So, about that MFF Thing...
I was really looking forward to MFF this year. I haven’t done many cons this year and the fall had been very busy with moving into a new house and tons of work projects, so I really needed the break. MFF is also a con a look forward to because it’s both well run and there a ton of locals that I’m friends with. I actually spent quite a lot of both time & money preparing for the con. For the first time, I decided to co-run a panel with mahrkale, so I had a lot of preparation with that. I also tried to get a couple of things put together ahead of time for my suits. Sometimes I amazed at the amount of money that we throw at this “hobby”. I think I spent around $400 before I even left for the con. All in all it was worth it. Some unfortunate health issues aside, MFF was a great con and I look forward to going back next year.
Highlights
- Running the panel. It was a good time and hopefully people found it entertaining and helpful. It felt nice to be able to give a little something back for a change.
- Trip to Crisp on Friday night. I think this needs to be an MFF tradition for me.
- Poker nights tll the wee hours of the morning. Good conversations with good friends. The Justin Timberlake song Cry Me A River will now forever be known as Cry Me An Ocean (I can’t explain this one, but a handful of you know what I’m referring to).
- colsongrainger's concert. I knew he was a good musician. I didn’t know he was such an entertaining performer. It was also really cool to meet Kazza.
- duncandahusky& takaza's ceremony. I wish I had been able to be there for the actual vows.
- Handing out boxes of Kix in the parade and seeing how many people actually got the reference. You damn kids!
- Meeting and getting a chance to chat a bit with brokkentwolf and jonnywoof. Brokken’s suits immediately stood out to me when I started in the fandom due to the amount of character put into them. Between that and talking with nerfcoyote is what really started me thinking about adding new characters and thinking more about how they would act.
Lowlights
- A troublesome ankle all weekend, including a particularly bad day Sunday that had me basically laid up in the room all day. I was only able to go out in suit twice at the con as a result.
- An unsettled room situation. Attempts to be accommodating and having a good heart did lead to a bit of an awkward room shuffle at times. I tend to like things a bit more set.
- The many friends I either only saw in passing, or even not at all. Such is the case with a large con.
- Not hitting any of parties. I wasn’t as social overall as I would have liked.
- No pictures. Since I started suiting I keep taking less and less pictures at cons. I didn’t snap a shot this time. I really need to change that going forward.
Thursday, November 17
kitsuneteej came out and crashed at my place Wednesday night and then road to the con with me. I took Thursday off so I could get the con at a reasonable time. We left at about 8:30 AM and arrived at the con at 2:00 PM local time, the only bump in the road being heavy traffic around downtown Chicago. I spent the afternoon unpacking in the room, getting a chance to meet colifox for the first time. He's a very nice guy, and it was good to me him and his cute rat characters Rizzo and Wiggy. Thursday was low key. I said hi to a good number of people as they arrived and then met tzupand nbowaat the lobby around 7:30 PM to help them bring their stuff to the room. We then went out along with danteederwolf, kaysho, and someone I’m forgetting to what was to be my most expensive meal of the con, steaks at The Capital Grille. My steak was very good and the meal was enjoyable. Not something I’d do all the time, but it had been a while since I had a good steak. I went to sleep relatively early that night as I was worn out.
Friday, November 18
I got up in time to hit the breakfast buffet. I heard a lot of people talking about it being overpriced. These folks have obviously not travelled on business before. It’s reasonable for a high-end hotel buffet and the food selection was pretty decent. I basically just filled up on breakfast and then didn’t eat again until dinner time. After registering, I decided to make the rounds out in Winston for the first time. I picked up a hunting vest, a toy shotgun, and a toy duck before the con. skroy was also kind enough to bring a duck call to the con for me, so I went around with the duck in my muzzle, carrying the shotgun. I was basically the duck-hunt dog, even doing the snicker at people on occasion. I ran into Yippie in Twilight, and he right away did the old Bugs Bunny finger in the end of the shotgun deal. abrahmlion was also kind enough to get some shots of me outside by the tall grass. Hopefully they come out.
