Here's the part II (Sunday - Monday).
Part I (Thursday - Saturday) can be found here:
Part I (Thursday - Saturday) can be found here:
Sunday, the BSG panel titled "BSG Reunion" wasn't until 4:00 in the afternoon. We were also going to have BI's Bachelorette party that night. The Bunnies planned to bring the cake to the Walk of Fame for Jamie to sign at 11:00 am. I really wanted to be there as well--I would've given almost anything to see Jamie's reaction when he sees his "near naked" picture printed on a huge cake (the picture was one of the outtakes of him posing for People's Sexiest Men issue last year!) But unfortunately I overslept.
By the time I rushed over to the Walk of Fame, Jamie had just signed his name on the cake. The Bunnies excitedly recounted the story to me and showed me the pictures they took.
They carried the cake all the way here from their hotel. When they arrived, there were a lot of people in front of Jamie's table. They had to wait at the corner with the cake. While they waited, many onlookers and staff members came to admire and take pictures of the cake. When they finally got to approach his table, Jamie had no clue what was coming!
BeyonInsane wore a pair of bunny ears with a white *towel* tucked underneath it as her bridal veil. ::clever girl:: She told Jamie she was getting married later this month. The other Bunnies were throwing her a party, and they would like Jamie to autograph the cake. From the pictures they took of Jamie sat there agape at the cake, I should say he was shocked!
Reportedly Aaron was doing a interview around the corner. He had to stop the interview in the middle and came over to see what was going on. When he saw the cake, he started filming and video taping the whole thing. He even threatened Jamie by saying: "This is SO going on the set!"
Incidentally, Jamie's handler also took lots of pictures. 
I was quite impressed with how well Jamie signed his name with the icing![[profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
laurie31 provided. I tried to do something like this many years ago and made quite a mess. In the pictures, Jamie did seem to be concentrating really hard by the look on his face. I could tell by the visibly bulging bicep on his arm, this was NOT a "piece of cake" autograph for Jamie! ::hehe::
The Bunnies finished off the story by telling me Jamie "apologized" to BI's fiancée who stood in the back of the group the whole time. Reportedly Jamie told the groom-to-be: "I'm SO sorry, man!"
Well, since the cake autograph was over, I wanted to take care of my hunger the next. I rushed over this morning without eating anything, and I was starving by then. Good thing it was Sunday, and the restaurant in our hotel had Sunday Brunch. So we headed over there and spent the next couple of hours eating a lavish meal.
By the time we finished our brunch, there was still some time left before the panel would start. I had more things I wanted Jamie to sign, so we headed back to the Marriott. When we got there, I saw the crowd around Jamie's table was dispersing. We were told Jamie was getting ready go upstairs for his Photo-Op. I decided I didn't want to rush Jamie signing his autograph, so I should wait and come back later.
stilettos81 and I headed toward the exit. We walked past Jamie's table that was situated on the path. As I did so, Jamie stood up to leave and I got a good look at his t-shirt. It was a well-worn Cowboy t-shirt (hubby actually had the same shirt once!) I stopped, looked right at him and blurted out: "You are a Cowboy fan!" He looked back at me and said in all seriousness: "Yes, I am!"
At that point, I called backstilettos81 (who had already walked ahead) and squeed. We told him he must've been pleased because the team famously won so many Superbowls, and he replied: "Oh no, I was a fan long before that!" He told us he had many relatives all over Texas, and when he was a child, he visited there and was given Cowboy t-shirts and souvenirs, so he became a fan ever since (through the pains and heartaches when the team was no good...)
We told him we were fans as well because we lived and studied in Austin, Texas. He seemed to have a look of recognition and replied: "Ah, Austin is a very nice city!" (hehe, me think he's been there personally...) Yap, I quite agree, in fact I think it's the best place in Texas.
