EF24 - Aviators: Conquer The Sky
Aug. 28th, 2018 11:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lupestripeIt has been an incredibly wild week, having just returned to the UK from our fourth successive (and ninth in total) Eurofurence. While failing to hit the heights of last year, I would say that this year's con was perhaps the most consistently awesome con I had ever attended, largely because I seem to have hit a threshold with the number of furries I know. Indeed, there was always a friend around the corner, meaning not once was I wandering aimlessly around the conspace looking for people. I think going to Gdakon and to a lesser extent JFTW earlier in the year paid off, as it was there that I made a number of new friends, who it was great to see here once again. Indeed, I noticed that I didn't make all too many new friends at Eurofurence this year, instead thriving on seeing people I had not seen for a while. This made the convention all that more pleasureable.
This year we decided to throw our hat into the ring and run a panel once more - the Furry Brew Crew beer tasting event on the Wednesday evening. I was quite surprised that the con staff allowed this, but looking at the nature of the events this year, it segued neatly into having more social events and less instructive panels. Indeed, there were very few events based around Fursuiting 101 or How To Write A Story, with the stage shows and more intimate gatherings taking presidence. This meant we were having our own con within a con, making it incredibly easy to meet new people as they were all gathered around for a particular shared interest. This was certainly the case with the Brew Crew event, which must have had about sixty in attendance. It was a shame that Con Ops hadn't provided any of the things I had requested, nor helped set up the tables and chairs, but with a little help we managed to get the room set up swiftly for the tasting. My intention had been to do a beer at a time, explaining a little about each one as we went in accordance with the tasting notes that Patter had created for everyone to complete, but it became clear pretty quickly that time was against us, so we decided instead to adopt a format similar to the Snack Exchange where people could try whatever they liked. The idea of bringing three bottles of the same local beer turned out to be a good one while I was quite relieved that Fiasco had brought a crate and a half of his excellet home brew - three varieties no less - as this gave us more than enough to go round. The range of beers from different corners of Europe, and some from as far afield as Australia, meant we got to try a range of unique brews and I know this was appreciated by all those who attended. Also, being able to try the beers of interest was also deemed a positive introduction. In the end, the tasting lasted four hours instead of the prescribed two, but no-one kicked us out, with Con Ops only checking up on us occasionally. At the end of the event, we asked the bar for a trash bag to collect all our empty bottles, and they were quite taken aback that we would do our own cleaning. In the end, they couldn't find a receptacle so we just did our best with the two small bins that were already in the room.
Birdy came to the Brew Crew event and so I promised I would go to the following evening's wine and cheese tasting event that he was running. In preparation, I bought a bottle of wine from a specialist shop on the other side of the city, largely because Stray knew a Bavarian-themed bar in the area called Weiss Blau which had been recommended to him by his landlord. We had gone on Tuesday, but Stray liked the hazelnut vodka they stocked and they weren't getting a separate delivery until Thursday. This saw us go out again on Thursday afternoon, with us becoming reacquainted with the jolly owner Boris. The bar itself is a right state, with crates and bottles lying everywhere and huge beer kegs in the bath, which also doubles up as the place's restroom. However, what it lacks in organisation, it makes up for in sheer heart and warmth, with the range of bottled beer fantastic and the cheese and meat platter absolutely exquisite. We actually had the platter on both days - three cheeses, four different types of cured meat and freshly baked bread from the bakery down the road. On the Tuesday, we had gone with Patter and Arc too, and the baker ended up coming out of his shop with a number of plastic carrier bags to hawk some of his produce. It looked like the man he was addressing, on a stool next to us, didn't know this gentleman, making the situation seem quite weird as he first pulled out some rye bread, then a range of pickles, followed by paper plates and plastic forks and knives. Arc was losing her shit by this stage, and the laughter was contagious, which I think may have perturbed the three groups of friends on adjacent wooden tables. In the end, it turned out that the two men did know each other, but after fifteen minutes or so of infectuous tear-rolling laughter, I think the damage may have been done. Anywho, sitting outside in the late summer sun amongst locals drinking beer in the bar of a rotund tall German who simply could not stop laughing was one of the highlights of the trip. The same could also be said for the wine and cheese party back at the convention, where around thirty of us destroyed a 4kg wheel of smooth nutty gouda in about an hour and a half. I got to try six wines before they ran out - there wasn't really enough all told - while I got to talk with a number of people who were interested in wine too.
