October 2011
The return of the revenge of ANTHRO!
Posted by Cubist on Sat 1 Oct 2011 - 02:24After a thoroughly unscheduled hiatus of one year plus change, Anthro has returned to the internet. Zine-editor Quentin 'Cubist' Long promises that Anthro will continue to present "the good stuff", and that he has no intention of messing with a "successful, respected formula".
Funday PawPet Show manatee on auction block
Posted by GreenReaper on Wed 5 Oct 2011 - 02:30
The original Hugh T. Manatee, a regular member of the Funday PawPet Show cast, is up for auction.
Funds will be used to purchase new equipment for Poinkcast, HughTube and video archive digitization.
Update: The auction raised $102.50, just 43% of the winning bid for Poink T. Ferret in June 2007.
Puppeteer JR explained the sale [tip: BabsBunny]:
A few weeks ago, I started thinking, I'd love to have a YouTube channel focusing on stuff I've done and Hugh and Poink; [...] So, I created HughTube. [...] I decided I really wanted to build this up, film stuff with Poink and Hugh that hasn't been seen anywhere, and really build up the PoinkCast brand. I put together a list of stuff I'd need, and realized that if I did it all out of pocket it was going to take a while. So I posted it on FA and asked for donations.
Review: 'A Beautiful Friendship', by David Weber
Posted by Fred on Mon 10 Oct 2011 - 23:50
The first entry in a new teen series and the origin saga for the incredibly popular, multiple New York Times and USA Today bestselling Honor Harrington adult science fiction adventures. Young Stephanie Harrington is none other than the founder of a pioneering family dynasty that is destined to lead the fight for humanity's freedom in a dangerous galaxy. [publisher’s blurb]
Yes, but this story isn’t entirely new. In January 1998, Baen Books published More Than Honor (review; YARF! #58), an anthology of three original novellas by different authors set in Weber’s “Honor Harrington” universe.
The lead novella was Weber’s own “A Beautiful Friendship” (pages 3-132), the beginning of this same story. It appears with minor expansions, retitled as “Unexpected Meetings”, as chapters 1 through 12 (pp. 3-129) of this novel.
The second part, “With Friends Like These…” (chs. 13-29; pp. 133-352), is an original sequel. This rewritten novel version is the first in Baen’s new Star Kingdom series of Young Adult s-f books.
Query: Whatever happened to the 'Tales of the Mornmist'?
Posted by Fred on Wed 12 Oct 2011 - 00:26Back in 2000, Darrell Benvenuto's new publication company Vision Books announced that it had commissioned a series of Furry novels called Tales of the Mornmist.
The first four, written by authors Paul Kidd, Elaine Cunningham, Jeff Grubb, and Mary Herbert (with contributions by Lynn Abbey, Ed Greenwood, and Robert J. King), had been completed and would be published one at a time.
Paul Kidd's The Rats of Acomar, illustrated by Terrie Smith, was published in October 2000 to unanimously favorable reviews. But then Vision Books disappeared. In 2006 Benvenuto promised in a press release that Vision Books would return and resume its planned publication schedule, but there has been no news since then.
If the other three authors had all completed their novels, what has happened to their unpublished manuscripts? Furry fandom has seemed to forget about them. Today, eleven years after The Rats of Acomar, is anything more known about them?
Has the financial crisis affected your furry spending?
Posted by GreenReaper on Wed 12 Oct 2011 - 02:58Findra, SpinDizzy admin and FC organizer, reported dead
Posted by GreenReaper on Thu 13 Oct 2011 - 00:13
Chris Sturtivant, better known among furs as Findra, reportedly died this week at the age of 44. Close friends reported his passing as "sudden and unexpected".
Update (21 Oct): A gathering is to be held in Memorial Park (luge n1 w1) on SpinDizzy MUCK from 12-3PM PDT on Sunday 23 October. A memorial meeting will also take place on the afternoon of November 5, at Las Palmas Park.
Athus Nadorian, designer for Bad Dragon, reported dead
Posted by Higgs Raccoon on Thu 13 Oct 2011 - 22:25Brian Dyer, known in furry fandom as Athus Nadorian, was reportedly killed in a car accident.
Athus, 29, was an artist, and co-owner and lead designer for Bad Dragon, a company which specializes in toys of a sexual nature. He was mated to Narse.
Athus died on October 11. The vehicle he was a passenger in was believed to have failed to yield to oncoming traffic when making a turn, resulting in a collision with another car. In response to his death, Athus's friends and family have set up a memorial website.
Review: 'Housepets! Are Naked All The Time', by Rick Griffin
Posted by Fred on Sat 15 Oct 2011 - 23:50
This is artist Rick Griffin’s collection of the first year of his Monday-Wednesday-Friday Internet comic strip, Housepets!
Griffin (b. 1986; not the underground artist of 1960s-1970s comix and psychedelic posters who died in 1991) says he and his brother have been cartooning since their childhood; he got the rough idea for Housepets! in 2006, posted his first test strips on Fur Affinity during 2007, and the strip went online June 2, 2008.
This collection is unretouched, so the reader can see its evolution from a simple black-&-white, two character strip to a complex full-color strip with over a dozen characters, and the maturing of Griffin’s art style during its first year.
CreateSpace, July 2011; Trade paperback $11.99 (43 pages)
Review: 'The True Story of Puss’N Boots' is truly awful
Posted by crossaffliction on Tue 18 Oct 2011 - 00:06
I guess this is part two in what wasn’t ever intended to be an ongoing series; reviews of junk no furry in their right mind would need a review for, because they’re obviously junk.
But Mystery Science Theater 3000 is still my favorite TV show of all time, so this is what I do with my free time.
Last time, I discussed the unintentional horrors of Hyenas; today I will be reviewing the most obvious foreign rip-off of a Dreamworks Animation SKG film since Legend of a Rabbit.
Get ready for The True Story of Puss’N Boots, which, as the DVD box sadly points out, does not feature Antonio Banderas, but does present William Shatner in a role so bad, 'Priceline Negotiator' looks downright Shakespearean.
Review: The fox on the cover of Barker’s ‘Sacrament’ is not just for show
Posted by crossaffliction on Tue 18 Oct 2011 - 02:16
Since it’s the month of Halloween, now is a good time to review Clive Barker’s dark fantasy/horror novel Sacrament. Barker is a well-known horror novelist; perhaps not to Stephen King’s level, but if anything more respected by fans of the genre.
Sacrament is, like most horror stories, unusual. It deals with endangered animals and extinction, and I suppose it could be called a bit “green,” but that’s not why it’s of interest to furries. Lord Fox lurks in the pages of Sacrament, and he’s a different kind of furry fox, but strangely familiar.
Ohio man releases exotic animals into wild before suicide
Posted by Sonious on Wed 19 Oct 2011 - 20:18Terry Thompson, released from prison a few weeks ago on gun possession charges and still under house arrest, released his 56 exotic pets into the wilds of Ohio before killing himself. The irresponsible action of the owner resulted in the death of 49 animals; a monkey remains on the lam, while the other six were captured and are to be placed into local zoos.
The final count of animal life taken was six black bears, two grizzly bears, nine male lions, eight lionesses, one baboon, three mountain lions, 18 tigers and two wolves.