RainFurrest Public Community

My con report for RF2008

2008-10-08T07:54:19Z

This is very detailed, probably boring for many. But I have my fans (I hope), and if nothing else, this is just my diary of what happened, so I can read it again later :)

Travel outbound: I took the tram and then train to Schiphol, and had help from Hyper getting my luggage loaded at Utrecht Centraal. I had two giant overstuffed bags going outbound, filled with toys and my Lagarto fursuit. Check in was simple, and as usual the border agent asked if I wanted a stamp in my passport - I declined. I still have that giant residence permit sticker in my passport, it covers an entire page.

While I was listening to music in the waiting area for boarding, I missed the PA announcement, but when the pilot walked in, waving a bright orange novelty cowboy hat, everyone cheereed. This did not make much sense at first, but when I got down the jetway, I saw "happy retirement" banner over the aircraft door. This was the last flight for our captain, of his professional carreer.

Onboard the plane was nice, I had the front row with no one sitting next to me on either side. It was nice not having a seat-back in my face, and even nicer not having my elbow bumped by toilet-users. I had a chance to read the Heathen City Graphic Novel cover to cover, the first time I had the 2 hours needed to absorb all of Nico's heady writing. It was a great read, and because I had not taken care of some necessary pre-travel biological needs, the giant wheelchair access toilet in the center of the plane proved quite useful. This is larger than most department store changing rooms, and even has a mirror on the door ;) -I slept much better during the rest of the flight - stupid testosterone.

The captain, who was checking out of Continental, was standing by the exit of baggage claim, for a meet and greet of the passengers. He seemed like quite a friendly felllow.

The layover in Houston was a bit boring, but not too long either. I grabbed a papa-john's cheese mini, and gobbled it down because the cheese quality was quite low. But meh, it was filling enough. I knew from the morning check in that I was already upgraded to first class for the Houston-Seattle leg, that was quite nice too! I again had a complete row to myself, with only 7 of the 20 seats in first class occupied.

I enjoyed a vodka + tomato juice first, a half a bottle of white wine next, and finished with a pre-mixed margarita. Continental first class has no special meal requests, so all I could eat was a double salad with bread. Glad I gobbled that slice back in Houston.

Quite buzzed out of my brain, my inhibitions were significantly reduced. The couple behind me was comprised of two well dressed middle aged gay guys. I overheard one of them say "Heroes" was his faorite show, so I pulled out the demo copy of Heathen City and with a short introduction, handed it to one of them. I received back the copy in about 10 minutes, and all he said was "thank you, here's your book". I asked for comments, if he wanted to give any, and he said sure. "In modern comics and graphic novels, it is now 'show me don't tell me' - this comic has fantastic art, it is perfect, but it is done in the style of 70's and early 80's, with all the speech bubbles and narrative." I thanked him for his comments, and put the book away. I was able to sleep through most of the rest of flight, which is good, because it was 4.5 hours plus gate time.

Arriving in Seattle, my first time, I was surprised how dumpy the gate areas looked - but the airport redeemed itself further into the terminal, the shops and open areas were substantially nicer then the gates. I'd had a low-grade headache ever since my packing/prep, so I searched for a small dose of paracetamol/acetaminophin. The "news stand" had 4 tabs for $2.25 - but worth it given the annoying headache. Shuttle to the hotel was quite amazingly prompt, and I was riding with the entire flight crew I had just left behind - funny, they were staying also at the airport Marriott.

Hotel: I checked in and was very pleasantly surprised to receive not only a "garden room", but also a discount of my first night stay. I was prepared early in my planning to avoid paying 229 for the first night (non-con-rate), by staying elsewhere, but thought the better of it. I had too much luggage, and too much shopping to do to waste time changing hotels. This was good in the end, the garden room was given to me only because I was the first one there to claim one!

The room was very nice, and had a sliding patio door exiting immediately to the pool area. My door was in fact, the closest one to the pool entrance. This was quite handy on Thursday morning and Friday morning too, when I used the hot tub at 7am each of those days.

Shopping: I took a taxi to the nearest shopping mall, and replaced my terribly worn out shoes. I had selected them to travel because they needed to be thrown out, and I knew when I got new ones, I would have no problem binning them. The usual places were a bust, but Nordstroms had a very nice shoe department, and I found a pair a bit over budget, but with some nice features and quality. I also picked up a couple of gifts for friends: a component x-box cable for Kensaro, and an s-type xbox controller (OEM), for Cranphin. Both were purchased from gamestop at excellent prices.

