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AC 2011 Extended Con Report
14 years ago
OH MY GOD WORDS SO MANY OF THEM
So. Anthrocon 2011. What is there to say about this con? The better question to ask is what is there NOT to say about this con?! It's a rather big understatement to say I had a good weekend. A weekend filled with friends, music, food, more music, and furry craziness. While I write this on the flight from Philadelphia back to my lovely hometown of Los Angeles, much of the con seems like a rapid blur, as I can't possibly list every single thing I did during the weekend. Still, I'm going off of my Twitter feed ( Veyote ) to remind myself what happened, as there are indeed some highlights. :D
Thursday, June 23, 2011.
My flight trajectory going to Anthrocon 2011 was LA to Phoenix, and from there to Pittsburgh. Mostly easy flights, nothing too hard. I grabbed a cab outside the Pittsburgh airport; the cab driver obviously knew I was going to AC after I told him I was heading to the DLCC (David Lawrence Convention Center, where the con was taking place) - he said, "You're here for the furries?" I had never really been addressed as a furry from someone I hadn't known, so it was a bit interesting and a little awkward, but the guy was super friendly, and drove me over to the Marriott hotel where I would be staying. After a painful ordeal of accidentally leaving my phone in the cab and waiting for the cab driver to kindly circle around and return it, I finally ran into my roomies: Proto and his girlfriend for life Tanya, whom I hadn't seen in almost 2 months, and also Tanya's sister Tiffany, whom I hadn't met before. Really a crazy awesome bunch of people to room with, to be honest. :D
We headed over to the DLCC to meet up with Draconum, Oddy, Lycwolf and Firr, getting ready for the Thursday night dance to kick off the dance properly. Rei was there as well and handed me my derpy derp badge with "THIS SOUNDS LIKE MUSIC" plastered on the front. Rei's really good at those huge badges. xD The DJs that night included DJ Dragonboy, Recca and Draconum, the latter of which played on his new CDJs, and had a blast. At some point during the night, I ran into Drenthe ( itsdrenthe on Twitter) and we had a fantastic chat before heading off to bed. I had only been at the con for less than 12 hours, and little did I know that it was only the beginning. :D
Friday, June 24, 2011.
For some reason or another, I happened to wake up at the same hour as I would have in LA, regardless of the time change. Couldn't complain though! Had a cheesesteak lunch with the three roomies and then headed back to the con. I nabbed my registration badge (pre-reg, which only took a couple minutes) and waited around for the Dealers Den to open. I met a couple Twitter friends waiting around, and finally the den opened at noon. Normally I wouldn't have gone in but my friend Trivol who wasn't at the con wanted me to pick up some things for him. So I nabbed him a copy of Nordguard - Book 1 and got the author to sign it out for him. I also picked up a badge for him. Normally I wouldn't have stuck around for too long, but then I found my friend Laharl wandering around the den, and we strolled around trying to find one of his friends. When he did, his friend nudged me into buying a couple beanie babies, so I did. One thing led to another, and Laharl and I were off to look for tails. I came up to a table, asked if they had anything in the same colors as Vey (naturally of course). She pulled one off the rack, and it was literally perfect, down to the markings and colors. And then, as if it couldn't get any more amazing, she added: "Oh, by the way…" and squeezed the end of it and I heard a squeak. Laharl said the reaction on my face was priceless. XD After a minute of going over it in my head, I decided I'd buy it and wear it around. I rarely took it off the entire weekend. <3
Still with Laharl, we decided to go to the MLP panel, but I couldn't stay more than 10 minutes without getting pony overloaded. I couldn't take it anymore. XD I said bye to Laharl and visited the ballroom again where Oddy and friends were hanging and doing sound for the events. At some point I headed back to the room where Proto and I started getting ready for the dance later that night, going through music and what not. I had a quick dinner with Paradox and Darkcon, and time flew by and soon the dances were up and running. Firr was first up, and he completely killed it, dancing and jumping around onstage like the maniacal bastard that he is. <3 Proto was on right after, and he rocked the stage as well. Then it was my turn up on the stage, and forgetting about a couple minor technical issues, I think the set went over AMAZINGLY. Everyone was so into it, some dancing on the stage like mad… it was a euphoric experience after the fact. Genki closed out the night after me, and it was an honor to meet him too. He's probably one of the nicest and friendliest human beings on Earth, and we seriously need more people in the world like him. :) I ended the night hanging out with my roomies Proto, Tanya and Tiff, along with Mr and Mrs Skyote and OrigamiGryphon and had some lime infused drinks of win. I don't drink alcohol, so I had a limeade. XD Afterwards we crashed back at the Marriott, ready for Saturday.
