Feed aggregator

Used to be my favorite go-to place for quick tips, now it's gone ?_?

submitted by ZergTDG
[link] [8 comments]

TigerTails Radio Season 7 Episode 34
TigerTails Radio Season 7 Episode 34 From: TigerTails Radio Views: 0 3 ratings Time: 02:09:36 More in Entertainment

http://db66abc2c256b763aaef-ce5d943d4869ae027976e5ad085dd9b0.r76.cf2.rackcdn.com/2013/187/237/furries-parade_420.jpg


By Jessica Contrera / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

After eight years of grabbing the attention of Pittsburgh, it was time for the "furries" of Anthrocon to make Guinness World Records take notice.

A turnout of 1,162 people dressed head-to-toe in animal costumes walked, danced and cartwheeled Saturday through the halls of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center to set a record for the world's largest parade of people in fur suits.

Although there is currently no official record set for fur suit parades, Anthrocon was successfully surpassed its 2012 record of 1,045 paraders. Now, if all goes to plan, the furries will be officially recognized by Guinness.

Thousands of furries aim to set world recordAnthrocon attendees attempted to break the Guinness World Record for largest parade of people in fursuits Saturday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. (Video by Jessica Contrera; 7/6/2013)

"This is the biggest furry gathering in the word," said Paul Thompson, a doctoral student from Kentucky. "There's no way we didn't get the record."

Anthrocon is a convention for people interested in anthropomorphism, the practice of making non-human creatures, especially animals, seem human-like. Although the furries are best known for their full-on costumes, fur suits are only a part of their culture.

Most dedicated furries have a specific character, complete with a backstory and personality, that they choose to identify with. Their costumes are rarely basic animals; there are rabbits in leather motorcycle suits, tigers dressed like samurai and foxes who belly-dance, to name a few. The characters can be played out through drawing, computer games, virtual worlds on the Internet, costumes or simple imagination.

"It's identifying yourself as who you really feel you are," Kaitlynn Jordan, 15, of Freedom said.

Kaitlynn, who was dressed as a polar bear, attended Anthrocon with her mother, Shelia Jordan, who donned a zebra costume for the day. After telling Kaitlynn that they were going to a soup kitchen for the day, Ms. Jordan surprised her daughter by taking her to the costume store and then the convention.

It was a sign of support for Kaitlynn's interest in the furry world, which started when she was 8 years old. Her "true character" is a blue cat named Kiachi, but she does not yet own a cat fur suit.

"When I was younger, I was bullied a lot and I needed a way to be myself without being harassed for it," Kaitlynn said. "So instead of being myself online as a faceless person, I created my character. Now I don't have to be scared to be myself."

Stories like Kaitlynn's are common among furries, but Anthrocon executive director Samuel Conway said the interest in human-like animals is different for everyone.

"The idea of animals that walk and talk, this isn't something new," Mr. Conway said. "We didn't invent it, we just happen to like it."

By "we," Mr. Conway doesn't just mean Anthrocon's nearly 5,500 attendees. Furries are truly an international phenomenon. In 2012, there were more than 40 furry conventions on six continents, with names like Furtastic (Denmark), Camp Wildpaw (Australia) and FuRio (Brazil).

But no city receives the economic impact of the furries quite like Pittsburgh. This year alone, Anthrocon's guests are expected to generate $6.2 million in direct spending. More than $758,000 was spent on hotels alone, according to VisitPittsburgh. Anthrocon will also be making a donation to Equine Angels Rescue in Cabot.

And soon, the convention may give Pittsburgh the claim to fame as official home of the world's largest fur suit parade.

http://www.pghcitypaper.com/Blogh/archives/2013/07/02/eye-of-the-tiger-furries-seek-to-set-record-at-convention-this-weekend

Posted by Chris Potter on Tue, Jul 2, 2013 at 12:53 PM

It's that time again: Like the swallows to San Juan Capistrano, except more elaborately attired, The Furries are coming back to Pittsburgh for Anthrocon 2013. And just when you thought Pittsburghers might be getting a little jaded about the sight of people walking Downtown streets in fursuits ... the Furries are kicking it up a notch. This year, they hope to make the Guinness Book of World Records by staging the "World's Largest Fursuit Parade."

