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.

Is Twitter a fad like the Hula Hoop and Pet Rock, or is it a fad like Radio and Television? I don't know. But now even Orvan is using it, though his tweets.. twits... tweetering... tweeting... twittering... twitting... well, they're all just mooing in his case. I don't get it.

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.

A fellow I knew some years ago was, and presumably still is, fond of saying, "When we're rich and famous..." I'd often reply that I would settle for rich and not famous as it would be less hassle. I can't confirm the rich part, much as I might like to, but having seen what jmaynard initially went through and some of the lingering nonsense, I think I can confirm that relative obscurity is less hassle than relative fame.

The City Pages article was the first time I'd been mentioned along with Jay in regard to the Tron Guy stuff. As Orvan was revealed (I simply replied truthfully when asked if I had any costumes beyond renfaire attire as it's just easier that way) and then it hit Fark, I was bracing for a flood of st00p1d in my journals and e-mail. If not from Fark directly, then indirectly as it filtered through the net. It didn't happen.

Oh, it filtered through the net alright. Links to that article show up in several places. But most seem to just be links to the Fark entry, and the others have little if any comment. I have a couple examples. A link to the article was posted on a site called Snarkfest. In a thread with Julia Child being revealed as spy for the Allies in WWII, modern science bringing invisibility cloaks grudgingly into reality, a couple people in costumes just aren't very interesting. Another site, vivisector, that claims to be a sort of anthropological study of furry in all aspects, good and bad, also had someone point out the City Pages article. That person is either more furry-aware (understandable given the site) or did the truly basic level of internet research needed to find a couple images of Orvan and Orvan's journal. And... that thread is empty save for the initial post. And it's been bumped down as a particular web site experienced another outage and that's more interesting.

I am not displeased by the lack of attention. While I believe there are plenty of jerks around, it's nice to not have to deal with them. It amuses me to see a couple potential pot-stirrers get no followup. Evidently Jay's schoolyard classification is about right as the other sites seem a bit more mature and nothing much happens. Why should anything? As malterre said about an earlier post, "I see stranger shit taking public transportation."

And then there is also the benefit of the doubt. I don't like to believe that most people are idiots. That doesn't mean I can't be convinced that someone really is an idiot, however. Reading though the Fark comments, I found myself wondering how many of the people posting stupid things really believed the stupid things they were posting. Were they that stupid or gullible, or were they trolling each other, or was it all one big in-joke that anyone looking in might mistake for real rather than fake idiocy? Faking idiocy seems to be one of those things that's only amusing to the one doing it, so when it isn't amusing it just seems stupid, or at best ignorant.

The misspelling of Orvan's name in the City Pages article reveals something interesting as well. If I do searches using the correct spelling, I get the ACME Delivery site, Orvan's journal, and mentions of him by other folks in a generally positive way. But if I do a search for the misspelling I get the City Pages article, the Fark entry, and various folks linking to one or the other, often with a "more than you wanted to know" comment that seems to asking for OMGWTFICBM responses. The difference seems to be a simple enough one. The folks using the correct spelling have met or seen Orvan at conventions and found him friendly or amusing or at least mostly harmless, while those using or copying the misspelling have only seen the short mention in one article - and then either jump to conclusions or hope for others to do so. In way, though probably not the one intended, it manages to be a bit amusing.

From a Penguicon community post:

Chris Genetti signed up to create our first Furry track.

I'm sure Chris was the major force in this and likely Furry Connection North (the FurCon that took place in the area a week before Penguicon) was significant.

But I can't help but wonder if Orvan appearing last year and this year had just a little bit to do with this.

Several months before Penguicon I contacted matt_arnold about possible ACME deliveries. He was kind enough to put me in contact with etain, Penguicon's Talent Coordinator. She suggested or relayed several ideas to me, which was good as I simply didn't know most folks well enough to come up with really good items for them. There were plans or suggestions for a good number of folks, as can be seen by a look at the parcel pile.

( You got a cookie for what?! )

I've seen a few posts from folks who said that for one reason or another they will not or might not be at RCFM. Also, I have only one or two fairly firm ideas for ACME delivery stuff at RCFM. This is sort of surprising, in a bad way. I expected I'd have a few ideas or get a few from various folks. I had a lot of suggestions for Penguicon and was able (with help) to make most of them work and so that went rather well.

I don't expect to do as much as I did at MFF and Penguicon, but having only two or three items bugs me some. Why? It feels like I'm not doing enough. On the good side, if Orvan isn't doing deliveries all the time, he has time to do other things, and so do I. But I'd still like to have a bit more. I figure half a dozen deliveries is a reasonable lower limit, and that's not counting any spur of the moment things that can happen when someone says, "Hey, could I get ACME to deliver this?"

The ideal item to deliver is inexpensive (easy to buy if need be), small (easy to haul across several states), and appreciated or found amusing by the recipient.

