Further Confusion 2010

[furtech]

Click here for the complete Flickr set



FC was going to be a new experience for me in several ways: new hotel, no Steve and new layout. The hotel was just fine: lots of room and great access to a variety of food sources (and they let Prius' park free!). The layout (a rat-maze) was not nearly as nice as the Doubletree, but far better than a convention center. Not having Steve G. to hold my hand meant that I needed to prepare a lot more: I got my display racks (thanks, Dwight!) and worked on how to best display my work (Steve is a genius at this and I miss presence). I even found a good use for the photo frame I got on impulse at Costco last year: a nice way to display my portfolio and construction photos.



The part of any convention I enjoy the most is getting to hang out with friends and people I sometimes only see once a year. It was great to spend some quality chat-time with beetlecat, skorzy, thornwolf, brokkentwolf, jonnywoof, whiteyfawks, mistahbojangles, calicougar, as well as Andrea and Cary! It was neat to see lionboogy there, too: can't wait to look at his pics!

This was also the first year that I put a lot of work into preparing for my panels. I spent a day designing "A dirt-simple balaclava" pattern to give out at my main panel (Exotic Materials). I also went to several vendors of materials and got cards and brochures and Google'd reliable sources for purchasing (by mail or in-person) many of the exotic materials that I spoke about. I put this in the hand-out for those hardy souls who attended that panel (I think it was one of the last ones of the convention, on Sunday evening). Huge thanks to Whitefox for all of his help! Thanks to preparation and Whitefox's help, these were the best panels I've run yet.

Oh-- the costumes! Such costumes! Every year they get better and better! The most fun I had at the convention was hanging out with oats_a_plenty and crocuta on Saturday night costume-spotting. We spent several hours just watching the never-ending parade of people and costumes that went by. It turns out that oats_a_plenty is a master-costume-spotter (kind of like train-spotting, but ID'ing the maker of the costume going by). This led to a funny-embarrassing incident where my senile mind was exposed: I had seen a cheetah partial costume several times previously at the con, but I was never able to ID it nor get a good picture of it. I liked how the head looked very cheetah-like and how the maker had cleverly designed the head/neck to look longer than is usually possible in an eye-looker. Excitedly, I pointed it out to Oats and while she couldn't ID it either, she didn't hesitate to run up to the costumer to ask. She returned with a sardonic look, like she'd been tricked. It turns out the person who made the head was... me. Uh...oops.



Turns out that this was the head that I had made in a frantic rush in order to finish it for the Eurofurence Charity Auction and I'd never had time to take pics of the final piece. Belatedly, I do remember how much I liked how he came together: I'd wanted to make a cheetah for a long time and had put a lot of the ideas into his construction. That was also the year I nearly burned out on costume-making (several large convention masquerade pieces), so many things got lost in my head. I also nearly didn't recognize the German shepherd head I'd made for the same auction... oy vey.

Getting back to costumes...
There were nine characters that I absolutely adored: great designs, construction, etc. and they made me either laugh or "Ooo" every time I saw them.
*Qarrezel had made a gold and white Kirin that was a head-turner: elegant and glorious!
*There was a yellow dog with snaggle-teeth that always made me laugh: I -love- his "Gnar-gnar" expression!
*The beefy bull-canine hybrid was definitely one of my favorites: I love the muscles! Excellent job, especially with all the darting.
*There was an adorable springer spaniel that I liked a lot: good character performance, too!
*What can one say about Beetlecat's Targ? Just amazing: such striking colors and she even walked the parade in it! Hardcore.
*Cute black-backed jackal: when you consider how many cute canines there are out there, it takes a lot for one to really turn my head. This one did: -very- cute expression and all-around construction/design. It was one of the performer's first costumes, too! Very nice!
*Blue Sloth: deceptively simple design. Huge props for executing this so well: adorable, doofy and big. Best use of sparkle-fur I've ever seen.



My two favorites of my favorites:
The gloomy raven that glomped around on Saturday night. He reminded me of the minah from "Inky and the Minah" or the raven from Disney's "Sleeping Beauty". Huge costume, fantastically executed. Best bird feet ever. Great characterization! Fantastic!



