Dogpatch Press

Fluff Pieces Every Week

Category: On the scene

Making a successful Furry float for San Francisco Pride 2014

by Patch O'Furr

(Video from SFPride/Clear Channel. Unedited here at 2:36:00 – may be NSFW.)

Bay Area Furries brought the first Furry float to SF Pride since 2004 or so. I estimate 50 at the parade (with 20 or more fursuiters), plus 20 or more at attached Pride events we held. We carried out a long-time wish to be in the parade after two years of informal Pride meets.

Setting aside the reason for Pride, here’s stuff I learned about fursuiting – a request for help with contributing photos/videos – and a no-expectation hint that donations would be loved to cover costs (but really, the $1000 budget was a gift.) Read the rest of this entry »

Furry news of the week: Obama likes us (6/26/14)

by Patch O'Furr

Here’s the regular feature of news bites, scoops, and Snausage links. Tips welcome- I’d love to post yours!

Note: Blogging here is going to be very sporadic for a while. I’m an organizer for a furry float in the San Francisco Pride Parade. Phone and email have been blowing up all week, there’s 70 RSVP’s and I have 2 meets to handle. Then there’s Anthrocon, and much more.
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– Russell the Electric Giraffe meets the President
I was amused to see Lindz, owner of Russell the Electric Giraffe, using a Blotch avatar on Facebook. An intro video says:

Lindsay Lawlor once attended Burning Man in a full-sized Giraffe suit, until one day a friend of his suggested he build a mechanical giraffe from metal, electronics, and a slew of flashing LED lights…

Have fun reading about his trip to the White House to introduce Russell and Obama.


Read the rest of this entry »

Furry news and Snausage links of the week (5-29-14)

by Patch O'Furr

Dutch street fursuiting! – Sakura Fox’s new Suiting Suggestions – Anthrocon programming – Serious crime reported – NYC’s “banned pets” – Furaffinity “Project Phoenix” – Misunderstood Hyenas. – Snausages: a regular feature of links and story samples. Tips welcome- I’d love to post yours!
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Courtesy of NoctisIgnem

Courtesy of NoctisIgnem

– “FURSUITERS TURN THE CITY INTO A HAPPIER PLACE”
This is what furries are for! This is why I post about Street Fursuiting.
Reddit has the article from Dutch news, with English translation from generous sharer NoctisIgnem:

“This saturday Eindhoven got livened up by 30 fantastical animals. Photo opportunities and hugs were available all around. ‘Whenever furries or fursuiters turn up they put a smile on people’s faces, both young and old.'”

– SAKURA FOX: “SUITING SUGGESTIONS 6: WATER CIRCULATING COMPRESSION SHIRTS”
A new addition to a great series from a fabulous fox.
More “Suiting Suggestions” in previous features with Sakura about Street Fursuiting.

– ANTHROCON 2014 POCKET PROGRAM
Panels and programming revealed in latest draft. See you there in a few weeks!

Read the rest of this entry »

2014 How Weird Street Faire furmeet in San Francisco

by Patch O'Furr

ABC News gave a shout to furries at the 2014 How Weird Street Faire. On May 4, thousands of costumers filled the streets for the 15th annual event. 43 furries RSVP’ed, and fursuiters had changing space in walking distance, thanks to generous member Boiler. (Send her love during misfortune that happened to her family recently.) The previous 2013 How Weird furmeet gave us wonderful photos. This year, I edited them to video, and they’re also in this album.

Read the rest of this entry »

Renegade fursuiting is BEST fursuiting: chat with Sakura Fox – Part 3

by Patch O'Furr

sakura2
Continued from Part 1 and Part 2: Sakura fox tells more about “renegade fursuiting” in public. I’ve previously written about “Street fursuiting”. Sakura’s convention panels and journals about it are recommended reading (see bottom.)

Patch:
I think public suiting is way better for candid photos than conventions, because it’s outside of predictable space. I love seeing surprised bystanders, or people drawn into furriness for the first time! Do you end up with a lot of photos afterward? Do you get photos taken by people you bring, or find them from searching randomly on the web? Do you have a favorite photo moment?

Has media ever picked you as an attraction to highlight? (It seems to happen to our meets a lot when San Francisco furries do street fairs. Even just to add incidental color to a story.)