Finally, it was time for the panel. Thanks tostilettos81's K/L thread friend Ariel, we ended up sitting at the second row! ::woohoo:: I had such a clear view of the panelists I could even make out their expressions when they spoke! Like the day before, the panel was a lot of fun. I love seeing these people articulate their opinions and banter with each other. One time, Richard Hatch "shocked" me by holding Jamie down pretending to kiss him right there on the stage (he said "let's just make love right now" while Jamie was saying nice things about him! Jamie didn't even have time to react before Richard grabbed him!) The audience laughed so hard. I wish I caught that on camera, but unfortunately my battery went dead by that time (I left the charger at home by accident.) Poor Jamie seemed to get a lot of ribs from his fellow actors for his physical attractiveness. On the other hand, Jamie didn't seem to mind, and he played along easily too. ::heh::
After the panel, we went back to the Walk of Fame once again. So far, I've only gotten autographs from Jamie. I decided it was now time to get some signatures from other actors as well. So I draggedstilettos81 to stand in line to get Richard Hatch's autograph. As we stood in the back, Richard Hatch spotted us. To our astonishment, he got up from the table, put his hands together and bowed in our direction. 
We *giggled* and bowed him back. Ahhh, that was quite embarrassing!
After we made our way to the front of the table, I selected the "two Apollo" picture (Lee and Tom Zerak in front of a Viper) for RH to sign. Richard not only signed his name, he also put "Tom Zarek" underneath the signature. After he finished, RH mentioned to us about joining his cruise to the Eastern Caribbean early next year! Whoa! I had no idea RH was involved with the Cruising business!
Next I went to get autograph from Aaron Douglas. I had trouble deciding which picture to pick for the signature. Eventually, I settled on the one of Chief with Brother Cavil (from Season 2 finale) since Aaron seemed to relish in the fact Chief is now a Cylon (stilettos81 aptly described the picture "Cylon to Cylon.") Aaron scrawled his name (he has a rather flourish style) next to his character, and like RH, he added "Chief" underneath his signature. After signing the picture, Aaron also readily granted my wish to take a picture with him.
Then we were back in line to get Jamie's autograph again! This time, I wanted him to sign two of my favorite Wallpapersstilettos81 made (one of which she made specifically for me!) But first, I had to tell him that silwyna and o_yannik sent their regards! Jamie knew he had fans from Germany (I heard he signed autograph in German for some fan earlier), but he seemed to be impressed his fanbase reached as far as Poland! ::hehe::
Finally, I brought out my "Jamie" Wallpaper and asked him to sign it. The funny thing was Jamie stared at the picture and asked puzzledly: "Who took this? ...When did I do that?" Huh?! "You don't remember?!!!" This was the last reaction I expected from him! We helpfully reminded him the picture was one of those taken by photographer Kharen Hill! That seemed to jolt his memory a bit. After he signed it, I then took out the "Black Market" Wallpaper. I told him that I didn't care what others said about the episode, it was one of my favorite. I pointed out the quote (from Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness") at the top and explained to Jamie that the WP intended to capture how Lee journeyed to the "heart of darkness" and came back from it. I then challenged him to see how many "faces" he could see in this WP. Jamie peered at the picture, and quickly counted: "One... two... three..." He stopped at three. His handler and nearby staff member were also studying the WP, but they could do no better either. NOT BAD! I was suitably impressed.stilettos81 told him he was pretty sharp for picking out three faces. Most people (me included) did far less initially. We then showed him the last face he missed--Phelan at the very bottom, almost faded into the smoke and the black background. Jamie liked Wallpaper and complimented stilettos81 on her work. I then asked him to sign it. But I put him on the spot by requesting him to sign it with whatever words he found suitable. He had about ~10 seconds to come up with something quick. He thought very hard, and wrote down a sentence. But he was shaking his head afterwards and apologizing he couldn't think of anything better than that... No need--I was impressed already! (see pictures of the signed WPs...)
After me,stilettos81 had an easy "task" for Jamie--she wanted him to sign another DVD jacket for her with one of his own quotes (he said during Saturday BSG panel): "If they didn't drag their feet, they would have 5 seasons." Jamie happily obliged.
After Jamie finished signing for us, we had one last request. Back on Friday, we were told Jamie wasn't going to take pictures with fans during his autograph session. So we never bothered him with request for pictures at Walk of Fame--that is until now! After he put down his Sharpie, I asked him if he would mind taking picture with us--especially since he was wearing the Cowboy t-shirt. Jamie stood up before I was even able to finish my sentence. Happily, we posed with him (I turned out looking pretty bad in the picture because of the weird angle and the fact I was grinning ear-to-ear. But who cares--Jamie looked so cute!) Afterwards, he even paid compliment tostilettos81 and I about the way we dressed. 
