We just got our 2,500,000th submission. :) The 2,500,000th post was made by  ayatofoxytails. A new user, too.

4.5 years and we're... wow, has it really been that long? I feel old.

 Xaerun and  Warmock have been added to the admin roster. :)

Go congratulate 'em!

compfive posted a journal that I think offers some good advice. One of the rare journals I feel is not just worth sharing, but re-posting.

Comp Five is also a freakin' awesome artist. Go watch him!


Complication Five wrote:It's pretty simple to find new arts you will like on FA, ya bone-head!

If you are an artist:
Click on people who Fav or Watch you and your stuff. Then look at their Favs, duh!

If you are not an artist:
Look at what some of the artists that you like add to their Favs. It's that easy!

It can end up being a long domino effect of clicking through favs of other people's favs of other people's favs. Then you end up finding a bunch of new artists to watch and stuff of theirs to fav. It's that easy!Awesome, effective and easy!

Okay, so... uh, I picked up Megaton Dragon at Anthrocon. I've been wanting this book for months and months, but never knew where to pick it up. Found out Clubstripes had it this whole time (d'oh!).

I've looked through the book about 10 times over. And each and every time it makes me squeal and grin. Hardcore. So, since a lot of my fellows on this list have similar interest - giant, looming, macro-sized muscle bound dragons (and some plush, cuddly ones at that) I highly, HIGHLY suggest you pickup Megaton Dragon. Right now. Order it. ORDER IT!

It's !@#$ing awesome. I don't speak Japanese, but this... well, it's pure win. Fuck it. WIN! WIN, I TELL YOU!

http://shop.clubstripes.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=128

Lemme put it this way. I read the book and loved it so much I ended up drawing about ten freakin' pages of nothing but Kitora's dragons before I even realized it. <___< Yeah. I love it that much. Art coming this week. Kitora-san style.

Oh, and best of all, almost all of the artists (but Mami and Mahyo) are on FA! *happy*

 kitora  dnapalmhead  mogpon  kuroma  fatbat

It was all good. :) The end.

Seriously, I really don't know what else to say about AC. It was pretty damn spiffy overall.

I give the con a 9/10.

--Convention Stats--
Hours slept: 13 hours of 4 days (and in an easy chair, no less! Didn't have a bed)
Red Bull Consumed: 21 16oz cans
Items Bought: 1 (Kitora's "Megaton Dragon"! Been wanting that for AGES!)
Art Gotten: 0
Art Drawn: 4
Hangovers: 0
Intoxications: Not enough!
Most Random Moment: Having Cooper make me laugh so hard I had tequila shooting out of my nose outside the zoo. Seriously, Cooper? One of THE BEST suiters I've ever seen (and this was his first con and first time suiting at a con, too!)

Ended up getting "lost" on my way to the con. Then again, with a GPS you're never truly lost. The hotel's directions were "1000 Penn Ave". My GPS found it, and... yeah, no. That wasn't it. Neither was the next one. After more poking, there are no less than three different "1000 Penn Aves" in the Pitt. D'oh. I finally just told the thing to go to the convention center and went on my way. Eh well. Got to see the backstreets of Pittsburgh, City of !@#$ing Hills.

I think my only con-related complaint was the art on the con badges. The art was... well, kinda awful. Joe Harris is a good cartoonist, but I Underdog doesn't really work for badges. Besides, Underdog was last popular in... 1973? Ben Balistreri really should have gotten a chance to do badge art. The wild designs in Foster's Home is just vivid and incredible. Eh well. =P For that being my only complaint it's kinda small.

Then again, I'm a Foster's Home fan... and Underdog was off the air before I was born. =P

Anthrocon was awesome other than that. Everything was spiffy keen and no other real issues came up for me except for the interesting side effects of sleep deprivation, Red Bull and Percoset. Not a fun combo. :)

Being July 4th weekend, the Pitt was shut down for almost all of AC. Some restaurants and other areas near the con opened on Saturday just /for/ the con. The best restaurant we found was The Oasis. It was about a block and a half away from the con, but freakin' amazing food. You could get an entire meal for $5. Fernando's was good, but... can't touch the Oasis. Although, I give 2 Gryphon credit for turning me onto the lasagna wrap. That was pretty damn good.

People of Interest:


Awesomeness to all those others I met, hung and chilled with and more. Wish I could name everybody, but that list'd be as long as this entire post.

Plus <3 <3 <3 to all those who supported FA and FAU by wearin' our shirts! I ran out of FA supporter ribbons far, far, far, too fast. I made 50, I should have made 250 of them. Next year!

