Further Confusion Con Report
ka...@my-deja.com
Con Reports
Hi,
I thought it would be a good idea to start a section for convention
reports. My report will be on Further Confusion Y2K(Jan 27-Jan 30) in
San Mateo, CA.
On Thursday, Jan 27th, I flew up from Ontario, quickly collected my
luggage, and took a taxi straight to the Marriott. I didn't want to wait
for the hotel shuttle(every hour) and thought there would be quite a
line for it.
It was easy to spot the hotel: furries were walking in the parking lot:)
Entering the lobby, I looked around for my furfriends Greyfur, Sean
Wilkinson, and FoxLord, all of whom were supposed to have arrived. I was
rooming with FoxLord, so I knew he couldn't get into the room until I
arrived. No sign of them. The front desk searched for my suite and asked
me if I really needed one::sigh:: I didn't reserve it in March on a
whim, guys.
Hauling my luggage throught that confusing hotel was quite an adventure,
but the result was rewarding: a loft suite with room to breath. I went
in search of furfriends and found Greyfur, Sean, and Kerja in their
room. No sign of FoxLord yet, so we decided to explore the area around
the hotel. We walked to the Rite Aid shopping center one block away from
the hotel to discover a wonderful little restuarant: Broiler Express.
The food was good, and the prices very reasonable. We searched Rite Aid
for furry stuff and for proper bedding for my friends(small room). I was
disgusted to discover Rite Aid only sells Pepsi:blech:: We found a
Barney book...more on that later.
Upon our return, FoxLord was waiting in the lobby, and we quickly went
to the room to get him settled. On my way back to the room, I ran into
Lisa Jennings(Micole) and said hello. Our group got together for dinner,
and then headed to the registration area to get our con badges.
Registration was easy, but we went later than most furs, so we avoided
long lines. The dance that night wasn't very big, so after talking for
hours, we all called it a night.
Friday: Woke up early, and collected FoxLord to go get breakfast. While
eating in the restuarant, we said hello to David Bliss, Roy Pounds,
Bernard Doove, and some other furs we knew. The rest of our group showed
up as we were eating. We warned the restaurant about the con and told
them they would have plenty of business(which they did). Our group
headed over to Rite Aid, and then across the way to Michael's Art
Center, and Kmart where we bought furry stickers, plushies, and other
assorted items.
Dealer's Den was scheduled to open about twelve, so we headed back to
the hotel, got our badges, cameras, and money, and headed for the den.
The first day was very crowded, the space between the tables was
cramped. I said hello to Lisa Jennings, and asked her if she needed
anything. She mentioned some items, and I promised to get them if we
went back to Rite Aid that afternoon. She did a wonderful sketch in my
sketchbook:) I checked with Richard Chandler about the latest Gallery,
picked up the latest Yarf! from Jeff, and found the latest Genus which I
hadn't received yet. I also got a sketch from Mel White:)
After retreating from the Den, I headed back to Rite Aid and Broiler's
for lunch. After giving Lisa her items, she mentioned that she was going
to have art in the art show, so I went to get a bidder number:) The art
show was very large, but confusing: there were two seperate rooms of
regular art, and one room for adult art. I did not bid on many pieces as
I wanted to enjoy the con and relax.
Our group, which was joined by Bernard Doove, Roy Pounds, and David
Bliss, headed for Broiler's to get dinner. We discussed our plans for a
prank to be played on Jim Groat: the Barney book had a place to put
someone's picture! FoxLord offered to get his film developed using the
one hour photo option to get the picture of Jim. Earlier in the
afternoon, FoxLord had presented Jim Groat with several Hot Wheels, and
took a picture of Jim smiling with delight. Little did he suspect....
Anyway, we returned to the hotel, and ended up in mine and FoxLord's
room, drawing sketches and talking. FoxLord departed to the Purple
Nurple dance about ten or so, and we called it a night soon after. We
also saw the Furry Variety Show(I almost forgot to mention it) and
enjoyed it thoroughly. They had several skits, and it was very funny
indeed.
