Dragon*Con Star Trek programming features Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner

Dragon*Con, running Labor Day weekend September 4-7, is one of the world's largest science fiction and fantasy events, spread across the Hyatt, Marriott, Hilton, and Sheraton hotels in downtown Atlanta.

The event opened in Atlanta Friday with a panel featuring Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner. Dragon*Con features panel sessions, contests, performances and screenings for a variety of science fiction and fantasy fandoms, but the Star Trek guest list his year is notable.

Geeks of Doom reports that Nimoy said during the session he will not appear in the upcoming Star Trek sequel as the elder Spock. During a warm and spirited dialogue, Nimoy expressed dismay over the polarizing effect of talk show hosts who have become "famous by saying inflammatory and dangerous things," emphasizing the need for calm and intelligent debate. Among other things Shatner discussed his appearance in the 1965 movie Incubus, which was filmed entirely in the artificial language Esperanto. He repeated several times that he had not seen J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. The full story is featured in the online version of the Daily Dragon, the conference newsletter.

Saturday's program features Patrick Stewart (Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation). Following his 2007-08 triumph as Macbeth, Stewart currently is in The Royal Shakespeare Company's Hamlet with David Tennant. Stewart will star in an upcoming film version ofThe Merchant of Venice set in 20th-century Las Vegas, with a screenplay by Star Trek: Nemesiswriter John Logan.

Saturnday night Dragon*Con events include the Rainbow Flag Party, a dance party for the GLBT community and friends hosted by OutlantaCon, and Lavapalooza, a charity luau at Trader Vic's at the Hilton Atlanta to benefit Atlanta Community Food Bank. Dragon*Con features many opportunities for costumers. Ten contestants will compete Sunday in the 2009 Miss Klingon Empire Beauty Pageant, judged by John Billingsley and Anthony Montgomery of Star Trek: Enterprise.

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