Clockworks and Rabbits

Today, I am not posting a link to any of the anti-SOPA stuff. I am not going to change my icon, or black out my text. I am not going to go to Wikipedia or bother to look for any of the hundreds of other sites out there with protest messages or black screens.

Why?

Because I am not American. Oh, don't get me wrong. To all of my friends and followers in the US: Please, DO go and write your senators or elected officials. DO blank out your websites in protest. DO Make your voices heard.
As a Canadian, however, I have no voice in the politics of the United States. I have no one to write to to make a difference. I have no say in how things should be done. So I am not blanking out my data.

I WILL however, speak my mind. The United States, via it's congress and it's media conglomerates are attempting to impose a global law. They are trying to impose their own laws on sovereign nations. This is something I cannot just sit by and abide. You see, Michael Geist put it best:

[...] the SOPA provisions are designed to have an extra-territorial effect that manifests itself particularly strongly in Canada. As I discussed in a column last year, SOPA treats all dot-com, dot-net, and dot-org domain as domestic domain names for U.S. law purposes. Moreover, it defines "domestic Internet protocol addresses" -- the numeric strings that constitute the actual address of a website or Internet connection -- as "an Internet Protocol address for which the corresponding Internet Protocol allocation entity is located within a judicial district of the United States.
Yet IP addresses are allocated by regional organizations, not national ones. The allocation entity located in the U.S. is called the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN). Its territory includes the U.S., Canada, and 20 Caribbean nations. This bill treats all IP addresses in this region as domestic for U.S. law purposes. To put this is context, every Canadian Internet provider relies on ARIN for its block of IP addresses. In fact, ARIN even allocates the block of IP addresses used by federal and provincial governments. The U.S. bill would treat them all as domestic for U.S. law purposes.

My website is not American. My blog is not American.
I am not a citizen of the United States.
If your laws are going to have the ability to impact me, and my life, then I should have the right to vote on them and have my say. To have your nation unilaterally decide what is and isn't legal for my nation is tantamount to oppression through politics, invasion of private property, and just a crappy thing to do.

So please, Americans, stand up to your politicians.

That's all.

What The Fur
June 1-3 2012
www.whatthefur.ca

It has been a little while since we’ve posted an update, but now is the time.
We hope that everyone is looking forward to June, with anticipation building and the excitement levels rising.
The crew of What The Fur is hard at work, planning what is expected to be the best event yet.

In this edition:

1. Hotel is open for reservations!
2. Early Bird Pre-Registration is still on!
3. Dealers and Artists and Vendors, oh my!
4. Do you have something to contribute to the convention book?
5. Programming, programming, programming.
6. DJs! Make us move!

CLICK HERE TO READ

I think the stresses at work are getting to me. I have so far ranted to about 6 people about my day yesterday, and that was only day 2 of the week. I still have 2 to go.

I have constant mild chest aches, I'm sleeping oddly, irritable, very blasé about a lot of things, just ... yeah. So it's affecting me physically. Just no energy.
I'm just finding myself not caring about the right things, and I don't like not caring about the right things.
Shy of going on short term disability, the next days off I have aren't until FurFright in October.
There's What The Fur, and that makes me smile. It's an accomplishment, something I am proud of. There are my mates and friends, again, things that make me smile. but... that's it. I mean, I get home, open a chat window on the computer, and another on the mu*, and that's all. I don't want to play games, I don't want to cook dinner. I don't want to clean the kitchen, or the livingroom. I don't even want to take corey for a walk. I just play out time until roughly 10pm and then go to bed.

I don't like it at all.
I don't like the aches and pains I have been having, the reflux returning, the sleep patterns that are anything but a pattern. I don't like having high blood pressure. I don't like having people ask me if I want to do something, and me saying no, with no real reason except that I just don't want to. I don't like ... not liking crap.

I want to give a crap again.

So, after much typing, clicking, dragging, cutting, pasting, undoing, redoing, clicking, clicking, growling, begging, clicking, undoing, redoing, typing, and oh, clicking, I can now safely announce that the What The Fur 2012 Website is now live and online!

The new website contains:
-A new look!
-New pages!
-An open registration system! (no, really, registration is open)
-New information!

Other points:
-What The Fur 2012 will be the first weekend of June (barring the F1 races kicking us out of our slot).
-Our Guest of Honour is the amazing Karine Charlebois
-Our theme is Creatures of the Night

There. Now to spread the word further about.