::how sweet:: Then while we were saying goodbye, he leaned over and gave a quick friendly peck on my cheek (he did the same to stilettos81!) I, of course, returned favor and quickly kissed him back on HIS cheek! 
Then we headed back to our hotel to get ready for the evening--stilettos81 changed into her gorgeous Elizabeth costume (the black "dress" from PotC part 3.) We planned to go to the Pirates party at 11:30 that night. But first, we had BI's Bachelorette party to go to. Unlike my friend, my costume was a gaudy pirate outfit made for Halloween, and I was too self-conscious to wear it out of the hotel we stayed in. Instead, I put on regular clothes and was going to change into the costume right before the party.
As we walked out of our hotel, we ran into Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner sitting on the hotel bench outside smoking cigarettes and waiting for the valet to bring their car around! Apparently, they dined at the restaurant in the hotel. We approached them excitedly and told them we enjoyed their panel discussion on Friday. They looked at us "suspiciously" and asked us how did we know anything about their panel. We told them we were right there in the audience! We explained we were here in Atlanta attending the Dragon*Con. They asked where we were heading to. We mentioned we were going to a Pirate Party eventually. They wanted to know how come we weren't dressed in costume, stilettos81 replied that she was--she was dressed as Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean. Jonathan Frakes quipped: "I see you have a subtle Pirate thing going..." Then he looked at me up and down and asked: "And what about you?" I laughed and said I indeed had a real pirate costume hidden in the bag. When we bid them good night, they told us they wished to see both of us stopping by their autograph table at 11:30 am sharp the next day. Not knowing what the next day schedule was at the time, we promised we would and went on our way.
The Bachelorette party was loads of fun! We had a blast goofing around with the girls. The Bunnies I met in Atlanta are a bunch of great gals--they are warm, friendly, lots of laughs, and best of all, really stand by each other. The only man in the party was Mick's husband, who *bravely* took on the duty as the camera man for the occasion. In my opinion, he had the best line in the evening: when it was time to cut the cake, BI was having a really hard time. Every time she brought the knife near Jamie's image, she had to stop saying she couldn't do it--it was too beautiful. Mick's husband finally quipped: "Come on--it's just a three-day old chocolate cake!"
After that, "Jamie" got divvied up pretty quickly. Girls laid claim to different "parts" of "Jamie"--no claws were bared, we all *negotiated* civilly to get what we wanted. Sylvie went for the head--she used her hands to frame her *noggin*, thus making clear it was THIS *head* she meant! 
Even though the cake WAS three days old, it tasted surprisingly good (no, "Jamie" had absolutely nothing to do with how it tasted!!!) After we devoured the cake, it was time for stilettos81 and me to leave. Regrettably, we bid the girls goodbye and took off.
When we arrived at Hyatt, it was a little after 11:30 pm, but they were no longer admitting people in the Pirate party due to crowd control. We went up to the guy guarding the door to ask him if they were going to "rotate" people. The guy first said that was it, they weren't going to let new guests go inside anymore. Then he changed his tone and whispered we should leave and come back later. So away we went. We ended up in Marriott and sat in the chairs at the Pulse lounge until 12:15 am. Coincidentally, there was a group of Colonial Fleet people from the night before sat next to us.
By the time we got back to Hyatt the second time in the evening, the people guarding the door to the Pirate party let us in! Hooray! There was a good sized crowd at the party. Most of them had on lavish costumes, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Since the party wasn't carded, they didn't serve any drink except water (which seemed to run out early on) at the party. When we arrived, people were in the middle of a lively Pirate dance (an Irish jig.) Later on, we also caught the Costume Contest at the party. I was very impressed by the guy who dressed up as Barbosa! I wishedstilettos81 would join the contest--she would've been perfect as Elizabeth. 
Oh well...
After the Costume Contest, I was getting really tired. With all the trouble of getting in, we didn't end up staying long at the party after all.
(See Sunday pictures...)
