Saturday at Ohayocon I got to participate in a panel on Valve Software.  I’m not a video game expert but I can mimic one by reading what vastly smarter and more insightful people have said, committing some of those lines to memory, and then saying them back at the appropriate time.  I did so here and that appeared to be successful.  I got to argue with Linux neck beards that contested that installing Linux was easy.  I contextualized their version of “easy” by asking if iOS would be easy to install if every iPhone owner received a phone and a boot CD they had to load to dump a ROM on their phone on purchase rather than simply entering an Apple ID.  They persisted in arguing even when I was otherwise talking and I was glad to have a microphone.

Ohayocon had furries, and this was new to me.  I feel a part of their menace comes from how completely the covering went.  The moment I can’t make out a human face, the costume registers as “other” and I’d be just as likely to believe that under each costume lied a robot, xenomorph, or member of the Borg Collective.  The furry costumes were quite ornate compared to many of the other costumes and this lifestyle appears to be either not for the faint of needle or faint of checkbook.

My assessment of yesterday’s costumes was a bit harsh.  The people in their homespun fandom were not here to impress me, well, a few were, but most were simply here to show allegiance.  Their simple costumes of just appropriately colored clothing pieces was their badge of identity not a statement on craftsman.  This was their convention and I was their guest.  Once this mentality change hit, the costumes seemed to get a lot better.

Suzie walked around the show floor scaring people and I spent my time trying to find odd juxtapositions:

[pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Ys2TB6u7JNA/UR3Uz7bcqrI/AAAAAAAA3Vc/5MvOP7_y4QE/s144-c-o/130119-14560-ohayocon.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111254650097626470057/20130119Ohayocon#5845061879988005554″ caption=”Endurance – I was one of four photographers chasing these guys. I’d say we covered at least 200 yards chasing them until I got out in front enough to get a good shot.” type=”image” alt=”130119-14560-ohayocon.jpg” pe2_gal_format=”phototile” pe2_phototile=”800″ ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-p9bwvgyiodw/UR3U_L2kFKI/AAAAAAAA3Vs/IgKHpvR6vrU/s144-c-o/130119-14201-ohayocon.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111254650097626470057/20130119Ohayocon#5845062073375265954″ caption=”Costumer – This customer is apparently from a five second dream sequence in some esoteric anime. I gave her the banana, she liked it as a prop.” type=”image” alt=”130119-14201-ohayocon.jpg” pe2_gal_format=”phototile” pe2_phototile=”800″ ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh3.ggpht.com/-mNcqG6ObRM8/UR3Vq1Hmh-I/AAAAAAAA3W8/NYH2N3U_zb8/s144-c-o/130119-14253-ohayocon.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111254650097626470057/20130119Ohayocon#5845062823186958306″ caption=”In Line – Poison Ivy, Kratos, The Doctor, the Moon, and a guy in white robe.” type=”image” alt=”130119-14253-ohayocon.jpg” pe2_gal_format=”phototile” pe2_phototile=”800″ ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh6.ggpht.com/-ve_ZWRJTcVI/UR3VubtDt7I/AAAAAAAA3XE/Kq9_oLmDe6c/s144-c-o/130119-14272-ohayocon.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111254650097626470057/20130119Ohayocon#5845062885084215218″ caption=”Plastic Man – I liked this one.” type=”image” alt=”130119-14272-ohayocon.jpg” pe2_gal_format=”phototile” pe2_phototile=”800″ ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-tMvHevp8bGU/UR3Vy3XPOHI/AAAAAAAA3XQ/iqU08gEfoJ0/s144-c-o/130119-14293-ohayocon.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111254650097626470057/20130119Ohayocon#5845062961228363890″ caption=”Point Break-ish – I have a gif of these guys doing the YMCA. I assume this is a throw back to Point Break except that we didn’t have a black president then.” type=”image” alt=”130119-14293-ohayocon.jpg” pe2_gal_format=”phototile” pe2_phototile=”800″ ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-m6t0uUZDHY4/UR3V2yhjLVI/AAAAAAAA3Xc/1EFBRWtEYQY/s144-c-o/130119-14316-ohayocon.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111254650097626470057/20130119Ohayocon#5845063028648914258″ caption=”Moves – The DDR tournament was nuts. Gravity isn’t fast enough so good players lean on a chair to be closer to the pads.” type=”image” alt=”130119-14316-ohayocon.jpg” pe2_gal_format=”phototile” pe2_phototile=”800″ ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh5.ggpht.com/-Y03ZPlA2Dqc/UR3V8kvdCbI/AAAAAAAA3X0/PnpKHcfeNh4/s144-c-o/130119-14387-ohayocon.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111254650097626470057/20130119Ohayocon#5845063128028350898″ caption=”Distance – Half way through, I remembered how photography worked and swapped out the 24-70 for a 70-200, stepped a bit back and zoomed. That’s a bokeh a man can take home to mama.” type=”image” alt=”130119-14387-ohayocon.jpg” pe2_gal_format=”phototile” pe2_phototile=”800″ ] [pe2-image src=”http://lh4.ggpht.com/-kt1g7VAwCeY/UR3V_yXLYgI/AAAAAAAA3X8/vFGpO1S3nTY/s144-c-o/130119-14399-ohayocon.jpg” href=”https://picasaweb.google.com/111254650097626470057/20130119Ohayocon#5845063183224234498″ caption=”Slender Man’s Quarry – Santa’s next.” type=”image” alt=”130119-14399-ohayocon.jpg” pe2_gal_format=”phototile” pe2_phototile=”800″ ]