Confuzzled

Hello,

Finally having some rest at the hotel. Confuzzled has been a blast, tonight will be the dead dog party. The entire trip was absolutely amazing!

2012 – 05 – 22 – Tuesday

Man, this day sure was an indication for the weather. It was positively hot! At work the airco was not working, and we literally tried to keep ourselves going. Fortunately because I arrived quite early, I could leave before things really got problematic in terms of heat. After work I dropped by at Garrodor, but not after doing some shopping in his little town. I had little time to do that earlier on, so some rest was more than welcome. After he kindly received me in his little den for a little chat and drink, I picked up his polar bear suit and went off to Rin.

At Rin’s place we packed everything, and boy, we do have a lot of *STUFF*. That evening we set for Calais. The trip itself went rather smooth, and within a few hours we were in Calais, ready to board. The customs did inquire what we were going to do in the UK. After a brief explanation we were going to Cardiff and to a big Sci-Fi convention, they asked me to show them some of my work. Thus I showed the head of my meerkat suit. That sure gave a few weird looks and before we knew, we were well on our way. The trip in the train was an odd experience. We stayed in the car as the train was driving. It was a smooth trip and within 35 minutes we were in the UK.

Rin took over the wheel, because I was getting quite fatigue. The original plan was to crash at a friend, but unfortunately he has proven to be extremely busy and was even unable to reply to any of our calls, whatsapps, or so on. And the other option was not in a good position either, thus we decided to drive to Cardiff right away.

I myself am gone pretty fast when I am in the passengers seat, I recall feeling the car turn quit often, and it turns out that the satnav sent us through a lot of little towns, which happened to be under construction as a whole. Much to Rin’s annoyance.

2012 – 05 – 23 – Wednesday

Early in the morning we arrived in Cardiff, and both of us were completely wasted. We managed to park the car downtown and fell asleep for a we hours in the car. That morning we woke up, and we decided to venture into the town of Cardiff! And boy, it is one lovely town. Soon we ran into the places were Dr.Who and Torchwood were recorded. Unfortunately the Dr.Who exhibit was closed down, and the new exhibit won’t open for another few months. Seems like next year we both will be visiting cardiff again!

Despite the exhibit being closed, we did have a lot of fun. At one point Rin was standing in ‘The Rift’ with her sonic screwdriver. At that moment a bus stopped and a whole bunch of young pirates stepped out! That was such a surreal sight.

After a while I decided to suit up as Thabo, and a lot of people were quite entertained by a big meerkat hopping and bouncing around Cardiff.
Rin is an excellent spotter, much fun was had by all!

That evening we arrived at Ty Rosa B&B, and we can all recommend this little outfit in Cardiff. Run by the kindest staff around, and the food is excellent. We had some local cuisine (welsh) and it tasted quite good! It was only later I found out this Hotel was gay friendly. But no matter your sexual preferences, a good bed, nice service and excellent food can be appreciated by all! We both were very pleased with our stay.

2012 – 05 -24 Thursday

Early in the morning we packed, and thanks to the excellent advice from the gents from Ty Rosa, we found 2 more Dr.Who curiosa shops in Cardiff: The Pump, and the Market. We were oogling over a lot of nice and old fantasy and sci-fi stuff, including a lot of curiosa, ranging from movie posters to art deco. I even got a cool meerkat garden ornament! Simples! After that, we drove to Hinckley for Confuzzled.

The arrival at the hotel was a bit chaotic, but the staff was nice and helpful. In their typical British way they helped us with our enormous amount of stuff. That evening we caught up with a lot of people. And I dressed up as Thabo, and man! The reception was awesome! So many pictures were taken! Unfortunately the weather was quite warm. But it was bearable. That evening after a nice bath I fell into a deep and comfy sleep.

 

2012 – 05 -25 Friday

Early in the morning we had some breakfast and drove down to James’ place to pick him up. Poor guy was overdressed, but happy to see us. On the trip back to Confuzzled we got through some details, and how he had high expectations of the entire con. Later we were all happy to learn all the expectations were fulfilled! I spend a lot of time in the artist room here. Compared to Eurofurence it was quite small, but the atmosphere made up for it. In the evening I drove James to the hotel about 3 miles down the road, and that evening I rocked out on the dancefloor as a meerkat.