Monday, the BSG castoff panel was at 11:30 am. Even though we *promised* Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner that we'd be at their autograph table by 11:30, we were not going to miss the last chance seeing Jamie (sorry Jonathan and Brent!) Many fans had already left the Con to head home, so we had no trouble of getting front seats this time.
The Stargate panel was right before BSG's, and it ran over a little in time. So I caught the tail end of the discussion. Tell the truth, I wasn't too impressed with what I saw. To be fair, I'm not a fan of the show so my opinion doesn't count. But I was shocked to see one of the panelist had brought what appeared to be a bottle of beer on stage--this only made me appreciate more of my favorite BSG star(s)!
When BSG panel finally started, the emcee got on stage and announced his regret that Jamie Bamber could not be there because he got called away in the morning for some pickup shots for BSG in Vancouver. Huh?! We thought BSG was on mid-season filming hiatus! Sure enough, Aaron walked on stage and corrected the guy that Jamie was shooting a movie during the hiatus, and he was called away to the movie set in Louisiana.
Even though I was disappointed not be able to see Jamie again, I was more thrilled he's making a movie! ::hooray::
The panel without Jamie felt lackluster to me (speaking as a Bamber devotee so ignore me.) Aaron made a tactless joke involving Chinese that I don't appreciate. I think he knew he overstepped the line right away, and was trying to get pass it. The panel was over a little under an hour.
After the BSG panel, we were going to stay for the Star Trek: TNG panel that was supposed to have Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, and John DeLancy. However, on my way to the restroom, I caught sight of the note announcing Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner had already left and therefore would not appear on the panel. That did it--stilettos81 and I made a beeline for the exit (and many others followed suit when they read the note as well.) We dashed to the Walk of Fame to see if we can still catch the actors. When we got there, Jonathan Frakes was no where in sight, his table was all cleared out (Jamie Bamber's table was taken down as well ::sniff::) and Brent Spiner was about to leave too. We decided not to approach him at this juncture. After all, the guy was not going to remember us, so why remind him our encounter the previous night?
We wandered around Walk of Fame a little more. I caught the backside of Richard Hatch leaving. He shoved everything in his rolling briefcase and pulled it toward the exit. Call me sentimental, the sight of him walking off made me very sad. We then ran intolaurie31 and others who were waiting for Aaron to come back. There was a note on his table that said he would be back shortly. I was rather skeptical at that point. So I bid farewell to everyone and left the Walk of Fame for the last time.
stilettos81 and I then made our way to the exhibition hall in Hilton for the first time since Dragon*Con started. We browsed through the merchandise they had there. I wanted to pick up something for my son, but most stuff there were either not appropriate or too expansive for an 8 year old boy. Eventually I settled on a Jack Sparrow action figure, which I bargained down to $10. I also picked up a beautifully crafted dragon necklace for only $5. With that, my first Dragon*Con experience was officially over.
(See Monday pictures...)
My overall impression of the celebrities from BSG: Mark Sheppard is a very smart guy. He's quite a veteran in Scifi productions (or maybe just TV production in general), and has a keen sense for opportunities.
Kevin Grasier is a happy nerd who was like (what we Chinese would call) a mouse that fell into a rice canister at Dragon*Con. He sort of reminded me of some friends I know in RL.
Richard Hatch is a genuinely nice guy. It's obvious he believed in the legacy of Battlestar Galactica, and he works diligently to keep it alive. Yet he's an interesting person to me that for someone who feels hard to let-go (of things he believes in), he doesn't appear to hold any grudges, and doesn't seem to have a problem to "pass the torch to the younger generation."
Aaron Douglas is very much a comedian, and it was obvious he came to Dragon*Con to have a good time. Aaron's comedic style and timing kinda reminded me of Robin William, whom I understand is an idol of his. So that explains it.
Jamie Bamber is incredibly intelligent and he's a consummated professional. I was deeply impressed by his articulation. It shows he's well informed, very thoughtful, and well spoken. From my observation of him during the Con, he was always on his game whenever he was in public--be it the panel discussion, the autograph signing, or the photo-ops, Jamie was always sharp and focused (I didn't count the Friday Panel since it was a weird one, and kinda pointless.) It was obvious he came to Dragon*Con to do a job, and he treated it with due respect. I also noticed for someone as good-looking as Jamie, he didn't seem too concerned with his appearance. I'm sure he's aware of what his look does to people--it's hard not to when fans (like me) chased him around, and fellow actors teased him about his looks. But I had the distinct feeling that Jamie is the type of person who relies more on his mind than his look.