Sakura:
Agreed! Photos from public events are always very dynamic and full of surprise.
Read the rest of this entry »

Furry news and Snausage links of the week (5-22-14)

by Patch O'Furr

Worldwide furries: Russia and Belarus – Site losses this week – Fursuiting magic outdoors – Flayrah’s Newsbytes now added here

Do you like links and stories to come? Snausages– a regularish feature. Story tips welcome- I’d love to post yours!
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– WORLDWIDE FURRIES: Russia and Belarus
BELFURENCE 1: “The first furry convention in Belarus. We rented a couple of houses in the middle of nowhere, at Braslav Lakes National Park.”
Amazing photos! Rough translating indicates that trouble in Ukraine led to a new event in a new location.
Some of the same furries appear in this parade: Dreamflash… 5000+ people parading for hugs, positivity, bright costumes, and soap bubbles.
A super cool answer to my older article, “Questions for Russian furry fans about anti-gay oppression“. Could simply wearing a fursuit get you in trouble? Not for these.

Read the rest of this entry »

Renegade fursuiting is BEST fursuiting: chat with Sakura Fox – Part 2

by Patch O'Furr

sakura3

Continued from Part 1: Sakura fox tells more about “renegade fursuiting” in public. I’ve previously written about those unique experiences of “Street fursuiting”. Sakura’s convention panels and journals about it are recommended reading (see bottom.)

Patch:
Your suiting tips practically scream “go do this”, to anyone who has a fursuit and is tempted to try public suiting but hasn’t yet dared. You give an impressive list of your local Texas-based places to try it, from shows to festivals to random neighborhood exploring. You even rate them from best to worst. It shows a lot of dedication! How often do you go? Can you say more about starting- was it just doing cons with others, making plans, or did the character naturally lead you out on your own?

Read the rest of this entry »

Renegade fursuiting is BEST fursuiting: chat with Sakura Fox – Part 1

by Patch O'Furr

Interview series:  Artists, animation directors, DJ’s and event organizers, superfans, and more…

Left: Mercury - Right: Sakura

Left: Mercury – Right: Sakura

Sakura fox and Mercury are huge inspirations. They’re great fursuit performers, cool people, and way cute. They’re the kind of furries who make this subculture awesome. They’re Texas-based but well known around cons.

I’ve seen them present con panels about “Renegade Fursuiting.” Sakura has a series of FA journals about it that are recommended reading. Without comparing notes, we have come to similar conclusions that taking it to the street makes a unique experience beyond the usual. (I’ve called it “Street fursuiting” and the “theatrical soul of furryness”.) Whatever you call it… let’s find out how fabulous foxy friends bring the magic.

Sakura’s journals:

Read the rest of this entry »

Snausage links and furry news of the week (5-15-14)

by Patch O'Furr

rocket raccoonFurry culture in San Francisco news – Furfling banned on FA – Fur Con reg open, hotel 5/21 – Rocket Raccoon cosplay – And more!

Do you like links and samples of stories to come? Here’s treats of the week. Snausages: now a regular feature!
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– “FUR AND LOVING: UNZIPPING THE SF FURRY CULTURE”
We’re in San Francisco’s XPRESS magazine. (I helped author C. Genest with a little story info and interviewing.)
“The only genuine bond connecting the furry community is a common love for ‘funny animal’ characters in art.”

– FURFLING and FAKE DATING SITE CONTROVERSY
Original story updated with new comment from FA owner Dragoneer. (And a new fake site discussed there.)
“Furrymate was barred from advertising on FA given their deceptive practices.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Furries to march for millions at San Francisco Pride 2014

by Patch O'Furr

San Francisco has a great tradition of LGBT culture. If you dig subculture, there’s a lesser known feature here: the world’s most dense population of Furries. On June 29, 2014, we’re joining forces for a world class parade. This may be the height of the season for furry outings that draw a lot of us to fairs and festivals. On Facebook’s Bay Area Furs, Chris posts:

I have reserved a place… THERE WILL BE A FURRY FLOAT. Yaaaaayy!

SF Pride 2013 drew 1.5 million attendees, and who knows how much media. Many furries went, but only informally for this meetup that I wrote about. It grew in size and interest from our meet at SF Pride 2012. There’s much excitement to keep the energy going, this time with a formal parade contingent. We haven’t done one in years, but in fact, furries have been involved since as far back as 2002:

Read the rest of this entry »