Leaving the mall in my new shoes, I headed in the direction of best buy, to get my super-compact dye-sublimation printer. On the way, I found three distractions - a Michaels Crafts store (my favorite place for frames, I even worked in the framing department for that company in 1995), a Chipotle burrito restaurant, and a party store. I bought glow sticks in bulk, then filled a cart with framing supplies for the art auction pieces. I also grabbed the biggest freaking sharpie marker I have ever seen, the "Magnum". I have used giant markers before, but never the quality of a sharpie. Two sheets of white posterboard, a couple nifty die cutters, and some other miscellaneous, I was on my way to best buy. There I got the printer, extra paper, and some blank DVD-dual layer.

By this point, I had a massive collection of stuff cutting off circulation to my fingers in giant plastic bags. I spotted a pier-1 imports, and hoped they would have my display piece, but it was a bust - no treasure chests to be had. I wandered in the direction of the elusive Target store, and it started to rain. I sought refuge at the Doubletree hotel, and again asked where the heck target was located. They told me it was right behind their place, across the parking lot - but it was raining. I was honestly there to ask for a taxi. The desk clerk asked me if I wanted help getting over there. She said the shuttle van could take me, no problem. I did not let on I was not a doubletree guest, but they never asked. The driver was a cute blonde (girl), I tipped her $2 for the assistance. She even offered me a return ride phone number card, but I told her that I would be fine if it was not raining (lie).

After 2 hours milling about target and trying on some pants, I checked out, and asked for a taxi. Back at the hotel, I needed a cart for all my stuff. The display box ended up being a wicker laundry basket, but that was because I had run out of time and energy to haul myself and cart full plus of items anywhere else. It served its purpose ok, and was returned on sunday as new :)

Prep: My first roommate (fox-dragon) arrived in the late afternoon, shortly after I dumped all the purchases in the room. While I prepped the frames and auction prints, we talked about his mysterious substances - he is a home remedy nut, because he has a really good friend who makes all her own holistic cures. Colloidal silver, and an oil with herbs thing that he said would cure a headache. I was curious, so I tried it. It had a mentholated smell to it, but actually did work quite well. I had purchased a 250x generic tylenol thing from Target, and never needed to open it. Oh, it was $4 for 250 caplets - stupid airport profits...

We ended up going to get pizza at "athens", an amazing family run pizza place. Food quality was amazing. We only found it because my roomie lived in the area years ago, and remembered it fondly. I ordered an extra cheese-only pie to go, and that made yummy noms for the next 2 days.

After dinner, we stopped at a grocery store, so I could buy my secret vice cereal (Fruity Pebbles), and some vanilla soymilk. I also remembered the joy of Claussen deli-dill pickles, and got a big jar of those. When we got back to the hotel, I decided to explore, and found where the event space was located. The dealer room was quite spacious, but more importantly, I knew I needed to ask about an art panel. Arriving to that room, I found a crew assembling (not very organized, the helpers had no idea how the stuff fit together, and one stressed out staffer was trying to direct it all), and volunteered to help out. It was all black PVC tubing, rubber mallets, and PVC joints, holding up massive peg board panels with zip ties. This was right up my alley, and I was there on and off for about 2 hours. I ducked out once the complete layout was done, but just a few panels were not yet hung. For my troubles, I was granted a free panel in the prime location right by the entrance to the adult section. I told them I wanted to pay for it, but the prime spot was ok :) Heck, it was only $10 anyway!

It was really nice working with staff, they were super appreciative of the help, and it gained me major brownie points too. Nothing in my catalog was excluded from selling in the dealer room - in part because of my well concealed displays, but also because I had made some friends with staff. I really like being a good corporate citizen - you can get away with murder (not really).

Con Day 1: Sleep was good that Thursday night, I woke up at 7am and enjoyed my second dip in the hot tub. After realizing I was overheating a bit, I went for a float in the pool. Awesome atrium, water surface like glass, and ears below water, I was in there for at least a half hour. It was sublime.