Saturday, June 25, 2011.
I woke up still feeling really euphoric about the night before,
Then it was time. Draconum and I headed up to Firr's room to suit for the first time ever! The original plan was to use Boom, an awesome pink and purple otter suit, but Rei had worn him all through the fursuit parade and he was all sweaty, so I didn't think that was the best idea. XD Still, I jumped around in Caiden, an adorable spotted kitty partial! Although I'm crazy tall and skinny, so it was as if the character suddenly got really tall and skinny, which was a bit hysterical. Still, it was a really amazing experience! I was being called Firr every so often, although I didn't try and break character and still waved back. :D I wasn't able to find the Space museum where a bunch of my friends in suit were located, but I still had fun pouncing around the convention spaces and giving hugs to kids and all the usual things you're supposed to do in a suit. :D
Afterwards, I found Firr and got out of Caiden and put on my yote tail again. <3 I spent a bunch of time with Paradox at Fernando's (a cool sub shop that loves us furries when AC's in town). After that was the masquerade, a whole bunch of furries getting together on stage and doing skits. My personal favorite was Bucker Fuskyote's troll-worthy guitar and singing awesomeness. Later on I lost interest and headed to the hotel bar to meet up with Kinney, a fellow yote who's incredibly friendly and easy to talk to. After chatting for a bit I headed back up to the dance where Oddy would soon kill it. To my surprise Jeef, whom I met at a couple other conventions was there to see Oddy's set, so I was able to catch up briefly with him.
And then Oddy's set happened.
I would probably go gay for it. Yup. Never in my life have I heard an electro house set that flowed and crossed all borders like Oddy's set from Saturday night. He straight up MURDERED everything and everything in sight. To my knowledge he didn't record it (EPIC SAD YOTE FACE) but to be honest, listening to it again wouldn't do it justice. Just being there live for it is what really made it bloody insane.
Anyway. After that set came Big Blue Fox and Cheetah.de's sets, but we left soon after Oddy's to go get drinks. First we tried the hotel bar, which wasn't very successful since everyone seemed to hate our waitress. That didn't stop me and Drac from busting some sick beats in the restaurant, though… ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4f2lRM6Kss - After leaving we decided to just hit up Subway, as it was the only thing open at the time. Soon afterward I think we all headed to bed in prep for the last day of the con.
Sunday, June 26, 2011.
Sunday started off pretty easy going. I met up with Bucker Fuskyote, whom I had wanted to meet for a couple months but never got the chance to - him and a bunch of his friends met me at Fernando's and we chatted up a bit before heading back to the DLCC. I spent a bunch of time there browsing the Dealers Den, poking my head into the ballroom, and seeing what was up. Met a couple other really nice folk such as DeynaOtter in the board game room, and Sol was there too. <3
Later on, closing ceremonies happened, and soon afterward Drac, Oddy, Dragonboy, Eenyu, Midway, Proto, Tanya, Lycwolf and even Bucktown Tiger tagged along for one of the best dinners I've ever had. They basically brought out upwards of around six or seven different plates (or courses) with wine pairings and everything, and our server went into extreme detail about where they got the food that we'd be sampling, and it just kinda went on and on and it was lovely. I'll have to sprinkle Attic Dust on everything I eat now. (inside joke by now, I suppose). Dragonboy, out of the goodness of his own heart, picked up the tab for all 12 of us that night, and it was probably one of the most kind acts of generosity I've seen in a long time. <3
Lastly, the dead dog. I came into the room not knowing what to expect, and it was a little hectic. Rory (the DJ organizing everything together) had a bunch of things under control, but the lineup was confusing, plus we didn't know what time we would stop, etc. I tried helping out a little, and by midnight we had a firm order of who'd be playing when. I rocked a vs. set with Oddy, which was crazy fun, and Genki played out the night as well. It was a more intimate dance, definitely, but I was really glad I went and friendships were only proven stronger. After the dead dog, i said goodbye to a couple faces and headed out to sleep for the last time in Pittsburgh.
Monday, June 27, 2011.
