MFF report

[altivo]

Back home safely, happy, tired, wish it were longer even though I know I'd have been completely overcome by it then.
[EDIT November 21 to add some details omitted first time.]


Friday report:

Arrived Friday at 11 am, checked in, registered, left a note for moose_93395 on the bulletin board so he'd know where to find me when he arrived. Ran into animist who showed me where Ops was so I could pick up my panelist's envelope. He also introduced me to tesstheredpony who was a fellow panelist for Hoof and Horn. Brought in the fursuit and gym bag from the car, put on my tail, and headed off to the opening session.

There, in keeping with the whodunit theme of the con, Uncle Kage and all three guests of honor were murdered on the platform by a "ninja" for failing to answer questions about the schedule correctly. Kage hammed it up amazingly well, as usual.

At the immediately following "Meet the Guests of Honor", all three were suddenly revived and answered lots of questions. Gene Breshears expressed his approval of NaNoWriMo (in which I am now about 10,000 words behind schedule because I stopped for the con, but in theory at least I can still finish.)

Found moose_93395 (or rather he found me) in the corridor after that and I gave him his key (we shared a room) then went on to listen to Gene's presentation on the Tai-Pan Literary & Arts Project he manages. This is a sort of open collective that produces stories and art based in a science fiction environment with anthropomorphic furry characters. I'm quite interested and will be looking at it in greater depth.

After that encountered toy_dragon, krasnayath, and vakkotaur in the corridor and chatted briefly. To my delight, vakkotaur presented me with a print of a photo he took of me at MFF 2004. He had mailed the digital scan shortly afterward but the print was much better in color and contrast balance than I'd been able to make of the digital image. Admired the only other horsey fursuit I saw at the con, character name Clyde, and I was later told the suiter is brokkentwolf though I don't know that for certain. Anyway, it was a nice job, smallish Clydesdale as a cowboy essentially.

Then dashed upstairs to Ocicat's "Performing in Fursuits" panel where I was overwhelmed with the entertainment skills of some of the presenters. I've spent several years on the stage in amateur theatricals and I'm quite at home with public performance, but I don't know if I can improvise that fast and be that funny. It was great fun to watch though. Considered the "Fursuit Icebreaker" and probably should have gone but instead ended up going to Olive Garden for dinner with unigal and moose_93395.

Then I went to see where photographer Kevin "Kryphos" Knapke was setting up (on the same floor as my room but diagonally as far away as possible) and decided I could indeed navigate that in my suit so went back and suited up to be photographed. I can't wait to see the results. Kryphos knows how to get you to pose imaginatively and took quite a few shots of me in various poses. I understand he will post his work to the web in a couple of weeks. He said the conbook would tell where, but it does not, alas. Anyway, I'm sure I'll find out by then.

Returned to my room after the photoshoot and cooled off. Then I decided to brave the elevator and crowds and go downstairs in suit for a while, which I did. I'm pleased to report that I did not faint from the heat, nor trip over anything, nor get lost, nor bump into anyone even though I can barely see while wearing the head. Several people asked to snap photos of me, for which I posed willingly. Then vakkotaur came along and took some snaps of me, after which we talked at some length about suit construction as he is planning to build one himself. While I was chatting, someone (I couldn't see well enough to say who it was) asked me if I would be there for a while because toy_dragon wanted to see my suit. I answered in the affirmative and did stay there for at least another 30 minutes, though I don't know if he ever made it to see me. If he did, I missed recognizing him in my visually limited state.

When I decided I was getting too warm, vakkotaur very kindly acted as a guide, making the trip back to my room much quicker and smoother than it would have been alone, and I thank him for his generosity. We sat and chatted for quite a while, which was very nice. He tried on my horse head and I took some shots of him wearing it, hope they turn out for him. After he left I decided I was just too worn out for the variety show, so I went to bed to be sure I'd be up in time for the greymuzzle social and brunch in the morning at 8 am.

