's day. She really is good.

Sunday's highlight had to be the Cruxshadows concert, the one Karen (yes, Karen) had been looking forward to for months. They are the darkwave electronica band we see each year we are able, this time being our 4th. There was quite the crowd trying to get in. They filled the hall nearly 3/4 full with SRO in the front. My estimate was maybe 1500-2000 people between the chairs and the floor, most of them between 20 and 30, decked out in their best black, gothic regalia. We were more in the blue family of colors. We headed for the back, where Karen started dancing in the aisle, completely enrapt with the music, dancing, twirling, billowing the shawl she had crocheted and gotten multiple compliments on (including a woman asking for the pattern). Anyway, there she is in the aisle, when she nearly bowled over a twenty-something guy, all in black and mascara who was trying to get by. After the apologies were issued, he just looked at her with the twinkling smile of someone enjoying another's delight, and said please, by all means keep dancing, in just a perfectly admiring way. He could tell how into it she was and completely approved but just wanted to get by. A vintage moment for me.

The final moment came on Sunday as we were trolling the band tables, hoping the violinist was still there (he wasn't) and wanting to pick up the latest Cruxshadows single they are attempting to get on the charts. Karen bought the CD, then got into line to get is signed by the lead singer. Now you have to picture us, me 40 something and balding, her with her very short hair and New England upbringing, both in jeans and button ups, both painfully normal looking amidst a crowd of 20 something Goths. The band's lead singer, stage named Rogue, is about my height, thin, with mascara applied like kohl from an Egyptian painting and hair spiked out in the back to nearly a foot, dressed all in black. For all the drama of his outfit, his music has depth and melody, his lyrics drawing heavily from mythology. There is a poetry about some of them. Each time we've seen him, he is talking to the people whose CD's he is autographing. He gives each person time, never seeming distracted, his attention focused completely on them. Anyway, Karen gets to the front of the line and I mention to him that we almost didn't get to see him this year. So Karen tells him about being diagnosed. And I tell him when she started treatment I asked her to focus on where she wanted to go when it was over as something to hold in her mind during the worst. Dragon Con and the Cruxshadows concert was what she came up with. I told him how much joy he had given me by playing the music what she was dancing to in the aisle the night before. He was really touched and spent the next five minutes talking to her, relating details of his life and how he'd almost died when he was in an accident when he was young. As he signed the CD, I could tell he was struggling for what to write. When he finished he looked up at Karen and said, I've written what I write on a lot of CD's but with you, I really mean it. Then he hugged her for a long time and whispered encouragement into her ear.

Sorry, I get a bit misty just remembering it. Rogue seemed like a genuine and decent individual for all our differences in dress and lifestyle. The encounter was powerful and meaningful.

As an added distraction, this year we brought 2 tiny, "disposable" digital cameras that my mother had given us as a gift, between 20 and 60 pictures each. We didn't really want the hassle of keeping track of the regular digital in the crowds. I decided that since there was no way to know what I was getting for a picture (like an old instamatic), I wouldn't take anything I cared if it didn't come out. They are very sensitive to movement and vibration. So I focused on textures and layers all weekend. Most of my 20 pictures were of the hotels, the repetition of level after level of balconies and railing (47 floors internal to the Marriott) that are so hard to describe to people who haven't seen them. They came out ok, not a lot of crispness. Between Karen and I, we got some decent impressions of the hotels and why they are perfect for this convention. We can send the thumbnails with explanations to anyone who is interested.

We did bring home some booty this year. Karen outfitted herself with two nice skirts, a peasant shirt and a silver bangled anklet (for her drum circle dance). We picked up the violinist's CD and two singles by the Cruxshadows. I picked up a book on space exploration by a NASA PhD who so wanted to autograph it and shake my hand because he thought no one would buy his book. We found a tactical fantasy warfare card game that looked interesting. I have another book called Gaming as Culture: Essays in Reality, Identity and Experience in Fantasy Games that I will order online (they didn't have it on sale at the con.) We found that the manufacturer of one of our favorite games (Aftermath!) is back in business with new supplements coming out this year and next. Karen found a couple nice pair of earrings, and we picked up two cat figurines, one bronze and one jade.

We even got to spend a little time with a couple friends, which was quite nice.

Ok, that's the "short" version of this year's trip. All in all a great trip if each night was increasingly short on sleep, from 7 hours Thursday down to 5 by Sunday. It was good to get home and have Smoke waiting by the door. It took a little coaxing to get Mara out, but she, too, seemed happy we were back, as did Tina. The weekend flew by faster than any has before. Even with all we did, there were a number of panels we missed due to conflicts, cancellations or just needing a break.

We look forward to hiking back into the unmapped margins once again next year and seeing what we find. Always the adventure.

© 2007 Edward P. Morgan III