Beary Christmas to one and all. May you get the holiday you deserve, the love you need, and the wisdom to put up with humanity.

Gaia Bless to everyone
Pakesh_De
Snoofy old burr

Just seeing how many still bother to read or poke around now that bear has retired from running furcons and most likely will be lucky if he attends FE and WTF in the future. Kind of amusing to see folks on all the other sites I hang and chat at seem to be pretty silent now.

Hoping that lurkers are doing well and no hard feelings if you have decided to move on from talking to me. Kind of expected a lot of folks to quietly *go dark* once I stepped down. Just be well, and hope you had fun while you stayed around :)

Gaia bless
Pakesh_De
Snoofy old Burr

I have to boggle at the growing hate for *those folks* from places like *Fawx news* to the average politician. gay/str8/lesbian/whatever still bleed the same, we die the same, and we pay the same taxes you bums..so why go bonkers if we want to get married?. Seriously makes me get angry at this silly phobia much less the harping that they get all these supposedly cool perks.

gay and others get special perks?. Gosh can I sigh up for some? All I get is pay taxes and be lied too 24-7 by thugs in suits claiming they know what we should know, and will make all those pesky choices for us if we just vote them in. And if we do not, then they will shut down the government, picket, and act like ranting 5 year olds. Did they not get the news flash the 21st century called? Poor poor haters really make me wonder if they even beleive the hate they spew anymore or just do it to get the attention they badly crave.

I am gay. I am str8. I am a walrus goo goo ga joob! Does not matter what I am but good greif if this is the state of the so called leaders and informed media I would rather be a queer polar bear living a zoo and living off slow tourists and the free coke cola tossed in the enclosure :). Because these folks are dead serious about forcing things to shut down again! to prove a point.

Gaia bless
pakesh_De
Worried Programming bear for Furnal Equinox

Ps to all my american friends that are looking at the shutdown upcoming, my sympathies and burr hugs.

Ahh yes retirement, sadly not from any paying work but from running a convention for 5 long years. It was past time for me to step down and let the newer more energetic folks step up to show what they can do while I can hope that all will go well.

Feels weird waking up to realize how old I have become when I consider what is new and hot in the fandom vs when I was first a wet behind the ears con attendee, then con lackey, then up the ranks to actually run a furcon. Man what a strange and freaky trip that has been with lots of friends made, folks seen and met, weird and wonderful tales, and not a few tragic incidents that we all will acquire when we get up in the years. One can hope that now in my *dotage* I can find something else to do or maybe even get a paying job :).

Please bear with the transition from me and Blindsight to Scani for the new chairspot and support the convention. I know it is always troubling when the old guard steps down but age, injuries, burnout, and lack of time all played a part, and I wish nothing but the best for those now holding the funball of running the convention.

Gaia bless everyone and i hope you will still keep in touch
Pakesh_De
Retired chaircritter for Furnal Equinox

Yes I know a hot topic but let us look at things for a moment.

Dragoneer would be tossed under a bus even if he elected the pope to be a site admin the way folks are ranting for his and the other folks heads on a pike. The fact I have seen the *ahem* nonsense of the site should be taken forcefully from him and run by *right and proper folks* is just stupid. Those pesky rights always seem to be tossed under the bus anytime WE want something to happen, and currently more then a few folks are acting like it's perfectly fine to take the site for *protection till better folks come along*. Good luck with that as I seem to recall its a free site and run as a volunteer organization by a few folks who currently are getting raged at over the new current issue. Nice folks, encourage those folks to want to help at anything fandom again right?. Of course if we drive them off I am sure most of those ranting the loudest will take over and do all that hard work for free right?.

As for the *ahem* Zaush issue I have to say that while it is still being resolved?. or so I have been lead to understand via the courts?. I just think that we can stop roadkilling the poor guy for a few minutes and post facts not the ragehates I am seeing all about. I have NO idea what happened nor where/when/how and I suspect many are going by the fan gossip rather then facts which is only adding more gas to the depot fire we have going on. I can but hope that someday whatever happened can be resolved by legal means rather then us as a fandom ripping a new can of whooparse on him. Yes what happened was terrible and should not have happened..but the trouble is all I keep hearing and seeing is * I heard, I was told, I saw a post* sort of comments on it. I apologize if this is bad to even talk about but yes sadly bad things DO happen in the fandom, and no fandom is immune.

And to think most of this started even before the *Zaush issue* was mentioned because it was a proposal bu the site for a overhaul that got folks in a uproar based on earlier *broken promises*. yeah i know it sucks when you have to break a word, or worse abandon work because of issues, but can we stop raging to cause harm to the staff, steal the site, staple Zaush to a tree, etc?. Come on folks we all want and most cases demand to be treated fairly, but atm many folks are acting like the mob scene from a bad horror movie.

