Dogpatch Press

Fluff Pieces Every Week

Category: Journalism

December 22, 2014

Furry Merry Christmas, media relations, RISK!, animal blessing… Newsdump (12/22/14)

by Patch O'Furr

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

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Around Furry fandom and in the media:

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A Furry Merry Christmas To One and All – from Tom Broadbent, documentary photographer.

Tom takes us to the Londonfurs annual Christmas party.  “Retro gaming was the theme and it was hosted at the Amber Bar in Moorgate.” (More about his art.)

London Furries Winter Ball Read the rest of this entry »

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December 15, 2014

Everyone knows the FurFest chlorine story – but did you see Tommy Bruce’s documentary blog?

by Patch O'Furr

Midwest FurFest was hit by poisonous gas. I rushed out a short notice, and had tips sent in by friends like Mordi. Soon, the news was everywhere.

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December 11, 2014

“This Furry Life” podcast seeks storytelling contributors.

by Patch O'Furr

Flayrah reports Roo’s story:

Potoroo, host of the Fuzzy Notes podcast, is developing a new podcast that models itself after NPR’s This American Life with a focus on the stories of the furry fandom.

Roo’s blog has a call for producers/correspondents.  He wants to find a group “interested in telling stories about furry”, teach them what he knows about podcasting, hold idea meetings, divide each story between a correspondent and a producer, and be the group’s consultant to release one per month.

Interested contributors are asked to email him here:

  • Let me know what interests you about the project.
  • Let me know how much time you think you could devote in a month.
  • Tell me a few ideas you have for stories you’d like to pursue.
  • If you have already done some podcasting or writing, link me so I can see your work.

I told him it was a great idea, whose time has come.  I think story content can be more “furry” than music.  To be honest, furry talk podcasts I have heard seem unfocused with chat and filler, like “you have to know the hosts” to sustain interest.  Let’s hear some solid storytelling!

There are some excellent storytelling podcasts that have considered animating episodes using their audio.  It’s a smart way to piggyback new stuff on top of existing content.  They can take a popular story and turn it into a short film for Youtube.  Consider that for furry stories… a unique match of content and medium.  This idea REALLY needs to happen!

Potoroo was 2014 Guest of Honor at Wild Nights in Oklahoma.  See his bio there.

 

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December 7, 2014

Hazmat Party Foul, $3 Million Fursuit, Parades, Hugs, Tickling… Newsdump (12/8/14)

by Patch O'Furr

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

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In the Media

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Midwest Fur Fest evacuated by chemical spill. Fursuiters: stick to good old fashioned rug cleaner! 

Initial report: Chemical leak prompts evacuation during Midwest FurFest at Rosemont Hyatt.

Several people could be seen in animal costumes waiting outside of the hotel. Ambulances from area suburbs were on scene helping transport people.

More: Glass Jar with White Substance, Strong Chlorine Smell Causes Firefighter, EMS Hazmat Response, Evacuation. Man, that’s a hell of a party foul.


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November 24, 2014

Photogenic furries on the radio – Dirty cats in “safe sex” animated PSA – Newsdump (11/24/14)

by Patch O'Furr

News from: North Dakota, Britain, Australia, Austria, Buffalo and San Francisco.

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

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In the Media

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Prairie Public radio interviews Furry author, Tempe O’Kun.

tempo321NPR broadcaster Prairie Public’s “Main Street” covers North Dakota news, arts, movies and books.  They invited Tempe O’kun for an in-depth conversation.  Hear the Furry author’s 23 minute talk on Main Street.

Tempe is granted a welcome level of respect.  He’s introduced as an author first, college teacher and person, and then one of those Furries.  The well-researched questions don’t bat an eye at the mix of “cuddly, steamy furry romance” presented in his popular SoFurry collection, or judge the hot fan-fic and porn at his FurAffinity page.  Good.  It skips non-issues to introduce the genre of furry (like expectations of character type: sly foxes, etc.) – and writing style chat that authors will want to hear.

Tom Broadbent’s “At Home With The Furries” photo doc update:  Bhavvels Bunny.

In Five pro photographers advancing the art of furry documentary, I named “whimsy” as Tom’s signature approach.  The carefully chosen fantasy scenes he presents show great storyelling.  Tom’s blog updates never fail to impress – this week’s subject is Bhavvels.  It explains Tom’s approach- “The setup:”

…should reflect the personality of the furry, but equally the personality of the person inside the suit. The two are interconnected in a very unique way, unlike in fact than any other form of cosplay I am aware of ( I’m prepared to be proven wrong of course)

It is in fact a collaboration, a trust between me and the furry.  That relationship and theimportance of maintaining that bond may go some way to explain how protective I am of the project and the furries themselves.

At Home With The Furries Read the rest of this entry »

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November 21, 2014

Poland: Weird, creepy conservatives make gross, inappropriate ban of Winnie The Pooh.

by Patch O'Furr

What I think about when I think about Furries.

