New York City artist Nate Hill has retired his performance-art pieces, several of which involved animal mascot costumes. Described as "part furry fandom, part street theater, and part creepy perv", Hill's spectacles included:

• "Punch Me Panda", in which he dressed in a panda costume and chest protector, and invited passersby to take a swing at him.
• "Death Bear", in which Hill put on a hard, black bear head and made housecalls to "take things from you that trigger painful memories and stow them away in his cave where they will remain forever, allowing you to move on with your life".
• "Free Bouncy Rides", in which he wore a blue dolphin costume with a sign reading "Free Bouncy Rides", and invited people to bounce up and down on his lap.
  

Popular European conventions Eurofurence and ConFuzzled have announced their intent to form a combined body: EuroFuzzled.

The merger made a lot of sense, as slippery convention spokesotter Tungro explained:

Running a convention involves a lot of logistics and expertise, as well as time and commitment. In order to reduce costs and overlap, it is in the interests of both conventions to pool resources together.

The UK and DE editions of EuroFuzzled will still be lead by Matt Lion and Cheetah respectively; however, art show panels, registration systems, badge printers, regualar guests, hired entertainers and gophers will be shared between the conventions.

The news goes some way towards explaining the recent notice of ConFuzzled's cancellation.

Update: A new announcement from ConFuzzled suggests the merger will not go ahead.

In 1985, Michael J. Fox starred in Teen Wolf, playing a highschool student who found himself transforming into a werewolf due to hereditary lycanthropy. The movie spawned a TV cartoon series and a sequel (Teen Wolf Too).

Now Teen Wolf is being rebooted as a live-action series on MTV. The network has opted for an edgier feel than the original movie, hoping to attract fans of The Lost Boys and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

A three-minute trailer has been released; the series itself is to premier June 5, after the MTV Movie Awards.

Space Shuttle Endeavour may be getting a stowaway – a hand puppet of Krtek, a mole created by Czech cartoonist Zden?k Miler in 1956. [Spottacus]

Krtek is to travel with Andrew Feustel on the ship's final mission, planned for 19 29 April.

U.S. Representative Don Young of Alaska has refused an award from the Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund after being recognized this week with 145 other members of Congress, according to a press release from his office.

"HSUS are hypocrites, plain and simple, and I will not join them by accepting this award," said Rep. Young, explaining his refusal. "Local animal shelters and humane societies do excellent work by caring for neglected and homeless animals, and through their spaying and neutering programs. This organization, however, has absolutely nothing to do with animal welfare. Instead they prey on the emotions of big-hearted Americans."

He elaborated on his reasons on the floor of the House:

I've been a hunter all my life. And they're against hunting. And that bothered me.

Humane Society COO and HSLF president Michael Markarian said that while HSUS "[disagrees] with [Rep. Young's] views on most animal welfare policies," they "also believe in giving credit where credit is due and recognizing positive actions."