2012 – 05 -26 Saturday

In the morning, things were a bit chaotic. Rin wanted to be back around 11:00 and we left to fetch James way too late. He loves approx 60 miles from the consite, and it was quite a drive through a small maze of weird highway crossings. Fortunately we were ‘only’ 45 minutes late. I was just in time for the preparations for the Confuzzled Red Carpet Music video!

In the evening we went to see the PawPet show. It was awesome to see Dr.Who references in it. While the PawPet show was very good, and we certainly enjoyed it, I still think the Eurofurence show wins it. Although they have the problem of making it way too long!

2012 – 05 -27 Sunday

I picked up James and returned just in time for the preparations for the fursuit parade and photoshop. The Confuzzled staff and many others did not expect such an amazing amount of suited people on the con. They had us wait on the main stage, but it was very hot, I was surprised nobody fainted! The parade was much fun though! Especially being on the red carpet instead of on the sideline for a change.

Later that afternoon we managed to rally together a whole bunch of people from our guild. Since most of them were around here for a photoshop. Malamute was being a good sport and took some amazing pictures of us. Furthermore I had some lovely duet pictures with Halo, and a few with Halo and a fellow named Ed Wolf.

In the evening I finally got a hold of a friend I kept on looking for. When he was in the pool, I was in the dance, or away. But when I returned from bringing back James, we finally had the time to talk. I actually saw the Scotsman again from a day ago. He is quite a vocal fellow. Around 4:00am I crashed.

2012 – 05 -28 Monday

Around 10:30 I woke up, just in time to accept Garrodors’ package. He almost freaked out when he saw my hair. Sometimes it truly has a life of its own in the early morning.
The rest of the day was quite sad, we had some chats, said our goodbyes, I wanted to take a shower, but the bath was hogged by Rin pretty much the entire day. I also wrote and reviewed my application forms for the Pirate Party. And boy, was it hot during the day. Sometimes I was really wondering if I was in the UK. I felt I was somewhere in the Mediterranean with the blazing hot weather, odd food and even weirder streets.

Just before the evening hit, we decided to go down the street to visit a grill place. Turns out to be magnificent food, we almost died of happiness but I made a mistake I would pay the price for later in the evening. When I went into my suit once more, I was stuffed, thus I could not drink very much, which resulted in a mild heat stroke. Fortunately the bath made sure I got stable again. The remainder of the evening I just stayed myself.

However, I got to talk to Deezlberry in the headless lounge, thanks to some other people who called up on his cell. This guy is a true gem, he has done a lot of work, both on the convention and aside, not just for himself, but for his friends as well. It was an honor to finally meet him!

In the evening we had the Dead Dog Party, the traditional afterparty of furry conventions. We got to say our goodbyes to many friends. When I sat next to Zen, we managed to exchange some weird experiences on the convention before a crazy scotsman joined us with some undefinable booze. It turns out to be the same crazy scotsman from before!

After a good laugh and some more chatting up with some amazing people, Rin and I went to bed around 4 I think. Not sure. In the middle of the night we were still quite hyper, so we packed most of our things and planned out the next day.

 

2012 – 05 – 29 Tuesday

The next morning we checked out, and said our final goodbyes. It was a sad moment, but it gives you energy for the next convention and a fresh desire to make it even more awesome next time!

On the way back Rin drove most of the time, and I was sound asleep. As we went down to London, quite some drivers looked up funny when they saw me sleeping in the drivers seat, since Dutch cars have the steering wheel ‘on the wrong side’. After a quick stop, we went on the train. Fortunately we only had to pay 6 pounds extra to leave a few hours early. Great service! The trip through Belgium was smooth and after dropping off Rin, I got home around 23:00.

This was a trip well worth it! So many people I saw and met, too many names to recall. But trust me when I say all of you made this a convention to remember!