Jamie Bamber is the English-American actor currently starring as Major Lee "Apollo" Adama in the SciFi Channel’s Battlestar Galactica.  He’s worked steadily as an actor in TV, film and radio in Europe and the US.  His notable roles have included Lt. Archie Kennedy in A&E’s Horatio Hornblower adventures and Lt. Jack Foley in HBO’s Band of Brothers.

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The Space Track is one of the highlights for science geeks like me. Tucked away in the Forsythe room of the Hilton, the programming is out of this world. Planetary scientist Dr. Kevin R. Grazier began a two-part presentation concerning the red planet on Friday at 2:30 with “The History of Mars.”

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In the Gwinnett room of the Hilton in the difficult 10:00AM Monday timeslot, Scott Westerfeld and a group of librarians discussed books that tackle the topic of Utopias and Dystopias.

Many of the audience members were huge fans of Westerfeld’s Uglies, Pretties, and Specials books—a series set in a future where gasoline-powered engines all exploded decades before, and the new culture requires that teenagers be surgically altered at age sixteen to make them all “pretty.” So strong was one attendee’s love of the books that when Westerfeld warned of spoilers in the third book (which she hadn’t finished reading), she left the room until the discussion finished.

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At 1PM on Friday, Dragon*Con began with a full capacity crowd. Nearly a quarter of the powerhouse panel’s time was spent introducing panelists Jamie Bamber, Aaron Douglas, Jonathan Frakes, Kevin R. Grazier, Richard Hatch, Gates McFadden, Carlos Pedraza, Charles Root, Mark A. Sheppard, Brent Spiner, and Lee Stringer.

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Thursday is traditionally “get settled” day at Dragon*Con as people flood into the hotels and map out must-see events. To warm up attendees, first night programming focuses on music.

Mississippi based trio Cemetery Surfers played Centennial II-III at 9:30PM. Their odd mix of blues and beach music produced by guitar, bass, and synth/drum machine framed their horror-themed stage show. As the singer lamented, “This is the body of the one I love,” out came a corpse draped in cloth. An electric chair sat center stage awaiting its spotlight; however, this reporter didn’t stay for the gruesome finale. A few dedicated fans braved the dance floor, though the music was unreliably danceable.

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