Sing it Loud!
Welcome to ConFurence Eight, the ninth in our continuing series of Furry gatherings. This year we pay tribute to music, comedy and as an added attraction, our reptile-type friends, whether they be scaley, smooth of hide, dyno or dragon!
Certainly we persons of the Furry persuasion make (or enjoy) our own kind of music. From the funny or serious, often emotional “home brew” tunes of “Filk”, Science Fiction / Fantasy fandom’s notorious musical sub-culture; to the exciting and inspiring music of film and television sountracks such as The Lion King or Gargoyles; music is a part of being Furry! We will have more music related programming this year, and expect to find more musically themed art, articles, stories and maybe even costumes. Dance is an art form that is happily mated to music, so don’t miss the posing and prancing around the convention and at our famous (infamous?) Fur Le Dance Caberet.
Our distinguished musical Guest of Honor is Dr. Jane Robinson, a Filk song-writer, performer and producer of her own popular albums, including such titles as “Dr. Janes Science Notes”, “Wakadamia”, “Dr. Jane’s Fossil Feaver”, and “Dr’. Jane’s Remains”. As an extra added attraction, Dr. Jane ia also a Palentologist! Amazing coooincidence? I think not! Don’t miss Dr. Jane in concert Friday night. Check your local listings (the pocket program) for time and location.
We didn’t have to “dig” to much to unearth our Author Guest of Honor this year. Robert J. Sawyer is a confirmed “Herpetophile” (big fan of reptiles) and has penned (or “word-processed”) 3 novels; “Farseer”, “Fossil Hunter”, and “Forgeigner”; which take place in a universe populated by dinosaurs who are the sentients on their planet. The books cronicle events in the lives of Afsan, a carnosaur Astrologer and his decendents. In addition to his regular GOH programming, including book signings, be sure to check out the DinoSIG with Robert and Dr. Jane.
And now for something completely different! Submitted for your approval, a comic strip that appars not in your local newspaper but on the World Wide Web at an ever increasing number of discriminating sites. A “family strip”, with a family most closely resembling a furry Addams Family, including; a 30-something rabbit, sysop of a Herbavore BBS and his charming corporate-preditor mate (who happens to be a wolf) and their children, a young lady porcupine (adopted), her “aspireing to be cool” brother wolf/fox (his mom was widdowed by a “hunting accident”), and the new baby (a carnivorous rabbit?!). “Kevin and Kel”, created by our artist/humorist guest, Bill Holbrook, really is a dog-eat-dog world! Bill also creates non-furry comic strips such as “On the Fast Track”, which are distributed in the more traditional fashion.
If you collect furry independent comic collections, you probably have read and enjoyed the hilarious exploits of Duncan, the lazy knight and his partner-in-crime Mallory, the con-dragon. Fans of a recent special-effects fantasy might find the theme familiar! More recently, denisons of FurryMUCK, our very own Virtual Universe, have wonderful “how to” guide published in several volumes and written in non-technical english! Who is responsible for all this? Mel. White, that’s who! In her spare time, Mel. manages to be one of the prime instgators in the long-running artist/writer jam/war, The Dallas Brawl.
Our host this year is the Buena Park Hotel and Convention Center, located next to the other popular Orange County theme park, Knotts Berry Farm. Once again, we have managed to fit ourselves into one facility and we hope to make this our new home for several years to come.
That wraps up the introductions for ConFurence 8, “Music and Mirth”. On with the show!