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A goat returns but the bird is gone. Many laughs are to be had in this episode! Episode -2 - Shark indigestion

Adoom is missing in tonight's episode of UnFurled. Come on in and enjoy tonight's hilarious topics. Episode -3 - Shark ate the goat

Recently, Andrews McMeel Publishing brought us the new adventures of a young bear having a really bad time. Here’s what they say about Tucker Grizzwell’s Worst Week Ever: “The Berenstain Bears meets The Simpsons in this rollicking yarn about one really, really terrible week. Tucker Grizzwell is having the worst week ever. He is due to attend the annual Jaws & Claws weekend with his dad, where young grizzlies learn how to be terrifying predators. Problem is, Tucker doesn’t even like to eat meat, let alone have to kill it first! Plus, didn’t some kid get eaten last year during the dumpster-diving lesson?” Things only get more complicated in this full-color graphic novel for all ages, written by Bill Schorr and illustrated by Ralph Smith.

image c. 2017 Andrews McMeel

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Yeah, new sofa's can be like this.
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Hello Everyone!

This week we open with a discussion on negative and positive thinking. We go through an article on how negativity can impact your overall health, and ways that medical professionals and researchers advise that you can make your overall health better.

Our main topic is our fourth All-Questions Show! We take a trip through our backlog of questions, ranging from telling a non-fur partner about being furry to how to handle getting possessions back from exes who do not feel they have to return them. Several of these questions are longer and, as always, we invite you to offer your feedback and offer your own take, especially if you think we missed the mark.

We close out the show with some feedback on our Drugs and Alcohol show and how to go about doing drugs in as safe a fashion as possible.

For more information, including a list of topics, see our Show Notes for this episode.

Thanks and, as always, be well!

FA 071 All-Questions Show Vol. 4 - Does negativity impact your overall health? How many emails will we get through this week? Should we advocate safe drug use? All this, and more, on this week's Feral Attraction!

Tempe O’Kun is a popular author of Paranormal Furry Romance, anthropomorphic-animal Westerns, and even game design.

Tempe writes in to share his recent appearance in the news, plus Q&A with me.

“I helped boo my Republican rep whenever he defended Trump-Russia. Normally, I don’t like having my real life intersect with furry, but these are exceptional times.”  See Tempe in cowboy hat on North Dakota’s KFYR-TV:

Things got physical at a town hall meeting this afternoon in Mandan with Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D. Two people were escorted from the Coffee with Cramer event by police officers. Things got heated, when Cramer was accused of supporting tax cuts for the wealthy.

Another view of the event from CNN video:

Two men were ejected from Rep. Kevin Cramer’s town hall in Mandan, ND, after tensions flared over the GOP health care bill.

(Patch:) Was it a surprise to be on CNN?

(Tempe:) It was! North Dakota is a sparsely populated and polite state, usually forgotten by the media. Rep. Cramer (ND-R) scheduled his town halls for noon and 5pm, hoping only his supporters would show up. Boy, was he wrong. He’s been booed in every corner of this supposedly red state. I thought I was just going to do my part, so in 20 years I could say I was on the side of justice. I never thought I’d make it on the news, let alone nationally.

I wonder if there is an indirect furry dimension to this. Is it using a creative voice to speak up with experience you honed as a furry writer?

As a writer, I’ve spent most of my life learning to put my thoughts into words, exploring the human condition, and imagining worlds that differ from our own. If I can use those skills to explain how vital is is that people get involved, then I’m morally obligated to do so. If I can make an attention-grabbing protest sign and hold it, I’m bound to do that too. I can’t expect to inspire others to get out and object to authoritarian white nationalism if I just sit at my Twitter account.

Could the issues here affect furries as a type of person any more than the average person?

Most furries are LGBT. The Trump regime is targeting LGBT folks—from removing pro-LGBT statements and policies from government websites, to erasing LGBT folks from the Census, to giving a free pass for Putin to systematically torture and murder gay men in Chechnya – to helping the Republicans pervert the intended secular democracy of the United States into a twisted hellscape of intolerant religious law.

The furry fandom has always been a safe haven for folks to be themselves. For some, it’s the only place to safely do that. If we are silent, these attacks will only continue to escalate.

Even if you don’t care about LGBT rights, you probably want a free and open internet, right? The Republicans are attacking that too.

Furries live in the real world (much as we are loath to admit it). We benefit from clean air, freedom of speech, and a government that supports human rights instead of brutal dictators. Was the US government perfect before? Certainly not. But you don’t fix a system by embracing corruption and dishonor. It takes logical ideas and hard work.