(My entire Dragon*Con photo gallery...)
By the time I rushed over to the Walk of Fame, Jamie had just signed his name on the cake. The Bunnies excitedly recounted the story to me and showed me the pictures they took.
They carried the cake all the way here from their hotel. When they arrived, there were a lot of people in front of Jamie's table. They had to wait at the corner with the cake. While they waited, many onlookers and staff members came to admire and take pictures of the cake. When they finally got to approach his table, Jamie had no clue what was coming!
BeyonInsane wore a pair of bunny ears with a white *towel* tucked underneath it as her bridal veil. ::clever girl:: She told Jamie she was getting married later this month. The other Bunnies were throwing her a party, and they would like Jamie to autograph the cake. From the pictures they took of Jamie sat there agape at the cake, I should say he was shocked!
Reportedly Aaron was doing a interview around the corner. He had to stop the interview in the middle and came over to see what was going on. When he saw the cake, he started filming and video taping the whole thing. He even threatened Jamie by saying: "This is SO going on the set!"
Incidentally, Jamie's handler also took lots of pictures. I was quite impressed with how well Jamie signed his name with the icing
laurie31 provided. I tried to do something like this many years ago and made quite a mess. In the pictures, Jamie did seem to be concentrating really hard by the look on his face. I could tell by the visibly bulging bicep on his arm, this was NOT a "piece of cake" autograph for Jamie! ::hehe::The Bunnies finished off the story by telling me Jamie "apologized" to BI's fiancée who stood in the back of the group the whole time. Reportedly Jamie told the groom-to-be: "I'm SO sorry, man!"
Well, since the cake autograph was over, I wanted to take care of my hunger the next. I rushed over this morning without eating anything, and I was starving by then. Good thing it was Sunday, and the restaurant in our hotel had Sunday Brunch. So we headed over there and spent the next couple of hours eating a lavish meal.
By the time we finished our brunch, there was still some time left before the panel would start. I had more things I wanted Jamie to sign, so we headed back to the Marriott. When we got there, I saw the crowd around Jamie's table was dispersing. We were told Jamie was getting ready go upstairs for his Photo-Op. I decided I didn't want to rush Jamie signing his autograph, so I should wait and come back later.
stilettos81 and I headed toward the exit. We walked past Jamie's table that was situated on the path. As I did so, Jamie stood up to leave and I got a good look at his t-shirt. It was a well-worn Cowboy t-shirt (hubby actually had the same shirt once!) I stopped, looked right at him and blurted out: "You are a Cowboy fan!" He looked back at me and said in all seriousness: "Yes, I am!"At that point, I called back
stilettos81 (who had already walked ahead) and squeed. We told him he must've been pleased because the team famously won so many Superbowls, and he replied: "Oh no, I was a fan long before that!" He told us he had many relatives all over Texas, and when he was a child, he visited there and was given Cowboy t-shirts and souvenirs, so he became a fan ever since (through the pains and heartaches when the team was no good...)We told him we were fans as well because we lived and studied in Austin, Texas. He seemed to have a look of recognition and replied: "Ah, Austin is a very nice city!" (hehe, me think he's been there personally...) Yap, I quite agree, in fact I think it's the best place in Texas.
