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Morphicon Miscellanea - March 2011 Mega-Edition
-= HOW Many Days?!? =-
With only a month-and-a-half to go, we've got our collective noses to
the grindstone and working our paws to the bone. That said, you still
have until the end of the month of there's something you'd like to
contribute to the con book. If you'd like to contribute in other ways,
KnotCast: Episode 141 – Art of the Podcast
Author: E-Mail Hidden
This week on KnotCast, we’re talking about the Art of the Podcast. With special guest K.M. Hirosaki flown in just before armageddon, Savrin, Shiva, and Fuzz read your emails and discuss the ins and outs of making a podcast. We also read some off topic emails, and learn neat things like the word ‘homosocial’. Teehee!
This weeks song is Rainbow Rhapsody, by Makkon
Download!
Use our coupon code ‘knot’ at AdamEve.com for a great deal.
Episode 141 – Art of the Podcast (AAC; 35.2 MB)
Episode 141 – Art of the Podcast (MP3; 89.1 MB)
Find the full article here: KnotCast News
The contents of this Podcast may have adult language and adult themes. The content is not produced by Furry News Network, but is posted for your convenience.
FC-42 The Answer To FurCast
Author: E-Mail Hidden (..::XANA::.. Creations)
This episode was a bit strange. No Fayroe, some interesting news, some neat topics as usual, then some emails, but after the emails… A huge discussion on where FurCast is going, where we need to go, what the problems are and more. Change is coming. The next few shows will be a big game changer. The future is bright.
News:
WikiFur article of the week:
- “Anti-furries”
Topics Discussed (copied directly from Google Moderator):
- “Are the more ‘popular’ species influenced by traits we want to see in ourselves or the traits that society exemplifies, and in either case why?” (BC)
- “If the fandom will never become truly mainstream, then how large will it continue to get?” (Paradox)
Emails (Sender – Subject):
- Anonymous - “An Atheist Agnostic’s view”
- buukro – “Hating Friend”
- Blake The Husky – “The Future Fabulous Furry Sit-Com?”
- kris – “hi”
- Dust489 – “question/ help please.”
- kris – “ouch”
- Tane the Wolf – “(Insert generic, witty comment about being unable to find furries here)”
- Anonymous – “Oh ehm gee a [new]fag!!! O_o”
- Viktor. – “Therianthropy question.”
- Ayer – “Connecting advice? Please?”
- Ippiki Ookami Tsuki – “Plans?”
- Anonymous – “need some friendly advise”
- DeJulian – “Reverse Situation (HELP)”
- Anonymous – “Fwd: I DATED A NON-FURRY!”
- Secret_wolf – “where do we come from”
Find the full article here: FurCast
The contents of this Podcast may have adult language and adult themes. The content is not produced by Furry News Network, but is posted for your convenience.
UK’s Frantic Eufuria opens online registration
After 4 successful events, Frantic Eufuria, is embarking on major changes as it re-launched its website at 20:00GMT today. The event will now require everyone to register either in advance or at the door and can now provide overnight accommodation as it has moved from the Club Cavern to YHA in Central Bristol. Calls had been growing for a change in venue as attendance had risen and more specialist facilities were required for fursuiters. This also addresses requests to help provide accommodation for visitors travelling from outside the local area and now opens the event for more visitors from continental Europe as well.
The change in venue also means Frantic Eufuria will introduce a charge policy of £3 per person on-top of accommodation for those who wish to take it. Chairman and founder, Jasper Foxx, explained on his LiveJournal that is was due to costs on venue and equipment hire. In a fairly revolutionary move for furry events and conventions, he also announced it’s financial transactions would be published each year online.
Frantic Eufuria started primarily as a rave night, but requests were made for a metal night which took place successfully earlier this month. The YHA will have access to two dance floors combining both events into a simultaneous one. Jasper Foxx also said the assumption Frantic Eufuria was turning into a Convention with these new developments was “Absolute myth”, adding “This is an exciting chapter for Frantic Eufuria and we really hope that the changes will be worth it for our attendees.”
Frantic Eufuria returns at its new location in Bristol, UK on Saturday 5th November, 2011.
For more information visit http://www.franticeufuria.org.uk/index.html
Furry Connection North Trailer 2011
05/22/2011
By: CraftyAndy
WATCH Blogspot
http://rotteneggcreations.blogspot.com/2011/05/furry-connection-north-trailer-2011.html
OR Watch Blip.tv
http://blip.tv/RottenEggCreations/furry-connection-north-trailer-2011-5192910
A little peek at things to come. I’m not sure how many videos there are going to be this year, I have yet to watch all the footage. But, I’ll come up with comething. Big Blue Fox just put all his coverage of the convention up, be sure to check it out for some entertainment. ;http://bigbluefox.livejournal.com/347952.html
Would be nice to have some proper title cards for these things, but I just don’t have time… maybe need to find a fellow artist?