If we dismiss the crisis that is the Trump regime as mere “drama,” if we complain about furry being “so political,” then we will look away until they grab us by the throats. Alt-right Nazifurs are shutting down our cons, threatening our artists, trampling our public image, and then playing the victim—the eternal hallmark of the bully. To justify making your fellow human beings suffer, you must convince yourself that you are the true victim. You hear this in every yowled rationalization: “I can do what I want! If you don’t like it, leave!”; “You mad, bro? Why can’t you take a joke?”; “They’re just words. Why are you censoring me?” None of these excuses are honest. Don’t engage. Don’t feed the trolls.

Furry is a wonderful escape from the harshness of reality. It’s an incredible kingdom of dreams we’ve built, a safe haven for everyone. That’s why it’s been a prime target for Alt-right Nazifurs. They want nowhere to be safe.

You mention you normally don’t like having real life intersect with furry, but these are exceptional times. Why, and what’s your message to other fans?

Being a furry teaches you to see beyond the easy and artificial categories we place others in. That “foreigner” might be your favorite fursuiter. That “lazy welfare queen” might be the struggling artist you cheer for in comments.

Even as Putin’s intelligence services handed our election to Trump, I know the Russian people want only freedom, safety, and peace—just like the rest of us. I know it because I know Russian furries. They’re my friends, fans, and illustrators. Many of them resist their government as it cracks down on free speech and LGBT rights. If they can speak up against a far more competent authoritarian regime, I can’t sit idle.

Our times are exceptional because tribalism – the ancient lie that those outside your little tribe are subhuman goblins – has been grievously wounded by the internet. The old boogeymen (non-whites, non-Christians, non-heterosexuals, socialists, women in pants) no longer scare us, so the old power structures are crumbling. Women, minorities, and the poor have rights and can vote. World peace is an existing trend, not some hippy dream. Terrible conflicts rage on, but wars on the scale of previous generations aren’t happening anymore. Why? Because we citizens of the world are now so interconnected and interdependent. (Wouldn’t you think twice about attacking a country if your friends lived there, or your next commission was coming from there?)

Respect’s not a zero-sum game. Empowering others and treating them with compassion has practical benefits, even for those who might’ve been at the top of the heap before. Altruism is practical. Look at an example in the fandom: most everybody supports artists—with commissions, purchases, donations, or encouragement. We have all these incredible artists producing really cool things for us, and if someone were abusing or cheating them out of money, you’d want to stop that, right? No matter who you are, you’d benefit. If you’re broke, you want to keep seeing cool art for free. If you’ve got money, you want to keep commissioning cool art. And you can bet artists want an altruistic environment since they don’t want to be the next one harassed or scammed. Everybody wins.

The only reason to fight that positive environment is if you’re hoping to scam people. So be wary of those who ask for your fear or hate. They want to use you. They want cannon fodder or cash cows or even just a chorus of trolls to drown out anything that upsets their delicate feelings. People who desire your cruelty want to turn back the clock to the old days, when they could be warlords grasping for blood-soaked gold instead of bitter losers trolling in a comments section. Their time is passing. Pity them. And then block them.

In the furry fandom, we’re at the forefront of this trend toward embracing peace. Ironic, perhaps, that we had to embrace animal personas to see each other as fully human, but I can’t argue with the fact that the furry fandom is one of the nicest places in the world. Everyone who can treat each other kindly is welcome to join in our tomfoolery. We’re united by shared interest and a sense of community, which is certainly the direction we want the world to go. If we try, we can make the world more like the fandom: safe, fun, and free. Together, we can make the future furry.

Do you want others to follow your example, and how?

Absolutely! First of all, be a smart internet user. The internet is a furry’s native habitat. You know how to search for good info, verify rumors, and sniff out a lie. Don’t let people fool you with self-serving memes and propaganda. Share important news stories from good sources, not just ones with wild headlines.  Beyond that, anything you can do is something we wouldn’t have without you.

Can you…

…continue your life without going insane? Great! Be kind to yourself. Do things you love. Fill your time with activities that keep you from obsessing over the negative. Disengage from toxic people. This is the foundation all other resistance is built on.

…be good to your friends? They might be as freaked out as you are. Spend time with people who make you smile and be excellent to each other.

…discourage trolling? Fighting with idiots is a waste of energy. You’re not obligated to correct every fool on the internet. Use your energy in more productive ways. Block trolls, report them, and move on. And don’t let your friends troll people.

