Wow, what a great con!

Those that know me, know how Mangusu and I met (at confuzzled last year!) so they know that CFz 12' would be a pretty hard con to beat in terms of personal epicness. I met, fell in love with and danced with a beautiful guy who had been my inspiration - not to mention got drunk 5 days in a row with so many wonderful people and played all sorts of wonderful games and saw such great performers. It was my first con.

But this years CFz 13' did just that. I did not really have a down moment all con (except briefly when a cheeky drunken mongoose made me play hide and seek for an hour XD. Where last con was so incredible for all the new people I met, this con was made great by how much better I got to know all those people I already knew. So many furries whose names I knew, who I'd spoken too once or twice, I now can call friends and give big hugs too without being shy. Big shout outs especially to Mercury and Aigus, Tech Tiger, Taya, Zak and Kiyo, Ollie, Hush, Rab, Spinky, Brix and Eossfox for being cool people I got to hang out with that I don't usually get to see. Sorry if I missed anyone out - just got home and brain has died.

Much loves too my regular crew - you know who you are!

So what did I do at the con?

Well, I injured myself, a lot. Small, seemingly insignificant injuries that put all together tried really hard to make me miserable (alcohol numbs the pain!). Let's see I was;

Bitten by a ferret (wasn't even holding him, he got me through the cage while I was filming a different one, little bastard)
Punched (accidentally) in the face by Sparxus Fox which gave me a split lip and mouth ulcer
Got my toe stood on by drunken mangusu, which split the nail and caused an infection, which I had to dig out with scissors.
Bit my lip (ouch)
Got serious chafing from suit sweat combined with er... well lets say the con food wasn't great
Oh and I walked into a few walls (wasn't even drunk)

On a slightly more productive side, I hosted my first ever panel (YAY!) which went great! I was a little nervous/unprepared but many more people showed up then I had expected and everyone contributed with questions which was great! (despite the room being so hard to find and having a terrible timeslot!!!) My deepest thanks to everyone who attended and thank you to my co-host Medosai who managed to teach me a whole bunch of stuff too!

Sunday was a busy day! Before the dance competition, Sparxus Fox, Mangusu and Dasharoo (that's me!) stole the spotlight in the rotunda to film a music video for a Scissor Sisters song. No idea what it's going to turn out like, but it was filmed by Vectorcrocodile, who was so professional and helpful and had such great gear - thank you so much! I'd recommend you to anyone who needed help filming, Mangy says so too. Vector says the vids will be out soon so watch this space!

On a downer, I had some problems with the con. They seem pointless to discuss now given that the hotel is being changed for next year but I wanted to get it off my chest. Last year the food was amazing - this year the food was bloody awful. The meat was clearly the poorest/cheapest they could find. My beef curry (which tasted awful) was more tendon then meat, and I'm not even really sure if was beef. That's just one example - really, if you ate anything but the hot chips from that buffet you were taking a risk. How did things slip so badly? Sure the staff had problems getting food out last time, but they managed ok and this buffet alternative was a MAJOR disappointment.

Lastly was the overflow hotel. The Hilton itself was great! There included breakfast was the best Ive ever had in a hotel, ever. The room was brilliant, and the staff helpful. There weren't many of us there...maybe 20 or 30? But I feel we were seriously fucked over by the con because of the shuttlebus, that was promised. Now when the overflow was announced, I'm almost certain they didn't say what times it was running, but when I complained to Rizzo, he assured me they did. He also said it was costing them thousands of pounds and I should be grateful. Well I booked my stay based on the availability of this shuttle.

Noone seemed to know when the shuttle times were. Midnight and onwards is useless. It turns out it was 12, 1230 and 1am. Now considering events finish at 2pm, that seems remarkably thick to me. Why not run it 12pm, 1am and 2am? (or better yet, 3am) Morning shuttle leaving at 10am made it difficult to attend some events. Also the shuttle bus couldn't fit us all so some people were royally screwed.

Oh, catch a cab you say? cabs were 20 to 25 pounds during the day, and we paid 35 pounds to get home at 2:30am on the Saturday. All in all, we saved nothing by doing the overflow. Also I'm not sure about this "thousands of pounds" business. If that was truly the case they could of paid individually for us all for regular cabs and saved themselves several hundred or more.

Honestly though, I got over it, because the con was so great. Because of the company of course! I think the hotel (and for various reasons not mentioned in this journal) some of the con staff (who mainly seemed to have no idea what was going on and constantly give out incorrect information) let us down when compared to last year. Still I appreciate the massive amounts of initiative, effort and contribution they give us as volunteers and thank you from the bottom of my heart for this great con! The new hotel has rendered almost all my problems moot anyway!

Moving on to a more positive note. Fureokee!!! Can't believe I missed it last year, because this year it was SO MUCH FUN. I really wish they would run this more regularly, maybe every night! Mangusu and I sang disneys "A whole new world" but got thrown off because it was the live version (with very different lyrics). I'm sure we looked adoreable though and got a big round of applause for the big kiss at the finish! Also wanna say a big embarrassed apology for Dash and Monsteroo dancing during your song (whoever you are!) we couldn't help but hog the limelight.

Ummm Dance competition this year - holy crap what happened? The talent this year was AMAZING. So greatful for the con staff for listening to feedback and having the judges and audience facing the same direction. Mangusu came second and Sparky wolf won a very deserved first place! Zak, kiyo and ollies group dance was just so incredible - they put in so much effort and it really shows. Can't wait to see them in an American con going up against the best of the best.

I think that's it! Other then that it was (obviously) Mangusu and my first year anniversary! I've never dated anyone this long and never will again because he is the one <3

Love you all fuzzies! Can't wait to see con videos and hear about whatever else you all got up too!