Midwest FurFrest 2004: November 18th - 22nd (original) (raw)

I had a great time again at MFF, and I didn't lose my voice like last year :)

Hotel
Hotel was kewl as usual, nice staff and stuff. I was a bit annoyed that they screwed up my room though. Despite having gone a bit paranoid and confirmed the room about three times over a two month period, last time being the week before the con, they still only had one bed rather than two. My roommates got there earlier than I and got a cot but still...I found it annoying. Talking to other furs, it sounds like at least a few other rooms had encountered the same dilemma.
Oh yeah, roommed with titanwolf, quentincoyote, and shockwave77598 - lotsa fun even though none of us really stayed put for very long.

Travel
Note: If you saw my phone post from friday night, the following has more background story on what that was all about.
No problems with my flights, Independance Air did a pretty nifty job for me so I'll probably be using them again in the future (unlike my dealings with AWA or American Airlines - blah!).
On the transfer flight I spotted two furs from the NYC area, when the plane stabilized went over to say hi. It sounded like they were going to rent a car and asked if I wanted to join them - which y'know, it probably being quicker and cheaper so I agreed and canceled my limo ride when we touched down. But things didn't quite work out. First off, one of the furs' luggage did not arrive with our plane - so it took awhile to find out what was going to happen. They got his name and hotel location for if they found it (they eventually did find it and he got it by the end of the same day). So all that took the better part of an hour.
Then we're walking down the pickup level and I find that an actual reservation hadn't been put in place for a car - got me a tad concerned. We couldn't find any desk clerks so we just hopped on first bus to the rental place (Thrifty Cars). Waiting in line for a bit, saw some guy that looked like Santa on vacation :P, and then we get one of the clerks. First off, this guy sent out some bad vibes - young, kinda fast talking kid, more concerned about renting us a pricey car than anything else. We got settled on vehicle type, price, and all that - I admit I wasn't really paying attention since I was only along for the ride. But...but then time for the payment came along. The two furs I was with wanted to split the dealings - one would pay, the other drive...but apparently you can't have that, it's gotta be same person. And the fur that was going to pay was underage so they wouldn't rent to him, the fur that was going to drive didn't have the money...eyes turn to my direction. I put it down on my credit card, on my license - I trusted these furs enough to do that but of course in hindsight it's never a good idea no matter how well you know someone. I had assurances that when the car was returned it would be paid for in cash so the charge wouldn't appear on my credit card, and I just wanted that to be made sure because my flight would leave hours before the car was to be returned on monday.
Had a little bit of trouble getting to the hotel but eventually got there. We did the split up. I went out to dinner with some friends, forgot all about the car.
Next day, friday night say around 10pm I get a call on my cell phone. "Freaky, you gotta come down to the lobby. The car's been stolen!" Whoa. So first thing I'm hoping is that it's like all a joke, right? rockwolf was with me and we both headed downstairs where I find the fur pretty on edge - I gotta admit my initial reaction was not so good, but considering I was getting a bit freaked I'd say my anger was a bit expected. Apparently the car was parked in the lot like a half hour earlier, they said exactly where it was and it just wasn't there anymore...not good. So one of the con staff was there - Chouette, a friend of the fur, and she suggested we call the car rental place. I have to do all the talking, it's on my credit card and I'm the only one who was supposed to be driving - I did not have a complete picture of all the details. While I'm trying to find a number that actually works they others are looking over the receipt and paperwork and I hear something like "It looks like you declined the insurance." WTF!?!? My legs were getting a bit weak at this point, I would probably be tearful if I was so anal about not showing such emotions out in a crowd (and like it's the lobby of the Hyatt so it's pretty friggin crowded). I finally get through to someone at some office and it's confirmed that we declined the insurance (I curse myself that I didn't pay more attention to all the details, that I didn't go back and check what was gonna get put under my name). The guy asks if I have car insurance, no of course I don't - I'm in friggin' NYC so what the fuck do I need a car for? Then he makes some comment that sounds like my credit card would have to cover it or if it had insurance or something (basically w/o insurance I guess they charge you for the whole car if it like, y'know ends up missing). He suggests I call the police and get a case number and then call back.
I'm freaked at this point. The fur that had been driving the car keeps assuring me that whatever the costs, in the end he'll take care of it - and I do believe him but still...I'm freaked!
So I call the police, they come down and I'm all alone talking to him. I stumble over the story a bit, I do not know if anyone checked the rest of the lot for the car but end up saying we did - otherwise he'll leave, right? and then we gotta call him back. Then one of the con security comes by, Straif, and brings up that some furs had seen a tow truck taking a car somewhere - maybe it's our car if we hadn't parked in the lot correctly? So we ask the officer to drive around and see if he can spot what truck company would take the car. He leaves and I'm hoping that it was towed and that maybe this won't end up being the end of the con for me.
About ten minutes pass and he returns. "The car is parked in the lot." o.O What? I ask him to drive me there, first time I was in the back of a police car - of course I forgot you can't open the door from the inside. It's not parked where the fur had described it, I try the key and it works - I thank the cop and then walk back to the hotel.
I get back to the lobby and the fur is on the ground practically hyper-ventilating, just basically a huge crash from all the stress and adrenaline. They've got some medical con staff there checking him out. We take him to his room and a lot of people are checking him out, talking to him and stuff - they're not sure if he fell and hit his head or anything - he basically blacked out for a second. I start talking to someone he had picked up from the airport earlier, it sounds like they had gone out a few times during the day so it's possible all the distractions made him think he parked in one spot when it was actually another (even though the fur insisted without a doubt he was parked in like the third row in front of some car that had like YIFFY1 as the license plate or whatever). I had decided walking back to the hotel I wanted the car returned asap. So in the furs' room I mention this to Chouette, and she was great in offering to lead me there in her van and then drive me back after returning it, I was also thankful for Rock for driving out there with me - I hate driving in city areas.. We got directions, confirmed place was open twenty-four hours, and were off - though got lost a little bit but got some help from locals that steered us back on course.
I returned the car, paid them in cash, next day got reimbursed. I have to give big props and hugs to everyone that stuck around for moral support, helped, and anything else - I would've seriously been completely lost and would've probably just collapsed or something. Around the time we got back to the hotel I made the phone post. The whole thing took from about 10pm until 2-230am, so I missed the Furry Variety Show but at that point I was just too relieved to care.

