Meetup at Anthrocon

June 30, 2009 5:23 PM

Anthrocon is happening in a few days in Pittsburgh. I've never been, but I've been told that there are good places to people watch for free at the convention center. Are there any Mefites interested in meeting up?

It would be fun to meet up with any attendees, of course! I'd prefer to meet outside of the convention just in case there is anyone in town who would like to show up, but isn't interested in blowing $50 on the entrance fee.

posted by Alison to MetaFilter gatherings at 5:23 PM (33 comments total)

I can't make it, but I just wanted to take this opportunity to say that Pittsburgh is the best city ever. Fact.
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 7:35 PM on June 30 [3 favorites]

Oh come on. Sneering at furries is so yesterday.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:48 PM on June 30

I fucking hate furries.
posted by yeoz at 8:55 PM on June 30 [1 favorite]

If you go, eat lunch at Christos (on 6th St across from the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel). delicious! I would shy away from the kebabs, though, and go for the stew-moussaka-tiropita-otherpita options. It is truly delicious.

Sigh, I miss Pittsburgh restaurants. Or at least some of them.
posted by that girl at 9:20 PM on June 30

An internet thread about furries? Someone get me the laxatives and a newspaper!
posted by Pope Guilty at 10:01 PM on June 30

Before visiting the site, I had no idea what Anthrocon would be about, so I was intrigued on a general level. Then I saw it was talking about anthropomorphics, which I thought would be interesting. Scanning the page, I saw the section titled What is "Furry"? Oh dear, they are furries. Wait, maybe not! I hoped it was just a poor choice of terms for fans of anthropomorphic characters. No, it's about furries. I'm not hating on them, I have some respect after seeing someone in a fox (wolf?) costume in the dance tent at Coachella - the hottest, sweatiest place to be, even if you're not wearing a full body suit made of fake fur.
posted by filthy light thief at 10:08 PM on June 30

I will likely pass, but am just popping in to confirm that there is good people-watching downtown on Anthrocon weekend. Have fun!

For added fun, you can wander by the Planned Parenthood near the convention center on Saturday morning - it's always fun watching the protestors' confusion when confronted with furries.
posted by Stacey at 3:00 AM on July 1

All this time I thought they were called fuzzies! Thanks for clearing that up.
posted by Eideteker at 4:41 AM on July 1

"The Galaxy's Largest Furry Convention"

seriously?

I could see this happening in New York, or San Francisco...the only explanation I can think of is that somewhere someone got "yinzer" mixed up with "yiffing".
posted by namewithoutwords at 4:57 AM on July 1 [1 favorite]

I was about 17, and some mates and me, well, we had quite a lot to drink. And some of the fellows started ... handing cheese around. Well, just out of curiosity, I tried a bit. And that was that.

Some of them started ... dressing up as mice a bit. And when they got the costumes on ... they ... started ... squeaking.
posted by jbickers at 5:10 AM on July 1 [4 favorites]

No wonder they decided to hold the G20 at our convention center, the furries must have recommended it.
posted by octothorpe at 5:38 AM on July 1

I could see this happening in New York, or San Francisco...the only explanation I can think of is that somewhere someone got "yinzer" mixed up with "yiffing".

From the Anthrocon FAQ: Why did the con move to Pittsburgh?
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 6:05 AM on July 1 [2 favorites]

That's awesome that the city actually contacted the con and invited them to Pittsburgh. How sad that the G20 isn't happening at the same time. Missed opportunity, that.
posted by chinston at 7:08 AM on July 1

Stacey: For added fun, you can wander by the Planned Parenthood near the convention center on Saturday morning - it's always fun watching the protestors' confusion when confronted with furries.

If only I lived closer to Pittsburgh... that sounds amazing!

Also fun, yelling "pornographer!" at the guys (always guys) displaying pictures of mangled fetuses outside Planned Parenthood centers.
posted by Kattullus at 7:17 AM on July 1 [1 favorite]

I'm not going, but I'm sure my sister will be there.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 7:47 AM on July 1

Also fun, yelling "pornographer!" at the guys (always guys) displaying pictures of mangled fetuses outside Planned Parenthood centers.

That's because the women are too busy handing out tracts and giving the evil eye to every. single. female who walks past on the off chance that one of them might have been planning on wandering in.

Also, where do you think they get those pictures printed? They're usually too large to be a DIY kind of thing.
posted by alynnk at 7:50 AM on July 1

I remember walking around downtown Pittsburgh last year and seeing a bunch of furries ambling about. I had no idea the convention was in town, so it was a surprise. My wife and I saw a waitress taking an order from someone dress as a cartoon fox, and all I could think was "I hope she's getting a good tip."