Allow modifications Attribution Non-Commercial
Pedo convict Chris Calafatello
was in NJ, now in Phx. guy's a douche
Chris Calafatello cca...@yahoo.com
Gigantic beaver invades Fort Smith
Author: RingtailedFox
“Canada’s Secret War Weapon Escapes!” — “IT’S COMIN’ RIGHT FOR US!” — “Nickelodeon’s 1990s Cartoon Based on True Canadian Stories?” — “Why did the Beaver Cross the Road?”
Any of those headlines would be equally accurate in this very odd story from Fort Smith in Canada’s Northwest Territories. The small, otherwise-sleepy northern town just north of the Alberta-NWT border was the victim of a rampaging beaver that alarmed several residents and prompted a call from the territory’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources.
Find the full article here: flayrah – furry food for thought
Creative Commons: Full post may be available under a free license.
Across Thin Ice is Done
Across Thin Ice is the name of the newest full-color graphic novel created by the artist collective known as Blotch. It’s also the first volume in a three-volume series known as Nordguard. As Blotch explain on the Nordgaurd web site, the story is an action-adventure following a band of sled-dogs and their daily survival and struggles in the arctic of an anthropomorphic alternate Earth. Thin Ice will be released this summer by Sofawolf Press, first at AnthroCon in Pittsburgh and then at San Diego Comic Con in… well, where else? The reason we’re telling you this now is: While the regular edition of Across Thin Ice will be released in softcover, there is a limited run of hardcover copies that will also be released — and pre-orders are being taken now at the Sofawolf Press web site.
image c. 2011 by Blotch
Episode 141 - Art of the Podcast
FC-42 The Answer To FurCast - This episode was a bit strange. No Fayroe, some interesting news, some neat topics as usual, then some emails, but after the emails... A huge discussion on where FurCast is going, where we need to go, what the problems are an
This episode was a bit strange. No Fayroe, some interesting news, some neat topics as usual, then some emails, but after the emails… A huge discussion on where FurCast is going, where we need to go, what the problems are and more. Change is coming. The next few shows will be a big game changer. The future is bright.
News:- Thailand smuggler tries to check a leopard to Dubai
- Mascot charged with child sex offences
- Settlement In Donald Duck Groping Lawsuit
- It’s ok to be Takei
- “Anti-furries”
- “Are the more ‘popular’ species influenced by traits we want to see in ourselves or the traits that society exemplifies, and in either case why?” (BC)
- “If the fandom will never become truly mainstream, then how large will it continue to get?” (Paradox)
- Anonymous – “An Atheist Agnostic’s view”
- buukro – “Hating Friend”
- Blake The Husky – “The Future Fabulous Furry Sit-Com?”
- kris – “hi”
- Dust489 – “question/ help please.”
- kris – “ouch”
- Tane the Wolf – “(Insert generic, witty comment about being unable to find furries here)”
- Anonymous – “Oh ehm gee a [new]fag!!! O_o”
- Viktor. – “Therianthropy question.”
- Ayer – “Connecting advice? Please?”
- Ippiki Ookami Tsuki – “Plans?”
- Anonymous – “need some friendly advise”
- DeJulian – “Reverse Situation (HELP)”
- Anonymous – “Fwd: I DATED A NON-FURRY!”
- Secret_wolf – “where do we come from”
FC-42 The Answer To FurCast - This episode was a bit strange. No Fayroe, some interesting news, some neat topics as usual, then some emails, but after the emails... A huge discussion on where FurCast is going, where we need to go, what the problems are an
This episode was a bit strange. No Fayroe, some interesting news, some neat topics as usual, then some emails, but after the emails… A huge discussion on where FurCast is going, where we need to go, what the problems are and more. Change is coming. The next few shows will be a big game changer. The future is bright.
News:- Thailand smuggler tries to check a leopard to Dubai
- Mascot charged with child sex offences
- Settlement In Donald Duck Groping Lawsuit
- It’s ok to be Takei
- “Anti-furries”
- “Are the more ‘popular’ species influenced by traits we want to see in ourselves or the traits that society exemplifies, and in either case why?” (BC)
- “If the fandom will never become truly mainstream, then how large will it continue to get?” (Paradox)
- Anonymous – “An Atheist Agnostic’s view”
- buukro – “Hating Friend”
- Blake The Husky – “The Future Fabulous Furry Sit-Com?”
