{CON REPORT} Anthrocon Part II
ka...@my-deja.com
I got up early because we expected to start Registration at
8:00, and picked up some Krispy Kreme donuts for the Reg staff. On my
return to the hotel, we began set-up and had to sort out the badges from
the night before..Once we got started, Registration went very smoothly.
I went off-duty at ten, and talked with various furs in the Zoo till it
was time to attend a panel by Lisa Jennings on copyright violations. She
did an excellent job explaining the problems with copyright that
routinely crop up in our fandom. Dealer’s Den opened at twelve, so I
followed her down to her table and submitted my sketchbook for a
sketch:) She had some wonderful buttons for sale, so bought some of
those, too. I went by Silverfox Publications and bought several of their
magazines, as I do every year.
About this time, I started looking at my watch, thinking
“There is something I ought to be doing....” until I realized I had
completely forgotten the SuperSponsor lunch::sigh:: I tracked down a
friend, Sean, who was starving, and we hit Bennigan’s for lunch. Upon
our return, the FTS furs wanted to hit the pool...we had a great time
splashing and pouncing eachother for hours. I had another shift at Reg
at four, so yawned my way through that...it was dead, mostly. Uncle
Kage’s Story Hour was next, and not to be missed...I howled with
laughter. During the story hour, he plugged Kobe Japanese Restuarant
quite heavily, so ShyFox, Jwyldragon, and I went there for dinner after
making a reservation. The food and service were absolutely wonderful.
An impromptu room party started in Sylverfox’s rooms after dinner, and
we talked for hours. I went to bed around 1:30.
Saturday, July 1
Awoke late, because Reg wasn’t scheduled to start until
ten that morning, and wandered down for breakfast. I worked at the Reg
desk from ten till twelve, then hit the Dealer’s Den again. Because of
my Reg schedule, I missed the martial arts demonstration. As a martial
artist, I would like it to be done again next year. I bought several
things at Daphne Lage’s table, and was very sorry to hear that she was
no longer going to be active in furry. A fantastic artist, and one of
the nicest furs in the fandom to boot, Daphne is following a different
path in her art. Heading upstairs, I placed some bids in the art show,
and decided it was time for lunch. I drove out to Michael’s Deli, and
stopped at Dairy Queen for a bite. When I returned, I checked my bids,
then had to return to the Reg Desk from 4-6. Once again, it was very
slow during this period, and Registration ran very smoothly. This day
we planned a surprise retirement party for Sylverfox, who had retired
after twenty years in the Air Force, serving his country and us.
However, Syl had his own surprise.....
I arrived at Sylverfox’s rooms and was told by
Annette, his wife, that the surprise party was planned for ten at the
Bronzebear party. However, when he came up from Dealer’s Den, Syl
announced a pizza party at eight to celebrate his retirement!
Multiple furs congregated, only to be told by security that there were
too many and we would have to go downstairs to the party rooms on the
second floor. Madbadger was upset when thirty pizza-bearing furs
crashed his Bronzebear party...before we found another room. This was a
special gathering for another reason: the number of Tailspinners AOL
chatroom furs at this convention. In addition, we had several artists
whose work had graced Silverfox Publications in the past. The roster
included: Sylverfox, Annette, Sean Wilkinson, Greyfur, Silverfur,
JasJaguar, FyrDragon, Jwyldragon, ShyFox, FurryRebel, RebelSqurl, Swann,
RazBryRcn, RRQuest, Waarhorse, Madbadger, Bernard Doove, Steve Corbett,
Flinthoof, Tibo, Ken Pick, MysticalStripes, and me.
After eating pizza and guzzling soda for an hour, we
decided it was time to spring Syl’s surprise, so all the furs went down
the hallway to another room while Syl was distracted. He returned to an
empty room, and Madbadger(Matt Henry) told him the food was gone and so
were we! As he followed Madbadger into the new room, we all roared
“SERGEANT MILLER......DISMISSED!” He stood speechless, while we
presented him with a cake and several gifts for the occasion. He is a
wonderful fur, and a good friend. After the excitement wore off, I
decided to make my own presentation to Greyfur, because it was his
birthday. I snuck back up to my room and retrieved my gift, while the
other furs made Greyfur lie down on his back with his eyes shut. When
he opened them, there was an enormous plush bunny sitting on his chest!
I had spotted the large lapine in ACME, and purchased it knowing Grey
would love such a gift:) The surrounding furs cheered, and teased
Greyfur about his new companion.
Before the evening ended, we had some unpleasant news: He Who
Shall Not be Named had finally made his very unwelcome and dreaded
appearance at our convention. Kagemushi had made it clear that there
was one individual who had caused tremendous problems last year, and
this person was banned from this year’s convention. The hotel had been
warned about him, and he figured prominently in Uncle Kage’s Story Hour.
Well, he finally showed up at the door, to be greeted by security and an
unamused Kage, who had to leave the Masquerade to deal with the
situation. Kage handled the problem with his usual grace and charm,
but the person was to haunt us for the rest of the convention. After all
this, I
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