I went to set up my dealer table, got the big Heathen City banner put on the wall, and tossed a few toys in the "treasure chest". My table was a mess at the opening bell, but it was ok, traffic was light. I passed out three of my lamination prepaid-job things, and was very surprised to find out how many artists brought laminators. I need to compete better by offering 12 inch laminating. It seems that not a single one of them knows the difference between 2-3 mil sheets and the rigid nice 5mil pouches. I converted at least 3 artists over to using me, after they saw the difference. But some like the jumbo badge art, cut out with scissors and all goofy dangly. Ok, I will adapt. I hate to buy a $500 machine to do it, but it will pay for itself in 100 laminations, and it also gets me major work as the RE-LAMINATOR (not the cheesy horror movie with Jeffrey Combs). People bring me their poorly laminated work, and I can re-run it to make it shiny and new. Plus I hate being limited by 4 inches, when so many artists want their work just a tiny bit too big to fit in that size pouch.

Heathen City sold pretty well on day one, and a HUGE FAN bought not only a card set, but also wanted the ad banner canvas I had on the wall. An SMS to Nico set the price, and the guy had no question he wanted it. That is a #1 fan! Good for me too, I want a new banner with character art on it, not just the logo. My new rainbow pins were a huge hit, they were selling stronger even at twice the earlier version price. People loved the "top, bottom, switch, yiff" versions, too.

At the end of dealer room day 1, I wanted to cut loose a bit, so my fox-dragon roommate again helped me shop, this time for booze. We hit a quality liquor store, and I bought some $60 Don Julio tequila, and another bottle of $20 mid-level Sauza tequila - both bottles 750ml. I already had the margarita mix from Target. My met my second roommate, Malicai-fox, he had checked in during the afternoon. After some cold slice pizza and a LOT of rita, I donned Lagarto and went on the prowl. The dance was a blast, I shook and stomped for a solid 45 minutes, before I was so worn out I just had to get in front of some fans. The headless lounge was fun, lots of nice suiters in there. I went back to the dance floor, but it had died down too much to be interesting, so I ended up back at the room, exhausted. I got really good sleep that night, the last night I would have that luxury. I was asleep before 23:00. My calf muscles were quite sore, but only when I put pressure on them. Malicai was sharing the bed when I woke up, but I was barely aware of him. He was on the extreme edge of the double bed, wearing all his clothes, and not even under the blanket.

Day 2: It was a leisurely morning, I awoke about 7am. I snuck out of the room through the sliding glass door, doing a magician's act around the drapes. I did not want to disturb my roommates. In the hot tub alone, I found the water to be a bit too hot, and far too chlorinated. Rather than reset the bubbles after the initial 15 minute timer expired, I got up and went to the pool. The water was as smooth as glass, no one had been using it all night, and because the pool is inside an atrium, there is no wind to disturb the surface. I enjoyed the shock to my body as the cooler water overcame the heat I had retained from the spa.

Once my temperature equalized, I remembered how nice it is to float, when there is no water disturbance. I find the best body position to float without movement is hands stretched far over the head, ankles together, and arc the pelvis up. This was so serene, I stayed in this position with only 3 breaths per minute, for more than half an hour. This is the same pace at which snakes breathe, it was quite appropriate. One other strange sensation - the water draining out of my ears, when I finally up-righted myself, was hot. The water draining out of them left a very organic sensation.

I took one of the bath towels conveniently laid out at the pool shack, and walked back to my room barefoot. Of all the hotels I have stayed in, this one definitely has the nicest pool, and most pleasurable access from the room. I noted the time, and remembered I had a few more things to do before the dealer room opened again.

After a shower and quick gathering of items to bring, I found the dealer room was still not open for setup, so I wound up at the business center to print some new signs. They have a free laser printer, on the network, so my own notebook computer was perfectly equipped to make some spify signage. Only one problem, the printer was not happy with my photoshop images at 600dpi, so it took approximately 3 minutes to make each page print. This setback added up, and caused me to miss my communication window with Hyper. I tried to SMS him, but my replies to his skype text message bounced as "not able to send an e-mail by sms". It was not until a day later that I figured out the problem.

I just made the opening of the dealer room, and quickly set out the new signs. Business was steady, and more artists found my lamination services to be useful. At about mid day, this very cute velociraptor fursuiter was spotted near my table. I had not seen him before, but that's because I had not attended any other furry conventions in the USA since 2006.