Oh Monday. The last day of the con. Everything in the ballroom had been packed up and ready to be loaded up in a truck and driven back to where it had come from. People were saying their good byes in the lobby and giving out contact information to stay in touch… it's a very saddening day, but it's never a final goodbye. I finished packing and Proto, Tanya and Tiff headed back to the bagel place for a quick brunch. Oddy texted me saying he could use help loading the truck, and I obliged. But Proto was headed in another direction. So we said our usual goodbyes. I always have so much fun hanging out with him in person, and since he's so close by when I'm in school, it's never really heartbreaking. :D After grabbing my bags and what not, I said bye to Tanya and Tiff and headed over to help Oddy load the truck. After it was done, I said my goodbyes to everyone I could find in the lobby, including Zentra, Deca, Mozee, Firr, and eventually Oddy, Lyc, Midway, Eenyu and Drac. It's always a bit tricky with goodbyes but I managed.
Turned out that Bucker Fuskyote was on the same two flights as me back to LA, so we headed to the airport together. I even ran into Drenthe again there, so it was good seeing him for a final time before he took off. :3 Airportcon commenced for a little bit in the US Airways hub for a bit. I talked to a really nice guy there about different music and other social stuff before me and Bucker headed off to Philly, and then from Philly to LA. Bucker's parents kindly drove me home and that leaves me where I am now, done with Anthrocon 2011 and eagerly awaiting the next time I get to see you guys. :D
- - -
Honestly, cons for me are a very social thing. I love nothing more than hanging out with everyone, regardless of where you're from or who you are or whether I know you from before, or if I've only seen you on Twitter.
Draconum, Oddy, Dragonboy, Rok, Mintz, Kat, Firr, Proto, Tanya, Tiffany, Laharl, Rebel Nightwolf, Gir, Bard, Moots, Zentra, Fizz, Bucker, Lyc, Bucktown, Drenthe Railrunner, Eenyu, Midway, Sol, Genki, Rory, Ironheart, Recca, Deyna, Paradox, Shroud, Deca, Mozee, Rei, Kinney, Tomo…
You guys are truly the best, and I could NEVER, not once, ask for better friends than the ones I have today. <3
Yes, I'm tearing up as I right this. I'm not ashamed to admit it. :)
I'll see you guys when I see you, and hopefully the ones that are close by, real soon! <3 <3 <3
Dan
So. Anthrocon 2011. What is there to say about this con? The better question to ask is what is there NOT to say about this con?! It's a rather big understatement to say I had a good weekend. A weekend filled with friends, music, food, more music, and furry craziness. While I write this on the flight from Philadelphia back to my lovely hometown of Los Angeles, much of the con seems like a rapid blur, as I can't possibly list every single thing I did during the weekend. Still, I'm going off of my Twitter feed ( Veyote ) to remind myself what happened, as there are indeed some highlights. :D
Thursday, June 23, 2011.
My flight trajectory going to Anthrocon 2011 was LA to Phoenix, and from there to Pittsburgh. Mostly easy flights, nothing too hard. I grabbed a cab outside the Pittsburgh airport; the cab driver obviously knew I was going to AC after I told him I was heading to the DLCC (David Lawrence Convention Center, where the con was taking place) - he said, "You're here for the furries?" I had never really been addressed as a furry from someone I hadn't known, so it was a bit interesting and a little awkward, but the guy was super friendly, and drove me over to the Marriott hotel where I would be staying. After a painful ordeal of accidentally leaving my phone in the cab and waiting for the cab driver to kindly circle around and return it, I finally ran into my roomies: Proto and his girlfriend for life Tanya, whom I hadn't seen in almost 2 months, and also Tanya's sister Tiffany, whom I hadn't met before. Really a crazy awesome bunch of people to room with, to be honest. :D
We headed over to the DLCC to meet up with Draconum, Oddy, Lycwolf and Firr, getting ready for the Thursday night dance to kick off the dance properly. Rei was there as well and handed me my derpy derp badge with "THIS SOUNDS LIKE MUSIC" plastered on the front. Rei's really good at those huge badges. xD The DJs that night included DJ Dragonboy, Recca and Draconum, the latter of which played on his new CDJs, and had a blast. At some point during the night, I ran into Drenthe ( itsdrenthe on Twitter) and we had a fantastic chat before heading off to bed. I had only been at the con for less than 12 hours, and little did I know that it was only the beginning. :D
Friday, June 24, 2011.
