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Post-AC Thing
15 years ago
General
WARNING: SUPER LONG POST WITH LOTS OF NAMES
_______
So of course I went to AC.
Media also went, as a surprise for a friend. I was panicing a little beforehand because of the prospect of transporting my suit to and from the Omni each day. Thanks to him going and nice room-mates in his room, I had a place to store it and change.
Anyways, the flight up was uneventful. When I got to the Omni though,
rick2tails was not there to get us into the room even though he had promised to be there. I got in contact with him, seems his parents were getting into town late by a few days so he was driving in. So after about an hour we got into the room ok. For the most part Thursday was a rest day. Rick and I went on a Gateway Clipper Dam and Lock tour that lasted two and a half hours. I thought it was pretty awesome. I had never seen a gravity dam or traveled through a shipping lock, so it was pretty awesome. We left the dock at about 6, traveled 6 miles up the Monongahela river to the dam, went through the lock and came back. I got some awesome shots of the city heading up and back with different lighting conditions.
Friday, Saturday and Sunday went by in a blur. This was only the second con where I felt stressed/short on time. Previously I'd have down-time points where I felt depressed or bored because I had traveled so far to just stand around or wander through the con space. This time I was torn between events, busy getting into/walking around/and getting out of suit. I felt like I didn't suit enough unfortunately. The ear tags have ended now, and I didn't get one. There's some secret thing I guess you need to do to get one, or you must have needed to have one from the year before.
I went to several events and panels, including two from Jim Martin. I was shocked about his career history and his involvement on TMNT III as the animatronics operator for Leonardo. He had funny stories from his time at Seseme Street and The Great Space Coaster. He also had a performance panel, but that turned into us giving advice about suiting!
I also went to the 'imaginative realism' panel by James Gurney. Holy crap that man has talent. Each page in Dynotopia started as a 24x36 oil painting. When he does a painting he first will make a model of the scene, or get people to dress up in similar garb, or make a sculpty model of a dinasaur; then he photographs it. Using the photograph he makes either a pencil sketch or watercolor sketch of the scene and lighting. Then he throws away the photo (so he doesn't end up copying it), and paints. Up to 150 hours per painting.
For the most part it was an awesome con. On Saturday while that performance panel went on and the parade I was stuck in suit for a long time due to scheduling. Line up was at 1, the parade ended at 3ish. The performance panel was after that at 4, so there was an hour gap. The problem? 713 suiters trying to get on the elevator. So I decided to stay in suit for the panel. Jim was smart enough to have the hotel bring water so it was actually really nice. After the panel I had to run upstairs and back down before bumping into Media to get back in the room and change out of the suit. That was one of the two 'dreaded mistakes' I had at the con.
Before I get to the second mistake, the most awesome thing ever happened Saturday night. A longtime friend of mine Delphi texted me out of the blue saying "Come say hi to Luni in the zoo." Luni...Lunatic25...
thelunatic25 was at the con. This was a huge shock for many reasons. For one, I've known luni since oh....2001. He's never gone to a furry con or met other furs. On top of that he wasn't even planning to goto AC and had some money issues. Yet there he was. Delphi helped him money wise to register and all. He wasn't too far away, only a few hours by car, so he drove at like 8pm and got there right after midnight if I remember right. It was awesome finally meeting the person I've probably known the longest in the fandom.
Unfortunately, the second mistake runs into why Luni and I didn't hang out too much. Sunday was a packed schedule, and I got up late. I went to a panel immediately after getting ready, then ran to goto the fursuit dance competition, then the art auction, then ran to check if I won anything in the art show, then ran to the 2 and Kage charity performance, then the closing ceremonies. So it's roughly 6, and I slowly walk out of the closing realizing my head was feeling woozy, I felt dizzy and I was walking slower than just about everyone else. Then it finally clicked; I hadn't eaten at all up to that point.
It gets worse from there. Rick met up with
brainsister and 
pharwarner after the closing. I met up with all of them and we went to get food...at Primanti Brothers. This is like 6 blocks from the convention center. During the walk I barely talked and was trying to rush to get there. Then we finally got there, and the place was at max capacity with 2 workers. It took what felt like forever to get food. I also used the restroom and nearly passed out. Eventually I got food and we all got to talking, mainly about cartoons and some things about the US since pharwarner is an Australian. All four of us pretty much got into furry because of cartoons. It should be obvious which ones from character designs, names, art in galleries or in my case, the fact my character for the longest time was a toony blue rabbit.
Anyways, That was most of Sunday. Suited some more in Livewire and Luni got to see it,
dracoofzeradaith saw it...etc. I also danced. A fursuit with padding is not one to dance in. I lasted maybe 2 songs before needing to take a break.
I also got to meet
Daigo while there. I felt slightly bad talking to him in the artist alley. At first I didn't realize he was super busy, then he pointed out his sign about not wanting to be disturbed after talking for about 5 minutes. All is good though.
Overall it was great....cept for a third mistake. For those that haven't gone to AC, the airport is several miles from the convention center and hotels. The cheapest way to get there and back is a shuttle van service. $35 round trip, but you have to schedule the return. I told them my flight left on Monday at 3:15pm. My mistake? That time was my arrival time in Orlando. OOOOOOOPS! So there I was, picked up by the van around 12:30 with my flight at 1. Luckily Southwest Airlines put me on standby and I got on the next flight out at 4:45 no problem. I could have transfered and gotten a real ticket, but then I would have had to pay a $160 fee. The round trip together was under $300. So yeah, got back to Orlando tired as hell, then had to work till today. I might sleep in tomorrow for a loooooong time.