As is often the case at Eurofurence, I spent a lot of the time outside around the campfire as this was the best place to socialise. Indeed, this was invariably where my friends ended up being and while I did do a couple of kink-related room parties, along with a few kinky things in private with good friends, I would say that I spent much of my time in the main hotel area. This year's running joke was an Electric Six song to which Stray had alerted us, in which Dick Valentine's voice apparently sounds very much like my own. Thusly we spent much of the con singing "hello hello, I see you, hello hello, therrrre" to each other, confusing pretty much anyone who was not in on the joke. As is often the case, fursuiting became a somewhat redundant factor of my con experience, with me having suited for just an hour and a half on the Friday night heading into the Dead Dog Party. I did at least suit there, but proof if proof were needed that cons are primarily about socialising for me was that I spent about half of my time in suit chatting with Petephin, Volskar and Draegarth in the Fursuit Lounge. Indeed, the lack of diversity of the music at the dances at EF is one of the con's huge weaknesses, with the Dead Dog Party being a perfect case in point as songs by Linkin Park and the like were butchered by the sound of someone going over them with what seemed like a Dremel multi-drill. It's clear there would be a demand for rock and metal at these events, so I don't know why we can't have an hour of it at least. Still, I've been fighting this battle for years, which is why I just don't go to the dances and is one of the main reasons why I perhaps don't suit as much as I should. I did like the 'gotta catch them all' fursuit game with the six digit code, but by Wednesday evening it was pretty clear that Gideon was going to win as he was miles ahead (he won by 227 in the end). Without a tally of how many had tapped you, the game lost its appeal somewhat quickly, but even in half-hearted fashion I found 35, placing me 53rd on the overall leaderboard.
Highlighting how often we spent inside the Estrel, I don't think we have eaten at the hotel restaurants as much as we did this year. Indeed, aside from one trip to McDonald's and our aforementioned Thursday excursion, I don't think we ate outside the con space during the main days of the event. Whilst at McDonald's on the Friday, it was great catching up with Fox Amoore and his manager, who just happened to be behind us in the queue to use the ordering machine. They invited us to come sit with them and it was great catching up with Fox, who we haven't seen in nearly two years. It was good to hear about his exciting plans and he invited us to see him and Pepper perform at the Cavern Club in November, an offer we are likely to take him up on. It was great having half an hour with him as we know he is incredibly busy at conventions, not least because that's how he makes his living. Indeed, he was heading back to the Dealers' Den once he had finished his lunch, with me heading later in the day to check out the range of things on offer. Wanting to be good, I didn't spend too much in the end, although I did get some new body armour when I couldn't find any. I had feared I hadn't packed it, such was the rush to leave the house last Monday afternoon, but I had forgotten we had stuffed it in our boots to save space. By the time I had realised, I had already bought some new armour, but it was needed nonetheless so I am pretty relaxed about it.
Friday night we headed down to Qualgeist, a usual stop for us, although now in a brand new location. I do love the fetish scene in Berlin and although we didn't really know anyone there this year, it was still a great evening, largely on account of the fact that Wolfie and I could play for the first time in a few months. Last year, there were a number of people who wanted him to demostrate things, but there was none of that this time, with the only interest coming towards the end of the night when someone requested a demonstration on e-stim. We were only too happy to oblige and we got to make some new friends in the process, which was a huge advantage. We ended up staying there for four hours therefore, and although the space is largely still under construction, we are looking forward to seeing the finished project next year. Regarding fetish, I was very good and limited my spending to just €185, which was far better than the €950 I had spent last year. We bought a straightjacket and a paddle, and considering we must have gone around eight shops or so (McHurt and those in the LGBT area on Tuesday, Blackstyle on Thursday), I was quite surprised with just how restrained I was. Speaking of restrained, I finally had the courage to stay a while at Spotty's room party, having only been there briefly in previous years. This was quieter than usual, but this did enable me to try a vac cube, which was a very unique and thrilling sensation. I was the last one to go into it, at approaching 5:15am, but the three-hour wait was certainly worth it, and it only enabled us to get to know the fabulous Spotty some more.