For some reason or another, I happened to wake up at the same hour as I would have in LA, regardless of the time change. Couldn't complain though! Had a cheesesteak lunch with the three roomies and then headed back to the con. I nabbed my registration badge (pre-reg, which only took a couple minutes) and waited around for the Dealers Den to open. I met a couple Twitter friends waiting around, and finally the den opened at noon. Normally I wouldn't have gone in but my friend Trivol who wasn't at the con wanted me to pick up some things for him. So I nabbed him a copy of Nordguard - Book 1 and got the author to sign it out for him. I also picked up a badge for him. Normally I wouldn't have stuck around for too long, but then I found my friend Laharl wandering around the den, and we strolled around trying to find one of his friends. When he did, his friend nudged me into buying a couple beanie babies, so I did. One thing led to another, and Laharl and I were off to look for tails. I came up to a table, asked if they had anything in the same colors as Vey (naturally of course). She pulled one off the rack, and it was literally perfect, down to the markings and colors. And then, as if it couldn't get any more amazing, she added: "Oh, by the way…" and squeezed the end of it and I heard a squeak. Laharl said the reaction on my face was priceless. XD After a minute of going over it in my head, I decided I'd buy it and wear it around. I rarely took it off the entire weekend. <3
Still with Laharl, we decided to go to the MLP panel, but I couldn't stay more than 10 minutes without getting pony overloaded. I couldn't take it anymore. XD I said bye to Laharl and visited the ballroom again where Oddy and friends were hanging and doing sound for the events. At some point I headed back to the room where Proto and I started getting ready for the dance later that night, going through music and what not. I had a quick dinner with Paradox and Darkcon, and time flew by and soon the dances were up and running. Firr was first up, and he completely killed it, dancing and jumping around onstage like the maniacal bastard that he is. <3 Proto was on right after, and he rocked the stage as well. Then it was my turn up on the stage, and forgetting about a couple minor technical issues, I think the set went over AMAZINGLY. Everyone was so into it, some dancing on the stage like mad… it was a euphoric experience after the fact. Genki closed out the night after me, and it was an honor to meet him too. He's probably one of the nicest and friendliest human beings on Earth, and we seriously need more people in the world like him. :) I ended the night hanging out with my roomies Proto, Tanya and Tiff, along with Mr and Mrs Skyote and OrigamiGryphon and had some lime infused drinks of win. I don't drink alcohol, so I had a limeade. XD Afterwards we crashed back at the Marriott, ready for Saturday.
Saturday, June 25, 2011.
I woke up still feeling really euphoric about the night before,
Then it was time. Draconum and I headed up to Firr's room to suit for the first time ever! The original plan was to use Boom, an awesome pink and purple otter suit, but Rei had worn him all through the fursuit parade and he was all sweaty, so I didn't think that was the best idea. XD Still, I jumped around in Caiden, an adorable spotted kitty partial! Although I'm crazy tall and skinny, so it was as if the character suddenly got really tall and skinny, which was a bit hysterical. Still, it was a really amazing experience! I was being called Firr every so often, although I didn't try and break character and still waved back. :D I wasn't able to find the Space museum where a bunch of my friends in suit were located, but I still had fun pouncing around the convention spaces and giving hugs to kids and all the usual things you're supposed to do in a suit. :D
Afterwards, I found Firr and got out of Caiden and put on my yote tail again. <3 I spent a bunch of time with Paradox at Fernando's (a cool sub shop that loves us furries when AC's in town). After that was the masquerade, a whole bunch of furries getting together on stage and doing skits. My personal favorite was Bucker Fuskyote's troll-worthy guitar and singing awesomeness. Later on I lost interest and headed to the hotel bar to meet up with Kinney, a fellow yote who's incredibly friendly and easy to talk to. After chatting for a bit I headed back up to the dance where Oddy would soon kill it. To my surprise Jeef, whom I met at a couple other conventions was there to see Oddy's set, so I was able to catch up briefly with him.
And then Oddy's set happened.
I would probably go gay for it. Yup. Never in my life have I heard an electro house set that flowed and crossed all borders like Oddy's set from Saturday night. He straight up MURDERED everything and everything in sight. To my knowledge he didn't record it (EPIC SAD YOTE FACE) but to be honest, listening to it again wouldn't do it justice. Just being there live for it is what really made it bloody insane.
