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.

Current Mood: puzzled

We were all answering various questions Duncan was asking when suddenly, this adorable ox named Orvan showed up with deliveries from ACME for Foxfeather, Lucky and both Matt and myself. Being Wyle Coyote fans, Matt and I weren’t sure what to expect from a package marked ACME, but he was so cute you couldn’t help but trust him. Thank you for the box of goodies, Orvan Ox!

Of course, I will pass this along to Orvan.

Current Mood: happy

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.

Current Mood: finished

The ACME Delivery gallery for
MFF 2008 is finally up. The ACME Delivery Products page has also been updated. If you are in any of the photos (or suspect you might be in a photo I didn't use on the ACME site) and want the unedited original(s) of those, let me know and I can get them to you.

( The deliveries. )

Orvan managed to get all the deliveries done, save one that was planned but cancelled - there were no leftover undelivered parcels. And Orvan did have some time to just be himself, which didn't happen last year partly due to being so busy. Looking back at MFF 2008 now, I think I it might have been a bit better than I thought it was at the time, and I didn't think it was bad then.

And a note to the RCFM folks: I haven't forgotten. I know the RCFM 2008 delivery photos and such are very, very late. They will be a bit later still, but I plan on getting dealing with more of them this weekend so at least progress will be made.

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 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.

Current Mood: calm

This account is simulcast on LiveJournal (vakkotaur) and InsaneJournal (vakkotaur). I update both and I read both.

orvan_ox has his own InsaneJournal account and there is an RSS feed of it, orvan_ox_ij, for LiveJournal users. LiveJournal users should not leave comments on the feed - the post disappear from LJ after a few days. LiveJournal users can use OpenID to leave comments directly on Orvan's journal, if they don't care to just comment anonymously. Here's how.

Current Mood: calm

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.

Current Mood: amused

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.

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?! )

Current Mood: happy

As Orvan explains, the ACME Delivery web site isn't yet updated to include Penguicon 6.0, but that should happen in the next few days. Meanwhile...

One of jmaynard's interviews at ROFLcon was for CBC's Spark. During the interview Kate Raynes-Goldie asked Jay about the some of the furry community listings on his LiveJournal and that lead to him mentioning Orvan. I'm not sure how "semi-famous" (as it was put in the Spark ROFLcon Wrap-up post) Orvan is, but it is neat to see the claim. There is a video of the interview on youtube.

Current Mood: surprised

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?"

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

Poll #1495
Open to: All, results viewable to: None

RCFM?

At RCFM, ACME should deliver _____________.

It should be delivered to ____________.

Additional comment space:

Current Mood: curious

Orvan has a short post about Penguicon, but will say more once he has the photo gallery in place on the ACME Delivery web site. That could be a week or two. I'll likely have a few more things to say when the photos are up as well. In the meantime, here's my text version of things.

( This is for me. You might find it lengthy and dull. )

Current Mood: tired

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

I think I have the ACME Delivery site about as done as it will ever be. There are likely a few typos to fix that I'll find in time. There will be additional galleries as events happen and new items on the product pages as well. I probably have a a few other things to add that I simply have not yet thought of, but it seems reasonably complete at the moment. So...

ACME Delivery

And Orvan has a journal, too:

Orvan's journal

Current Mood: accomplished

09:04 pm - Hey, rillaspins...

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 gave it a try. We each took half... and each ate less than a quarter of it before tossing the remainder.

I haven't made up my mind for sure what to do about the 2009 ACME Calendar but I have decided I ought to be building up a collection of Orvan photos that could be used for a Calendar.

These would have to be public places, unless an arrangement with the property owner(s) could be had for access to non-public locations. I figure places like public parks and historical markers or such are probably about the best. But a scenic roadway or just a good spot downtown could work too. Note that places like malls are private and would need to be negotiated, and there is apt to be concern about wear a "mask" since my face will not be visible.

The ideal locations would be in southern Minnesota (including the Twin Cities), the Sioux Falls area, northern or central Wisconsin and perhaps Des Moines. This is just "places I can drive to" and am likely to either have someone with me or can find someone there to take the pictures and help with local navigation.

This is the season for Winter scenes (though I'd rather not have Orvan's feet in the snow - I want to keep him dry) but I can go places in other seasons as well.

It's far better to have too many suggestions and extra photos than to be wondering how to fill gaps. So, suggest away!

Current Mood: curious

( I might have caught something. )

Current Mood: curious

Must be for Halloween and such. Mr. Cranky is doing the happy happy joy joy reviews this week. This saccharine reviewing on Mr. Cranky's site is so very wrong. It is probably the scariest thing I've encountered this Halloween.

A few more things...

( anime crash )

( sleep and illness )

( furry, and calendars and such )

Oh yeah, Frontier actually did cancel the net account right away. I tried checking my Frontiernet mail last night and got the expected error. Also, my web page there (which wasn't much more than a pointer and a rant) is gone now.

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Whatever it is, it isn't music.