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submitted by Slapcock
[link] [5 comments]

Hey guys, just a reminder to anyone who didn't think we would not hit the cap at FF this year we have over 1000 pre reg. If you are going and have not registered, do so ASAP with pay pal tonight. Once we sell out at the door we will have an extremely short amount of day passes available....DONT miss out! All three hotels are fully booked, this year is going to be amazing, be sure to come to the dealers cashier and check out the AWESOME FF shwag we will have for this year!

submitted by Slidewolf
[link] [3 comments]

submitted by furbag
[link] [10 comments]

Author: Sonious

My Little Pony">The Bronies (the chosen name of post-adolescent My Little Pony fans) rejoice as a second season of the hit cartoon show Friendship is Magic begins tomorrow on Discovery Channel’s cartoon channel The Hub (9 AM EDT). But before it comes out, it might be a good time to reflect and review what made the show such a hit in its first season.

An unusual partnership

Before the show grew in massive popularity, some of the cartoon community had criticized that Laurn Faust’s career move to a partnership with Hasbro was a sign that independent cartoonists who created original content were on the collapse. Particularly when the My Little Pony cartoon franchise had a history or creating characters that were just about as plastic as the product itself.

However, after looking through these first season myself, I can honestly say that the fears of these initial criticisms were not well founded. In fact, the concern should probably be inverted. It’s not a toymaker saving the cartoonist in this case, Hasbro probably got much more out of the cartoonist then the other way around. It seems to me toys are in far more danger as an industry then animation is in this day and age where children are more computer savvy (entertainment, there’s an app for that) and parents can’t buy as many toys as they used to.

Character

Ultimately, the success of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic comes down to one simple principal. When you have well rounded and complex characters, the stories will write themselves. The cartoon starts out simple enough with one main protagonist, Twilight Sparkle, who is a bookworm complete with the introvert tendencies as she is told to go off to Ponyville to help with a festival there. She is also told to make friends, something she is very not happy with doing as she finds more comfort in her books then hanging around with other ponies. I guess that’s why I shouldn’t be to surprised that I got her on the pony personality quiz, I suppose. It might also be why I was able to relate to the show early on, as I could already see reflections of my own personality in the, at this point, main protagonist.

Through Twilight we meet the other main characters of Ponyville. Each of their personalities are easily identifiable, and at first glance we certainly get their main qualities. The randomness of Pinkie Pie, the boldness of Rainbow Dash, the shyness of Fluttershy. Though as we hang out around the characters more, we learn that while they may have a signature trait there are interesting quirks to those traits which can surprise people. On our introduction to Fluttershy for instance, we note that while she has trouble speaking to other ponies with any sense of forwardness, around other creatures she seems to come out of her shell. Certainly that isn’t the only quirk she has, and in my opinion her quirks were the most surprising of the group as the episodes went forward.

Many of the episodes deal with how the diverse cast overcome their differences, sometimes as a whole group dealing with one situation, or in some episodes highlighting a particular one of the six ponies dealing with an issue. Sometimes its interesting to note how even characters set up to be so different have so much in common. For instance while Rarity and Applejack clash in one episode over one being a neat freak and the other being more rugged, they each outwardly show a “workaholic” nature and how it gets the best of them in two separate episodes.

Finding One’s Way

Also, a recurring event in each show is of course some kind of lesson that was learned by the characters involved. While some of them are obvious ones that most adults know such as “Not judging books by their cover” and the like, some of them are very good ones to take away even for adults.

My favorite one was actually from one of my least favorite episodes (Dressed for Success), as I’m not a huge Rarity fan: “If you try too hard to please every pony, you’ll end up pleasing no pony, especially yourself.”

One of the main themes of the show in the first season, through the Cutie Mark Crusaders (young ponies who become main characters in the show who go an a quest for their “cutie marks”) and the episode Winter Wrap Up, is trying to find one’s place in the world;a very strong theme to have, and certainly pertains as much to adults as it does to children. We all try to find something that we’re not only good at, but enjoy doing, and while sometimes we may not see what we’re good at, we certainly know what we enjoy doing. I know many people, including myself, who sometimes go about doing random things trying to find something that will leave a mark on the world around us, sometimes ignoring our strengths to try something new. So in a way we can all relate to being in their shoes, trying to find that thing we’re good at, that we can use to establish stability in our lives.

In essence, though, it all comes down to the Wear Sunscreen quote:

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t know what you want to do with your life. The most interesting people I know didn’t know at 22 what they wanted to do with their lives. Some of the most interesting 40-year-olds I know still don’t.

