Our journey starts near Frankfurt am Main's main train station, where I pick up a friend. We head to Czechia, buying a vignette at the Czech border; arriving at Hauenštejn Castle, near the German border, after a four-hour drive.

This is it! A medieval castle, some parts of it still in restoration; furries with all their luggage waving to us and welcoming and greeting us in excitement. They are just as excited as we are.

We go to registration; they speak English to us, because shitty, a member of their orga team, recognised me from another convention called KRAZ.

My friend Alexis and I are sponsors of the convention and got a T-shirt, along with a wooden logo of Furrstein and its theme, which is Harry Potter this year.

Pixar is not the only studio that can make movies about anthropomorphic toys. The Cartoon Brew website announces that on September 7, indy distributor Hannover House will release an English-language dub of Czech director Ji?í Barta’s 2009 feature Na p?d? (In the Attic) in America, as Toys in the Attic. This is a mixed feature combining stop-motion puppetry, 2D cartoon animation, and live action.

It’s an analogy based on the cultural and political contrasts of the Cold War era; the world of the attic is divided into the land of happy toys in the West and the Land of Evil in the East.

The Cartoon Brew presents the new 2012 American theatrical poster, which implies that Toys in the Attic is like Pixar’s Toy Story trilogy as made by Tim Burton, and the 2009 Czech trailer.

Space Shuttle Endeavour may be getting a stowaway – a hand puppet of Krtek, a mole created by Czech cartoonist Zden?k Miler in 1956. [Spottacus]

Krtek is to travel with Andrew Feustel on the ship's final mission, planned for 19 29 April.

Czech furs (along with a few Germans, Poles and Slovaks) intend to celebrate "the dawn of time" at a new event: ZodiaCon, to be held 20–22 May at the Hotel Emilka near Tanvald in the Czech Republic.

The price, 1400 CZK (~58€, US$79) – rising to 1600 on March 1 – includes two nights' accomodation and three meals a day. Sponsorship and dog permits are available. There are currently 65 attendees of a maximum 83.

The event provides an alternative to long-running local convention ?eSFuR, which is moving to a larger hotel with 145 beds. ZodiaCon's staff hope to provide more flexible topic-based programming tracks. Fortunately, local furs can enjoy both, as ?eSFuR will be held in July.