The DragonCon 2012 Files (Profanity Not Included) Part II

Posted on September 6, 2012

Have you ever had too much of a good thing? I never used to believe I could because things always somehow managed to stay fresh. But, in the last couple of years, it felt a bit of a stretch to attend conventions without a slight “been there/seen that” feeling. It got to the point where I nearly reconsidered attending DragonCon this year after a lackluster Motor City Comicon back in May. Kinda just felt like I’d been there and seen that. This trip, however, was exactly what I needed. My honorable adopted little brother and his husband joined me and I introduced them to the magic I’d started to take for granted. I’m grinning right now because we had an absolute blast!

Now, as I recall in Part 1, I left you with a short list of things I promised to cover. I thought about admitting to you it was all a lie, then realized it would only be to annoy one person. I have more than one reader. That second reader might be annoyed and then I’d have lost my entire audience, so let me get to it!

I spent Saturday at the Walk of Fame gathering a few signatures, the first of which was from Anthony Michael Hall. Remember him from 16 Candles and The Breakfast Club? I actually apologized to him for making him sign my Breakfast Club poster because I knew he was handed quite a bit of Breakfast Club memorabilia to sign. The man has done a huge body of work since his was a kid, so I felt a little bad about it. Fortunately, Anthony Michael Hall was incredibly gracious. He also noticed I was an author. How? Because I had a t-shirt on with the Superman insignia on it, only it read “AUTHOR” instead of the “S.” He asked what I wrote and I told him. He then mentioned that he has a production company and did I have a card? “For you, Anthony Michael Hall, I have a card.” So I slipped it to him. And yes, he enjoyed it. Hell, he loved and raved about it.

It’s a very professional looking card.

Moving along, Gillian Anderson was a unique addition to the convention and I was really, really looking forward to meeting her! Getting a signature was a bit deceptive, though. She’d sign something of yours for $60 (pre-paid), but if you wanted it personalized, you paid her an additional $20 when you finally got up to her table. Alrighty then. I love it when someone seems to forget we’re kinda still climbing out of a recession. Personally–and correct me if I’m wrong–if you’re already paying for a photo, you ought to get a discount on the signature. Am just sayin’.

I also attended a panel Gillian Anderson was on. Allow me to say that she is a terrific actress, phenomenal even. As a public speaker? Not so impressive and that’s being polite. The ballroom was about half full and after ten minutes, people started leaving. Why? Let’s just say that I used to torment my friend James Taylor Jr. by keeping count of how many times he said the word “uh” on the air during his radio show. I lost count with Ms. Anderson after the first 5 minutes. She started seriously hemorrhaging fans after fifteen minutes and that’s really a shame because the best part of the panel happened during the very last couple of minutes when asked to tell us about the strangest thing a fan has said to her. The answer was priceless!

What else? Oh, yes. Stephen Yeun from The Walking Dead. I maintain I was better and that’s all I’m saying.

Now, Bruce Boxleitner. For a wonderful actor who I grew up watching in Tron and then totally appreciating in Babylon 5, the man has a major limp handshake. Not the warmest person in the world either. It may have just been an off day for him, but I’ll say I was a bit underwhelmed. And it’s not because I think people are going to be larger than life. Celebrities who I’ve met are a bunch that seem to come in three types; uncomfortable and standoffish, stiff and professional, and warm and gracious. He just happened to be stiff and professional, exceedingly so for someone so seasoned.

Finally, I took part in my third and final panel discussion Saturday night, a continuation from the previous night’s GLBT Lit discussion. The lovely Kiernan Kelly put this one together and the immortal T.C. Blue agreed to sit next to me. She always blesses me like that…or says “gesundheit.” Most memorable moment of the evening for me? There was a young lady in the panel audience who expressed her displeasure with Japanese Yaoi because one of the men was always feminine acting when it came to sex. This actually turned into a protracted discussion topic and I finally piped up with my take on it. “I’ll simplify this. It’s watching two hot Asian men having sex. Where exactly can you go wrong with that?” You really can’t. End of conversation.

