Well, it's been a week since I returned from the 17th edition of the Gallifrey One convention, held in beautiful Los Angeles, so I did survive, but just barely. A nasty post-convention cold has kept me from submitting this report until now, but better late than never.
As Gally is very much a social event, I started things off by having breakfest with fellow DW Columbus member Adam Drake, a great guy who spent much of the weekend volunteering at the registration desk, so my hat goes off to him.
Although I intended to go to all the major panels, my enthusiasm for the classic series guests wasn't as high as it normally would be. No offense to the guests (Louise Jameson, Mary Tamm, and David Warwick), who were all very lovely people, but I found the new series panels far more interesting. And with the likes of Noel Clarke (Mickey) and 4 series writers, could you blame me? Noel was great fun, not in the least put off by so many fans, as were the writers. Special mention goes to Steven Moffatt (writer of The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances), by far the funniest guest of the weekend.
Like many convention-goers, I took advantage of being in the City of Angels and checked out some of the local sights. The night before the convention started, I took a ghost tour of the Queen Mary. It's something I've been wanting to do for some time and by strange coincidence a convention being held in the hotel next door just happened to be offering, so away I went. No need to go into great details here, but it was great fun. If anyone wants to hear more, just let me know.
I also popped up to Hollywood for an hour or so during a slow point in the convention. Didn't have time to do any touristy things, but I did see Joan Rivers. Not sure if that counts as a highlight. I also crossed the street with someone dressed as Superman, something that has yet to happen here in Columbus. In any case, I saw enough to convince me to return at some point in the near future. A strange and wonderful place.
All in all, a great convention and a wonderful weekend. If you haven't yet made it to a Gally, do yourself a favor and go.