And my favorite costume of the con? The merle Border Collie miner forty-niner! Made and performed by matrices. She did a fantastic job one the whole character concept! First of all, merle border collie (yay, border collie!); second, she fit the con's theme (Goldrush!) perfectly and did a bang-up job with the accessories for him. She was enthusiastically in-character all the time. Her feet were adorable-- it's her own style and I love them-- so round and happy! Plus, she gave me a really nice piece of chocolate! (Not really a bribe-- I don't think my opinion is worth a cheap bribe, let alone a piece of chocolate gold!). Great job on a great costume, Matrices! Check out her tutorials, too: she's very generous with her costuming knowledge.

Comments

[vandringar.livejournal.com]

I'm very amused by you not recognising your own cheetah head!

[darkentiger.livejournal.com]

that Raven is KAWRI made and wore by arito

glad to hear you had a great time there, and I see a tiger head on ur table... hehe

[wyoon.livejournal.com]

I got as much entertainment from the captions on the pictures than anything. Great stuff man. Thanks for sharing.

[lironess.livejournal.com]

I cracked up too :)

You just like having hyena minions.

[crocuta.livejournal.com]

I had a blast hanging out with you. It really made my con! :)
You seemed insanely amused at 'ordering' a female hyena to run and ask the suiters who made their suit. LOL!
We really both had a blast tho!

I look forward to hanging out with you again sometime.
I'm glad you had a good con and I must agree, the panels you did were the best yet. You really gave a lot of good information out!

[okojosan.livejournal.com]

Wow, Beetlecat's Targ is amazing. I love quad suits.

[skorzy.livejournal.com]

I see some dude in the background taking pictures of the Targ! Oh wait... that's me recording the whole damn parade!

Also liked that raven thing. Liked how it had this sulking, hunched posture all the time that wasn't just the wearer leaning over. It was built in.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

*Especially* after gushing to Oats about it-- how I was stalking it all weekend and -really- liked the tricks the maker used. She thought I was pranking her, but I was all like, "Bwuh?"

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Kawri did a fantastic job on the Raven: lots of work that probably isn't outwardly visible, but had to have been done to move like that. The feet are the best bird feet ever.

I like tigers: their facial structure is longer and more angular than most felines and you can stylize them all sorts of ways!

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Re: You just like having hyena minions.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

You know-- having hyena minions fulfilled a life's dream I never knew I had. So cool...maybe Scar had it right!

Hanging with you two was definitely a (if not the) high point of the con for me. I loved the costume-spotting! Oats has mad skilz!

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Google her name and "Targ" and find better pics: she did a great job on the engineering and finishing on that suit. Good quads are wonderful (bad ones...not so much).

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Yes, I saw you and envied your foresight: by the time I got set, all the good spots were taken. My spot wasn't bad, but I wasn't using a flash and the pics suffered from the spill from one of the dealer's floodlights.

Raven: yeah! That posture was fantastic! The whole design was amazing. It's the kind of costume that could look highly entertaining no matter what it did-- dancing, skulking, standing there looming over people-- that's a great effect!

[darkentiger.livejournal.com]

Lol Arito made the Raven. The suit name is Kawari hehe

And yay tiger rock, I'm a tiger fur so yeah

[crocuta.livejournal.com]

I laughed really hard because the look on her face was great, it was a "ha ha very funny" and you looked absolutely mortified. XD
I was expecting you to say "Ha! Gotcha!"

Re: You just like having hyena minions.

[crocuta.livejournal.com]

LOL! I can certainly understand the appeal. ;)
One year you need to bring your hyena and we can all run around the con terrorizing the hoofed animals!

