Newsbytes archive for May 2017
Contributors this month include 2cross2affliction, Acton, Ahmar Wolf, DevilDoe, dronon, Equivamp, Fred, GreenReaper, InkyCrow, Patch Packrat, Rakuen Growlithe, and Sonious.
Fred: The horse that saved his own life by painting.
Fred: Tourist attacked by Komodo dragon in Indonesia.
Patch Packrat: Call for help with the Fullerton Murder story; and The Furry Code Of Silence.
dronon: Kung-Fu Panda hoaxer convicted.
Fred: Woman who helped thirsty pigs evades jail.
Ahmar Wolf: Dogpatch Press Editor accused of fraud
Equivamp: Counterpoint: the other side of this lawsuit is currently awaiting publication here on Flayrah.
Fred: Beavers are reimported into Britain after 400 years.
Fred: How the Manx cat lost its tail.
2cross2affliction: Zootopia parody poster in a tiny cameo in a Japanese animated movie.
Fred: Where penguins are safe from exploding.
2cross2affliction: Rocket Raccoon was a fan of Pocahontas, but what movies does Groot like?
2cross2affliction: Science proves that foxes are magic.
GreenReaper: Cubs fear MLB's mascot castration ban may limit Clark's tenure at Wrigley Field.
Fred: Bear knocks on door for brownies.
Fred: More on the bear that wants brownies.
Fred: World's saddest dog.
Fred: African lion and clouded leopard face extinction threats.
Sonious: Can you spot the 4 fursuiters in the new Samsung ad?
dronon: Meanwhile, at the the 2nd Annual AltSex NYC Conference
Fred: "Fire goats" for wildfire prevention.
Fred: The history of flying pigs.
Fred: Bears on a trampoline.
Fred: Bear hit by car in So. Calif. and NOT KILLED.
Sonious: San Antonio's @KENS5 covers local furry meets.
Fred: "I'm being chased by an otter."
Fred: Land crabs are making their homes inside bottle caps.
Fred: Could furries create their own country?
Fred: Trouble for Henry the Hedgehog.
Fred: Who wouldn't want a wooly bull for a pet?
Fred: Massive boar chases U.K. ambassador.
Fred: Is Omar the world's longest cat?
Equivamp: Sonic Forces will allow players to create a custom character from seven different species.
2cross2affliction: Grandville is heading towards its grand finale.
Fred: When wolves return to the wild
Fred: Good news for beaver-lovers.
Fred: Snail's shells affect their love life.
Fred: Germany as a world centre for daft animal news.
Fred: Czech deer still wary of pre-Soviet fall Iron Curtain boundary.
Fred: Corn turns wild hamsters into "crazed cannibals".
Fred: German shepherds are all Nazis - false!
Ahmar Wolf: Flayrah editor accused of having no ethics
2cross2affliction: Cracked on David Tennant's newest robot dog show.
2cross2affliction: Duck, Duck Goose, 2018.
GreenReaper: Turtle dice in a rectangle... and they're green!
dronon: Your pet rabbit on Second Life may be doomed.
GreenReaper: If you go to jail, you don't get to take your plushies. [tip: FievelJMousekewitz]
InkyCrow: Disney set to release a "Legacy" deluxe edition of the soundtrack music to Robin Hood this summer
dronon: A Russian Instagram page with photos of humans and bears together.
Fred: Flamingoes - dead birds cannot stand.
2cross2affliction: Rock Dog is available for purchase (and makes an oddly good double feature with Get Out, also available).
Sonious: OC Weekly covers Califur
Equivamp: What we can expect from Zootopia 2.
DevilDoe: OC Weekly took down their Califur article. Perhaps because it was a bit rude?
Patch Packrat: OC Weekly's Califur article had illustration made by tracing a photo of a dealer and recontextualizing it to depict them selling porn (they don't.) There was protest about taking and using the photo deceptively. It seemed debatably defensible as parody/creative license but they listened to the protest and took it down.
DevilDoe: Thanks Patch! I thought it a very 2002 era article but that makes more sense as to why it went away. The more you know!
DevilDoe: Do you know who the dealer was?
Ahmar Wolf: A friend, but they want to not be associated with the issue any further.
Fred: The first furry convention in South Africa is in July.
Rakuen Growlithe: It's the third! -.-
Fred: What were the others?
Rakuen Growlithe: South Afrifur happened twice already. I even covered it on Flayrah
Fred: There is a difference between a furmeet and a convention.
2cross2affliction: Paddington 2 will play in America January 12, 2018.
Rakuen Growlithe: But that depends on what it is, not what it's called. Going by conventions requiring registration and people staying over on the premises then it qualifies as a convention.
Fred: Florida alligator crawls into backyard swimming pool.
Sonious: Snopes reveals fake news stories about Portland Furries and Dog Parks
Fred: Canadian politicians argue over giant rubber duck.
Equivamp: A suspect has been arrested in relation to the stabbing at the Clarion Hotel during Fur-Xoticon.
Patch Packrat: Furries: How unleashing your inner animal brings friendship, love, community - Minneapolis Citypages
Comments
Just for the record, I'm still editing the monthly Newsbytes, but I've set the attribution to "Anon". I haven't had much time to write original content for the site, and I don't think the Newsbytes posts should count towards bumping up my username in the "Recent Contributions" sidebar.
Oh, god, I literally started this for no other reason than to bump up my post count.
Seriously, you can ask GR; I was pretty open about it with him.
Heh. No prob - Different people, different priorities! I'm doing it to create an archive of links that are otherwise temporary, that's the librarian in me. May was quite the rebound!
