OMGWTFFURBQ

[zrath]

Another year, another FurBQ over and done with.



Yes, it was time for the annual SoCal furry FurBQ BBQ this last Saturday.
Captain Spino and his First Mate Skippy were not going. Gizmo wasn't going. And Warren "Whisky" was uncertain due to work.
I thought I wasn't going to make it this year, which would have spoiled my perfect attendance record.
But Whisky's calendar cleared up, so plans were made, and attendance was successful.

I got up bright early Saturday Morning because I had a 09:45 appointment with Ladi, the stylist friend, for a haircut.
The night before, I had checked local transit websites and perfected the ultimate route to the salon.
I had a 10-minute window before the first bus was due, so I grabbed some breakfast items at the corner 7-11.
The first bus showed up on time and off we went. I got off in Century City, in front of the shiny MGM Tower, and settled
down on a bench to have breakfast while waiting for the second bus. Said bus pulled up just I was finishing. Perfect.
I got on the empty bus and we rode into Beverly Hills. We rolled down Burton Way and I got off at Doheny.
The salon was only a block away. Since it's a hoity-toity joint, I had to be dressed decently, so I had opted for my
Star Wars Celebration IV outfit: black and blue vaguely Amp'd shoes, dark jeans, and black and blue cuban shirt.
I had packed a more BBQ-y change of clothing in my backpack: well-worn sneakers, shorts, and stormtrooper t-shirt.
The stylist arrived about 10 minutes after I got in, and set to work on trimming my mane.
With summer being in full swing and my hair getting into my eyes, I was looking for relief and a nice short 'do.
It was all done by 11:00 and I looked faaaaabulous! :D
Actually, the stylist said I looked a bit like Elvis. And so did two customers. :)
I called Whisky, who was to pick me up at the salon, to see how close he was. And very close was he indeed.

So I flew out the door and walked down to Robertson so he could collect me. The Sibling called me while I was under way and
needed my eMusic password. And wanted to know if Whisky could take him to see someone on Sunday in exchange for gas money.
I told him I would ask but that there was no guarantee he could do this thing.
Whisky arrived in his new(ish) Pontiac Vibe and I finally got to see what the beast looked like.
It's a 2006 Vibe automatic with power stuff and cruise control but no sun roof. It's darkish red and fairly nifty.
Captain Spino's Vibe, on the other hand, is a barebones silver stickshift model with crank windows.
The Whiskymobile feels just a little swankier. :)
If I am placed in the situation of being able to get a Vibe, I would probably get the navy blue model with auto and sunroof.
I sat in the Whiskymobile for the first time and felt comfortable. I had been here before. :)
We headed for the local Vons to pick up FurBQ things: soda (Cherry Zero and Vanilla Coke), chicken hot dogs, buns, mustard
(French's, an American tradition!), ketchup (HEINZ!!), dill relish, and some Gatorade. We didn't buy any mayo because:
1) there was no mayo on sale at all, and...
2) Steve "Iron Badger" Corbett, the FurBQ Grill Master, had a major flipout on the SoCalFur list about bringing mayo
to the FurBQ because it would be left out in the sun, go bad, and proceed to kill everyone in a 20-mile radius.
Okay, not quite, but almost. Teh furry drama, tee-hee.
We didn't buy a styrofoam cooler because they were tiny and expensive. We didn't buy chips. Or ice.
We decided to pay for our stuff, bail, and try our luck at Smart And Final for the cooler/chips/ice thing.
And it was a good idea. We found a cooler twice as big for the same price and wonderful Sabrosas Guacachips. And ice.
Once back at the car, we populated the cooler then hit the road FurBQ-ward at about 12:15.

We totally gave the 405 a miss and used the 10 instead, transitioning to the 60 once past Downtown. Then we took the 57
down into Orange County, grabbing the 91 long enough to jump over to the 55. We exited at Katella and went East.
As a result, the drive was pretty good, traffic was mostly fluid, and we got there at 13:00.
The FurBQ was held at the usual location: the Irvine Regional Park, which is not actually in Irvine, more like Tustin.
Last year, there were lots of mosquitoes and I walked away with 9 bites, mostly on my legs.
This year? Nothing! Nada! Zippo! Zilch! Not a skeeter in sight. I think I saw a small fly once, but that's it.

