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Further Confusion 2007

Sunday 21st January:

Sled pull: The husky photo shoot had been thought of by mtdewhusky months before FC, but at the appointed time, Kobuk was not to be seen. However, someone from con staff gave the huskies milling around in the foyer a sled from the Critterlympics, and what happened next was inevitable really. We pulled mightytauren to the registration area and back, only colliding with one table. I got a ride outside to the hotel entrance, then we paused briefly; Kobuk had turned up, and a friend of Sprocket's was getting a quick photo in the sled. Someone shouted "Mush", and they were off again, dragging the woman in the suit all around the car park and through the Fursuit Airbrush Techniques panel before Kobuk and I caught up with them! Seems that if your not covered in fur, you may notice the base of the sled getting rather warm!

Fursuit Parade: Time for my only official appearance in suit at the con. Hundreds of suiters gathered at the rear of the hotel ready to parade through the hotel, and fill terabytes of silicon storage. The parade itself was a bit of a blur, and long doubling back on itself through the main area of the hotel, before finishing at the convention entrance, and generally milling about. Amused to hear babsbunny's Lili Fox questioning Jack Sparrow's credentials for being included in the fursuit parade: What sort of animal was he? The answer - a bird!

So now the program schedule calls for the quick change special. To reach the tenth floor, unsuit, shower, rinse undergarments, get dressed and make it back down for the animatronics panel starting is less than 10 minutes.

Animatronics for fursuits: Wolftronix's panel on animatronics was right up my street, focusing more on electronics, microcontrollers, and programming. It proved one thing that I'd suspected but hadn't had chance to prove (I lost some code and lots of enthusiasm after the break-in last summer), namely that easing in and out of motions is the key to avoiding the robotic look, and that servos can cope. Very encouraging, and getting one of his controllers may be a simple way to get started again. I look forward to seeing what anthropuppy makes with his.

Also impressed by the wire-frame construction of his heads, and the way they open at the back with homemade hinges and catches. I don't think it's a construction technique I'd choose to use, but the ventilation must be great, with plenty of airspace. "Design for performance" is another pragma I've come away from the con with.

Desert Social: Free desert! What's not to like? Combined with our executive privileges, this makes an entire free meal! Got to have a decent chat with aeto after running into him most mornings. Seems the social started as a way to use up the catering budget that's part of the contract with the hotel. It's such an excellent idea that the event carries on even though it's no longer financially necessary.

Furry Nite Live: Queued forever to get into this after the desert social. We were in the part of the queue just at the bottom of the stairs, and the line stretched all the way back to the dealer's den. Like every event on the main stage it was delayed beyond reason. Around the 50min mark we were told that everyone from the stairs down probably wouldn't fit into the room, and advised to watch it on FCTV. Utlah and I decided to give up waiting and headed to the bar to get some beers in before retiring to the room. We experimented briefly with getting FCTV on the big set in the executive lounge, but it wasn't to be.

Not too long after the video feed started from the stage. There were a lot of empty seats. Then requests started for people watching on TV to return to the live event. I felt a little sorry for the performers who would be playing to a half empty house, but I was propped up comfortably in bed with a beer...

FNL soon went from looking like a pastiche of bad amateur dramatics to something so technically bad it was worse than a junior school play. Too much technology, and not enough basic stagecraft. Lights would go down, lights would come up, someone would run on stage with a chair or table, music would start, then stop, the DVD logo would appear on the projection screens, performers would wonder on stage and wait aimlessly, then go off again, music would start, and they'd rush, tripping, back on. Not just once, but over and over. I think the first time we saw the pre-recorded bits (which folks like redstorm had worked hard on) by the highly technical process of having the cameraman point the camera at the projection screen I nearly spewed a mouthful of beer over my bed!