Scape

Please let him be ok, Lord.

I started fursuit dancing on monday night, and then tuesday night i did it again, felt like it on wednesday too and then thursday all day i could not wait to get home from work and of course friday well... Scape actually finally started to get funky after five nights in a row (was too busy tonight to make it a record six lol. He has been thoroughly dried every night in between but since his completion, first public outing on Halloween plus a ton of other gigs in between now and then; he finally needed a bath. I am making a cup of tea to stay up late and make sure he gets on the drying gadget and snuggled comfy up with three fans for the night.
*sigh*

just info i didn't want to lose which i have actually done before -probably should learn to use the "just me" entry mode lol -but hmm the comments are entertaining heehee ;)

500 2016 125grain 28-1/4" Easton xx75 Gamegetter, nock point 5/16", fistmele 8-5/16", string b50 16 strand 55", silencer top 11" bottom 14-3/4" Bear Kodiak Hunter 58" 45#

So I thought archery for me had gone the way of the freestyle flatland bike, the street rollerblading and the snowboarding, but lo, it may return, more powerful than ever before ;)
At the highland games of all places (see previous post lol) under the lunch tent and on top of a pile of band equipment there lies a quiver full of arrows. Nice arrows. Cedar arrows. With feather fletches o_O OK so who's arrows are these!? Of course no one knows but a little while later I find it is one of the bandmember's dad's and I finally meet up with him and we get to chatting -he does long bow at the few highland games that hold comps so scratch on that but I do off the shelf recurve so it now appears I may get to tag along with him to the state championships this month LOL
I suck needless to say -but hey, archery is fun ;)
another funky small world moment yayers

Super weekend but... crazy o_O

The day was a little rainy with some blue sky here and there. We marched in playing and circled up, eyes locked on Pipemajor's fingers. About ten yards behind him a herd of sheep broke onto the field pursued by black and white lightning. They charged us multiple times, banking just before crashing into the band -the collie all the while zooming around the circle close enough to brush kilts. Despite all this we did not make a single note mistake and held onto a steady drone sound! After a perfect cut-off we counter marched off the field and partied down for that amazing set before we received troubling word. Unfortunately we had picked up tempo almost unnoticeably but apparently just enough to finish 9 seconds under the minimum time limit which resulted in... DQ no. way. dude
Never in the 35 year history of our band! wow what a shock
There were some heated moments when we gathered around to decide what to do as it appeared there may be a chance at a re-play since another band apparently had the same thing happen with the border collie actually breaking straight through their circle, but then news came that they were not getting a replay and since they came in 7 seconds under that they were DQed also. We decided to take it like good sports since we realized that "rules are rules and fair is fair".
WOW
Oh well -the board of games planning will be receiving some letters from a few bands I'm sure and we are working on a new set already to make sure that never happens again ;)

Other than that the haggis pastries and Irn-Bru were topnotch, many adventures were had and good times =)

Also -my solo competition -I got up on the boards and started off with a small mistake in the first part -another in the second part, I figured I was sunk so I relaxed and settled into the tune and played the 3rd part nicely and then perhaps relaxed a little too much and ended the forth part with a little chirp. As usual I cut the cut notes and dotted the dotted notes a little too much on this tune and figured I would probably not place. A few hours later the results were in and -omg- i got 4th! Holy cow dude -with this tune I have now placed 6th, 5th, 3rd and 4th -all I need is 2nd and 1st LOL I believe I can do it if I just clean it up a bit ;) yayers So I came home with my second medal ever =)

Haha -a little later on sunday the sheep came tearing across an adjacent field where we were gathered out of the sun for lunch and it was utterly amusing to watch a band member, 65 and grey bearded jogging after the sheep and waving his fist while cursing in his thick Scottish accent "hey you f***ers!" LOL this is also a good spot to quote a good friend and bandmate "I think this may be the first time the Scots ever got screwed by the sheep!"

my feet hurt
Oh -and a bought a border collie plushie ;)

pure awesome =)
The weather was perfect, pipes were totally in tune, Alasdair played like a frikkin maniac.
I'm still wearing my kilt lol
got photos -hopefully I'll receive them soon
Thanks to friends who said a prayer for me!
time fur bed

