Dogpatch Press

Fluff Pieces Every Week

Month: April, 2015

Carl Barks’ Duck: Average American, by Peter Schilling Jr. – book review by Fred Patten.

by Patch O'Furr

Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Carl Barks’ Duck: Average American, by Peter Schilling Jr. Illustrated.
Minneapolis, MN, Uncivilized Books, January 2015, trade paperback $12.95 (122 pages).download (3)

Furry literature is all well and good, but it’s important to remember that furry fandom did not invent it. One of the most important influences that led to furry fandom, and furry literature today, was the Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck stories written and drawn by Carl Barks (1901-2000) during the 1940s and 1950s. Today, those comic-book stories are all being reprinted, and are the subject of serious literary analyses. Here is something that is a little lighter.

“Critical Cartoons is a series of books on comics with a new approach. Cut loose the smartest writers on the whole of comic book history: classic comic strips, superhero epics, independent masterpieces, underground transgressions, obscure gems by well known masters, and more. Each volume of Critical Cartoons is long-form criticism that’s passionate, idiosyncratic, provocative and entertaining.” – (publisher’s blurb)

From this example, Critical Cartoons is a series of small, thin books of literary criticism about comic books, each by an expert of sorts. Peter Schilling Jr. is the author of Mark Twain’s Mississippi River: An Illustrated Chronicle of the Big River in Samuel Clemens’s Life and Works, a combination 19th-century travelogue and third-person nostalgia piece, and The End of Baseball: A Novel. Schilling identifies himself in the Introduction as a lifelong hater of “comic books”, but as a youth he made an exception for the Donald Duck comics by “the Good Artist”. Eventually, as he grew up and comic-book scholarship began to be published, he learned who Carl Barks was.

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International mascot Trip E. Collie – love and theft at FWA – Newsdump (4/16/15)

by Patch O'Furr

Headlines, links and little stories to make your tail wag.  Tips are always welcome. 

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Media and Fandom News

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Huge French festival features San Francisco Bay Area furry and Good Boy, Trip E. Collie, as national poster dog!

FOURVIÈRE NIGHTS is a festival for theater, dance and music in Lyon, France – a center for French gastronomy and classic architecture. Look who’s on it now:

Trip Collie was very surprised when the festival picked him as their real-life mascot.  He’s on their website front page, and buildings all over France.  He says: “The festival has run for 70 years… runs June 2 – July 31. It has several hundred thousand attendees!”   For 2015, it’s featuring: “Björk to Ben Harper, to Iggy Pop, Joan Baez, Patti Smith, Robert Plant, the Chedid family, Christine & The Queens, Véronique Sanson, Bartabas and Florence Foresti.”

How did they decide to feature a furry from California?  I recognize Trip’s photo from Burning Man – they must be calling on the spirit of that festival.  And who can deny the adorable appeal of Hyena Girls’s suit making skills?  I can personally rate him as a 5-star cuddler.  You don’t get that by seeing pop stars from afar. Yay furries!  (And wow, that would be an amazing destination… Lyon had the best food I had in a visit to four parts of Europe.)

“What It’s Like to Attend a Furry Convention” – in Men’s Health magazine.

Researcher Debra Soh’s article was praised by furries who said“It’s a broken record at this point, “Thought they were weird, turned out to be awesome.”  Debra recently appeared on this blog with a supportive statement: “A Lesson Everyone Can Learn From Furries.”

Hip hop artist Killer Mike at Furry Weekend Atlanta.Screen Shot 2015-04-15 at 4.01.19 AM

Killer Mike does music, acting, and “outspoken social activism” from a home base in Atlanta.  Apparently I’m lame because I didn’t know him before?  Now I do because he was tough enough to proudly hang with furries.  Nice.

Skypro Fursuits suffer vehicle and trailer theft at FWA.

Fans worried about loss of popular suits such as Telephone, but those were safe. Equipment was lost. April 12 update: “Car and trailer still missing and no word for the police. I dont think will ever be seeing our car again. :(“

Further Confusion 2015 covered by Science Fiction/San Francisco fanzine.