- kris – “hi”
- Dust489 – “question/ help please.”
- kris – “ouch”
- Tane the Wolf – “(Insert generic, witty comment about being unable to find furries here)”
- Anonymous – “Oh ehm gee a [new]fag!!! O_o”
- Viktor. – “Therianthropy question.”
- Ayer – “Connecting advice? Please?”
- Ippiki Ookami Tsuki – “Plans?”
- Anonymous – “need some friendly advise”
- DeJulian – “Reverse Situation (HELP)”
- Anonymous – “Fwd: I DATED A NON-FURRY!”
- Secret_wolf – “where do we come from”
FC-42 The Answer To FurCast - This episode was a bit strange. No Fayroe, some interesting news, some neat topics as usual, then some emails, but after the emails... A huge discussion on where FurCast is going, where we need to go, what the problems are an
This episode was a bit strange. No Fayroe, some interesting news, some neat topics as usual, then some emails, but after the emails… A huge discussion on where FurCast is going, where we need to go, what the problems are and more. Change is coming. The next few shows will be a big game changer. The future is bright.
.postlink:link { color: #ff9900; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; } .postlink:visited { color: #BB5500; } .postlink:hover { color: #ffBB00; } .postlink:active { color: #ffffff; }Download MP3 (Right-click, Save)
News:
WikiFur article of the week:
- “Anti-furries”
Topics Discussed (copied directly from Google Moderator):
- “Are the more ‘popular’ species influenced by traits we want to see in ourselves or the traits that society exemplifies, and in either case why?” (BC)
- “If the fandom will never become truly mainstream, then how large will it continue to get?” (Paradox)
Emails (Sender – Subject):
- Anonymous - “An Atheist Agnostic’s view”
- buukro – “Hating Friend”
- Blake The Husky – “The Future Fabulous Furry Sit-Com?”
- kris – “hi”
- Dust489 – “question/ help please.”
- kris – “ouch”
- Tane the Wolf – “(Insert generic, witty comment about being unable to find furries here)”
- Anonymous – “Oh ehm gee a [new]fag!!! O_o”
- Viktor. – “Therianthropy question.”
- Ayer – “Connecting advice? Please?”
- Ippiki Ookami Tsuki – “Plans?”
- Anonymous – “need some friendly advise”
- DeJulian – “Reverse Situation (HELP)”
- Anonymous – “Fwd: I DATED A NON-FURRY!”
- Secret_wolf – “where do we come from”
WhoFurs: Episode 13
Author:
We discuss season 6, episode 4: The Doctor’s Wife. This episode touches on a lot of classic series and extended universe mythology so we tend to go on a couple of tangents.
Also, Fuzz was wrong about the line in “Blink”, he went back and checked. That’ll make sense after you listen to the episode. WhoFurs Fact Check!
Send feedback to us at WhoFurs@FurPlanet.com
http://WhoFurs.FurPlanet.com
Produced by FurPlanet.com
Find the full article here: FurPlanet Productions – WhoFurs
The Cunning Little Vixen comes to the New Your Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic’s production of Leoš Janácek’s opera, The Cunning Little Vixen, which runs June 22-25, will be broadcast live on Thursday, June 23, on The New York Philharmonic This Week, the Orchestra’s national and international radio program. Doug Fitch will direct, with choreography by Karole Armitage. Alan Gilbert will conduct.
This June, be transported into a fantastical forest with talking frogs, singing mosquitos and badgers, and one very fetching little fox as the New York Philharmonic, director/designer Doug Fitch and Giants Are Small bring the fully stage production of Leos Janacek’s The Cunning Little Vixen to Avery Fisher Hall. http://nyphil.org/vixen
[Tip from @greatmanly]
It’s ok to be Takei
Interesting note from @anubicdarque over at http://bloodboundcomic.com
While not “Furry” this can affect quite a number of Furries going to school in the state of Tennessee who happen to be LGBT.
A bill now pending in Tennessee would prohibit teachers in that state from using discussing homosexuality or even discussing homosexuality in the classroom. The so-called “don’t say gay” law is premised on the misguided belief that, by not talking about gay people, they can simply make gay people disappear.
George [Takei, Star Trek TOS actor and Gay Rights advocate] is here to tell Tennessee, and all the LGBT youth and teachers who would be affected by this law, that he is here for you. In fact, he is lending his name to the cause. Any time you need to say the word “gay,” you can simply say “Takei.”
