Luckily for me, the week of June 28th was a three day week: I was late to
work on Monday morning; Tuesday found me taking lunch at 2 and returning at 4
because of a doctor’s appointment; and then, when I finally got OUT of the
office, my flight from Houston-Hobby to Atlanta was delayed almost three
hours because of the weather. Needless to say, I was ecstatic when my fiance
and I finally disembarked the 737 at 12:30 on Wednesday night.
(Side note: NEVER fly with an ear infection. It is a VERY painful thing –
‘specially when the pilot seems to think he’s flying a space shuttle – They
don’t call the shuttle trainer “The Flying Brick” for nothin…)
Arriving at my parents home outside of Atlanta at 1:50 AM, Thursday morning,
we awoke at 9:30 to be on the road for 10:15. We made that, but had to stop
at the bank to conduct some business. It was 10:45 before we finally hit the
highway in order to spend the day with my grandparents.
It was 4:30 on Thursday afternoon when we arrived at Peachtree Center MARTA
station, and 4:45 when we finally made it to registration at the Hyatt. By 5
PM, we were still standing in line, and I was beginning to wonder if we would
make Mira’s speaking session at 5:30. We made it down to the Centennial
Ballroom at 5:25. Talk about timing!
I’ve only ever made it to two different cons in my life: Valley Forge, PA in
1997, and DragonCon for the past three years. This was the first con I had
attended where Mira was speaking…so, it was very interesting to hear what she
had to say. To hit the highlights:
- When asked which episode was her favorite to work on, Mira replied that it
was “Comes the Inquisitor.” She really enjoys getting a chance to play the
range of emotions, and spending 3 days in the room with Wayne as
Sebastian/Jack allowed her to do that. As far as favorite episode overall,
she replied that she couldn’t really sort them all out. After 5 years, they
all seem to run together into one continuous episode.
- It’s pretty clear Mira is a new mom. She spotted a baby in the audience,
and had the mother bring it up so she could talk to it.
- Mira explained that she had two big frustrations about B5: Not having any
eyebrows and that Delenn ended up as just a wife in Season 5. When she went
to JMS about the eyebrows (the makeup has made her eyes sensitive to light,
it appears), he said simply and definitively: NO MINBARI HAS EYEBROWS. She
continued to harass him about it, but he wasn’t giving in. As far as season 5
goes, there wasn’t really a lot she could do about that.
Next, my fiance and I hit the CCG floor. At least two Rangers onsite – one of
which, Lance, we had met last year. (He has a really cool replica of Marcus'
duster/robe!) I got drafted into taking over for the Centauri player in a
sealed deck/demo game. Couldn’t draw a character to save my life! I ended up
with TONS of events and conflicts, but no one to support them. ::sigh:: And
people wonder why I always play constructed deck Minbari. <G>
Friday was the busier day. We hit the con just as Robyn Atkin Downs, Jason
Carter (added on Wednesday before the Con), Wayne Alexander, and Rob
(Worthem) Krimmer were finishing up their “panel.” What it actually seemed
like was an hour of bawdy limmericks (courtesy Jason Carter), and dirty jokes
(courtesy Robyn, Jason, and Wayne; Rob Krimmer was a bit of a stick in the
mud). (Next time anyone sees Jason at a con, ask him to recite “the epic.”) I
was laughing so hard, I couldn’t catch my breath!
After the “Dirty Jokes and Limmericks Hour,” we hit the dealers floor. Not as
much I couldn’t live without this year, so we then detoured to the “Walk of
Fame.” Claudia’s line was 30 or 40 people; Peter’s was 15 or 20. Maggie Egan,
Wayne Alexander, Robyn Atkin Downs, and Rob Krimmer were without lines.
(Turns out Rob Krimmer was charging $20 just to sign something you already
owned; Robyn was charging $30 for the signed promo of Byron for the PsiCorps
CCG expansion. Thus, the short lines for THEIRS.) When Mira showed up, my
fiance and I dropped $60 on her autographs (Delenn X3, Delenn Transformed X2,
Dedicated Followers X1 – also signed by Wayne). The lady who was assisting
her was kinda abrupt, but I guess after doing so many cons, etc., one gets
that way. Mira herself was nice, if a little stand-offish. (I tend to think
this was because it was such a large con.) Wayne was cool, as usual; it’s
always great to see him there. Peter was doing well, but could not, for
medical reasons, shake hands. (Looked like he’d lost a little weight, too.)
Maggie Egan was pretty cool – she was even wearing a Crusade baseball cap.
And then I met Jason Carter...
-- Heather