_______
So of course I went to AC.
Media also went, as a surprise for a friend. I was panicing a little beforehand because of the prospect of transporting my suit to and from the Omni each day. Thanks to him going and nice room-mates in his room, I had a place to store it and change.Anyways, the flight up was uneventful. When I got to the Omni though,
rick2tails was not there to get us into the room even though he had promised to be there. I got in contact with him, seems his parents were getting into town late by a few days so he was driving in. So after about an hour we got into the room ok. For the most part Thursday was a rest day. Rick and I went on a Gateway Clipper Dam and Lock tour that lasted two and a half hours. I thought it was pretty awesome. I had never seen a gravity dam or traveled through a shipping lock, so it was pretty awesome. We left the dock at about 6, traveled 6 miles up the Monongahela river to the dam, went through the lock and came back. I got some awesome shots of the city heading up and back with different lighting conditions.Friday, Saturday and Sunday went by in a blur. This was only the second con where I felt stressed/short on time. Previously I'd have down-time points where I felt depressed or bored because I had traveled so far to just stand around or wander through the con space. This time I was torn between events, busy getting into/walking around/and getting out of suit. I felt like I didn't suit enough unfortunately. The ear tags have ended now, and I didn't get one. There's some secret thing I guess you need to do to get one, or you must have needed to have one from the year before.
I went to several events and panels, including two from Jim Martin. I was shocked about his career history and his involvement on TMNT III as the animatronics operator for Leonardo. He had funny stories from his time at Seseme Street and The Great Space Coaster. He also had a performance panel, but that turned into us giving advice about suiting!
I also went to the 'imaginative realism' panel by James Gurney. Holy crap that man has talent. Each page in Dynotopia started as a 24x36 oil painting. When he does a painting he first will make a model of the scene, or get people to dress up in similar garb, or make a sculpty model of a dinasaur; then he photographs it. Using the photograph he makes either a pencil sketch or watercolor sketch of the scene and lighting. Then he throws away the photo (so he doesn't end up copying it), and paints. Up to 150 hours per painting.
For the most part it was an awesome con. On Saturday while that performance panel went on and the parade I was stuck in suit for a long time due to scheduling. Line up was at 1, the parade ended at 3ish. The performance panel was after that at 4, so there was an hour gap. The problem? 713 suiters trying to get on the elevator. So I decided to stay in suit for the panel. Jim was smart enough to have the hotel bring water so it was actually really nice. After the panel I had to run upstairs and back down before bumping into
Media to get back in the room and change out of the suit. That was one of the two 'dreaded mistakes' I had at the con.Before I get to the second mistake, the most awesome thing ever happened Saturday night. A longtime friend of mine Delphi texted me out of the blue saying "Come say hi to Luni in the zoo." Luni...Lunatic25...
thelunatic25 was at the con. This was a huge shock for many reasons. For one, I've known luni since oh....2001. He's never gone to a furry con or met other furs. On top of that he wasn't even planning to goto AC and had some money issues. Yet there he was. Delphi helped him money wise to register and all. He wasn't too far away, only a few hours by car, so he drove at like 8pm and got there right after midnight if I remember right. It was awesome finally meeting the person I've probably known the longest in the fandom.Unfortunately, the second mistake runs into why Luni and I didn't hang out too much. Sunday was a packed schedule, and I got up late. I went to a panel immediately after getting ready, then ran to goto the fursuit dance competition, then the art auction, then ran to check if I won anything in the art show, then ran to the 2 and Kage charity performance, then the closing ceremonies. So it's roughly 6, and I slowly walk out of the closing realizing my head was feeling woozy, I felt dizzy and I was walking slower than just about everyone else. Then it finally clicked; I hadn't eaten at all up to that point.
It gets worse from there. Rick met up with
brainsister and 
pharwarner after the closing. I met up with all of them and we went to get food...at Primanti Brothers. This is like 6 blocks from the convention center. During the walk I barely talked and was trying to rush to get there. Then we finally got there, and the place was at max capacity with 2 workers. It took what felt like forever to get food. I also used the restroom and nearly passed out. Eventually I got food and we all got to talking, mainly about cartoons and some things about the US since pharwarner is an Australian. All four of us pretty much got into furry because of cartoons. It should be obvious which ones from character designs, names, art in galleries or in my case, the fact my character for the longest time was a toony blue rabbit.Anyways, That was most of Sunday. Suited some more in Livewire and Luni got to see it,
dracoofzeradaith saw it...etc. I also danced. A fursuit with padding is not one to dance in. I lasted maybe 2 songs before needing to take a break.I also got to meet
Daigo while there. I felt slightly bad talking to him in the artist alley. At first I didn't realize he was super busy, then he pointed out his sign about not wanting to be disturbed after talking for about 5 minutes. All is good though.Overall it was great....cept for a third mistake. For those that haven't gone to AC, the airport is several miles from the convention center and hotels. The cheapest way to get there and back is a shuttle van service. $35 round trip, but you have to schedule the return. I told them my flight left on Monday at 3:15pm. My mistake? That time was my arrival time in Orlando. OOOOOOOPS! So there I was, picked up by the van around 12:30 with my flight at 1. Luckily Southwest Airlines put me on standby and I got on the next flight out at 4:45 no problem. I could have transfered and gotten a real ticket, but then I would have had to pay a $160 fee. The round trip together was under $300. So yeah, got back to Orlando tired as hell, then had to work till today. I might sleep in tomorrow for a loooooong time.
God, it was awesome to be there and finally meet some of you guys! and love LiveWire. :D