Bonus: "Fan Funk" wasn't bad this year. I encountered one dude who REALLY needed to take a shower (and badly!). 1 person out of... about 3,700. That's astonishing. Seriously, you guys rock! Go hug your deodorant to show it your appreciation. It deserves it.

"WTF really?"
Link to the Original Story: http://bit.ly/41VBKq

Toby, one of the Dead Doggers, had his iPhone stolen from under the party he helped plan. Not cool.

Darkwolph wrote:His iPhone... was stolen from our room off the suite tonight. It was in a clear and black body glove case with a clip on the back and was plugged into a charger on the nightstand between the beds. If anyone who was at our party last night has any information on who took it, or if you took it, please let us know/have the decency to return it. We're not out to crucify anyone, we'd just really like to get his phone back.
If anybody has information regarding the phone, where it went, what happened... and if Toby's able to give it back I'll give $100 to the person who gets this guy's phone back. These guys tossed an awesome party, don't deserve to be treated this way.

If you took it, accidentally or maliciously, just return it. I'll still give you the $100. Just get this guy his phone back. I won't give your name out. Just get their phone back.

- Dragoneer

EDIT: I don't even know if these people are on Fur Affinity, but I don't care. Theft like this? Never cool.

EDIT 2: Lovingly reposted per  cerise's request.

And Anthrocon's rolled to a close. Was fun over all for the most part, though I wish I had a bed though. Heh. My back is killing me over the con, and I'm pretty sure I got about... 10 hours of actualy (and awful) sleep over the course of four days. I gave up my bed for my best buds craydrygu and zerohour3k (who I'm sooo glad were able to make it to AC - you made it all worth it!). By day five the lack of sleep was sorta... taking its toll. I'm irritable. =P

Decimated over 20+ 16oz Red Bulls by the time the con ended.

I'll post a little more about the con later. Not a full report, but more.

I don't smoke but one or two cigs a year, and on occasion I enjoy a drink or two (more of a social drinker) but damn it all if I'm not agitated enough to want a whole pack of luscious cancer sticks right now.

Oh man, how I need a smoke.

EDIT: Looking back, this was the result of three days of lack of sleep at that point. Heh.

In the Zoo. What's the con up to?!

Heading out to AnthroCon tomorrow. :)

If you see me there come say hi*. If you're wearing an "Obey the Ferrox" t-shirt come poke me for a "Fur Affinity" supporter ribbon! You can put it on a custom conbadge, your car, a pet, random strangers, whatever you wanna do with it! Because we're cool like that.

But yeah. :) I'm generally a friendly, open, jovial guy. Don't be afraid to gimme a poke!

- Dragoneer

* But only if you wear deodorant. I'm serious. No stinky people.

NOTE: If you want to come say hi, and have Twitter, you can follow me at @dragoneer on Twitter.

I was up by Reading, PA in a lil' town called Sinking Spring. I used to live there (and one of my sister still does). I pulled into a gas station when about four teenagers rode up behind my car on bikes. They started banging on the windows, screaming random shit (they were doing this to every car). Whatever. I could really care less.

Then one by one, the dumbass kids started swerving in front of my car and braking instantly, within a foor or two each time. They were playing chicken. Now, my PT Cruiser is by no means a car anybody would ever rate "badass" but trust me when I say it'll break a bone or twenty. :) These kids kept playing swerving and stopping, calling me out, screaming "FAGGOT!" at me. Typical kid shit. One kid would ride off, I'd start to gas it... then another could would race his bike in front of the car and stop me.

When the fourth kid tried it... heh, all I heard was "OH SHIT!". He saw me. I saw him.

The kid looked exactly like my nephew. And judging by the fact that A) he lives right around the corner and B) he freaked the fuck out and started riding away ASAP... I'd say I probably need to pay my sister a visit.

Pixar Arranges Home Screening Of "Up" For Dying 10-Year-Old
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/pixar-up-movie-2468059-home-show

The Article wrote:HUNTINGTON BEACH – Colby Curtin, a 10-year-old with a rare form of cancer, was staying alive for one thing – a movie.

From the minute Colby saw the previews to the Disney-Pixar movie Up, she was desperate to see it. Colby had been diagnosed with vascular cancer about three years ago, said her mother, Lisa Curtin, and at the beginning of this month it became apparent that she would die soon and was too ill to be moved to a theater to see the film.

After a family friend made frantic calls to Pixar to help grant Colby her dying wish, Pixar came to the rescue.

The company flew an employee with a DVD of Up, which is only in theaters, to the Curtins’ Huntington Beach home on June 10 for a private viewing of the movie.

