The Chained Wolf's stories

Advertising for Alex Horne's show 'Wordwatching'

Last night I was in Darlington watching Alex Horne, who is most famous as co-host of the BBC Four comedy panel game We Need Answers. He was performing a show entitled "Wordwatching", which is about his attempts to introduce words that he and his friends have invented into the OED.

So far, while some progress has been made, none of his words (see below) have got in. However, I feel that if we can spread the word around we can get them in. I just hope I do not go on a mental safari during the attempt.

This show has resulted in me asking a question: how come so far no words relating to the furry fandom have got into the OED? After all, the fandom has been in existence for some time (at least since the 1980s).

If the term "furry" has been used to describe both the fandom and the type of characters in it, then I think it should be included. Also, it appears that I am not the only furry with such ideas. There is currently an online petition to get "yiff" in the OED as well, which has over 3,000 signatures.

As a result, I propose we start a campaign to get as many furry words into the OED as we can.

British claymation characters Wallace and Gromit have been nominated for this year's Academy Awards - the sixth time in their history.

Their 2008 short A Matter of Loaf and Death has been nominated for the award for "Short Film (Animated)". The film was first broadcast on Christmas Day, and was watched by over half of the British viewing public at the time with 14.25 million people seeing it on BBC One.

However, because it was broadcast so late in the year it missed the deadline to be entered in the 2009 Oscars. Despite this, creator, director and co-writer Nick Park said to the BBC at the time: "We have never made films for awards, though. We do them for the fun of it."

Wallace and Gromit are among the most successful animated characters in terms of Oscars. Every single film featuring them has been nominated for an award, with only their first appearance in A Grand Day Out failing to win, losing out to Creature Comforts, also created by Nick Park.

The other nominees are French Roast, Granny O’Grimm's Sleeping Beauty, The Lady and the Reaper and Logorama.

Last month's online BBC article on furries has been listed on the Ursa Major Awards Recommended Anthropomorphics List.

"Who are the furries?" written by Denise Waterman on 13th November, has been posted on the list, the purposes of which are, "for fans who want to know what anthropomorphic movies, TV series, novels, etc. others found to be worth looking for", and, "to serve as a guide to which items were produced in 2009, to help fans determine what is eligible to nominate for the year’s Ursa Major Awards".

The article, listed in the "Best Anthropomorphic Other Literary Work" category, covers the main aspects of the fandom and features contributions from several members of the fandom including Fred Patten and FurteanTimes.com editor The Chained Wolf, as well as Kathy Gerbasi who has carried out several studies into the fandom.

The article was well received by most furries. Positive comments came from sites such as Fur Affinity. FurteanTimes.com, which was linked to the original article, experienced a 254% increase in web traffic from the previous week.

Some famous people also commented on the piece. Graham Linehan, the man behind hit sitcoms Father Ted and The IT Crowd wrote on his Twitter account that, "It's like staring into the sun. A sun made of geek. I can only read a bit of it at a time."

However, it is probably unlikely the article will win. No journalistic article has ever won an Ursa Major, and other more established figures are more likely to win.

A still from the Wallace and Gromit film 'A Matter of Loaf and Death', ©BBC and Aardman Animations

Claymation characters Wallace and Gromit are to star in a new TV show about inventions on BBC One.

Wallace and Gromit's World of Inventions will be made by Aardman and broadcast peak-time some time in 2010. A statement published by the BBC describes the show:

In Wallace and Gromit's World of Inventions, Wallace will take a light hearted and humorous look at the real-life inventors, contraptions, gadgets and inventions, with the silent help of Gromit. The series will aim to inspire a whole new generation of innovative minds by showing them real, but mind-boggling, machines and inventions from around the world that have influenced his illustrious inventing career.