Conifur 2005 report
Well, I suppose it's time I updated this thing with my Conifur report.
First off, if you've not read Teekachu's report on the con, do so. I don't have much to say beyond what she did because... well... we basically spent the whole time together, eh.
I will say that although the hotel wasn't all that great this year, I did like the fact that the guest rooms were much closer to the meeting areas over all. It was nice not to have to use elevators. That being said, it's taken two whole nights sleeping in a bed that doesn't suck for my body to finally recoup sleeping on the concrete slabs with sheets they had in the hotel rooms at the Radisson. Sheesh.
Anyway... the stuff Teeka didn't mention...
First off, the other person we went out to eat with at the Rain Forest Cafe was Renton-local Java Fox. Who apparently doesn't like furries all that much, and therefore wasn't interested in attending the con. Weird. Go fig, eh.
What else... what else...
Ah yes! The art auction: If you've not been to a Conifur live auction before, this is approximately how it works: Only pieces that got 6 or more bids in the silent auction end up going to the live auction. Uncle Kage and Glen (I forget his last name-- significant other to Terry Smith) are the two that run the show. Their goal, of course, is to get the bidders to go as high as possible in an effort to earn the artists as much as possible for their precious wares. (The Con doesn't get a cut of the profits or anything, as far as I'm aware.)
Now, if you've never seen these two in action before, let it be known that their "auctioneer" techniques are a little... unusual. No holds are barred in this sort of competition. They've been known to beg, plead, often insult and otherwise goad the bidders to loosen their vice-grips on their pennies. It doesn't always work; But when it does work even a little, Kage and Glen redouble their efforts to try and stretch the bidding as long and high as possible...
Now, Teeka and I have done the art show/auction thing for a few years now, and I'm pretty sure that Kage and Glen remember us well enough to know that we'll generally splurge a bit more than we probably should, and usually end up coming away with the pieces we want. Conifur is a nice con in that we get really nice art in the show, but few enough buyers that those that do want something can often get away with it for much less than they would have spent at a more populated con. (In many ways, I'd consider Conifur to be the art buyer's con.) Anyway, when the one piece Teeka and I put in the live auction came up ("8 of clubs" by Dark Natasha), when Kage saw that there wasn't going to be any opposition to our high bid on the bid sheet, he snuck off behind the curtain and called out a bid just a bit higher than the one we'd left on the bid sheet. (Last year, he upped our $200 bid on a piece in the silent auction by $1 just so that it would go to the live auction and he could squeeze a few more dollars out of us. Sheesh!) Anyway, of course I immediately trumped him, which of course got some applause from the audience, and won us the piece.
The next thing that came up I hadn't intended to bid upon-- it was a small "Butterfly Fox" print by Xian Jaguar. But seeing as it was a fox, and Teeka and I have a weak spot for foxes (Duh!)... I finally did meld with a bid only a bit above what the competition offered. At this point, Uncle Kage went to the other bidder and said something like "Are you going to let that hairy troglodyte get it?" to try and goad him into bidding... Somebody else continued the bidding higher, and immediately Kage was back to Teeka and I. Teeka said something like "Well, he's not going to bid now! You called him a troglodyte!"
...Whereupon both Glen and Kage both launched into a soliloquy on the virtues of the troglodyte. I seem to recall Glen saying something like "Troglodytes are the foundation of our society. Where would we be without troglodytes?..." and other such stuff. Kage took me by the head and kissed me on the forehead, saying something like I was actually a very beautiful troglodyte... and then he admitted to being a troglodyte himself, and moved behind my chair to give me a hug from behind, saying "Daddy!" as affectionately as one can while supressing laughter. About this point, Kiefer and Firebringer and possibly others on their row in the back start chanting "Go Foxleys! Go Foxleys! Go, go, go Foxleys!"
Well, of course I bid. And came away with a print that I know I spent too much on... but it's probably worth the entertainment and memory anyway, eh. Teeka and I had a good time with that, as we always do with the live auction, and I'm looking forward to it next year. And to the artists who had pieces in the show: Know that there's almost nothing Kage and Glen wouldn't do to get you that last 5 bucks on your art...
...
Anyway, other than that... I think I got 4 or 5 new badges done this year, one of which may have been destroyed on the last day by the Evil Leaky Cooler of Doom we'd been storing our sammich stuff in. It was only a pencil drawing, so hopefully we'll be able to salvage it. Teeka and I got to meet Kliefox for the first time in the flesh; He's a riot, eh! Very witty and a talented artist to boot. I do look forward to being able to hang out with him again, eh. :D We also got to meet several of our SecondLife friends in person for the first time. (Also looking forward to other occasions to do stuff together in our "First Lives.")
I think I'm about over the post-con crud this year; Teeka and I were just... very tired most of the con, partially due to a mild stomach flu we may have come to the con with, partially do to the crappy beds and inability to get a decent night's sleep, partially do to the con crud we ended up getting by the end of the con.
It was good to see a lot of our Seattle friends again. And a little weird and sad at the same time-- we miss y'all. But we just... don't want to live in or around Seattle, eh. It's good to see that most of y'all are doing very well and often better than when we left.
And... well... that's all, folks.
First off, if you've not read Teekachu's report on the con, do so. I don't have much to say beyond what she did because... well... we basically spent the whole time together, eh.
I will say that although the hotel wasn't all that great this year, I did like the fact that the guest rooms were much closer to the meeting areas over all. It was nice not to have to use elevators. That being said, it's taken two whole nights sleeping in a bed that doesn't suck for my body to finally recoup sleeping on the concrete slabs with sheets they had in the hotel rooms at the Radisson. Sheesh.
Anyway... the stuff Teeka didn't mention...
First off, the other person we went out to eat with at the Rain Forest Cafe was Renton-local Java Fox. Who apparently doesn't like furries all that much, and therefore wasn't interested in attending the con. Weird. Go fig, eh.
What else... what else...
Ah yes! The art auction: If you've not been to a Conifur live auction before, this is approximately how it works: Only pieces that got 6 or more bids in the silent auction end up going to the live auction. Uncle Kage and Glen (I forget his last name-- significant other to Terry Smith) are the two that run the show. Their goal, of course, is to get the bidders to go as high as possible in an effort to earn the artists as much as possible for their precious wares. (The Con doesn't get a cut of the profits or anything, as far as I'm aware.)
Now, if you've never seen these two in action before, let it be known that their "auctioneer" techniques are a little... unusual. No holds are barred in this sort of competition. They've been known to beg, plead, often insult and otherwise goad the bidders to loosen their vice-grips on their pennies. It doesn't always work; But when it does work even a little, Kage and Glen redouble their efforts to try and stretch the bidding as long and high as possible...
Now, Teeka and I have done the art show/auction thing for a few years now, and I'm pretty sure that Kage and Glen remember us well enough to know that we'll generally splurge a bit more than we probably should, and usually end up coming away with the pieces we want. Conifur is a nice con in that we get really nice art in the show, but few enough buyers that those that do want something can often get away with it for much less than they would have spent at a more populated con. (In many ways, I'd consider Conifur to be the art buyer's con.) Anyway, when the one piece Teeka and I put in the live auction came up ("8 of clubs" by Dark Natasha), when Kage saw that there wasn't going to be any opposition to our high bid on the bid sheet, he snuck off behind the curtain and called out a bid just a bit higher than the one we'd left on the bid sheet. (Last year, he upped our $200 bid on a piece in the silent auction by $1 just so that it would go to the live auction and he could squeeze a few more dollars out of us. Sheesh!) Anyway, of course I immediately trumped him, which of course got some applause from the audience, and won us the piece.
The next thing that came up I hadn't intended to bid upon-- it was a small "Butterfly Fox" print by Xian Jaguar. But seeing as it was a fox, and Teeka and I have a weak spot for foxes (Duh!)... I finally did meld with a bid only a bit above what the competition offered. At this point, Uncle Kage went to the other bidder and said something like "Are you going to let that hairy troglodyte get it?" to try and goad him into bidding... Somebody else continued the bidding higher, and immediately Kage was back to Teeka and I. Teeka said something like "Well, he's not going to bid now! You called him a troglodyte!"
...Whereupon both Glen and Kage both launched into a soliloquy on the virtues of the troglodyte. I seem to recall Glen saying something like "Troglodytes are the foundation of our society. Where would we be without troglodytes?..." and other such stuff. Kage took me by the head and kissed me on the forehead, saying something like I was actually a very beautiful troglodyte... and then he admitted to being a troglodyte himself, and moved behind my chair to give me a hug from behind, saying "Daddy!" as affectionately as one can while supressing laughter. About this point, Kiefer and Firebringer and possibly others on their row in the back start chanting "Go Foxleys! Go Foxleys! Go, go, go Foxleys!"
Well, of course I bid. And came away with a print that I know I spent too much on... but it's probably worth the entertainment and memory anyway, eh. Teeka and I had a good time with that, as we always do with the live auction, and I'm looking forward to it next year. And to the artists who had pieces in the show: Know that there's almost nothing Kage and Glen wouldn't do to get you that last 5 bucks on your art...
...
Anyway, other than that... I think I got 4 or 5 new badges done this year, one of which may have been destroyed on the last day by the Evil Leaky Cooler of Doom we'd been storing our sammich stuff in. It was only a pencil drawing, so hopefully we'll be able to salvage it. Teeka and I got to meet Kliefox for the first time in the flesh; He's a riot, eh! Very witty and a talented artist to boot. I do look forward to being able to hang out with him again, eh. :D We also got to meet several of our SecondLife friends in person for the first time. (Also looking forward to other occasions to do stuff together in our "First Lives.")
I think I'm about over the post-con crud this year; Teeka and I were just... very tired most of the con, partially due to a mild stomach flu we may have come to the con with, partially do to the crappy beds and inability to get a decent night's sleep, partially do to the con crud we ended up getting by the end of the con.
It was good to see a lot of our Seattle friends again. And a little weird and sad at the same time-- we miss y'all. But we just... don't want to live in or around Seattle, eh. It's good to see that most of y'all are doing very well and often better than when we left.
And... well... that's all, folks.