Whew, so anyways the trip back home wasn't quite as exciting. Very luckily both planes were not full and I got good stewardesses that helped me move to an empty row. One of the things I won at the Auction was too big and fragile to trust in the TSA's hands and wouldn't fit in overhead baggage, so I had to put it under seat next to me - and amazingly it actually survived the trip. If I had known that then maybe I would've bid on a few other big things I decided weren't worth the risk to bring home ;)

Finally, the AirTrain is amazing. I can't see myself ever taking the bus to JFK again, all I gotta do is take a quick train trip to the AirTrain and a few minutes on board and I'm at the correct terminal - no fuss no muss. Sure it costs five bucks each way but avoiding the stress of waiting for those buses, the lines, and awkward seating is worth at least that. Can you imagine missing a flight because of that? For MFM I went to JFK for first time, took the bus there - what I initially figured would take only about an hour took closer to two - good thing I was paranoid with giving myself enough time; I had an earlier flight for MFF so I did not want to risk it.

General Con Stuff
Did much in the way of wandering around. Saw a bunch of furs at this con, many of whom I only knew a bit from online or knew of but never really interacted around. So it was very much fun. This con has a very medium size feel to it, so it's got benefits from both sides without losing too much in other regards; very decent size auction and dealer's room, the best con suite I've seen at a furcon, they got plenty of restaurants within walking distance and a mall across the street - very good location.

I volunteered a lot, finally managed to earn a free membership - though some of the hours were hastily picked, they interfered with some gatherings I should've been at. Got most of the stuff I bid on, though if I hadn't left for volunteering last half hour it was open I probably would've had one more great piece I had my eye on :P Didn't make it to the dance but I got to see enough from checking badges at the door. Didn't make any panels 'cept for the Fursuit Meet & Greet. The sponsor luncheon was fantastic, great food and large variety, and I loved the buffet style.

Went to restaurants at various points with friends. Loved of course hanging out with so many furs at the Olive Garden, and Houlihans, and Red Robin, and other places?

Fursuiting
Didn't get to do as much fursuiting as I wanted to but just been juggling between the sorta time constraints of everything when you add in going back to the room and changing in/out of costume. Also, it eats through your clothing so fast! I'm so drenched every time I get out of suit, can't really use those clothes again for rest of con - so gotta make it count. I tried a slightly different look at this con for Ra'Codo - mostly wore my navy coat with it and black pants rather than the hawaiin shirt, it's a lot more stylish. I thought it looked pretty good.

