The Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Georgia

Every year since 1986, fans of the fantastic have foregathered in Atlanta, Georgia at the time of the Dragon*Con. This year it is taking place from Friday, September 2 to Monday, September 5, and as usual there are hundreds of guests to fit the taste of just about anyone. The con is so big, with so many guests, that one hotel can't hold them all. So there's two: the "legendary" Atlanta Marriott Marquis and the adjacent Hyatt Regency Atlanta.

There are over 330 guests expected... and there's quite a few I'd like to see.

Science fiction movies? It's coming up on the 25th anniversary of the release of Flash Gordon, so stars Sam Jones and Melody Anderson are attending. (I wish Topol would be there. His Dr. Zarkov was marvelous. I still remember his over-the- top delivery as he tries to persuade his assistant to board the rocket ship: "Get your toothbrush and be quick about it!")

Science fiction television? Dean Stockwell, of Quantum Leap. (I myself would like to ask him if he has any memories of working with William Powell and Myrna Loy, as he played the character of their son, Nick. Jr. in The Song of the Thin Man many, many years ago). Mariana Sirtis - Counsellor Troi from ST:TNG will also be there.

Most urgently, I want to see Forrest J. Ackerman. "Mr. Science Fiction". He is 88 years old. He knew all of the science fiction greats- Isaac Asimov, Robert Heinlein, E.E. "Doc" Smith; and still knows Ray Bradbury ( the two of them met when they were 18) and Ray Harryhausen. He was the editor of the original Famous Monsters of Filmland. He inspired Ray Bradbury (editing and publishing Ray's first story), Stephen King (who sent his first story to Forry at 13). He knew Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre, George Pal, Hugo Gernsback and H.G. Wells. He was friends with Fritz Lang, Bela Lugosi, Vincent Price, and Elsa Lanchester.

I want to hear Forry talk about the prestigious new Seattle Science Fiction Museum where many of his own treasures are displayed for posterity. Forry intends to become the "George Burns of Science Fiction," but just in case Prince Sirki comes for him early, I think this is the time to see him.

Writers? How about Anne McCaffrey? Yes, Anne McCaffrey of Dragons of Pern fame will be in attendance, as will Wheel of Time author Robert Jordan.

Every time a new Star Wars movie comes out, kids become interested in fencing - mostly with light sabres. Me, I've been a fencing enthusiast since I was a little kid, thrilling to the duels between Errol Flynn and Basil Rathbone in Captain Blood and The Adventures of Robin Hood on Saturday morning television, and 'collecting' such duels on videotape. I've been fencing with a foil since I was twelve years old.

So I'm really interested to see the demonstration of the Swordplay Alliance, founded by Eddie Floyd. Eddie "teaches a form of civilian swordsmanship based on practical combat techniques and the realistic properties of the sword, focusing on sword combat as a martial art instead of a sport. Sounds cool! And, the Swordplay Alliance katana demo at Dragon*Con will feature their brand new, patented practice katana. A must see for me!

Much as I love science fiction, I also want to attend the panels that discuss science fact, and there'll be a few.

Ray Bradbury put my own thoughts into words when he spoke of his reaction to Things to Come, the H.G. Wells movie which he saw on its original release in the U. S. in 1937. The last scene takes place between two men who are left on the ground as a rocket ship carrying their children flees the war-ravaged earth. "Is that all there is?" says one, and the other says. "It's either the stars or the grave. We have to choose. Do we go to the stars, or do we die on earth?" And the movie closed with these words superimposed over the screen: Which shall it be?

I know what I want it to be.

So, I plan to catch Hugh S. Gregory, a Spaceflight Historian He owns and operates the H.R. McMillan Planetarium's affiliated space and astronomy educational BBS "SpaceBase(tm)" and is the moderator of the 8 internationally distributed "SB-" prefixed space news service echoes for the amateur FidoNet network, reaching out to over 5,000 amateur BBS's world wide weekly. I want to hear about his latest research: the conceptual design theory work on the E.L.D.S.R.R. space reactor (which he gifted to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory back in July of 2002), Project M.O.S.S. (Musk Observatory Supernova Search) for the Musk Mars Desert Observatory in Hanksville, Utah and the M.A.S.T. Program (Mars Analogue Simulation Trainer), a VR simulator for the Mars Society to help train and prepare crews for their simulations of Mars surface exploration at the Mars Desert Research Station.

Dr. Stephen Howe is a nuclear scientist, as well as being a science fiction author and fan. He has worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory for twenty years in areas such as nuclear weapons physics, nuclear rockets, in-situ resource utilization for space exploration, manned-Mars missions, medium-energy particle physics, antimatter physics, and fusion/plasma physics. cataloguing the water content of asteroids in the main Asteroid Belt.

There's going to be thousands of people over the 4 days of the convention, coming from all over the United States and the world. The Atlanta Marriott Marquis hosts their "daytime" convention functions (Autographing, Art Show/Print Shop, Dealers Room and Exhibit Hall, etc.), while the Hyatt hosts the 24-hour programming events, Computer Gaming, Video Rooms, our Convention Hospitality Suite, Concerts, and more. Considering the heat in Atlanta this time of year, it's nice that the two hotels are connected by a climate-controlled tube way.

The convention is all about celebrating the fantastic - thousands of fans come for the writers, the actors, the producers, the musicians...and even for some real-life scientists who have some exciting things to say about whether or not science fiction will ever become science reality.

Please note while guests are confirmed at the moment, the unexpected -illness, accident, etc. does crop up on occasion. So Dragon*Con cannot guarantee that a guest will be there even if advertised. That's just a little caveat that has to be said in this litigious age.

Sources
The Dragon*Con website

For more information, check out their website: www.dragoncon.com