Gaia Bless to all my friends
Pakesh_De
Chaircritter for Furnal Equinox

2013 has come and gone and with it a little more sanity, but a little more wisdom so it all evens out or so I hope.

Sadly a few more furs have me on the naughty list for being a chaircritter. Seems just saying no or turning down demands leads to lifelong hates and behind the back mutterings which really sucks. I can fully appreciate the hell folks like Belic and GirTygrin have gone through when they had to close shop. Got to say it is never easy running a convention and some of the venom folks unleashed was stunning to behold much less the rather stupid comments of *oh i can do better/oh if they had given it to me to run* nonsense. Never underestimate the power of hate it seems, but thankfully a lot of folks are still helping out so one can hope new cons rise from the ashes.

Health stayed generally the same, a few incidents but nothing major thank goodness so I can hope 2014 will be just as good. need to work out some as I have put on a few pounds and Shane is a nag so I will hope to start hitting the little gym at the apartment. Slow and steady and shed that freshmen 15 I hope is my resolution. Got new glasses and that is a big help for my growing vision issues but age always gets it's due.

Friends are in semi decent shape now that the one is out of hospital and recovering from heart attack. Stress, age, poor eating, and divorce makes for a hell of a mess to live through and it all caught up to him. Hope to make it to a few more game cons with him and other old friends that have grown distant over time, and space. Sadly I am never been a good furson to keep and manage friendships, and con work just seems to make me a few new enemies rather then friends but if i wanted to be a popufur I sure would be doing things different. I can just hope with time folks will understand why things happened and strengthen my bond with my nearby friends.

Hope folks will enjoy this years Furnal Equinox and help support local furcons. remember folks we got all of 8 of them so support them as best you can. Losing 2 big and good! American cons was bad enough. Well wishes to Belic and Gir and a open invite to talk shop anytime ;).

Gaia bless one and all
Pakesh_De
Chaircritter for Furnal Equinox

yes I have heard and seen and commented on the news that a rather good con has shut its doors in the face of whatever issues it was facing. A good con sooner or later has to pick and choose how or where it will end and no matter WHY it closed at least went out with class and not a month before the con due to politics/money/dead hotel or other things that would have tarnished its memory.

Now I am hearing Gir supposedly refused to turn it over to others either because he saw it as *his con* or the supposed others had no real plan to run it aside from *well it don't look that hard* sort of comments I hear and see posted over the demise. A con is run for FREE folks so if Gir and folks after 6 long hard years wanted to shut the doors then they can and have done so. The LEAST we as a fandom can do is have some sympathy and respect for them for giving us all those fun times.

Con's costs a ton of money, time, and work, and no matter how many folks say they could have helped if asked or other promises we know many folks when put under the workload with no pay at all they would flee as fast as they could. To be brutally frank it is a thankless job and not many folks have the time or coin to start one up much less fund/run/etc all the demands a convention of its size would ask for.

I also want to shake my head at a few folks when they claim that they could have done better/faster/cheaper then what Gir and friends did with the con. If you got those skills/cash/manpower now is a excellent time to *nut up or shut up* as Zombieland put it. Attacks and worse on the work FCN did for us is just a sad example of folks who want the good times to never stop but rarely put any effort into helping them happen.

I expect of course a few nasty comments and personal attacks for saying this but it has to be said.. this is a hell of a job we have folks so at least give those guys the rest and respect they have earned. Hyping other cons or acting like this was a slap in the face is just petty. You do not work for free so why expect others to do the work for you for a unlimited amount of time?.

Gaia bless and hope folks understand why this message had to be said
Pakesh_De
ChairCritter for Furnal Equinox

Why is it no matter what choices I make as a Chaircritter someone somehow gets hurt?. I can only do so much and I apologize for not being as good as folks would like me to be, and heaven knows I would love to be that perfect but sadly, I am just me. And yes i know I am making enemies by doing what I can, and that is not what I am here for, but no matter what seems I always rub someones rubarb wrong. I wish I knew what the supposed perks were of the job cause it really is costing me a few folks.

Why has MLP become the hotness of the fandom atm?. Its even stronger then Turtle Power and yes I am THAT old to be a teen when that was the hotness ;). Or is it something in the darker times something this innocent, cute, and carefree seems to be what the fandom has been hunting for a while?. I still miss turtle power and always had a crush on Splinter as the wise yet handsome leader of a real odd quartet of mutants. maybe if the turtles has 20% more cuter?.

