Dragon*Con: Day 2

The Skeptrack kicked off last night with a panel called Skepticism 101, wherein hundreds of people crowded into a room to doubt everything each other said. Or something like that. Frankly, I'm not really sure what went on, since I was still reeling from the walk to the Hilton. Dragon*Con, like any gathering of socially awkward cosplayers and people who own dice pouches, is a phenomenal display of mostly-exposed breasts. Whether they're choking themselves over the rim of a too-tight leather corset, exploding from the plushy insides of an anthropomorphic cat costume, or stuffed into stretched spandex and painted over with superhero colors, you can't walk two feet without bumping into at least six pairs. Yes, my face, upper back, and the insides of my thighs are covered in breast bruises, and I only paid for a few of them. Never in any other context is the ratio of exposed breasts to hopeless asthmatic virgins so utterly equal. Anyway, James Randi, D.J. Grothe, Jeff Wagg, Ben Radford, Richard Saunders, and Phil Plait were all on the opening panel, where they counseled a reformed cult member and made fun of a girl's pink hair. Ah, the memories begin. After that, Randi and D.J. did a panel on magic and skepticism that's notable or many reasons, though the only one I can think of right now is that moments before the panel I finally met Randi in person and forced him to sign my antique psychic training card. You know the ones with shapes--a triangle, a square, a circle, squiggly lines. He signed my squiggly lines, and did a couple of card tricks with it to boot. Still no progress on the beard touching, however. We also saw Michael Shermer speak and met a few skeptical friends, but the action really starts today, Saturday, as the con has just started to pick up. On the geeky celebrity front, we've so far had close encounters with Walter Koenig (short), George Takei (bassy), Tahmoh Penikett (Helo-y), and Avery Brooks, who, when I told him he was the best captain ever, shot me the pistol finger and let out a heartfelt "Heyyyy." Awesome. I'm told that the kid who played Capt. Sisco's son Jake on "Deep Space Nine" was following closely behind Brooks, though, like most casting agents these days, I was unable to see him.