Sojourns, Cons, and Faires
Hayo!
Below are some of the places I will attend as I work as staff in some capacity at them. Others, I will list as I get dates and know I will be able to go. As I get older, it seems I go fewer places. I think tis true . . . as one ages, one is not so concerned with getting places, but getting home. I hope to add new ventures to my lists as my debts grow smaller and I am more able to go forth. I will retire from my job in a year. Leisure time should allow me to do a lot, provided I am healthy enough . . . and have enough money. . . .
Tulare Renaissance Faire, April 29-30, 2006
CaliFur, May 5-7, 2006
BayCon 2006, May 25-29, 2006
ComiCon International 2006, July 20-23, 2006
If you are a tried and true Renny, all of these Faires are worthy of your attention.Ren Faires I travel to partake Do take a look. You may find one you might wish to visit.
ConiFur 2005, a new hotel near the airport, good restaurants all around, good fellowship and a lot of fun. This is a small Anthropomorphic Convention perfect for anyone who wants to know more about "furry" but does not want the exuberance and in your face atmosphere that a big con might present. I have come to ConiFur from its very first attempt and it is one I will not miss IF I can help it. It is low key, has a relaxed atmosphere, and is run well despite problems that seem to crop up from time to time.
On my other site, you will find a set of other pages dedicated to ConiFur 2005 . . . one of the nicest Anthro Conventions I know. If you ever have the chance, GO! You will not regret it. Secondary Site I hope you enjoy my take on the conventions and the other events listed below.
Further Confusion 2006
Click on the thumbnail pictured to see a larger, clearer version.
I have attended Further Confusion since its inception. I was asked to come aboard as staff to set up and run their art show. Though I no longer run the art show, I am still a member of their staff. I enjoy working for the convention though sometimes things get snafu'ed behind the scenes and people run around like disturbed ants in an uncovered nest. My job has always been to make sure whatever department I cover is run well and that any problems get resolved quickly. This year was no exception. The events I oversaw ran well, had what they wanted up to a point and everyone was happy.
No
matter who one is, we all start here -- in registration. Without a membership
and badge, you get nothing from the con, no events, no access to any of the
various rooms of interest. EVERYONE has to have a membership and badge, even
staff and con committee to board members.
Unless
you like to walk or travel by car to find food, the Hotel Coffee Garden is the
best place to eat. Reasonable prices, breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets plus
traditional menu items can be gotten here. I ate here simply since it was good,
close, and reasonable. What more could a staffer want? Well . . . there was
staff feed, but that was . . . mostly sandwiches. I took advantage of it now
and then, but there is nothing like a traditional sit-down lunch or dinner with
friends or a good book.
Down
the hall from the Coffee Garden and registration is an area called the "Furry
Marketplace". It is an overflow from the dealer's room and an area for
artists and crafts people to display their wares, do commissions and generally
have access to the entire hotel's populace including walk-ins and other guests.
This
is home of the Internet Lounge. It is open to all who wish access to the
internet. To wit . . . a puzzle: A number of people who attend the con spend a
lot of time on-line at h ome . . . come to the con and spend all their time. . .
. You guessed it -- on-line! They never see the con. Why?
By
far, the dealer's room is the most frequented place in the entire convention.
Almost everything can be found here, from clothing to art commissions, comics,
books, videos and other wonderful stuff. It is one place where the buzz of
activity does not cease until the doors close at 6 PM each day.
I
enjoy traveling through the dealer's room to see who is there. Most of the time
I am lucky enough to run onto good friends such as Roy Pounds. He and I have
known each other since the early 90's. He is a consummate artist and story
teller. I enjoy his work and keep tabs of all his stories and comics.
The
event on "imagination" went off well hosted by Arc Nova, Ben Yackley,
and Graveyard Greg. One, a text Rp'er, the other two authors of on-line comics
and game creators. Displayed are two characters they came up on the spur of the
moment. I thought it went off well.
It
has been a tradition to have a furry comedian do stand-up at Further Confusion.
Usually it is SRO for The Ranting Griffin, but this year we had a different
furre doing stand up. I stood in for a bit, but was short on time and it was
SRO in the room where he performed. My feet were tired from being up most of
the day, so after some thirty minutes, I left to make my way to another event.
The
game room . . . some con members find their way here and never leave. We had
two rooms this year . . . a room for traditional board or table top games and a
room for electronic games.
Yes
. . . electronic games. the favorite this year was Guitar Hero and was in play
when I walked in to get a picture. Other games were available as can be seen in
the background.
Of
course . . . no Further Confusion could be complete without a Dance Dance
Revolution game and tournament.
A
convention is never a real convention without hall costumes. Further Confusion
can boast the most for any anthro convention. The fursuit parade had over 200
fursuits, including yours truly as Rennifer Rabbit. Heh! Heh! It was . . .
decidedly a lot of fun!
