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9-13-06 The final part of my dragon com pics are up along with my final thoughts: 1)Dragon Con is unique. If the San Diego Comicon is like a premiere trade show of the industry, Dragon Con is Carnivale with a marathon of indulgences. 2)People seriously like to dress up. (Again note the above Venetian reference) Some people even have more than 1 outfit per day. For many, this event is like THE place to exhibit their creations, not unlike fashion week at NY, Paris or Milan. 3)Diversity dominates. The con caters to so many genres whether it is superheroes, anime, Star Wars or Harry Potter. No one passion dominates at this event (even though my images might suggest otherwise). This is no more evident than the Saturday parade that consisted of over 1000 patrons dressed in dozens of different themes. 4)The space and attendance is deceptive. The place is scheduled over 3 hotels that are lined in tandem. It can feel like a long haul going but in reality it is more like a compact maze. The amount of space was reasonable just sometimes hard to orientate. That same feeling warped my impression of the attendance. Some places felt incredibly crowded while other places felt comfortable & manageable. Regardless, this choice of venue helps maintain their social/congenial atmosphere better than a convention center. 5)Accessibility also dominates. I really appreciated the limited number of exhibitors. I did not feel overwhelmed. There was the right manageable number. Even better were the celebrity guests. Place in the same area with lines moving in a steady directional flow, they were personable and you did not have to wait too long to chat or get an autograph. They were also nicely spaced apart so there was room to just take their picture and not encumber those in line. 6)The guests. There was quite the variety of cult entertainment. Greater than you’d expect. The typical con does not have castmembers of Happy Days along side folks from Stargate or George Romero. And the guest of honor was Mickey Rooney! And he looked pretty good for his age. Sadly wasn’t able to get his pic. 7)Too many people dressed up. I mean this in a good and a bad way. It was cool but overwhelming how many different people dressed and you were always sure to find creative concepts and designs. But it was next to impossible to see it all much less photograph. The only possible way was to forego any socializing and just focus on costume hunting. This approach however would have been rather counterproductive to the nature of the con. This leads to the next point. 8)There isn’t enough time for a truly comprehensive experience. The con has a limited number of time blocks during the day and over 20 different programming tracks scheduled during each one. While owing to the high diversity of themes, this would not normally be a great issue. However much time can be occupied just watching and recording people in costume. Between that and the high charged party feel, it is all too easy to miss some fun or insightful panel. I missed over half the panels, films and programs I had taken an interest in seeing. 9)There are no shortages of parties and entertainment. The final party Sunday night broke up past dawn the next morning. 9-10-06 Part 2 of the Dragon Con pics are up. And are there a ton of them! 9-8-06 The first part of a massive wave of images from the fantasy/sci-fi event Dragon Con 6-15-06 Had a jam-packed and exciting weekend at the 17th annual Akon anime convention 5-10-06 Visited Richard Maritzer and checked out his new show. It was a raucous event and something every Sound and fury fan should check out. 3-22-06 It's my own March Madness as I post pics from a jammed packed day at the North Texas Irish Fest. I also had a musical fill at the Chicago Maritime Festival. And the I close out the month with the 2nd annual ALL-Con sci-fi convention, a fun little offering which also had some crazy night events. Alas I miss those. Perhaps next time I'll catch their Rocky Horror and Moulin Rouge shows/parties. 12-11-05 Spent Sunday afternoon after Thanksgiving on Sixth Street enjoying the Victorian festival Also spent a whirlwind weekend down in Galveston for Dickens on the Strand. Dickens is always a nice change of pace for me. 1) It's not a ren event. 2) It's a weekend I get to really spend with my festival friends as they indulge in not working a show. Because of this I tend to do a lot more candid and portrait shots of all the folk in their fanciful Victorian garb. Of course the fact that I got to be a photo op subject with my Chinese garb was a nice bonus. 11-8-05 Returned to this great little festival. It's an event that has growth and depth and I look forward to returning for years to come. Anon and good days, |
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Dragon Con Part 1 (8/31-9/01/06)