Social dynamics

It’s interesting to see how quickly a show can have an intimidate impact on the social dynamics both within and outside the fandom. Certainly one could write an article in and of itself revolving around the furries and non-furries that love the ponies, and furrys that hate ponies. The reasons for the later are usually highly variable. One I spoke to for instance didn’t like MLP because of it’s nod to /4/chan with the introduction of Derpy Hooves (an animation mistake cross-eyed pony who became a “Where’s Waldo?” type character in the show after people noticed it).

My response to this was that one should probably not base their like and dislikes based simply upon the likes and dislikes of another. I like the show not because it is popular, because /4/chan likes it, because furries like it, because my nemesis hates it, or to be part of some fangroup or anti-fan group. I like for being a children’s show with depth. I like it for painting women as the complicated creatures they are. I like it for being a cartoon with animals that seem more human then certain cartoons with human characters.

But in the end it all comes down to lesson from Dressed for Success. The show will not be everyone’s cup of tea; some like cartoons that are more random than coherent, or more aesthetically gritty rather then pretty. For those individuals, MLP:FiM would likely not be your kind of show.

On the second season

In that regard I do hope the nods to the internet fanbase remain just simplistic like the Derpy Hooves cameos. For instance, what happened with Fluttershy in the final episode has me raising a caution flag as the motive for her behavior seemed a bit outside the bounds of her character. I won’t go into why that is to keep spoilers low for those who hadn’t seen the episode.  It felt like an attempt to have her character do something just for the sake people wanted to see more of it, to me anyway. It made me question if her quirk had become so adored in memes that it completely changed the purpose of her character. However, since it was the last episode, this question has yet to be answered.

While I loved the first season, I come into the second with caution. They started the first season being themselves like Rarity creating the first batches of dresses for her friends. As they’ve grown a diverse fanbase, each having their own tastes, they run the risk of getting too much feedback or taking too much of it to heart. Or being worried about maintaining the fanbase rather then concentrating on the original formula that made the show good.

The other concern of course being not of the fanbase, but of the corporation Hasbro itself, as Laurn Faust has stepped down as Executive Producer for the second season (the rest of the team remains intact). The article writer for Equestria Daily seems to believe that the toymaker may try to take the successful show in a more “marketable” direction.

So as the second season begins, and many bronies start to watch, it will certainly be interesting to see if the show overcomes the outside pressures to retain “ze Magics” that made the first one entertaining, fun, and thought-provoking.

09/16/2011
By: bluebarker

http://wolfquest.org/ – Learning about ecosystems boring? I bet it is, so Minnesota Zoos and eduWebs have teamed up to give us WolfQuest. A truly 3D, CG simulated immersive environment. Allowing up to single play through two action packed episodes or group play which allows you to form a pack with up to five of your friends. You’ve never heard kids howling in class to get in all of the excitement. WolfQuest takes place primarily in YellowStone National Park where you, the player become a real-life Wolf (virtually-speaking of course, but a little imagination never hurt nobody).

Being a wolf is not all fun and games, raves and yiffs; but struggling to survive is a whole different ball game. Jack London’s “Call of the Wild” never heard of rough until you’ve played this. Struggling to provide, pack wars, caribou hunting, Alpha Trials and the thrill of the hunt was never this exciting, beats having to freeze in Eight Below freezing.

Start off making a wolf, how cool is that. Customized features include: name, fur texture, fur color, Wolf Stat Sliders, and gender. And just like that you have a wolf to play as in the world. ***Your name is unchangeable past this screen, you have been warned or you will have to make a new wolf for a new name*** The game play is very straight forward with some extra features as well. As a wolf you have access to Scent Mode that enables you to find the nearest bears, elks or other wolves. You can walk or run You accept quests that get displayed in the screen. Before you can find a mate and work your way up the wolf social hierarchy you must first do one of the beginner quests which entails you to go to different areas of the pack’s territory and make foreign wolves leave your pack’s territory. By following scents and tracking markers you make it to your first enemy wolf who wants to come in and take over. You need to make him leave and you enter Battle Mode which is turn-based depending on what commands you give your wolf. Your wolf’s features changes according to the actions giving (which are all scientifically accurate, for the most part). Either by making it give in or by defeating in cold blood you become victorious and are inclined to find a late. you find your pack and sniff out the most eligible mate. Its all rather fun and very insightful learning about the balance of nature within your territory. True you can go read wiki articles, or you can play and interact it all out, the choice is yours.

Education Standpoint:8/10 – With the majority of all the player’s actions in accordance to the wolf’s onscreen it is very true to nature. Being backed by eduWebs, its no wonder this game is one of the better Ecology Educative games I have seen recently. This was very rough in the beginning since its start in 2005, but I believe it has gone through some major changes to ensure playability and focus on both the interactivity and the learning aspects it strove to accomplish.

