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Dragon*Con, Drive Invasion, Blues Barbecue
Labor Day weekend 2004

I had intended to get down to Drag On late Thursday night or perhaps early Friday afternoon for a more extensive report on some of the official events at the con. But I wanted to get the Thunderbird interior all nice and purty for the Drive Invasion and by the time I got everything done it was late Friday evening. But when I reached the hotel and got the program I glanced through it and didn't see anything that really interested me anyhow. It looked like a repeat of any Drag On for the last, oh, 10 years. But the fans don't go to see something new, so what difference would it make to them?

The real attraction to Drag On is the fans themselves and the amazing costumes they create. My personal fave was The Bride from Kill Bill, along with a dozen or so Crazy 88's. She was super hot in skin tight yellow.

The attention to detail really separates the ok costumes from the good costumes. But, for me, what separates the good from the great is taking things an entirely unexpected direction. This year seemed to be the year of the postmodern Star Wars Stormtrooper. The first time I spotted a Stormtrooper at a con eons ago I was amazed. It took a lot of work to build the costume, mostly from scratch using vacuum molds and plastic. But in the years since you can buy everything you need off ebay so they don't impress me these days.

But my favorite yet was the Stormtrooper pushing the baby carriage. Guess they don't need cloning any more - now they're reproducing on their own.

After meandering around the freak show sardine can that is the lobby at Drag On for a few hours I finally tracked down some old friends and found out where the party was. That there was even one party was a miracle at Drag On, so I knew I had to hustle to get there before security shut it down.

Up on the 17th floor the Fantasm crew was throwing a wake, a party to celebrate the immanent demise of my favorite convention. The room was so crowded you could barely get in with a crowbar. But pry my way in I did, got a free drink and pried my way back out onto the balcony to chat with the friends I only see at cons (despite my repeated efforts to hook up in our mundane lives. Goddamn, you slackers, email me.)

The Banana Splits came by the Fantasm party, leaving a wake of grins and giggles everywhere they went.

But soon con security came over and told us we were overcrowding the balcony area. Fortunately I heard about Farshad's party a few floors up and headed for the stairs. I found a suite half full of revelers, though most of the booze vanished almost immediately.

Believe it or not, I was actually trying to get a photo of a guy dancing here. He was hopping around doing kung fu moves and cracking me up. But the resulting photo is probably more satisfying...

After a few hours chatting with Stephanie, Bonnie, and Stephen I finally decided I'd better head home so I could get a reasonable amount of sleep for the rest of the weekend - I'd need it.

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