Photos: 2012 Dragon-Con, Day One

I know there are people out there starving for some Dragon-Con pictures, so I thought I’d put a step towards the cause and go ahead and start publishing them as I make it through each day, instead of waiting to process all of them before posting.

Day one of Dragon-Con for me was mostly just acquainting myself to the convention again, taking everything in, and then eventually going to watch wrestling to interrupt socializing and picture taking.  Naturally, my focus at the con is heavy on taking pictures, and trying to be somewhat efficient at it, despite the fact that I’m a pretty lousy picture taker, relying on a fancy-schmancy camera to do most of the legwork for me.

So without further ado, here’s my pictures from the first day of Dragon-Con.  Have a little mercy on me and float a link in my direction, if you’re going to be sharing any pictures I’ve taken.

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Photos: Meeting Hacksaw Jim Duggan in Frederick

Without much question, the highlight of my weekend was getting the opportunity to meet WWF legend, Hacksaw Jim Duggan at a minor league game in Frederick.  What made it better was getting to share the experience in the company of good friends who like me, grew up watching Hacksaw punch and clothesline bad guy wrestlers, mostly, before unfortunately jobbing, and pretty often, in the most memorable ways (getting sat on and “injured” by fat guys like the late greats, Earthquake and Yokozuna).  Regardless, the overly patriotic super face has always remained a lifelong favorite amongst us, and a very easy choice to make the trip up to see him, regardless of the baseball game involved.

Prior to going to Frederick, I couldn’t help but wonder of what the meeting was going to be like.  After a great experience meeting Sgt. Slaughter, who was gracious, friendly and great with all the fans, I was sorely disappointed when I met Jerry “the King” Lawler, when he turned out to be a pretty apathetic and obviously money-seeking prick who didn’t so much care about the fans that wanted to see him as much as his head was already wondering when the meet and greet was going to be over.  Honestly, I was just kind of hoping for something in the middle, and hovering more towards Slaughter than Lawler.

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Photos: Otakon, sort of

The last time I went to Otakon prior to this past weekend was literally ten years ago.  In 2002.  I decided to go this year after such a gigantic hiatus, because I was already going to be up there for Hacksaw Jim Duggan night, I had decent fun delving back into some conventions, at Neko-con and Animazement in prior months, and pretty much everyone I would have wanted to see pretty much runs Otakon now.

I guess looking back at the weekend, if I could have done it all over again, I probably wouldn’t have bothered going if I knew what it was going to be like nowadays.  Not to say the convention is bad, on the contrary, it’s run better than it’s ever been run nowadays, it’s just I realize how much of a cup of tea Otakon is not for me today.

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Photos: The July 4th Party

USA FUCK YEAH! indeed.

This year, we had more people come than ever before and Jen and I also bought more fireworks than ever before, for our annual July 4th party that happened on the 7th due to the fucked up nature of July 4th being on a got-damn Wednesday.

Despite the sweltering heat initially, the evening cooled substantially once the sun set out of view, and there was tons of food to match the number of people who came down to Zombieland to eat, drink and watch some fireworks.  And to those who all came, I can’t speak for Jen, but I’m ever grateful that you made the lengthy trip down to our sticks for this party.  It means a lot to me.

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Real Men Don’t Wear Small update: Harry Grove Stadium, Frederick, Maryland

Yeah, I’ve been a slow getting to this one.  I went up to Frederick, Maryland, a town I’ve been to many times in my past, but never for baseball before.  I used this venture as a perfect excuse to say happy belated Father’s Day, as my dad went to go watch baseball and drink beer, all while I got to check another unexplored baseball park on my list.  Harry Grove Stadium, home of the Frederick Keys, the Class A+ affiliates of the Baltimore Orioles.

I realize I’m about to embark on a period

Where I will be either busy fervently doing chores around my home, or preparing for guests or parties, and preparing for yet another Peachtree Road Race throughout the next two weeks.  And that’s if work isn’t too interfering with my personal ambitions.

But needless to say, I have a feeling that I’m going to fall behind in my brogging pursuits in this time being, and I’ve already got a small cache building up; 79 pictures from my latest and most tedious-to-return Virginia trip, a ballpark in Frederick, Maryland visited and needing incorporation into my baseball website, among the random thoughts floating through my head at any given time that warrant posting.  I’ll likely be taking some photos over this weekend, and throughout the holiday week as well.  So I fully foresee myself feeling the brogging bulge over the next two weeks.

Above is a photo panorama that I whipped up while at the Braves vs. Yankees game.  It’s an angle not seen frequently, and it’s rare that Turner Field gets this packed on any basis, even with rain in the atmosphere.