The animated movie begins with scenes showing the evolution of a relationship between a husband and wife. After losing his wife in old age, the now grumpy man deals with his loss by attaching thousands of balloons to his house, flying into the sky, and going on an adventure with a little boy.

Colby died about seven hours after seeing the film.

With her daughter’s vigil planned for Friday, Lisa Curtin reflected about how grateful she is that Pixar – and "Up" – were a part of her only child’s last day.

“When I watched it, I had really no idea about the content of the theme of the movie,” said Curtin, 46. “I just know that word ‘Up’ and all of the balloons and I swear to you, for me it meant that (Colby) was going to go up. Up to heaven.”

Pixar officials declined to comment on the story or name the employees involved.

THE PREVIEWS

Colby was diagnosed with vascular cancer on Dec. 23, 2005 after doctors found a tumor in her liver. At the time of her death, her stomach was about 94 inches around, swollen with fluids the cancer wouldn’t let her body properly digest. The rest of her body probably weighed about 45 pounds, family friend Carole Lynch said.

Colby had gone to Newport Elementary School and was known for making others laugh, family friend Terrell Orum said. Colby loved to dance, sing, swim and seemed to have a more mature understanding of the world than other children her age, Orum said.

On April 28, Colby went to see the Dream Works 3-D movie "Monsters Vs. Aliens" but was impressed by the previews to "Up."

“It was from then on, she said, ‘I have to see that movie. It is so cool,’” Lynch said.

Colby was a movie fan, Lisa Curtin said, and she latched onto Pixar’s movies because she loved animals.

Two days later Colby’s health began to worsen. On June 4 her mother asked a hospice company to bring a wheelchair for Colby so she could visit a theater to see "Up." However, the weekend went by and the wheelchair was not delivered, Lisa Curtin said.

By June 9, Colby could no longer be transported to a theater and her family feared she would die without having seen the movie.

At that point, Orum, who desperately wanted Colby to get her last wish, began to cold-call Pixar and Disney to see if someone could help.

Pixar has an automated telephone answering system, Orum said, and unless she had a name of a specific person she wanted to speak to, she could not get through. Orum guessed a name and the computer system transferred her to someone who could help, she said.

Pixar officials listened to Colby’s story and agreed to send someone to Colby’s house the next day with a DVD of "Up," Orum recalled.

She immediately called Lisa Curtin, who told Colby.

“Do you think you can hang on?” Colby’s mother said.

“I’m ready (to die), but I’m going to wait for the movie,” the girl replied.

THE MOVIE

At about 12:30 p.m. the Pixar employee came to the Curtins’ home with the DVD.

He had a bag of stuffed animals of characters in the movie and a movie poster. He shared some quirky background details of the movie and the group settled in to watch Up.

Colby couldn't see the screen because the pain kept her eyes closed so her mother gave her a play-by-play of the film.

At the end of the film, the mother asked if her daughter enjoyed the movie and Colby nodded yes, Lisa Curtin said.

The employee left after the movie, taking the DVD with him, Lynch said.

“He couldn’t have been nicer,” said Lynch who watched the movie with the family. “His eyes were just welled up.”

After the movie, Colby’s dad, Michael Curtin, who is divorced from Lisa Curtin, came to visit.

Colby died with her mom and dad nearby at 9:20 p.m.

Among the Up memorabilia the employee gave Colby was an “adventure book” – a scrap book the main character’s wife used to chronicle her journeys.

“I’ll have to fill those adventures in for her,” Lisa Curtin said.Damn it... just... damn it.

=(

Maybe I'm just... emotional, but I think it's nigh impossible to read a story like this and NOT feel teary eyed. God knows I do right now. This is one of the happiest, saddest stories I've read in a long time. Seriously.

Sup, fuzzies!

I just wanted to take a moment to thank all of you guys for your unwavering support of the site. I know the economy is not in the best of places, but seeing the continued support of the community even in this conditions is overwhelming. In fact, it's just amazing. Truly so. Between all of those who have donated, those who have shared unique, innovative ideas and suggestions, the artists that post to give this site the amazing content that it does and the people who comment and leave feedback... thank you.

<3

You people make FA what it is. We're on our way to hit our 2.5 millionth submission in the coming weeks. That's quite a milestone, and there's no way we could have done it without you! All of you.

Win.

- Dragoneer

http://bit.ly/ACmsj

Fur Affinity mentioned on the World of Warcraft Insider.

Construct additional pylons! ZUG ZUG!

