Anthrocon 2012 report (cont'd): Saturday, June 16, part 1 of 2 (including parade)
Ran into Scrubs on 10th St., on my way to the DLCC. I had bowled with this fursuiter at the DE Furbowl in September, and after I had mentioned this fact, he recognized me. The high rise Westin Hotel looms in the background. 10:18am.
Beginning Saturday morning by visiting the convention center as my invisible human alias (meaning I was out of suit), I went down into the dealer's den to make some purchases, now that I was able. Xian Jaguar had left her table temporarily, so I couldn't check on the status of the new badge I had commissioned. Next I went over to Fur Planet and bought the DVD of Bitter Lake. Just to the left of their table was DreamVision Creations (Monoyasha), and there I bought a mini turbo fan for inside my fursuit head. It's really nice- comes with a separate wired holder for a 9 volt battery, so it's all ready to go, and the fan is fairly thick for its small size, which probably improves its performance. She was doing installations for people, but was very busy, so I figured I'd just do it myself when I got some time. Whether or not that happened at AC before the parade was tentative- I did bring some tools and sewing supplies with me, but in the end, I never did install the fan (yet)... just too much going on at the convention to work on anything there.
Ran into Flow on the 3rd floor skybridge in the DLCC. Very friendly Siamese kitty, and full of fun! 11:15am.
Sunil, a black panther. 11:20am.
Whiskey Foxtrot, a good looking fox. 11:45am.
Dokatrall taking it easy. 11:45am.
Blizzie, a really cute snow leopard who talks with an amazing, cute toony voice and had a fantastic outgoing "fursonality". She became my favorite new fursuiter from this year's con. 11:46am.
A cute foxie I passed frequently while wandering the con. Did not get her name. 12:01pm.
Tilt Longtail and Mangi, just outside of the S.O.P. ballroom. 12:05pm.
It was getting late, already past noon, which meant I was now about 1/2 hour behind my planned schedule. Went to Fernando's for lunch, and saw my friend Scotty (who I had met last year at AC11) was there too, so we talked for a little while before ordering my pizza. I "wolfed" down my slices as best as I could, becoming very concerned as the clock kept ticking, now past 12:30pm. I was supposed to be in Hall A at 1:15pm for the fursuit parade photo and lineup, and I was feeling quite stressed at this point.
Got back to my room all the way over in the Doubletree, oh, 12:45-50pm, something like that, then attempted to cool down a bit (shirtless) before getting into my partial. Got it all on, now well past 1pm, feeling rushed and stressed. Went down the elevator and through the lobby, the only time I hoped no one would stop me for a photo. Walked very briskly from the Doubletree to the DLCC, knowing I wasn't going to make the 1:15pm deadline. Zipped into Hall A (had to ask a Dorsai where it was, I had walked right past it), and found out that not only had I not missed the photo, I actually would have had time to spare. Geez! I could have walked at a much slower pace and still have made it before anything happened. Well, good, that little stresser (the last of the weekend) was over.
After sitting down for a while and taking off my head and paws to cool down, I milled about in Hall A, seeing many familiar suiters, amongst many unfamiliar ones. Finally found the water station (in the only corner of the room I had not looked, of course), and ran into Kijani lion, so we paired up for the parade, both being lions. The fursuit parade group photo commenced somewhere around 2pm, then we waited in the lineup to begin the parade.
Enlarged area from the Fursuit Parade Group Photo by Warphammer. I (Leostarr) am just to the left of the center, beside Kijani lion. Links to the original full picture can be found at this post on the Anthrocon forum.
Since I was going to be in the parade this year, it was the first time I would not be able to take pictures of the event, so I gave my camera to Lyra and she took a fantastic set of pictures for me... and not only of myself, but got pretty much the entire parade, from start to finish. More pics than I ever got, better lighting than I ever had, and good quality shots. Rather than try to put all of these in this LJ post like I usually do, I uploaded 35 of the best pictures to photobucket, where you can view them, if you so desire, by clicking on this link:
Fursuit Parade
(access code is ac12furry)
Here are 8 select photos from that parade archive, taken by Lyra using my camera:
Sardyuon, on the right in red, in the fursuit parade. 2:05pm.
Balto Woof (gray wolf on the left). 2:08pm.
Beautiful Tiffany (in the red dress) and a foxy friend. 2:09pm.
Leostarr (me), and Kijani lion (with the piece of zebra meat). It was my first time participating in the fursuit parade! 2:17pm.
Leostarr lion, about to pounce my camera. 2:17pm.
Leostarr side/backside view. Nice piece of tail! :) 2:17pm.
Windrunner the wolf, with a cast member from Bitter Lake in the background (in black). 2:20pm.
Since I don't know their names, I always call these beautiful cats the "amazingly realistic kitties." I had seen two of them at AC10 and AC11, but there were more of them this year. Someday I will learn all their names for proper credit in future con pics. So well done. Meow, meow! 2:20pm.
To be continued with Saturday, June 16, part 2 of 2...