Finally, it was time for the panel. Thanks to
stilettos81's K/L thread friend Ariel, we ended up sitting at the second row! ::woohoo:: I had such a clear view of the panelists I could even make out their expressions when they spoke! Like the day before, the panel was a lot of fun. I love seeing these people articulate their opinions and banter with each other. One time, Richard Hatch "shocked" me by holding Jamie down pretending to kiss him right there on the stage (he said "let's just make love right now" while Jamie was saying nice things about him! Jamie didn't even have time to react before Richard grabbed him!) The audience laughed so hard. I wish I caught that on camera, but unfortunately my battery went dead by that time (I left the charger at home by accident.) Poor Jamie seemed to get a lot of ribs from his fellow actors for his physical attractiveness. On the other hand, Jamie didn't seem to mind, and he played along easily too. ::heh::After the panel, we went back to the Walk of Fame once again. So far, I've only gotten autographs from Jamie. I decided it was now time to get some signatures from other actors as well. So I dragged
stilettos81 to stand in line to get Richard Hatch's autograph. As we stood in the back, Richard Hatch spotted us. To our astonishment, he got up from the table, put his hands together and bowed in our direction. We *giggled* and bowed him back. Ahhh, that was quite embarrassing!After we made our way to the front of the table, I selected the "two Apollo" picture (Lee and Tom Zerak in front of a Viper) for RH to sign. Richard not only signed his name, he also put "Tom Zarek" underneath the signature. After he finished, RH mentioned to us about joining his cruise to the Eastern Caribbean early next year! Whoa! I had no idea RH was involved with the Cruising business!
Next I went to get autograph from Aaron Douglas. I had trouble deciding which picture to pick for the signature. Eventually, I settled on the one of Chief with Brother Cavil (from Season 2 finale) since Aaron seemed to relish in the fact Chief is now a Cylon (
stilettos81 aptly described the picture "Cylon to Cylon.") Aaron scrawled his name (he has a rather flourish style) next to his character, and like RH, he added "Chief" underneath his signature. After signing the picture, Aaron also readily granted my wish to take a picture with him.Then we were back in line to get Jamie's autograph again! This time, I wanted him to sign two of my favorite Wallpapers
stilettos81 made (one of which she made specifically for me!) But first, I had to tell him that silwyna and o_yannik sent their regards! Jamie knew he had fans from Germany (I heard he signed autograph in German for some fan earlier), but he seemed to be impressed his fanbase reached as far as Poland! ::hehe::Finally, I brought out my "Jamie" Wallpaper and asked him to sign it. The funny thing was Jamie stared at the picture and asked puzzledly: "Who took this? ...When did I do that?" Huh?! "You don't remember?!!!" This was the last reaction I expected from him! We helpfully reminded him the picture was one of those taken by photographer Kharen Hill! That seemed to jolt his memory a bit. After he signed it, I then took out the "Black Market" Wallpaper. I told him that I didn't care what others said about the episode, it was one of my favorite. I pointed out the quote (from Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness") at the top and explained to Jamie that the WP intended to capture how Lee journeyed to the "heart of darkness" and came back from it. I then challenged him to see how many "faces" he could see in this WP. Jamie peered at the picture, and quickly counted: "One... two... three..." He stopped at three. His handler and nearby staff member were also studying the WP, but they could do no better either. NOT BAD! I was suitably impressed.
stilettos81 told him he was pretty sharp for picking out three faces. Most people (me included) did far less initially. We then showed him the last face he missed--Phelan at the very bottom, almost faded into the smoke and the black background. Jamie liked Wallpaper and complimented stilettos81 on her work. I then asked him to sign it. But I put him on the spot by requesting him to sign it with whatever words he found suitable. He had about ~10 seconds to come up with something quick. He thought very hard, and wrote down a sentence. But he was shaking his head afterwards and apologizing he couldn't think of anything better than that... No need--I was impressed already! (see pictures of the signed WPs...)After me,
stilettos81 had an easy "task" for Jamie--she wanted him to sign another DVD jacket for her with one of his own quotes (he said during Saturday BSG panel): "If they didn't drag their feet, they would have 5 seasons." Jamie happily obliged.After Jamie finished signing for us, we had one last request. Back on Friday, we were told Jamie wasn't going to take pictures with fans during his autograph session. So we never bothered him with request for pictures at Walk of Fame--that is until now! After he put down his Sharpie, I asked him if he would mind taking picture with us--especially since he was wearing the Cowboy t-shirt. Jamie stood up before I was even able to finish my sentence. Happily, we posed with him (I turned out looking pretty bad in the picture because of the weird angle and the fact I was grinning ear-to-ear. But who cares--Jamie looked so cute!) Afterwards, he even paid compliment to
stilettos81 and I about the way we dressed. ::how sweet:: Then while we were saying goodbye, he leaned over and gave a quick friendly peck on my cheek (he did the same to stilettos81!) I, of course, returned favor and quickly kissed him back on HIS cheek! Then we headed back to our hotel to get ready for the evening--
stilettos81 changed into her gorgeous Elizabeth costume (the black "dress" from PotC part 3.) We planned to go to the Pirates party at 11:30 that night. But first, we had BI's Bachelorette party to go to. Unlike my friend, my costume was a gaudy pirate outfit made for Halloween, and I was too self-conscious to wear it out of the hotel we stayed in. Instead, I put on regular clothes and was going to change into the costume right before the party.As we walked out of our hotel, we ran into Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner sitting on the hotel bench outside smoking cigarettes and waiting for the valet to bring their car around! Apparently, they dined at the restaurant in the hotel. We approached them excitedly and told them we enjoyed their panel discussion on Friday. They looked at us "suspiciously" and asked us how did we know anything about their panel.