There were a lot of cars though. Lots of groups were there and parking was at a premium. We double-parked and unloaded the
stuff, then Whisky went off to find a spot somewhere. There was already a good group present, and lots of familiar faces.
Too many of them to list, in fact, so if I don't mention you here, sorry!!! :)
Schirm and Bob Guthrie put in an appearance. Bob looked good and was mock-complaining about having lost weight.
The Grill Master was in full force, and accidentally melted the rim of his bukkit! OH NOEZ! I guess the grill was too hot.
I was surprised to see coyoteseven there, as he had said he wasn't coming. His roommate apparently dragged him over.
I saw Stego and Vircoo and Doodles and Kaysho and Koshaw and Kurt Miller and creepy ol' Merlino and crazy ol' Jazmyn and
a whole menagerie of furries young and old, big and small, and some very tall, and even a heavy metal unicorn!
Zotcoon, Chris Sawyer, shadowolf and I all stood next to each other at one point and it looked like an outtake from
"Land Of The Giants", 'cuz we're all over 6'5" and Zot is, like, 6'10"!! We're huge! We're immense! Only Karno is taller!
I was glad to see Shadowolf and I expressed my happiness at him being alright and his apartment building not being burnt by
the recent Griffith Park fire. He was happy about that too. He was also happy that I had brought Coke Cherry Zero with me.
Zéro is el nuevo numéro uno, baby!
We spent some time catching up and I mentioned that my TV was le dead. "Golly," he mostly said, "I'm moving to San Jose
soon and I don't want to drag my TV along. You wannit?" I was google-eyed, and searching for words. "Sure!" I enthused!
We figured out logistics, and since he would be in and out and all over the place (ew!) in the next few weeks, we figured
it'd be easier if I showed up with Whisky at Shadow's Den after the FurBQ and collected das Boob Tube right then and there.
The funny thing is that his TV is essentially the same as mine, except 2-3 years newer and missing 2 features.
It's a Sony 27" Trinitron, same size, same chassis, different remote design, and lacks PiP and the extra Composite In.
But who cares? The dang thing works! So huzzah for the return of decent-sized DVD viewing and game-playing!
And a HUGE thank you to Shadow for so graciously donating his TV. You are a prince among wolves! Le arf!

Every FurBQ is notable for at least one thing being missing. One year, no one brought any charcoal, except for Spino and I.
This year? Nobody brought any cheese!! NO CHEEZ!! AT ALL! Okay, one looney tune brought a packet of sliced muenster cheese.
But muenster? For a BBQ? That cheese is, like, not even real cheese. It's, like, cheap imitation Edam or Gouda. Pfah!!
So no cheeseburgers, no cheesedogs, no cheese-anything. I was feeling seriously decheesed. Oh well...

While I mingled and chatted and collected free TVs, Whisky spent most of the FurBQ working on his chain-mail shirt.
It's long-sleeved and weighs a ton. But nobody can stab you if you're wearing it! Yea! :D

So all in all, it was a fun outing. Good food, good conversation, and darn good weather.

We left at about 19:30 and headed in the direction of Shadowolf's place in The Happies (Loz Feliz).
I called Shadow when we reached Downtown L.A. and found that he was having dinner at Mimi's Café, so we hooked up there.
Turns out it was the same Mimi's that Spino and Sweetie and I hit after taking in the "Science Of Star Wars" exhibit.
We joined Shadow and Kaysho and laughed at the ridiculously large portions of Mimi's so-called "light fare".
Kaysho offered me a piece of his non-reuben reuben sandwich (is it really a reuben when it has no sauerkraut in it?).
It was tasty but not very reuben-like, more like a grilled turkey-ham-cheddar-monterey jack sandwich.
Whisky ate the fresh sourdough roll. Mimi's has nice bread.
Since Kaysho was going to drop Shadow home, we saved him the trouble by stuffing the oversized wolf into the Whiskymobile
and driving him home ourselves. Once there, I huffed and I puffed and I carried the TV to the Vibe. 95LBS of Sony goodness!
We spent too much time chatting afterwards and I saw my first skunk in the wild! So ky00te!!!
Being close to Griffith Park, there's lots of wildlife wandering around Shadow's back alley. There are 4 cats living there
who keep the alley rodent-free. Shadow calls them "The Clone Cats", 'cuz they're all related and all look the same.
We eventually tore ourselves away and headed home. Well, Whisky and I headed to my home. Shadow was already home. :)
I huffed and I puffed and I carried the TV up the stairs and into the Kzinti Freehold.
I hooked it all up and the sibling practically threw himself at it and started watching something.
Geeze, you're welcome!
Dweeb...



So that was Saturday.
Sunday stuff is another, shorter post.
Mazel tov!

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[mr-squiddle.livejournal.com]

"I - I cannot even be cheesed off! Chee whiz!"