Marko the Rat

We're back and we're blown away! You need to attend this con! It was a well run con with a much more laid back feel than the other Australian con (though I'm glad we have the choice and I'll be attending both). It seems to have reached that con critical mass where you want to go because everyone else is going, thus making it a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Unfortunately, growth comes at a price. They had to move hotels to cope with expanding but the new hotel didn't feel as welcoming as The Vibe, and they seemed to "forget" their promised discount rate for prebooking breakfast. The con space felt too small for the number of attendees. I would venture to suspect FurDU will look elsewhere for next year. It didn't feel as if they really wanted our business. Also, ristin and I really missed not having a balcony on the Gold Coast (though admittedly we wouldn't have been able to make much use of it with all the rain).

This growth also hit the fursuit games. I really, really hate to say it (because I know I wouldn't make the grade) but they have too many fursuiters and will have to do something to get the number of players down to a manageable level, like holding semi-finals or running a raffle. It was fun, but there were just too many fursuiters (I made it worse of course by pushing my worthless carcass into it). I think they need to think of more games. The giant twister board named Get Knotted! (PG con!) was a good idea but letting ten fursuiters on at a time was still too crowded. I'm embarrassed to admit I knocked another fursuiter down during Grab the Bacon. I didn't see what I did myself of course, all I know is that I hurt my finger and he got the bacon anyway, so I hope he wasn't too upset over it. He didn't seem to be hurt, but I still feel bad about it. Rattus is really such a gentle rat by nature.

In a testimony to their clever planning, the rain cleared just in time for the fursuit beach walk. Not wanting to get sand in my suit, I wore Rattus as a partial. It's a lot easier and cooler suiting as a partial but I'm never pleased with how I look then. So I was quite bemused when a lifesaver insisted on getting a photo with me. He even pulled me out of a group photo for it. I played along because of the good work surfies do for the community. It's worth it to make him happy, even if it means I miss out on being in what I'm told will be the iconic group photo for FurDU 2012.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPad.

The wonderful and talented hendikins has put up the Mardi Gras photos. I'll be in there somewhere but Hendi commented on how hard it was to photograph those of us up the top. It seemed like a good idea at the time...

Posting a follow up as there was unexpectedly a lot of interest to my pointless LJ post yesterday. As many of you wise LiveJournallers assured me, it did reduce enough to let me shoehorn in the remaining ingredients, but I "halved" the amount to be on the safe side. As you can see from this photo, it did all manage to fit nicely then, though I feel this recipe did not benefit from doubling and thankfully Ristin has agreed, asking me to mark this one as "Do not double".

"They" were wrong. (Actually, the jury is still out on that.) ristin wanted to double the slow cooker recipe Chunky Vegetable Chilli. As the vegetables piled in it was looking to me less likely that it would all fit. As you'll see from the photos we have made it--just--by scooping from the sides to the middle to take advantage of the curvature of the lid. Ristin is calling this a double win, but as you'll see from the recipe we still have to find room for zucchini and red capsicum. We're hoping the ingredients already in there will reduce as they cook. We have nine hours to go yet.

( Photos under cut... )

Yes, I marched in Mardi Gras again, for the 8th year in a row. What follows might sound like a litany of woes, but I have no regrets at all, I had a great time and I look forward to going again next year. In fact, I'm kind of superstitious about it and I don't want to miss a year. How long can I keep it up?

First off, I want to say thank you so much to liontemba and Packer Cat and Mindfyer for keeping me the first night and to dustandfox and Loupie for keeping me the second night and putting on another fantastic furry float for Mardi Gras. Big cuddles go out to all of them.

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ristin gave me the idea of presenting Super Tuesday as a WWE all-in brawl. Since I find them both about as equally entertaining, I thought I'd give it a go. (This makes more sense if you know the urban dictionary definition of santorum.)

Disclaimer: I'm just having some fun and only posting this on Ristin's insistence. I'm completely agnostic as to who should be the Republican nominee (*cough*Palin*cough*) or indeed who should win the next US presidential election. That's something you guys need to sort out. Honest. *dons his halo*

( Cut for satiricism... )

I am very disturbed to hear from ristin that a lot of his friends think that our registering our civil partnership today was an attempt to make a statement. We have lived together for over 7 years; we don't need to make a statement. We wanted our relationship to be legally recognised and, so far as is possible, to have the same legal protection as a married heterosexual couple. There's also the symbolic aspect too, that after all these years we are able to "tie the knot", at least in this half-formed way.

The only political aspect was in the timing. We don't trust Campbell Newman, whose party on polling is likely to win the next state election, not to repeal the Civil Partnerships Act 2011, so we had to get in before he gets the chance.

But yes, Ristin and I got our civil partnership registered. The lady at the counter who helped us was friendly and supportive, but it was still a cold bureaucratic affair. We didn't have time for anything more than that, as we were racing against the clock. Later we will hold a ceremony to commemorate it, but that will take time to work out and to find the right person to act as MC. We might have two: One in the daylight dressed to the nines and another at night in fursuit (or rubber suit, as the case may be).

This time tomorrow, I will be in Sydney, enjoying drinks with friends and psyching myself up for this year's Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras on Saturday. I have gone every year since 2005; I even went last year when there was no furry float and I marched the whole thing in fursuit on foot (paw) with another float. I will admit I had some health problems in the lead up to Mardi Gras this year, but they will have to hospitalise me before I'm going to miss it now. Mardi Gras has become a ritual for me and I'm superstitious about missing it. Mardi Gras or bust! I hope to see you there.

According to this article, police have found a human head, hands and feet under the Hollywood sign. Police are treating it as a "likely homicide". Either that or a very determined suicide. :P

Ziggy has a new toy: A Samsung Galaxy Tablet scaled up to be about the same size as it would be for a non-anthro rat.