So there you have it. That’s all the gossip unfit to print about the celebrities. And the rest? Well, I spent the best parts of those days with my honorable adopted little brother and his husband. Both were tremendous fun and my thanx to them for all the dinner invites and for dragging me out when I’d otherwise have stayed in my room writing the next book…or looking at internet porn. Oh, and little brother and I had custom fangs made! He got the classic look and I chose the True Blood ones. Naturally, this means I now have to watch the damn show. Ah, gay vampires. We really suck!

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Kristoffer Gair (who formerly wrote under the pseudonym Kage Alan) is the Detroit-based author of Honor Unbound, A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To My Sexual Orientation, Andy Stevenson Vs. The Lord Of The Loins, Gaylias: Operation Thunderspell, several short stories featured in anthologies (to be combined in a forthcoming book), the recently re-published novella Falling Awake, its sequel, Falling Awake II: Revenant and Falling Awake III: Requiem.

11 Responses to “The DragonCon 2012 Files (Profanity Not Included) Part II”

Dorien says:
September 6, 2012 at 8:48 am
Kris, you’re shameless! (I like that about you.) But much as I like you, I would not pay to have my picture taken with you or anyone else, nor give you–or anyone else–even more money to sign it. But that’s why we’re two different people, I suppose.

Glad you had a good time!

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Kris says:
September 6, 2012 at 4:21 pm
But…but…I’d pay to have my picture taken with you. =)

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CR Guiliano says:
September 6, 2012 at 10:28 am
I agree…if you are paying for the photo, you should get a discount on the signature…or for that matter, get it free. Celebrities don’t need the money (unless it’s going to charity), so….am just sayin.

I do believe it’s sad that a celebrity would come to a convention and then act “stiff and professional”. I know that some people just don’t do well in crowds, hence the “uncomfortable and standoffish” (I just might be one of those), but if it is something that is difficult, than why go at all? *wonders if agents are royal dictators*

Great blog Kris, and so very happy you had a wonderful time!

*hugs*

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Kris says:
September 6, 2012 at 4:23 pm
It was having my friends there this time that really made the difference, especially doing panels with Kiernan, Kayelle and T.C. Blue! It really does take a bit to get me out of my safety zone and stretch a bit.

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Moxie Magnus says:
September 6, 2012 at 11:32 am
So lovely to see you again. What a charmer you are! Glad you had a good time!

Looking forward to seeing you at Outlantacon!

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Kris says:
September 6, 2012 at 4:23 pm
Moi? A charmer? My darling, I think you are referring to yourself. =) You’re the charming one. I’m the one who… Hold that thought. I don’t want to give anybody any ammunition. lol

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Kayelle Allen says:
September 6, 2012 at 1:16 pm
I stay away from the Walk of Fame because the idea of paying someone to be my friend long enough to take a picture is just AWKWARD. I can’t imagine myself ever doing that. That said, I do have one autographed photo that I paid for at D*C a few years ago. Maybe someday I’ll say whose it is. 😉 I knew this week’s post would be fun, and I wasn’t disappointed! You were a lot of fun to hang out with, fangs or not. ^_^

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Kris says:
September 6, 2012 at 4:24 pm
It’s Nathan Fillion, isn’t it?

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Patricia Logan says:
September 6, 2012 at 1:28 pm
*blinks* You listen to Tiffany? You know she’s my cousin right? Well my best friend’s cousin. We grew up together in Norwalk 🙂 …. but I digress… Sounds like you had a lot of fun and yes, you really should watch True Blood… it’s something you would like, if not for the blood alone… *sigh* No Asian tops though… yet 🙂

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Kris says:
September 6, 2012 at 4:25 pm
Darling, I’ve been listening to Tiffany since I was old enough to drive. I’ve followed her music and film career over the years and am always delighted to see a new release from her. =)

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Eddie Lam says:
September 7, 2012 at 11:38 pm
Dont’ waste more money on autograph. They are not worth it 🙂 Now we are both vampire and I wonder who is more powerful, you or me?. 🙂