So since I am wondering who will be at RCFM and what more Orvan might do, here's a poll:

[Poll #1177720]

Comments (at least from friends list folks) are not screened, just so you know.

I haven't tried to join the military and been rejected. That's "Fandom's Favorite Fursuit Fracas" which seems rather a pompous claim. I am not sure it's the favorite or if it is just the default, there not being any other such. Last year someone came up with the idea to have a bunch of fursuits "face off" against each other on line in what amounts to a popularity contest. Supposedly there was a performance aspect to it, but it really seems to come down to a popularity contest with "Oh, I know that person" or "I know that suit maker" or even "I think that one is prettier." and such. So I have been merrily ignoring the whole thing, as it didn't seem to have much point.

A few nights ago Draconis IM-ed me asking if I minded if he nominated Orvan for this. I replied that I found the whole thing rather silly and pointless, but I wouldn't stop him. He replied that if nothing else at least it would be some publicity, which I do concede. I'm unsure if it's good way to get it, but there is that "as long as they spell the name right" comment. This has caused some trouble as the name submitted was "Orvan the Ox" and not "Orvan Ox" so an entry on WikiFur had to be corrected to point to Orvan's entry rather than the "there is no entry for..." page. I'm not sure if even "Orvan Ox' would have worked as the entry is "Orvan_Ox" as I recall.

I think crssafox pretty much sums it up even if I have not done nearly as much. Sure, I could have declined and I did consider it. But realistically I do not expect to win (there's nothing to win, anyway) and so I'm looking at it as a publicity stunt and nothing more.

I am not asking for your, or anyone else's, vote, nor will I be asking. I will also not be voting in this. What you do is up to you. If you follow this, you might let me know when it's over, or over for me (and Orvan). Thank you. Now, if you'll kindly excuse me, I have some stuff to do to get ready for Penguicon.

Ever see what happened with that Crave Case? In case you missed it, start here. Saying Stego seemed to enjoy the delivery seems something of an understatement. I've been told he actually packed all the mallow-burgers and mallow-fries and took them home with him. That unnerves me some.

I had one more mallow-burger left than originally fit into the Crave Case. After MFF, jmaynard and I gave it a try. We each took half... and each ate less than a quarter of it before tossing the remainder.

This isn't so much about MFF but my dealing with things. I had a generally good time, but I felt like I was missing a few things or at least didn't have as much time to just do whatever. The same is true for Orvan. No, it's more true for Orvan. With three candy runs and sixteen deliveries that didn't all go to easily-found folks Orvan spent most of his time "working" or trying to. This seemed odd as Orvan seemed to do better at Penguicon and LibertyCon than at MFF.

Part of that might be that it was generally easier to find folks at Penguicon and LibertyCon, or it was more likely to have a guide. Also, at LibertyCon I didn't feel like I was missing anything. I probably did miss some great panels, but it didn't feel like it to me. I think I need to limit the amount of deliveries Orvan does at any given event, or perhaps make sure that he has guides to the folks he does deliveries to. At least a couple of the Saturday deliveries were a real pain to handle solo since I didn't know the recipient enough to spot as Orvan - and Jay didn't know them either so if he had been around it wouldn't have helped. I don't want to limit too much, and I certainly don't want to turn away anyone if they have an item they want Orvan to deliver under the ACME name. That's why I have some extra bags and boxes and packing material: I can do some ACME prep at a con if need be. But I also would like to have time, at furry cons anyway, to be in suit and "off the clock." So I will continue to try to get things done before Sunday. I thought that that arrangement worked out well at RCFM. There was still a Sunday delivery or two, but things were arranged well.

Another thing is that I have to limit the amount of candy if I do that bit. Whether it's "EAT CANDY NOT CATTLE" for a furry con or "COURTESY OF ACME" for a non-furry con (so as not to be mistaken for an actual protester) the shtick really only needs to happen once per convention. Having just a little extra might be a good idea, as I do occasionally get asked about it by someone who missed it, but that doesn't need to be very much.

I have to be careful as this MFF was starting to lurch into the realm of AnthroCon Disease: Too much time spent looking for people. It says something that the time I spent gophering was actually a somewhat relaxing down-time. Oh, I was active and all, but it was break from other things. At least I can regulate what all Orvan has to do. Or maybe in 2009, depending on how 2008 goes (including how well MFF debugs its security) it'll be time to swap out MFF for some other, smaller convention. Unfortunately they all seem to be more distant and even less conveniently timed.

On the good side, expanding beyond the folks I know does seem to work. It means anybody might get a delivery, not just people I know or who know me (or Orvan). ACME's reputation seems to be improving, too. Orvan still gets asked, "Will it blow up?" but at least a couple people looked at the signature sheets and expressed disappointment, rather than relief, that they weren't getting an ACME delivery. I do need more co-conspirators, however. There will likely be a post or poll about that sometime soon.