Dogpatch Press

Fluff Pieces Every Week

Tag: raccoons

News of the week: Furries and rare books (8-6-14)

by Patch O'Furr

In this week’s feature of news bites and links:
Furries and rare books – Pacific Anthropomorphics Weekend set for November – Rocket Raccoon – Furry music vids by Megan Lane, Sheppymomma
And more… Tips welcome- I’d love to post yours!
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spacecat

– Cats on Science Fiction Book Covers

Reddit furries enjoyed the topic. (A “Kzin” book cover led me to find furry on the 90’s internet!) It reminded me of a pleasing find: the 1950’s kid’s book series “SPACE CAT”. It’s full of vintage charm- see the book covers. Here’s a cool fact: author Ruthven Todd had serious credit in poetry, and was good buddies with the O.G. 1930’s Surrealist movement. Look out for this neat collectible, because used copies run for $50 and up online.

– Rare book dealers discuss “talking animal” fables from the Middle Ages

A question was recently raised in a rare books group on a social network: are fables featuring animals for kids? Yes, they are—but of course, not only.

Of Goupils and Men, or the Bestial Condition of Man” is an article in dealer journal Americana Exchange. Author Thibault Ehrengardt shares his find, a 1743 book about classical character Reynard the Fox:

Quite a disturbing reading… a vicious creature who never pays for his crimes; on the contrary, he is eventually appointed to the highest position of the kingdom — a bloody and immoral tale… For kids?

– Pacific Anthropomorphics Weekend announced: November 14-16, 2014.

The newly planned event intends to be at San Jose, CA’s Airport Garden Hotel – two months before Further Confusion, the second largest con by attendance. This follows internal controversy about organizing, possibly resolving a few private issues. Can it make San Jose the first city to have two cons a year?

This year’s “PAWCon” is a fall festival fundraiser with a focus on a social weekend with great music, games, and more. Visit pacanthro.org for more details. Registration will open soon, and hotel reservations open next week.

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Raccoons after dark: their haters, and their lovers

by Patch O'Furr

Flayrah News: 11/2/12

Urban raccoons are known as cute, smart, yet sometimes destructive pests that cause headaches for homeowners. Their mischief can range from raiding trash, to sensational headlines about terrorized neighborhoods that call for traps and controls.

According to the PBS nature show Raccoon Nation:

In an effort to outwit raccoons, we may be pushing their brain development and perhaps even sending them down a new evolutionary path. One biologist who has been studying raccoons for 25 years believes the city life is in fact cultivating “über-raccoons,” ready to take over the world.

While PBS jokes about “über-raccoons”, Germany has somber, no-nonsense, bedenklich news about their Nazi raccoon occupation.
Cooners
Some people worry about repelling them, but other people have a much more welcoming point of view… although they might keep their unsavory interests on the down-low. Mauricio Baiocchi, a distinguished San Francisco Bay area animator with credits from Industrial Light and Magic, lets us in on their sordid secrets in his 2011 short film, Cooners.
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Furry artist in finals of San Francisco Public Library card design contest

by Patch O'Furr

Flayrah news: 10/19/12

Library card designWalter Ringtail’s comic strip Paw Valley features a gang of cartoon animal friends who often end up in ticklish situations.

Now, patrons of San Francisco’s Public Library may be tickled to have his art work in their pockets.

According to this cartoon illustrated tour, seven million people a year pass through SFPL’s main branch alone (one of 27 branches in the city). Library membership is over 350,000, with over nine million loans circulated per year. That’s a lot of patrons who could become card-carrying appreciators of furry art!

3,000 submissions were received for the SFPL card design contest. Judges selected ten finalists in each of five age-based categories. The top vote-winners will be printed on SFPL library cards in 2013.

Walter Ringtail’s submission “The Bedtime Story” was chosen for the adult level finals. Now, it’s up to the public to vote for the winner.
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