I got a photo of him, and later, when he was around again, asked his spotter MattPanther to take a photo of me with the rappy. I knew instantly I wanted to get to know this Raptor Red better, and I would - but later.

I checked again on the art auction, and again (I am such a whore for bids), and again. I was quite pleased to see 3 of the 5 items with bids, a couple of them doing very well indeed. I also popped my head in on the pet auction, I was sad to have missed the opportunity to participate as an auction item (again, I am a whore for bids), but the charity amount was not going spectacularly high for anyone, and half of the folk I saw were not auctioning themselves in fursuits, but rather, were artists offering commissions for the benefit of the charity. It was not the exciting master/pet spectacle I had hoped to see. I suppose this is one of the coffin nails for ConFurence, so a tamer show was to be expected.

At the end of the dealer room shift, and art auction closed, I organized my stuff and went back to the room. My roommates Malicai-fox and Chromu were kind enough to include me in their trip to the shopping area of town (southcenter), and I was able to buy another Chipotle burrito. They both had obligations that meant they needed to hurry back, which was fine by me, I wanted to see the masquerade.

I still had time to get in touch with Hyper, who I had missed all day, having no internet in the dealers' room. We talked for a while, and after I bid him good night, I wandered to the auditorium. The show was a bit slow for my taste, so I ducked out early, and back at the room, found the Fox dragon and his mate were having a battle of opinions. It turned into a fascinating conversation, and for the next hour, we talked about all manner of subjects and viewpoints. Noting that the dance would begin soon, I handed out the margaritas again, and everyone loosened up. I put on Lagarto, and off we all went.

The second night dances were not as exciting as the first, but initially, the crowd was decently sized. It thinned out as time went on, but arcticfoxslash did manage to get some nice pictures of me and the raptor too.

I stayed about a half an hour, and then wandered into the hallway to follow my brown scaly friend. We started getting all kinds of attention, as a pair of scaly fursuiters often will. More photos were snapped, and eventually, we were both dragged off by a fan. If you want details of what happened next, you will have to ask me personally. At around 3:30am, I bumbled back to my room, dead tired, and ready for some sleep.

Sunday, Day 3: The final day of a convention is always interesting. It either marks a turning point where those things which were supposed to happen MUST happen, or one thinks back fondly on what has passed, and wonders if the best is all behind. For me, things had already gone quite nicely, so my expectations were low. As it turned out, though, sales were strongest on the final day, even though it was 2 hours shorter than the Saturday. A lot of people bought books with the last of their food money (they told me so), and everything but glowsticks were selling strong. We finished at 16:00, and my fox-dragon's mate was really helpful in getting me cleared out in record time. I have never before broken down a table completely in less than 30 minutes, but we did it. Dumping everything off at the room unsorted, we then all went out together for a steak dinner. It had been a good day at the table, and I wanted to thank my roomies for being so very friendly and helpful.

I returned the "foxes treasure chest" to target, it was just not suitable for using as a display, I need something more proper looking. A wicker laundry basket was useful, but not worth doing again. I had salad and potato, and everyone else had meat, fried shrimp, and other noms. When we got back to the hotel, one of my room-mates headed home, and the others went off to find fun dead dog parties. I stayed in the hotel lobby for a while, to track down my laminator and badge art. Nuke and Werepuppy both said they would be in the "hangar", but ALL the con-space had been taken down - just random chairs and trash remained.

I asked around, and Nuke had apparently been there just a few ninutes before, but I had missed her. I did not understand until later that she had actually left the hotel for home, in CANADA! So, I chatted with Werepuppy and Steel for about half an hour. It was really nice getting to know them both, and I was very surprised to find that Werepuppy had not been doing well financially at his dealer table. He needs some help managing the business side, not a big surprise as I better understand the artist brain. Just as computer programmers are typically terrible at web-graphics, most artists are not good at making big stacks of cash - unless they have a manager or helper. There are, of course, exceptions to this, but the fine art side of the brain just does not mesh well with the mathematical business calculated profit center of the brain.

After sharing some stories of the former night's escapades with WP & S, I found myself inviting them both to the room, to talk more while I sorted my luggage. The explosion of crap covered both beds, the desk, parts of the floor, and half the closet. It all needed to fit in 2 suitcases, one rolling carryon, one backpack, and two boxes to be shipped to my friend in Chicago. While I sorted, Steel hunted for the rappy, and Werepuppy and I talked.

