I just think this is the coolest stuff. If I didn't already have a similar dragon made of clay and fur, I'd seriously consider buying one of Caligan's Creations. Totally bendable dragonets in satin and metallic cloths. You can commission one in your favorite colors or buy one that comes up for auction.

A yard long, barnacle-encrused lobster turned up in a shipment of live seafood to a London restaurant. William Copper, head chef at Kaspia, said "(The lobster) was too big and too beautiful to cook." This beautiful crustacean, named "Barney", is now at the London aquarium awaiting re-release into his home ocean off of Cornwall. Barney may be over 60 years old, and is merely 4 inches shy of the largest lobster ever caught. The BBC article (with photo) is
here.

Today's (Thursday, 30 August)

Good Morning Silicon Valley

has an interesting short article and collection of links about the pig-human hybrids of last year, the future of animal-human hybrids, and the responses of Jeremy Rifkin. See the article "Pig-human hybrids: the other, other white meat...".

Wired reports that a gruesome video on a website that shows a kitten being killed and prepared for a meal is causing outrage on the Internet. The StileProject could face prosecution under a law introduced in December 1999 by President Clinton that makes it a federal felony to possess "a depiction of animal cruelty" for commercial gain, Peter Wood (of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) said.

Salon is running an excellent interview with Ray Bradbury today, author of The Martian Chronicles, Fahrenheit 451 and scores of other novels and short stories. The man is 81, recovering from a stroke, and still incredibly coherent. He reminds me of what I thought when I saw Frank Kelly Freas on a panel at last year's Worldcon: if you're in love with what you do, you stay present.

Sir Fred Hoyle, the astronomer who first coined the term "Big Bang", died at 86 this week. Despite popularizing the theory with a catchy name, he was a proponent of the Steady State theory. Besides this, he is best known for his development of the Panspermia Theory, a "life seeded by intergalatic dust or comets" idea.


Read the BBC Article.

An often-overlooked fanzine is Fang, Claw, and Steel: Modern Lycanthrope Review. It is described as"...a small press zine devoted to positive portrayals of werewolves and other werecreatures. [The 'zine] features articles, artwork, stories, and interviews about werewolves, werecougars, werefoxes, weregnus, werewasps, and werewithal. The lycanthropes appearing in these pages can be heroes, workers, diplomats, homemakers, or anything under the sun (or moon). But they are generally not Hollywood-esque monsters. That type of lycanthrope already gets too much exposure." The 'zine is put out by Terry Wessner, and he is always looking for submissions.

For those of you having problems with lost or forgotten passwords, email me with your Flayrah username. The password mailer is broken, so until I upgrade to new code (which may be a while, yet), I will have to reset passwords by hand.

ABC News has posted an AP article about an Iowa State University study which found catnip oil up to ten times more effective at repelling mosquitoes than the most common ingredient in repellent sprays. The story also briefly mentions and earlier study which showed catnip repelled cockroaches. Note from Gene: no wonder mosquitoes almost never bit me back when I lived in mosquito country.

I had a BLAST!

It was the most delightful experience. I am *definitely* going back next year.

There were some interesting similarities between Anthrocon and FERAL!

ANTHROCON: Climbing stairs to get to rooms
FERAL!: Climbing steep hills to get to cabins

ANTHROCON: Long wait in registration
FERAL!: Long ride on bus

ANTHROCON: Philadelphia tap water
FERAL!: Lake Nestea

ANTHROCON: Lack of towels made showering difficult
FERAL!: Lack of hot water made showering difficult.

ANTHROCON: Muggers.
FERAL!: Mosquitos.

The camaraderie was unequalled. Just about everyone got to know everybody else, starting with the Great Communal Bus Ride and continuing through the many gatherings they had, through the communal meals (which could have offered a tiny bit more fare, but that's a minor nitpick), to the Cabin Games and Cabin Skits.

I took part in a game of "Predator and Prey" which was so much fun I almost missed the call to return at its end. This year a little twist got thrown in, in that Rogue (the megawolf) showed up and ate everyone who came near him, including the human antagonists in the game. :)

There were workshops for just about everyone, water sports (in the lake, of course), canoes to paddle around in...I had brought things to read and writing to work on but never picked any of it up.

My hat is off to the FERAL! staff for a job well done. I don't think that wild horses could keep me from returning in 2002.

Due to last minute planning, I'll be attending Mephit FurMeet this coming weekend. This will be my fourth year at the Meet, though I didn't attend last year. As far as relaxacons go, this one is pretty good. Who else is going, what's your favorite Memphis restaurant, and are you bringing money to pre-register for Midwest FurFest? (blatant plug alert). Look for me hanging around behind the FurFest table, and introduce yourself!

Ananova is running a story about a mother Great Dane who has adopted baby tigers in Germany.

The original article with a picture of the cubs and mother (auf Deutsch!) is currently here (look for Kleine Tiger bei der Doggenmutter), and the sites for the zoo are here and here.

I've never given Internet Top N lists much credence as a way of rating/ranking websites, and as such lists go, The Furry Top 50 is less impressive than most. This list, currently consisting mostly of artist and comic sites, looks like it never gained the critical mass of voters needed to make such a list really useful, and appears to have degraded into little more than a contest to see who can get the most visitors to click on the voting button. Nevertheless, it might be worth a look just to see if there are any interesting sites you might not have heard about among those listed.

A recent Salon article relates how biological researchers are using radio transmitters and satellites to track the exact movements of animals like caribou and bald eagles.

I heard about a Dog Chapel/Church off of CNN, and it turns out to be off of Stephen Huneck's website. Located in Vermont, it is open to any breed of canine, any belief or faith of person.