The furries' bid for immortality will take place Saturday afternoon at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, which is hosting Anthrocon July 4-7. (The theme of the 2013 Convention? "The Fast and the Furrious.") The parade is open to convention attendees only -- so please don't dust off that old gorilla suit and expect to become part of history. (At least not at this particular event.) The march will take place entirely indoors.

"It gets really hot in the suits," explains Karl Jorgensen, an Anthrocon spokesman. "You don't want to make people walk for miles outdoors." Especially not in July.

And especially not given the rigorous standards for being counted in the record books. According to the rules for participation, joining in the parade requires "at minimum, a headpiece, hand-paws, foot-paws and a tail (if applicable by species); if using latex and makeup, it must completely cover exposed surfaces. Skin must not be visible when the costume is worn."

And although Anthrocon organizers expect some 5,500 attendees at this year's convention, most members of the "furry fandom" do not wear full fursuits. (As a press release from our local tourism bureau helpfully explains, "The Anthrocon convention attracts artists, animators, costumers, puppeteers and just everyday fans who enjoy cartoon animals.") The parade itself is expected to draw about 1,100 fur-suited participants -- about the same number a similar event drew last year. This time, though, Jorgensen expects Guinness officials to be on hand, counting heads (and presumably other species-applicable appendages).

Which raises the question: What is the current record for "largest fursuit parade"?

"I don't think there is a record currently" Jorgensen says. However, he says, the 2007 Anthrocon -- also held in Pittsburgh -- did warrant a mention in the Guinness book for "largest furry fan club."

I should certainly hope so!

The Stranger, a well-regarded alternative weekly newspaper from Seattle, has just published their Queer Issue for 2013 to coincide with the Seattle Pride Parade.

There’s a remarkable article titled Floating in Shades of Grey, written by Ray Van Fox, which talks about the furry experience. Except that Ray isn’t a furry—his vulpine nom de plume is coincidental—and his article doesn’t reference furry. Ray talks about a largely online community, where he and the other members “are re-creating ourselves in our own image in order to be seen for who we actually are.“

Ray is talking about the well-worn furry ground, where we present as animal-people in furry spaces. This is usually online for furries, but also real-world spaces like a private party or a convention. We choose an identity for ourselves, one which matches our internal perceptions, and we interact as if that identity were true. It is true, in its own way, but it’s different from the arbitrary real-life meatbag with which we are burdened.

This duality, our arbitrary meatbag versus our created identity, is at the centre of the furry experience. Our two faces can be very different: different species, gender, sexual preference, size, colour, personality. (Many furries précis their new identity by naming it using the convention [adjective][species].)

We furries may be the first large group to collectively choose to socialize using identities of our own original invention. We’re certainly experimenting with the limits of identity in a way that no other group (of comparable size) is. Our genesis came when furries moved away from the first wave of ‘furry fandom’, made up of sci-fi fans who liked anthropomorphic characters, and towards today’s second wave of furry as an identity. It’s no coincidence that this change coincided with mainstream adoption of the internet: the online world allowed us to form our community.

The rest of the world is following in our footsteps. People are learning that the identity through which they socialize can be a different, truer one than their arbitrary meatbag. Second Life is an obvious example—there are plenty of furries but there are also plenty of other people keen to explore the freedom of an identity that can reflect their true, internal nature.

Grindr is another environment where people project a different version of themselves. A Grindr identity might be a hypersexual version; maybe a little hornier, a little better-endowed, a little younger. And the social environment in which Grindr users meet is (presumably) a space where those identities are ‘real’, and where mundane aspects of life don’t intrude.

It happens on Facebook, too. Users show a version of themselves that reflects their true interests and identity. For example, someone who is a young parent can choose to use their baby as an icon. This allows them to reframe the dependent relationship as one of equals, just at different stages in life. The adult is a former baby, and the baby is a future adult. (Similar things can happen later in life, when the child becomes the carer for a dependent elderly parent.) Something similar can happen with pet owners too, where the human can reframe their own life in the context of the love and luxury they are able to afford their domestic animal. In both cases, the Facebooker is expressing that their care provides a sense of internal wellbeing, something important and worthy.