We told them we were right there in the audience! We explained we were here in Atlanta attending the Dragon*Con. They asked where we were heading to. We mentioned we were going to a Pirate Party eventually. They wanted to know how come we weren't dressed in costume, stilettos81 replied that she was--she was dressed as Elizabeth from Pirates of the Caribbean. Jonathan Frakes quipped: "I see you have a subtle Pirate thing going..." Then he looked at me up and down and asked: "And what about you?" I laughed and said I indeed had a real pirate costume hidden in the bag. When we bid them good night, they told us they wished to see both of us stopping by their autograph table at 11:30 am sharp the next day. Not knowing what the next day schedule was at the time, we promised we would and went on our way.The Bachelorette party was loads of fun! We had a blast goofing around with the girls. The Bunnies I met in Atlanta are a bunch of great gals--they are warm, friendly, lots of laughs, and best of all, really stand by each other. The only man in the party was Mick's husband, who *bravely* took on the duty as the camera man for the occasion. In my opinion, he had the best line in the evening: when it was time to cut the cake, BI was having a really hard time. Every time she brought the knife near Jamie's image, she had to stop saying she couldn't do it--it was too beautiful. Mick's husband finally quipped: "Come on--it's just a three-day old chocolate cake!"
After that, "Jamie" got divvied up pretty quickly. Girls laid claim to different "parts" of "Jamie"--no claws were bared, we all *negotiated* civilly to get what we wanted. Sylvie went for the head--she used her hands to frame her *noggin*, thus making clear it was THIS *head* she meant! Even though the cake WAS three days old, it tasted surprisingly good (no, "Jamie" had absolutely nothing to do with how it tasted!!!) After we devoured the cake, it was time for stilettos81 and me to leave. Regrettably, we bid the girls goodbye and took off.When we arrived at Hyatt, it was a little after 11:30 pm, but they were no longer admitting people in the Pirate party due to crowd control. We went up to the guy guarding the door to ask him if they were going to "rotate" people. The guy first said that was it, they weren't going to let new guests go inside anymore. Then he changed his tone and whispered we should leave and come back later. So away we went. We ended up in Marriott and sat in the chairs at the Pulse lounge until 12:15 am. Coincidentally, there was a group of Colonial Fleet people from the night before sat next to us.
By the time we got back to Hyatt the second time in the evening, the people guarding the door to the Pirate party let us in! Hooray! There was a good sized crowd at the party. Most of them had on lavish costumes, and everyone seemed to be having a good time. Since the party wasn't carded, they didn't serve any drink except water (which seemed to run out early on) at the party. When we arrived, people were in the middle of a lively Pirate dance (an Irish jig.) Later on, we also caught the Costume Contest at the party. I was very impressed by the guy who dressed up as Barbosa! I wished
stilettos81 would join the contest--she would've been perfect as Elizabeth. Oh well...After the Costume Contest, I was getting really tired. With all the trouble of getting in, we didn't end up staying long at the party after all.
(See Sunday pictures...)
Monday, the BSG castoff panel was at 11:30 am. Even though we *promised* Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner that we'd be at their autograph table by 11:30, we were not going to miss the last chance seeing Jamie (sorry Jonathan and Brent!) Many fans had already left the Con to head home, so we had no trouble of getting front seats this time.
