DragonCon 2002 -- Atlanta, GA

Atlanta, GA
August 30 – September 2, 2002

Day Two

We've had a busy, busy day. First we slept in for awhile this morning. We had to get up early yesterday to set up Leah's art show panel and we had arrived pretty late Thursday night, so we were pretty tired. After a wonderful buffet breakfast, we hobbled (yes, we're already hobbling) on into the art show so Leah could check on her panel. She had a number of bids, so she was happy.

Leah chose to display artwork stretching back over many different years and fandoms at this convention (some of it in color for the first time) and it has been fascinating seeing which pieces garner attention. Currently, there is a bidding war going on over a little Dr. Who piece that Leah originally drew about 15 years ago (it was originally published in Starlog in black and white). One of her old Highlander fan favorites is still popular. It's a crossover with Xena and several people are battling it out for that one, too.

I think at last count, 15 or 16 out of 25 pieces had either sold or had bids. I mentioned yesterday that someone had snagged the naked Daniel picture and we speculated that it was one of the actors we were talking to in the art show. Well, the culprit has been discovered. It was our very own Xochi who grabbed it and ran, knowing that a naked Daniel wouldn't last long on his own as 20,000 people walked past. Someone also grabbed one of Leah's golden oldie Blakes 7 pieces at the Quick Sale Price.

There is a big canvas in the art show where the various artists can draw something. Apparently, at the end of the convention, it is auctioned off for charity. Most of the artists drew elves or dragons and that kind of thing. Leah drew a Daniel looking frightened in the midst of all of this chaos saying "Jack! Jack! Help! I'm lost in a very strange dimension!" It is so adorable. I wish I could take a photo of it but no cameras allowed in the art show, drat it. (But Leah did her own version of it, as you can see above!) Later on in the day, Leah found a white board and markers sitting in the dealer's room right in front of the Walk of Fame (where all of the celebrity guests have tables and sign autographs). She drew a huge cartoon of Darth Vader (David Prowse is here) holding a little girl and rolling his eyes. The girl's mother is gushing, "Please Mr. Vader, just one more photo with Poopsie." She drew a sign at the top saying Walk of Fame and an arrow. Some of the press filmed Leah while she was drawing it, but she didn't notice they were there. She might have showed up on the local news tonight. Who knows? Teryl and Peter (and Sarah Douglas) all said they were looking forward to seeing us at Gatecon.

We hooked up with Tracy Scoggins again and this time she was wearing the necklace that she wore when she played Cassandra on Highlander. I asked if I could take some photos of her wearing it and of course she was happy to allow it. But then she "bullied" Leah into being in some pictures with her and she put the necklace on Leah. So, Leah had a "happy" day. ;-)

A funny Stargate aside, I was talking to Tracy at one point and I had on a t-shirt with an absolutely gorgeous picture of Michael Shanks on it. Tracy kept looking at my chest and finally said "That is really nice. I love that." I know she loves antique jewelry but I wasn't wearing any today (had had some Egyptian jewelry on yesterday). I looked down and said "What?" She said "The shirt. That's lovely. Who is that?" I told her, "Michael Shanks. Have you ever met him?" She wanted to know what he was on, so I told her Stargate and said that she should be on the show. She looked thoughtful and said "Well, at least they might cast me because Richard Dean Anderson is tall. I can't get roles on shows where the main lead is short." We talked about Stargate a little bit after that. I told Leah I thought it was funny that she was admiring my shirt of Michael Shanks and Leah said "Hey, she's a girl. She obviously has good taste and thought he was cute." So, Michael Shanks, wherever you are, Tracy Scoggins apparently agrees with some of us that you are HOT stuff.

Oh, one funny aside. Armin Shimmerman finally showed up to sign autographs. I wanted him to sign some of my Stargate stuff. Most of the celebrities charge a fee, even if they're signing your own items. They have to pay their expenses and make some money, so I don't mind. Some of them are kind of gouging, though, and others are very reasonable or will "make deals" with you if you buy one of their photos, too. Well, I wanted Armin to sign a picture and a book, both of them my own items. I asked him how much and he said $3.00 (the norm is $10-20). I blinked and thought that maybe he said THIRTY. So, I asked him again. $3.00. I repeated it. He looked at me and said (quite sincerely) "Why? Is it too much?" My mouth was gaping, so Leah said "No, she's just stunned." I'm not sure I ever was coherent after that. He was the sweetest, nicest man. He loved the photo I had taken of him and Rene A. at Vulkon last March. BTW, Richard Hatch signed my items for only $5 each because they weren't "commercial" items and Robin Sachs refused to take any money for signing my Babylon 5 book. Some of the others signed my items for free when I also bought a photo... but some of them charged $20 *no matter what*. I paid because I figure I won't have another opportunity like this again anytime soon, but I bought a lot less from the ones who were gouging and I took note of who they were. Interestingly enough, most of the ones gouging also were the least friendly. Only one or two of them really seemed to go out of their way to try to make sure they at least gave you some pleasant conversation, etc.

We also stood in a long line (of mostly MEN) to see Traci Lords. She was in an episode of Highlander so I wanted my HL book signed. She turned out to be a very personable, very pretty lady and we enjoyed talking to her for a few minutes. She was intrigued to see the HL book and remembered her role on the show quite well. She commented that Adrian Paul was one of the nicest people she'd ever met and wanted to know if we'd ever gotten to meet him. So, we chattered about Adrian for a minute. ;-)

One of the other highlights of the day was meeting Ted Raimi. Another charming, very funny fellow. When I asked to take his photo, he really posed and hammed it up for me.

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