In the Furry Photoshoot, I ran into the Geico Gecko. This was one VERY nice
costume. I met the costumer later and complemented him on it. He used the
commercials as design templates. Nicely done!
A
very nice costume. I was not able to talk to the individual inside, but this
wolf/dragon hybrid was well put together. I am not sure it got to the
masquerade, but if it was, I hope it won something.
The
flying squirrel had a companion this time. I erroneously called it a honey
glider and was told it was something else. DRAT! At this point, I can't
remember what it was. Anyone? Help?
Ooo!
Samoyed! This REAL fursuit was beautiful. I once owned a dog like this. They
are friendly, intelligent people dogs. They are excellent with children and
long ago watched the children of the Samoyed villages while their parents worked
or hunted. Interestingly, this is one dog whose fur and body has NO dog odor.
It was literally bred out of them by the Samoyed tribes of Irkutsk and Kamchatka
Siberia. They are one breed of dog whose soft fur is collected by brushing and
woven into thread for knitting sweaters, Afghans and other knitted clothing.
I
have never seen a bloodhound represented by a fursuit. This one was well made
and looked good on its player.
This
was another nice canid. Most of the fursuits at Further Confusion were either
feline or canid. Statistically, there were many more canids than anything else
combined. Wow. . . !
In
the "Headless Lounge" for fursuiters, I ran onto a few wonderful
costumes I had to take pics of. This husky was one of the three present I had
not seen in the halls.
A
fine foxy fox. I had fun later on when the Griffin ran into him in the halls.
A bit more on that later.
The
husky and pony both were in the Headless Lounge. This was the first time I had
seen the pony anywhere at any con. It was very nicely done. I never did get
the particulars on it, though.
The
other costume in the Headless Lounge I wanted to get a pic of was this otter
made by Primal Visions. Funny . . . the person IN the suit was very much like
his character. I wish I could have gotten pics of him in the suit later on. It
was fully articulated, ears and mouth.
It
was MY turn now. I donned Legend and with my wrangler, we toured the halls.
All pictures were taken by Yao Chi who helped me during this convention.
Legend is truly a two man costume. I can get into it for the most part by
myself, but to get all the electronics plugged in correctly, that takes two.
Me and Richard
Halliday had fun together, his oriental dragon and me. We ended up posing for
a lot of pictures that afternoon.
Ahh
. . . yess . . . me and the fox. Fox is pensive . . . Griffin is hungry. Hmm .
. . is fox flesh tasty or gamey? No, the Coffee Garden is close at hand . . .
hamburger is less combative and messy.
A
trip to the dealer's room was in order to show some people there who was in the
suit. I don't think they ever thought I would do the fursuit thing. I didn't
either until it happened . . . now I have two suits with a third in the planning
stage.
As I passed by one of the tables, Mike Curtis of Shanda Fantasy Arts called me
over. He showed me a comic and story he had done in which my griffin costume
was featured. I looked at it with surprise. He gave me a complimentary copy of
the book which I now have at home in a plastic envelope to protect it. It isn't
often, a costume inspires a story.
This is a picture of the actual story with my character drawn in. Awesome! I
am humbled by this. Thank you, Mike!
Most of the fursuiters at one time or another, ended up back stage of the
masquerade for the "Furry Photo Shoot". Tugrik set up for the
professional session and shoot. I took the griffin costume in for the shoot as
well as Rennifer. That was an experience. . . . Dunno if I could be a model.
Tis hard to think of what to do.
My wrangler, Yao Chi, took this picture from behind as I spread the griffin's
wings to full in order to catch the photographers who photographed the griffin
in all his glory. 'Twas an interesting turn of the table.
The next day Rennifer walked the con. I got the idea for him from the name of
the Convention's theme: Renfurre. From there, Rennifer Rabbit was born. I like
this costume. I have lenses from a pair of old glasses in the eyes and I can
see clearly. THAT is a plus if I have to read things.
I
ran into a lot of friends. This is Greg, a young artist and designer from
Canada. We have RP'ed together in a number of games.
The best part of
walking around is the chance one runs into close friends or relatives. Meet
Quel, sister and good friend. The masquerade was about to begin. The lines had
formed. I happened to be there before I ran off to my room and flop on my bed.
All these pictures were taken by my friend and wrangler for the evening.
At the end of each day, this is how we ended up . . . flopped on our beds, out
cold in seconds. Cons are wonderful fun and filled with activities. The pace
is frenetic and wild. I recommend EVERYONE experience a con once in their
lives. Get involve, have fun. Make sure to eat and above all . . . get REST!
Further Confusion is a premier anthropomorphic convention. Despite its young age and glitches behind scenes, the staff and con-com do a good job putting it together and making it run as well as it could. It is still growing. We like that!