Rockstar Energy Drink Doesn't Want Consumers To Know About Connection To Shock Jock Michael Savage
http://consumerist.com/5283320/rockstar-energy-drink-doesnt-want-consumers-to-know-about-connection-to-shock-jock-michael-savage

o_____O

The Consumerist Article wrote:Did you know ultra-conservative talk radio guy Michael Savage has intimate family connections to Rockstar Energy Drink?

. . .

For those who don't know who he is, Michael Savage—whose real last name is Weiner—is a shock jock who likes to make outrageous statements about, among other things, gays and immigrants. Specifically, he doesn't like either of those groups, and occasionally pops up in the media for (real examples) telling a gay caller to get AIDS and die and calling for the banning of all Muslim immigration to the U.S.
Read the entire entire for the rest. It's very interesting, actually, and not in an entirely good way. This is definitely worth forwarding on, too. I can't really support any company that would be associated with a dick like this. And for the record, Savage is on par with the angry, political shillbot Limbaugh for uninformed, retarded commentary.

This is pretty eff'd up. And yes, it's true. Me? I won't be buying Rockstar Energy anymore. Nyetski.

Brokenwing giving away a Tablet PC
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/770914/

Brokenwing is giving away a Gateway Tablet PC as part of a prize for an art contest.

Stormdragon Blue's Rubber TF contest
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/772251/

Stormdragon Blue is holding a cash-prize contest for rubber/latex TF arts. :)

Scottish accents are so fohkin' sexah!

As I mentioned in my Twitter (you are following me on Twitter, right?) I'm working on a sort of community project, something to help shed light on all the positive aspects of the fandom. In turn, I'm giving back to the fandom as well. For all of June, any and all advertising money FA receives will go to prize money for this contest.

It's going to be unique, and I'm trying to raise prizes and other giveaways from other members of the furry community. I'll have the whole thing announced in a few days, as I'm still trying to scrap things together, but...

It's time to add two scoops of positivity into the fandom's diet. :)

Contest Sponsors Thus Far:
FA - All June Advertising Money
FA: United - Two super sponsor registrations
Rabbit Valley - 25 $10 gift certificates to use at their store (Yes, this means there will be 25 winners RIGHT THERE ALONE!)

It will be epic, and it become more and more so as more people join in as sponsors.

Stay tuned.

DISCLAIMER: The below rant is my personal frustration/annoyance -vs- the official stance of Fur Affinity.Man Admits Sex With Dogs, Gets 30 Days
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/06/02/national/main5056419.shtml

This is the most viewed story on CBS News' website right now. The. Most. Viewed. Congrats, dude, I hope it was worth it. You've damaged our reputation for the sake of getting your rocks off.

Here, let me highlight this in a way that the entire fandom can understand:

http://preyfar.furaffinity.net/wtf.jpg
This story is currently more popular than the death of legendary actor David Carradine. I think that says it all. In fact, I'm really just not sure what more there is to say about it. This, coming right after the "Alan Panda" incident, is simply a crock of shit shameful.

I will re-iterate: this is not what Furry and the fandom stands for. It's not, it's just NOT. I shouldn't even have to state that. Do we really need a Furry "Wall of Shame"? Because if this stuff continues, rest assured, I'll be the first person to volunteer to make that wall. Furry branches out into a hell of a lot of areas it probably shouldn't, but there really is a definitive and clear line as to where furry should and shouldn't be. Hey, if it's a illegal? Yeah, that's not us.

People, I say this seriously, consider the ramifications of your actions. Any future employer that goes to hire Mr. Wilson is going to get unfortunate results as linked through Google, and his future career options are going to be bleak. Meanwhile, the rest of the fandom are going to be sitting here shaking our heads in shame wondering what the hell went wrong. And while I'm in no position to speak for the fandom (I'm not) I can honestly say that I *DO* speak for everybody when I say this just isn't the kind of publicity we need.

I really don't like writing journals like this. In fact, I'd love to never have to do it, but these two things happening back to back, a week apart? Really? C'mon, people. I can't say this enough: If you're going to fuck up like this get the hell out of the fandom first. We do not need this shit.

An aide to the Pennsylvania state Senator Jane Orie has been caught trying to solicit sex from a 15 year old. More specifically, he apparently wanted the sexual acts to involve fursuits and (and potential other oddities). This news seems to be exploding in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg primarily, but has reached CNN and some other major organizations. It will, no doubt, spread.