Beer is another huge part of Berlin and we managed to intersperse our trip with visits to a number of breweries. On Tuesday, we (Arc, Axle, Patter, Stray, Wolfie and I) ended up in Brewdog, which enabled us to get our 41st stamp before Stray, Wolfie and I headed on to the Mikkeller bar just around the corner. On Thursday, Stray took us to a bar near Alexanderplatz that he knew before our second trip to Weiss Blau while on the Monday afternoon before our flight, I had decided we should beat PCD by going to the Stone Tap Room in the heart of Berlin. I made this something of an open invite affair, with eight of us going in total, along with Ridley the Corgi, who was tremendously well-behaved and such fun. We spent much of the day with Petephin, who joined us for the beer as well as shared a taxi to the airport with us, while it was great catching up with the likes of Arakin and Mooie for one final time. We had about two and a half hours in Stone and the range of beer was rather fabulous, with the bar staff in here being particularly friendly. It may have had something to do with the fact that aside from one lonely guy, we were the only ones in here on a Monday afternoon but with good beer and good friends, it was a very nice way to end the convention.
We had also had some beers on our first full day in Berlin, last Tuesday, after we had done our fetish shopping. Upon leaving Weiss Blau, I noticed that the Olympic Stadium was only three stops away on the U2, so I dragged everyone out there. It was certainly an impressive structure, with the cold concrete only adding to the sinister background behind the building. Built for the 1936 Olympics, which were pretty much a propaganda affair for the Nazis, the stadium is certainly imposing but it has been reacquisitioned by the installation of modern seating, making its interior look like a contemporary stadium. Paying to visit, we spent the final hour they were open just wandering around, which was a fascinating sixty minutes indeed. Much of the stadium was open and we got to see where the Olympic torch stood, as well as the inscriptions on the walls of the stadium's main gate highlighting all of the medal winners. Jesse Owens, of course, was listed four times and being in such a place that witnessed such history was a humbling experience. This was pretty much the only bit of tourist Berlin we did - we had hoped to go to Schloss Charlottenburg but that was on the super hot Thursday and we fancied some beers instead.
So all in all, it was another wonderous week in a city that has stolen my heart. I really hope before next year's event I will get the opportunity to move to Berlin, but the situation at work is somewhat uncertain right now following our acquisition by another company last week. I found out on the Tuesday morning of the convention and while I feel it could lead to greater opportunities and is likely to be positive overall, there are still a few doubts about whether I will get the move I desire. This is something that should become clearer in September, but we shall see. In the meantime, I have many great memories from the last seven days and am humbled to know so many people in this Fandom. The con itself was absolutely brilliant and while I had my doubts about next year going into this event, I think it's something that's going to have to be done.
This year we decided to throw our hat into the ring and run a panel once more - the Furry Brew Crew beer tasting event on the Wednesday evening. I was quite surprised that the con staff allowed this, but looking at the nature of the events this year, it segued neatly into having more social events and less instructive panels. Indeed, there were very few events based around Fursuiting 101 or How To Write A Story, with the stage shows and more intimate gatherings taking presidence. This meant we were having our own con within a con, making it incredibly easy to meet new people as they were all gathered around for a particular shared interest. This was certainly the case with the Brew Crew event, which must have had about sixty in attendance. It was a shame that Con Ops hadn't provided any of the things I had requested, nor helped set up the tables and chairs, but with a little help we managed to get the room set up swiftly for the tasting. My intention had been to do a beer at a time, explaining a little about each one as we went in accordance with the tasting notes that Patter had created for everyone to complete, but it became clear pretty quickly that time was against us, so we decided instead to adopt a format similar to the Snack Exchange where people could try whatever they liked. The idea of bringing three bottles of the same local beer turned out to be a good one while I was quite relieved that Fiasco had brought a crate and a half of his excellet home brew - three varieties no less - as this gave us more than enough to go round. The range of beers from different corners of Europe, and some from as far afield as Australia, meant we got to try a range of unique brews and I know this was appreciated by all those who attended. Also, being able to try the beers of interest was also deemed a positive introduction. In the end, the tasting lasted four hours instead of the prescribed two, but no-one kicked us out, with Con Ops only checking up on us occasionally. At the end of the event, we asked the bar for a trash bag to collect all our empty bottles, and they were quite taken aback that we would do our own cleaning. In the end, they couldn't find a receptacle so we just did our best with the two small bins that were already in the room.
