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September 11, 2009
Dragon*Con: Report
On Friday, September 4, the first day of Dragon*Con 2009, the first (and best) panel of Dragon*Con this year — Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner — began at 10am. But if you wanted to make sure you had a sweet spot in the Hyatt's Centennial Ballroom, you had to get up pretty damned early. My friend Jane and I woke up around 6:30am to head over to the Hyatt. The line already stretched outside and around the building. By the time we found the end of it (skipping over stairs and doorways), we were outside, on the corner. And it just kept growing. Luckily, the weather was nice and they began seating us early, around 8am. Jane and I were in the sixth row from the front. Jane set up her video camera and we proceeded to wait. While we waited, we were entertained by the Dragon*Con Late Show and then DC*TV. Just before the panel, DC*TV even showed Fall On Your Sword’s “Shatner of the Mount”. I’m not sure if Mr. Shatner saw it one of the many times it continued to play over the weekend, but I hope he did and I hope he was amused.
Finally, 10am rolled around and we were introduced by TrekTrak director Eric Watts to these two legends that would enthrall us for the next hour. The audience — a very packed ballroom — cheered and gave them a standing ovation. It was so surreal to be occupying the same space as these two men, I can’t even tell you. I spent the entire hour either grinning or laughing. Mostly laughing. The friendship they share is quite evident. It reminded me of myself and my best friends. Around halfway through the panel, they decided to take questions, but were sidetracked for a good 10 minutes or so after the first one, wandering off on a tangent. Shatner’s use of the word ya’ll had me in stitches. Shatner revealed he still had not seen the new Star Trek movie, despite it being available on his Delta flight to Atlanta. However, later in the show, he uttered, “Bullshit,” at Nimoy in the exact same tone used by Chris Pine, so perhaps he has seen it after all and is just playing his audiences…to great effect. Eventually, they did answer a few more questions, but were unable to get to everyone. The Daily Dragon article about the panel is available here.
As previously reported whilst I was still at the convention, you can watch the entire panel right here on our YouTube channel, courtesy of my friend Jane (WhatJaneSays).
Immediately after the panel, I was scheduled to go to the official (and at this time, only) photo op with both Nimoy and Shatner. The lines were long and confusing, but I had pre-purchased my photo and eventually made it to where I needed to be. Unfortunately, due to the volume of people, the photo op line, while quick, did not offer an opportunity to greet the guests. People were herded in like cattle, you posed, and you were herded out. Very unlike the smaller conventions I have been to. (I have never done official photo ops at Dragon*Con before.) For some, this resulted in a terrible photo, which, had it been me, I would have had to raise hell about. Thankfully, mine turned out rather well.
A second panel with Mr. Nimoy was scheduled for Saturday at 4pm, but was canceled when he was added to the Dragon*Con Awards Banquet, where he was presented with the 2009 Julie Award. His last panel, however, remained scheduled for 10am on Sunday, in the Marriott Atrium Ballroom. This panel was entitled “Beyond Spock” and was meant to focus on Leonard as an artist. This was another up at 6:30am for a panel day, but it was well worth it. Rumours circulated that morning that the panel now included William Shatner, who had apparently added on an extra day for his appearance. Jane and I were even closer this time, in the fourth row. She set up her camera, but it died halfway through the panel. At first, it seemed like the Shatner rumour really was a rumour. We enjoyed several anecdotes by Mr. Nimoy and he spoke of his upcoming photo project, Secret Selves. After Jane’s camera died (right before Shatner’s appearance), I managed to shoot the last 20 minutes or so on my Sony Cybershot. It isn’t too steady, but the audio is good. This is also available on our YouTube channel’s Dragon*Con play list.
On Saturday afternoon, I made my way over to the Hilton where the Walk of Fame was set up so that I could purchase autographs from Mr. Nimoy and Mr. Shatner. When I purchased my tickets, the boys were on lunch, so I wandered back over to the Marriott for about an hour. When I came back, I had to wait for maybe only an hour or so for the line to advance. I don't like the way they had them set up which was behind a sort of ticket counter or something and not at a table. Shatner didn't really engage anyone and I was too dumbfounded to speak to him anyway. What could I say that hadn’t already been said before? My brain was shouting, “OH MY GOD, IT’S CAPTAIN KIRK!” I'm not even sure if he looked at me, but I can't say I am surprised. Mr. Nimoy got a jab in about this at the Sunday panel, though: Shatner said, “We‘ll be signing autographs at one o‘clock today,” to which Mr,. Nimoy replied, “And Bill is going to speak to each and every one of you individually!” So Shatner signed my photo and then it was over to Leonard. He was just as fantastic as before — made eye contact, said hello, signed my photo and then I gave him the fanbook with a short explanation of what it was. He was a bit surprised and he said, "Oh! Wow, thank you. That's very nice, thank you very much!" I said, "I hope you like it," and he thanked me again. I have no idea whether he read it or not, but he did mention filming Catlow at Sunday’s panel and that if you saw it then, “You saw my naked butt!” and I know a contributor to the book mentioned it in their letter with, “Thank you, thank you, thank you for making Catlow!” ;) An interview with Mr. Nimoy was conducted by the Daily Dragon before the Beyond Spock panel, but you can also read this full article about it. Or you can watch the panel itself on our YouTube channel!
And that’s pretty much the end of the story where Leonard Nimoy (and William Shatner) is concerned! I also attended J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek: the Verdict Saturday evening. It was a two and a half hour discussion where people talked about what they did and did not like about the new film. I was glad to see that many people shared my opinion about the Spock/Uhura transporter pad scene being out of character for him (by no fault of Mr. Quinto or Miss Saldana). Mostly only good things were said.
I took probably too many photos and I will sort the best ones out for the gallery. I was unable to scan everything submitted to the fanbook, but I did take photos of each page and I will post those as well. If there is another opportunity in the future for another fanbook, I will organize one again. It was great fun to put together and I hope Mr. Nimoy enjoyed reading the letters and seeing the artwork collected. And I hope he got a laugh from the inclusion of the definition for “GQMF”.
While on the subject of Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner, Mind Meld is now available on iTunes for $9.99.
Labels: dragon*con, fandom, media, nimoy, spock
Amie R. at 8:53 PM 3 comments3 Comments:
Thank you for letting us live vicariously through you!
I'm so pleased that something I touched is now in the possession of Mr. Nimoy ^^
Thanks again,
Mara/gentlest_sin
By 
, at
September 20, 2009 12:56 AM
Very cool! I enjoyed the Dragon Con videos on YouTube. Nimoy was at a convention in Toronto a couple of months ago in Toronto, across the country from where I live. I certainly would've killed to go there!
By Chynna, at
October 25, 2009 2:58 PM
I should add, I should've added something to your book. I'm totally kicking myself right now. :)
By Chynna, at
October 25, 2009 3:27 PM