Awww thank you! It was really a fun time and she really amazed me with her abilities. I didn't know she had such a memory bank of suit makers. Her memory is really impressive, more so when I compare it to my own which is downright horrible! I'm doing good to remember to breathe on a semi regular basis. :P

[jonnywoof.livejournal.com]

You didn't mention coming over and introducing Apache and Rondo to Q-Tip! It was pretty funny watching Rondo going into "herding mode" when I was rolling around on the floor at his level. :)

[spunkywulf.livejournal.com]

I'm totally digging the bird feet on Arito's costume... you're right; seriously the best set of bird feet I've seen on a suit yet. And haha on your OLD PEOPLE SENSES of not recognizing your own costume ;) It happens though; you make so many pieces, you're bound to forget one or two in the mire!

[theassassinnox.livejournal.com]

My gosh, I got a mention here?

That was my first time in a full padded suit. *grins* I'm glad I played her well.
The Springer's name is Bridget, and she was made by MixedCandy.

Thanks!

[cheetah-spotty.livejournal.com]

In case you forgot ... that was me with the cheetah head :)

[okojosan.livejournal.com]

that's true, but I don't think I've seen any bad ones! I've only got your worg, your Okami, and the Targ to compare to, and those are all excellent. :D

I found a photo in a magazine today that I need to scan for you. It made me crack up when I saw it and think of you.

[diadexxus.livejournal.com]

Great to do dinner / talk shop at Red Robin a couple days after the con! :D

-J

[oats-a-plenty.livejournal.com]

I like it how you both are like "the look on her face". I was in suit the whole time XD I guess it was easy to tell the look on my face, lol.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Your body language was perfectly clear! You have a nice ability to express your feelings through all that fur!

[furtech.livejournal.com]

D'oh! I'm bad enough with names as it is... but the bottom line is: *great* suit!

Re: You just like having hyena minions.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Hmmm...Maybe I'll get something made that I can use at EF as well (savannah-theme). Big packs of stinky hyenas!

Normally I hide in my room in the evenings...this was a very enjoyable change. I always wonder who made what and it was neat to be able to point and have her ID it (or just run up to them and ask!).

[furtech.livejournal.com]

I was gonna make that a separate post, but since you mention it: YES! Q-Tip is an adorable bundle of fluff! It was fun watching her keep up with the big dogs! And Lady was less stressed out, too! I think the puppy is wearing her out!

When you were rolling around, it just confirmed ROndo's suspicion that you were dangerous and crazy! (That's how he got his name: he just goes 'round and 'round!)

[furtech.livejournal.com]

I am fast turning into "Old Chinese Guy": bow-legged, hands on hips and wearing baggy pants, yelling at the kids on his lawn...and I'm not even Chinese!

[furtech.livejournal.com]

I didn't know that was you!! Great job of creating a character-- she was exactly like I'd imagine a Springer Spaniel to act (and my sister breeds them, so I'd know!).

LV did a fantastic job on her: subtly cute and feminine, very clean lines.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Yeah, yeah-- forgetting...so embarrassing! You did a good job moving in him! It was nice seeing the head again, too!

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Seeing you and Scrib at RR was a bunch of fun-- topped only by meeting Q-Tip and watching R0ndo and Apache romp with her and Lady! The best part of any con for me are the meals with friends. Thanks for making time to get together!

(And sorry for being such a turd on the FS list...I would love to find a venue where it wasn't filled with so bright-eyed, overly-enthusiastic kids...)

[theassassinnox.livejournal.com]

Yup, 'twas me! Thank you so much. I've had Springers all my life, so she's really easy to play. Hehe.

I gave LV some guidelines, some descriptors, and a basic body marking plan. She got to play with the rest of it and I'm thrilled with how the suit came out. It was my first time commissioning someone, and boy am I pleased.

[aazhie.livejournal.com]

Oh nice! great work in the springer, such a lovely costume! ^O^ I <3'ed the suit and your acting was very, very nice.

[aazhie.livejournal.com]

It's nice to be impressed by old work, even better to be amazed! XD I meant to go touch things on your table but was glued to my own all con. I'm STILL finishing commissions! It was an awesome con, glad you also had a blast!

[aazhie.livejournal.com]

The old cranky bastards need our own list. XD

Dang kids, get out of my discussion group! *waves a cane sitting on the porch* Dag-nabbit!

[theassassinnox.livejournal.com]

*blushes* Thank you so much!