2019

Updates from Saturn and Titan with Dr. Kevin R. Grazier

Dr. Kevin R. Grazier pumped the audience with an overload of yummy-geek-goodness at the “Updates from Saturn and Titan” panel on Friday night. The twenty-one foot tall, six ton Cassini spacecraft’s four-year-plan is to make seventy-four orbits with fifty-two flybys of seven of Saturn’s moons: Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan, Hyperion, Iapetus, Phoebe (MET DR. THIP). The craft is… Read more →

Art Auction Offers Good Deals and Stand-up Comedy

Dragon*Con’s Art Auction on Monday interposed sales of fantasy and SF art with a rollicking comic routine by volunteer auctioneers Phil Lacefield and Marc Lee. The dynamic sales duo used horrendous French accents, pleas of kid fans to doting parents, and challenges to competing bidders to sell dozens of objects de art which had received at least five silent bids… Read more →

Drain a Vein

Once again, the Heinlein Society and Life South Blood Services are hosting the Dragon*Con blood drive. Started by Robert Heinlein as a way for the SciFi and Fantasy convention attendees to “Pay It Forward,” the wonderful staff from Life South are collecting your blood. The friendly staff quickly and efficiently breezed me through the lineup, and got me tapped. The… Read more →

The Charity Auction: I Was Only There to Watch . . .

When the Daily Dragon assigned me to cover the Charity Auction, I figured I’d sit back and enjoy the show.  Then the event horizon sucked me in. This year, the proceeds will go to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  The process ran smoothly thanks to the efforts of Jerry and Karen Coxwell.  Professional auctioneers Marc B. Lee and Michael Hanley… Read more →

Forgiving the Franklins Screening

The INDEPENDENT FILM TRACK is proud to bring you a screening of the independent film Forgiving the Franklins. The first feature by director/writer Jay Floyd, this comedy-drama has received critical acclaim and has screened at both the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in Park City, UT and the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, TX. The Franklins—Mom, Dad, and kids… Read more →

Star Trek vs. The New BSG

Centennial I swarmed with Trekkies and Colonists alike for Friday’s “Star Trek vs. the New Battlestar Galactica” panel. Richard Hatch, known not only as Tom Zarek in the new series but also as Apollo in the original BSG, moderated the question and answer format, focusing on the contrast between the new BSG‘s dark adult content as compared to the squeaky… Read more →

“Spim, Spam, Splog”: Behind the Scenes on the Battle Against Internet Scum

Several legal and technical experts from a major ISP led a discussion on the more annoying aspects of Internet use. Clearing out the come-ons for cheap prescription drugs and “investments” gets old quickly, and it seems like little is being done to combat the abuse of our time and technology resources. Pete Wellborn led the discussion, with backup from several… Read more →