That right there is my Dragon*Con souvenir. It's a bunny for those who are stuff-animal-challenged. Every year, there's a sing-a-long to the Buffy musical episode ("Once More With Feeling") in the vein of Rocky Horror. During the Anya freak-out over bunnies, the stage cast tossed out bunnies and one seemed to bounce off my head and into my hands. No, seriously, I dove for the free bunny and snatched it out of the sticky fingers of a little baby. No mercy.
Sooooo....Anyway, the con started out with the wait in the registration line that I won't be telling you about. If you ever consider going to this con, I don't want to discourage you by describing in detail what you have to go through to get into geek heaven. And you would absolutely be turned off and not think it's worth it.
It was worth it to wake up early and get in line to see the comedy duo of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy. Two other Star Trek captains were there, too - Patrick Stewart and Kate Mulgrew - and they were wonderful to see. I also saw John Schneider and Catherine Bach (Bo and Daisy Duke), but I wish Tom Wopat would've joined in on the fun.
The most enjoyable moments were some panels aimed at kids (and me, by default) which included a light saber school and a pair of Australian skeptics handing out Tim Tams to everyone but me. What are Tim Tams and how do I get some?
Dragon*Con had about 35,000 attendees this year spread out over four hotels. Every year, I think I'm done with it because the mass of humanity wears me out. But once the guest list starts getting put together, I know I'll be asking my brother, "Do you want to go to Dragon*Con? Huh? Huh?"
In preparation and practice for some very legal sports gaming action next weekend in the holy mecca of Elvis, buffets and betting (Vegas), I'm going to try my hand at picking this week's NFL matchups. Below are the lines from some highly questionable online betting site. I've bolded the team who I think will cover/beat the spread, not win the game. If I do awesome, I'll check back here on Monday. If I don't (unthinkable!), I'll be extraordinarily busy on that day.
The first team listed is the favorite, the second team is the underdog and the last number is the line. My picks are bolded.
Kansas City vs Oakland -3
Tennessee vs Houston -6.5
New England vs NY Jets -3.5
Green Bay vs Cincinnati -9
Minnesota vs Detroit -9.5
Philadelphia vs New Orleans PK
Atlanta vs Carolina -6
Washington vs St. Louis -9.5
Jacksonville vs Arizona -3
San Francisco vs Seattle -1.5
Buffalo vs Tampa Bay -4.5
Denver vs Cleveland -3
San Diego vs Baltimore -3
Pittsburgh vs Chicago -3
Dallas vs NY Giants -3
Indianapolis vs Miami -3