Intro to Anthrocon

We slept in this morning. By the time we showered and left the hotel, we had already missed the opening ceremonies for Anthrocon. Oh well. I located a Chinese buffet close to our hotel. The walk seemed shorter in person than it did on the map.

After arriving at the Golden Palace Buffet in downtown Pittsburgh, we found the place empty. I did not see any buffet. So I asked the guy behind the counter where the buffet was. He directed me upstairs. We were seated. But it was strange. I figured we might as well help myself. But what about the drinks? I saw a soda fountain, but somebody had jammed some pitchers in the place where you get the fountain drinks. I stood there for a while trying to figure out what to do. Eventually an employee came and told me he would bring me some drinks. What were they waiting for? The food at this joint was not top notch. I would not recommend it.

Things looked up once we headed to the Westin Hotel for "So This Is Your First Anthrocon". We were early, and we sneaked into the side of the room to watch the end of "First Time Fursuiter Program". They were explaining how to deal with sweating in a fur suit. The intro to Anthrocon followed. The presenters were funny. They told a good deal of stories. I found out that Anthrocon is a non profit organization. We were also directed to make sure we eat right and get enough rest. There is some strange set of rules for using the elevators in the hotel. For the rest of the day we opted to use the escalators. The real treat came when we met the creator of Wubbzy. More on that later.

Standing in Line

While waiting in line to register, I spied a good number of furries in costume.

There was one lady with intricate wings. I assume she was a bird.

I thought the guy with the horse head had an appropriate shirt on. It was a horse joke I won't repeat here.

There were may people with just ears or tails.

The most shocking was what I supposed was a female cow. It did not have udders. This cow had breasts. And they were big. I just hope it was a woman underneath that cow suit.

Anthrocon Registration

I had finally made it to the convention center. The first order of business was to register. I had read on the Anthrocon blog that we needed to report to the "B" room to register. The map by the elevator showed that "B" was on floor 2. When I got to the second floor, I found some other lost people and some furries in costume.

So I asked the boys in suits whether they knew where registration was located. A dude in a dinosaur get up told me he could show me. Another wolf creature with Mega Man weaponry shook his head in agreement. I let Dinosaur Dude lead the way. We got stuck in the elevator for a minute or so. After banging on the 3R button, the doors finally opened.

The Dinosaur got lost himself. However Mega Man motioned that he knew the way. It was slow going as many people wanted pictures of Mega Man. Dinosaur also seemed to lag behind a bit. In the end, we found what seemed to be a long line for registration. It moved quickly though. We saw quite a few furries in costume there though.

Arriving at Anthrocon 2009

We had a long drive to Anthrocon 2009. It took us through some streets with many traffic lights. However we got lucky and MapQuest sent us down a path that got us into Pittsburgh quickly. I knew we were in the right place when I saw a fellow con attendee in full suit on the side of the road.

After checking into the hotel, we spotted a feline in suit on our floor. I said, "Hi there." The cat did not speak. However she waived her approval to us. That was my first experience with a furry phenomenon. Some of them do not speak. Will have to inquire about this tomorrow.

I thought I had a good setup. Our hotel is right next to the convention center. However this is a huge convention center. We went to the first door and walked in. All I saw was a dude screaming into a cell phone. We waited for the elevator as this deaf juvenile kept barking out dialog to the phone. The elevator doors took their time in opening. To be continued...

Train Going to Pittsburgh

I am going to Pittsburgh this week to attend Anthrocon 2009. Hopefully this will invigorate me to get back to blogging about my life. I think I will bring a camera. So I should have a lot of pictures to share by the end of the week.

In case you do not know, Anthrocon is a convention that focuses on animal characters which possess human traits. Most of the cast in Black Cat are already humans. So this would not be a conference for the Black Cat crew. I am going to be attending incognito.

The main reason I chose this conference is that it is close to my domicile. In addition, it coincides with my summer vacation from work. So watch out. Here I come Anthrocon. I might even put Underdog in his place. Because you know us cats rule.

Meet Saya

So I am sitting atop my building, drinking a little milk. There I see a strange girl. She seems to want a drink herself. I am not sure what to do about her. Her name is Saya.

Saya is very nimble. I am not sure where she stands. I think she is a bounty hunter. She is very good at what she does. She is fast, very fast.

I do not know whether she is another cat like me. She seems to like me. And I think I like her. This might be the start of a beautiful relationship. You never know. You must be careful when you are an assassin.