John and Ian Lohr, a father-and-son publishing team from Wyoming, spoke at the Sunday afternoon panel “Pulp: the Foundations of the Forties and Fifties.” They shared their experiences working with the genre and invited the audience to participate in their literary rediscovery of science fiction classics.

The blood drive continues to be a huge success! According to Doc Koslow, the director of the drive, as of 5PM Sunday, 1,000 people have participated and donated 750 units. The drive expects to collect a total of 1,000 units by the close of Dragon*Con. This will break the record held by Comic-Con of 856 units. Almost all of the blood will be sent to aid the victims of Hurricane Gustov. Our thoughts go out to the eight con …

The second annual Dragon*Con Academic Mini Conference, in collaboration with the Institute for Comics Studies, presented three panels featuring scholarly studies of comics and pop culture. On Sunday, a panel of three graduate students discussed their work. Sabrina Starnaman (University of California-San Diego) examined Jonathan Hickman’s The Nightly News for his commentary on the struggle for autonomy in an insidiously powerful state. Brian Curtis (Nashville State Community College) discussed how superheroes provide a vehicle for achieving a fully developed psyche. …

Edward James Olmos is the distinguished and celebrated actor currently starring as Admiral William Adama in the SciFi Channel’s Battlestar Galactica. He’s won Emmy and Golden Globe awards for his work in Miami Vice, been nominated for an Oscar for his portrayal of Jaime Escalante in the 1988 film Stand and Deliver, and a Tony award for his role in Zoot Suit.

Saturday night, the Costume Track held the “Dragon-After-Dark Contest,” co-emceed by Brian Holloway and Jerry Doyle.  Congratulations to the following winners:

• 1st Place:  Joshua – Prince of Persia
• 2nd Place:  Mike Ziemer – Death Squadron, Star Wars
• 3rd Place: Abby – Rope Corset
• Honorable Mention:  Daty Moore – Night Elf
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• 1st Place:  Belle Chere, #27
• 2nd Place:  Nadia Heller, #24
• 3rd Place:  Jennifer O’Funne, #58
• Best Theatrical Presentation:  Alia & Athena Sanchez, #40
• Best Armor:  Gayle Karr, #48
• Most Original:  Jennifer Newman, #30
• Best Adaptation:  Tiffany Antrim, #15
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Congratulations to Bob Petolillo for winning the Saturday Settlers of Catan tournament!

Over in the Space Track, Forsythe (Hil), NASA scientist Trina Ray spoke about the latest and greatest discoveries from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn. The Cassini Spacecraft launched on October 15th, 1997, and took seven years to reach Saturn. The four-year prime mission called for 75 orbits of Saturn, 45 targeted flybys of Titan, eight targeted icy satellite flybys, as well as the launch of the Huygens probe, which landed on Titan on January 14th, 2005. The total cost for NASA was $3 billion.

The good news is that the primary mission, which ended in July of 2008, has been extended by two more years, concluding July 1, 2010. The extra time will allow scientists to capture Saturn’s equinox, when the rings are directly edge on with the sun.

Ray organized her talk like a Top Ten list, listing the aspects of the mission in order of greatness. But with so many exciting chunks of information goodness, she only had time for nine.

In its first year as a host hotel, the Sheraton met the warm embrace of Dragon*Con attendees and their sweet, sweet parties. The Sheraton became party central Saturday night as music from three parties echoed through the hotel’s halls. Its distance from the other host hotels did nothing to deter any partiers who flooded the streets as they trekked to their favorite get-together.

Slash fiction has held its own in the Harry Potter canon of slash fiction for years, but it’s not a place actors go very often. Matthew Lewis, who plays Neville Longbottom in the HP movie adaptations, didn’t see it until a fan handed him a stack of stories.