Anthrocon 2011 Report, final: Sunday, June 26, Part 2 of 2
Closing ceremonies let out at about 6:30pm, and after getting a few pictures, I headed over to the Golden Palace Chinese buffet, to get a good supper that would last me the rest of the night. I was alone, as I had been for most of the convention. Didn't bother me most of the time (I enjoy my independence), but it was just now and then when it would have been nice to have some company, and I was feeling that way now.
Ah, well. After supper, I went back to the Westin, solitarily occupying myself with what I enjoy doing most at cons- meeting and photographing fursuiters. As I came up the escalator to the zoo, Laura Lioness was at the top, and I promptly got another picture of her:
Laura Lioness says hello.
The classy cats Velvet and Micheowyn strike a lovely pose.
The city of Pittsburgh, from ground level, taken outside the Westin hotel.
The cats in another beautiful pose, by the piano on the 2nd floor of the Westin.
Yawni Husky gets a ride from Monty Coyote.
I had been feeling a little down since supper, because I was under the impression I was going to be invited to a Sunday evening room gathering that had been mentioned to me earlier... but my phone remained silent, so I was feeling a bit left out. But as it turned out, this was another example of one of those circumstances that worked out for the good. While down in the lobby, I happened to look outside through the revolving doors, and... oh... my... God... Sunstreak and Oceanrider were out there!! Woohoo!! Had I been in the room party, I would have missed my prize picture of the evening:
Chakats Sunstreak and Oceanrider. Beautiful! I love these two.
I hadn't seen these two chakats at the con at all, and I had given up and assumed they were not there this year... then bam, they appeared on Sunday night! I was so happy to see them. And after the pictures, I hung out with Oceanrider for a while. Always wanted to do that, and finally got the opportunity! Then, after a bit, Sunstreak came up to us, jumped and landed both paws soundly on the ground, and grabbed Ocean's arm in a playful tug to join hir for a drink at the Tonic Bar and Grill across the street. But Ocean decided to pass on the offer, so I got to hang out even longer while Sunny went over there and sampled drinks with a few friends. When shi finally came back, I said goodbye and they both left, and that was the last I saw of them at the con. That made my Sunday evening. :) These chakats attract me like a magnet!
It was now getting dusk outside. I took one more group shot out there, then came back inside for the remainder of the night, looping around from the lobby to the zoo, to the 2nd floor, where I found out the dead dog dance was taking place in the Westmoreland room. And something amazing about Sunday night, fursuiters began appearing all over the place who I hadn't spotted at the con previously, or ever. It was like an ultra burst of magic before the con fizzled to its end.
Dogbomb on the left; Synth Wolf and Dakkota wolf in the center; and Cyan Crux standing second from the right.
Synth Wolf
Marie (on the left) with friends.
Paws in the zoo. Very pretty!
While in the zoo, I ran into a fursuiter named Dorito. He positioned me in front of some other guy, then banged our heads together, and did a number of other silly antics to us. Then we finally got our pictures, including one of myself with Dorito, and also one of him with Paws, who was watching all the fun.
Dorito. Lots of attitude in this one; quick witted and full of interactive fun. Also has amazing digitigrade legs.
Paws and Dorito together.
Good looking fox taking my picture with a good looking camera.
Silent Ravyn
Blood Raven
Lovely Kyera strikes a couple of poses for me in the zoo.
Cooper Tom, Fender, and Rockit Wolf
Bucktown Tiger entertains passersby in the hallway with his piano expertise.
Zeitgeist padding around in a bathing suit... nice!
Cats at the dead dog dance; also below.
Cheeto at the dead dog dance.
Cheeto!
The incredibly realistic Keet Collie.
Don't know the name, but this is the cutest rabbit I have ever seen! She was getting lots of picture requests out in the hallway.
Dead dog dance
A very attractive pair that came out Sunday night, didn't get their names.
Provo Cheesebeagle
1, 2, 3, we come in three sizes you see.
Good looking pair in the zoo right before it closed, at 1:00am. Amon is on the left.
A back/profile shot of Silent Ravyn.
Cute smile, did not catch the name.
Frisky with a magic wand and magician's hat.
Frisky attempts a little magic and pulls some things out of his hat.
Anjin and Kojak
Cute white fursuiter, did not get the name. Doppler is on the left.
My camera's battery was exhausted, so I went up to my room at 2:00am to get a head start on packing my luggage while it recharged some. Ended up all but completing the packing of my things by 3:00am... I was about to go back downstairs to catch some more of the last bit of convention magic, but then I felt how extremely tired I was, and said that was enough, I'm done. I let the camera continue to charge, and I went to bed.
Monday morning I slept in (still only got about 5 hours), got one more good shower, did a last check of my things, and headed out. I got to see both of my roommates before I left the room. This year, I roomed with Abrahm Lion and Camo Husky, and both were good roommates, and they get a good recommendation from me. I went down to wait in the lobby for a little while, and though the magic was basically gone, there were still plenty of convention folks waiting down there like me, a number of whom were wearing tails.
I boarded the Megabus sometime after 11:00am. I had a great time at the con, but the ride back home was not fun. Aegis had saved a seat for me, but I was staring into space when I walked back through the aisle and I walked right past him, missing the opportunity to hang out with a furry friend on what was to become an extremely long bus ride. We were informed of a major accident on the turnpike, which detoured our bus down into Maryland and Virginia, which took forever to get home. That bus made me nervous, too... every time there was a bend in the road, I cringed as I imagined the potential of this very tall double decker vehicle to tip over. We made one stop on the way home, at Sidling Service Plaza, so I got a burger and a milkshake... and they made a mistake on the order in my favor and gave me two milkshakes, so I gave the other one to Aegis. Our return trip took well over two hours longer than was scheduled. They were pretty rough with unloading the luggage off the bus, too, slamming suitcases around and dropping them, etc. Geez. Really good price for the bus trip plus it had wifi, but I will go back to taking the train in the future, because it is a much more relaxing way to travel. That, or I'll drive myself.
I did make it safely home, thankfully. I must have brought some con crud along home with me, though, for the first time ever... lasted a little over a week and then I was fine.
Fursuiters I was looking for but did not see at Anthrocon this year include Rhea, Tayla, Velvet, Nouga, Septerra, Summer Vixen, and Skye Frostpaw. Some of them may have been there, but I don't know because I did not see them. I missed getting any pics of Kwik this year... he looked fantastic in his new black outfit but I only saw him twice, in passing glances.
And that about wraps up my reports for this year. The convention was one month ago, so I'm glad I'm finishing this tonight. Last year I drug these reports out through August, which was a bit ridiculous. I will be at Anthrocon 2012 next year, at least that is the plan, but who I will be staying with and how long my duration of stay will be are yet to be determined... depends on a number of factors. Hopefully, I'll have a fursuit or partial to show off by then.
Ah, well. After supper, I went back to the Westin, solitarily occupying myself with what I enjoy doing most at cons- meeting and photographing fursuiters. As I came up the escalator to the zoo, Laura Lioness was at the top, and I promptly got another picture of her:
Laura Lioness says hello.
The classy cats Velvet and Micheowyn strike a lovely pose.
The city of Pittsburgh, from ground level, taken outside the Westin hotel.
The cats in another beautiful pose, by the piano on the 2nd floor of the Westin.
Yawni Husky gets a ride from Monty Coyote.
I had been feeling a little down since supper, because I was under the impression I was going to be invited to a Sunday evening room gathering that had been mentioned to me earlier... but my phone remained silent, so I was feeling a bit left out. But as it turned out, this was another example of one of those circumstances that worked out for the good. While down in the lobby, I happened to look outside through the revolving doors, and... oh... my... God... Sunstreak and Oceanrider were out there!! Woohoo!! Had I been in the room party, I would have missed my prize picture of the evening:
Chakats Sunstreak and Oceanrider. Beautiful! I love these two.
I hadn't seen these two chakats at the con at all, and I had given up and assumed they were not there this year... then bam, they appeared on Sunday night! I was so happy to see them. And after the pictures, I hung out with Oceanrider for a while. Always wanted to do that, and finally got the opportunity! Then, after a bit, Sunstreak came up to us, jumped and landed both paws soundly on the ground, and grabbed Ocean's arm in a playful tug to join hir for a drink at the Tonic Bar and Grill across the street. But Ocean decided to pass on the offer, so I got to hang out even longer while Sunny went over there and sampled drinks with a few friends. When shi finally came back, I said goodbye and they both left, and that was the last I saw of them at the con. That made my Sunday evening. :) These chakats attract me like a magnet!
It was now getting dusk outside. I took one more group shot out there, then came back inside for the remainder of the night, looping around from the lobby to the zoo, to the 2nd floor, where I found out the dead dog dance was taking place in the Westmoreland room. And something amazing about Sunday night, fursuiters began appearing all over the place who I hadn't spotted at the con previously, or ever. It was like an ultra burst of magic before the con fizzled to its end.
Dogbomb on the left; Synth Wolf and Dakkota wolf in the center; and Cyan Crux standing second from the right.
Synth Wolf
Marie (on the left) with friends.
Paws in the zoo. Very pretty!
While in the zoo, I ran into a fursuiter named Dorito. He positioned me in front of some other guy, then banged our heads together, and did a number of other silly antics to us. Then we finally got our pictures, including one of myself with Dorito, and also one of him with Paws, who was watching all the fun.
Dorito. Lots of attitude in this one; quick witted and full of interactive fun. Also has amazing digitigrade legs.
Paws and Dorito together.
Good looking fox taking my picture with a good looking camera.
Silent Ravyn
Blood Raven
Lovely Kyera strikes a couple of poses for me in the zoo.
Cooper Tom, Fender, and Rockit Wolf
Bucktown Tiger entertains passersby in the hallway with his piano expertise.
Zeitgeist padding around in a bathing suit... nice!
Cats at the dead dog dance; also below.
Cheeto at the dead dog dance.
Cheeto!
The incredibly realistic Keet Collie.
Don't know the name, but this is the cutest rabbit I have ever seen! She was getting lots of picture requests out in the hallway.
Dead dog dance
A very attractive pair that came out Sunday night, didn't get their names.
Provo Cheesebeagle
1, 2, 3, we come in three sizes you see.
Good looking pair in the zoo right before it closed, at 1:00am. Amon is on the left.
A back/profile shot of Silent Ravyn.
Cute smile, did not catch the name.
Frisky with a magic wand and magician's hat.
Frisky attempts a little magic and pulls some things out of his hat.
Anjin and Kojak
Cute white fursuiter, did not get the name. Doppler is on the left.
My camera's battery was exhausted, so I went up to my room at 2:00am to get a head start on packing my luggage while it recharged some. Ended up all but completing the packing of my things by 3:00am... I was about to go back downstairs to catch some more of the last bit of convention magic, but then I felt how extremely tired I was, and said that was enough, I'm done. I let the camera continue to charge, and I went to bed.
Monday morning I slept in (still only got about 5 hours), got one more good shower, did a last check of my things, and headed out. I got to see both of my roommates before I left the room. This year, I roomed with Abrahm Lion and Camo Husky, and both were good roommates, and they get a good recommendation from me. I went down to wait in the lobby for a little while, and though the magic was basically gone, there were still plenty of convention folks waiting down there like me, a number of whom were wearing tails.
I boarded the Megabus sometime after 11:00am. I had a great time at the con, but the ride back home was not fun. Aegis had saved a seat for me, but I was staring into space when I walked back through the aisle and I walked right past him, missing the opportunity to hang out with a furry friend on what was to become an extremely long bus ride. We were informed of a major accident on the turnpike, which detoured our bus down into Maryland and Virginia, which took forever to get home. That bus made me nervous, too... every time there was a bend in the road, I cringed as I imagined the potential of this very tall double decker vehicle to tip over. We made one stop on the way home, at Sidling Service Plaza, so I got a burger and a milkshake... and they made a mistake on the order in my favor and gave me two milkshakes, so I gave the other one to Aegis. Our return trip took well over two hours longer than was scheduled. They were pretty rough with unloading the luggage off the bus, too, slamming suitcases around and dropping them, etc. Geez. Really good price for the bus trip plus it had wifi, but I will go back to taking the train in the future, because it is a much more relaxing way to travel. That, or I'll drive myself.
I did make it safely home, thankfully. I must have brought some con crud along home with me, though, for the first time ever... lasted a little over a week and then I was fine.
Fursuiters I was looking for but did not see at Anthrocon this year include Rhea, Tayla, Velvet, Nouga, Septerra, Summer Vixen, and Skye Frostpaw. Some of them may have been there, but I don't know because I did not see them. I missed getting any pics of Kwik this year... he looked fantastic in his new black outfit but I only saw him twice, in passing glances.
And that about wraps up my reports for this year. The convention was one month ago, so I'm glad I'm finishing this tonight. Last year I drug these reports out through August, which was a bit ridiculous. I will be at Anthrocon 2012 next year, at least that is the plan, but who I will be staying with and how long my duration of stay will be are yet to be determined... depends on a number of factors. Hopefully, I'll have a fursuit or partial to show off by then.