What I think about when I think about Furries.

A Polish town had a problem considering the innocent cartoon bear as a mascot:

Winnie the Pooh has been banned from a Polish playground because of his “dubious sexuality” and “inappropriate” dress… one councillor even denouncing poor Pooh as a “hermaphrodite”.

What caused the dirty minds of the town council, who were thinking way too hard about Winnie the Pooh’s no-no spot?  

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November 18, 2014

Fangcon’s Draconis in hospital, Claw & Quill, Watership Down – furry Newsdump (11/18/14)

by Patch O'Furr

Here’s links, headlines and little bites of news to make your tail wag.  Story tips are always welcome.

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Around Furry Fandom

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Fangcon’s Draconis / Calamity Cougar recovering from heart attack suffered shortly after the con.

Shortly before Fangcon, Draconis submitted a tip for my article about it.  It was a shock to hear bad news in short order.  I’m happy to see his positive video response about recovering, performing like a pro and furry all the way.

Claw and Quill: regrouping.

Watts (Chipotle’s) online publication attracted much anticipation from readers seeking smart furry magazine content, but it hasn’t put much material out.  The “long-overdue” second magazine issue has been conspicuously absent.  Now comes good news – a recent update from Watts explains a change from webzine format to WordPress, allowing multiple contributors to add content.  (I’d sure love to see more than the handful of blogs like this.)

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November 11, 2014

Zootopia, ethics, fabulous Tony the Tiger, Andrew WK’s furry interview – Newsdump (11-11-14)

by Patch O'Furr

Here’s links, headlines and little bites of news to make your tail wag.  Story tips are always welcome.

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In the Media…

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Disney’s upcoming animated anthro feature, Zootopia, gets March 2016 release date.

It sounds so promising – it could be the new “furriest movie ever.”  And there’s a tidbit about another feature, “Moana.”

Alkenta at Fangcon.

Alkenta at Fangcon.

Fangcon news: “‘Furry’ frenzy in West Knoxville through Sunday”.

I spy Alkenta Wildcat (who recently left the SF Bay Area for school,) and NIIC the Singing Dog in the slideshow from Fangcon last weekend in Tennessee.

Winnipeggers adopt ‘fursonas’ that become their second skin.

A positive article with good quotes.  “Fur fandom is still very young. It hasn’t hit the mainstream level of Comic Con has enjoyed for a while. But I wouldn’t necessarily say that’s a bad thing. If it stays the same, I don’t think anybody would mind.”

The weird news story you won’t hear because Ethics.

National news and social media recently circulated a minor “weird news” story.  It was about a random low-level crime.  The perpetrator was the weird element.  In a plot twist you’ll only hear from a furry source, the incident targeted an innocent furry who did nothing wrong… but that detail was omitted from every story, while the non-furry was considered weird.  I asked for permission to link the story without names, because it seemed relevant to media attitudes.  The request was turned down to let the story die.  The issue appears to be settled, and I can only comment that the furry deserves a big hug.

Fabulous anthro Tony tiger ruffles fur of anti-gays. Read the rest of this entry »

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November 10, 2014

Fred Patten and Furries in FLAUNT fashion magazine

by Patch O'Furr

Historian and “elder statesman” of Furry fandom, Fred Patten, was recently asked to contribute to a high-end magazine: FLAUNT.  They’re “an international award-winning arts and culture publication based in Los Angeles.”  The editor’s request was for “a feature on cat people/cat culture for our upcoming NINE LIVES Issue.”

Fred sent me the below piece, adding a personal note –

I had hoped that it would contain more material about furry fandom, considering all of the material that I sent them.  But considering that FLAUNT is primarily a fashion magazine, it’s probably lucky that we got as much attention as we did.

COVER-785x1024If you got it, FLAUNT it!
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October 20, 2014

Five pro photographers advancing the art of furry documentary.

by Patch O'Furr

Fursuit portraiture is getting ambitious.  It’s more than an inward-focused service just to make con-goers happy.  It’s starting to be treated as documentary art to publish and put in galleries.

These photographers often give special focus to fursuiters, a sub-section of this subculture.  Furry is about more than costumes, but it makes sense to emphasize their unique, non-replaceable fuzzy glamor.  News media puts them in front of every furry story because it answers a “show, don’t tell” challenge.

The photo subjects come with fixed expressions, designed by their makers.  Performance brings them to life.  It’s a challenge to avoid stageyness in flat images of a tactile experience.  The best photographers do it by putting something personal in the relationship – a signature approach.

Fursuit-makers don’t require outside notice to be cool.  But this work isn’t “ogling”, it’s inspired from within. It’s win-win for both sides.

Here’s five photographers earning notice for their Furry documentary art. Update: added a sixth at bottom. (This is a nonprofit blog only sharing to promote artists- send questions here.)

Ron Lussier

AeroShep

Project- “Further Confessions.”  Gallery show opens in San Francisco On November 7, 2014.

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