Kevin Shirley

The Hearts and Minds of Discovery

The Trek Track welcomed Mary Chieffo, Anson Mount, Ethan Peck, and Shazad Latif to a “Star Trek: Discovery Q&A” in the Marriott Atrium Ballroom Friday afternoon. A warm and welcoming crowd lined up to ask questions during the hour-long session. To no one’s surprise, the first question was about the potential of a Pike spinoff. The “Captain,” Anson Mount, spoke… Read more →

Master of His Craft

The Trek Track began the final day of Dragon Con by welcoming David R. George III to the Hilton Galleria. George is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who has written eighteen Star Trek novels to date. As to the session’s title, “Rewriting the Rules,” George was a bit uncomfortable, as he wasn’t sure that he was “rewriting” anything. Upon reflection, he did note… Read more →

The Build: Making Your Own Droid

The Build: Making Your Own Droid

If you roam around the Marriott at any time during Dragon Con, you’ll invariably run into at least one R2-D2, BB-8, and/or mouse droid. They are amazing feats of construction, virtually indistinguishable from what we’ve seen on the screen. The men and women who build them assembled Sunday evening in Marriott to discuss the process. Christina Cato, David Ferreira, Matt… Read more →

Beowulf and High Fantasy

Beowulf and High Fantasy

The High Fantasy track welcomed Constance G.J. Wagner and Alicia Fox-Lenz to the Marriott for the second of two considerations of Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon poem that had such a profound impact upon JRR Tolkien, and by extension contemporary fantasy. Wagner began the hour by trying to place the poem into a larger mythic context. Using the episode “Darmok” from Star… Read more →

A Most Remarkable Hour: Heroes of Middle-earth

A Most Remarkable Hour: Heroes of Middle-earth

Kristen Cairns welcomed the fans to the Marriott Imperial Ballroom to spend an hour with the “Heroes of Middle-earth.” John Noble, Craig Parker, Dean O’Gorman and Graham McTavish settled into their seats to, once again, enthrall a Dragon Con crowd. All are veterans of Dragon Con and Craig Parker declared it the “craziest” gathering of people. To him, Dragon Con… Read more →

Star Trek: Discovery—Born Out of Its Day and Time

The Hilton Grand Salon hosted a Star Trek: Discovery panel on Saturday that included Jayne Brook (Admiral Cornwell), Mary Chieffo (L’Rell), Jason Isaacs (Captain Gabriel Lorca), Kenneth Mitchell (Kol), and Trek Track director/moderator Garrett Wang. The audience lined up for the Q&A, and in an early question, guests were asked to gauge where their series stood in comparison to its… Read more →

Following Every Thread: A Discussion of the White Album

This year marks the 50th anniversary of The Beatles, or as it is more commonly known, The White Album. Released in November 1968, the band’s ninth studio album regularly ranks near the top of many best rock albums of all time lists. The Brit Track convened a panel in the Hilton’s Galleria 5 on Saturday to examine the White Album… Read more →

“Zorro and Jiminy Cricket”: Remembering Harlan Ellison

“Zorro and Jiminy Cricket”: Remembering Harlan Ellison

This summer saw the passing of a giant in the world of science fiction. Harlan Ellison (1934–2018) was an extraordinarily prolific writer, with more than 1,700 published works ranging from short stories and novellas to screenplays, collections, and anthologies. Dragon Con welcomed Peter David, Kathleen O’Shea David (moderator), James Palmer, and Bill Ritch to the Hyatt International North Saturday to… Read more →