Birdy came to the Brew Crew event and so I promised I would go to the following evening's wine and cheese tasting event that he was running. In preparation, I bought a bottle of wine from a specialist shop on the other side of the city, largely because Stray knew a Bavarian-themed bar in the area called Weiss Blau which had been recommended to him by his landlord. We had gone on Tuesday, but Stray liked the hazelnut vodka they stocked and they weren't getting a separate delivery until Thursday. This saw us go out again on Thursday afternoon, with us becoming reacquainted with the jolly owner Boris. The bar itself is a right state, with crates and bottles lying everywhere and huge beer kegs in the bath, which also doubles up as the place's restroom. However, what it lacks in organisation, it makes up for in sheer heart and warmth, with the range of bottled beer fantastic and the cheese and meat platter absolutely exquisite. We actually had the platter on both days - three cheeses, four different types of cured meat and freshly baked bread from the bakery down the road. On the Tuesday, we had gone with Patter and Arc too, and the baker ended up coming out of his shop with a number of plastic carrier bags to hawk some of his produce. It looked like the man he was addressing, on a stool next to us, didn't know this gentleman, making the situation seem quite weird as he first pulled out some rye bread, then a range of pickles, followed by paper plates and plastic forks and knives. Arc was losing her shit by this stage, and the laughter was contagious, which I think may have perturbed the three groups of friends on adjacent wooden tables. In the end, it turned out that the two men did know each other, but after fifteen minutes or so of infectuous tear-rolling laughter, I think the damage may have been done. Anywho, sitting outside in the late summer sun amongst locals drinking beer in the bar of a rotund tall German who simply could not stop laughing was one of the highlights of the trip. The same could also be said for the wine and cheese party back at the convention, where around thirty of us destroyed a 4kg wheel of smooth nutty gouda in about an hour and a half. I got to try six wines before they ran out - there wasn't really enough all told - while I got to talk with a number of people who were interested in wine too.
As is often the case at Eurofurence, I spent a lot of the time outside around the campfire as this was the best place to socialise. Indeed, this was invariably where my friends ended up being and while I did do a couple of kink-related room parties, along with a few kinky things in private with good friends, I would say that I spent much of my time in the main hotel area. This year's running joke was an Electric Six song to which Stray had alerted us, in which Dick Valentine's voice apparently sounds very much like my own. Thusly we spent much of the con singing "hello hello, I see you, hello hello, therrrre" to each other, confusing pretty much anyone who was not in on the joke. As is often the case, fursuiting became a somewhat redundant factor of my con experience, with me having suited for just an hour and a half on the Friday night heading into the Dead Dog Party. I did at least suit there, but proof if proof were needed that cons are primarily about socialising for me was that I spent about half of my time in suit chatting with Petephin, Volskar and Draegarth in the Fursuit Lounge. Indeed, the lack of diversity of the music at the dances at EF is one of the con's huge weaknesses, with the Dead Dog Party being a perfect case in point as songs by Linkin Park and the like were butchered by the sound of someone going over them with what seemed like a Dremel multi-drill. It's clear there would be a demand for rock and metal at these events, so I don't know why we can't have an hour of it at least. Still, I've been fighting this battle for years, which is why I just don't go to the dances and is one of the main reasons why I perhaps don't suit as much as I should. I did like the 'gotta catch them all' fursuit game with the six digit code, but by Wednesday evening it was pretty clear that Gideon was going to win as he was miles ahead (he won by 227 in the end). Without a tally of how many had tapped you, the game lost its appeal somewhat quickly, but even in half-hearted fashion I found 35, placing me 53rd on the overall leaderboard.
Highlighting how often we spent inside the Estrel, I don't think we have eaten at the hotel restaurants as much as we did this year. Indeed, aside from one trip to McDonald's and our aforementioned Thursday excursion, I don't think we ate outside the con space during the main days of the event. Whilst at McDonald's on the Friday, it was great catching up with Fox Amoore and his manager, who just happened to be behind us in the queue to use the ordering machine. They invited us to come sit with them and it was great catching up with Fox, who we haven't seen in nearly two years. It was good to hear about his exciting plans and he invited us to see him and Pepper perform at the Cavern Club in November, an offer we are likely to take him up on. It was great having half an hour with him as we know he is incredibly busy at conventions, not least because that's how he makes his living. Indeed, he was heading back to the Dealers' Den once he had finished his lunch, with me heading later in the day to check out the range of things on offer. Wanting to be good, I didn't spend too much in the end, although I did get some new body armour when I couldn't find any. I had feared I hadn't packed it, such was the rush to leave the house last Monday afternoon, but I had forgotten we had stuffed it in our boots to save space. By the time I had realised, I had already bought some new armour, but it was needed nonetheless so I am pretty relaxed about it.