That night I ended up making a road trip dinner to Crisp (www.crisponline.com) with kai_darkwolf, malowolf, November, kalendil, Dakota, and one other. This is the second year in a row we’ve gone and I think it’s going to be an MFF tradition for me. Crisp has ridiculously good Korean fried chicken and it’s also right next to Bobtail Soda Fountain, where we get ice cream afterwards. The trip takes a bit due to traffic, and the place is small so seating can be a wait, but it’s worth it. After we got back, I went to Duncan & Takaza’s room to catch a bit of their reception for their 10-year anniversary and civil union. I wish I had been able to see the ceremony, but didn’t see the invite Takaza stuffed in my pocket while suiting until it was too late. It was good to see the two of them so happy and the room, of course, was filled with tasty cake and drinks. Later, a number of us; Saide, skuffcoyote, theome, codexrau, Nbowa, albaz555, dingoroo, November, and dizfoley went downstairs to play poker. It was a great time and the social aspect of it is what I like the best. We played until nearly 5 in the morning. Dingoroo and Alabazz were the big winners of the night. I was down $14 at one point, but ended up $3 at the end.
Saturday, November 19
My Saturday actually really started without Friday ending. After poker, I decided to stay up to finish some prep work I needed to do for the panel and grab breakfast when the buffet opened up. I didn’t end up actually going to sleep until 8 AM, then woke up at 11:30 to get ready for the fursuit parade. My ankle was killing me, but no way was I going to miss it. For the parade I bought a couple hundred mini bowls of Kix cereal and an equal number of Route 66 stickers. I taped the stickers to the cereal boxes and stuff them in a couple of duffle bags to hand out during the parade. raverrabbit was kind enough to lead me in the parade, playing Get Your Kicks on Route 66 (John Mayer- Cars Version) on loop, while Omegafolf helped me hand out the Kix. I’m not sure how many people got the joke, but it was fun none-the-less and I did get to hit :iconIsowolf: in the head with a box of cereal.
After the parade I showered up and got ready for my panel with Mahrkale. This was the first time I ran a panel and I was fairly nervous. The panel was Character Creation (from the perspective of a non artist) and we covered items like what to think about when creating your character and how to work with an artist. The panel went very well I think. There was lots of conversation and throwing ideas around. Mahrkale did a great job of keeping up with the craziness. I want to particularly thank luckycoyote, celestialwolfen, and JayRNaylor for coming and contributing additional input for an artist perspective. I also want to thank all my friends who attended, xzadfor, taiko_shepherd, Pawnce, Orio, buckhopper, zotcoon, and others. Oh, and I can’t forget kwik for putting together and printing the awesome character collage posters that I used. It really was a lot of fun. I learned a number of things I’d tweak the next time, and it felt good to give a little bit back to the community.
Saturday night started with pizza in Jack & Malo’s room, then down to the ballroom for colsongrainger’s concert. He and Kaz really kicked ass on stage. Colson is always hard on himself, but he really nailed several songs, and proved to be a very entertaining stage performer. You really missed out if you didn’t attend this concert. Saturday night brought more poker with many of the same folks. We didn’t go quite as late this time and I once again started down, as far as $14 down, but ended up $15 at the end. I limped back up to the room and called it a night.
Sunday and Monday, November 20th & 21st
Sunday was a bit of a disaster for me. My ankle, which had been bad all weekend was impossible to walk on Sunday. I slept in, hung in the room, then finally hobbled down to have a meal at Ram with Kwik and Kiswara. After that I basically hobbled back to the room and laid in bed with my leg elevated and iced, watching football. I wasn’t able to get back out and suit, and consequently missed :iconKodi_pup:’s panel, the games, and all the parties that evening. Rotten luck, but not really anything you can do about it. Much quieter of a Sunday than I would have like for sure.Monday morning I hit the breakfast again and said my goodbyes to folks before heading out. Teej joined me for the return trip and we made an easy time through Chicago, with no traffic problems on the return trip.
Despite my own issues, MFF was a total blast. I really wish I had been able to suit more and had been more social, but that’s certainly not the fault of the con. I really look forward to going again next year and it will be in good hands with perro taking over the reigns.