Saturday, August 31, 2002
I left Sikeston around 7am, and
drove south on I-55 through Missouri and Arkansas, then crossed the Mississippi
River into Memphis, TN. I arrived at the Memphis Airport Holiday Inn,
and the Mephit Fur Meet, about 9am. After registering, I went to the
Dealer's Room to look around for a bit before going to watch the Puppet Show.
This turned out not to be Pawpets, but "Furry With
Puppets", and some (most?, all?) of the performers came from the audience.
Some of the numbers performed were "The Lion Sleeps
Tonight", "I Want a New Duck", which was performed
by KT, "In the Line Again" (Photo 2), and "Bedrock Anthem",
also featuring KT, seen here returning his puppet
to the pile. When the show was over, I went over to say "hi" to KT,
who was talking to Dellar and Wallace.Wallace also said hi.
At noon, it was time for the Fursuit Parade. (Photo 2),
(Photo 3), (Photo 4),
(Photo 5), (Photo 6),
(Photo 7), (Photo 8),
(Photo 9), (Photo 10),
(Photo 11), (Photo 12),
(Photo 13), (Photo 14,
the Midwest Fur Fest Raccoon) (Photo 15), (Photo 16), (Photo 17),
(Photo 18). The parade wound up in the Ballroom,
where they gathered for group photos(Photo 2). From the
far side of the room, it almost looked like an army of furs facing off
against an army of humans. Soon, Jugular Jaguar
decided that if humans can photograph furs, then furs should be able to photograph
humans.
After the parade, I bought a gray
wolf tail in the Dealer Room, watched parts of some movies in the Video Room,
and pretty much just wandered around some. Around 4:30, I got in the
line that was already forming for the Pizza Feed at 5:00, which was one of
the traditions of this con that I didn't expect. After the 'feed',
Steve and Suzy Lackey of Captain Pixel
Productions presented a documentary film that they had made while covering
different fan conventions, such as Star Trek, comic book, anime, Dragon Con,
and the Memphit Fur Meet 2001. When the film got to the coverage of
Dragon Con, I quickly decided that this was one convention I had no intention
of attending.
Later that evening was Fursuit Games
in the Garden Court. I watched a game of Furry
Twister (Photo 2), (Photo 3), (Photo 4),
for a little while, until I noticed some activity off to the right.
It seems that Tibor Tiger had "collapsed", and Jugular Jaguar tried to revive him with CPR. However, it
would seem that his attempts were unsuccessful,
and they decided to let him 'Rest In Peace', and
mourn his apparent passing. Soon, Jugular
figured that Tibor may not be dead yet, and got a girl
to try to revive him. Jugular tried
again, then got the girl to try again while another
fur looked on. This time, the girl was successful, and Tibor was sitting up. After getting back on his feet again, he made his way back to his room
with the help of a couple of his fellow furs.
It was about this time that I should be getting back to my room for some
shuteye.
Sunday, September 1, 2002
Sunday morning had virtually
no forums scheduled, so once again, I spent a good part of the morning in
the Video Room, the Dealer's Room, or just walking around. The main
event for Sunday was the Masquerade, which was hosted this year bySK-1 Tiger. The acts started out with "Walk the Dinosaur" (Photo
2), and was followed by Butterscotch Fox with
"Fox on the Run", andHam the Space Monkey performing
"Fly Me to the Moon". Other acts included some ferrets that wound up
getting attacked by SK-1 with an oversized mallet,
Jugular Jaguar and friends performing "Ya Ever Get One of Them...: (Photo 3)(Photo 4), and
finally Tiger Cowboy and Crew (and musical backup) with "Don't
let the Bedbugs Bite". The Masquerade then ended with another MFM tradition, the Conga Line, which I joined after taking these pictures.
At 6:00 that evening was the Closing Ceremonies (Photo
2), where they announced the attendance was 285. They also presented
two items for bid that arrived too late for the charity auction. One
was a tiger photo that sold for $70, and the other was a Kevin & Kel
family color print signed by Bill Holbrook which brought in $280, bringing
the grand total to $8807 for Tiger Haven.
The evening finished out with yet
another MFM tradition, the Thank-you Dinner and Ice Cream Social. While
waiting in line, there were some people taking names of those interested in
playing Match Game later on. When the Social was over, they started
to set up for the game. The panel of celebrities
consisted of: 2 the Ranting Gryphon; Jim Groat; Ryngs Raccoon; Qume;
Tahamaki; and Panda Guy. The contestants sat to the
right of the panel (the guy lying on the floor flipped the score sheets in
front of the players). I was selected as a contestant in the first round,
and matched two of the celebrities on the first question, but lost on the
second question. The prizes for the winners were beachballs that some
of the artists had drawn some artwork on.
Monday, September 2, 2002
It's time to head back home. I pretty much followed the same route to near Sikeston, MO, where I decided to take a more scenic route. I followed some county roads to a ferry crossing across the Mississippi to Hickman, KY. From there, I made my way up to Evansville, IN, and eventually back home. Exciting, wasn't it. I'll have to see about attending the whole con next year.