Friday night we headed down to Qualgeist, a usual stop for us, although now in a brand new location. I do love the fetish scene in Berlin and although we didn't really know anyone there this year, it was still a great evening, largely on account of the fact that Wolfie and I could play for the first time in a few months. Last year, there were a number of people who wanted him to demostrate things, but there was none of that this time, with the only interest coming towards the end of the night when someone requested a demonstration on e-stim. We were only too happy to oblige and we got to make some new friends in the process, which was a huge advantage. We ended up staying there for four hours therefore, and although the space is largely still under construction, we are looking forward to seeing the finished project next year. Regarding fetish, I was very good and limited my spending to just €185, which was far better than the €950 I had spent last year. We bought a straightjacket and a paddle, and considering we must have gone around eight shops or so (McHurt and those in the LGBT area on Tuesday, Blackstyle on Thursday), I was quite surprised with just how restrained I was. Speaking of restrained, I finally had the courage to stay a while at Spotty's room party, having only been there briefly in previous years. This was quieter than usual, but this did enable me to try a vac cube, which was a very unique and thrilling sensation. I was the last one to go into it, at approaching 5:15am, but the three-hour wait was certainly worth it, and it only enabled us to get to know the fabulous Spotty some more.
Beer is another huge part of Berlin and we managed to intersperse our trip with visits to a number of breweries. On Tuesday, we (Arc, Axle, Patter, Stray, Wolfie and I) ended up in Brewdog, which enabled us to get our 41st stamp before Stray, Wolfie and I headed on to the Mikkeller bar just around the corner. On Thursday, Stray took us to a bar near Alexanderplatz that he knew before our second trip to Weiss Blau while on the Monday afternoon before our flight, I had decided we should beat PCD by going to the Stone Tap Room in the heart of Berlin. I made this something of an open invite affair, with eight of us going in total, along with Ridley the Corgi, who was tremendously well-behaved and such fun. We spent much of the day with Petephin, who joined us for the beer as well as shared a taxi to the airport with us, while it was great catching up with the likes of Arakin and Mooie for one final time. We had about two and a half hours in Stone and the range of beer was rather fabulous, with the bar staff in here being particularly friendly. It may have had something to do with the fact that aside from one lonely guy, we were the only ones in here on a Monday afternoon but with good beer and good friends, it was a very nice way to end the convention.
We had also had some beers on our first full day in Berlin, last Tuesday, after we had done our fetish shopping. Upon leaving Weiss Blau, I noticed that the Olympic Stadium was only three stops away on the U2, so I dragged everyone out there. It was certainly an impressive structure, with the cold concrete only adding to the sinister background behind the building. Built for the 1936 Olympics, which were pretty much a propaganda affair for the Nazis, the stadium is certainly imposing but it has been reacquisitioned by the installation of modern seating, making its interior look like a contemporary stadium. Paying to visit, we spent the final hour they were open just wandering around, which was a fascinating sixty minutes indeed. Much of the stadium was open and we got to see where the Olympic torch stood, as well as the inscriptions on the walls of the stadium's main gate highlighting all of the medal winners. Jesse Owens, of course, was listed four times and being in such a place that witnessed such history was a humbling experience. This was pretty much the only bit of tourist Berlin we did - we had hoped to go to Schloss Charlottenburg but that was on the super hot Thursday and we fancied some beers instead.
So all in all, it was another wonderous week in a city that has stolen my heart. I really hope before next year's event I will get the opportunity to move to Berlin, but the situation at work is somewhat uncertain right now following our acquisition by another company last week. I found out on the Tuesday morning of the convention and while I feel it could lead to greater opportunities and is likely to be positive overall, there are still a few doubts about whether I will get the move I desire. This is something that should become clearer in September, but we shall see. In the meantime, I have many great memories from the last seven days and am humbled to know so many people in this Fandom. The con itself was absolutely brilliant and while I had my doubts about next year going into this event, I think it's something that's going to have to be done.
