• Joeff Davis
• IS THIS THE CON YOU'RE LOOKING FOR? Dragon*Con parade

A lot of my friends have referred to SDCC as the "work" convention and Dragon*Con as the "fun" convention. I want to take that a step further.

While I enjoy both conventions, Dragon*Con is more my speed. I'm not interested in superhero movies or Glee. I like checking out cool things in the exhibit halls, but I don't actually shop much at conventions. And while I can appreciate a creative marketing campaign, I get incredibly annoyed when bombarded with ads at virtually every turn I take. My taste in entertainment leans towards the things that aren't hyped and I was able to find more of what genuinely interests me at Dragon*Con.

What I love about conventions, is hanging out with people, making new friends and bonding over some shared interest that a lot of other people might find odd. At Dragon*Con, I was able to do what I love most at conventions and only that. I went to small panels where fans had a great chance to interact with each other. I met a lot of intelligent and creative people and came back with new pals. At Dragon*Con there's a real sense that everyone is welcome and everyone is accepted, just as long as you return the sentiments. Even in the convention scene, this can be hard to find.

No, I don't yet know why the Dragon*Con founder and accused child molester was allegedly shacked up in a Connecticut motel room with a 14-year-old boy when he was busted Tuesday and charged with felony reckless child endangerment.

But I can show you what else he's apparently been up to lately. That's right, producing a low-budget series of sword-and-sorcery webisodes called "Brothers Barbarian." Unknown to me until now, it's been on the air, er, Internetz since mid-August. Here's the premise, via IMDb:

A pair of teenage barbarian brothers who have been turned into middle-aged men by an evil witch's spell, set out on a quest to restore their lost youth.

Whatever. All I know is, after watching five minutes of this dreck, I wanted an orc to claw my eyes out.

Now, from what I can figure, the Web series is being shot somewhere around Louisville, KY, which still doesn't explain what Kramer — who's supposed to be infirm and under house arrest — was doing in Connecticut. But I'm dying to find out.

Blame Society Productions, Matt Sloan and Aaron Yonda's video studio, have released the first in a series of amusing clips of their most beloved creation (and friend of Creative Loafing), Chad Vader, mingling with the geeks at Dragon*Con 2011. It'll help draw attention to the Blame Society Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for the fourth season of "Chad Vader, Day Shift Manager," which they can spend on luxuries like actually paying people.

I'll post more clips after the jump as they go on-line. (Updated Sep. 13.)

• Dustin Chambers
• 'When will I find my princess, Atlanta? I ask you this in all seriousness!'

As you'd expect, some attendees of the weekend event were struck by cupid's arrow. Rather than live with regrets, these men and women turned to Craigslist to try and reconnect with that costumed stranger who caught their eye during the drum circle or a panel discussion about Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

CL Intern extraordinaire Abbey McDaniel scoured the classifieds site to find congoers seeking another chance to meet. After the jump, we present those findings. (Miss Dragon*Con? Check out our photo gallery from the parade and event.)

• Joeff Davis/CL File

Dan Carrol, Dragon*Con's media director, says access to the event hotels will be limited to guests and paid attendees, or "members." "The hotels will be checking for Dragon*Con badges or hotel key cards," says Dan Carrol, the event's media director. Kenny Wright, convention coordinator at the Hyatt Regency, confirms: “Normally you could go through the hotel, but not the actual event,” he said. “But for this year, you can’t go on hotel property throughout the whole event,” daytime included.

But some event organizers said access would only be limited during "evening" hours. According to Brenda Tackett of the Dragon*Con gaming division, people without an official badge, pass, or hotel key will not be allowed inside the event hotels past “evening hours.” A media relations email echoes this view: "The hotels will be enforcing badge policy in the evenings. No one will be allowed into hotels without a hotel key or a Dragon*Con badge. Thank you for your cooperation."

• Rockledge Apartments
• Does Rockledge's State of the Art Theater Look Like the Bridge of the Enterprise or is it Me?

Those who missed Dragon*Con's annual Independent Film Festival over Labor Day weekend are invited to sample selections monthly at the state-of-the-art Rockledge Apartments Theater, 2075 Powers Ferry Rd, Marietta GA 30067 starting Thursday, September 30, at 7:00 PM, with a comedy block.

What better time to touch base with Matthew Foster, Director of Dragon*Con Film Festival? Foster's bio, from is Web site www.fosteronfilm.com, gives all the context you need:

"This is where I should describe your humble author's place of birth and childhood. But I'm not humble, and I can't imagine why anyone would care where I came from.

So, what's important about me? Well, the most important fact is that I'm always right. That is essential for a film critic (and even the lesser "film reviewer"). A film critic who is worth anything must be right in some kind of objective way, or it's all just vague opinion. And if that's all it is, then critics should be replaced by polls.

"Ah," you say, "if the film critic's thoughts are more than opinion, then why do some critics disagree with you?" That's easy; it's because those critics are wrong, while I'm right. It really is quite simple.

Do I sound arrogant? Good. Who needs a wishy-washy critic?

I am a freelance film critic and film historian. You didn't know there were freelance film critics? It's good to learn, isn't it? Since I am freelance, that means you can hire me. Do you have a newspaper, website, radio station, or production company? Chances are, you would benefit from retaining my services. If I were you, I'd do it at once."

• Courtesy of Eric and Jess Dionne
• CALLING ALL CRYPTIDS: Jess and Eric Dionne

What is your title, and where do you live?
Eric: I'm the Director of the North Carolina Division of The North American Fortean Society, Founder of ICE (International Cryptozoology Establishment), Co-Founder of SEPIA (Southeast Paranormal Investigators Association), Host of SEPIA RVP Radio on Para-X, Owner of Phantasm Productions, and currently working on something with MonsterVision. I live in Hubert, N.C., just outside of Jacksonville and Swansboro.
Jess: I'm the Founder of SEPIA, Co-Founder of ICE, and Host of SEPIA RVP Radio on Para-X Radio, I live in Hubert, N.C. as well.

What do you do in your job?
Eric: With all the positions I'm in I handle website design, updates, etc. With ICE I focus on setting up expeditions for the team as well as working on spreading the word out there to people about cryptozoology. Most people don't know what you are talking about until you mention Bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster, but there is so much more to it. As for the production side of things, I produce about 10 shows for Para-X Radio at the moment, as well as host one on Monday nights from 10-Midnight p.m EST, and put together promos as well.
Jess: I manage and focus on setting up cases for SEPIA and ICE. There really isn't too much of a difference between the Crypto world and paranormal world, except one spends most of their time indoors and the other is outdoors. LOL.