…call your representatives? Here’s the number: 202-224-3121. I call almost every day. It takes about 5 minutes to call your two Senators and Representative. Just like ordering a pizza: tell them what you like and what you don’t. Don’t bother calling outside your district, since only constituents count.

…go to a protest? Check out your local Indivisible group on Facebook. Or just bring friends to your Congress member’s next town hall, hold up signs, and boo or cheer as needed.

…donate to the ACLU to fight the regime in court? Here’s the link.

…vote? Most states let you register here.  The next local election in your area might be sooner than you think. Plan ahead and vote early, if you can.

…volunteer for a local election?  There’s tons of options for how you can help out, from calling people and knocking on doors to organizing your friends to go vote. Even better, you could run for office.

…help out a local cause? With basic services threatened by tax breaks for the wealthy, you’d be more welcome than ever at your local animal shelter, food pantry, blood drive, or any other group that helps improve life on this planet.

…do something I haven’t even thought of? You can read more about resisting at the Indivisible guide.

Do you…

…live outside the US?  Stand up for civil rights and democracy in your own country. Be so successful that you shame us into being better.

…own a fursuit? It’s tough for the propaganda machine to spin peaceful protests into “riots” if cartoon animals are squeaking at the cameras.

…have a furry or social media account? Follow people who work to improve the world. Don’t follow people who tear others down or support cruelty.

…have friends/family members who “aren’t political” or even support the Trump regime? Be as open as you feel okay with. Use your time and energy where you think it will be most productive. I’ve found that the best way to win people over is to live the best life I can and be honest about my beliefs while trying to understand others’.

Apart from being on CNN, what’s new with you and your work?

I am almost done with a new Windfall book! Slate is back and illustrating it, inside and out. Expect to see it this summer or fall. I’m also working on a new card game that’s compatible with the Nordguard one—and that uses a property the fandom is also pretty familiar with… ; )

My Sixes Wild and Windfall ebooks are available on Amazon. Physical copies are at: FurPlanet.com and Sofawolf.com.

For my previews and fanfiction, check out my main galleries on Furaffinity or Sofurry.  (I know people go to FA and SF as an escape, so I tend to keep any activism limited to my Twitter.)

To support writing by furries, for furries, please visit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, and support all of the team’s news and reviews.

Now you get to mod your character in the new Sonic Game? This game hits sometime by the end of the year.
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Dogpatch Press is honored to host guest writer Mark Merlino.  He’s a fandom founder who helped found the first furry convention (ConFurence Zero in 1989). Mark maintains the Prancing Skiltaire house in So Cal, with fellow fans Rod O’Riley and Changa Lion.  Below is his submission, followed by a part 2 with additional questions I sent.  

Mark is announcing a treasure trove of pre-internet furry lore.  Now you can see stuff like the ConFurence Zero conbook. You may love this if you got involved in the days of trading ‘zines by mail (like me), or if you just want to compare what cons do now to how they did it decades ago.  Now we have a thriving subculture on top of the 1980’s fan ways, with unique features like a cottage industry for fursuiting, dance events beyond compare, and cons every weekend around the world.  But some things never change – this blog is basically my ideal 90’s ‘zine, except I’d love to add more art as it grows. ( – Patch)

Mark in 1989 – and check out the ConFurence Zero Aftermath Report.

(Mark:) Here is my article about fan publication history, the Prancing Skiltaire house library/archive, and the recent creation of the on-line ConFurence Archive made by my partner Changa.  It also mentions Rodney’s and my blog Two Old Furry Fans, and InFurNation (Rod’s labor of love for 25 years of so). There is a real interest in the history of fandoms, and finally a way to research early records.

The ConFurence Archive (at confurence.com)

You can find anything on the Internet! At least that’s the popular perception due to the rise and eventual acceptance of search engines like Google, information aggregation web sites like Wikipedia, and archival collections like archive.org. Where did people find things out before the Internet? Well, libraries! Growing up, I learned all about the libraries in my schools, and the local public libraries and how to use all of them. Card catalogs for finding books by subject or author, and the Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, which indexed hundreds of magazines; these were my Google on dead trees.  My first real job (for pay) was a “page” at our neighborhood branch. The job required putting books back on the shelves, in order. I expanded my responsibilities by keeping the record players in the listening rooms and the copy machine all working (always was a nerd…)  In high school I was a library assistant for 2 years, sorting shipping and receiving, and even rebinding. I spent many hours, from grade school to my time in the university devouring entire libraries. I collected my own books: science fiction and fantasy paperbacks; comic collections (Walt Kelly’s “Pogo” was my favorite); art and reference books, magazines like National Geographic, Natural History, Science, and Zoobooks; and illustrated books for young readers.

