Anthrocon 2012 report (cont'd): Friday, June 15
Through the last several weeks, I had been working hard on creating a fursuit partial to accompany the lion head I had gotten last year from ByCats4Cats, and ran out of time before I could design the feet paws. But, I had completed the tail, long arm sleeves, and the handpaws in time for the con, and that would have to make due. So, after starting out Friday with a bowl of Apple Jacks for breakfast, I wore my partial for the first time and debuted my character at AC12, proudly walking down the street to the DLCC for opening ceremonies. Roar!
Attending OC in a fursuit head was a new experience for me. I temporarily detached my tail so I could sit, and my vision and hearing through the head was good, so no problems in that dept.
After opening ceremonies, I stood in line to get a fursuiter badge. Not too long into the wait, someone official came over and told me I had to exit the line because I did not have feet paws. Aww. The special badges were only for full fursuiters, which I was not (yet). I was cool with that, I'm easy to get along with, and hey, I appreciated them telling me early on so I didn't have to waste time waiting in the line. Maybe next year.
Next, I made my way to the dealer's room, to visit Xian Jaguar first. My head was made by directly referencing artwork she did for me of Leostarr, and I was glad she made it to the con and finally got to see Leostarr in person. I looped around the dealer's room, looking at things but not really able to conduct any transactions as I was in the fursuit partial, and not speaking. As I was walking about the dealer's room, I had a few people ask me to pose for pictures, which made me feel good. My lion was getting favorable responses from others, and I didn't feel shy about it. I enjoyed showing him off. :)
Went back to the hotel room and had a sub sandwich for a late lunch break, around 2pm I'm guessing. Hung out for a little while to cool down before suiting up again for part 2 of my Friday. Missed a handful of panels during my break that I had considered attending, including Bucktown Tiger's performance (which I had seen before at several different ACs), and Fursuit Care and Maintenance. The weather was really nice outside, not hot and with a steady breeze going. The outdoor 3-1/2 block walk to the Westin from the Doubletree did generate some heat, but was also fun because the exposure gave me a fair amount of waving and horn-honking attention from excited passing motorists.
What to do, what to do, hmm... I stopped in to the Lighting Effects and Electronics class, but did not stay there long, as I had seen it before at AC11. Next, went across the hall to Provo Cheesebeagle's class on Fursuit Character Building and Performance, already in progress. This was a good, well-attended panel, but I was really getting hot and didn't feel comfortable participating, so I stayed for about 10 minutes or so, then snuck out before I was noticed. I went straight to the headless lounge, which was at the end of the hall, and cooled down with water and air, and rearranged the way I mounted my head (which still has fitting problems... got to fix that).
Exited the headless lounge and went into the Westmoreland room, which was right beside it, for the Fursuit Meet and Greet. Kijani lion and a handful of other fursuiters were there, doing some games like simple ball tossing (with a large tennis ball) and bowling with plastic bowling pins and balls. While I was there, the crew for the Japanese TV show Sanma no Manma came in and joined the meet and greet, so... I might (just maybe) have been caught by their camera, and if so, might end up appearing as a brief cameo on their TV show sometime in the future... provided they use that footage. Cool!
I only stayed at the meet and greet for about half an hour. Meandered over to the dealer's room one more time and went to the Art Show, since I had the opportunity. Would have bid on some art there, but I was going to be leaving early this year and would not have been able to pick it up, so I did not bid. Headed back to my room around 5-something pm, to de-suit and find something to eat. Did not have time to go to a restaurant (nor the $$), so I had some snack goodies packed that had to suffice for supper. I also had some things I had to take care of right away; unfortunately, this took some time, and until things were sorted out I ended up missing Sardyuon's 6:00pm performance, which I had hoped to attend.
A tiger fursuiter wearing a Star Trek Next Gen uniform shirt. Time, 6:41pm.
Wolf fursuiter howling in the DLCC, just outside the S.O.P. Ballroom. Time, 6:46pm.
Cool lion I photographed from across the room while standing in line for the Bitter Lake screening. Time, 6:53pm.
Windrunner, passing by me while I waited in line for the movie. Time, 6:57pm
Went to the screening of Bitter Lake, which began at 7:00pm. The best part of this movie for me was the beautiful beginning and ending music. I'm glad the lights were out because I had tears streaming down my face. Seriously, I did. Of course, the fursuits were great, and the whole idea of it being a furry movie was exciting in itself. I thought it was very well done. After the movie, we had a chance to meet the production team outside of the ballroom, but I got distracted with something and totally forgot about it. I had wanted to personally compliment them on the writing of the musical score, which was excellent.
MadeFurYou group fursuit photoshoot. Time, 8:18pm.
Kitt3ns prowling about the DLCC. Time, 8:20pm.
Fancy snow leopard in the zoo. Time, 8:41pm.
After scouting the area for fursuiters and taking some pictures, I went back to my hotel room, got into my partial, and returned for the dances. Hung out in the Fursuit Friendly Dance in the Westmoreland for a while, but I couldn't get into the kind of music they were playing in there at that particular time. Just could not dance to it, could not move, like I was out of phase and didn't belong. So after a while I left, and went over to the rave in the S.O.P. ballroom. It was dark, electronica music was pounding, spotlights and lasers were flashing, clouds of fog were billowing, and I got 2 glow sticks and joined in for some time. I actually had pretty good vision through my lion head despite the darkness, so navigating about was not a problem. Unfortunately, all the walking and running I had been doing took a toll on the calf of my left leg, which started feeling weird and aching. This happened to me last year, too. I took pressure off of it as much as possible, jumping less and favoring my right leg, which seemed to help. As the song "Good Feeling" was winding down, I started bumping into other suiters/people in the large energetic crowd that was forming, and my leg needed some rest, so I left and went to the headless lounge for a break.
Returning to the Fursuit Friendly Dance over in the Westin, I once again found myself unable to move to the current music selection, though my leg was feeling better now. I came out onto the dance floor anyway and awkwardly attempted to join in. But just then, the next song came on, Blue by Eiffel 65, which was perfect, so I was able to finally let loose and have some fun out on the floor. I bounced around a lot to that song, feeling free, and there was a video camera right in front of me for a lot of it, so I'm wondering where that footage will end up... I'd love to see it!
Leostarr. Yes, it's me! (photo by Kaya Cheetah)
To be continued with Saturday, June 16...
Attending OC in a fursuit head was a new experience for me. I temporarily detached my tail so I could sit, and my vision and hearing through the head was good, so no problems in that dept.
After opening ceremonies, I stood in line to get a fursuiter badge. Not too long into the wait, someone official came over and told me I had to exit the line because I did not have feet paws. Aww. The special badges were only for full fursuiters, which I was not (yet). I was cool with that, I'm easy to get along with, and hey, I appreciated them telling me early on so I didn't have to waste time waiting in the line. Maybe next year.
Next, I made my way to the dealer's room, to visit Xian Jaguar first. My head was made by directly referencing artwork she did for me of Leostarr, and I was glad she made it to the con and finally got to see Leostarr in person. I looped around the dealer's room, looking at things but not really able to conduct any transactions as I was in the fursuit partial, and not speaking. As I was walking about the dealer's room, I had a few people ask me to pose for pictures, which made me feel good. My lion was getting favorable responses from others, and I didn't feel shy about it. I enjoyed showing him off. :)
Went back to the hotel room and had a sub sandwich for a late lunch break, around 2pm I'm guessing. Hung out for a little while to cool down before suiting up again for part 2 of my Friday. Missed a handful of panels during my break that I had considered attending, including Bucktown Tiger's performance (which I had seen before at several different ACs), and Fursuit Care and Maintenance. The weather was really nice outside, not hot and with a steady breeze going. The outdoor 3-1/2 block walk to the Westin from the Doubletree did generate some heat, but was also fun because the exposure gave me a fair amount of waving and horn-honking attention from excited passing motorists.
