FA:U 5 Report, cont'd (final): Sunday, August 19, 2012
Got up on Sunday morning at something like 8:35-8:40am. Slept well, albeit only 6 hours instead of my ideal 8, but 6 is typical for me for a con. Got a refreshing shower, had a mini-box of Apple Jacks and a mini-box of Corn Pops, tried to organize some of my things, then had to skip making coffee and zipped out the door, arriving at my first panel of the day 12 minutes late.
This was Sheppymomma's figure drawing class, and I was glad to be able to participate, as I had been disappointed there were no such drawing panels at Anthrocon 2012 this year. I arrived just in time to get started. We split up into groups of about 5 or 6 persons each, and then took turns posing while the others in the group tried to capture the essence of the pose on paper. Time for each sketch was limited to only 2 minutes, which was a real challenge. I did not draw facial features on any of my sketches, just the outline of the head and body, which was in fact the point of this exercise, to capture the essence of the entire pose without going into the details. Afterwards, we shared our sketches with each other to see what everyone came up with. Someone complimented me on my drawings, which was a total surprise but sincere, and I very much appreciated their encouragement.
I headed back to my room for an early lunch and to pack up all my stuff for checking out. Ramen noodles again, another spicy recipe which was good, and I also made coffee which was fun. Called home to let everyone there know I was okay, then in an increasingly mad dash finished loading all my stuff in the suitcases and packing my fursuit box. I hadn't even planned to be able to fursuit this day, since I was checking out, but my new good friend Provo Cheesebeagle offered to let me keep my stuff in his room so I could do some more fursuiting, so I took him up on the offer and literally ran up to his 5th floor room carrying my huge box. Then, back down to my room one last time, hooking up all the suitcases in tow, and heading downstairs to check out, at noon, and put everything away in my car. Whew! Only casualty from my hurriedness was a plain white T-shirt I had left behind accidentally in my room, which I am sure I will never see again.
I made another trip to the dealer's den, looking at some more stuff I had missed earlier, and exchanged contact information with a couple of artists. Got into a conversation with Seargent Al Peterson from the NJSPCA about a situation I am dealing with right now, looking for advice. Our discussion took more time than I had planned, and then it was just after 1pm, and I was late (again) for my next panel, which was the Miracle Fruit Tasting Party.
I zipped up to the Tabor room, where the fruit tasting panel was being held, and noticed that a bunch of people seemed to be "loitering" outside the door in the hallway. "Whatever," I thought, and pulled on the doors to go in, but they were locked. That is why all these people were out in the hallway- the panel was full to capacity, and they were waiting outside in hopes they might be let in at some point. I noticed a chakat badge someone was wearing there, and on closer inspection discovered that it was Chakat Railrunner! Had seen this character's artwork on FA previously, and recognized the name, and now got to meet the person behind the fursona. Also out in the hallway, I discovered, were my two pretty Leostarr fans I had met Friday night, Sam and Lina. I didn't think they'd know who I was out of the lion head, but they recognized my badges, and I found I was no longer invisible. Lina is a furry artist- check out her artwork on her FA page at laruefoxtail. She had made a cute little shrinky dink lion for me, which I added to my badge lanyard. We talked for a while, then I got my picture taken with both girls. Chakat Railrunner kindly took the picture for me using my camera (thank you!). Really nice girls.
Shrinky dink made by Laruefoxtail:
I hurried down the hallway and up to the 5th floor, to Provo & Tig's room, where we all suited up. Headed down to the 2pm Fursuit Games, which I had not planned to participate in, but with Provo's encouragement, I decided to give it a try. I was on the white team, and the first game was a scooter race, which I did well in, and added a bit to the white team's success, as we won that race!
Fursuit Games scooter race uploaded by zairedwinters on YouTube:
I noticed that Sam and Lina were there by the sidelines, cheering us on. Yay! It is so nice to have fans that like you! I believe that following the scooter race was the hula hoop thing, the hoop had to be passed down through the team with all joined hands. The white team won that game too!
