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Thursday, August 28, 2008
Send best wishes to pregnant panda Lun Lun
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Lun Lun, Zoo Atlanta’s 230-pound giant panda, is pregnant! (Story here) “We have confirmed a panda cub, and it appears to be fully formed with a nice heartbeat,” one zoo official said. “We are anxious to have something happen soon.” The zoo had been on 24-hour panda watch for about three weeks. Help us congratulate the mom-to-be.
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Dragon*Con arrives in Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jason is a proud “Trekkie.” He started watching “Star Trek” at four (“I distinctly remember Captain Kirk, phasers and green Orion slave girls”). And, at seven, he watched “Star Wars” 19 times in one summer. “I was awed by the power and possibilities of the human imagination,” he said. His otherworldly interests soon include comic books, of which he has more than 4,000 spread over two states. He’s a graduate of Riverdale High School and Northwestern University’s School of Communication. After Northwestern, he moved to L.A. to start a film and television career. There, he worked as a writer’s production assistant on “Roswell” and other shows. Although back in Atlanta, Jason has worked as a writer and creative consultant on the non-fiction series “The Universe” for The History Channel. He hopes to move back to L.A. (another world to some) to create his own fantastic universe.
This summer superhero movies have dominated the box-office from hugely popular and lucrative “Iron Man” to “The Dark Knight” and “Hellboy II.”
What better way to close out the summer then than with Dragon*Con, the pop culture convention for fans of sci-fi , fantasy, gaming and comics. I’ll bypass dressing as the Green Lantern this time. At 33, I’m slightly more conservative and will just wear an “Iron Man” T-shirt. No offense to the costumed players, however.
It is only appropriate that the Grand Marshall for this year’s annual parade is TV’s original “Batman”, Adam West himself and riding in the classic ‘60s Batmobile, no less! Keeping the bat-theme going, acclaimed Gothic Vampire novelist Laurell K. Hamilton will be another guest of honor at the parade, along with another 2000 costumed marchers.
I’m looking forward to seeing Edward James Olmos, who in another incarnation was a star on “Miami Vice”. He’ll be here to discuss the last season of “Battlestar: Galactica” and his role as the stalwart commander Admiral Bill Adama.
Gaming, of all stripes, is a big deal at Dragon*Con. While Dungeons and Dragons never caught me in its scaly claws, my imagination was captivated by the miniature action figure game Heroclix a few years back, and there are several tournaments focused around the superhero based game that might be worth checking out. As an avid video gamer, the “Call of Duty 4” and “Warcraft 2” competitions also sound attention grabbing.
While this is my first time attending Atlanta’s premiere show, I have been to several similar gatherings around the country, including the San Diego Comic-Con, the nation’s largest at 130,000 registered attendees. Are you a Dragon*Con regular or are you a first-timer?
There are some panels that sound fascinating, including a discussion of the descent of the Sci-Fi Channel into mediocre horror and bad low budget movies. Why are they making so many horror and reality shows now? And talk about the summer blockbuster season: Why can’t Hollywood get “Wonder Woman”, “The Flash” and a better “Superman” off the ground?
