<HTML>Hello!  Hope you're OK! Here is the report that I promised I would send after I got back :-)  AC was a lot of fun!  There were over 1,400 furs in attendance, making it the largest fury con by far for the second year in a row! If anyone takes this to be a "Here's what you missed, loser!" type message, I sincerely apologize.  I Intend it to be a "Wish you were here!" type message :-) FRIDAY First of all, don't trust the maps section at yahoo.com!  According to them, I needed to get off on exit 28 on the Pennsylvania Turnpike to get to the hotel where Anthrocon was held.  I found out the hard way that it's actually exit 24. The lines for registration were *VERY* slow!  At one point, Kagemagushi, the fur who organizes and runs AC, stood up on a table and said "All of you can repeat after me!  It's all Kage's fault!" (everyone says just that) Then Kage said "I was only trying to save money!" and humorusly overacted being ashamed :-) Some of you have heard of or have watched the Funday Pawpet Show.  For those who haven't, it's a humorus puppet show that's first taped and then put online at http://www.pawpet.org/funday Anyway, they taped that weekend's show at AC :-)  If you like puppet shows, it's worth seeing! Following that was "Uncle Kage's Story Hour".  Humorus stories told by Kage :-)  It's always one of the most popular events at furry cons because he's so good at it!  I went in thinking that I was only going to see about the first 20 minuites or so before leaving and ended up staying for the whole hour!  I enjoyed it so much that I just didn't wanna leave! After that, all I did was to get a couple of sketches (see "ARTWORK" section below), checked my mail in the 'net room and went to bed.  I was tired! Many of you already know about the recent negative publicity on furry fandom, especially the article in Vanity Fair magazine.  Kage said something encouraging about that during his story hour.  He said "Anytime a fandom goes public, you're gonna have growing pains.  Stark Trek fandom went through the same thing 25 years ago" Kage also said that "One of the reasons that Anthrocon is at the Adam's Mark hotel this year is because they invlited us!"  Now I'm wondering if this hotel has hosted Star Trek cons before because they apparently don't mind strange people walking down the halls :-) SATURDAY After breakfast at the Denny's next to the hotel, I spent most of the day running around, getting the sketches listed below under "ARTWORK". Late in the evening, I went to the Fursuit Masquerade.  If you don't know what that is, it's basically people in animal costumes doing stage acts, usually amusing or downtight humorus.  If you go to a furry con, I reccomend seeing the Masquerade!  It's always great!  I'd have photos of it, but I tried that last year and not a single one of 'em came out due to most of the room being dark, so I didn't even try this time. After that was over, I continued getting sketches, sometimes getting still or video shots of the fursuiters that remained in the area afterward.  Following the Masquerade was a "fursuit friendly dance" and I got lucky enough to get some great video of them dancing to the classic Men Without Hats song "Safety Dance" :-)  Also got a good video of a pack of wolf fursuiters howling in the hall outside and some amusing video where some fursuiters were playing Twister in their fursuits :-) One of the elevators isn't ventilated very well and is a bit warm on the inside, especially when full of people, and was known for that.  By Saturday evening, some wiseguy had put a sign by the elevators in the lobby saying "You must be this tall to ride the vertical sauna" :-) This year's charity auction was a success with various furry items (even some origional artwork donated by well known and popular artists) and additional donations raising over $7,000 for Reins of Life, a thereputic riding organization in Penn Valley, PA that provides equine assisted therapy for children and young adults with special needs.  100% of what all items were auctioned for went directly to Reins of Life, who had representatives there to take the money as each item was paid for.  The organization can be reached at 1-610-664-1051, reinsoflife@mindspring.com or visit their homepage at http://www.reinsoflife.com SUNDAY Not much at all happened Sunday.  After crashing at 3:30 a.m. and then getting up at 7:30 so that I could be sure I'd fall asleep and sleep all night when I went to bed at 8 P.M., I ate breakfast then hung around untill the delaer's room opened at 10.  I first went to Michelle Light to get her to sketch of Cassie the Rock Vixen before she got booked up for the day then picked up a finished sketch of my Vixina character and I that Carla Speed MacNiel had worked on overnight.  Both sketches are listed below in the "ARTWORK" section.  After that, I was able to get some good video of the Fursuit Parade.  Would have got photos too if I could operate a video and a still cam at the same time.  After that, I just hung out in the 'net room for the rest of the day, making sure to keep my e-mail and God's Creatures list messages caught up as best I could untill it came time to eat supper and go to bed at 8.  I had planned to be back home by mid afternoon Monday, so I had to go to bed early so I could have a good rest for the drive home. PHOTOS Sorry, there are no photos this time.  They all came out too dark to scan even though they were taken in good light with the flash being used.  Next time, I'll make sure to get a camera with film that is more light sensitive. ARTWORK All artwork has the artist's name in the filename.  