The next game was the balloon popping survival thing, which I didn't fare too well in... in fact, I think I was the first one to lose my balloon. :( Provo had a good strategy for our team, but I couldn't get myself into the circle properly to shield my balloon, and a very colorful fursuiter came over, reached in, and blam!, I was done. I should have just run around free, I think I would have made out much better on my own. Oh well, I went over and hung out by the fans for a while. Wasn't quite sure of the rules, either... I thought that once your balloon was gone, you were done, but I ended up getting another balloon later on, and ran around with it until it was no more, and helped guard some of my teammates, Moonstar and Morton Fox, as well as I could. Provo ended up getting piled up on down on the floor by a whole bunch of balloon attackers. I don't exactly remember how this game turned out.
FA:United 2012 Balloon Game uploaded by TJCoyote30 on YouTube:
The last game was the musical chairs. It was going quite well for me, and I survived at least a third of the way through. For whatever reason, everyone was moving very slowly, dead stopped at times, when they were supposed to be walking rapidly around the chairs. I suspect that people were hovering over chairs to guarantee them a spot when the music stopped. There was nothing I could do, as no one in front of me was moving, or very slowly when they did. I kept hearing "Move!" being yelled throughout, but like I said, there was nothing I could do. Then some guy in a black t-shirt, who was not part of the game, came charging up from the outside and slammed into me from behind while yelling "Move!", which knocked me over into the chairs, and just then the music stopped, and as I was trying to get back up, was not able to get a seat and lost my place in the games. Jerk. That outside interference really ticked me off, as I believe I might have lasted a while longer had it not been for that. I considered confronting the person that did it... but then I just let it go. Better to get out before the competitiveness got to drastic levels anyway. I don't know exactly how this game ended, either... I think there might have been some controversy about who actually had the chairs in the final few rounds. Looked that way to me, anyway. But, it was just a game, and we all had fun playing it in fursuit.
Musical Chairs game uploaded by ManaBananaPie on YouTube:
Well, I had survived the games. And I was so very glad Provo encouraged me to participate, as I wouldn't have otherwise. Since the white team had won some games, we got prizes, which I was not expecting! I got an FA:U shot glass and a night light, 2 souvenirs to bring home along with fun memories:
Made a final trip to the dealer's den before it closed at 4pm, and then after a final walk through the hotel in fursuit, we went back to the room to de-suit. I really didn't want to take off my head, as it felt good and wasn't too hot, and I LOVE being the lion... but sadly it was time for it to end.
Went to Closing Ceremonies in my human form at 5pm, sitting with Provo, Tigris, and Aegis. A number of fun antics ensued on stage with Fender and Sciggles, and I took a number of pictures along the way:
They announced that $7100-$7300 dollars had been raised for the charity this year, which was the NJSPCA, but then people kept contributing up past the last minute during Closing Ceremonies, and pushed the final tally over $8000!! We all sang Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" together, and after a few more announcements, that wrapped up the con for this year.
As I mentioned in one of my previous segments, Mishka was my favorite fursuiter from this con- another fine creation from Mushi Magic. She's so beautiful! I had to get my picture with her, so I followed her out of Closing Ceremonies, and took the pics right there just outside the ballroom. It was funny, I got several shots of her from different angles, and as she changed poses for me, someone called out, "Work it, girl!". And, she certainly did. Then, got several shots of myself with her, thanks to Provo. Thank you, Mishka, you're beautiful! Love those pretty eyes!
I had invited my new friends to my "last supper" of the con at Subway in Cedar Knolls, and so Provo, Tigris, Aegis, and Roaming Wolf accompanied me to another good dinner of subs and soda. My car was full to its capacity, and happily so. Of all the conventions I've been to, this one has been the most social, so in that aspect, it was very different for me. I came back to the hotel to drop everyone off, said my goodbyes, then departed for home at about 7:15pm. Once again, the GPS was a wonderful navigator to assist me. Took me about 3 hours to get home, with all speed limits being observed (as always).
I had a great time at FA:U5. I'm so glad I decided to come to this convention! Spent less money in the dealer's room than I would have liked to (wish I had bought some more things). Made some new friends, both male and female, which was nice. I was well received (especially my lion!), the hotel was really nice, and I had fun. Really raised my spirits, made me feel great! Woohoo! I came home happy and de-stressed, and have pretty much remained that way since. I will be back... probably next year, depends on the $$ situation.
