Fannish Argosies

Been very lax about things today - slept in and actually haven't been to a single panel. Did hit the dealer rooms, though, and there's the Friday night costume contest later, of course. Some friends are actually competing this year, so yay!

Tomorrow looks much busier, so I may do more stuff then. Mostly want to see the LOTR and Warehouse 13 guests and Gillian Anderson.

Some good costumes so far - I saw a great Snow White and Prince Charming (Once Upon a Time versions) earlier. Just hoping my phone takes decent indoor pics this time. I really need a new camera.

Home from con.

Already have next year's membership.

Also have next year's hotel rooms reserved. This is getting crazy, I swear.

Pics soon!

Con was had. Major, exhausting fun was had. Home now and missing everyone already.

More later when I've had sleep. Thank God I have tomorrow off!

Evidently Guinness World Records awarded Mexico the Thriller record. The Dragon*Con Thriller people are appealing, b/c basically Guinness disregarded their own strangely strict rules for the record. The ones William and Mary abided by and the D*C team went to such lengths to make sure they followed as well.

Kinda makes the world record thing seem less impressive, if the GWR people don't even follow their own set guidelines.

Home from con. Very sleepy. Missing everyone already. *sigh*

On the positive side, I splurged a little and got Ben Browder's autograph, was able to thank him for portraying such intelligent unabashedly Southern characters, and shook his hand. No one else in the whole world is so pretty and such a class act. No one.

Shared elevators with Colin Cunningham (twice) and Alessandro Juliani. Nice guys, good sports about being squished in the tiny elevators.

Talked to Gareth David-Lloyd, John Schneider, and Luciana Carro at the Walk of Fame. All very personable and hot.

First costuming efforts were a success. More on this later.

Sadly, I forgot my camera and had to make do with a last-minute-purchased disposable digital camera. I'll have to point you to others' pictures, most likely.

Stupid Shatner song still in my head. Damn you all.

Argh. I hate buttonholes. And although I like many things about the old sewing machine of my mother's I'm using, I hate its antiquated buttonhole "function". Or should I say "functions", as you have to do them in stages. Hate.

Other than that, happy with D*C costume progress. Buttonholes and maybe a jabot to finish, then on to the last of the accessories.

I am making good progress on a steampunk costume for Dragon*Con, though I may or may not be able to incorporate the ray gun I made earlier this year. The more I think about it, the more I want to go with a sort of Victorian naturalist character, as I could play with specimen cases and jars and all sorts of little accessories to dangle on my person.

I am currently busy on an Eton Jacket, which I plan to wear over a blouse and a boned corselet I've already completed, made out of a faux tooled leather jacquard. These will be worn with the short version of this split skirt, without all that fringe of course. And boots.

Where I fall down idea-wise is the hat. I'd like to have a hat, b/c I like hats and they make outfits seem more finished somehow. The options I'm considering are 1) Make a hat, and 2) Buy a cowboy hat and call it a day.

For option 1, I've found a cool site that offers Victorian hat patterns and kits, complete with everything one needs to make a buckram frame and the instructions to cover it with the fabric of one's choosing. You can see finished hats at this site - lots of variety and it's easy to change the style just by bending the brim. At around $35, this isn't a terribly expensive option, and I'd get the satisfaction of having a finished product I made myself. I'm considering the Audrey or the Julie, but I can't make up my mind.

As for option 2, it'd actually be a bit cheaper and obviously less work. Sierra Trading Post has a bunch of cowboy hats on sale for $20-$25 each, which isn't bad. I could get a crushable one which would pack well, this more curvy model, a pinch-front Stetson, or for a little more a Kakadu Langston slicker hat or cowhide hat. STP is forever having sales and free shipping options, so it would be pretty affordable and all I'd have to do is maybe adjust the bands or stick a feather in there, etc.

To the costumers on my flist, what say you? I'm not really going for the high society look or anything very froofy, so if I make a hat it'll likely be something that would look a little more outdoorsy and rugged anyway.

Have a poll:

[Poll #1436360]

It had been a while since I'd looked at the guest list for this year's Dragon*Con, so while I'm bored at work I thought I'd look at it. It's definitely a good year for the Gateverse actors.

Claudia Black is listed again! Yay! Also Michael Shanks, Lexa Doig, Paul McGillion, and Jason Momoa listed so far. Still hoping for Ben Browder some day.

For BSG it's Aaron Douglas as usual, Alessandro Juliani (Gaeta), Kandyse McClure, Mary McDonnell, Edward James Olmos, and Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh).

There may be interesting oldschool!BSG wank, as Dirk Benedict will be joining Richard Hatch this year. Heh.

Dwight Schultz will also be there, so I'm going to be hopeful for an A-Team panel. That would rock :)

Definitely going to the Farscape panels again. Paul Goddard is coming this year! Plus Wayne Pygram, who I probably won't recognize out of the Scorpius makeup.

I always put off writing these report things and half the time never get around to doing them at all. Let's see if I can break the habit now while I still remember what I did this past weekend. Thank God for the con schedule booklet.

( Cut for length and pictures )

Sunday and Monday and general thoughts in the next post, as this is getting too long.

Ugh, cramps. I knew this was coming, after how moody I was last week and how much every little thing pissed me off. Oh well, at least I'll get it over with before DragonCon.

Have called in sick to work for tomorrow, and will spend all day in bed knitting. I have two scarves to finish - one for me, a deep red knitted with double strands so it'll be extra warm for the winter, and a fuzzy shiny one for my mother for Christmas. Next I may attempt mittens, though this daunts me. Double-ended needles, oh my!

Is anyone on my flist other than the usual Bling suspects going to DragonCon next weekend? This will be my first time, so am curious about others' likes and dislikes about it and what they recommend. Also, would be nice to meet up with more of you crazy lot.