Andy Serkis DragonCon 2023

Let me start and say Andy Serkis is charming. He is very nice and while he had a massive line, he was friendly and smiled and tried to give a short listen to everyone. Even the person that was telling him about Chimpanzee therapy.

I’m extremely happy I spent 5 or 6 hours in line waiting for this. Yeah, 5 or 6 hours. I’ve lost track of exactly how long. I’ve forgotten a lot of details. I know I was in one line a couple of hours before the ‘start’. Then had to go to a different line to exchange my pre-paid receipt for a ticket. Then get back the original line…much further back.

After a bit, we slowly marched into a room that was too warm and not well ventilated.  The signing started later than expected.  But it eventually started.

A few people at the very front of the line had 10 or more items to get signed. That prevented movement as the clock ticked.

There was a loooog break for photo ops/lunch/panel or whatever.

Then he was there again. After hours of waiting with feet and back hurting, the line started moving. I handed over the photo and pen and he signed. The adrenaline rush allowed the pain to fade.  I left the room and found a place to sit. I text a few people about my accomplishment. I sat some more. I ate my protein bar and drank some water. And sat some more.

I finally got up. Stiff and sore and moved. But I had my autograph.

AH

Freddie Prinze Jr DragonCon 2023

I have mentioned it before, I really think the different Star Wars animated series have quality story lines. There is depth to the plots and you can watch the characters grow.

Star Wars Rebels is one of the series I recommend. FreddiePrinze Jr is an important character and mentor in the show. Give it a watch. You’ll like it. You can watch now. I’ll wait.

Freddie was gracious with his time. He received gifts and listened as people shared. And still the line seemed to move fairly quick. That is a good skill to have at a convention.

I passed along my photo and paint pen. The handler asked why Kanan (Freddie’s character) was wearing a blast shield. Fredie said because the character lost his sight. The handler nodded and said, so he got his vision back later in the episode.  Freddie said, no it’s permeant.

Then I jumped it. I said it was ‘kinda cool’ the story went that way.  And then I backtracked over the use of ‘cool’. However, Freddie agreed. It was something you won’t expect in a cartoon series. I turned to the handler and said, the importance was Kanan could have given up. But he knew that more was needed from him. I felt that was a great world lesson for young people. We all hit roadblocks. It’s how you react that counts.  Freddie nodded. Kinda cool.

AH

Paul Bettany DragonCon 2023

This was one of the names that made me very excited about DragonCon. Paul Bettany has done a few shows but not that many. While I was lucky enough to get a cast signing at SDCC, this time I could choose what I wanted signed.

Paul had a fairly long line. I got to the signing at a good time. I was early and only about 50 people in front of me. Paul showed up more or less on time and jumped into signing.

I handed over my photo. I was about to hand him my red pint pen when he picked up a black sharpie.  The handler was suggesting black for everything. I’m usually very passive but I really didn’t want black.  I quickly asked if he could use the red sharpie on the table. He paused and said sure if that was what I wanted.  I told him I think it would look good with the red on his face.  He signed and turned to the handler. He said that did look good and maybe they should be doing that all the time.  I smiled with pride.

Then I quickly told him The Wife and I loved A Knight Tale. And I was lucky to be part of the signings at SDCC for Priest and Legion.  I think he replied that I was lucky.

AH

Nathan Mitchell DragonCon 2023

It’s been a year and the memory has faded, but I think Nathan Mitchell was at DragonCon last year.  The year I didn’t go, even though I was sitting on the plane awaiting take off. Or maybe it was another show and things didn’t work out.

Regardless, I was happy to see his name this year. Better yet, I was able to use the photo I printed.

Nathan had a similar photo at this table. However, it was cropped differently. His table photo did not show what he was signing.  I told him I liked my photo because it was ‘meta’.   Nathan’s at DragonCon signing a photo of his character at some super hero convention signing photos.  He smiled. I’m not sure if he signed this photo before but he said he had a thought.