I again need to have a blank spot of what happened next.

At this point, I saw everyone out, and finished with some serious packing efforts. All the stuff compressed down like loose lettuce in a trash compactor. I stacked everyting in the corner of the room, ready for the final haul. The room felt empty, so I went and reclaimed my raptor pet. He had wandered down the hall for conversation and a place to sit for a bit. My final roommate ended up staying down in that other room, so I spent an hour passing around the last of the margarita mix and tequila with him and about 5 others. It turned into a bit of a bible bash, with gideon being tossed about. Not many in the fandom, with an "active lifestyle" appreciate the strong opinions of Leviticus.

Aloha Wolf wandered in the room, and I gave him some much appreciated back scritches. There was a lot of lounging around. We all knew the con was pretty much over, but the dead dog's heart was still beating strongly. Here is another blank spot you need to ask me about privately. A helpful snake, I am.

I collected my raptor pet for the night, and we went off to the quiet of room 152. My fox-dragon roommate and his mate were the only other ones in the room any more, besides me and my rappy, because Malicai had left early, and Chromu found a room that was more fun? Anyway, it was already pretty late, well past 4, and there was not much sleep to be had. Some more blank stuff here, ask me later. I had an alarm set for 7:00am - just enough time for me to ship my packages with UPS, and get my luggage checked in for my 11:35am flight. It was a huge relief being unburdened of my own body weight in luggage and boxes. I took the shuttle back to the hotel, and climbed back into bed for what was the very last relaxation to be had that "night". It was quite nice, indeed. I showered, and with no time at all to spare, headed to the bank with the assistance once again of my fox-dragon. Wow, what a chauffeur! Well, it was mutually beneficial, he got a couple volumes of beastpaint as a final "thank you". I like to share :)

At the airport AGAIN, the security line was scary long, but I made it just in time, in the middle of the general boarding. The Seattle to Houston flight was solid full, but I was ok, I had my big pillow in my lap, so I could rest my arms comfortably and sleep. I also got a couple of nifty pics of the Seattle skyline, and also of Mount St. Helens.

The changeover in Houston was blisteringly short, I again arrived in the middle of general boarding. Wonderous wonder, though, I ended up with all 3 seats in my row, even though the rest of the plane was full except for center section middle seats. My seat mate moved back a few rows to be with a colleague, and I slid to the center before anyone replaced him. This was very nice, I slept for more than 3 hours lying completely flat, in coach :)

Total air miles: 14,000 - total bonus to my frequent flier program, just a few miles short of a free domestic trip, or half of a free international trip. Not bad!

And thank you again to Fox-Dragon - you were the best random roommate of all time, and I would have to say, I want to see you again, just for some more awesome conversation. I had more fun at this convention than any in recent memory, and that is saying a lot, because EF2008 was fantastic. I will definitely be going back for RF2009, no doubt about it. Excellent job, all of the staff, the hotel, and the attendees made this one perfect experience.

My new best photo of Lagarto Fursuit, in the SeaTac Marriott Atrium:

2nd and last day Pictures have been uploaded

2008-10-07T06:12:12Z

2nd and last day Pictures have been uploaded
http://www.flickr.com/groups/rainfurrest/pool/

Some pictures due to type of content in masquerade have been placed in moderate and are not in the group and all pictures can be viewed at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/arcticfoxslash/sets/72157607663684767/
View at your own discretion and don't hold me nor the con responsible for these pictures as I warned you.

rainfurrest @ 2008-10-06T18:30:00

2008-10-07T01:30:50Z

Just finished uploading my pics from the con. Check it out!

Picture Request

2008-10-06T05:37:49Z

Hey I was just wondering if anybody had pictures of me in suit? If so would you mind posted them for me?

Art Panel

2008-10-05T20:07:19Z

I don't suppose whoever was filming the 'Anatomy with Kazen' panel on sunday has posted it online?

Sooo excited for the theme OMFG!!!