You can join the crusade against the Tennessee bill at the “It’s ok to be Takei” Facebook Page
The web site is: http://www.itsoktobetakei.com/
Follow the Twitter account here: https://twitter.com/#!/ItsOktoBeTakei
The hidden posthuman messages in Pixar movies
Via Annalee Newitz @IO9 — Futurist Kyle Munkittrick has an interesting essay about Pixar movies over at Discover’s Science Not Fiction blog, where he argues that most of the studio’s films are offering a message about how non-human creatures (like robots or rats) are just as sentient as humans are, and deserve to be treated like people. He sees this as a distinctly transhuman or posthuman perspective, a sensibility that everyone might share in a future with intelligent robots and uplifted animals.
It’s tempting to say, “well, all animated movies are about talking animals and toys,” but the difference is that in Pixar movies this is treated as a significant issue. We’re not in a101 Dalmations universe of fantasy, where we just take for granted that dogs talk because the movie is from the dogs’ point of view. Instead, we’re in a world of humans and non-human sentient creatures, and the non-humans often have to work hard to persuade the humans that they deserve what amount to human rights. Here’s what Munkittrick writes:
In each Pixar film, at least one member of the team is human and at least one member is not human but possesses human levels of intelligence.
You can see where I’m going here. Particularly in WALL•E, Ratatouille and Up!there is no ambiguity about the reality of intelligence in the non-human characters. Each Pixar film asks us to accept one deviation from our reality. While it seems like the deviation is different in every case (e.g. monsters are real, robots can fall in love, fish have a sense of family, Kevin is a girl, a rat can cook), the simple fact is that
Pixar only asks us to accept one idea over and over and over again: Non-humans are sentient beings. That is the central difference between Pixar’s universe and our current reality . . .
Taken together as a whole narrative, the Pixar canon diagrams what will likely this century’s main rights battle – the rights of personhood – in three stages.
First are the Humans as Villain stories, in which the non-humans discover and develop personhood. I mean, Buzz Lightyear’s character arc is about his becoming self-aware as a toy. These films represent nascent personhood among non-human entities. For the viewer, we begin to see how some animals and items we see as mindless may have inner lives of which we are unaware.
Second are the Humans as Partners stories, in which exceptional non-humans and exceptional humans share a moment of mutual recognition of personhood. The moment when Linguini realizes Remy is answering him is second only to the moment when Remy shows Ego around the kitchen – such beautiful transformations of the Other into the self. These films represent the first forays of non-human persons into seeking parity with human beings.
Third, and finally, there is The Incredibles, which turns the personhood equation on its head. Instead of portraying the struggle for non-humans to be accepted as human, The Incredibles shows how human enhancement, going beyond the human norm, will trigger equally strong reactions of revulsion and otherization. The message, however, is that the human traits we value have nothing to do with our physical powers but are instead based in our moral and emotional bonds. Beneficence and courage require far more humanity than raw might. The Incredibles teaches a striking lesson: human enhancement does not make you inhuman – the choices you make and the way you treat others determines how human you really are.
Pixar has given those who would fight for personhood the narratives necessary to convince the world that non-humans that display characteristics of a person deserve the rights of a person. For every category there is a character: uplifted animals (Dug), naturally intelligent species (Remy and Kevin), A.I robots (WALL-E, EVE), and alien/monsters (Sully & Mike). Then there is the Incredible family, transhumans with superpowers. Through the films, these otherwise strange entities become unmistakably familiar, so clearly akin to us.
The message hidden inside Pixar’s magnificent films is this: humanity does not have a monopoly on personhood. In whatever form non- or super-human intelligence takes, it will need brave souls on both sides to defend what is right. If we can live up to this burden, humanity and the world we live in will be better for it.
Read the full article over at Discover’s Science Not Fiction blog
Opinion: Redefining furry
"What is a Furry" by Phillip M. Jackson
Author: Rakuen Growlithe
Furry is nowadays often defined as containing anthropomorphic characters — a slight change from the earlier definition of “fictional mammalian anthropomorphic characters.”
Obviously we have gone beyond being exclusively mammalian, but even the current definition needs some expansion, and could more clearly distinguish between what is and is not furry.
Searching for a new definitionThere are two things to keep in mind when attempting to define furry: first, what is considered furry, from which you must distill the common element; and second, not to pick the things you want to be furry, but to look for the underlying theme distinguishing furry from related interests.
Crossaffliction recently called for more criticism of furry. In it, he too tried to define furry and came up with a set of three rules:
- The majority of the characters must be anthropomorphic animals. Humans are allowed, and a human character can even be the protagonist, but they must be a distinct minority. Animal characters must be presented on the same level as any human characters.