ConFurence 4, 1993 – I’m guessing this show-stopper bunny was Shawn Kellers’. – Patch

When I met my partners and we moved in together with friends, all of our collections combined.  We ended up living in a library. (Twilight Sparkle would approve!) In 1970, I discovered science fiction and comic fandom and fan conventions. I began collecting convention souvenir program books, convention reports, and daily newsletters. In the dealer’s room I found fan published magazines (zines) with reviews, non-fiction articles, art and fan fiction. Joining the Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society (LASFS, founded in 1934) I became familiar with Amateur Publishing Associations (APAs), the compiled magazines made of participants pre-printed articles and GenZines, fan published collections of articles, fiction and art. My partner Rodney was also active in various fandoms.  He had his own collection of fan publications (he even edited an APA for a writers’ group). His and other household members’ collections joined mine in our house, The Prancing Skiltaire.

Eventually our shared interest in all things anthropomorphic caused us to take leave of our senses completely, and we organized the first furry fan conventions. I negotiated with venues, signed contracts, and took care of registration, while Rodney handled programming and publications. Convention flyers, advertisements, progress reports, newsletters and convention souvenir program books were produced.  Eventually the convention progress reports became the newsletter InFurNation, mailed to members and other subscribers 4 times a year. (It’s still being published on-line at infurnation.com). Copies of everything we produced, along with business documents and correspondence were filed away. Sounds organized, doesn’t it? It wasn’t.

The important thing to understand is that fandoms, even our furry kind, were chronicled in print and on paper (much of it distributed by the US mail) before the Internet happened. Everything you can find on-line, using the wonder of search technology, had to be put there by somebody. A lot of somebodies who must be willing to work hard, for little or no compensation, to make all of this material available to all of us.

After years of depending on publishing, printing, address lists and bulk mailings, it became obvious that ConFurence needed a web presence. A site was created and maintained intermittently by volunteers (who actually did computer stuff, unlike me) until ConFurence itself became a part of history.

That was the extent of things until a few years ago, my partner Changa began posting scans and digitized video of fannish ephemera he found around our house and shop, on his Google+ and YouTube channels.  Some of it (the ConFurence 0 video, for example) attracted considerable attention. Rodney and I were guests at FurCon in 2014, and our panel on “25 Years of Furry Conventions” (25 years, can you believe it?) was a hit at the convention and on-line, thanks to Changa’s efforts. Surprised by the interest in furry history, Rodney was inspired to start a blog “Two Old Furry Fans” (twooldfurryfans.com), with audio net-casts where Rodney and I talk about our fury interests and experiences (Eventually we’ll be talking with some famous guests, we hope!).

It was this year (2017) that Changa (with a bit of help from us) realized that all the pieces were in place, and it was time for the Next Big Thing. A furry (and related fandoms) public access information archive.

The long abandoned ConFurence.com site, revitalized with nearly 2000 images and files to search (so far) is now the Confurence Archive.  Anyone and everyone can now access documents from the early (pre-Internet) years of science fiction and comic conventions, the Cartoon/Fantasy Organization (C/FO, the first US animation fan club with emphasis on the animation of Japan), and of course, ConFurence and the furry community. The site is still growing, but it’s open now.  Go to confurence.com, and study the extensive material excavated and prepared for you by Changa. Take notes. There will be a test at the end of the semester.

– Mark AKA Sylys Sable

Further Q&A by Patch.

 

Is there any physical part like an actual room where visitors can check out zines and stuff?

Here at the PS, people are welcome to look at stuff anywhere in the common areas, and some do during the parties. We have let some people who were working on projects visit at other times to dig through the shelves and boxes.

I have also let a few people borrow some magazines (anime related) for a month or so, and maybe I will do more of that. We have to be careful of a lot of the old stuff because it is on high-acid paper, often mimeograph, which fades with age, held together with rusty staples. Luckily Changa is scanning such materials while they can still be read.

What’s the rarest/coolest material in the collection… like do you have any unpublished fan works from people who went on to be famous names? (I think there were at least a few in the early 80’s APA days.)

