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RANDOM REACTION: Furry Fiesta 2012 Final Thoughts

D’awww

I didn’t really have much planned for the last day of Furry Fiesta; just one panel late in the afternoon having to do with podcasting. My partner in crime had to go to work (I wisely took Monday off) and so we couldn’t hang around, or go to In-N-Out, but such is life.

One thing that surprised me as I walked about the hotel early Sunday was how clean the hallways were. The hallways of a con hotel on Sunday morning are usually pretty messy: people sleep underneath Artist Alley tables and flyers, and empty cups and bottles are lying everywhere as the con slowly lurches back to life while the hotel staff does what it can to clean up before it does. In contrast, early Sunday morning the hallways of Furry Fiesta were almost as clean as they were on Friday.

Overall, I’d say that is a pretty good analogy for how Furry Fiesta 2012 went as a whole. Except for one panelist running late, everything appeared to have gone smoothly as far as I could see. The attendees were a bit more well behaved than I was accustomed to, probably because they appeared to be older than the usual con crowd. I had to get used to not overhearing security staff barking and yelling at attendees. If I had to guess, I’d say the average age has to be somewhere in the mid-late 20s, because there were a significant number of folks (including myself) that were over thirty years old at the event. Folks also appeared to be better behaved and even downright friendly at Furry Fiesta; it was easy to keep a smile on my face the whole weekend.

I had a fun time at Furry Fiesta 2012. As my friend Chris Holm surmised beforehand, it was the same, but different. It had many of the same things comic book and anime conventions have: special guests, a video room where folks could watch movies and series, a video game room, a dealer’s area, artist’s area, panels and big events.

Unlike other cons, the emphasis at Furry Fiesta appeared to be on originality. Except for My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (which is EVERYWHERE, for better or for worse) I saw very little, if any, fanart or even cosplayers dressed up as characters from TV, movies, or video games, for that matter. Instead, people made up their own characters and dressed up as them. A significant number of the panels also focused on the creative arts: there were panels on writing, drawing, and even voiceover. I easily doubled the number of panels that I usually attend at a con and learned some good information.

The issues I had with the hotel and the people that were staying above me were the only negatives that I took away from Furry Fiesta. I had a great time and will definitely be back next year for another fantastic furry weekend!

CONS, CREATIVE, FURRY FIESTA, Podcasting, PODCASTS, RANDOM REVIEW, RANDOMIZER9.COM, TECH, Writing

RANDOM REACTION: Furry Fiesta Day 2

Guess which one is “Dr. Nuka”

Day 2 of Furry Fiesta 2012 began with a less-than promising start: the apes that were in the room above decided to start stomping around again at around 6 in the morning. I made another fruitless call to the front desk but was able to get just a little more sleep before starting the day.

I had breakfast and then attended another voiceover panel. This one was loads of fun, as everyone (that wanted to, at least) got to read copy and get feedback on their performances. I also got to learn a few technical things that I can apply to my own podcast, which was cool. It ended up being the only panel I attended all day: the “furry psychology” panel filled up, and I totally forgot about another writer’s panel after running into a friend I hadn’t seen in awhile.

We hung out, and as two of her friends happened to be fursuiters, I got to see them get prepared for the ‘fursuit parade’ which is a procession of the various fursuiters in attendance showing off their stuff around the convention. I have even more respect for those folks now after witnessing firsthand the effort that it takes to put one on, never mind having the nerve to do so in the first place. I also led one of them (fursuits are notorious for limiting vision) to the ‘headless lounge,’ which is a place for fursuiters to literally cool down.

After that, I camped out with some friends and shot the breeze as we waited for the parade to begin. Once it began, we all had a ball watching them march, strut, and mug for the many cameras present. It was really fun to watch, you’ll get to see it too once I upload it and can provide a link, because the only Internet I have is what I can squeeze out of my 3G modem or borrow from restaurants during meals As an aside, you have to pay for internet here at the hotel, and the “Free Lobby WiFi” doesn’t seem to work…now isn’t that a conincidence?