He signed his name with the paint pen. Then he picked up a black sharpie and signed Black Noir on the photo the character is about to sign.  A little hard to see but I loved it.  He even flipped my photo over so it looked like Black Noir signed.

It was fun to have that collaboration.

AH

Colby Minifie DragonCon 2023

I printed this photo and I chose the color.  It doesn’t show as well as I hoped but that is on me.  I was going with the copper to match the wall. I thought the signature in the painting was ‘clever’. And I vaguely thought it was matching her hair color.

Colby Minifie was nice. She looked at the photo and said, it was the scene where she was getting her bangs trimmed. They had to reshoot it several times.  The handler asked if the was worried they would cut off too much hair. She mentioned something about fake hair however a concern did creep in that someone might actually snip her hair too.

I mentioned how different this character was from the character in The Boys. Her face lit up and thanked me.  She wanted the characters to be very different. After she said that, I realized the character in Jessica Jones are also very different from these two.  She is doing a good job of not type casting. While none of these roles are paragons of virtue, they have different weaknesses and not the same.

AH

Lauren German DragonCon 2023

Sometimes you have a plan and it falls apart instantly.

I had wanted to ask Lauren German about Hostel II. What a creepy movie. I wanted to know if it impacted her travel overseas. Was she more paranoid about traveling?

Of course that didn’t happen.

I printed this photo. It's from Lucifer. I liked it. While she didn’t say anything, she did pause. Maybe she was trying to remember which scene it was.

I handed her a red paint pen. Now she stopped.

Lauren: That red will clash with the jacket.

My turn to pause. I said: But it’s red and I thought it would look good.  (I’m might have said that in a defeated husband sort of way…when he brings home dinner but The Wife already cooked.)

Lauren (with patience): Yes, it is red. But the jacket is maroon. Not quite red. Do you see how that won’t look right? I’ll do red but it won't have the 'pop' you were looking for.

She looked over her selection of pens to see if she had a better option. I’m happy that she got what I was trying to do and was willing to help me. Our choices were limited because I did not bring a maroon pen. Do they make a maroon sharpie or paint pen? See, another example that I wasn’t prepared for this convention.

Lauren suggested: Black, I think it would match better with the dark lining of the jacket.

Me (I grimaced. Black is boring. I get it all the time.): Let’s do blue.

Oh, that was not the correct counter offer. She grimaced.

Lauren: No. Blue would not work on that photo. I think black is the best option.

Me: I think blue would look better overall. It adds color against the manila background.

(Do I get bonus points for using the word 'manila' in a sentence?) 

Lauren: Okay. I’ll do blue because you want blue. BUT (a dramatic pause) I’m doing it under protest.  If anyone asks, you tell them we fought and I lost.

Me (with a small laugh): Okay, we arm wrestled and you lost.

Lauren (She laughed and then signed. She handed photo back but not letting go): Be sure to tell them it was under duress.

She was still smiling as I left. I think this was fun for her too.

AH

Quincy Fouse – DragonCon 2023

In another corner of the Walk of Fame room in the Marriott, was seated Quincy Fouse. He was chilling. There was music playing from either his table or the one next to him.  Quietly he was nodding in time with the beat.
I had circled the room several times before finally taking the dive to his table. I know he saw me a few times that day. I do tend to stand out. He smiled when I finally landed in front of him.

He saw my photo and said, Ah, Legacies. I'm always happy when they seem to like the picture I printed.

If I found a good Logan photo, I probably would have done that.

AH

Lesley-Ann Brandt – DragonCon 2023

I’m sure most people visiting Lesley-Ann Brandt wanted to see her for Lucifer. Yes, it's on my list to watch. Really, one day I will watch it. However, when I saw her name listed for DragonCon, I thought of Spartacus. I enjoyed that series. One thing that made the series memorable for me, most of the cast got a dramatic scene at the end. It’s not an uplifting ending to the series but each had a chance to be spotlighted.

