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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2013

Dragon Con 2013

 

I think it might be a good idea to just change the name of this event to GODZILLA Con. There were over 50,000 people here Labor Day Weekend (not an exaggeration) and I know because I stood in line behind every single one of them (possibly an exaggeration). Anyway, note to management: Please provide cocktails and separate, shorter waiting lines for perimenopausal women who aren't really even sci-fi fans anyway thank you.

 

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But when handed a rare opportunity like this to see Lindsay Wagner and Lee Majors together at the same con. In the same city. In the same room. You can find some inspiration to work for it—in more ways than one.

 

Collaborating with Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast co-host John Drew—who garnered the sweet gig of moderating their Q&A panels at Dragon Con—it was my privilege to edit this career showcase/tribute video for Lindsay Wagner, which premiered before she came out on stage. This OSI Clearance Level 6 project was part of the reason my blog went into sleep mode for over a month...  I was a bit preoccupied scheming behind the scenes with John, Paul Bisson, James Sherrard and others to help edit some videos in conjunction with their scheduled appearance. YouTube direct link

 

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Of course, having just spent hours waiting in line with my nephew, lugging around a suitcase full of Cozi-TV t-shirts and swag for John to hand out at the panels, no lunch, and barely making it in time for Lindsay Wagner’s panel, I started to warm up to this Dragon Con place when I discovered their delightfully stocked refreshment stand outside the ballroom. Whew.

 

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Time for the show!  The event went great. Lindsay was charming and funny. Fans asked great questions, too. John and Paul surprised her with a pre-recorded video question from Doomsday’s Alex 7000 at the end. (They really did get the original voice of Alex: Guerin Barry to do it!) All in all, definitely worth the struggle fans encountered to get there. So was Jaime afraid of snakes because Lindsay was, too? Find out below.

 

Click here to listen to the podcast of this in its entirety from Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast. There is also a brief interview with moi (about 10 minutes in) with Paul discussing what went into the making of her tribute video, and John talks about how nervous he was meeting Lindsay for the very first time.

 

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Later that afternoon, I visited Lindsay’s autograph table and got a few things signed. As always, she was incredibly warm and friendly. I also got a chance to meet Lee Majors a short while later for a few autographs. Really nice guy—although he seemed a bit more ‘down to business‘ when greeting fans—at least during my visit, which was near the end of a very long day for both of them. Lindsay yawned when I approached her table. And then she promptly apologized. I couldn’t help but laugh.

 

Here was my favorite SQUEE takeaway of the day. Naturally, this should not be considered an endorsement of this blog in any way. I’m pretty sure she just signed it because she likes the color pink, too.

 

Then came Saturday and more hours standing in line for Dragon Con day tickets for my sister and nephew. There was a famous parade. Somewhere. But we couldn’t get close enough to see anything on the street, even from the top of a parking garage.

 

Lee Majors’ Q&A panel was scheduled for 1:00. Another fantastic session well worth the wait. Lee has a great sense of humor, and my sister and I both couldn’t get over how much he reminded us of our own dad. (Well except for that TV star distinction thing.)  Paul’s great tribute video (below) that opened this session was a big hit with the audience. (YouTube direct link)

 

Click here to listen to Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast with Lee Majors at Dragon Con. John also talks about his child-like, fanboy excitement meeting Lee for the first time, and Paul talks about his great highlights video.

 

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Saturday night, a few of us bionic fans met up at a nearby restaurant. Naturally I was the first one there, and made a b-line straight for the bar while I waited for others to arrive. My feet hurt. I got lost 6 times. Plus I spent most of my afternoon trying to find an outlet to charge my phone. Also, I felt like I was being followed by a thousand cosplay Storm Troopers. A great time was had by all. (At dinner, that is; not sure about the Storm Troopers.)

 

Then came Sunday’s big crossover event at 2:30 pm, with Lindsay and Lee together. This larger ballroom came equipped with some serious jumbo screens. The wizard behind the curtain even remembered to dim the lights this time, so people in the audience could actually see the video, too.

 

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So here’s what they watched: “A Bionic Reunion”—the crossover video created to kick off this dual panel event. (YouTube direct link)

 

 

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This joint panel appearance went wonderful. Lindsay and Lee joked around a lot and had me rolling a few times. While it’s been nearly 20 years since they’ve played the characters of Jaime and Steve, they still have a great rapport. My only grievance was that this couldn’t last any longer.

 

Click here to listen to Cyborgs: A Bionic Podcast featuring Lindsay Wagner and Lee Majors together at DragonCon. It also includes a lot of great behind-the-scenes stories from John as the moderator, plus a short discussion between Paul and myself about the making of this Bionic Reunion video.

 

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Then alas, it came time to say goodbye.  My thanks to everybody who came out to Dragon Con (old friends and new), and for those who couldn’t make it—I hope this blog account and the podcasts were the next best thing to being there. (Photo credit below to Rod De Luca... the bionic fans afterwards. That’s me in the black jacket. Don’t we all look HAPPY?!).

 

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Final note. A few weeks after Dragon Con, a photograph appeared on Facebook (thanks to John rescuing it), that was captured by one of the Dragon Con photographers. This was Lindsay backstage watching the Bionic Blonde’s ‘Bionic Reunion’ presentation video shortly before coming out on stage with Lee.

 

Sigh. Don’t you just love happy endings?

 

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AUSOMMERS ATLANTA 2013

Finding Lindsay Wagner and Lee Majors. At the same time. In the same place.

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