This is, as I like to say, is not a good situation to be in.

http://www.fox43.com/news/wpmt-pmnews-furryperv-05-29-09,0,636921.story
http://www.thepittsburghchannel.com/cnn-news/19604318/detail.html
http://www.philly.com/philly/wires/ap/news/state/pennsylvania/20090529_ap_agmanpropositionedteenwithanimalcostumesex.html
http://kdka.com/politics/Panda.costume.staffer.2.1024045.html
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/mostread/s_627410.html
http://wbztv.com/politics/furry.sex.pa.2.1024853.html
\http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/attorney-general-corbett-announces-arrest,842435.shtml

Alan Berlin, aka "Alan Panda", was caught using furry sites like Pounced to solicit sex from strangers and, more specifically, certain minors. I'd like to reiterate the "sex with strangers" thing because he wasn't merely focused on minors, though he was focused on younger Furs (in their mid-20's). The Senate was removed from his position immediately, and was arrested rather swiftly. Several news agencies are already reporting the story, regarding links to Pounced and AnthroCon. In short, this is definitely FUBAR for many organizations involved, FA included.

We've even caught (and banned) "Alan Panda" on Fur Affinity, though I thank the Mr. Berlin for never having actually used the site beyond viewing art. He had no comments, notes or favorites. For that I am eternally grateful.

I'd like to re-iterate two things from this:
1) There are bad lemons among any group, small or large. One person is not a representative of the group, but it can hurt the image as a whole. It's important to learn from this rather than merely create drama over the incident. Remember, this not specifically a "Furry" problem so much as it is a perverted individual who just happened to be a furry.

The fandom can be an openly sexual community, and unfortunately, this can attract individuals like the one in question.

2) If FA is contacted I will comply fully with the police and any other official bodies involved. Mr. Berlin's usage of the site was next to minimal, but I will not tolerate people use FA to solicit sex from minors or any OTHER illegal activity.

I imagine there are some of you out there who may be defending Mr. Berlin. Don't. He knew what he was doing, and he caught. He got caught by the individuals parents. If you're fooling around online or in real life... you need to be aware that the person on the other end may not be of legal age, and the ramifications that come with that can be severe.

- Dragoneer

PS - I don't like writing these kinds of journals, I really don't. They make the fandom look bad. I'd love to stand quiet on this, but this news is going to spread, and spread fast. It happened to a Senator's aide, and that's just not something that's going to stay quiet. Because of that, I'd rather be one of the first to stand up in front of everybody and say "I'm not going to tolerate this shit".

If you're going fuck up and do something like this get the hell out of this fandom first.

I'm going through a rather massive spring cleaning initiative, asking myself "Do I need this?". It's amazing the stuff you get over half a decade. Anyway, Ipurchased this second PC from Alienware (via my company) to use as an art/DV editing system and as something of an HTCP. It's had light/moderate use, but lately has been sitting here looking sexy while my main PC gets all the love.

That, and my car is in dire need of repair and... yeah. :| So, given that, I decided to toss it online for auction up on Furbuy.
Furbuy Auction: Dragoneer's Alienware Aurora Desktop

If you have any questions about it... feel free to poke me. =D

(And yes, it will play Crysis)

Shill: I still have the McFarlane Dragon's Auction up here. :)

It's Towel Day, the day in which be bow our heads in geekdom to the fallen God, Douglas Adams.

RIP, creator of worlds.

Another auction. :) Sellin' off a brand new, complete set of McFarlane Dragons (Series 1). Full set of six, brand new, unopened. These are fairly hard to comeby nowadays, so... yeah. :)

McFarlane Dragon's - Complete Set (Series 1)
http://www.furbuy.com/auctions/1009793.html

So who's going? Huh? HUH? Huh? HUH? Huh? HUH? Huh? HUH? Huh? HUH? I'll be there, yes I will. :)

. . .

I should also register before I forget. Unless I did register, but did forget I registered, if I... uh, I... I... fuck, I've gone cross-eyed.

Also: in before "Can't afford it/go/currently being abducted by aliens" excuses. =P

Due to being utterly spammed with LOTD submissions on both the forums /and/ the main site, I have decided to change the LOTD submission process.

Want to suggest an FA LOTD? Send your suggestion over to lotd@furaffinity.net. :) Right now, the LOTD sent via notes are clogging up my inbox and I'm having trouble keeping up with everything. Be sure and include your FA account name in the e-mail so I can give credit to the first person to suggest a link! Also, as a polite reminder, suggesting links that have a 1,000,000+ views is not generally recommended. Chances are a lot of people have seen it. You'd be surprised just how many suggestions I get for the "Mean Kitty Song" (and at 20.5 million views, I'm pretty sure you all know the video without my mentioning it!)

As of this point, I am just going to be deleting any LOTDs sent to me via note. IF you've sent it in already, that's fine... but, but from this point on, e-mail me whatcha got!

Once again, that e-mail: lotd@furaffinity.net

Thanks,
Neer