AH

Omri Katz DragonCon 2023

When you walk up to Omri Katz’s table, he comes out from behind his table and stands with you. He is engaging and interactive. He asks questions and listens.

His table photo was better than mine. It was cropped better. After signing the photo, we of course talked ‘Eerie’. He mentioned there was conversations about rebooting the series. Hopefully with better results. He added they could easily ‘lift and shift’ the old scripts and just reshoot with a new cast. No re-imagining or major re-writes. It would be interesting. But Hollywood always wants to tinker with things. So that is not likely to happen.

AH

DC universe DragonCon 2023

I know, I know, I say it every time I go to a show and get some autographs: one day I will start watching these shows. The DC fans are loyal. The series have been on a long time. It has to be quality and entertaining. And the actors all seem very friendly and enjoy meeting with the fans.  What keeps me from diving in? I have no idea.

While not organized for this convention and rushing through on Friday afternoon, I did print a lot of my own photos. Some were obviously better than the table photos, some were more of less the same but I cropped it differently, and some: ’eh’. A toss up on which was better.

I really like the one of Willa Holland. The background lent itself to seeing the autograph better.  One thing I should have done was look for quotes.  I was not prepared to ask for quotes. I think a quote would have been perfect just above the signature. Because I was rushing, I forgot to mentioned the movie  that she was in, Legion. I enjoyed that movie. 

Carlos Valdes had a longer line. The convention placed him in the corner of the Walk of Fame autograph room. It seemed to be a good location as he was with other cast members. Carlos was popular and listened as fans has a lot to tell him. He had to pause a few times to do a selfie with some other actors from the show.

Adam Tsekhman was actually the VERY LAST autograph I got at DragonCon. It was Sunday and I just sent all day in line for another guest (Details later – As River Song would say: Spoilers!)  and it was late in the afternoon. The room was empty. I did a quick circle to see who was still around and that I ‘needed’. Adam was chatting with his handler and I turned to walk up to his table.

Adam was friendly and nice. We could have chatted but I was tired and hungry and just wanted to get off my feet and back to the hotel. Shame on me.

AH

The 100 DragonCon 2023

DragonCon had several people from the series, The 100. I picked up the 3 I didn’t have. All three were friendly and willing to chat.

I think I said the same thing to all 3 of the actors: I really enjoyed the show more than I expected.

I think all replied with the same question back to me: Because it was the on The WB?

I guess they hear that a lot. But it’s true. I love Supernatural but other WB series were more about teen angst and drama than a story.

Luisa d’Oliveira saw my photo and said she liked it. She told me she had a quote if I didn’t mind. She was in charge and I let her do what she wanted.  I looked at the quote and I loved it. It did sum up the character (and a few others) on that show.

Tasya Teles also liked the photo I brought. We just did the normal chit chat.

Bob Morley had the longest line. It was all girls. That makes sense. They all wanted to help his character to heal.

If I remember right, we talked about a good place to eat. He was looking forward to seeing what Atlanta had to offer.

AH

Katy O’Brian DragonCon 2023

I’m not sure why Katy O’Brian was a’ must have’ on my list. Maybe because I really enjoy Z Nation. That show went off in some odd directions. Maybe because I liked Mandalorian. Her character was intriguing there. Regardless, I'm happy I got to add her to my collection.

AH

Mandip Gil DragonCon 2023

Originally both Mandip Gil and Jodie Whittaker were scheduled to attend. Jodie needed to cancel. I’ll see her some other time. I’m still happy I was able to see Mandip. As with everyone on Dr Who, she was friendly and personable.

I printed this photo. I liked that she was trying to do something and not just waiting for the Doctor to solve something.  I know, it; not working out as expected but she was trying.

She told me she really hurt her finger in that scene. It was twisted in the handle and filming was stopped briefly. Her finger still gives her some pain now and then. 