Art Ascetics:6/10 – Being rather generous one may think this is a game made for Windows 98 and that era of games. Although the engine is working and not crazy lagging, although rendering takes some time, its a small wonder as to how rendering takes so long with the same trees copy and duplicated across a semi-stale environment. The environment isn’t anything to win awards over, but the wolf interactions are probably the best part and what you are really playing for, that and the learning aspects.

Game Design:8/10 – Following the five major Elements of Game Design: Space, Components, Mechanics, Goals and Rules, WolfQuest stays true to all its values. Having a nice balance between Design and Play, making sure its not too easy, but challenging enough to have the most seasoned of gamers working a sweat; fighting other wolves, hunting and mating is all true to life. Now the element that might get people a bit frustrated is the limited amount of options, now in all fairness these are realistic wolves; not elemental, not mutant nor heroic.

WolfQuest: Learning About Wolf Ecology Just Got More Fun by VG (bluebarker) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.Based on a work at www.wolfquest.org.

Author:
Howdy folks!

 

This week we’re happy to introduce a new reader, Sorin, and a new writer to the podcast, Foozzzball.  Foozzzball’s work has appeared in numerous publications, most recently Heat, and we’re excited to have one of his stories!  Enjoy the reading, and do join us for our first ‘remote’ episode next week. …

…read more at www.baddogbookclub.com

Find the full article here: The Bad Dog Book Club

The contents of this Podcast may have adult language and adult themes. The content is not produced by Furry News Network, but is posted for your convenience.

Author: Woot Blog

“It’s the last day of Pet Week on the Woot blog, and to me, no wild animal seems like a more appealing pet than a fox. They’re cute, smart, playful, closely related enough to dogs to seem petlike, but not as scary as wolves. Indeed, as a decades=long Russian breeding experiment shows, when selectively bred for tameness, foxes become more doglike, both temperamentally and physically. Naturally, I was fascinated by the blog The Pet Fox, and its wealth of posts about fox care, fox behavior, and the editor’s own pet fox, Gizmo (pictured throughout this blog). I just had to ask the editor, who goes by the online handle Ragtatter, about what it’s like to share a home with these one of these lithe, resourceful, tufty-tailed quadrapeds…”

Find the full article here: WOOT Blog

I've had a partial suit made, but it's up to me to fashion cosmetic glasses for it (my fursona wears glasses like these. Now, I'm no welder, and I don't even have tools to solder. Can anyone suggest a material that would be good to fashion them out of? I have access to lots of craft stores, but don't even know where to begin.

I had thought of using a coat-hanger, but I think the metal would be too thick to bend properly, and I also can't think of a way to weld the pieces together without the proper tools.

Would appreciate any advice, or any examples of what others have done.

submitted by Jaycatt
[link] [12 comments]

Author: Ash M. Cairo
After a long summer that was sadly missing in horseplay and cutie marks, My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic is back for its second season.

(Spoiler alert: Minor plot points follow in the text and video.)

In the exclusive clip above, it appears there is trouble in Equestria. The spirit of Chaos, Discord, has escaped imprisonment in stone and has come to torment Twilight Sparkle and the rest of the pony gang.

Author: Fred

Four months ago, Amazon.com was selling the out-of-print first edition of “Best in Show: Fifteen Years of Outstanding Furry Fiction” for $ 348.33. Now it’s $ 477.82 (+ $ 3.49 shipping). Is anyone really paying these prices? (Retitled second edition Furry! is still in print for $ 11.11)

Creative Commons: Full post may be available under a free license.

Author: Fred

A new British “invisibility cloak” infra-red system, Adaptiv, makes it possible to disguise military vehicles as large animals such as cows, even while moving. This has the potential during warfare to get a lot of animals killed, just to play safe.

Scientists have genetically modified cats by infecting their eggs with a virus containing a foreign gene—the first time this method has worked in a carnivore. Experts say the advance could make the cat a valuable new genetic model—and potentially protect it from an HIV-like virus.

Find the full article here: furryne.ws | Published News

Author: RingtailedFox

Yes, you read that right. An intoxicated elk found himself up a tree with no way down… a situation only cats are supposed to find themselves in. [Newser.com]

According to Sweden’s edition of The Local, the elk was grazing on fermenting apples that had fallen off the tree, and became a bit drunk; a common phenomenon. What happened next is anything but: the elk decided to eat the apples located higher up in the tree, and began to climb it. The majestic, antlered creature became entangled within the tree’s limbs, and required assistance from rescuers to get back onto terra firma.

read more

Find the full article here: flayrah – furry food for thought

Creative Commons: Full post may be available under a free license.