Interesting rare stuff? Well, we have some art by Peter Chung in various C/FO publications. He was a long-time member of the club and went on to create Aeon Flux the post-apocalyptic bad-ass female assassin. Quite a few animation students, including those attending Cal Arts (Disney) got their first taste of anime at the club. Dave Kune, an artist and animator was involved in the local furry community, and an early fursuit maker/performer. He is a professor/administrator for an art school in Laguna. Many of his students display their work at the Orange County Fair, and some of it shows furry influence. Shawn Keller, a Disney animator and character designer for WB (Space Jam) used to have private art shows at furry conventions and also made fursuits and presented them at cons. We have art from them and others who have gone on to become professionals, as well as art from “lost” artists like Jerry Collins (though he does have an FA account now, under a different name). One of the interesting finds of recent excavations were newsletters and correspondence for C/FO New York by and about Jerry Beck, an animation fan that came to California and got involved with the studios, and is now the head of the Hollywood chapter of the International Animation Society (ASIFA), the group that has the Annie Awards, the Oscars of the animation industry.

There is likely a lot more, but I can’t think of any right now…

I wonder if there could be some discussion of collecting some of this info into a retrospective? (I have roughly outlined a “furry coffee table book”.)

We have has some early interest in contributions to the archive, and certainly welcome any. I would enjoy doing more articles and being involved in discussions about fandoms, particularly furry. A few people are working on books about furry. Fred Patten’s “Furry Conventions” book is mainly an index of all the conventions with basic information, until 1999. He rejected any input from us and chose to create his “facts” from the recycled rumors and statements made by people who were trying to do character assassination of me, Rod and other ConFurence staff form the first 11 years of the con.  Joe Strike is working on a furry book, likely from his perspective of comics/science fiction and the early artists, which considered themselves “funny animal” artists. He has been around a long time, as a fan and as a writer, producer and production assistant in the film industry, and no one currently in the furry fandom has ever heard of him :(. One of the founders of the Graymuzzle Facebook community is also working on a book (Grubbs Grizzly). Rodney suggested (years ago) doing a “Furry for Dummies” book, which would be easier for us, since those books are usually a series of topical essays, with lots of illustrations. We could even have content from other contributors. Will it actually happen? I can’t say…

The coffee table book sounds interesting. One of my dreams was to have a (or perhaps several) real furry art gallery shows, in legitimate galleries/museums. I did arrange and curate a large animation art show at the university I attended in 1975. It was one of the largest shows of it’s kind, with more studios and artist represented then ever before. Rod also arranged some gallery shows with an art association in the Santa Ana artist village, with opening planned for the monthly Art Walk. The shows were small, as it was very difficult to get artists to contribute, but the events were well received and got a lot of local press. I think furry art as a genre includes some of the most beautiful illustrative art produced today. A show in a museum environment (not a sales situation) could include some incredible pieces from several personal collections (like ours).

Thanks again to Mark and be sure to check out confurence.com.

To support writing by furries, for furries, please visit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, and support all of the team’s news and reviews.

??

A new reprint of something we seem to have missed the first time around: A coloring book adventure comic called The Unlikley Trio — Last Barn On The Left. Here’s what we found in Previews: “Lil’Bit the mouse, Mrs. Butters the cat, and Abby the Collie dog join together to confront a scary monster that lives in the barn of their small town. Can the three friends overcome their fears and get through this adventure? Kids can be the colorist in this black and white adventure that features fun activities in the back of the book. Alterna will be donating all proceeds to the ASPCA foundation to help protect animals in need!” It’s written and illustrated by Scott West, with writing help from Callie West. On-line there’s all kinds of contradictory information about when this was published, but hopefully Alterna Comics should have it back in stores soon.

image c. 2017 Alterna Comics

 

Here is a rather cool furry independent animated film that is a bit like a mix of Heavy Metal and Rock & Rule. https://youtu.be/flaUHJhU_gY While they are selling it on iTunes and Google play it is also available DRM free on their own website: http://www.gorgonpictures.com/ [1] [1] http://www.gorgonpictures.com/
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As in the past, we’ve worked with the International Anthropomorphic Research Project, and we occasionally receive news of a survey or study they or related researchers are conducting.

The following comes from Moses Simpson

I’m a Masters student from the University of Waikato and I’m doing research into the mental health and protective factors of the furry community.

This research draws from work done by the IARP and adds an investigation into how being within the furry community can be a predictor factor for or protective factor against mental health issues.

The survey is well-designed and understanding of the basics of the furry subculture and of mental health. And, hey, you could win an Amazon voucher for taking the survey! Sweet.

Take the survey here.

Join the Team! (Channel Update)
Like this channel? Wanna be part of it? Watch this update to learn how! See more at: http://www.TheRaccoonsDen.com FACEBOOK: http://www.Facebook.com/TheRaccoonsDen TWITTER: http://www.Twitter.co... From: The Raccoon's Den Views: 1443 30 ratings Time: 02:56 More in Entertainment

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Registration is open for the Alamo City Furry Invasion : The Furry Furry West, October 6-8, 2017.  Follow on twitter: @FurryInvasion. 

