Dragon*Con 2007

August 30 - September 3 2007

On Thursday, The Colonial Fleet went to Hard Rock Cafe in Atlanta. Let it be known that Hard Rock is an awesome host for groups, and let us be as loud as we wanted. Sadly, we missed the Klingons and their debut of "YMCA" by the Village People. I hope someone out there has some YouTube footage...

Friday was a quieter get-together at Benihana. Of course, "quieter" for TCF means we aren't screaming "SO SAY WE ALL" at the tops of our lungs. Very hot ladies on one side of the table... Yes. This man is our CAG. One of the best Security guys in the Colonies. The new and improved Cylon Detector... TopGun fan! Hardcore tattoos: The feminine component of the Admin staff. Wait... why is no one holding a gun to her head? Starbuck, Athena and Apollo. Aw. :)

At this particular 'con, I worked to get Dana and Jose's Duty Blues finished. Because SOMEbody neglected to give me the correct measurements, SOMEbody didn't have a Duty Blues jacket to wear. But thanks to President Rosalin of the Fleet, Dana ended up all kitted out and ready to go. THANK YOU SO MUCH, LADY-- YOU SO ROCK! You tell me where to send it, and it's yours.

Yes, that's Greg.

Yes, they're Cobra Kai. If they haven't already, they really need to worship at the Altar of Amy since she is made of Raw Awesome for putting together their costumes. Just sayin'. Friday night we ran into several of the Red Button crowd-- all of whom were people-watching. Shakespeare/Shieldhaven and I joined in.

Woot... sexy Ninja:

McCoy the Mad Monk:

A really great Qui-gon:

Didn't we save you already?

A really well done Belle:

This group was a FANTASTIC Blade Runner crew.

Flash:

Ok, now these guys are insane.

Jose and Arturo and the rest have been working out for months to look good in those 300 costumes.

It absolutely paid off. Overheard at the 'con: "Those guys look great. Of course, they make us look bad, so I want to just throw them off the balcony..." to which I reply, GOOD LUCK.

More costumes...

These guys were a great Enterprise crew.

I was complimented on my hat. Mmmm, savvy!

A few more of the Red Button folks:

For a while I actually got to run around as a Slytherin. (What? You were expecting something else?) For once I'm IN the photo with Pete Abrams of Sluggy Freelance Fame:

'Rella and Casey joined us, so I had a Hogwarts partner. When queried as to how a Hufflepuff and a Slytherin could hang out, I started responding with: "I'm just plotting her demise."

Later the four of us were taken to a Tuscan restaurant by Shieldhaven/Shakespeare's parents, where our waiter was pretty proud of his perfect Cappuccinos. I had to get a photo.

And once again, our intrepid Fleet searches for a place to party:

Here we are, scoping out the Parade Route board. Note the shape of the main hotel's icon:

Come Saturday morning, the Parade got started with more than it's share of hang-overs. But everyone rallied and, wow. Colonial Marines:

"Nuke 'em from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

"WHAT is your favorite COLOR?"

(Yes, they had coconuts for horses.) From Doctor Who:

After a while Apollo started leading from the center/side/something.

Starbuck and her stogie:

Colonial Viper Jocks:

Pyramid Ball: the Sport of Champions!

Knuckle-draggers of course carry the heavy equipment and sound hardware:

Kickin' it Old School:

Wait... is he sneaking her a gun?

YOU DIRTY CYLON!!!

AIRLOCK! AIRLOCK! AIRLOCK!

At the end of the parade, a friend in the Fleet got a buddy in the 501st to pose and shake hands with my friends' sons. It was beyond awesome-- I am now a staunch ally and fan of the Troopers in the 501st.

Later on that night, the OFFICIAL BATLLESTAR GALACTICA PARTY got underway. There was professional lighting. Professional videography. Professional live music that was just phenomenal

-- and the costumes were fantastic.

The Colonial Fleet raised more than $400 for the American Diabetes Foundation, thanks to our Raffle. We even had a few celebrity guests show up: Here's Alan Sheppard and Jamie Bamber who were kind enough to endure a few photos.

Aaron Douglas did our raffle drawing, and told the funniest story of "why one ought to wear underwear under the orange Crew uniforms." Heh.

Aaron is awesome, and while he was costumed as "Chief, Off Duty" he actually didn't place in any of the contests

, but that was probably just as well considering how amazing the costuming was in general.

By all reports, the party was a roaring success-- despite having the ittiest, bittiest room in which to host the party, it all went off well and everyone who attended said they had a great time. Rumors of the party have gotten around-- I hope that they've gotten to the correct people, and maybe we can get a BIGGER ROOM NEXT YEAR. Later, we all looked for a place to have our After-Party. Brad showed up and convinced me that he was serious about all of us coming up to drink and hang out in his room. I was a bit skeptical-- I mean, ALL of us? But he was pretty adamant. This is the crowd we had at the start of the party, waiting for "Chopped Liver" (Heh) to show up: