Vakkotaur

No, I am not naming a unicorn 'Later'.

This past weekend was another Penguicon, sensibly called Penguicon 2014 (which happened to be the 11th one). Orvan was out only a few times, partly as he had only a couple ACME Deliveries to make, and I cut back on the amount of Cow Tales candy to give away. I think I have the amount about right, now. The other part of that is that I still have a weight issue I am dealing with.

Some things went well. The 'Chitty Chitty' ribbon seemed to go over well with the folks who were going to the Geeks with Guns outing at a local range. Why that text? To go ahead of the event's 'Bang! Bang!' ribbon, of course. ACME was popular, as usual, though with fewer ACME deliveries explaining things, there were more questions about it. 'Moo' was a bit more self-explanatory and there was 'Houyhnhnm' as well.

Unfortunately one side-effect of the first ACME delivery, at Opening Ceremonies, was that Jay missed something set up for him as he helped Orvan back to the room. It was 10 years ago that he debuted his Tron costume there and more than a few folks are of the opinion that he (and it?) are rather representative of Penguicon and the do-your-own-thing and ignore-the-naysayers attitude of it all. To mark that, the Open Soda folks were commissioned with making up a PENGUITRON soda, a 2 liter bottle of which was to be presented at Opening Ceremonies. Alas, nobody even hinted he should be or stay around for anything. They wanted it to be a surprise, but kept it just a bit too secret.

As I was packing I was debating taking a certain shirt and a latex prop unicorn mask. I very nearly didn't, as I have an idea of what I want to do to finish the look of the thing and I'm not there yet. The unicorn needs hooves, a bit of a cooling system, and ideally a thinner me, at the very least. However, I decided on a whim to bring it anyway and see what might happen. I am so glad I did.

The shirt was a long sleeved t-shirt with text reading, "Always be yourself, unless you can be a unicorn, then always be a unicorn." Naturally that simply had to be paired with the unicorn mask. That was worth a few comments and laughs right there. A unicorn also gets attention simply from being a unicorn out and about. Mostly the unicorn was popular - and with one little girl very much so (I suspect it was the same girl who all but Elmyra-glomped Orvan for a couple minutes). There was another little girl who was a bit scared of the unicorn and I can't say I blame her - that mask is a bit on the creepy side, unicorn or not.

The unicorn mask is not fur, is light and thin, and allows me to wear my glasses under it. The result is that even without a fan (which is still a Good Idea) that it's much cooler (thermally) than Orvan and I felt like I could be out longer, or at least not feel as drained for the amount of time. Of course, the unicorn has no particular mission - he's not employed by ACME - beyond simply existing. At the end of one outing, the unicorn was told, "Wait right here!" and someone ran off in quite a hurry... and returned as unicorn himself. I have a copy of the resulting photo. I later heard that he and another had been around and this Penguicon had not one, not two, but three unicorns (make your own joke) - but I never encountered the third.

I do plan on bringing the unicorn back, and I am debating if he should be named. Also, if he should hand (hoof?) out ribbons and what text such ribbons ought to have. Long term, I might want to see about a less horrifying head and perhaps get fancy with the horn - though sparkling would be a bit much. That, however, is decidedly long term. It might never happen.

I may have been a bit late posting the ACME Delivery poll for Penguicon, but it was still over a month ago (27 January) and so far there have zero Penguicon responses. I clicked on the submit button so I could see any results and one fellow who isn't going submitted joke responses (that I do not mind) and that has been it. Right now, no suggestions of anything. And worse, I don't have ideas of my own. Correction, I have one. One. I could blame it on the Penguicon folks not having their Guests of Honor lined up and ready and listed on the web site - they claim they tend to have five or six but so far I see only two. But that isn't a solid reason. Even aside from Guests of Honor and Nifties I usually have at least a few ideas of my own.

And time is running out. While Penguicon is at the end of April, what that really means is that I need to be ready by the end of March if at all possible. I might be able to swing one or two things in April, but I'll be busy getting everything ready. And things that take time (paints, glues, shipping) can mean a project simply won't have the time to get finished - and then hauled on a 12 or so hour drive.

So right now, I have one idea. And I did just order a bunch of Cow Tales. Oh, and I recall being asked to make & bring some butterscotch fudge, so there's another little project to take up time near the last minute.

I know I haven't done as well last year. I was (and still am, dangit) way overweight and that kept my in-suit time way down and made dressing Orvan (or as Orvan) more problematic. Working on that. And then I used to post photos of Orvan's deliveries. A few years ago I wanted to included Jer's wedding photos and the tools I used didn't work well to add things, so I kept waiting and delaying and by the time I got things (and not just Jer's, someone else had something as well) I had forgotten so much I just let it go. And I didn't really get to things after that. I'm not sure I even sure I even have any of the photos from 2011.

I am starting to wonder if maybe I should let Orvan rest a while - though he really only shows up at Penguicon now. I haven't been able to afford, in time or money, RCFM or MFF or much of anything else for some time. I really only have two events a year now: Penguicon and the Siouxland Renaissance Festival, so I don't want to idle back any more.

Penguicon 2011 was a bit different for me compared to other years and I can't quite place what happened or why, exactly. A couple things are obvious, and I am not blaming the con staff (who worked their butts off putting on the event) for any of it.

I seemed to get a late start on anything ACME, which didn't help, and there wasn't all that much of that, which was both good and bad. It's easy to (try to) do too much but it's nice to be able to more than just a couple outings. It became rather painfully obvious that I lost proper control of my weight and it's like it's January 2006 for me again. This is Not Good. It is being worked on. Again. It also became obvious that one 100-count box of Cow Tales (per flavor) is plenty. It's also probably most cost effective and reliable to order the 100-count boxes rather than deal with the supply the way(s) I have been. And I should probably rule out late night deliveries - I end up preparing for them rather than doing anything else and, hey, I'd like to see/do some of the convention too. For various reasons, the BarFleet party is best avoided: too dark, too loud, too many people who seem to lack clue sober, and they aren't.

Sal Sanfratello was not there (evidently he was not feeling well) and thus the usual Sunday evening gathering didn't happen. On the good side, I had time for a much needed nap and I saw the post-Penguicon stuff I usually don't. On the bad side, I didn't do the stuff or see the people I usually did each year.

Even with the limited ACME/Orvan outings I still only really made one panel if it can be called that. I had too much of a headache to deal with the loudness of a Tom Smith performance, but I could handle the slightly quieter Frank Hayes.

I didn't hear anything of badge ribbons before Penguicon this year, but then I didn't go out of my way to ask either. Perhaps I need to be on some mailing list I'm not on. I don't know. Just as well, I doubt I'd have ordered any more anyway. I had plenty of leftover ribbons from last year. The most popular or sought after (or at least the one that I heard "Ooh, I was looking for this one!" about) was the 'NOT WIL WHEATON' ribbon. I suspect I will not be able to stop doing that one whether I want to or not. I will need to order more ribbons (and not just the Wil Wheaton one) for 2012, but there's time for that.

It was good to see Howard Tayler, Eric & Cathy Raymond, and a bunch of PenguiPeople I see only about once a year. It also was amusing to hear Eric tell about a rare instance of pulling geek rank before he posted about it.

Other than the obvious less time as Orvan and no Sunday evening gathering I can't really point to anything that made this Penguicon seem sort of... well, "almost" compared to the last few years. That doesn't mean it wasn't good. An "almost" Penguicon is still quite good.

Penguicon may be in months away, but that doesn't mean it can be ignored. Better to be ready early than rush at the last minute. Hopefully things will work out well enough that I (and therefore Orvan) will be there again in 2010. I am planning on that. Thus I am again asking for suggestions of vict... recipients and items to be delivered to these folks.

Due to some timing issues, deliveries at opening and closing ceremonies are unlikely to happen in 2010.

I'd like to avoid repeat recipients if possible, so that it isn't "Oh, ACME only delivers to that group." That's at an individual level. It certainly makes sense for the Guests of Honor to get something, but "So & so gets something every year" is what I am concerned about.

( Advise ACME )

I really only have one* and that is the ACME group. If you are not in that group and would like to be, let me know.

Someday I might have other groups, once I figure out what they should be and how best to deal with inclusion/exclusion from same.

So, want in on the ACME group so can either get an idea of what might be coming or help me conspire to fold bits of reality into more interesting shapes?

I got an e-mail, sent to the ACME Delivery rep address, asking for a price quote on what appears to be a real delivery item: a fancy home cinema system that someone wants moved from Point A to Point B. Assuming it is serious and not someone having fun doing a gag with my own gag, I sent back a polite reply explaining that the site is a joke, pointing out the image gallery, and suggesting a couple (apparently more real) delivery companies that happen to use the ACME name.

I do wonder, if this is serious, just how it happened. I thought it was pretty obvious that ACME Delivery wasn't really real, even if I do try to give it a veneer of near-reality. The rep address is not a clickable link, nor even simple text. The sender had to view an image and type the address.

It's been, well, too long. But the ACME Delivery photo gallery for RCFM 2008 ("Deep Six") is finally in place. The parcel pile didn't have everything in it, and one item didn't get delivered as planned, so the original name has been masked out. That one might yet happen someday.

Even before things really began - or maybe after the initial burst, I'm not sure any more - Kiran got the ale while Sarah took care of the ops survival kit (a bit I think I'll be phasing out for cons that have had it a couple times already). Sometime I heard that Registration ought to have a sign that read "Regs Open? NO, not yet." Well, get one.

There was a delivery at opening ceremonies. This was talked about for some time before RCFM and scripted.. to the point that the delivered object was assumed, but how it got there had been forgotten. It was a noose that fit in with the Deep Six theme and the supposed mutiny that had started at closing ceremonies in 2007. Naturally, it was not used. I don't know what became of the rope. I know it's just a knot, but there is something vaguely eerie about tying a noose like that.

PITA and KO got some candy. Actually, PITA, she with the "Unicorns are real... damnit!" icon, also got something with a unicorn on it. And KO... well, RCFM has been around going on seven years now. A few years ago another convention started up in the Rockies and called itself Rocky Mountain FurCon. RMFC. And not only did the name wind up having the initials as Rocket City FurMeet only in a different order, they wound up on the same weekend which made confusion even more likely. Someone suggest KO get "RCFM Scrabble tiles so he can arrange the letters." He did get them and you can see his preferred arrangement of those letters. Someones else, I think, suggested "any DVD" for the DVD collecting Gabriel. Why settle for just one when you can have a couple?

I don't recall what exactly was going on in this photo but somehow it amuses me. I suspect it just caught Setsu at an odd instant is all. The Wheel of Blame chose Jayrith as the karmic lightning rod for the duration of the convention. To ease his burden he got a delivery of a full treasure chest. If it was just chocolate, well, I guess he was to blame, huh?

The next delivery was a bit more complicated that it appears. A friend of Kaiya Softpaw suggested an item or items for her that many conventions ban outright. Curiously, RCFM does not or at least did not when I checked through the convention rules. I asked a staffer or two about it and it was strongly recommended against. Since this is ACME, I tried to twist the definition and make a rather literal version of the suggested item. After several tries, I gave up and tried to contact the person who suggested it and see if there was a substitute. I really wanted to have Orvan delivery something to Kaiya as her fursuit was paired up against Orvan in a fursuit "contest" and didn't want to seem as if I were avoiding that delivery for that reason. I did fully expect what actually happened there: Kaiya walked away with that round. Really, Orvan didn't have a chance. Orvan: partial fursuit, only been to a couple cons, not that terribly outgoing, male. Kaiya: full suit, probably been to more cons or more known to the fandom, energetic, and female. No, that's not sour grapes. Anyway, contact was finally made and a substitute item was suggested. It seemed to work.

Another suggestion was for Brody to get a flyswatter so he could swat those who had been bugging him. That's a silly flower on the side away from the camera. Why? I have no idea. It's ACME, it doesn't always make sense.