Yay for a new frontier of fun in Texas!  The well-established con is Furry Fiesta in Dallas. The new Furry Invasion is a 4-hour drive south, and thoughtfully scheduled 6 months after.  This fandom IS big enough for the both of them.  That bodes well for success, and it already seems to be going great. They sold out their original hotel (the Marriott), and upgraded (with transfer of reservations) to a nicer place.  Now it’s at San Antonio’s El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel.

What’s cool in the southwest furry scene?  Besides cons, I previously posted about independent efforts to start furry dance parties (a small series by Whines, and FurNightATX by Haven, who is also the founder and fursuiter mascot of HavenCon.) Haven is one of the Guests of Honor at the upcoming ACFI, along with Telephone, Omnom, and Thorgi.

Did I say cool? This con is so far south, I think fursuiters will be glad it’s in October.  So mosey on up to their registration page, and get deputized with a badge for fun.  (-Patch)

Registration info and more:

Lifetime badges only available for this year. There is a limited supply so act now!

Registration pricing:

• Supporters. $15
• Attendee. $35
• Sponsor. $75
• Super Sponsor $120

Available for additional purchase:

• Attendee level lifetime badge. $220 only 6 left!
• Sponsor level lifetime badge. $500 only 2 left!
• Additional Convention T-shirt. $20 only available to those that pre-register!

Attendee gets a member badge, choice of custom pet tag or wristband, and access to the dealer’s, artist alley, game room and Saturday night dance party.

Sponsor gets all of the attendee package plus a convention T-shirt!

Super Sponsor gets all of the sponsor’s package plus dinner with the guest of honor (Limited to first 20 Super Sponsor purchases) plus entry into a raffle for ATTENDEE LEVEL LIFETIME BADGE!

Vendor table pricing:

• Dealer’s Den $50 plus any registration. Limited to 8 tables in the Dealer’s Den.
• Artist Alley. $25 plus any registration. Limited to 9 tables in the Artist Alley.
• Raffle tables. $5 (not including registration). Limited to 3 tables in the Artist Alley.

Act now to secure your badge or table!  Merchandise at the door is at a limited supply on a first come first serve basis!

Register at: Alamo City Furry Invasion : The Furry Furry West.

To support writing by furries, for furries, please visit Dogpatch Press on Patreon. You can access exclusive stuff for just $1, and support all of the team’s news and reviews.

enjoy! ep. 162 - The Assterlife - enjoy!

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I’ve never gotten to interview Fred Patten personally, though he’s very amicable and we’ve exchanged letters. The reason is simple. Before I interview someone, I research who they are, what they do and what they’ve done. The research allows me not only to write better interviews and articles, but also, I believe, it gives me the privilege of finding out new things about the inhabitants of our shared furry society, our culture, our stories. I haven’t been able to interview Fred Patten to my liking because, as it stands now, while I’m being constrained by normal every day life as both a worker and a self-sustained college student, Fred’s background as a fandom member is absolutely overwhelming. I don’t think I can do him justice, though I can try to introduce him.

A 76-year-old furry from Southern California (Western US coast), Fred is a retired librarian and documenter, with a Master’s Degree in Library Science. It comes as no surprise that, as such, he’s an avid reader, an industrious book reviewer, and a writer. After becoming greatly involved in the Sci-Fi fandom in the 60s, he found out about anime & manga, and became a co-founder of the first American anime fan club in 1977. He partnered with Richard Kyle (creator of the term “graphic novel”) to open a bookshop in California, and wrote to Japanese publishers to import their manga overseas, to the US, for the first time. He’s interacted with Osamu Tezuka, Ray Bradbury, and other sci-fi & manga authors. Considered one of the leading Japanese cartoons experts and promoters up to the 90s, he started becoming involved with the Furry fandom as it diverted from the Sci-Fi fandom, in the 1980s.

  Fred cosplaying as The Flash in 1962, at the World Science Fiction Convention in Chicago, (C) William Schelly.   Takaji Kusonoki and Fred Patten looking at a pressbook
for the animated feature Phoenix 2772, in 1980.

