Thanks to Cheetah and Smash I got to fly out to the Bay area a week before CF9, and stay with Smash and Farthing Fox. Made some minor fixes and revisions to Silvermane's fursuit, ate a lot of Mongolian BBQ, met Clutch (a cat) and a bunch of incoming British furs (and a particular British were).
Thursday (the 8th)
I fly into San Francisco International after spending a two-hour layover at Denver watching the mechanics work on the engine of the plane I'm about to board. Smash picks up Cheetah at SGI, and we all have lunch with some of the folks from Cheetah's unit. I sleep the rest of the day.
Friday
A lazy day for me as Smash is at work. I watch some videos with Cheetah and offer some minor suggestions to Farthing on his Don Coyote fursuit. I find I'm the only one who brought a Meeko plushie along. We have lunch with Smash at a Mongolian BBQ.
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Cheetah helps me 'distress' the camo BDU's I brought along to use as Silvermane's clothing; we cut the legs off short then ripped the hell out of 'em with a naked razor blade. Thanks to Rieshal for the picture. I get the black shirt later and distress it as well, after deciding the BDU jacket I brought along wouldn't work. I didn't bring Silvermane's usual body suit, but just a grey fur jumpsuit that Werwuf the Hunter gave me, and needed to hide the zipper. |
Saturday
We went on an eye-opening tour of the leather goodie shops (like Mr. S). I found a nice set of steel talons that I couldn't afford, and a dungeon cage that I'll have to re-create at Verdun. We ended with a fantastic Ethiopian meal in Berkley (at the Blue Nile - recommended!). Everyfur went back to Smash & Farthing's house to model fursuits.
Sunday
Smash & I toured the inside of the Winchester Mystery House (I do work at Verdun Manor, after all!), then went to Brokken's apartment to tease him with the keys to the action packers that held his new fursuit.
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Brokken was digging through the packaging like a little kid at Christmas, pulling out various wolfy parts and trying them on in the back seat while we tried to get directions from him on how to get to the airport (to pick up Dragon). |
After getting Dragon, we went back to Brokken's and watched the Japanese version of Darkstalkers - yea, Jon Taliban! - while I worked on Brokken's fursuit body, but I didn't have the tools I needed to make the final fitting with me. While he got to keep the hands, feet and heads that night, he had to wait till Monday night to try on the body suit.
Monday
Smash drops Dragon and I off at his place to pick up his car. As Smash drives off, we discover that Dragon's keys are still in Massacusetts. Dragon goes off to call Farthing for a ride. I help Farthing make his paws - "Spooge . . . and Burn!" - using hot glue to attch fur to gloves. Dinner is another Mongolian BBQ. Monday night, Brokken comes over to get his body suit - and wears it home.
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Brokken terrorizes his neighbors at his apartment complex (dispite not having his head fitted yet). Thanks to Brokken for the picture. |
Tuesday
Dragon took me back to the Winchester house for external pictures, took a tour of the hills of Palo Alto and visited the Tactile maze at the Exploritorium in San Francisco proper, ending with dusk at the Golden Gate Bridge. Tuesday night I sculpt new claws for Silvermane's feet. Dark Fang calls and says that he will be able to fly in Saturday morning after all.
Wendnesday
The long trip down Route 5 to Los Angeles, after a Mongolian BBQ lunch. Gotta love that Dave's Insanity hot sauce. All the fursuits were loaded up in Smash's van, while Dragon followed in his car. It's a long, drizzly trip. We finally arrive around 9:00 pm, meeting up with Lance Pope and catching dinner at the Korean BBQ just up Beach from the hotel. Happy happy joy joy - the room comes with a refrigerator, the new room keys work, but the hot water will not turn off in the bathtub. Smash runs a cable link down to the Internet room before we go to sleep.