Inflatable bunnies, street fairs, Furry Fuel – can we have it all together? Newsdump (4/24/15)
by Patch O'Furr
Headlines, links and little stories to make your tail wag. Tips are always welcome.
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Mainstream sightings
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BBC’s “The Why Factor?” will air a Furry story.
“Why do we project our emotions onto animals?” gives a 4-minute clip. Flayrah has air times for the 18-minute piece.
Growing community of ‘furries’ finds acceptance on campus.
USA Today does “not THOSE furries” apologism.
Meet the Club: The furries.
A 10-member club got a short notice in the student newspaper of Washtenaw Community College in Michigan.
San Francisco’s How Weird Street Fair is this weekend.
The promo vid flashes furries at 0:59, 1:17, and 1:25. For several years, fur meets at this cool event have marked the start of street fair season in the SF Bay. It’s the best occasion for my favorite thing, street fursuiting.
On the same day as the fair… Blow-Up: a gallery show of inflatable art.
Not a big news item, but I was taken by the pink bunnies. Artist Momoyo Torimitsu gives a down-to-earth statement on her site.
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Fandom News
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Ursa Major awards imminent.
The voting deadline was April 15! Results will be announced at a ceremony at Morphicon in Columbus, Ohio, on Friday May 1st, 2015. Fred Patten tells me that country tracking wasn’t strict enough… as a result, votes came in from places like “Lower Slobbovia.”
A director from Furry Force told me: “I want to win this, a lot!” And furry fandom founder Sys Sable answered a critic of Furry Force: “Something as broad and silly as this is not only harmless, but can help make furry look better. It has, for example, caused many more people to come and vote for the Ursa Majors. The awards mean so much more when more people vote for them.”
Furries: A Documentary wins Kickstarter funding.
I was really pleased by the thoughts about it on Furstarter, by Corbeau. He did more than just report. Concerning “apologism” for limit-pushing stuff furries do:
Explaining the fandom to outsiders involves juggling facts and ideas to a degree that approaches schizophrenia. There is no one furry fandom. “We are vast, we contain multitudes.” (Whitman, “Song of Myself“) And likewise, there is no one story of the furry fandom, and there isn’t one audience for a story about the fandom. Any conversation about the fandom’s strengths should begin with the power of a community for young people who might otherwise be entirely outsiders.
Furry Fuel energy drink: because foxes.
Cases just became available to the public. I’ll tell you a secret – it’s generic sugar – but so what? It’s furry! I’m happy to display a can on my bric-a-brac shelf.
Furry-friendly photographer Arthur Drooker may publish soon.
Arthur expects to return to Anthrocon this year. He tells me his project is progressing nicely and a publisher has expressed interest in giving it a book… possibly even a TV series. Conventionalwisdom.com has preliminary info to promote the book:
Conventional Wisdom chronicles author-photographer Arthur Drooker’s travels to quirky conventions, including Lincoln presenters, furries, and mermaids. His 85 color photographs and humorous, informative text present them as unique expressions of community, culture, and connection.
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Fred Patten shares…
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Creators respond to coverage at Dogpatch Press.
Fred’s reviews often get appreciation and links from authors, including ones outside Furry fandom. Fred: “Cynthia Felice says that she likes my review of her Godsfire so much that she will put it on her Facebook page. She is active in the Science Fiction Writers of America today.”
Release Date for ‘The Secret Life of Pets’.
Despicable Me and The Lorax team members animate Louis CK.
Anime: “The Boy And The Beast”.
Opens theatrically in Japan on July 11th. Fred: “It’ll be in American anime fandom by the end of 2015, probably fan-subtitled. Hosoda’s The Wolf Children was popular with both anime and furry fans. The Japanese title, Bakemono no Ko, is more literally Child of the Beast/Monster, or The Beast’s Son.”
Russian animation The Snow Queen 2.
It will hit North America in Winter 2015. Fred: “Wizart in Russia started out making its own theatrical version of Andersen’s 1845 “The Snow Queen”, playing up the original comic-relief Orm the troll. It was a success, with Orm the most popular character, so Wizart has made “The Snow Queen 2″ throwing out Andersen altogether, with Orm as the main character and lots of trolls. If you count the trolls as furry, this is a very furry movie.”
Kung Fu Panda 3
The inflatable pink bunnies reminded me of this YouTube film clip of a four-foot rabbit. Who knew that real bunnies can grow that large?
Night of the Lepus!
The trailer for “The Boy and the Beast” is now subtitled. The beast’s name, Kumatetsu, is literally “Iron Bear”.
http://www.cartoonbrew.com/anime/new-english-subtitled-the-boy-and-the-beast-trailer-111739.html
Furries do not need a documentary though.
I’m going to be diplomatic because I haven’t seen it… but yeah, in general, how about more making stuff – less talking about how cool it is to make stuff? More starting events and clubs – less talking about how neat it is to have a club. After a certain point, solipsism gets sad. As far as movies go, I’d prefer to see furries get enough critical mass to succeed with DIY animation. But I’ll take live fursuiting as much as any other entertainment.
The good thing I can see coming from documentary, is a seed for a furry film fest. I’ve been talking it up and there are a number of puzzle pieces in place that could start one… just not a team with the initiative. :/ For other event organizing, I’m glad cons and indie furry dances are really thriving.
What I meant is: the furry brigade is too disorganized, without a central vision or any resemblance of leadership. You cannot make a documentary about a group of people who cannot agree who they are or what they want.
Much easier to just make a documentary on Belgians or something.
Understandable… on the other hand, a good story doesn’t need to be officially sanctioned. Why worry if people agree on it? There’s always disagreement about anything that’s opinion, more or less, depending on the source. I’d say forget about that and concentrate on finding the good story.
Actually, if that’s the challenge holding back a documentary, because a simple hobby doesn’t have a lot of movie-worthy drama… make it up. Gonzo style journalism does that on purpose to creatively use “sarcasm, humor, exaggeration, and profanity”. If you want to tell a trippy story like that, I can’t think of too many better subcultures than one full of cartoon animals. I would be beyond thrilled to see a fictional “fursploitation” documentary, as long as it’s made by informed insiders.