He became editor of Rowrbrazzle, one of the first furry magazines, from 1989 to 2005. ConFurence 0: Yep, he was there too! As a furry book reviewer, he’s worked with magazines Yarf! (1990-2003), Claw & Quill (2004-2005), Anthro (2005-2008), and Renard’s Menagerie (2008). As a furry literature promoter, he’s edited a number of furry anthologies, the latest of which are ‘Gods with Fur’ (2016) and ‘Dogs of War’ (2017), a collection of 23 short stories each, from different writers, about historic and original furry gods, and furry stories set in military scenarios. But he’s got many other books too! He is the co-founder and corresponding secretary of the Anthropomorphic Literature and Arts Association (ALAA), the organization responsible for the Ursa Major Awards, since 2001. He’s also a member of the Furry Writers’ Guild. His compilation of furry stories ‘Best In Show: Fifteen Years of Outstanding Furry Fiction’ won two 2003 Ursa Major Awards. He was inducted into the Furry Hall of Fame, of MiDFur (Melbourne, Australia), in 2011, an annual award that honors contributing members of the fandom for their loyalty and undying commitment to furthering the fandom’s culture worldwide.

A group discussion on the history of the Furry fandom feat. Fred Patten, Mel White, Drew Maxwell, Mark Merlino, and others. Recorded in 1998 at ConFurence 9. Video edited and uploaded by Rivercoon.

The 2011 induction into the Furry Hall of Fame, at MiDFur.

Friends visit Fred in June 2015. Fred in front, left to right behind are
Bernard Doove (furry author), Carol Alves, Roy D. Pounds II (furry artist), James Alves.

Fred has made a number of praiseworthy efforts to keep historic records of furry happenings throughout the years. As a current collaborator of furry news sites Flayrah and Dogpatch Press, he is still very active on the internet. He writes and comments with great insight based on his knowledge, experience, and research. You can read one of his many articles here (link⇒), an illustrated retrospective on the furry fandom. He also currently writes on animation and manga for the website Cartoon Research.

Fred’s latest published book is “Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989 – 2015”, a copy of which he kindly sent me for reviewing purposes. This book is a reasonably complete recollection of information and curiosities of all the furry conventions that have happened, since the first in 1989, up to two years ago. And boy, let me tell you, have there been many! The time and dedication put into this book are representative of Fred’s general disposition. Methodical and observant, some have described Fred as a “walking compendium of information”. But of course, all Fred could have written about, is events arranged and orchestrated by contributing members of the fandom, whether attendees or organizers. So there’s a bit of many many people in this book. Taking into account that to a great extent these massive gatherings are not-for-profit or non-profit, such a publication highlights and reinforces the sense of community that, to me, is embedded as a core value of the fandom.

The ‘furword’ (wordplay on ‘foreword’) is written by Kathy Gerbasi, Ph.D. in Social Psychology and co-founder of the International Anthropomorphic Research Project (IARP). She’s a lovely cheerful woman, last seen as a spokesperson in the documentary ‘Furries’ by Eric Risher (2016) (link⇒). She very well points out that the book is an invaluable source as a historic archive, and one of its uses is documenting how some cons achieved success, while others did not, and why it actually happened. The change of date of ConFurence 10 (1999) from January to April, and its change of location from Buena Park to San Diego, was met with disapproval, and so was the amount of problems and unresolved complaints that the convention had. Its directors stepped down to pass on the duty to a different furry for ConFurence 11 (2000), but by that year, there were already other furry conventions in the US that had had better runnings, with which they competed in the area. Hence the progressive decline in attendance that resulted in the closure of the convention in 2003. It was not an advertisement for the con at a ‘queer lifestyle’ magazine which lowered its popularity, a false rumor that furry journalist Patch O’ Furr has repeatedly denounced (link⇒). Similarly, the book files the ending of the RainFurrest convention in 2015. Unresolved severe hotel vandalism worsened the relationship of the con organizers with its hotel, which resulted in revoking further hostings. This shows how important it is for con staff to stay on good terms with the venue owners, and for them to remind attendants that they can’t just do whatever they want but must remain respectful.

It’s not all saddening incidents though; in fact most of the conventions reported have stories of shared joyful activities and overall normalcy. There are curious, sometimes funny, tidbits, sprinkled throughout. One of these was CaliFur 4 (2008) being hosted at a hotel which also hosted a Japanese wedding party and a heavily drunken high-schoolers party. Attendees conflated the two, calling it the “drunken wedding of doom”. On another case, at RusCon 2000, attendees rented, from a circus, a tame lioness and a leopard, and took pictures with them.

The overall writing style of the tome is concise and informative, such that it reads more like an encyclopedia or a reference textbook rather than a novel, with entries dedicated to each different convention, ordered alphabetically. It includes a short intro on the fandom’s history, centered mostly on furry conventions. It also includes some illustrations pertaining to cons, such as logos, conbook covers or posters, mostly in black and white, and some in color. It always feels special to see someone made a beautiful furry drawing, with noticeable enthusiasm, for a gathering of furry friends, at some point in the past. This is our history, and I wish furries will admire it, some remember it, for as long as the fandom stays alive.