Saturday: Woke up later, and headed for Dealer's Den to see if Lisa
needed anything before heading for breakfast. I dropped off another
sketchbook with Tygger Graf, and then headed for chow. We had lunch at
Broiler's Express, and I went back to attend the Meet the GOH's panel
with C.J. Cherryh.
I love her books, and she talked about the situation in the publishing
industry as well as the current situation in science fiction liturature.
She graciously consented to sign my book(and my only regret is that I
forgot to ask Lisa if she wanted a signed book too). The panel ended
about two-thirty, and back to Dealer's Den I went.
During the Christmas holidays, I encountered an obnoxious plush that
sang Jingle Bells. It was green, with a smily face, and a red cap. This
odious item was marked for destruction by Jim Groat. After making
certain that Kerja was filming , I presented the plushy to Jim
Groat...who immmediately snatched it and smacked it against a chair back
to silence the horrible singing coming from it. He proceeded to dissect
the plushy with a knife, and skinned it. However, his antics annoyed Mel
White who was sitting at an adjacent table and trying to draw. The
"death" of the plushy was celebrated, and I was glad to see the end of
the evil thing.
I checked with Tygger about my sketch, retrieved one sketchbook from
Lisa Jennings(wonderful sketch), and gave it to BromBear, who wanted to
draw something in it. I checked my bids in the art show, and then slowly
gathered the furs to go to dinner before the Masquerade that evening.
After another wonderful dinner, we headed back to the hotel to rest. The
line for the Masquerade started forming about 6:45...I told my friends
we'd best get in line soon. The fursuits at the Masquerade were truly
memorable, especially the Griffin. One skit, about a furry with wings
trying to catch a flight at San Francisco International Airport, cracked
me up completely. The fursuiters truly outdid themselves, and a good
time was had by all.
After the Masquerade, we headed for Uncle Kage's story time, a general
favorite. He had a few new stories, and was in fine form despite having
to conduct the Masquerade. The rest of the evening is kind of a blur.
Sunday morning, we awoke after a late start. Today was the day! The day
we would get Groat! FoxLord and I ate breakfast in the hotel restaurant,
and the food was pretty good. We were very nervous about this prank: no
one knew how Groat would react, except that we knew he would react:) We
managed to talk Tygger Graf into presenting the "item" to Jim Groat, and
after we gathered in a wary circle, she did. She gave it to some of the
other people behind Groat's table first, so they all had a chance to
view it and laugh. Finally, Jim Groat opened the book..and saw his
picture right next to Barney!"Barney and Me on Safari" In the back of
the book, we wrote To: Jim Groat..From: Tinky Winky, Po, La La, and(I
forget the name of the last Teletubby). Groat seemed to enjoy the joke,
and didn't throw the book across the room, or rip it in half:)
I then got in line to pick up my art from the art show. I had no way of
knowing if any of the items I bid on went to auction or not(and I was
worried because the news was that 125 items went to auction).
Fortunately, I was lucky, and got three out of four of the items. I feel
sorry for Glen Wooten and Kagemushi: the auction lasted four hours!
Our group decided we wanted steak for dinner..and we took a taxi to
Black Angus. This was a bad decision:) Black Angus was great, the food
superb...but it was Superbowl Sunday night.
I called the taxi service to pick us up..no, sorry, 45 min minimum. I
then made the colossal mistake of calling Yellow Cab. I called...they
said they would send a cab. No cab. I called again, and was told that we
had been picked up! We were still freezing outside of a closed Target
store. Finally, I called the hotel, and they called a local cab company.
We finally got back to the hotel in time to catch some of Bronze Bear's
Dead Dog party..but we missed the general Dead Dog, and we were furious.
The local cab company told us that Yellow Cab is not authorized to pick
up anyone in that area! Arrgh! We are really ticked with Yellow Cab!
That is my con report for Further Confusion Y2K. The con was well run,
t
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