For artist contact info (e-mail and website) for each artist, please visit the URL at the head of each of the three following sections.  All drawings of the characters that the three sectionbelow are named after can also be seen at those URL's.   esmartweb.com is caps sensitive, so the URL at the head of the first two sections have to have that uppercase letter in the filename or you'll get "file not found".  I checked all of these URL's before sending this message to be sure that they would work. MYSELF (http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/Cloud002.htm) http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/carla_speed_mcneil_01.jpg Pencil comission.  Titled "Gone Away".  I had this done for a terminally ill friend to show her that I'll miss her when she's gone.  Despite what you may think, I am 100% certain that this won't upset her.  If I had even the slighest doubt about it not upsetting her, I would have waited untill after she's gone before showing it to *anyone*.  Please also see http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/louversd.htm http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/miachel_higgs_01.jpg My con badge for Anthrocon 2001 VIXINA AND I (http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/CldVix04.htm) For those who don't already know, Vixina is a completely fictional character, she isn't even slightly based on anyone that I know.  I had been getting sketches of Vixina at the last two cons I went to, so this time, I decided to et sketches of both Vixina and I in the same pic. http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/carla_speed_mcneil_02.jpg Vixina snuggling up to me from behind. http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/david_bliss_01.jpg Very well done overall.  I think that David did an especially good job on Vixina's sundress.  It has just the kind of casual, loose fitting look that her dress is supposed to have, a look that hints at a relaxed, laid back fursonality. http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/chester_boomer_skunk_01.jpg This one also shows Vixina in her sundress. http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/bussaca_01.jpg Amusing pic of Vixina and I in a moonlit setting, Vixina looking like she has other things on her mind, me looking like I want to give Vixina a kiss, distracting her from whatever she's thinking about. http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/miachel_higgs_02.jpg Sweet pic if Vixina and I holding each other close and looking into each other's eyes. http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/lyrra_madril_01.jpg Vixina and I just looking at each other.  This pic also gives a good idea of what Vixina's bellybitton ring & waistlet looks like. http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/boris_terriekitten_chwosta_01.jpg Cute pic of Vixina and I sitting across from each other at a small table, leaning towards each other and holding hands. http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/miachel_sherman_01.jpg Amusing pic of me sneaking up to Vixina from behind and stealing a kiss.   Fitting since she does something similar to me in "Surprise Kiss" (seen at the above CldVix04.htm URL) CASSIE THE ROCK VIXEN (http://members.aol.com/Cassie.htm) http://members.aol.com/cassierockvixen2/boris_terriekitten_chwosta_01.jpg Cassie started playing guitar when she was little.  This really cute pic shows her as an adorable little girl looking through the display window of a music store at a guitar for sale. http://members.aol.com/cassierockvixen2/michelle_light_01.jpg http://members.aol.com/cassierockvixen1/mitch_beiro_01.jpg Cassie standing on a big concert stage playing her guitar.  Great background on this one.  Pink Floyd fans especially will like lasers and the big circular screen ringed with spotlights. http://members.aol.com/cassierockvixen2/carla_speed_mcneil_01.jpg Cassie getting an annoyed expression on her face as her guitar breaks a string.  Excellent overall quality of art.  You can even see the shine of the sequins on her dress. http://members.aol.com/cassierockvixen2/michelle_light_01.jpg Sideview headshot of Cassie looking out of the corner of her eye and smiling. http://members.aol.com/cassierockvixen1/bussaca_01.jpg Cassie sitting on a stool, playing her guitar plugged into a nearby amp. http://members.aol.com/cassierockvixen1/iron_raptor_01.jpg Good action pic of Cassie playing her guitar. http://members.aol.com/cassierockvixen2/rozcat_01.jpg Cassie standing with stage lights sparkling in the background. http://members.aol.com/cassierockvixen2/chester_boomer_skunk_01.jpg Anime influenced pic.  Cassie standing and winking at the viewer. http://members.aol.com/cassierockvixen2/lyrra_madril_01.jpg Good action pic of Cassie holding her guitar with one hand and holding a microphone with the other as she sings. Well, that's it for now.  At least untill mephit Furmeet :-)   (http://www.mephitfurmeet.org) Take care!  Wuff! Cloudchaser Shaconage, a chocolate & peanut butter lovin' Red Wolf furry Louve RSD Awareness Page-In Honor of Louve http://cloudchaser.esmartweb.com/louversd.htm Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, a devestating and painful illness that 1,000's of people including Louve must live with every day.  Louve has full body RSD a.k.a. Dysautonomia, incurable and fatal after prolonged severe suffering than can last for years http://www.ninds.nih.gov/health_and_medical/disorders/dysauto_doc.htm</HTML>