I thought it was a typo when my coworker informed me she had seen an advert claiming former Beatles member Paul McCartney had written something with "Furry" in the title. It seems as though it should say "Urban Fairy Tale," a common enough phrase.

Semantic quibbles regarding the differences and/or overlappings of furries vs fairies aside, it is indeed furry, and "is about two squirrels and a frog, who embark on a mission to set free some animals" (per Bookinformation.co.uk).

More info at the above URL, Billboard.com, or just Google the title.

MainFrame: Beginnings by Simba Wiltz, was published in 2001, bringing an astounding new anthropomorphic world. The anticipated sequel, subtitled "A Matter of Transfer", picks up where the last book left off. The MainFrame team is still fighting their battles, but as they continue to make small strides, a new player steps into the light. It seems their adversaries have some pretty powerful beings on their side, including one who shakes their indomitable leader Mane, to his very core. As questions of identity rise and fall, the very thing that drew the team together threatens to tear them apart.

To celebrate the planned publication of the next book in the MainFrame series, Wiltzworks.com is holding an art contest, sponsored by SmallInfinity.com. The contest boasts prizes of $50 for third place, $100 for second place, and $200 for first place. Runners up will receive Mountain T-shirts from SmallInfinity.com. Details can be found at http://www.wiltzworks.com/contest.htm.

The Official Site of MainFrame is http://www.wiltzworks.com/mainframe/.

Nominations for the 2004 Ursa Major Awards for the Best Anthropomorphic Literature and Art of that year have been tabulated, and the final ballot has been prepared. Voting closes June 10, and the Awards will be presented at Anthrocon 2005 in Philadelphia in July.

Voting is open to everyone, and you are encouraged to ask your friends to vote also. Visit the Ursa Major Awards web site at http://www.ursamajorawards.org/Voting.htm for full details on the voting procedure.

Please help support the Ursa Majors. They are a people's choice award, so it requires as many participants as possible to make them a success.

Desert Explorer and Founder of the WILD CAMEL PROTECTION FOUNDATION, John Hare, Travels to North America to Share the Miraculous Story of the Bactrian Camel's Ability to Survive 43 Atmospheric Nuclear Tests

Real Life Explorer has traveled the deserts of the world, his only concession to modern technology being a satellite telephone

Thurl Ravenscroft of Fullerton, Calif., whose voice
was known worldwide through his work in movies, TV and at Disneyland, died Sunday from prostate cancer. He was 91.

Tony the Tiger?

That was Ravenscroft.

Remember Chicago's "Cows on Parade" statues? Well, Zurich decided to follow suit, but use bears. Only this particular one, painted up in bondage gear, was deemed to be unsuitable for the place it was going, right next to some of Switzerland's most prominent banks. Full story on Yahoo! News

NEW! See links to convention photos at:
http://www.morphicon.org/

In this report:

* Official Numbers
* Special Thanks
* Morphicon Feedback
* What's Next

(read on for more...)

******************************

From Anthrocon's web page

The rooms that we were able to secure at the Windsor have now been sold. The remainder of the hotel is booked for other functions, so there are no more rooms to be had. If you are still in need of a room, please check our hotel page for a list of hotels nearby. Anthrocon has not blocked any rooms at those hotels since at this point we have no idea how many rooms to guarantee, so you'll have to pay the prevailing "rack rate." A NOTE ABOUT THE WYNDHAM: The Wyndham is overbooked. We expect that there will be enough attrition in the room block that this will not be a concern when the convention rolls around. If you are not going to be able to make it to the convention this year and have reserved a room, please remember to cancel the reservation as soon as possible. The hotel will no longer allow a room to be switched to someone else's name, so if you can't go but know a friend who is looking for a room, please send that friend to our list of alternate hotels. You will not be able to "give" your room over. It may seem like a kind thing to do, but you may well be preventing some other person from getting a room when they arrive at the hotel. We'd like to try to avoid that!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/chimpanzee_art

LONDON - Congo the chimpanzee led a brief artistic career and enjoyed little critical success, despite the patronage of his contemporary and fellow abstract painter, Pablo Picasso. But nearly half a century after Congo's artistic career, some of his paintings are going on sale at a prestigious London auction house alongside works by Andy Warhol and Renoir.

The BBC is reporting that an animal know locally as "Kha-Nyou" and given the scientific name Laonastes aenigmamus may have diverged from the rest of the rodent population millions of years ago. The animal is described as having "long whiskers, stubby legs and a tail covered in dense hair." Picture in article.

There are a few things to add to Doodles' list. Black and white except as noted. Actually, only one this month isn't in color, but that's exceptional.

SciFi Wire reports that Lions Gate Films has acquired the werewolf film Skinwalkers for the world outside Germany, Variety reported. Lions Gate will release the movie wide in North America next year and handle international sales. Production is slated to begin this fall.



Complete article on SciFi Wire.

Ok, my original plan for Phoenix Phur Con died, mostly from over ambition. This time, we're moving slowly, we've got a Yahoo group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/anthrozona/ for discussion. All manner of discussion is welcome and desired, particularly that from people with con experience, furry or otherwise, and furs that have felt that the cons they have attended could have been improved. Currently we're at the initial stage of locating potential venues, and may even had one, more news on that will be posted in the group.

There is now a (tentative) fursuit schedule for Califur 1 (May 21-22)...

RCFM - 3.14159

__RCFM is less than a month away. Are you registered yet?__

Pre register for RCFM here --> http://www.rcfm.net/register.htm
For all those slow-moving furs out there, pre-reg runs up to midnight
on May 25th! How cool is that!?

(Prices for Pre-registration only)
* $10 - Non-attending, support level membership
* $30 - Attending level membership, all three days
* $40 - Sponsor level membership
* $70 - Super sponsor level membership
* $140 - Booster level membership

http://www.rcfm.net/register.htm