It also happens in queer communities. Ray Van Fox is genderqueer, and his community has grown on Tumblr. He has found a community where he can express his true identity:

“Somehow these folks, without even knowing some supposedly basic things about me, have created a safe space where I can be my most authentic, uncensored, almost fully ungendered self.”

 

(A quick note on pronouns: I’ve chosen to use ‘he’ for Ray, because that’s how he mostly presents himself out in the real world. It’s not perfect but I think it’s better than using a gender-neutral neologism, which I find to be jarring. Neither option is perfect, so I’ve chosen what is least-worst, at least from my perspective.)

Ray’s description of his ‘safe space’ sounds a lot like the furry spaces in which I spend much of my time.

Here is his description of his safe space:

“Lots of us have names and personas and pronouns that are different from the ones we have in “real” life, but we aren’t using them in order to deceive anyone.”

 

And:

“I’m exhausted with all the tiny lies and self-betrayals involved in trying to squeeze myself into an identity that isn’t quite mine. Why would I leave the house and deal with that, when I can get online and interact with others without having to package myself in any shape but the one I’ve got?

 

Tumblr provides a level of anonymity in the act of self-creation — of constructing my blog persona — that gives me freedom from others’ preconceived notions based on my body. Because it’s all about what you say, not how you look.”

 

In all these examples—on Second Life, on Grindr, on Facebook, on Tumblr—groups of people are taking advantage of the online world to experiment with identity in the way that furries do, and have been for the last 20 years or so. We’re not exactly leaders—people aren’t walking around with WWFD bracelets or consulting the latest advice from furry think tanks—but we are the first to cross this new ground. And so we can expect that non-furry groups will experience the positive and negative aspects of our furry experience as time flows on.

I think that fellowship is the biggest gift the furry community has given to us. We are able to be ourselves and be treated with respect, in a way that many of us cannot easily find in non-furry spaces. I think that this change is already affecting mainstream culture: as more people learn the value of self-expression, those on the fringe are finding more acceptance. As examples: there has been a seachange in attitudes towards gay people; there are signs that the world is starting to move beyond gender binaries (although there is a long way to go); an inclusive, intelligent third wave of feminism is gaining traction.

People in these three cases (gay people, trans* people, women) are all on the fringe, and are exploring aspects of identity. Members of all three are having to make compromises in the way they present themselves in society, something which they are not required to do in the ‘safe space’ of their respective communities. Some will refuse to compromise (to their own detriment—they will be given the perjorative label ‘militant’), and some will not explore their true identity. But the majority will balance two identities, internal and external, and they will have to deal with the challenges this presents.

There has been a lot of talk here on [a][s] recently about how we, as furries, manage our internal animal-person identity with the need to conform to society’s expectations. I won’t cover that ground again here. Suffice to say that compromise is necessary, and that there is no perfect solution.

The requirement to balance a true internal identity with a curated external identity is challenging. It can require vigilance, especially if we want to keep ourselves googleproof. There are techniques and tools, however they are yet to reach maturity (Google Plus looked promising before they decided that we wouldn’t be allowed to socialize under an invented identity). But the tools will improve as the mainstream world catches up with the furry community, as people learn the freedom and happiness that a safe space and self-consistent identity can bring.

As Ray Van Fox puts it:

“That space may be made up of a bunch of “strangers” who might look different than I imagine, but I can bank on the fact that their reasons for befriending me have nothing to do with my body. And I can’t tell you how comforting that is.”

 

You can read Ray’s full article here. He lives at http://www.rayvanfox.com/.

submitted by xandertheblue
[link] [20 comments]

www.RealRescueProject.com

Hello fellow furs! This is Shayla speaking for Real Rescue in Arcadia, Oklahoma. I just wanted to let everyone know that we are a furry-friendly rescue, and we are hoping to create a regular fur meet at our animal sanctuary! Feel free to message me for details if you're a local and want to join in!

If you aren't local, you might still check out the website for information, donation opportunities, etc. I'm hoping in the long term to fix up the rescue and make it available for an outdoor furry convention in future years (Needs a lot of work - and more bathrooms! - before that would be an option). But for now, we're furry-friendly, love suiters, and are always looking for more help. I think it would be a wonderful idea to have a furry be our "mascot" and help advertise our rescue around the state. If anyone is interested, please let me know! I'd do it myself, but I lack a fursuit or funds for one at the moment.