Went to the Fursuit Meet & Greet. Room was a little cramped but most everybody seemed to fit alright. At one point during introductions someone specifically said they wuz straight, mostly jokingly. So then it was like a count after that with how many furs were straight or female - I think it was like three fully hetero fursuiters and five female fursuiters, at least of those that admitted the orientation, interesting tally ;)

Did the Fursuit Games, that was a lot of fun (wore my much lighter hawaiin shirt wardrobe for that). I think I'll probably be skipping any future Twister competitions, just not made for that. But out of all the games, I love the musical chair one the best - cuz I just don't care about winning, just want to have fun dancing around the chairs cuz most of the others seem too intent on actually winning. It's loads of fun, but damn was I so out of breath - near the end I was just gasping for air in between songs. There were so many chairs at this one, lotsa fun.

Of course also did the Fursuit parade. That's always a blast.

Non-Fur Interactions
There seemed to be a number of other cons using the hotel at various points during the weekend. A number of people that were in business suits had been mulling around at various points.

At one point early in the con, maybe friday afternoon there were a large contingent of asian business looking people wandering around. An older gentleman asked what it was all about, he sorta had a thick accent - hopefully my explanation (which I don't really remember) was good enough for him.
At another point, saturday night, I was milling around outside the front doors at like after midnightish and about five or six middle age women - who sounded pretty buzzed came by. They saw my tail and the other people I was with and started like asking all kinds of 'Is that some sort of kink?' type questions - and when the answer was that mostly only worn at cons it sounded like one of them had had experience with tails in like sex or something O.o - yeah they were pretty plastered. So like I tell them if they go in the hotel they'll see much more interesting stuff, they do and you can visibly see them laughing their asses off. After a few minutes they come outside to grab a cab and one of them is like 'So this is part of that CSI Miami thing?' and I quite idignantly respond 'That would be CSI Las Vegas actually.' And another lady is like 'Are there any girls in those costumes' and I'm like 'Yeah, plenty' and she had to plastered cuz she was like 'Oh I'm getting all hot now.' Dude, what the fuck???

The mall of course some people saw my tail or others, though I don't remember really seeing any other furs wandering when I was there. Actually, very people visibly seemed to notice anything but a few mighta asked me about it but I don't quite remember.

Now this isn't a non-fur related thing but since everyone else noticed this guy I'll mention him too. Dubbed 'Creepy Guy' by more than a few, I first noticed him the first day - he was wearing a fur coat and when I saw him he was in a generic halloween type wolfman mask at this coffee shop in the hotel. He like growled or something and this guy in a business suit had such of fucked up looking reaction on his face I almost died laughing. But then fast forward to a little bit later when I was helping direct people to registration stuff with shy_matsi the Creepy Guy shows up and he just keeps talking for like twenty minutes. Complete open book, laying out everything...stuff that just naturally doesn't get talked about to strangers was brought up, some of the more exotic topics in furry (like him wanting to be reincarnated as a wolf) got brought up. And after filling out the form he continued to stall by tracing over what he'd already written so he had an excuse to keep talking! It was...bizarre.
I felt a bit of sympathy for this guy up until I heard some complaints about him - he just either did not have any social skills at all or chose to ignore them, seriously putting a damper on some other con goers expeiences. A couple furs I know did a bit of a mock interview with him - if they get that thing online I'm sure you'll agree the decision to kick him out was a well made one.

The Charity "Thank You" Show with 2 Gryphon and Kage was pretty kewl, though I don't really like the idea of being forced to donate (it should be voluntary, and we know from past cons that furs are pretty generous). Some funny jokes and anecdotes.

Went to a number of room parties; had a lot of fun at sabotlours and carol_kitty's parties - and it was a lot of fun hanging out sunday on Carol's birtday, daveqat had a much fun party as well, and also visited party for fursuiters.

Went to the Midnight Howl, that was pretty kewl - didn't last too long though but it was a blast howling at the moon in like a group of thirty other furs.

Checked out the Rocky Horror Picture Show with the very drunk Carol and Titan, that was an interesting experience ;)

Just a lot of bumming around, oh and there was also of course the finding of one of the props from the charity show, a half bottle of wine out in the hallway, when I was with cyberwolf80 and prowlerwolf6.

Had a great time with everyone I met and hung out with, hope to see you all again ^.^