Saturday report:

Got up without disturbing Moose too badly (I think he didn't get in until quite late) and went to the brunch meeting.
Sat with quickcasey, and smrgol_t_kirin and listened with interest to their railroad talk until quickcasey apologized for boring me and I had to insist that they were not. (They weren't, I've long been interested in railroads and model railroads too.) Brunch was followed by the Greymuzzle's "What did you do this weekend?" panel (headed up by innerwolf) where we discussed the various levels of coverup some of us feel we have to use to disguise our convention activities. Mostly this ended in a discussion of the CSI episode, MTV, Vanity Fair and other negative publicity and how they have made things more difficult in some cases. I am fortunate. Last year I told my colleagues that I was attending a comic and cartoon art convention, which they found perfectly acceptable. In fact they were very enterested when I mentioned that "Buckles" creator Dave Gilbert was a GOH and I had enjoyed chatting with him. My boss took an interest in the mention of fursuit activities and even wanted to see photos, which I dredged up from the web and showed her. This year when I asked for vacation time she approved it without question, and when I mentioned that I was building a fursuit, everyone wanted to see photos of it. So I'm not worrying about covering up my fandom activities at all now.

Went down to the Dealers' Den and picked up my sponsorial t-shirt, took a quick cruise around the room without succumbing to anything else until I got to the Tai-Pan table where I let Gene recommend three issues I could read to get a feel for it and decide whether I can contribute. He also gave me their writers' guidelines. I am very interested in this.

After that it was time to eat (again) at the Sponsors Brunch, a fairly elaborate buffet catered by the hotel and quite varied and tasty even though I stayed vegetarian in my selections. Saw xydexx long enough to exchange greetings on the way in. I also managed to sit next to Gene Breshears and talk with him some more, which was very enjoyable.

Fursuit parade immediately followed the brunch, and I managed to get through it without mishap. Picked up my fursuit badge afterward from aeto and promised to pay him the $5 for the charity (Wildlife in Need) as soon as I saw him again. Got to see quickcasey's new fursuit head, which he wore in the parade and it is a nice one, with teeth and moving jaw. Now he just needs some paws. Found my way back to my room after the crowd thinned a bit and spread out the suit to dry before packing it away. I think it was on the trip back that I passed spiketxtyger whom I never would have recognized but he asked if "Tivo" (my badge) was altivo and asked to take my picture. So, if the picture comes out, shadowtxhorse will see my photo even though he wasn't there in person.

Had planned on the drawing session "Start to finish with pencil" but it was already too late due to the fursuit parade so I skipped it and went to look at the art show. I managed not to bid on anything, though a few items did tempt me. On the way in, I found dakhun and deffox and was able to chat with them a bit. Then I planned to attend "Falling for fursuits" but it was cancelled because the presenter couldn't make it to the con.

Instead I went to the Charity Auction. I'd been told this would be entertaining, since Uncle Kage and 2 the Ranting Gryphon were the auctioneers. It was. A fursuiter named (I think) Ozzy, a large cuddly looking pup with droopy ears, served as their "runner" to carry items being auctioned out into the audience for examination, while Kage and 2 engaged in sometimes lewd banter and a lot of shtick with their wineglasses. Notable items that went for high prices included a cameo appearance in the_gneech's Suburban Jungle, which went for $500 in the end. I bid on a very nice framed Rog Minotaur print (just a very handsome fantasy horse, nothing risque) and let Kage egg me on to $75 for it in the end, which is OK since the money all went to the charity. Wildlife in Need is local to me and seems very worthwhile. They had a red tail hawk there that afternoon as "ambassador" for their rehabilitation program.

The last item in the auction was a one hour private show to be given by Kage and 2 to the highest bidder and his/her guests. This was quite a drawn-out bidding session that included much clowning about until the remaining bidders decided to pool their resources and share the prize rather than continuing to attempt to outbid each other. The final bid was $650, I think. The charity received $3000, I believe that's what takaza said. His mother had contributed several items to the auction herself, including hand made sets of ears and a nicely crocheted "skunk" scarf that went for a good price of about $90 if I remember correctly.

The puppy fursuiter who assisted the auctioneers was adorable. I thought they should have auctioned off a hug from him, I'll bet it would have gone for more than $25. In fact, I might have paid that much myself.