What to do, what to do, hmm... I stopped in to the Lighting Effects and Electronics class, but did not stay there long, as I had seen it before at AC11. Next, went across the hall to Provo Cheesebeagle's class on Fursuit Character Building and Performance, already in progress. This was a good, well-attended panel, but I was really getting hot and didn't feel comfortable participating, so I stayed for about 10 minutes or so, then snuck out before I was noticed. I went straight to the headless lounge, which was at the end of the hall, and cooled down with water and air, and rearranged the way I mounted my head (which still has fitting problems... got to fix that).
Exited the headless lounge and went into the Westmoreland room, which was right beside it, for the Fursuit Meet and Greet. Kijani lion and a handful of other fursuiters were there, doing some games like simple ball tossing (with a large tennis ball) and bowling with plastic bowling pins and balls. While I was there, the crew for the Japanese TV show Sanma no Manma came in and joined the meet and greet, so... I might (just maybe) have been caught by their camera, and if so, might end up appearing as a brief cameo on their TV show sometime in the future... provided they use that footage. Cool!
I only stayed at the meet and greet for about half an hour. Meandered over to the dealer's room one more time and went to the Art Show, since I had the opportunity. Would have bid on some art there, but I was going to be leaving early this year and would not have been able to pick it up, so I did not bid. Headed back to my room around 5-something pm, to de-suit and find something to eat. Did not have time to go to a restaurant (nor the $$), so I had some snack goodies packed that had to suffice for supper. I also had some things I had to take care of right away; unfortunately, this took some time, and until things were sorted out I ended up missing Sardyuon's 6:00pm performance, which I had hoped to attend.
A tiger fursuiter wearing a Star Trek Next Gen uniform shirt. Time, 6:41pm.
Wolf fursuiter howling in the DLCC, just outside the S.O.P. Ballroom. Time, 6:46pm.
Cool lion I photographed from across the room while standing in line for the Bitter Lake screening. Time, 6:53pm.
Windrunner, passing by me while I waited in line for the movie. Time, 6:57pm
Went to the screening of Bitter Lake, which began at 7:00pm. The best part of this movie for me was the beautiful beginning and ending music. I'm glad the lights were out because I had tears streaming down my face. Seriously, I did. Of course, the fursuits were great, and the whole idea of it being a furry movie was exciting in itself. I thought it was very well done. After the movie, we had a chance to meet the production team outside of the ballroom, but I got distracted with something and totally forgot about it. I had wanted to personally compliment them on the writing of the musical score, which was excellent.
MadeFurYou group fursuit photoshoot. Time, 8:18pm.
Kitt3ns prowling about the DLCC. Time, 8:20pm.
Fancy snow leopard in the zoo. Time, 8:41pm.
After scouting the area for fursuiters and taking some pictures, I went back to my hotel room, got into my partial, and returned for the dances. Hung out in the Fursuit Friendly Dance in the Westmoreland for a while, but I couldn't get into the kind of music they were playing in there at that particular time. Just could not dance to it, could not move, like I was out of phase and didn't belong. So after a while I left, and went over to the rave in the S.O.P. ballroom. It was dark, electronica music was pounding, spotlights and lasers were flashing, clouds of fog were billowing, and I got 2 glow sticks and joined in for some time. I actually had pretty good vision through my lion head despite the darkness, so navigating about was not a problem. Unfortunately, all the walking and running I had been doing took a toll on the calf of my left leg, which started feeling weird and aching. This happened to me last year, too. I took pressure off of it as much as possible, jumping less and favoring my right leg, which seemed to help. As the song "Good Feeling" was winding down, I started bumping into other suiters/people in the large energetic crowd that was forming, and my leg needed some rest, so I left and went to the headless lounge for a break.
Returning to the Fursuit Friendly Dance over in the Westin, I once again found myself unable to move to the current music selection, though my leg was feeling better now. I came out onto the dance floor anyway and awkwardly attempted to join in. But just then, the next song came on, Blue by Eiffel 65, which was perfect, so I was able to finally let loose and have some fun out on the floor. I bounced around a lot to that song, feeling free, and there was a video camera right in front of me for a lot of it, so I'm wondering where that footage will end up... I'd love to see it!
Leostarr. Yes, it's me! (photo by Kaya Cheetah)
To be continued with Saturday, June 16...