Patch Packrat's stories

In San Francisco, named for patron saint of animals, pet dogs outnumber children, and wild coyotes live among us
Sat 26 May 2012 - 05:13

Does anyone remember this story from a few years ago, about a coyote who wandered into a Quizno's shop, inadvertently starring in one of the best viral sandwich and drink ads ever?


"Roadrunner sandwich please, hold the mayo."

Across the world, wild and feral canines make cities their own.

4 comment(s) – read more

Short documentary: 'Being Furry in a Non-Furry World'
Sat 12 May 2012 - 18:08


This seven-minute film was made by three students at Ex'pression College in the Bay Area. The documentary was preceded by a pitch video and their blog, Fur & Flesh.

5 comment(s) – read more

Science fiction fandom, 1970's cosplay photos, and documenting furry origins
Wed 4 Apr 2012 - 05:03

On io9, Ron Miller posted a gallery of his photos of Cosplayers from 1970's science fiction conventions. (NSFW)

This subculture spun off Furries, and it made me wonder if any proto-furry costumes were included. The closest I saw were a bird-woman and insect characters, who could be described as anthropomorphic, but not "furry".

What are the earliest records of organized furry activities? I'd guess these are somewhat underexposed and could be better documented [Yarf #46 (Jan 1997)].

95 comment(s) – read more

Five hundred new fairytales discovered in Germany
Thu 8 Mar 2012 - 04:06

Anthropomorphic fiction branches from a long tradition of mythic literature. When considering its roots, you may think of Aesop's Fables, or the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson. (My pick for most interesting would be Andrew Lang, who "examined the origins of totemism.")

The discovery of 500 previously-lost fairy tales may add their collector, Franz Xaver von Schönwerth (1810-1886), to the list.

1 comment(s) – read more

Furries and the 2011 Tor.com Readers’ Choice Awards
Tue 28 Feb 2012 - 23:30

PrologueAward-winning sci-fi author John Scalzi used a kitten campaign to win a poll by prominent SF publisher Tor, for his short story Shadow War of the Night Dragons: Book One: The Dead City: Prologue.

His novel Fuzzy Nation (review), a reboot of H. Beam Piper's 1962 novel Little Fuzzy, placed 8th in its category. From Tor:

For those unfamiliar with Scalzi’s story, its origin can be traced back to our Best SFF Novels of the Decade Readers’ Poll and the subsequent data it generated in regards to most used words in fantasy titles. We joked that “Shadow War of the etc etc etc.” would be a powerhouse of a fantasy tale and lo, John Scalzi made our dreams come true a few weeks later.

Blotch's Nordguard: Across Thin Ice (review), published by Sofawolf Press, was #1 in comics.

5 comment(s) – read more