Text 7693, 88 rader
Skriven 2006-09-05 21:13:00 av Robert E Starr JR (8190.babylon5)
Ärende: Re: Dragon*Con notes
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Chris Adams wrote:
> Jason Carter was listed in the program but was not on the panel Saturday
> (I didn't make it to the Monday panel, which only listed Jason and Julie
> Caitlin Brown on the panel).  He wasn't mentioned by the other guests,
> nor was there an empty chair IIRC.  He also was not listed as a
> cancellation in the Daily Dragon.  I'm not sure what was up with that.

They were wondering where he was as well - there was a place for him
Friday in the Walk of Fame (I saw the sign), but he never showed.

> Someone had commented here about B5 being "dumped" to the main
> programming track instead of Sci-Fi Classics.  My understanding of the
> reasoning was that there were no fan panels scheduled, so the only B5
> panels were going to be in the bigger rooms, so it was moved to main
> programming to allows Classics to have a couple of additional panal
> slots.

I don't know the situation with Sci-Fi Classics track, but the show
*was* unceremoniously dumped from the American SF track, something
certain people who are involved with that track have wanted for some
time.

> John Hudgens was there this year and showed the B5 videos Friday night.
> It was nice to see them again; this was also well attended.

    It was well attended for a late night panel, but it wasn't as well
attended as it has been in the past. I'm glad that there were some new
people in the audience this year, tho. About half the crowd had
apparently not seen them before, and I got the impression that they
went over well. Everyone stayed until 12:30am, so that's saying
something...

    However, this year's B5 video showing was one of those "only at
Dragon*Con!" moments. I got to the panel room early, to make sure all
the tech stuff was in order - the convention had neglegted to tell me
again this year that they'd scheduled the videos, but this time I
checked the schedule before I left and brought the DVD with me this
time.
     Anyway, I arrived early, and that was a Good Thing. They had a DVD
player, but it was not set to handle anamorphic video properly, and
there was no remote to access the menu to change that setting. No
remote also meant we couldn't do anything but play the first selection
on the DVD menus. For the Rock and Andreas memorials, no biggie, but I
needed to be able to navigate menus for the regular videos.
    No problem. I'd brought my portable DVD player along as a backup
for this panel (and the monster Star Wars fanfilm panel I had just
finished presenting), just in case. However, this room's setup needed
XLR connections for the audio, and we would also need a double-female
RCA connector to link the video cables. No go.
     Okay, we found that we could directly connect my portable player
to the projector, but that still left us with no way to get the audio
to the sound system, as the sound board was across the room. Tech ops
was having no luck finding remotes, cables, or connectors that would
work, and we were stymied.

    So one of the fans I've seen at the video presentation for years
(I'm sorry I forgot your name!) comes up and tells me that not only
does he just happen to have a portable audio mixer in his bag, he also
has 50 feet of audio cable with him! We quickly pull out his cables and
essentially hotwire this whole thing, and lo and behold, it all worked
and we were able to get the show started - ON TIME, even!


    I certainly had fun the rest of the convention. Lots of panels,
lots of friends. I couldn't seem to go more than a few minutes in the
common areas without being spotted by a fan or a friend and talking
with them. At one point Saturday night, it took me an hour just to walk
from the Hyatt to the Hilton, just from seeing so many people I knew...
     Sunday night, Peter David invited me up to his suite for a
brought-in dinner of Fat Matt's barbeque ribs and fried chicken - the
dinner crowd included him and his wife Kathleen, George Takei, Marv
Wolfman, and a few other of their family and friends (I'm blanking on
names at the moment!). Paul Dini even showed up for a moment. Half the
time I was wondering "what am *I* doing here?!?", but mostly I was just
having a ball. Peter and George Perez had snakes on a shirt, but that's
another story. :)

'Twas a good con this year. That's it for me convention-wise this year,
tho - film festivals are looming now!
                               
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