Two crammed-full houses sang and cheered along with Friday night’s “Buffy Horror Picture Show” performances. The fan-favorite showings of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical episode, “Once More, With Feeling,” featured volunteer cast members in costume performing roles both major and minor.

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.”

While browsing the Dragon*Con group on LiveJournal, I came across a posting from Tablestar Games. Subsequently, I and my partner-in-crime, Claire Greiner, signed up for the beta testing of new tabletop game Wealth of Nations.

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.

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.

Jennie Breeden is the genius behind the web comic, The Devil’s Panties. She is a native of Atlanta, and can often be found after-hours roaming Dragon*Con with a leaf blower, hunting unsuspecting kilt-wearers.

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.

Claudia Black made her first convention appearance in more than two years Sat in front of a capacity crowd in Centennial 1. After being moved to a larger room, fans still had to be turned away, but those inside were treated to 30 minutes with Claudia Black.

Crowds and lines were the norm at Dragon*Con 2007, but fans in the Walk of Fame Sunday afternoon were undaunted. Harry Potter fans waited patiently for James and Oliver Phelps and Matthew Lewis to return from a lunch break. The staff gave out numbers on slips of paper, so the fans could take a break, too.