The writer reviews “one of my favorite conventions.” (PDF download, page 42.)

Furries: A Documentary – seeks funding on Kickstarter.

Production is complete and it’s just seeking post-production help.  It’s a great reason to check out what it will do with a modest goal of $2,500.

DJ contest: Furry is very close to winning, needs votes by April 17.
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Interview in Splitsider, and CollegeHumor’s message. Last day to vote for the Ursa Majors!

by Patch O'Furr

splitsider-logoLast week I interviewed Furry Force writer Adam Conover.  The story was covered by Sydney Parker, writing for comedy industry magazine Splitsider. They interviewed me – but I didn’t tell them to call me a “popular furry blogger!”  (Is that like being a cool trekkie gardener – an amazing ren-fair knitter – or a fabulous metalhead stamp-collector?)

How the Furry Community Embraced CollegeHumor’s Furry-Lampooning ‘Furry Force’.

 

CollegeHumor followed up with a message:  “Thanks so much for your support and for the great post/interview with Adam!”  They shared a video to encourage you to vote for Furry Force to get an Ursa Major:

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Griffin Ranger. Volume 1, Crossline Plains, by Roz Gibson – book review by Fred Patten.

by Patch O'Furr

Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Griffin Ranger. Volume 1, Crossline Plains, by Roz Gibson. Illustrated by Amy Fennell.
Dallas, TX, FurPlanet Productions, January 2015, trade paperback $19.95 (369 pages).

Roz Gibson is better known as an artist than a text author, but she won the Ursa Major Award for Best Short Fiction of 2013 for her novelette “The Monkeytown Raid”. Now with the first volume of her first novel, she shows that she is an excellent text author for longer works as well.unnamed

Griffin Ranger is set in a totally alien alternate universe. The land masses are the same as on our Earth, but the life forms and civilization that have evolved are dominated by birds. (The reader will have fun identifying both geographical features such as the Twin Continents, the Alpha River, the Five Lakes, and the Endless Ocean, and the cities and towns like Defiance, Flatlands City, and Foggy Bay. Griffin Ranger’s publication was funded by a successful Kickstarter campaign, whose donors got a large color map of this alternate Earth. It would have been very helpful to readers if this map had been included as an illustration in the book, even in reduced black-&-white.) Since birds don’t have hands, the main intelligent landbound mammals are the raccoon/lemur-like “hanz” that are their symbiotic partners, and two species of canines: the wild wolfen, and the more domestic herders that have evolved from them. This Earth’s civilization is dominated by the griffins, who are the principal inhabitants of what the reader will recognize as the Americas, Europe, and Asia. But in the last few hundred years the greenies, an aggressive bird species, have erupted from the Emerald Isles (New Zealand) to spread over the world. The griffins of the Northern Continent have allowed the greenies’ partial settlement there under strict supervision, but there are suspicions that the greenies are preparing to take over totally.

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What The Fluff!? Fur dance in the UK – Q&A for The Furclub Survey, from Moco Rabbit.

by Patch O'Furr

Furclubbing: “A repeat/regular nightclub event by furries for furries.”  It’s a New Thing that’s been spreading since the late 2000’s.  This kind of dance party is independent from conventions.  This builds on the growth of cons, and takes things farther.  It’s more established than events that happen once, house parties or informal meets.  Those can be inner-focused, or gather cliquish friends to only seek each other.   This brings partnership with venues that aren’t hotels, and new supportive interest in the kind of events they host and promote.  It crosses a line to public space.  A stranger may walk in off the street to discover their new favorite thing.  It encourages new blood, and crosses over to other scenes. It makes subculture thrive.

See the list of parties at The Furclub survey.  Any one that gives a Q&A will get a featured article.  Moco Rabbit (Weremoco) tells you about this new event:

What the fluff!? (2014- now)

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Screen Shot 2015-02-28 at 3.11.02 AM

(Born after the end of the UK’s popular Frantic Eufuria dance, 2010-2014: “The first WTF!? was held on 1 November 2014. The second was held on 7th February 2015. The next will be held in October 2015, with 2 planned per year initially.”)

Founders and promoters:  Weremoco, Taelion, Freddypanda.

Event details:  Rave/dance party, free to attend, dance floor, fursuit changing area.  WTF1 had ~40 attendees.

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Goddess, by Arilin Thorferra – book review by Fred Patten.

by kiwiztiger

Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Goddess, by Arilin Thorferra
Dallas, TX, FurPlanet Productions, January 2015, trade paperback $9.95 (141 pages).

“This is a mature content book.  Please ensure that you are of legal age to purchase this material in your state or region.”

When furry fandom began to develop in the 1980s, one of the first “subgenres” to be seen in traded cartoon art wGoddessas the furry macros – giant anthro animals striding Godzilla-style through cities of tiny-by-comparison furries. Yet when furry literature appeared, this subgenre quietly vanished.  Or went underground.

Here is what may be the first professionally-publicized furry macrophile novella: Goddess, by Arilin Thorferra, “the founder of ‘The Giants’ Club’ and an acclaimed macrophile storyteller.” (blurb)

Russell Rittenhouse (cougar) is the young librarian at Bennett University, one of the leading West Coast private universities. He wants to become a literature professor (with tenure), and has just begun the slow climb of the academic social-political ladder there. He gets a courtesy invitation to an exclusive reception for the visiting King of the small Pacific island of Uli Hahape, near Hawaii. Cornelius Bennett (rabbit), a sixtyish railroad and hotel multimillionaire and benefactor of the university, has arranged the reception to unveil his model of the ritzy superhotel that he hopes to build there, if the king will permit it. King Aremana (otter) is polite but clearly not impressed.

Russell drops out of the social soiree to a sofa to reread one of his favorite novels, The Great Gatsby. He is joined by the king’s daughter, who is also a Fitzgerald fan. They spend the rest of the evening discussing literature. The next day Bennett corners him in the library. Bennett suspects that King Aremana is about to reject the hotel, and he noticed Russell’s and Princess Kailani’s friendly conversation at the party. If Russell will continue to see the Princess, and subtly promote the hotel project, Bennett will make sure that he gets that professorship. Read the rest of this entry »

Exclusive: CollegeHumor is doing Furry Force 3! Writer Adam Conover talks about it.

by Patch O'Furr

FurryForce_7-logoPart of the interview series:  artists, animators, and more.

How Adam felt about the Ursa nomination.

How Adam felt about the Ursa nomination.

When he was younger, Adam Conover went to anime conventions dressed like a bad guy from Sailor Moon.

Adam writes jokes about internet culture for CollegeHumor.  The comedy website earned high praise this week with 9 Webby award nominations.  He told me that winning those would be way less cool than getting an Ursa Major award.

What more could comedians want, than the highest accolades of Furry fandom next to their Webbys?

Furry Force is up for the award now.  The CollegeHumor animated short series was written by Adam and Brian Murphy.  I think it’s a good-natured laugh riot. If you agree, help them win.  Let them know that we like comedy, and funny people who like us too.

The Ursa Majors deadline is April 15 – Vote Furry Force.

 

CollegeHumor gave me 30 minutes on the phone with him, to help me exclusively reveal some cool news.  Back when the original single short video got millions of views, it led to a Part 2.  Thanks to continuing response, there’s a third on the way.

Furry Force 3 is expected around June.  I can’t wait to see how Adam’s new baby comes out!

oPkWNuv

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Legacy of the Claw, by C. R. Grey – book review by Fred Patten.

by Patch O'Furr

Submitted by Fred Patten, Furry’s favorite historian and reviewer.

Legacy of the Claw, by C. R. Grey. Illustrations by Jim Madsen. Map by Kayley LeFaiver.download
NYC, Disney•Hyperion, October 2014, hardcover $16.99 (295 [+ 1] pages), Kindle $9.99.

 Legacy of the Claw is Book 1 of the Animas series, described by reviewers as like a combination of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy. In the Kingdom of Aldermere, all humans are magically bonded to an animal from birth. A human is known by the animal that he is bonded with; Animas Cat, Animas Horse, and so on. People travel with their life-bonded Animas padding, hopping, or flying with them; Longfoot the hare, Dillweed the badger, etc. “Civilized” people – farmers, townsfolk – have domestic or small forest animal companions.

