The Northwest Science Fiction Convention (NorWesCon) is this weekend, April 12-15, and the Tai-Pan Literary & Arts Project is hosting their annual room party once again.

This party will mark the thirteenth anniversary of the founding of the Tai-Pan Project, which produces a science fiction zine set in a shared anthropomorphic universe. In recent years the Tai-Pan party has been virtually the only furry event happening at this convention, but we're too stubborn to stop doing it. Look for posters at all the normal bulletin locations to find the room number. The party usually starts at about 3:00 on Saturday afternoon. There'll be food, sketch books, a lot of conversation, and probably some Cheapass games to join in. We'll have back issues available.

So if you're in the Seattle area this weekend, drop in and say hello.

From the comic strip site that brings you Satin & Silk, Campus Safari and numerous other titles, one of the titles is increasing its frequency this week to begin updating three times a week.

Some of you may recall our earlier mention of the Norwegian wolf hunt. CNN has a follow-up story. Nine wolves were culled, and a tenth looks to have eluded the hunters.

Contrary to an earlier rumor posted to several mailing lists, Furnation is not being shut down for good, but does have some downtime in its future. Here's the official word, as posted by Nexxus to alt.fan.furry:

From CNN.com: "While U.S. and Chinese government officials square off over an incident involving a U.S. spy plane and a Chinese jet fighter, a joint U.S.-Chinese research team is faulting China's efforts to save the giant panda from possible extinction." Read the full story.

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune discusses online comic strips (yes, we're a bit slow on the uptake; the article ran Feb. 22). Among those mentioned are Kevin and Kell and Newshounds.

4 am Wednesday the 4th of April,Phoenix Arizona. With his father in attendance Michael Scot McMurry died.

Michael Scott McMurry, longtime furry fan and founder of ZonieCon was diagnosed with stomach cancer last year. Despite an aggressive treatment, he is currently in a coma, and is not expected to recover. The following update was recieved through Mel. White via the Curtis family.

Paul Levinson, president of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), has announced the the National Public Radio series, 2000X - Tales of the Next Millennia will be this year's recipient of the Bradbury award.

Not much information is available about the cancellation of the Pern show, but what there is can be found at SF Wire.

Brian Jacques, author of the popular Redwall series, has debuted a new series of books aimed at the young adult reader called "Castaways of the Flying Dutchman". The series follows the adventures of Ben, the only survivor of the cursed Flying Dutchman. Aided by his telepathic dog Ned and directed by divine intervention, he travels across the world and through time helping those in need.
Diehard fans of the Redwall books will also be pleased to hear that an animated Redwall television series is slated to run on a number of U.S. public television stations beginning in April.
Read the full article from the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel here.

From Steven 'Shaterri' Stadniki, a FurryMuck Wizard as posted on alt.fan.furry: "Hello there. This is Steven Stadnicki, a.k.a. Shaterri; for those
folks who don't know me, I'm one of the long-time wizards on
FurryMUCK. Since I've been one of the people driving the
furrymuck.com domain issue from the wizards' side, I've decided to
be the one to respond to the various issues that have been raised
publically in the matter. While some wizards' opinions may differ
from mine -- we're a diverse group with a fairly diverse range of
viewpoints -- I've shared this letter with the rest of the wizcorps
and can safely say that my statements reflect the consensus view of
the FurryMUCK wizards. The tone is likely to get unfortunately
legalistic in spots, but I think it's important to express our view
of the facts as we see them, as objectively as possible." Click below for the whole statement.

Those of you who submitted entries for the Name That Artist Contest, mentioned here two weeks ago, or who are simply interested in the answers, can now view the answers and the results, and some of the other sketches not used in the contest.

SAN FRANCISCO, March 21 — At a time when well-tended American dogs get braces for their teeth and Antidepressants for anxiety and attend the church of their owners' choice, it may come as no surprise
that a powerful political constituency has developed around a species once known mainly for chasing tennis balls in the backyard.

Tales of the Tai-Pan Universe issue #26 has been released. Issue #26 contains stories by Gene Breshears, Chas P.A. Melville, Mark Allen Davis, Edd Vick, Sky Rigdon, and Amy Norman with story illustrations by Tom Milliorn, Andrew Laverdiere, and David Zawitaj. The front cover is drawn by Tom Milliorn. The back cover is by Kathy R. Coleman.