Anyway. After that set came Big Blue Fox and Cheetah.de's sets, but we left soon after Oddy's to go get drinks. First we tried the hotel bar, which wasn't very successful since everyone seemed to hate our waitress. That didn't stop me and Drac from busting some sick beats in the restaurant, though… ;) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4f2lRM6Kss - After leaving we decided to just hit up Subway, as it was the only thing open at the time. Soon afterward I think we all headed to bed in prep for the last day of the con.
Sunday, June 26, 2011.
Sunday started off pretty easy going. I met up with Bucker Fuskyote, whom I had wanted to meet for a couple months but never got the chance to - him and a bunch of his friends met me at Fernando's and we chatted up a bit before heading back to the DLCC. I spent a bunch of time there browsing the Dealers Den, poking my head into the ballroom, and seeing what was up. Met a couple other really nice folk such as DeynaOtter in the board game room, and Sol was there too. <3
Later on, closing ceremonies happened, and soon afterward Drac, Oddy, Dragonboy, Eenyu, Midway, Proto, Tanya, Lycwolf and even Bucktown Tiger tagged along for one of the best dinners I've ever had. They basically brought out upwards of around six or seven different plates (or courses) with wine pairings and everything, and our server went into extreme detail about where they got the food that we'd be sampling, and it just kinda went on and on and it was lovely. I'll have to sprinkle Attic Dust on everything I eat now. (inside joke by now, I suppose). Dragonboy, out of the goodness of his own heart, picked up the tab for all 12 of us that night, and it was probably one of the most kind acts of generosity I've seen in a long time. <3
Lastly, the dead dog. I came into the room not knowing what to expect, and it was a little hectic. Rory (the DJ organizing everything together) had a bunch of things under control, but the lineup was confusing, plus we didn't know what time we would stop, etc. I tried helping out a little, and by midnight we had a firm order of who'd be playing when. I rocked a vs. set with Oddy, which was crazy fun, and Genki played out the night as well. It was a more intimate dance, definitely, but I was really glad I went and friendships were only proven stronger. After the dead dog, i said goodbye to a couple faces and headed out to sleep for the last time in Pittsburgh.
Monday, June 27, 2011.
Oh Monday. The last day of the con. Everything in the ballroom had been packed up and ready to be loaded up in a truck and driven back to where it had come from. People were saying their good byes in the lobby and giving out contact information to stay in touch… it's a very saddening day, but it's never a final goodbye. I finished packing and Proto, Tanya and Tiff headed back to the bagel place for a quick brunch. Oddy texted me saying he could use help loading the truck, and I obliged. But Proto was headed in another direction. So we said our usual goodbyes. I always have so much fun hanging out with him in person, and since he's so close by when I'm in school, it's never really heartbreaking. :D After grabbing my bags and what not, I said bye to Tanya and Tiff and headed over to help Oddy load the truck. After it was done, I said my goodbyes to everyone I could find in the lobby, including Zentra, Deca, Mozee, Firr, and eventually Oddy, Lyc, Midway, Eenyu and Drac. It's always a bit tricky with goodbyes but I managed.
Turned out that Bucker Fuskyote was on the same two flights as me back to LA, so we headed to the airport together. I even ran into Drenthe again there, so it was good seeing him for a final time before he took off. :3 Airportcon commenced for a little bit in the US Airways hub for a bit. I talked to a really nice guy there about different music and other social stuff before me and Bucker headed off to Philly, and then from Philly to LA. Bucker's parents kindly drove me home and that leaves me where I am now, done with Anthrocon 2011 and eagerly awaiting the next time I get to see you guys. :D
- - -
Honestly, cons for me are a very social thing. I love nothing more than hanging out with everyone, regardless of where you're from or who you are or whether I know you from before, or if I've only seen you on Twitter.
Draconum, Oddy, Dragonboy, Rok, Mintz, Kat, Firr, Proto, Tanya, Tiffany, Laharl, Rebel Nightwolf, Gir, Bard, Moots, Zentra, Fizz, Bucker, Lyc, Bucktown, Drenthe Railrunner, Eenyu, Midway, Sol, Genki, Rory, Ironheart, Recca, Deyna, Paradox, Shroud, Deca, Mozee, Rei, Kinney, Tomo…
You guys are truly the best, and I could NEVER, not once, ask for better friends than the ones I have today. <3
Yes, I'm tearing up as I right this. I'm not ashamed to admit it. :)
I'll see you guys when I see you, and hopefully the ones that are close by, real soon! <3 <3 <3
Dan
http://soundcloud.com/danveytia/pittsburgh-2011
Hopefully when next year comes around I will try and spot you.