Lol, I didn't even notice that Mr. Wolf linked to his article about me in the Newsbytes.
Then his counter to me was "I'm just a blog".
I don't think blog posts count as Newsbytes right?
Ahmar doesn't get Tweeted; but this month was kind of amazing for off topic bantering (some good, such as context added to the con-cartoon fiasco; and I can at least get why Rakuen would be upset and imagine he got very sick of the phrase "there's a difference between a con and a meet").
The picture that caused the uproar and the dealer's table it was modeled after is seen on the artist's twitter feed: https://twitter.com/Duckeh/status/868213654000463873
Wow, talk about journalist manipulation
Well, you know, creating a pastiche is fair game - I suspect all those things were on offer at Califur, and likely the majority of furry conventions - but they erred by associating products and statements with a specific vendor who didn't offer all of them. Many would see that as defamatory, at least given the critical tone of the illustration.
(Also, they presented Ducky as being in the artist's alley, but they had a dealer's table. Further defamation! :-p)
The main problem with Newsbytes that I can see is that it's hard or impossible to add to an item if you have more details. As Sonious points out, the Newsbytes are (or should be) for news items, not for blog posts. For instance, in regard to the item about wild hamsters: it is hard to imagine any hamsters being wild rather than being pets or coming from pet shops. Is there any other information about wild hamsters?
Fred Patten
That is part of why we have these roundup posts, so people can comment. (Also happens on social media syndication.)
As for hamsters, surely this is what Wikipedia is for? I mean, we didn't create them - the most popular breed started in the wild, but are now vulnerable there - they are perhaps less-attuned to the climate in which they are kept as pets than rabbits, but of course that varies depending on where you are. The British Hamster Association has more.
Perhaps the story sheds light on the "Children of the Corn". Might make a good furry horror story, at least - hamster-furs taken as part of a space exploration party turn savage when the food turns out not to agree with them.
There is already a s-f story like this, but with catfish, not hamsters. I forget the author or title.
Fred Patten
I am working on an article now for Dogpatch Press that is a followup to my & Rakuen Growlithe's discussions about South African furmeets/conventions. Here is what I have so far.
1. 12-16 December 2008
Cape Town (suburb of Table View)
Organizer: Dracius
Venue: “At Cheryl’s” (a rented holiday house)
Attendance: 16
Activities:
Notes: At Cheryl’s, 50 & 55 Circle Road, Table View; a self-catering accommodation holiday house. House, Cottage, Cabana, Condo, or Den available separately.
Some attendees had to sleep in a separate renting guest house because of space limitations.
Questions: Was the entirety of At Cheryl's rented, or just the House, if there was not enough room for all 16 to sleep? What were any activities?
2 7-15 January 2011
Port Elizabeth
Organizers: Nanukk, Electrocat, Cat147
Venue: Nanukk’s grandmother’s house
Attendance: 14
Activities: The meet was very relaxed and consisted of about an equal amount of time getting to know each other around the house and going out to see various sites in the city. Some of the main events that had been organised were going to a Karaoke bar, visiting a lion park (cut short when one of the cars got a flat tire) and a visit to a museum (with a behind-the-scenes tour), snake park and aquarium.
The highlight of the meet was when three furs dressed up in fursuits made by Electrocat and spent the evening at a local shopping centre. The suits created a lot of attention, and some questions from curious onlookers, when walking around but had the biggest effect on the children. Half of the children found the suits fascinating while the other half were terrified, freezing in place or bursting into tears at the sight of them. The day was then finished off by playing putt-putt in the fursuits, a game which Nanukk won.
Notes:
Questions: Is there an exact address for the venue? Did any of the 14 attendees sleep over, or were they all day visitors?
3 14-17 July 2017 (planned)
Krugersdorp
Organizers:
Venue: Magalies Retreat
Attendance:
Activities:
Notes: Krugersdorp is equidistant to Pretoria and Johannesburg, convenient to both.
The ZA Furries site is coordinating carpooling from Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Pretoria; the cities and the JHB and PTA airports.
The Magalies Retreat booking includes accommodation for up to 48 furs, catering, dining hall, conference area, private deck, private pool, private boma and many on-site activities!
Full attendance which includes all meals and accommodation is R1500. There are separate rates for day visitors.
Questions: Who are the organizers?
Any further information will be welcomed. My article is planned for after the July 14-17 meeting, so that details can be added.
Fred Patten
Not quite sure who other than me is likely to read this and be able to even provide information.
"Questions: Was the entirety of At Cheryl's rented, or just the House, if there was not enough room for all 16 to sleep? What were any activities?"
We had an entire house rented. I don't remember if there were other houses nearby that fell under the same management or not. I don't remember how many stayed in each location. There were activities. I'm going purely from memory now but people did go to two different shopping centres, there was a trip up Signal Hill and a projector for Guitar Hero and movies. I'm pretty sure we went to other places as well but I can't remember.
"Questions: Is there an exact address for the venue? Did any of the 14 attendees sleep over, or were they all day visitors?"
I'm not going to share exact addresses (although his gran has since passed away) but it was in the Blue Water Bay suburb. Everyone from outside of PE stayed there (the majority of people). Maybe even some of the local furs too but there were two or three that stayed at their own home and weren't there all the time.
"Questions: Who are the organizers?"
Ivic_Wulfe, Scratch, Valerion, Yukon, YoteFox
"If all mankind minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind."
~John Stuart Mill~
Thanks. This information helps a lot.
Yukon has sent information, included here. I’m waiting for a reply from Ivic. If you have e-mail addresses for other ZA furs and can ask them, I'd appreciate it very much.
Fred Patten
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