Dragon Con 2015: Beth's Recap Part 3

If you're running behind you can read part 1 here and part 2 here.

I didn't sleep well Saturday night, on top of not eating much and staying up too late Saturday, so Sunday morning was not the favorite morning of my life to date.
After a shower and Vitamin Water I was feeling well enough to venture out of the room for food. The elevators were blessedly empty though. I got on an elevator with just one other person! That's pretty unheard of at Dragon Con. Once I got downstairs I realized that the reason the elevators were empty was because the breakfast places were full. I had to be at the Hyatt at 1pm anyway so I grabbed a piece of pizza at the Marriott on the way. I didn't think the Sheraton would have anybody grilling this early otherwise I'd have been all over it.. The pizza wasn't great even at this early hour which kind of made me regret my choice. Let's just move everything I want to see over to the Sheraton next year so I can just stay there the whole time.

Still so crowded..

I went on up over to the Hyatt to scope out the media room for our podcast space. I was early, but it was so quiet and cool in there that I stayed to do some writing. I actually got all of Saturday written up while it was still fresh on my mind while waiting for our crew to arrive. Sadly, when Phantom showed up he could barely talk. It seems the strain of hosting a boisterous game show in a packed room with no mics was just to much for him. Wuss. As the host of the podcast it's pretty important that he be able to speak. I hated having to scrap the podcast, but sometimes things are just out of our control. Thanks to the team in the media room for giving us the space and wishing "wrestler man" a speedy recovery. Instead we decided to check out the Artist Alley which was super crowded by this time. It also looked like there was a lot more pop art than comic art this year which I found strange, but I guess that's one of the ways Dragon Con has changed as it's gotten bigger. I did get to see Bob Camp (Ren and Stimpy) draw for a few minutes though so that was cool. Then it was on the the surprisingly not crowded Walk of Fame. I'll admit that I didn't go in last year because every time I walked past there was a ridiculous line just to get inside. Once I got in I saw why it wasn't crowded. Many of the celebrities weren't there, and I had wanted to try and catch a glimpse of Scott Thompson, Felicia Day, and maybe Karen Gillan (even though she wasn't due to arrive until later in the afternoon). None of them were there, but I did see George Lowe (Space Ghost Coast to Coast), James Urbaniak (The Venture Bros.), and John Noble (a million good nerdy things).

I know he's gay, but I love him in such a straight way

The rest of the day held a few panels at 4 I hadn't yet decided between, a birthday dinner at 6, and the Needless Things meet up at 8. Phantom had to be on panels at 2:30 and 3:30 which meant the room would be empty for awhile. I picked this opportune time to grab a nap. I couldn't really sleep, but it was nice to quietly relax and watch some Dragon Con TV for a bit. I had been torn between the Star Wars pilots panel with Vanessa Marshall (of Star Wars Rebels. Which is good despite the fact that I don't love the animation) and Peter Mayhew, and the Venture Bros. panel which is always good. Thanks to Dragon Con TV replaying the Star Wars panel from Friday I didn't have to choose. I got to sit and watch one panel on TV and then go see The Venture Bros. panel live and in person. I'm glad it worked out that way because those guys are always funny. This year was another of their "Let's All Smoking" fake 60's talk show set up. Complete with fake cigarettes, dark sunglasses, and the pretence that the show's creators (Doc Hammer and Jackson Publick) had no idea what the show was about as they interviewed James Urbaniak and a few other voice actors from the show. They showed a lot of clips from the (finally) upcoming season, and it was generally pretty hilarious. If you haven't seen one of their panels before I highly recommend you go next year. Just laughing that much brought some life back into my body. I ducked out during the Q & A portion though. I really wish more panels would screen their questions. It is absolute torture to force hundreds of people to listen to someone else's gushing celebrity love.

After that I met up with a few fellas for a beer, and it was really starting to crowd up again. Nowhere near Saturday levels, but still pretty full. But by that time it was time to meet some other fellas for dinner. This was the only time over the whole weekend I even walked past the Westin. It seems so far when it's 90 degrees outside. Since it was only 86 and kind of breezy it was a pretty tolerable hike to Meehan's, although I will shame Phantom here for threatening to get an Uber. Wuss.

In case you missed Popeye the Sailor Moon

After dinner it was the Needless Things meet up at the Hilton pool. It was nice, but since I was pretty much already friends with the people who were there it was just like like regular hanging out. Just at a pool, at Dragon Con. If you're reading this, were at Dragon Con, but weren't there you missed free punch and pie. I hope you can live with yourself. Okay there wasn't punch and pie, but there was birthday cake so you still missed out. After that there was just time to see the Pee-Wee's Big Adventure panel before going home. Because A. I still love that movie, and B. my friend Noel from dorkdroppings.com was on the panel. It was surprisingly full for 10 o'clock on a Sunday night, but thanks American Sci-Fi Classics Track for reminding me that fan panels can be fun and entertaining.

I wanted to stay for the Late Night Puppet Slam but I had to catch MARTA, and it only runs so late (and usually slowly) on a Sunday night. Mr Tibbs was also on his way home from his full weekend of gigs, and I wanted to see him for a minute before going to sleep. I also wanted to get home early enough so that I could be up in time to come back down on Monday morning. Fate had other plans though. Upon reaching my car I found that the battery was dead, and I had no cables. I was forced to make Mr. Tibbs hop out of bed to fetch me. It was easier than waiting the 2 to 3 hours it would have taken for roadside assistance to reach me. So instead of one last day at the con I had a morning of buying jumper cables at Wal-Mart, and paying an extra $8 for leaving my car at the MARTA station an extra day. Boo.

Believe it or not I've still got one DC post to go. The recaps may be done, but I'm not. Check back soon for my final thoughts.

-Beth

Beth got her start writing for a site called Movie Criticism for the Retarded (which has been revived as dorkdroppings.com. Check it out sometime), but was pulled out of an early retirement to write for Needless Things. When she isn't writing she plays video games and watches bad horror movies while eagerly awaiting the zombie apocalypse. She may try to save her husband and/or their cats, but luckily hasn't had to make those tough decisions yet.