After the gameshow last night two cops pulled up on me playing my pipes in the parking lot downtown o_O
The one gets my license and starts calling in the numbers on it and tells me someone doesn't appreciate my playing (meanwhile a small crowd of people who had gathered all cheered "we appreciate your playing!") LOL
Anyways, he tells me he always wanted to learn to play and had been thinking about lessons so I handed him my piper business card haha! Oh well -all in all it was a bum deal cuz I played in that parking lot once a week all last year and got in some seriously good practice sessions -even trying to be conscious of the not so nearby apartments by not playing past 9pm -ok maybe 5 minutes past heehee. Dern though, some new cranky student must've moved in this year -oh well everyone is entitled -just gotta get practice in where I can... somewhere else =/

i'm gonna post really quick since i haven't left the house yet and my coffee is still brewing...

These are videos from easter weekend when Wallywolf visited us and we got to romp with Rory husky on his maiden voyage lol -plus Hugewolf and Magnus joined us and much fun ensued...


(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)


Hope i posted that correctly

fun fun!

again gotsta make it quick....

Hospital gig fell through on Friday -but the good news is Wallywolf and I met with the Regional Coordinator and she is all about bringing it on! lol She got lots of info and contacts from Wally with the hospital he works at so it will eventually become more solid than ever. The hospital she is at is pioneering many wonderful programs for patients but my local hospital is still pretty conservative and since my local Coordinator went on vacation, some administration ppl decided to pull the plug as they are not familiar at all with these types of programs. Oh well -it looks like it will work out even better here in the future ;)
Aside from that, Scape was out four times in two days! We strolled downtown Boone and got to do a good bit of interacting there especially with some ladies at a store we walked into -they even followed us out to dance some more! Then it was off to the park way for some practice video. oh might as well mention that we had a truly awesome Haggis dinner (Caledonian Kitchen frikkin' rocks!) with Neeps and Tatties and I piped the Haggis in with 'the Green Hills of Tyrol' just for good measure ;)
Saturday was awesome where we met WallyWolf, Rory Husky, Magnus, Hugewolf and Shanthi Dragon (my kitty -but she was there just for lunch) and then we were off to Blowingrock where we romped for a good two hours downtown and interacted with tons of people -what a blast! after that it was local pizza joint for dinner and then on to the Boone Mall for about 45 minutes of fursuit fun. I need to write them a thank you card -they were super accommodating and helpful -got us a back room to change in and a table too!
welp -that was not really quick at all but i feel good 'cuz i haven't written in my journal in a while. There was tons more that happened this weekend but I'll see if i can write more later.
welp -it's back to work now!

Good Lord -I hardly have any time lately but i figure I have just GOT to make this post!

keeping it short...

I am going to be volunteering as Scape the Goat on Friday mornings at the local hospital! Tomorrow is my first day!! Also, Wallywolf is coming up for the weekend and he is gracious enough to go with me tomorrow -plus we are looking forward to romping out on the Blue Ridge Parkway to get some photos and maybe even play some sets on the pipes -this time in tune and in control! haha

Next crazy thing -It appears I am lined up to play the pipes as guests arrive to a small concert put on by... Alasdair Fraser! OMG
woooo boy I'm getting butterflies as I type this lol!

ok back to work with me!
*hugs* to all!

Well, first of all I will say that I had the time of my life. This is the most sentimental, fun, awesome good time I've ever had -I've never looked forward to something more.

This year though, I am full of sadness. Since it was my first time attending a convention as a fursuiter -I discovered I really had no idea what I was doing, thus I missed many many opportunities to meet new friends and spend more time with old ones. One of my biggest regrets is not budgeting better time to get from place to place. Unfortunately I was in the mindset of getting ready for something fifteen minutes before hand which was 10 to suit up and 5 to walk there -so I really felt like I was hurrying everywhere with no time to stop and play or get photos. I don't want Scape to be remembered as just the waving goat. Next time It will be very different and a ton more fun!

I gotta say Thank you once again to all the great performers I've met and am learning from -I love you guys very much and I want to make you proud -I just can't wait to see you again!! *hhhhugs* =)

WOW Y'all!!!

Thank you everyone who watched FPS! I had such an amazing trip all together! (I'm going to put an exclamation mark at the end of every sentence!) haha
Let me just write a little run down here since I am waiting while installing new software...

OK
Friday I got up at 1:30am and hit the road at 2am. I made it to Tilt's house at about noon in time for a good little hangout. Snap E. Tiger and FirePup showed up and we all took the grand tour of Tilt's unreal hand restored Pinball machine and classic car collection. SK1 arrived (big hug!) and then we headed off for the 50s burger joint. I had to split for band practice back in Altamonte springs for 7pm. we tuned our pipes and drums in the room right across from ol' whats-his-name the sound effects guy on police academy who was booked for comedy at the hotel lol -but i went straight to be after that. Saturday we headed to the highland games in Wintersprings where we were treated to being in the presence of the House of Edgar Schotts and Dykehead Caledonia Pipe Band while they tuned up (frikkin amazing sound) then my camera phone broke just as they marched to the field and played a bunch of sets -gah!
We tuned up and nervously circled up and played our first set in a light mist -sounded pretty good, then stood off to the side and got ready for the grade 4b challenge up -the sun came out, we marched out playing this time, circled up and just hit it. Joe and Crssafox arrived in time to catch it and Kofu got there as we played massed bands where they announced the winners of the band competitions... us!!! we won both dern competitions!! We marched off to glory (what a feeling) and then I split to meet up with my friends where we headed off to Arabian Nights dinner in Kissimmee.
We had a blast there and hugged Kofu goodnight and then headed back to Crssa and Joe's for the night. got up Sunday morning and got to see Joe's inner workings on his wicked second life building stuff and also saw Crssa's secret project ;) and then had to head straight over to SK1's place in Tampa where we headed out for Funday Pawpet Show. Got in some hangout time while we drove to Kissimmee and then it was on... -got to meet all those cool crazy folks and Tron Guy, TRWolf and Squire too. Tron guy did Roll Call and I heard a lot of your names in there! ;) It was over the top awesome but it went by so quick and sadly didn't really get the chance to hangout though. Then it was off to a good late dinner with SK and to bed. got up at 3am when SK had to get up for work, eventually meandered over to a Starbucks for coffee and to watch the show, got to chat with a piper friend in Scotland and Wallywolf in Raleigh before he went to work. Practiced pipe music before SK got out of work -then headed over to the bowling alley for 6 games of watching that boy dominate (look out fursuit bowling world!!) Ordered Dominoes where Scape and SK greeted the driver and I got to sign my first receipt as a goat lol! Scape got a bear hug from Pudge the polar bear and got to check out all of SK's amazing puppets. Stayed up late watching MXC dvds and hit the hay. Had breakfast before heading back out at 10:30am and got back home to my wife at 10:30pm.
WOW what a weekend
Ok -software's done -back to work with me.
Thank you all so much! FPS was the bizombdiziggity!
*hugs all*

See you at FWA!! =)

January has turned out to be super busy but at least this time its all fun stuff -Piping and furry stuff -yay!

Scape is gonna be on the Funday Pawpet Show!!! I can't believe it -i got word back from YappyFox so it's on!! This Sunday the 20th ;)

Trying to get all my junk together and think of everything I can to make sure it's a good trip in Furida -hoping to hangout with SK, Tilt, Joe and Crssa, and possibly Kofu and some other friends definitely each at some point but crossing the fingers that we can somehow manage to all be in the same spot at the same time lol. I'm still thinking a good dinner on saturday night might be possible.

Been trying to squeeze in as much pipe practice as possible plus it never fails, every time before a big competition -something, just something has to go wrong with the pipes -this time my chanter ended up needing to be replaced o_O and then my drone reeds were all out of whack -nothing i could not have fixed if i could have worked on them but with so little time, could not get them to behave before the last practice.

If there anyone i was supposed to email or anything please just remind me -i've spent the last couple weeks feeling like i've forgotten something and i've lost some of my notes and lists of things to do =(

Furida is gonna be a blast! Can't wait to see you all soon!!!

I feel sick. I just read the news. I really hope everyone in Florida is ok. I pray for everyone involved in that accident.

Just incase anyone actually reads my journal, I thought I'd mention that I've been working upwards of fifteen hour days -so I haven't kept up with lj much at all unfortunately. I miss reading about how y'all are doing! I've done a few interesting things that would merit an entry or two here also but just not much time to post -especially with dial-up still at home =/
oh well -just figured i'd mention it and hope y'all are doing well.