If there is something I would change to this first edition of the book, is adding some kind of map, or several maps, to have an idea of how conventions have multiplied and where they’re located. Maybe another possible arrangement of the entries would be by continent, in which case an appendix listing them alphabetically would be needed anyhow. One way or another it should be easier to search for conventions by country or state. This information is easily found out using a search engine on the internet, but it would be fitting to include it in the book in some form. The book has a link to a short video / GIF Huscoon made with the time-lapsed growth of furry conventions in North America (link⇒).

On the whole, “Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989 – 2015” is a must have for scholars either amateur or professional, who wish to have a record of our furry conventions, in a single convenient printed volume. It’s also the kind of book that greymuzzles who’ve visited conventions, and have some attachment to the fandom, will enjoy having in their collection.

The book can be found at the publisher’s website, McFarland (link⇒), and on other bookshop platforms such as Amazon. More information at Dogpatch Press’ article on the book (link⇒).

Fred with a lizard on his head, at the furry party of San Diego Comics Con in 1993. Photo by William Earl Haskell.

The entry Fred Patten: A Lifetime of Dedication; </br>‘Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989 – 2015’ appears first in FurryFandom.Es.

Fred Patten: A Lifetime of Dedication; ‘Furry Fandom Conventions, 1989 – 2015’

It happens to everyone from time to time - you're browsing your art site of choice, or perusing your convention of choice, and suddenly....crush! Caudle joins Roo and Tugs to talk about all things Furry Crush. Be it art, another furry character, cartoon show character, fursuit, or others - they read your emails and talk about the "warm squishy feelings" inside they generate. Be it 18, 34, or 60 - it's still fun to crush! We also have Fifty Sheds of Grey, Space News, a new episode of Get Psyched!, and a couple unexpected surprises packed in this episode! (Note: We had so much content this episode, it's spilled over into a show bonus download! Catch an episode of Fifty Sheds of Grey, Roo's Tumor Time, several letters from the mailbag, and more!)





NOW LISTEN!

Show Notes

Special Thanks

Caudle, our guest
Fatigue, for the ident
Clunk
Commander Wolfe
Levvy
Moss
Anonypup
Kira
Amethyst
Fox Pup
Jax
Dee Otter
Falcon

Music

Opening Theme: Husky In Denial – Cloud Fields (Century Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2015. ©2015 Fur What It’s Worth and Husky in Denial. Based on Fredrik Miller– Cloud Fields (Radio Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Some music was provided by Kevin MacLeod at Incompetech.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. We used the following pieces:

Spy Glass
Happy Happy Game Show


Space News Music: Fredrik Miller – Orbit. USA: Bandcamp, 2013. Used with permission. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)
Closing Theme: Husky In Denial – Cloud Fields (Headnodic Mix). USA: Unpublished, 2015. ©2015 Fur What It’s Worth and Husky in Denial. Based on Fredrik Miller – Cloud Fields (Chill Out Mix). USA: Bandcamp, 2011. ©2011 Fur What It’s Worth. (Buy a copy here – support your fellow furs!)

SHOW BONUS!
We had so much content this episode, tons spilled into the show bonus bucket!

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Next episode: Con parties! They're legendarily spoken of in many places, but what the hell is so magic about them? How do you get into the "private party circuit"?  And what happens inside? What memories do you have of epic con parties? Let us know by May 19, 2017. S6 Episode 16 – I’ve Got My Spine - It happens to everyone from time to time - you're browsing your art site of choice, or perusing your convention of choice, and suddenly....crush! Caudle joins Roo and Tugs to talk about all things Furry Crush. Be it art

Once again, looks like Europe is getting cool stuff that we’re not getting here in the USA. According to Cartoon Brew, “Cartoon Network EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) will launch a new series in 2017: The Heroic Quest of the Valiant Prince Ivandoe, created by Danish animators Christian Bøving-Andersen and Eva Lee Wallberg. Prince Ivandoe is comprised of 10 three-minute episodes that follow the adventure of young forest prince Ivandoe, whose father, The Mighty Stag, has sent him on a mission to reclaim a magical Golden Feather from the Eagle King… The project is set to launch as both a linear series and an interactive online experience that allows viewers to join the quest of Prince Ivandoe and his bird buddy, Bert.” Keep your eyes open for a launch date.

image c. 2017 Sun Creature Studio