Who knew when we woke up this morning that by this evening we would learn we would be attending the final...

Wait, wait—as Father Mouse says in Twas the Night Before Christmas, when you're attacking a piece of cheese, best to start from the top!

We had slept in until nine, and then had a quick breakfast. James' service engine light, which means he needs an oil change, came on last weekend, and he also wanted to finally get the cab of the truck vacuumed out. So we emptied the contents into two Xerox paper boxes and went off to Mr. Clean Carwash where you can get both. They had to hand wash the car because of the chair lift on the back, and I wasn't really happy with the vacuum job (there are still crumbs in the footwells), but anyway it was cleaned out and the oil got changed. This took a while, and then we had to go home and get the essentials, like the GPS and the water bottles, back in the cab, and then we had to go to Kroger, too, to get sandwich fixings because the restaurant at the Timegate hotel is very expensive (if you order enough appetizers to make a meal, it costs as much as a meal; the cheapest entree is $18!). So we decided to do all the shopping so we didn't have to make another trip on Monday. This also went very quickly as shopping trips go, but it turned out they had no skim milk at all. WTF?

So by the time we got home, I got Tucker walked (a long walk because we wouldn't be home until at least 11:30), I topped off Snowy's seed and got him watching television, we got the sandwiches done and packed the ones we ordered at Kroger and other things in the backpack, we had no time for a sit-down lunch. Instead we grabbed burgers and had to take surface streets to the hotel because rush hour was in full, crazy swing.

We shuffled through the line while I fired off a text to Clay, who said he and Maggi were aiming to be here by four. Unfortunately Clay had been sick this morning, so they were just getting off the freeway. We got our badges and other items, then I walked down to the Timegate Store (being greeted by Mike on the way there) to buy tickets for the cabaret, then waited for them to work through the line. And then because they hadn't eaten, we ended up at the restaurant anyway. I just had potstickers, which are very good. About halfway through our meal, Alice, Ken, and Aubrey came to sit with us and chat.

As we were eating, Paul McGann walked by!

I am achieving a personal goal this year. Once I see McGann speak, I will have seen "live, in person!" (as they so stridently trumpet) all of the original Doctors (except for William Hartnell, who died before I even knew what Doctor Who was). We saw Patrick Troughton at Magnum Opus Con (unfortunately, he passed away the next day); Jon Pertwee here in Atlanta, I saw Tom Baker in Boston the fall before I moved to Georgia, I saw Peter Davison at Omnicon in 1983 and then later here at Dixie Trek, we saw Colin Baker at Timegate in 2013, and we saw Sylvester McCoy the day after he was chosen for the role of the Doctor at the Exhibition they were doing here in Atlanta, and at several subsequent conventions.

Once we'd finished supper I was off to my first panel, "The Best Who," basically a chat about favorite doctors, companions, and antagonists, and the classic series as opposed to the new series (or "the Welsh series" as I've heard it called). For those who've only seen the new series, what old series episodes would you recommend? Nice to see everyone after a few months; haven't seen Alan since Anachrocon and Kathy Sullivan since last year. Next we went to opening ceremonies, where we learned to our surprise that this is the last Timegate!

But not to fear; it's just regenerating! Since there are no longer Stargate panels (which is the "gate" component), the convention will henceforth be named Wholanta. The weekend is also moving because Momocon is going to be downtown on Memorial Day weekend from now on, and there is a new convention in Florida on this weekend (which is why Ken Spivey isn't here). Gosh, what are we going to do on this weekend now?

Next the guests were introduced: Jason Haigh-Ellery from Big Finish Productions, who do audio drama (mostly Doctor Who, also Torchwood, Dark Shadows, and The Prisoner) that number into the hundreds now; Nicholas Briggs, who performs Dalek voices on Doctor Who and on Big Finish tapes and who works on BBC Radio 4 Extra; the previously mentioned Paul McGann (who actually has more audio adventures than the other Doctors have broadcast ones); and Terry Molloy, a mostly-voice actor who is the modern voice of Davros and who also played in a radio series called The Scarifyers opposite Nicholas Courtney (Doctor Who's Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart). Terry came on in a kilt (his outfit for the entire weekend, carrying a teddy bear—more about him in another entry)! James is wearing his this weekend, too.

Aubrey Spivey was one of the panelists in "Young Adult, Old Adult" to try to answer the question of why many adults read young adult fiction. Some of the answers were that young adult problems are more black and white, or that it addresses problems that are softened rather than the brutality of adult fiction. My answer: I read anything that's good! I don't care who it's written for. I just finished Sweet Home Alaska about Depression-era pioneers in Alaska. It was a great read, so who cares if it's grade 4-6? They were also thinking that the dystopian kick was finally drying up. Oh, God, I hope so. How depressing.

James was on the panel of "How Hard is It?" at ten, about "hard" (a.k.a. scientific) science fiction, defining what it is, and why some people prefer it. There is a Russian gentleman who has been coming to conventions here for a couple of years now, and we learned just this weekend his name is "Yan." He has a unique viewpoint of SF that is fascinating. Maybe someday he can do some panels.

Once this panel was over, we had to hurry home: basically we got in and I walked Tucker, and then we were off to bed! Up at 7:45 tomorrow!

Labels: conventions, dogs, errands, friends, pets, shopping

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