2008-10-04T23:39:33Z

ZombieS!!! What a trip! A brilliant idea! So much can be done!
Some friends and I really want to do "Thriller". We were also discussing with Gene, North, Waarhorse and a few other near the atrium that the con staff could have lab coats (which are cheap) and be the mad scientists trying to clean up the zombie virus or whatever. A carded (most are R rated) zombie movie marathon is a must! Archie Mcphee's has some great zombie toys. http://www.mcphee.com/categories/zombies.html
I can't wait to send in stuff for the con book! I'm brewing with ideas! I have an idea for a masquerade number I can do alnoe, assuming the audience is prepared and we can use some more advanced lighting stuff.
Thanks again all for an awesome con!
love
Rummyhunny

We need your feedback!

2008-10-04T03:01:43Z

The staff and volunteers at RainFurrest 2008 would like to thank all of you for coming, if it wasn't for the attendees there would int be a con. In that light we would like to know what you liked or disliked about the con, if you had any questions or concerns, or any advice you would like to let us know of, so that we can do even better next year. As Trapa said at the feedback panel, its just as important to tell us what we did right as we did wrong. So comment away! If you have any personal concerns, please direct them to the form on the contact page, thanks.

Rainfurrest Marriage Proposal!

2008-10-03T04:22:05Z

Hi everyone! My name's Darkpaw, or Dee for short. I'm a wolf from Long Island, New York. ::Wagwagwags:: ^-^

Rainfurrest 2008 was my first West Coast convention, an' dear God, it was a blast! I'm never gonna miss this con again (especially since I'll be moving out to Washington in February).

But another thing that made this con so memorable for me was proposing to my mate (now fiance) in my fursuit after the fursuit parade! =3 It is something that neither of us will ever forget. <3

Since everyone is posting/sharing their pics an' stuffs, I figured I would share the proposal video with ya. =3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqHQcZd9X90

Can't wait for next year, seriously!

(P.S. what I handed him in the very beginning was a folded up piece of paper with the words "J___ M____ T____ (his name), Will You Marry Me?". When I saw it was completely unfolded, that's when I dropped to one knee. Just figured I'd clarify. X3)

Matrices' pictures and video from Rainfurrest 08

2008-10-03T03:59:28Z

Fursuit Parade:

North Sound's Picnic:

Now for pictures!!! This is my gallery, please comment if you know the names (or correct spelling if I misspelled it or got the wrong name!) of the fursuits or people in the "untitled" pictures. (If I wasn't sure of all of the names, I just left them untitled)

Click: http://pics.livejournal.com/matrices/gallery/000126cc

Parade Photos

2008-10-03T02:32:57Z

Here are the parade photos I said I'd post.
I got all but the last few suiters at the end.

http://pics.livejournal.com/furry_k9/gallery/00024194

Photos

2008-10-02T10:33:27Z

I have some day 1 photos uploaded so far. you can view them at http://www.flickr.com/photos/arcticfoxslash/sets/72157607663684767/ or the official flickr Rainfurrest group http://www.flickr.com/groups/rainfurrest/

Great work

2008-10-02T05:11:13Z

I was surprised that the Con turned out as well as it did, good job staff and crew of RF08! The con was a blast, there were a few bumps that everyone touched on at the hiss and purr but for being the first year in this hotel, and the second year for the con itself, this was a real awesome event. My mate and I will be attending again next year, I would also really love to see the unofficial dead dog event become official ^^

Thanks again for a fantastic con!

Great con!

2008-10-02T01:08:11Z

I had a great time running around, selling art, doing badges (sad I didn't get more, only $10!) and was in the masquerade. I thought I rocked the house by all the cheers and appluase, then around the con all I got were kudos. I did over hear some drama about it not being a appropriate. It was an evening thing and most furries aren't prudes last I checked. I was completely clothed and legal. With all the faceless comments I'm seeing around the net, I'm seeing that PacNW furs just can't handle what is well known and admission is charged for at Califur. I'm sorry to the lady who brought her toodler, who most likely won't recall the experience. I was discussing doing 'thriller' next year with some gal pals but after all I've been reading, I doubt I'm inviting back, even if I wanted to. But the caberet at Califur raises a ton of bucks. Something to consider.

The ever controvercial (and bad spelling) Rummy

Inquiry about Digi-Fox

2008-09-30T23:11:10Z

One of the best things about Rainfurrest this year were the DJs at the dances. Does anyone know Digi-Fox's set or have a way to get in contact with him? His set was awesome and I'm interested in finding out what some of the songs are.