I finally got around to filling out the Anthropomorphic Research Project survey; there were some interesting questions to answer and I’ll be interested to see what the results are, especially since I missed their panel. The folks in the picture above ARE the researchers, and yes, that includes Dr. Nuka. I grabbed a bite to eat and then hung out at the lounge area to do some writing. I didn’t really get much done, but I did write most of this blog post, while I was there, so I got something done at least.

I don’t really have much planned for tomorrow, just two panels (one on writing and one on podcasting and I may skip the podcasting one) and then it’s time to hit I-35 back to San Antonio. We plan on leaving late in the afternoon, so I may be too bushed to post my final thoughts tomorrow, but I can do that Monday morning, good thing I took the day off. 🙂

ANIME, CONS, CREATIVE, FURRY FIESTA, JUST SAYING, PODCASTS, RANDOMIZER9.COM, WHATS GOING ON, WORDS, Writing

RANDOM REACTION: Furry Fiesta Day 1

When in Rome…

I wasn’t quite sure what to expect from my first day at Furry Fiesta 2012. As mentioned during my pre-game podcast with artist Chris Holm, we really didn’t expect it to be that much different from other cons that we have been to before. So far, that has held up. Sure, the “Dealer Room” is called a ‘Dealer’s Den’ and fursuiters play the role that cosplayers would play at an anime con, but for the most part it’s the same song, it only goes to a furry beat.

The first thing that really impressed me about Furry Fiesta were the freebies that I received upon registering: a hard plastic badge that was of much better quality than the laminated ones one usualy gets at these things, and a 8.5 x 11-sized con book with a nice glossy cover, which made me even more happy to have my short story included in it. The inclusion of a bar of soap felt a bit like a tongue-in-cheek joke, but it is honestly something that more cons should probably do. There was also a furry survey that is apparently taken every year as part of a study on the fandom, I’ll need to fill that out and return it.

Aside from badges, the main way to identify someone is an attendee is by the wearing of a tail. Sometimes ears (the headband kind, not the ‘hat’ kind like I’m wearing in the picture) and fuzzy gloves are worn as well, but tails are pretty common.

While the panels I have been to have not all been as good as I initially had hoped for, I was still pleased that there are more panels that I was actually interested in. The five panels I attended on Friday easily equaled the number of panels I might attend during the three days of an anime or comic book convention.

There seems to be more of an emphasis at Furry Fiesta on the creation of art rather than the consumption of it. Instead of attending a panel where a voice actor answers questions from fans about the shows he or she has worked on, I. can attend a panel where I can learn about voice acting, writing, and art.

There are quite a few things to do here at Furry Fiesta for someone who is interested in creating. The vast majority of the costumes are of original characters; instead of pretending to be something that is the product of another person’s imagination, attendees create their own ‘fursonas.’ Oftentimes, they only exist on paper or in artwork, but a few take the extra step of bringing their creation to life in the real world. They are known as ‘fursuiters’ and there are some REALLY good costumes out there.

The only horsefly (ba-doom, tissh) in the ointment has been the jerkasses that are staying in the room above the one I am in. I have been hearing nothing but stomping around and horseplaying last night and into the morning. Two calls to the front desk and a chat with the Furry Fiesta security guy have proven to be pretty fruitless in getting anything accomplished. To be fair, though, that is something that one experiences at all of these things, so I can’t really hold it against them. That said, I think the fact that something hasn’t been done about this reflects poorly on both the hotel and the convention. I will speak with the folks at the front desk again (and maybe even FF security) today and see if anything can be done. I got a five-hour drive tomorrow back home and I need more sleep.

But yeah, that’s a problem one comes across at any convention. Its only been the first day, but I have already had a lot of fun and even learned a new thing or two at Furry Fiesta 2012. I look forward to the remainder of the con. At this rate, I will be attending Furry Fiesta 2013 without any hesitation. If that isn’t the best compliment I can give, I don’t know what is.