Bill Willingham is best known as the creator of the Fables comic book series — which has, of course, taken more than a few furry turns itself. Now he’s trying his hand at a different sort of creation: A hardcover graphic novel for young readers called Down the Mysterly River, illustrated by Mark Buckingham. Here, we’ll let Amazon explain: “Max ‘the Wolf’ is a top-notch Boy Scout, an expert at orienteering and a master of being prepared. So it is a little odd that he suddenly finds himself, with no recollection of his immediate past, lost in an unfamiliar wood. Even odder still, he encounters a badger named Banderbrock, a black bear named Walden, and McTavish the Monster (who might also be an old barn cat)—all of whom talk—and who are as clueless as Max. Before long, Max and his friends are on the run from a relentless group of hunters and their deadly hounds. Armed with powerful blue swords and known as the Blue Cutters, these hunters capture and change the very essence of their prey. For what purpose, Max can’t guess. But unless he can solve the mystery of the strange forested world he’s landed in, Max may find himself and his friends changed beyond recognition, lost in a lost world… ” It’s available now from Starscape.

image c. 2011 Starscape

 

Author: Fred

The 2012 Ursa Major Awards, for the best in anthropomorphic literature and art of 2011, will be presented in a ceremony at Califur 8, at the Irvine Marriott Hotel in Irvine, California on 1–3 June 2012.

The 2011 Awards were presented at Morphicon 2011 in Columbus, Ohio on 13 May 2011. The Awards have been presented at Califur once before, in 2007.

Find the full article here: flayrah – furry food for thought

Creative Commons: Full post may be available under a free license.

Author: E-Mail Hidden (..::XANA::.. Creations)

Test drive the new black striped SUV, with over 30MPG (murders per gangster) today! Just sign and drive.

Download MP3 (Right-click, Save)

News:

• Interview With Shadow Conner

• Asylum Entertainment seeks Furries for “Furdom” Documentary

• Eurofurence 17 Press Coverage

 

Interviewee:

• Bucktown Tiger – “Lyricist, keyboardist, and comedian who specializes in furry-themed hip-hop songs, voiceovers, and freestyles, as lead shopwrecker of Paw Recognize Paw Studios.”

 

Topic of the Week:

• Furry Musicians

 

Emails:

• Anonymous – “My ex girlfriend and local furs. HELP X_X”
• Dr. Nixon – “Friends, What a confusing way of life.”

 

Shout-outs:

• Frozen – “Shout out and following up on a chat”

 

Good Night Sweet Prince.
R.I.P our Friend Dimitri, may you always Party Hard.

http://content.xanacreations.com/furcast/ep/fc-52.mp3

Find the full article here: FurCast

The contents of this Podcast may have adult language and adult themes. The content is not produced by Furry News Network, but is posted for your convenience.

Author: Equivamp

Hot Topic, a teen-oriented franchise, is well known for buying its stock based on the current fashion trends of its target audience.

Lately, however, the products have become more and more “furry”. From animal “spirit hoods” to coats with tails attached, even going so far as to selling a wolf costume in time for Halloween, it’s certainly becoming something of interest to furries, even if Hot Topic is unaware of it.

Perhaps this is an essential time for furries that wish to become more public; after all, if there are already young pseudo-fursuiters traversing the streets, perhaps they will find enjoyment, welcomed into a community that has been costuming long before they thought it would be fun to wear a tail.

 

Creative Commons: Full post may be available under a free license.

submitted by AstronotusOcellatus
[link] [9 comments]

I'll be going to FurFright this year, and it will be my second fur con. (Anthrocon 2011 was my first :D ) I met a lot of great people at AC11, but most were just random, friendly people that were fun to be around for a few hours. There were a few furs I had talked to online and had WANTED to meet up with, but we didn't plan properly, so it didn't happen. (Anthrocon is HUGE, so it would be hard to find a person anyway.)

I'll be going with (and rooming with) two of my closest fur-friends, so I won't be alone or anything. I was just curious if there were any awesome furs that would be willing to meet up there...maybe we can make some new friends! It would be awesome if somebody here has gone to FF before, too, and could help me and my friends around, show us fun things to do and see at the con, etc. OR, if you've been to FF before, but wont be going or don't want to meet up, it would be awesome to talk to you so i could learn some more about the con!

I know it will be much different than AC, and especially much smaller, but I'm still looking forward to an awesome time, and meeting new people :)

TL;DR : I'm going to FF this year and would like to possibly meet up and/or make friends with another friendly fur there!

And just for some info about me, I'm still a teenager(and so are my friends), I'm a girl, and no. I do NOT like yiff. Call me Fusion or Fuse. Its my fursona's name.

submitted by theblueroanfilly
[link] [26 comments]

Well in:
[link]
they note that mascot in suit is a really nasty job.
Now the same environment is that of fursuiting.
I had thought that most fursuiters know about the heat problem and
have worked hard to overcome it.