My top favorite new fursuiters from this con:
Mishka
Camaro
Orion-J
Thanks organizers and everyone who came to FA:U5, for making it so much fun! Hope you all had as much fun (or more) as I did!
This was Sheppymomma's figure drawing class, and I was glad to be able to participate, as I had been disappointed there were no such drawing panels at Anthrocon 2012 this year. I arrived just in time to get started. We split up into groups of about 5 or 6 persons each, and then took turns posing while the others in the group tried to capture the essence of the pose on paper. Time for each sketch was limited to only 2 minutes, which was a real challenge. I did not draw facial features on any of my sketches, just the outline of the head and body, which was in fact the point of this exercise, to capture the essence of the entire pose without going into the details. Afterwards, we shared our sketches with each other to see what everyone came up with. Someone complimented me on my drawings, which was a total surprise but sincere, and I very much appreciated their encouragement.
I headed back to my room for an early lunch and to pack up all my stuff for checking out. Ramen noodles again, another spicy recipe which was good, and I also made coffee which was fun. Called home to let everyone there know I was okay, then in an increasingly mad dash finished loading all my stuff in the suitcases and packing my fursuit box. I hadn't even planned to be able to fursuit this day, since I was checking out, but my new good friend Provo Cheesebeagle offered to let me keep my stuff in his room so I could do some more fursuiting, so I took him up on the offer and literally ran up to his 5th floor room carrying my huge box. Then, back down to my room one last time, hooking up all the suitcases in tow, and heading downstairs to check out, at noon, and put everything away in my car. Whew! Only casualty from my hurriedness was a plain white T-shirt I had left behind accidentally in my room, which I am sure I will never see again.
I made another trip to the dealer's den, looking at some more stuff I had missed earlier, and exchanged contact information with a couple of artists. Got into a conversation with Seargent Al Peterson from the NJSPCA about a situation I am dealing with right now, looking for advice. Our discussion took more time than I had planned, and then it was just after 1pm, and I was late (again) for my next panel, which was the Miracle Fruit Tasting Party.
I zipped up to the Tabor room, where the fruit tasting panel was being held, and noticed that a bunch of people seemed to be "loitering" outside the door in the hallway. "Whatever," I thought, and pulled on the doors to go in, but they were locked. That is why all these people were out in the hallway- the panel was full to capacity, and they were waiting outside in hopes they might be let in at some point. I noticed a chakat badge someone was wearing there, and on closer inspection discovered that it was Chakat Railrunner! Had seen this character's artwork on FA previously, and recognized the name, and now got to meet the person behind the fursona. Also out in the hallway, I discovered, were my two pretty Leostarr fans I had met Friday night, Sam and Lina. I didn't think they'd know who I was out of the lion head, but they recognized my badges, and I found I was no longer invisible. Lina is a furry artist- check out her artwork on her FA page at laruefoxtail. She had made a cute little shrinky dink lion for me, which I added to my badge lanyard. We talked for a while, then I got my picture taken with both girls. Chakat Railrunner kindly took the picture for me using my camera (thank you!). Really nice girls.
Shrinky dink made by Laruefoxtail:
I hurried down the hallway and up to the 5th floor, to Provo & Tig's room, where we all suited up. Headed down to the 2pm Fursuit Games, which I had not planned to participate in, but with Provo's encouragement, I decided to give it a try. I was on the white team, and the first game was a scooter race, which I did well in, and added a bit to the white team's success, as we won that race!
Fursuit Games scooter race uploaded by zairedwinters on YouTube:
Click to viewI noticed that Sam and Lina were there by the sidelines, cheering us on. Yay! It is so nice to have fans that like you! I believe that following the scooter race was the hula hoop thing, the hoop had to be passed down through the team with all joined hands. The white team won that game too!
The next game was the balloon popping survival thing, which I didn't fare too well in... in fact, I think I was the first one to lose my balloon. :( Provo had a good strategy for our team, but I couldn't get myself into the circle properly to shield my balloon, and a very colorful fursuiter came over, reached in, and blam!, I was done. I should have just run around free, I think I would have made out much better on my own. Oh well, I went over and hung out by the fans for a while. Wasn't quite sure of the rules, either... I thought that once your balloon was gone, you were done, but I ended up getting another balloon later on, and ran around with it until it was no more, and helped guard some of my teammates, Moonstar and Morton Fox, as well as I could. Provo ended up getting piled up on down on the floor by a whole bunch of balloon attackers. I don't exactly remember how this game turned out.