Have fursuits become TOO complex?. I am seeing and hearing more tales of lighting, chiller packs, animatronic tails and ears, chillerpacks, fans, etc etc. Its rewarding to see more folks with the cash for this stuff but like a car is there a limit to how far one should *bling* your suit?. Are we spending more time and effort on a boss suit yet neglect the fact if you can not act, or develop a personality with it, it sadly stays just a costume. I see lots of nice suits coming out though and I hope it continues.

Computer gaming seems to be closing upon its end for good home computer games. Check how hard finding any decent computer games at EB lately?. Or see the flood of free to play but PAY to unlock anything useful games?. I just hope its a dry spell but seeing how tiny the game spots are in the stores but the loads of gamebox type games, or the rise in phone games, makes me worry for a dwindling gameshare. I will not even comment on the rise of *rent to own* games where all you get is a digital copy with a very limited restore function in case you get any issues with the game or your computer which sells more digital copies.

Just the ramblings of a greymuzzle so take it for what its worth, and as always feedback is appreciated

Gaia bless
Pakesh_De
Tired but working ChairCritter for Furnal Equinox

Now I know this is going to have folks poking at me but I think it needs to be said so here goes.

If you are having troubles at conventions and the con either can not fix the issue, or worse, you helped make the issue worse, is it fair to then post all over the place bashing the con about it?.

I have been seeing more posts here and there bashing cons for growing too big, having too high a fee for entry/art show/dealer table/etc, even down to folks wanting them to hire *real guards* for security that will treat the fandom better.

If the con is growing too big and having problems then the con needs to get more folks to help, but since we do not pay anyone or get a payment our-self for our work finding folks willing to even volunteer is getting harder even with better perks for those who do. Finding folks willing to RUN one?. That is a royal pain and yet the small number of fans that comment seem to think we can just find staff at the drop of a hat or are slacking with what we do have. Not to be rude but if you think and say you can do better maybe you should offer to HELP the same con you are bashing so it can solve the very issues you just tore it a new hole over?. If we want cons to grow and be fun sooner or later we WILL need more folks that help work at them or else they will close cause they can only do so much with so few bodies on hand, and that will be a crying shame.

Its a growing issue we want the cons to have low prices and yet the con only makes so much money to pay for all the items WE demanded they have, like big gamerooms, large dealer dens, wonderful panels, and of course comfortable rooms to stay in. Where do folks expect the money to be made up from?. The cons I attend do not seem to have large rich board-members willing to cover such costs and it would be madness to do so what with some folks seem to think the con simply must have or else they will cause trouble and complain everywhere about it. The hotel is not free and if we are increasing prices it is NOT o line our pocket but to cover the new fees we just got..you know for better games, nicer digs, insurance!, and all those hidden fees renting a large space for a few days. Just remember that we are doing this for FREE so take a moment or three to not bash the con if the fees went up a whole 5 bucks, or dealers tables went up as well. WE do not keep the money!! Never have and never will

Lastly I will touch on the fandom and how it acts at conventions which is also going to get me flamed but needs to be mentioned. We are doing our best under pressure, with no pay and very little in supposed perks or the odd *secret fandom* stuff I have heard mentioned. These are labors of love for the fandom but a few folks seem to find its nothing more then a right to cause grief for the con then scream murder when they are punished over it. Open drunkenness, lewd behavior, theft..it is stuff we would never do to our friends or at work yet at a con it seems a right to get right nasty then wail when the convention tries to put a stop to it. The insanity of making a right mess at a con then blaming the con for banning you or even clipping your badge for a day is only making things worse since if we keep blaming the con over this stuff we may just get the next con saying * booze free, kid free, sex free, fun free* and that will be that. I know some folks are rolling eyes at me saying this as a con chair but seriously if its against the law, or you know right well you are doing it to be a jerk then WHY on heaven's sake are you shocked the convention enforces its rules and removes you?. Do you want someone to rob you, stalk you, grope you, or worse?. Remember that the next time you think it will be *cool* to pull a fire alarm, or have 20 beers and hit on random folks in the lobby.

Yeah I know its common sense but I have to speak out a bit for us the conventions that are struggling in ways to cover these and other concerns but a tiny few insist its a right to be a horrible guest then demand top class treatment, or claim they should sue, or demand the con give them perks because they demand such. Boggles my mind but then again since I run a con and staff several others I am *biased* apparently, or so I have been told.

Gaia bless and hope this gets some positive comments and feedback
Pakesh_De
ChairCritter for Furnal Equinox