I thought I'd lost the sketch I'd made of him on the dance floor at FWA07 but in going through a stack of papers tonight I found him =)

It was something like 1 o'clock in the morning and I was by myself over in a dark corner, sitting in one of the chairs along the wall of the dance floor. I was watching the glow stick stringers and enjoying the techno. Random fursuiters would come in and dance for a bit. I had my sketch book and pencil and had been waiting for inspiration. I had always told myself I was incapable of making a fursuit -besides where on earth do you begin? Earlier in the day I had gone to "fursuit making 101" and started wondering if indeed it could be done. I sat, bathed in electronic music and strobe lights, pondering whether a bike helmet could be used to start the head and attach horns to. Just a quick little doodle on the paper and I committed myself to finally bringing a dream to life.
The very Monday after FWA07 I went to walmart and bought some foam, fabric and sewing stuff.
Now tonight I write this, listening to Strand Tylosand by Basshunter which was playing on the dance floor while I sketched. Ahh, good times ;)

Ok -I'm going to try and wrap Scape's Halloween adventures into three paragraphs and two small photos -'cuz I don't want to make a cut and I want to go to bed soooon.

This is the day I have been fearing since I started this journey... I had a blast! I put Scape on for the 8am Halloween breakfast at work. For photo ops, I got a kiss on the nose from one boss and I headbutted another boss in the behind. Everyone just loved it!
I was coaxed into attending the Boone Mall Costume Contest which was put on by my friend Buzz Berry, the host of the local game show "Sqrambled Scuares." My wife and I apparently showed up a little early which was really good because it was sink or swim with the performing! She was an absolutely astounding handler despite having difficulty dealing with groups of people let alone hundreds. We walked up and down the mall while the younger age groups were being judged. My adventures are... waving at all the kids, acting scared at some of their costumes, posing for lots of photos, a few hugs, quite a few high-fives, kissed a couple of ladie's hands, played peekaboo and finally got a smile out of one stubborn toddler, got to meet the Mall Manager who invited me to come back and "walk the mall anytime!". Also had a little kid hand me a piece of candy which I pretended to eat and he got the biggest kick out of it! At the contest, I scratched my ears occasionally and licked my paws a bit while standing with the rest of the costumes. (my 'costume' was actually a little theatre mask on a stick;) While standing there someone kept swatting my tail at which I would just shake my booteh -it unfortunately turned into an all-out tug and I had to turn around and waggle the finger. They narrowed us down to three contestants and Buzz asked each to say a little something -Scape doesn't speak so I held up a sing that read "I've got MORE COWBELL" -at this the crowd roared! Well... Scape won ;) They handed me the prize envelope, which I tried to eat also ;)
I met up with two other friends on old downtown King Street and we hit our local art gallery and then headed up the street for a stroll. They make incredible hand-made costumes -this night was an all white faerie leading a huge troll on a chain -and together we were like three wayfarers from a dragon lance book whoe stepped into the wrong dimension lol! We met two vikings with the great horned helmets. I reached up and touched the tips of my horns and hoped one of the vikings would understand when I lowered my head... I was rewarded with a big headbutt from a Viking -Hells Yeah!

Oh one last thing -I came into work this morning and a couple of coworkers said they heard them talking about me on the radio! Apparently two of the judges last night were the local morning DJs! lol

God, I love fursuiting -it truly is a wonderful experience.

Last night I finished crafting a pair of "bowling shoes" for Scape. They are really more like covers or sandals but they should do the trick at any bowling alley. One is a straight felt bottom for sliding and the other is black foam with a red foam hoof print for traction. The 8 dollar thriftshop bolwing ball (the ol' 11lb. Brunswick Black Beauty) now has custom dremelled finger holes and the hard case I scored with it doesn't smell too much like a basement anymore lol -all that's left to do is dremel "Scape the Goat" in a nice scripty font into the solid rubber coverstock, buff till it glows and then it's off to the lanes for good times!

Wow I'm so stoked I really can hardly say anything but ....
duhh duhhhhh dhuh duhuhuh

LOL

anyways -was honored to do a badge trade with LatinVixen and, man... I just had a blast!

For LV...




And her crazy sweet art!...

holycow that's the same for me - wow it was Abba, the Beatles and Kraftwerk ;)