FA:United 2012 Balloon Game uploaded by TJCoyote30 on YouTube:
The last game was the musical chairs. It was going quite well for me, and I survived at least a third of the way through. For whatever reason, everyone was moving very slowly, dead stopped at times, when they were supposed to be walking rapidly around the chairs. I suspect that people were hovering over chairs to guarantee them a spot when the music stopped. There was nothing I could do, as no one in front of me was moving, or very slowly when they did. I kept hearing "Move!" being yelled throughout, but like I said, there was nothing I could do. Then some guy in a black t-shirt, who was not part of the game, came charging up from the outside and slammed into me from behind while yelling "Move!", which knocked me over into the chairs, and just then the music stopped, and as I was trying to get back up, was not able to get a seat and lost my place in the games. Jerk. That outside interference really ticked me off, as I believe I might have lasted a while longer had it not been for that. I considered confronting the person that did it... but then I just let it go. Better to get out before the competitiveness got to drastic levels anyway. I don't know exactly how this game ended, either... I think there might have been some controversy about who actually had the chairs in the final few rounds. Looked that way to me, anyway. But, it was just a game, and we all had fun playing it in fursuit.
Musical Chairs game uploaded by ManaBananaPie on YouTube:
Well, I had survived the games. And I was so very glad Provo encouraged me to participate, as I wouldn't have otherwise. Since the white team had won some games, we got prizes, which I was not expecting! I got an FA:U shot glass and a night light, 2 souvenirs to bring home along with fun memories:
Made a final trip to the dealer's den before it closed at 4pm, and then after a final walk through the hotel in fursuit, we went back to the room to de-suit. I really didn't want to take off my head, as it felt good and wasn't too hot, and I LOVE being the lion... but sadly it was time for it to end.
Went to Closing Ceremonies in my human form at 5pm, sitting with Provo, Tigris, and Aegis. A number of fun antics ensued on stage with Fender and Sciggles, and I took a number of pictures along the way:
They announced that $7100-$7300 dollars had been raised for the charity this year, which was the NJSPCA, but then people kept contributing up past the last minute during Closing Ceremonies, and pushed the final tally over $8000!! We all sang Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" together, and after a few more announcements, that wrapped up the con for this year.
As I mentioned in one of my previous segments, Mishka was my favorite fursuiter from this con- another fine creation from Mushi Magic. She's so beautiful! I had to get my picture with her, so I followed her out of Closing Ceremonies, and took the pics right there just outside the ballroom. It was funny, I got several shots of her from different angles, and as she changed poses for me, someone called out, "Work it, girl!". And, she certainly did. Then, got several shots of myself with her, thanks to Provo. Thank you, Mishka, you're beautiful! Love those pretty eyes!
I had invited my new friends to my "last supper" of the con at Subway in Cedar Knolls, and so Provo, Tigris, Aegis, and Roaming Wolf accompanied me to another good dinner of subs and soda. My car was full to its capacity, and happily so. Of all the conventions I've been to, this one has been the most social, so in that aspect, it was very different for me. I came back to the hotel to drop everyone off, said my goodbyes, then departed for home at about 7:15pm. Once again, the GPS was a wonderful navigator to assist me. Took me about 3 hours to get home, with all speed limits being observed (as always).
I had a great time at FA:U5. I'm so glad I decided to come to this convention! Spent less money in the dealer's room than I would have liked to (wish I had bought some more things). Made some new friends, both male and female, which was nice. I was well received (especially my lion!), the hotel was really nice, and I had fun. Really raised my spirits, made me feel great! Woohoo! I came home happy and de-stressed, and have pretty much remained that way since. I will be back... probably next year, depends on the $$ situation.
My top favorite new fursuiters from this con:
Mishka
Camaro
Orion-J
Thanks organizers and everyone who came to FA:U5, for making it so much fun! Hope you all had as much fun (or more) as I did!