The fursuit guest of honor was Lion of the Sun or Lionel. When looking around for something else in a supermarket in the Twin Cities I found cans of Super Lion Energy Drink. I bought some. Later I realized that Lionel was the ideal recipient since his fursuits are augmented for extra senses and such. I did get an extra can for myself. What is the stuff like? It's pretty much a Red Bull knockoff.

Somewhere I saw something about Kia Talon and lollipops. I kept looking for lollipops on the trip to RCFM and not really finding any, though we didn't make that many stops along the way. But rather near or maybe just in Huntsville I found some. I think she liked the delivery.

RCFM tried something new in 2008: A mystery Guest of Honor. The mystery wasn't merely a well-kept secret, it was an unknowable. It could be anyone (other than staff and such) selected by drawing at Opening Ceremonies. Naturally this person ought to have a delivery, yes? But that's a problem because without knowing anything about this person, what to deliver? A mystery parcel, of course! The mystery guest was Sabrina and she got a parcel with some Deep Six themed items, such a dolphin plush and other items. And some not themed at all, but just random con-type items such as candy and caffeine mints.

Smrgol came up with one last delivery item. He'd found some bit of automotive trim from a car the same model and color as Alexander Katz's vehicle. Orvan delivered it. And got quite a reaction. I can only wonder what Alex might be plotting for Smrgol.

Last May I asked about the OPS/REG Survival Kit contents since I'd been doing that bit for a while and figured if it was continued it should be tuned a bit. The only reason I've not already retired the bit is that at least a couple times it was something that was more useful than mere joke. I expect I will still do this bit, but not that often. I've done this bit at RCFM at least twice, at MFF twice now, and Penguicon (and LibertyCon) once. I don't foresee doing this again for MFF or RCFM again anytime soon, at least in the usual form. It's been done. Hopefully not to death, but it's probably time to quit before it becomes a "run into the ground" gag.

That said, something similar is not out of the question, if I can figure out whatever it might be. At MFF someone suggested having something for a different group or crew at a con. I haven't worked out just which group might might work, and therefore what might work for such a group. The nature of the group would determine the contents of a parcel, and the practicality of building up said parcel determines if a delivery to or for that group is workable. Suggestions are welcome. Please e-mail me or send a private message, or find me on IM -- that way it won't be all out in public like an LJ reply will be. There should be some surprise, after all.

The other bit I'm pondering if I should keep up is the Cow Tales give-away. I've done this with both "EAT CANDY - NOT CATTLE" and "COURTESY OF ACME" labeling. I've done this bit at every con at which Orvan has appeared. I wonder if I've overdone it by repeating at the same con every year, or if it would be more disappointing if I didn't do it.

Also, I am currently lacking ideas or suggestions for Penguicon and RCFM. I put up polls (for Penguicon,for RCFM) pretty much right after RCFM this year and have only gotten a couple suggestions, despite the occasional reminder to the respective LJ communities. I wonder if people see the old poll date and figure that there is already a big list, or if folks simply haven't thought about it much yet. I understand the not thinking about it right off, but I do like to have time to prepare and more is better. Some items aren't the easiest to find (or make) in a hurry. Others require a trip to a larger city. I felt like I was really cutting it close for RCFM this last year.

In reviewing delivery suggestions for ACME, I've found a couple that are pretty much like asking Santa Claus for something. This bothers me, as it breaks the setup of the ACME Delivery shtick: the recipient should be surprised, at least a little bit. Evidently I had not made that clear and so I've gone back and edited the last few polls to make that plain. I have also made such a change on the ACME Delivery web site.

Any further self-serving suggestions will be ignored. Those already submitted, since it was my fault I didn't make it clear, are in a gray area. I am really tempted to just drop those as well, and I could as I did solicit suggestions rather than orders. Alternately, they could be turned sideways as it were. This is ACME, after all.

I am also thinking that I probably shouldn't bother with any truly anonymous suggestions (I do allow anonymous comments, with restriction) as those are apt to be self-serving. I don't care to "out" anybody, I just want to be sure that ACME Delivery isn't being abused with gimmees.

I'm getting a bit of a head start on things for ACME at Penguicon.

I'm looking for suggestions of what ACME should deliver at Penguicon 7 (2009), and who things should be delivered to.

( Advise ACME  )