At ConCarolinas: The man of 202 faces (and counting)

We are speaking about Bill Blair, an actor in his late 50s whose claim to fame is that he has played more than 200 roles in special-effects makeup and entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the person with the most appearances in that category. He was at 202 a couple of years ago and has worked regularly since then, notably in the Oscar-winning "Argo" (as "Humanoid Robot") and the hit TV series "Community" (as Morbidor in the episode "Conventions of Space and Time"). He looks like this in his everyday clothes:

This is the kind of chap you're likely to meet this weekend at ConCarolinas, which runs May 31-June 2 at the Charlotte Hilton University Place. Other guests include writer Timothy Zahn (a Hugo-winner for "Cascade Point" and author of The Thrawn Trilogy of "Star Wars" novels), actress Kandyse McClure (Dualla on TV's "Battlestar Galactica") and game designer Wolfgang Baur, currently kobold-in-chief (what a great title!) for Open Design LLC.

If this sounds like ancient Assyrian to you, you don't dwell in the science fiction-fantasy world (with a touch of horror) that provides the audience for ConCarolinas, which officially started in 2002. (It actually began in 2000-2001 as Southeast Convention Fandom Inc., which sprang out of a failed effort to get the massive WorldCon to come to Charlotte. You'll find out more at concarolinas.org.)

The primary focus remains a literary one, because the initial impetus sprang from the world of speculative fiction. But there's a strong gaming element, along with the traditional speeches, workshops, film festival (devoted to short science fiction movies), costume competition and dealers' tables. If your inner kobold is curious -- that's a sprite from German mythology, by the way -- get over to University Place and indulge it.