ANIMATION, CONS, FURRY FIESTA, JUST SAYING, RANDOM STOPS, RANDOMIZER9.COM, STEAMPUNK, WHATS GOING ON, Writing

Fuzzy Thoughts

‘Ed’ by Melissa DeJesus

Tomorrow I will be driving up to Addison, Texas for Furry Fiesta along with my friend Chris Holm. While he hopes to get a table in Artist’s Alley to peddle his wares, my objective is to hang out and have fun. This will be the first “furry” convention I have ever attended, and I have received quite a few different responses from friends whenever I bring it up, ranging from curiosity to revulsion and even amusement. I just grin and bear it…ba-doom, tissh.

I guess there is no way to get around it, though. I am a ‘furry.’ No, I don’t have a costume, or think of myself as an animal (the picture at right nonwithstanding). I don’t bark or howl or snarl at people nor do any of the other crazy stuff that the Internet Hate Machine and misinformed mass media would have you believe.

I just happen to like media that features anthropomorphic animal characters. As a kid, I grew up watching Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse cartoons. I enjoyed reading Aesop’s fables and Watership Down. Later, DuckTales, TaleSpin and Darkwing Duck were part of my afternoons and fuzzy critters like Starfox, Ratchet, and Sly Cooper happen to star in some of my favorite videogames.

I submitted an idea that was used in the newspaper comic strip Pluggers, which features animal people demonstrating the foibles and virtues of working folks. I entered a writing contest to appear in a (sadly cancelled) comic strip called “My Cage” which was also completely populated by funny animals. I won and got to pick what animal my character would appear as in the strip. I chose a bear; artist Melissa DeJesus did a pretty good job of turning me into one, as you can see in the picture above. As an aside, the template she used can be found on the ‘About’ page. I also wrote a short story for the Furry Fiesta conbook that stars their jackalope mascots. It’s called “All’s Well That Ends Well” and I look forward to seeing it in print.

So yeah, I suppose I was a ‘furry’ before there was a term for it. No, this isn’t intended to be some big epiphany or coming out or anything like that. It’s just one part of who I always have been, whether you happened to notice it or not. Tomorrow I am going to go to a convention to hang out with a bunch of other folks that happen to like some of the same things I do, just like I do at anime, comic book, steampunk and videogame conventions.

That doesn’t sound that odd now, does it? 😉

Books, BUSINESS, CREATIVE, FIRST STORM MANGA, One Sheet Stories, RANDOMIZER9.COM, TECH SUPPORT, The Rules of Tech Support, WHATS GOING ON, Writing

Second Storm

I believe that every creative person has, in their head somewhere, their masterpiece. The Big One, the Magnum Opus, that one work that they believe will knock everyone’s socks off and change the world, or at the least, make them rich and/or famous. One concept that we always preached in First Storm Manga was the idea that your Big One should never, ever, be your first project.

Why not? As eager as you may be to unleash your book, song or artwork onto an unsuspecting world, the fact of the matter is that when you undertake your first major project, you are more than likely going to make mistakes. Thus, you should undertake a similar smaller project that you aren’t quite as emotionally invested in, so when things go wrong, you won’t be discouraged from having borked up your masterpiece.

Thus, “The Rules of Tech Support” is actually my second ebook. My first one was “One Sheet Stories” which was a collection of five of my one-page stories. Nobody bought it, and I also encountered a few slip-ups along the way. I tried using a service called Smashwords which ended up not working as well as I had hoped. Their touted ‘Meatgrinder’ conversion program didn’t quite spit out my e-book the way that I wanted it to look, which was frustrating. I did some research and found a spiffy program called eCub that I could use to convert my text properly to e-book format then upload it directly to Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

That was just one of the lessons I learned while working on “One Sheet Stories” that I was able to apply to the production of “The Rules of Tech Support.” The process went much smoother because I was doing it the second time around and I didn’t make as many mistakes. Time will tell whether it “The Rules of Tech Support” will be successful or not, but on a technical level, I am happy with the result.

Its not that you can’t strike gold on your first try, but the unfortunate reality is that most folks will not, and who knows, that small project just could be the one that makes it big!