Maybe not interesting of a factoid (does anyone say 'factoid' anymore?) but I shared. Use it as you wish.

AH

Stargate DragonCon 2023

Over the years, I've enjoyed the various Stargate series and the movies on TV. I also enjoyed the original Kurt Russell movie. This year, DragonCon offered me an opportunity to add a few more actors from the Stargate franchise into my collection. 

Gary Jones was walking back from a break when I got him. He was wearing his SG1 uniform. Which I thought was funny but it makes for a great photo op. Clever.  We chatted and it was the normal: where you from, really like the show stuff, yadda yadda, yadda.

This was his table photo. I loved what he did with it. He added a quote from himself and the Asgard. Again clever.

I always thought Dr Zelenka from Stargate Atlantis didn’t get enough credit. I was happy to finally meet David Nykl. He was friendly and willing to talk. But I moved on as I was on a mission and trying to see as many people on Friday as possible..

AH

Eureka DragonCon 2023

I was not as prepared for this DragonCon as I could have been. That is what happens when you are lazy and you’ve been to the same convention a few times. You take short cuts. Also, I was trying not to take time off from work. If you take too much time off, people start wondering if they need you. I only took Friday off.

If you remember, last year, my trip was cancelled because the flight crew ‘timed-out’ and there was no replacement crew. The next available flight was late Saturday. Which translates to…no DragonCon in 2022. I was not a happy camper.

This year, no issues. I booked an earlier flight. It gave me more opportunities to catch another flight if I got caught in the same dilemma. I took an early afternoon flight instead of the evening flight. I got to Atlanta without delay.  From there, I got an Uber to the hotel. That ride was quicker than expected.

I stayed at a hotel a couple of miles away from the convention. It’s cheaper and quieter than the host hotels. It’s a nice. Not too fancy and the location is nice. The uber ride back and forth to DragonCon isn’t too expensive. After checking in, I called The Wife to let her know I was alive.

Next step was to get my badge. Online, I saw a lot of horror stories about an hour or two wait to get a badge. My experience was different. The only way the badge pick up could have been faster was if I ran. I had no delays. This was much better than 2022.

While I HOPED to get a little time in the Walk of Fame (that’s the autograph room) on Friday, I had not expected any quality time there. Maybe a quick visit to get the lay of the land. Maybe pick up an autograph or two if the line was short. Since things were moving very smoothly, I walked to the Marriott. With my want list in hand, I dove in. I got most of the people I wanted Friday night. Really. I was happily surprised. I think I spent a little over 2 hours in the autograph room.  I even met up with a buddy and checked in with him. He busily working through his list too.

The negative: I was in work mode. I wasn’t chatty. I was on a mission. I was working through my list to allow my more time for Saturday and Sunday. The point, a lot of these posts will be brief.

As you know, DragonCon usually brings in several actors from the same show. There is a synergy in that. It generates more excitement and cast members that don’t often make appearances turn up. Eureka was one of this ‘reunions’.

I absolutely loved Eureka. I have been fortunate and gotten several cast members in the past. And with this DragonCon, I could add 3 more.

Everybody loves Fargo, right?  Neil Graytson was the first I got. He was friendly and we did chat. I printed this photo. I’m not sure if he had the same one on his table. We both pointed out the dog. No animals were harmed in the making of the photo. He suggested the quote and adding S.A.R.A.H. which I forgotten he had voiced.

I also printed a photo of Jordan Hinson Danger. It was the same trampoline gimmick with her in the air, just like Neil. I switched to her table photo. Neither of us liked the trampoline photo. Her air was unflattering. She was friendly and I met her baby for all of 2 seconds. If you know The Wife, she asked if I had any photos. If you know me, I would never think of taking baby pictures. The Wife then asked how old…again, if you know me, the age is ‘baby’. 