- The level of anthropomorphisation should be both physical and mental. Bipedalism is a must.
- The genre of funny animals is not science fiction, or at least not hard science fiction. Anthropomorphisation should not be explained — at most, it should be vaguely hand-waved, as with fantastic “magic” or the ever popular soft sci-fi catchall, a “virus.” That said, funny animals can be applied over a basic framework of soft sci-fi, like the space opera.”
These rules were near-unanimously rejected, either for missing the point or being too restrictive. The first is useless in judging a character. It would deny a work that, for example, followed a set of anthropomorphic characters in our world as they sought acceptance and integration. The second is mere personal opinion and runs counter to a huge amount of what is considered furry. Many furs do not insist on bipedalism, and I doubt any taur fans would grant that point, though a mental shift is usually present. The final rule is unnecessary; often there is no need to explain anthropomorphisation. It just is a feature of that world. I have not completely dismissed his essay, though, and offer this as a reply.
Furry is a mixture of human and animal traitsAn obvious starting point for a new definition of furry is the old one. Anthropomorphic characters – the most important aspect – are automatically included. However, anthropomorphism is the application of human characteristics to a non-human entity. Creatures such as werewolves fall outside that definition; yet probably most would consider werewolves furry.
Transformation can be considered furry, and indeed a werewolf might be indistinguishable from an anthropomorphic wolf, but there is a difference in the path they took. A wolf with human traits attributed to it is an anthropomorphic wolf. A werewolf is a human with animal traits attributed to it, making it a bestial human. The result might be the same – but when you know the starting point, you see that they are different things altogether, and that their function in art or literature will likely be different.
The real-life aspects of furry, from fursuiting to mimicking animal actions such as purring and meowing, are also adding animal traits to a human starting point. This leads to the first change in the new definition; furry is not only about anthropomorphic animals, but also about bestial humans. It is the mixture of human and animal traits that is appealing, regardless of the starting point.
Furry requires a non-anthropomorphic starting pointThough the path to furry can start from human or animal, that there is a starting point is important. The idea of both bestial or anthropomorphic characters requires that you are adding traits which did not originally exist. A wolf walking upright is anthropomorphic because it is walking upright; a monkey doing the same thing is not, because walking in such a manner is normal for it – no new characteristic has been added.
This is only really important when considering fictional creatures. How to Train your Dragon won an Ursa Major award for 2010, but it should not have because there is no anthropomorphism. The dragons neither look like humans nor have human intelligence. At best they are more intelligent than most animals, but there is nothing to measure them against, as dragons are not real.
While an anthro wolf will be measured against a real wolf, a dragon appears in a story in their normal form. Even the dragons of Eragon are not furry because they have gained no human characteristics. They have human intelligence but that has not been added to a non-intelligent dragon; it is what dragons are in that world, in the same way that a real-life monkey is not anthropomorphic.
Further examples come from Pokémon. Pokémon is closely tied to furry, but in canon it is not furry. A pokémon such as Lucario might physically appear as an anthro jackal, but that is just is an aspect of Lucario itself. If you gave a Pikachu a human-like body it would be furry because that adds to the characteristics of a Pikachu, measured against its canon appearance.
Why are pokémon, digimon, dragons and other creatures associated with furry fandom when they are not furry? Simply put, there is enough of an overlap of interest that they have a noticeable impact on each other. Most pokémon used in fan fiction are anthropomorphised. Dragons may not be, but the idea of an intelligent non-human creature has the same appeal, whether in its canon condition or due to anthropomorphising a real creature.
This further expands our definition of furry to characters with a mixture of human and animal characteristics – some of which are not present in the ‘real’ (canon) version of such a creature or character. Without such a requirement, anything with some human character overlap will become furry, regardless of whether there is anthropomorphism.
Anthropomorphism must be a significant featureWe now have the basic framework to define furry, but it is not complete. How much new characterisation is required? Most furs would accept human intelligence as sufficient, but this is only one trait. Crossaffliction cited a human-like body, but having a tail is not enough to make something furry.
To qualify, the characteristics must have a significant impact. Human intelligence has such an impact on an animal; adding a tail to a human does not. This is obviously a personal judgement as there is no definitive measure of importance; however, I am confident most people can accept this principle. This point also serves when deciding if a specific work is furry or not: are the furry characters a significant part of that work?
ConclusionI have tried to argue for a new definition of furry: as describing a character who is possessed of a combination of animal and human characteristics in such a way that the new character is significantly different from the character’s real or canon form.
I hope this improved definition, drawing from what is currently considered furry, will help distinguish the topic from related interests.
CC:BY-SA