BUSINESS, CREATIVE, JUST SAYING, MUSIC, RANDOMIZER9.COM, TECH, WHATS GOING ON, Writing

Lights Out, Lights On

The blackout is over and it’s back to unusual here on RANDOMIZER9.COM. While SOPA may be down for the count, it certainly hasn’t gone away and so we must stay on our guard to make sure it or some other misguided attempt to regulate the Internet never ever rears its ugly head again. Stay informed, everybody, and a big ‘way to go’ to everyone that participated!

For the entirety of January 18, 2012, I am shutting down RANDOMIZER9.COM in protest against the Protect-IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). These are bills that are currently making their way through the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America.

While my blog is but one of millions that are fighting for your attention on the wild kingdom that is the Internet, I feel that if I can make my few visitors aware of what is going on, then I will have done my part.

My blog is currently a labor of love more than anything else, but I do hope to one day make a living from my other creative endeavors and so the topic of piracy is important to me. While the intentions behind those two proposed laws may have been good, their language is so broad and their methods are so draconian that they cannot be allowed to become law.

I don’t expect everyone reading this message to support this effort, but I hope that you will take the time to read up on the subject and decide for yourself whether we should let control of this crazy new wonderful thing called the Internet fall into the hands of corporations and the government.

Thanks for reading

–Eduardo “Randomizer9” Soliz

www.sopastrike.com

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To Think Different, DO Different

I have been working on my second e-book, titled “The Rules of Tech Support,” for what seems to have been way too long. Now, it isn’t a very long work, and I have already written some of it on my old LiveJournal and on my podcast. For the longest time, though, it sat at about 80% completed. I just couldn’t get any farther; I would sit behind my laptop, fire up Microsoft Word, tap Ctrl-End to get to the end of the document, and…nothing. For months, absolutely no progress.

The project eventually got back on track. It was either because I started working in tech support again, or because I found myself writing in different places. As odd as it sounds, I am convinced that writing in different places or in different ways helps the creative process along. In my case, I found myself taking notes in between calls during work, and even stayed in late at the office one day, spending a whole hour alone just typing away. Somehow being at the office made me think different. Heck, I think that using my tablet instead of my laptop helped.

What I’m trying to say is that you cannot ‘think different’ if you are doing the same thing over and over again. To change my thought processes, I had to change where I was doing my thinking. If nothing else, its a good excuse to hang out at a coffee shop or diner for a few hours.

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Twelve Mezasu mini-con 2 Observations

As Hannibal would say, “I love it when a plan comes together.” Our second Mezasu mini-con is over, and despite feeling really really tired, I’m feeling pretty good about how the whole thing went. Some things I noticed:

The old “can’t have fun when you work at a con” rule isn’t that big of a deal when you see everyone having a good time and have the opportunity to occasionally walk around and talk to people.
I guess it was easier to notice this because this was a smaller event, but serious cosplayers tend to travel in packs…I don’t think I’ve ever just seen just ONE wandering about.
The art auction was a huge bust, I think we need to do a better job of explaining how it works next time. 😦
I believe you should always give your all whether 3, 30 or 300 people show up to your gig, which is fortunate for the 3 people that showed up to my podcasting panel.
I am just not used to hearing my voice amplified; when making announcements or announcing raffle numbers over the PA speakers, I was worried about blowing out the speakers whenever I raised my voice.
From the “beware of what you wish for” department: we asked, prayed and begged for rain, got it…and a brief power outage.
Thanks to Madame Jaqueline’s Apothecary, I now know what a ‘bath bomb’ is and does. Freaky.
I bought an Android mascot figure in a “blind box,” from Bean Pot Toiz but I have yet to actually OPEN it to see which one is in there. The anticipation is eating at me yet I don’t want it to end!!
Considering how many times I was asked “How did you find this place?” I’m glad that we were able to make people aware of the nice facility and folks at Tripoint.
At the same time, how can one not notice a building the size of a grocery store with a YMCA and a coffee shop?
I forgot to pack cough drops and now my voice is a little hoarse. Hopefully it recovers by the time work starts on Monday.
I don’t want to go back to work on Monday…then again, do I ever?