The last actor from Eureka was Ed Quinn. He asked where I got the photo I printed. He remembered the shoot. He asked for it to be on his table but no one could find it.  He called over someone and told them my photo was what he was asking for.  In the chaos of handlers looking at the photo, someone asked where I got it, but no one wrote down my answer. I’m sure Ed never got that photo.

AH

 

A negative times a negative: Edward James Olmos DragonCon 2021

Yeah, this is confusing, I’m quoting Stand and Deliver but the photo is Blade Runner. 

A long time ago I got a photo signed by Edward James Olmos for Stand and Deliver. I smeared the quote. I wanted a new autograph.  This photo caught my eye and I went down that road. I’m glad I did as I love the quote he added.  Don’t even get me started with how much I enjoy both Blade Runner and Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep.

But back to DragonCon…The guy in front of me gushed and fanboyed out. But unlike most gushing fanboys, he was articulate and explained the impact of Stand and Deliver on him and that he became a Math teacher. He was someone not expected to go to college but he stuck at it and succeeded.  He talked about the challenges he had and he gave some examples of Admiral Adama guiding him.  I have to admit, I was close to tears.

When the fanboy stepped away, I handed over my photo. I could only say, I agree with that guy about your impact and I can’t add anything to what he said.

AH

Ricky Whittle DragonCon 2021

When I entered DragonCon’s ‘Walk of Fame’, on Saturday, I was specifically looking for Ricky Whittle. I loved him in American Gods and I really enjoyed The 100. In the past, at SDCC, I was lucky enough to get cast items signed from both of those shows but I wanted something with just him.

When I got the table, there were two people behind the plexiglass. They were moving boxing and setting up the table. I have to do a double take to make sure that was Ricky.  As I approached, he did some last-minute straightening and greeted me with a big smile.  I was the first customer of the day.

He signed and then came out from behind the table. Then we talked. About The 100 and working with those fresh faces. Then we talked about working on American Gods and how he tried to be a sponge trying to suck up all of the nuisances that those actors displayed. He spoke glowingly about Ian McShane.

As we chatted a lady walked up and joined the conversation. After a minute she asked if Ricky recognized her. With masks on, it’s hard. She removed her mask and he did know her. They started a new conversation recalling how they met before. That was my cue to leave but he included me in the conversation. The three us continued chatting. It was really nice.

AH

Louis Gossett Jr DragonCon 2021

I admit, I goofed. I should have printed a photo for Louis GossetJr. Probably something from An Officer and a Gentleman. He only had this one photo at this table.

Louis generated a buzz when he appeared. If you think about it, that’s hard to do at a convention like DragonCon. There are lots of big names but he still made people stop and turn.

He was nice. He listened as people spoke. He nodded sagely and smiled. I’m sure people would have talked to him all day. 

I'm really happy I had this opportunity. This makes for a nice addition to my collection.

AH

Juliana Harkavy DragonCon 2021

Juliana Harkavy was dressed to impress at DragonCon. She wore gorgeous dresses each day and her hair and makeup was glamorous. So of course, I navigated toward her table to get an autograph from her.  She was in Arrow, another series I haven’t watched yet.

I loved that the signed and then added her character name and the character’s alias.  It’s something that doesn’t happen very often.

AH

Omid Abtahi DragonCon 2021

The name Omid Abtahi might not be a household name but you’ve probably seen him in American Gods, The Mandalorian, or Fear the Dead.

Very friendly person and we ended up chatting about The Mandalorian.  He asked if I was caught up on the show. He didn’t want to provide any spoilers. He wanted to know if social media spoiled the series for me.  I told him I tried to avoid media on shows before watching but it can be hard at times. He then followed up and asked if I didn’t know about the big surprise at the end of season two.  I had to admit I did know but the show kept me engaged enough that I didn’t think about it until a few minutes before the ‘appearance’.  He seemed to like that answer.   And no, he didn’t tell me anything about season 3.

AH