Clips from the Fursuit Games on Sunday

2008-09-30T19:26:11Z

The Games were super-hilarious (a big shout-out to all the 'suiters who participated!), and I was able to take video of some of the best bits:

Target Shooting, aka "Why Fursuits and Guns Don't Mix"

Snakes on a Plane, aka "Why You Can't Trust Foxes"

Stunt Pilot, aka "How Many Times Can You Say the Word 'Position' Without Snickering?"

Enjoy, I know I did! :D

Cross-posted to fursuit_videos

Live set from Saturday Night

2008-09-30T16:58:36Z

The live House, Pop-Retro and Electro set by EarVelvet on Saturday night is now available for stream or download.

Links and complete track list now available on EarVelvet.com

rainfurrest @ 2008-09-30T01:52:00

2008-09-30T07:52:58Z

I have uploaded my video of the fursuit parade to youtube. Enjoy.

Wow, Rain Furrest

2008-09-30T05:30:45Z

Turbo Wolf and I are back on the East coast and we just wanted to say what an awesome time we had out at Rain Furrest. We may just have to make this a yearly event. Kudos to Trapa, North and all the others! This was one of the most fun con that we've been too and the wings were a really nice touch (Do something like that again!). The hotel and the hotel staff were excellent as well. I believe the only snag during the entire con was running out of ice cream at the ice cream social. Thanks again for putting on such a fun con for us all!

Thanks from the bears!

2008-09-30T00:09:23Z

Klickitat here, just wanted to say thanks to everyone for a fun con! Kaleetan, my polar bear companion (you know, the REALLY TALL one), sends his thanks as well.

Looking forward to pictures from the masquerade and fursuit parade, I haven't seen any with my Totem mask on (or up).

So who played Furry Pictionary?

2008-09-29T22:16:09Z

For those who aren't aware, Furry Pictionary had a few speed bumps- among other highlights, there wasn't actually a host for the event. After some discussion, we worked a way around this, and after going through a few rule-sets, we settled on one that worked. (Well, one that worked for Team Shinequah, anyways. Can anybody tell me how I was supposed to spell that?) I found most of the game hilarious, and had a lot of fun. Some panels work reasonably without actual panel hosts!

Anybody here among the people who took photos? I at least want that picture for "Magneto", if nothing else.

Kudos!

2008-09-29T21:05:30Z

Just wanted to thank the Rainfurrest staff for such a wonderful job. There were a few bumps, but everything continued on. Without their dedication, time, blood and sweat we wouldn't have had the awesome con we did.

So hats off to you all, thanks for making my return to the con scene great, and I hope see everyone again next year!

~Sitku

Rainfurrest - Made of Awesome

2008-09-29T20:24:50Z

(Commenting Enabled Now. Whoops!)

I had a complete blast at RF. I treated it very much like a social con. Saw a ton of people, met a ton of people, and saw then tons over the course of the weekend.

Operation Scratch (scritch) and sniff was a success. Mostly the entire con (when I wasn't on my kennel) gave my chest a whiff, and it was decided that Vanilla has a lot to recommend it, especially compared to stale BO.

I made a couple Kennel runs (pics forthcoming), and want to make special a shout-out to Friday's Kennel team. You guys didn't even break pace when told to get the kennel off the ground. Bam, up in the air, and back to the run :)

I also want to thank the other masters that made pet loans to me. Saturday night's run was ALSO a blast, especially once I got those spurs away from the auctioneer.

Was cool chilling at the Bellfurs party - by now, that crew has plenty of practice keeping things flowing, and I think a lot of the con leftovers swung by at least sometime that night.

Balloon Room Social Gathering - 4PM Saturday, Room 192

2008-09-27T06:16:44Z

Have you ever wanted to fill up a room with balloons and then try to move around in them? If so, come to Room 192 at 4PM Saturday (9/27)! Experience with similar dorm pranks is a plus :-).

rainfurrest @ 2008-09-22T07:47:00

2008-09-22T14:45:18Z

Hi, y'all!

I'm your new moderator, I'm Kay Fox, the Operations Lead for the con, I'm hoping we can put on a great show for you this week, but before that, some important announcements.

Pilots! Bring your pilots license or, if your training to be a pilot, bring your medical certificate, and a copy of your flight hours log for a special gift!

The hotel lead would like everyone to know that there will be specials at the hotel restaurant for the con, and there will be a cash cart (cheap food) on Saturday.