Speaking of funds, our rescue works primarily with handicapped and "special needs" pets. We don't just take dogs and cats either. Certainly, we have plenty of those (currently over 140 dogs and 50 cats!), but we also have pigs, a goat, a sheep, and we've even fostered a turtle! We take all kinds of (non-wildlife) animals, and our motto is "No Pet Left Behind!" We have lots of older pets, pets saved from fighting rings, blind pets, pets with skin conditions, and even one paraplegic dog, Topper. If any of you furs are in the area and would be interested in adopting one of our fluffy friends, please let me know! They are pictured on our website and the related PhotoBucket account, but we do have more that need pictures taken (I've barely started in on the pigs and cats yet...).

If you want to donate to the rescue, you can message me or go to the links on the website. Our current fundraiser goal is $80,000 so we can replace the run-down house trailer the workers live in with something newer, better, and clean where people can come in and meet pets and feel comfortable. The current trailer is over 40 years old and is literally rotting apart. Help us help animals! Thanks, furs! I know how much we all love animals! (No really. I know. Sex jokes. But seriously... Help out?)

~Shayla - FA/IB/DA: Shayla06

submitted by Shayla06
[link] [7 comments]

submitted by artofzod
[link] [comment]

Hey everybody, I'm sure some of you had the pleasure of hearing 2's rant Friday at AC.

Yesterday, I went to his booth to ask when the DVDs of that performance would be ready, and was told there were "technical issues" with his recording and it might not be available for quite a while.

I'm wondering if anybody happened to record it on a personal device and wouldn't mind uploading it to YouTube? It was a great performance and i'd like to see it again as well as show some friends.

Thanks! :3

submitted by Rhythm195
[link] [6 comments]

submitted by Thadav3
[link] [3 comments]

submitted by LadyJames
[link] [1 comment]

In a totally uncommon spat of left-field inspiration ActFur realised they haven't talked about the delivery of dulcet tones yet! AKA Music, also Bacon bullets, exploding squirrels and intergalactic Olympics! Season 5, Ep2 – Tune Tales - In a totally uncommon spat of left-field inspiration ActFur realised they haven't talked about the delivery of dulcet tones yet! AKA Music, also Bacon bullets, exploding squirrels and intergalactic Olympics!

Local CBS affiliate video from today.

Some familiar faces in there!

Furries Fill Downtown For 8th Year « CBS Pittsburgh

Now I know there is already a group based in mobile but its piratically dead, so I am forming a new and more active group with monthly meets. If you are interested you can pm me here or on sofurry/FA. Loki_the_sergal is my user name on both sites. Now it will take a month or two to hash out the details but please get in touch with me so we can start making plans for the first meet.

submitted by loki_the_sergal
[link] [5 comments]

submitted by jimonboard
[link] [4 comments]

submitted by Ninja_Budgie
[link] [5 comments]

submitted by sidran32
[link] [4 comments]

How did we miss this, we wonder? Kazu Kibuishi is best known as the creator and editor of the Flight series of fantasy comic collections, and as the writer and illustrator of the fantasy comic Amulet. In addition though, he has created a popular web comic called Copper. From the publisher, this is the very simple description: “Copper is curious, Fred is fearful. And together boy and dog are off on a series of adventures through marvelous worlds, powered by Copper’s limitless enthusiasm and imagination.” Now Graphix Press have collected together the Copper comics (so far) into a full-color trade paperback called (what else?) Copper. “Each Copper and Fred story in this graphic novel collection is a complete vignette, filled with richly detailed settings and told with a wry sense of humor. These two enormously likable characters build ships and planes to travel to surprising destinations and have a knack for getting into all sorts of odd situations.”  And it’s available for ordering at Amazon.

image c. 2010 Graphix Press

A turnout of 1,162 people dressed head-to-toe in animal costumes walked, danced and cartwheeled Saturday through the halls of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center to set a record for the world's largest parade of people in fur suits.

submitted by Ross_the_Foxx
[link] [8 comments]