The Stargate panel was right before BSG's, and it ran over a little in time. So I caught the tail end of the discussion. Tell the truth, I wasn't too impressed with what I saw. To be fair, I'm not a fan of the show so my opinion doesn't count. But I was shocked to see one of the panelist had brought what appeared to be a bottle of beer on stage--this only made me appreciate more of my favorite BSG star(s)!
When BSG panel finally started, the emcee got on stage and announced his regret that Jamie Bamber could not be there because he got called away in the morning for some pickup shots for BSG in Vancouver. Huh?! We thought BSG was on mid-season filming hiatus! Sure enough, Aaron walked on stage and corrected the guy that Jamie was shooting a movie during the hiatus, and he was called away to the movie set in Louisiana.
Even though I was disappointed not be able to see Jamie again, I was more thrilled he's making a movie! ::hooray::The panel without Jamie felt lackluster to me (speaking as a Bamber devotee so ignore me.) Aaron made a tactless joke involving Chinese that I don't appreciate. I think he knew he overstepped the line right away, and was trying to get pass it. The panel was over a little under an hour.
After the BSG panel, we were going to stay for the Star Trek: TNG panel that was supposed to have Jonathan Frakes, Brent Spiner, and John DeLancy. However, on my way to the restroom, I caught sight of the note announcing Jonathan Frakes and Brent Spiner had already left and therefore would not appear on the panel. That did it--
stilettos81 and I made a beeline for the exit (and many others followed suit when they read the note as well.) We dashed to the Walk of Fame to see if we can still catch the actors. When we got there, Jonathan Frakes was no where in sight, his table was all cleared out (Jamie Bamber's table was taken down as well ::sniff::) and Brent Spiner was about to leave too. We decided not to approach him at this juncture. After all, the guy was not going to remember us, so why remind him our encounter the previous night?We wandered around Walk of Fame a little more. I caught the backside of Richard Hatch leaving. He shoved everything in his rolling briefcase and pulled it toward the exit. Call me sentimental, the sight of him walking off made me very sad. We then ran into
laurie31 and others who were waiting for Aaron to come back. There was a note on his table that said he would be back shortly. I was rather skeptical at that point. So I bid farewell to everyone and left the Walk of Fame for the last time.stilettos81 and I then made our way to the exhibition hall in Hilton for the first time since Dragon*Con started. We browsed through the merchandise they had there. I wanted to pick up something for my son, but most stuff there were either not appropriate or too expansive for an 8 year old boy. Eventually I settled on a Jack Sparrow action figure, which I bargained down to $10. I also picked up a beautifully crafted dragon necklace for only $5. With that, my first Dragon*Con experience was officially over.(See Monday pictures...)
My overall impression of the celebrities from BSG: Mark Sheppard is a very smart guy. He's quite a veteran in Scifi productions (or maybe just TV production in general), and has a keen sense for opportunities.
Kevin Grasier is a happy nerd who was like (what we Chinese would call) a mouse that fell into a rice canister at Dragon*Con. He sort of reminded me of some friends I know in RL.
Richard Hatch is a genuinely nice guy. It's obvious he believed in the legacy of Battlestar Galactica, and he works diligently to keep it alive. Yet he's an interesting person to me that for someone who feels hard to let-go (of things he believes in), he doesn't appear to hold any grudges, and doesn't seem to have a problem to "pass the torch to the younger generation."
Aaron Douglas is very much a comedian, and it was obvious he came to Dragon*Con to have a good time. Aaron's comedic style and timing kinda reminded me of Robin William, whom I understand is an idol of his. So that explains it.
Jamie Bamber is incredibly intelligent and he's a consummated professional. I was deeply impressed by his articulation. It shows he's well informed, very thoughtful, and well spoken. From my observation of him during the Con, he was always on his game whenever he was in public--be it the panel discussion, the autograph signing, or the photo-ops, Jamie was always sharp and focused (I didn't count the Friday Panel since it was a weird one, and kinda pointless.) It was obvious he came to Dragon*Con to do a job, and he treated it with due respect. I also noticed for someone as good-looking as Jamie, he didn't seem too concerned with his appearance. I'm sure he's aware of what his look does to people--it's hard not to when fans (like me) chased him around, and fellow actors teased him about his looks. But I had the distinct feeling that Jamie is the type of person who relies more on his mind than his look.
(My entire Dragon*Con photo gallery...)
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