It’s hard to believe, but this is my fourth year in a row at DragonCon, once again joined by Adam. This year I preregistered for the event and as a result did not have to ensure the long waiting time normally encountered when obtaining event passes.

Unfortunately, the event was unusually crowded this year, and we were surprised that we were unable to attend many of the panels because they had reached capacity. We also managed to once again miss James Phelps and Oliver Phelps, better known as the Weasley twins from Harry Potter, because of scheduling conflicts.

• This year we made an effort to attend the DragonCon Parade itself, where various costumed people marched around the block to show off their obsession with science fiction.
• I missed part of Grandmaster Musashi’s martial arts panel last year, and this year caught the whole thing. Grandmaster Musashi uses sword, walking stick, and empty hands to do some amazing things.
• Ron Glass and Mark Sheppard discussed their experiences as actors on the science fiction series Firefly and its sequel film Serenity.
• In “9/11 Conspiracy Theories and Other Internet Hoaxes”, Dr. Michael Shermer, founder of The Skeptics Society, surveys of some of the top hoaxes and conspiracy theories driven by bloggers and YouTube home documentaries. I found this panel to the most educational of the day.
• The “Star Trek Guest Stars” panel featured John de Lancie (Q) and Barbara Luna (Marlena) as they talked about their plans after Star Trek and answered questions from the audience.
• The “Stargate Guest Mega Panel” offered a free-wheeling hour with a whole bunch of Stargate actors, including Vanessa Angel, Alexis Cruz, Louis Gossett Jr., Christopher Judge, Paul McGillion, Jason Momoa, Corin Nemec, Robert Picardo, Michael Shanks, and Marcia Patterson.