From Fark commentary:



<Tweety>Aw, did we bweak their widdle bwains?</Tweety>

Current Mood: amused

Animals such as dogs, cats, and horses, that look like the they're walking on their toes, because they are, are digitigrade and can be said to have digitigrade feet. Getting that look is sometimes desired when building a fursuit, and I don't have any real problem with that. There are at least a couple ways of getting the look.

What bugs me is all the folks who either ask for help and advice or show their versions in fursuit communities who don't manage to spell the word. Very often I see "digigrade" or even worse variations and it grates. At least some are likely just typos, but when the misspelling occurs repeatedly, I wonder if that person shouldn't do any work on the design until they can get the spelling right.

Current Mood: irritated

Or maybe, ACME Delivery: Lessons from Penguicon.

I'm not sure that the ACME ale went as well as it could have. It's not that what happened was bad, as I know some folks drank it, as evidenced by the odd empty bottle I saw in the con suite. It's just that... well, it seemed to not quite hit as well is could have. I recall that at MFF I was rather busy and didn't do a proper Orvan delivery but just took some to the gopher area. I think that if I do anything with it again, I might just check out room parties and pick one. I was tempted to write "most deserving" but that's hard to say, and "most in need" doesn't sound very nice. Right now I'm debating if I'll do that bit at all at RCFM - though if I read one comment right, someone might be disappointed if ACME IPA doesn't show up. I don't have any recipient in mind, and I don't recall any room parties last year. But then last year Jay & I went for the "Booster" level and I spent a fair amount of time at the Booster (and GoH) Appreciation Party. Therefore I wasn't checking out any of the rest of the con in that time. As far as I can tell, RCFM doesn't coordinate and try to block together room parties, but I could be wrong.

Orvan needs some sort of ribbon dispenser. It's just too awkward to deal with ribbons in a pocket with those hooves. Though now that I have the gold-on-black "ACME Customer" ribbons, they can be included with the delivered items or be attached to the parcels next Penguicon. Also, I should only need the black-on-yellow ACME ribbons next time, so they should be right. Or so I thought, I have reason to add another ribbon, which could also cause confusion. I should probably order a lot more than I did this year. This year I was really trying to get rid those defective things. I'm not sure how such a dispenser would work, but I have a while to think of something.

I'm debating if Orvan should have a holstered pocket knife or such. Many folks don't have a knife handy and have to ask to borrow from someone in the vicinity. Such a thing would have to be clearly not a weapon so as to avoid getting peace-bonded and thus have its utility removed. I've also noticed that some folks choose to open a parcel from the bottom. Perhaps I need to split the top label to make it easier to see the top of the box and where to cut.

While the big huge ACME sack works well for big things, it's not so good for smaller items. Rather than (just) a smaller version, perhaps I need to make, or have made, a pouch. That would allow for smaller items and give Orvan a place to stow odd little items for those who ask him if he has anything for them. Though he might need lots of whatever that might be, once word gets out. This sort of thing is another item I get to think about and be on the lookout for.

And... I need to shed a bunch of pounds. Again, dagnabbit. While I fit into the fursuit well enough, Orvan's belt is rather tight and that needs to be fixed. That's just one of many reasons for me to shed that weight, but it's added to the list.

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.

Current Mood: weird

Shortly after Midwest FurFest there were a few postings about how many folks were seen around "headless" rather than in full fursuit. This triggered a few arguments and there seem to be two camps: "It's just a costume, big deal." and "Don't spoil the magic." Each has there points. But it occurs to me that while the visible part is the "headlessness" that it's not the root of issue. The real issue might be a disagreement about what is the stage and what is backstage, or if there is a stage at all.

( All the World's a Stage )

Current Mood: contemplative