I settled up with the cashier, retrieved my print, decided that Fursuit Games were probably going to be too much for me with my limited vision in the suit, and headed back to the room. Shortly after that, moose_93395 showed up and said he was going to TGI Friday's for dinner with unigal, cbrenton and others. I asked if I could tag along, and he agreed. It turned out that the others were dakhun and deffox so that was pleasant enough in spite of the high noise level in the restaurant. By the time we returned to the hotel, I decided to do a little writing on NaNoWriMo and go to bed, which I did. Though the idea of a Fursuit Dance was appealing, the music at those events never appeals to me and is usually much too loud, so I did not go.

I was in bed and asleep when I was awakened by a lot of voices in the parking lot outside. I wondered what the commotion was but eventually went back to sleep. In the morning I learned that there was a false fire alarm, apparently repeating a similar event at the con a year ago. It was occasioned by some sort of smoke emitting device in one of the stairwells and is under further investigation. The hotel was pretty upset. Not only did they print letters of apology and deliver them to every room before morning, but I received a second apology when I checked out on Sunday. I hope this means that they are not blaming MFF for these happenings, even though it sounds to me as if it amounts to some kind of planned harrassment of furries.

And that's Friday and Saturday. This is getting really long, so I'll post Sunday separately. Probably tomorrow.

Comments

[moose-93395.livejournal.com]

Hey glad you made it back safe. I did too :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

That's good to know. *nuzzle*

[doc-moreau.livejournal.com]

I'm considering making it a goal of mine to attend more than just AC in 2006... I'd love to head out that way and see what MFF is all about. I'm sure it's a lot smaller, which is probably nice in its own way, and there are undoubtedly a few people i know there (like Moose and yourself to a lesser extent) ...the people make the con, so the saying goes.
Anyhow, post links to pics of your suit when they're available! I want to see. :)

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Well, I like MFF, but since it's the only con I've ever attended I'm no judge. It's not exactly "small", since it has had over 1000 registered the last two years, but it's not as large and chaotic as AC or FC.

I haven't seen the final counts this year, but unofficially I heard that the fursuit parade was 149, and I think last year it was something like 111. So things are growing. It's certainly large enough that I have trouble deciding which of several things to do all the time, and can't do them all. Even though the gaming and late night stuff hold no interest, there are often two or three simultaneous sessions that I must decide between.

As soon as the fursuit photos appear, I will certainly post links. My job is not "professional" but I enjoyed doing it and will do more.

[calydor.livejournal.com]

I've tried all morning, but I just can't resist. I have to say it.

So, I hear you and Moose went and got a room?

Feel free to kick me now, I deserve it.

[niko-winterset.livejournal.com]

*grins* If you kick Cal then you have to kick me as well. I nudged him along to go ahead and make the comment. :)

Glad you had a good time Tivo.

Storm

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Hmph. Caly does NOT need encouragement in that sort of thing. He needs to be taught instead that sometimes a room is just a room.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

*bites you instead*

Yes, I shared my room with Moose. That was all, other than a nice hug when we parted on Sunday, so get your horn out of the gutter.

[shadowtxhorse.livejournal.com]

Darn unicorns are always so horny... *innocent look*

Glad my mate caught up with you, I had told him to keep an eye out for Altivo, not realizing you went by a shorter version on badge.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

Yes, and I was sorry I didn't stop to chat a bit, but by that time I was definitely in need of a cooling off. The start and end of the parade involved quite a long time spent standing all packed together in one room. While I did get to chat with quickcasey and admire his new head in that time, it still added up to a bit of thermal strain for me.

Because I can't wear my glasses in the suit (they fog right up) I suffer from vague, blurry eyesight. I can recognize people I know once they get close enough, but reading name badges or recognizing anyone at a distance is out of the question.

Anyway, tell Spike thanks again for hailing me. I hope he had a good time at the con.

[dakhun.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was kind of noisy in many places, and I think we're both quieter in person. :-) It was nice to finally meet you though. Oh, and you did look every bit the farmer in your overalls. ;-)