If memory serves, the furry convention was in the same hotel that NY Yankees were staying in, which made an interesting juxtaposition.
posted by elder18 at 10:13 AM on July 1

I thought this was going to be about an anthropology convention and I was damn jealous. I'm still jealous, just in a different fashion.
posted by Roman Graves at 11:06 AM on July 1 [1 favorite]

I'd like to meet up! I don't know anything about where to people-watch, though.

(Chocolate Pickle, I don't think Alison meant to "sneer" at them. At least, I won't be sneering.)
posted by palliser at 11:29 AM on July 1

Of all the things there are to get upset about-- political struggles, environmental collapse, zombie apocalypse-- I just can't be moved to pass judgement on a bunch of people who are dedicatedly engaged with play and animal make-believe. We should all, perhaps, try to remember what it was like as children, pretending that we were other than who we are and that we live in a different world to this one. So, whatever, furries, I don't see that they're hurting anyone. I'd rather spend the weekend with people in animal costumes than Republicans, for example.
posted by jokeefe at 11:32 AM on July 1 [4 favorites]

jokeefe: haven't you heard about "dog cabin republicans"? Furry republican is the new gay republican.
posted by qvantamon at 11:57 AM on July 1 [2 favorites]

On a somewhat related note of geek cred, I would also like to point out that Pittsburgh is also home to the massive Pennsic War, the Society for Creative Anachronism's annual shindig (well, it's a short drive north of Pittsburgh anyway). Never been to Anthrocon, but I have spent part of a day at Pennsic, and it was pretty impressive.
posted by chinston at 12:09 PM on July 1

Here's a humiliating geek admission: I followed chinston's link to the Pennsic page on Wikipedia, then logged in and fixed the typos I noticed. SO MANY FACETS OF MY NERDERY CONVERGING.
posted by Sidhedevil at 12:17 PM on July 1

Sidhedevil, if you keep that up you can eventually summon up enough Nerdery to blink into Midlands, the universe where a lot our fantasy stuff ends up and grows into living, breathing things. It's pretty neat, magic and swords and dragons, but also stuff like ipods and synthetic fabric and the occasional bottle of antibiotics (People bring all kinds of crap with them, and the portal is two-way you know).

The problem is, if you're passionate enough in your convictions to nerdery to pass the Material Veil into Midlands, you're probably not well suited for survival. And the people who are? Well ....they *like* being King. Very much.
posted by The Whelk at 12:41 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

I'm totally going to be there. With Hav-a-heart traps.
posted by loquacious at 12:56 PM on July 1 [1 favorite]

(Chocolate Pickle, I don't think Alison meant to "sneer" at them. At least, I won't be sneering.)

There may be some sneezing, mind, if anyone is allergic to anthropomorphic cats.
posted by chinston at 12:57 PM on July 1

Wait. Why would anybody go to a furry convention to people-watch?
posted by Spatch at 1:20 PM on July 1 [2 favorites]

Just here to second thatgirl's Christos recommendation - been there a couple times and it never disappoints.

I hope I'm remembering correctly, though... I *think* Christos is the place where you ask to use the restroom if you're feeling adventurous. I'll say no more here, though...
posted by doubleozaphod at 2:07 PM on July 1

On a somewhat related note of geek cred, I would also like to point out that Pittsburgh is also home to the massive Pennsic War, the Society for Creative Anachronism's annual shindig (well, it's a short drive north of Pittsburgh anyway).

Oh man. When I was in college, I did a writing project on the SCA and attended a few events as an observer. The level of nerdery was quite impressive.

(The best part was the gossip. E.g., the Queen had an affair with the herald or whatever, but the King refused to divorce her until the year of their reign had ended, because he had to preserve the dignity of the throne.)
posted by the littlest brussels sprout at 2:18 PM on July 1

I don't think I ever tried, doubleozaphod, but I would not be surprised if the restroom there would be an adventure.
posted by that girl at 1:14 AM on July 2

Soooo, not an anthropology convention then.
posted by Mister_A at 7:16 AM on July 2

Soooo, not an anthropology convention then.

Au contraire. It'd be a field day for cultural anthropologists.
posted by elfgirl at 7:20 AM on July 2

No sneering was intended; it's more like going to see a big, disorganized, insane parade.

Of course, furries are controversial even on Metafilter, so PM me if you're interested in meeting up. I'm going with a group of friends on Saturday and we have not yet picked out a time or a spot.
posted by Alison at 8:39 AM on July 2