Books, BUSINESS, CREATIVE, One Sheet Stories, RANDOMIZER9.COM, Writing

Sheet Happens

I recently published my first e-book: “One Sheet Stories” on Smashwords.com. It is a collection of five very short stories, each of which fit on a single sheet of paper. I’m not making a big fuss about it yet, I’m waiting for it to be approved for inclusion into their Premium Catalog, which would put it on the iPad Bookstore, Sony Reader, Nook, and lots of other places it will be easier to find.

It was surprisingly easy to do, or at least it was after reading over their style guide a few times to make sure my Word doc survived their affectionately named “Meatgrinder” program. I had fun putting it together and now I can get to work on future books.

I’m also going to work on this website, so if things look weird the next time you drop by, well, that’s just me kicking the tires on some new themes.

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RANDOM REVIEW: 2010

The most telling thing that I can say about 2010 is that I spent the last third of it without a full-time job, after getting canned back in August. I’ll be honest, I have nobody but myself to blame for that; a friend asked me if my bosses had been looking for a reason to get rid of me awhile back. I sheepishly replied: “Well, if they were, they didn’t have to look very hard!”

Thus, the whole “what am I going to do with myself” debate I’d been having since 2009 (and heck, probably earlier than that) took on a whole new meaning as I applied for tech writer, tech support, and even editing jobs in an attempt to get away from programming. I am currently scheduled to start a new programming job on the January 24th…well, so much for that.

Of course, sitting behind a desk for 40-something hours a week hating my job was not the only thing I did all year. I also continued to be involved in First Storm Manga, handing out flyers and manga at a couple of anime cons throughout the year and keeping the website humming. We are also going to be hosting our first event, the “Mezasu mini-con” on January 22nd. While I enjoy hanging out with the guys, and it is fun going to events, I’m not sure that I want to be as involved in First Storm next year. I’m just not sure that I’m getting a lot out of it, but I’ll bottle up that angst and save it for a future blog.

Another new ‘side job’ that I picked up was that of Writer/Editor/Voice Guy for video game website Original-Gamer.com. I started out just providing narration for some of their videos but eventually got more involved in the site, editing articles for readability and even writing reviews. Because of that involvement, I was able to attend the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in July, and it completely blew me away. I also had the privilege of attending the “Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy” concert in Houston, and the pleasure of interviewing famed video game music luminaries Nobou Uematsu and Arnie Roth.

Speaking of music, I was invited to join a band called The Loliholix. It turns out they needed a drummer, and I just happened to know how to play drums and have way too much time on my hands. After getting an electric drum kit and an big ol’ honkin’ PA to use as an amp, I was ready to rock. Practicing and hanging out the band was fun, but playing our first big gig at San Japan was awesome. Being part of a show, even if it is a small one, is just incredible. The audience feeds off of your energy and gives more back to you.

All the while, I have continued with my creative endeavors, namely writing. I completed some very short stories, even entering one into a writing contest, and am working with my friend Chris Holm on some comics. I also have some longer works that I hope to finish soon. I am hoping to get my stories, and even some non-fiction, onto the various e-readers and phones and pads that are all the rage these days. Hopefully, I can make a few bucks on the side that way.

As if being a part time musician and writer wasn’t enough, I also read for a part in a short film that my friend Carey Martell is currently working on called “Deathfist Ninja GKaiser.” Now, I won’t be too disappointed if I end up as Man in Suit #6 but having a speaking part and being the first person in the show to get fried by the Big Bad Guy would be cool, too.

All the while, I managed to post to this blog and keep up a somewhat-regular schedule with my podcast: “300 Seconds.” I figure that if I can get out one blog post a week and two podcasts a month on top of all the other stuff I’m doing, then I’m doing alright.

Overall, 2010 was a great year for me. I got to meet a lot of cool people and had a lot of really neat experiences. Sure, it sucked to lose my job, but with the help and support of family and friends (and some creative budgeting) I’m hanging in there, in fact, I already have a job lined up in a few weeks so things are looking up!. I have faith that things will turn around soon and 2011 will rock even harder.

Farewell and Godspeed, 2010. You were one to remember.

Eduardo Soliz

IT Guy, short story author, podcaster, and furry!

Category Archives: Writing