Bailey Walker, 12 years old, has just graduated from his local school and been accepted by Fairmount Academy, the most prestigious institute of higher learning in Aldermere. He is enthusiastic about going there, and scared because he will be traveling alone. Bailey is an orphan, adopted as a foundling baby by the Walker farmers; and although they have been loving foster parents, they could never get Bailey to bond with an Animas. Bailey hopes that the teachers at Fairmount can help him find his Animas, but he is equally scared that not having an Animas will be grounds for expulsion, or will make him a freak and a social outcast during his adolescent years.

Bailey, like Harry Potter, travels to Fairmount on an impressive fantasy train:

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Friends help beat cancer, Furry art gallery, Big Weird Cow… Newsdump (4/8/15)

by Patch O'Furr

Headlines, links and little stories to make your tail wag.  Tips are always welcome. 

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Fandom News

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2420190f-da87-4a4a-ae07-51b15c93a1faFurries donate thousands to help Draces beat cancer – He faces $90,000 in medical bills.

The donor page shows many furries pitching $100 or more each. The current total is around half of a $10,000 goal. On FurAffinity, Draces posted:

I want to thank everyone, especially my friends here that set up the donation page for me. I was asked if it would be okay for them to set up a page to collect donations for me. I told them if they want to they could but I really don’t expect to get much. Wow, was I surprised at how wrong I was. I can’t thank everyone enough for the amount of shares the page has gotten and how much was raised in such a short time… I want to hug each and everyone of you.

Furry art show reception, 4/4/15 in Santa Ana, CA. 

From Sy Sable, supreme leader of long running furry house The Prancing Skiltaire:

This will be our 3rd year displaying a collection of art from local furry artists at the Avantgarden Gallery.  This Saturday (4-4-15) is the reception, during the monthly Art Walk in Santa Ana, CA, 7-10 PM.


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“Wild Things” will fluff your fur with a second fetish party in San Francisco.

by Patch O'Furr

Wild Things 2:  at San Francisco’s Citadel club – April 12, 2015

Artists and dealers are invited to show and sell your wares.
Info: (Ask me – patch.ofurr at gmail.)

wildthings poster 2 SM

(Art: Boiler)

Spring brings the birds and bees… and a surprise almost too hot to bear!  The uncaged, unleashed Wild Things party is back.  A special group of furries are partnered with a BDSM dungeon to top their daring experiment from November.

The first party was more fun than a barrel of monkeys.  It beat all expectations… (and some naughty dogs who deserved spankings too).  The announcement here broke traffic records. It was this blog’s top article of 2014.  The party went so well, they had to hold back from promoting it.

With a short few days left, the surprise is here…

Get pre-sale tickets:

Wild Things 2: Spring Fever

 

It’s an open invite, Furry/petplay sex party.  It’s “a special evening play session with dirty art, lights and music, fun and games.”  It’s a “unique, gutsy, sexy, creative, WTF happening for consenting adult friends”.  Yes, it’s really everything that giggling rumor-spreaders fear… and fearless freedom-lovers dream about.

DON’T FREAK OUT…  Sex is just one sub-interest in the creative subculture of Furry.  It’s a wide umbrella covering “everything from Disney to Dirty.”  The “topic everyone loves to hate” doesn’t define it.  But it’s valuable to push limits and grow freedom of expression.  Sex is just an optional ingredient for some grown-ups who want it. Do you want it?  Come get it.

There’s accommodation for shy people.  The roomy club has space for dancing or cuddling, with fur and fluff.  Other chill space is set aside for no-touch socializing and party snacks.  Smoothies and snacks are included with admission.  (There’s no alcohol due to licensing of this kind of club.)

This is meant to be an art and performing event, with creative animal costumes and play… not like a dirty movie where people sit around looking bored. You won’t find anything like this anywhere else.  If you’ve seen “murrsuits”, they’re here.  Costumes are heavily encouraged.

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