The fossilised remains of prehistoric giant lions and other mammoth creatures have been discovered in caves in Western Australia.

See the news article on the BBC web site.

Further Confusion and its parent organization, AAE, Inc. are sponsoring several anthropomorphic events at the upcoming World Science Fiction Convention (aka Worldcon), ConJose, in San Jose, California. Click Read More for the details.

Stopped by the FurBuy website lately? After a hiatus of over seven months (see Furbuy to cease operations..... again) and a tentative feeler in June, it looks like FurBuy -- the former competitor to reigning champion furry auctionhouse FurBid -- is making a bid to return. The FurBuy News Page is announcing that FurBuy is under new management and will be reopening soon. It's rather light on details about who will be taking over the operation, promising that "more information will be posted as it becomes available." The news page further goes on to ask users to support the site by donating to help renew the furbuy.com domain and offset costs.

This is the announcement I just sent to the Conifur Artshow announcement list regarding the recent questions about our hotel and such.

If you are interested in participating in our art show, please send an email to artshow@conifur.org to request a packet. Don't forget your legal name and mailing address!

Greetings to all! Can you believe that Midwest FurFest 2002 is only 4 months away?! Our ConCom is well aware of this, and if you look closely, I think you can probably see our hair going grey right in front of your very eyes!

The ConFurence Group is planning a Furry Party for Friday Night, August 30th at ConJose's host hotel, the Fairmont Hotel San Jose (170 S. Market Street)

Exact times and the room number will be announced as soon as they are known. Look for fliers at the convention.

It's also possible that ConJose will be enforcing convention memberships on the Party Floors of the hotel... Keep that in mind.

Darrel L. Exline
The ConFurence Group

ConJosé, the 2002 World Science Fiction Convention in San Jose, Calif. on Thursday, August 29 - Monday, September 2, has just announced its five-day program schedule.

Click Read more to see the schedule, which includes several furry events.

An interesting essay on furry music was recently posted to VCL. It is entitled Furry Music: Songs in the Key of Fur and was written by Emily White. More than half the essay gives a description of the fandom in general before it gets down to the business of discussing furry music. Though most of it is nothing new to furs (particularly regular attendees at cons), it is nevertheless an interesting and positive view of the fandom.

The latest animated feature by Studio Ghibli, the studio that has produced the features of Hayao Miyazaki and Isao Takahata ("Kiki's Delivery Service", "My Neighbor Totoro", "Porco Rosso", "Pom Poko", "Princess Mononoke", "Spirited Away", etc.), has just been released in Japan on July 19th; and it is a Furry fantasy.

Reported by Reuters: A seven-year-old boy in Marrakesh, Morocco had his penis bitten off by a donkey. Surgeons have managed to get it reattached, but they aren't saying how it got bitten off in the first place.

Click here for full text of Reuters story

Article debating whether the Australian Thylacoleo, an extinct class of cat-like marsupials from the Pleistoscene era, is still alive in Queensland.

Direct URL:
http://www.forteantimes.com/exclusive/thylacine.shtml

Or, look for article 'Will The Real Thylacoleo Please Stand Up' in the Fortean Time's Web Page

In Interview with a Humanoid (NYTimes, free registration required), Nicholas Kristof writes about a human-animal crossbreed that was new to me (Cow-human), and about our post-human future.

ConiFur NorthWest
Fife, WA
October 4th-6th
www.conifur.org
---------------------------

ConiFur Hotel Closing

We have been just informed by the sales department at the Best Western Executive Inn located in Fife, WA, that they will be closing down effectively July 31st.

Unfortunately this means that our event scheduled to happen in the first weekend in October is in jeopardy. We are in communications with the hotel now and trying to arrange an alternative venue for our event. We are not sure what the result will be at this time, but we should know shortly and will announce it to the membership and public just as soon as possible.

If you are making reservations, we ask that you wait until an announcement is made regarding this. The 1-800 number for the front desk at the Fife location is turning away customers due to the reasons given. However, the national reservation center is unaware of the closure and is still actively taking reservations for dates that may turn out unavailable.

We apologize for the incovenience this may cause. We are doing everything possible to rectify the situation and will keep you folks informed as soon as we know anything.

Thank you.

Dan Canaan
Flinthoof Ponypal

ConiFur NorthWest

Mephit FurMeet 2002 is only 39 days away! August 30th - September 1st (September 2nd is Labor Day and a "hang out" day) There's a lot of things new and exciting, as well as a few reminders.

Okay, it's early for it, but Kay Shapero posted to alt.fan.furry:

Yep, it's official - Leslie Fish has signed on as ConFurence 2003 Filk GOH.

Long famed for her bardic prowess (if you have't heard her yet, you owe it to yourself to do so), Leslie is also the only person I know who's gone beyond writing about animal Uplifts to actually doing it... Yeppers, since starting it as a college project way back when, Leslie has been breeding a line of Aisian shorthairs for sturdiness and intelligence.. and lately she's added a polydactil strain. That's right, intelligent cats with thumbs...