So go check it out, and spread the word.
www.whatthefur.ca

 

What The Fur
June 2012, Montreal, Quebec
www.whatthefur.ca

I want to thank all of you who came to Montreal and participated in What The Fur this year. Without all of you, nothing would be possible. Also without all of you, it would be about a dozen people sitting in a bunch of empty hotel rooms for a weekend. So thank you! The zombies seem to be dissapearing slowly, unfortunately taking all of your smiling faces with them. But have no fear, we're already working on 2012!

For a little bit of information, here’s what happened in June 2011:

• 221 people came to Montreal and had an amazing weekend!
• 32 people got a chance to walk around the Hotel Espresso, and even through the heart of downtown Montreal in their fursuits, much to the surprise and happy confusion of many passers by.
• A taste bud explosion was said to have re-occurred at the opening ceremonies, reportedly caused by the consumption of mass amounts of some of the best chocolates out there! (We sincerely apologise to those who lost sleep due to the ingestion of too much chocolate). The Tastiest Opening Ceremonies; returning to you next year.
• People bought art, learned about the fandom, learned a few new skills, and made a lot of new friends.

And not the least, which brought both a tear to my eye and smiles from many, the attendees of What The Fur gave generously to our charity. Through donations and through the Charity Auction we raised an astounding $2223 for the Ecomuseum.
Our website will soon be updated with information about exactly where this money will be used. The Ecomuseum and What The Fur want to thank everyone who gave of their time, and of their money to help. To all of the artists who submitted pieces to the auction, and to everyone who visited the Ecomuseum, thank you.

As announced at the closing ceremonies this year, What The Fur will indeed rise from under the fallen masses of zombies to return next year! Our Guest of Honour will be none other than the amazing Karine “Kanthara” Charlebois, and we will be host to all kinds of denizens of the dark with our theme for 2012: Creatures of the Night.

At the time of writing this, we are planning to hold the event from the 1^st through 3^rd of June 2012. We can also confirm we will be returning to the Hotel Espresso. Registration for the convention will open up soon, so keep your eyes out.

To close off this year, I would like to thank each and every person that attended the event. You are all what made it worthwhile. From those that lent their time in giving a panel or workshop, those that volunteered their time to make sure that everything ran smoothly, to the tireless staff who gave up so much to make sure everyone enjoyed themselves, and to you, the attendees, without whom this wouldn’t have been possible. I would also like to thank our gracious guests, Kalika and Demicoeur for all of the time they spent preparing, and for all the beautiful artworks.

I would also like to send out a special thanks to the staffs of several other conventions, without their help, we couldn’t have done what we did. So, in no particular order: Furnal Equinox, FurFright, Feral! and Con*Cept.  Also, to the members of MonFur for their support and help before and during the convention.

Thank you for 2011, and see you next year!

Chris "Feli” Pilgrim
-Chairperson

 

What The Fur
June 3-5 2011
www.whatthefur.ca

So it’s just under a month until What The Fur lands, once again, on Montreal. Just under a month before one of the best furry events takes place, and just under a month until the fun begins.
 
Hold onto your tails, folks, the hordes are coming!
 
In this edition:
1)      Dealers Den is nearly sold out!
2)      Pre-registration deadline is almost here!
3)      DJs! We want your music!
4)      Last call for con-book contents
5)      Coming in early? We have stuff for you to do!
6)      The zombie are coming! Grab your guns! (but follow the rules)

Click here for the full news!

What The Fur Presents...
Zombie Apocalypse: Night of the Furry Dead
June 3-5 2011
Montreal, QC
www.whatthefur.ca

---

A month ago we had a communication from our programming team. It covered many topics, but not everything was included
Now we present you with the rest of the news. The rest of the vital information that you all need to know. As the date that our scientists have predicted would be the launch of the apocalypse gets closer, we at What The Fur realize that many bits of information may get lost, or misconstrued.

Have no fear: We know. We assure you that the Zombie Apocalypse is real, and is happening. The undead furries will take over the island of Montreal… if you let them.

---

In this briefing:
1) Is chocolate a cure?
2) Can music soothe the souls of the undead?
3) Dealer Room and Art Show Status
4) How to distract Zombies! (or How I Ran A Panel at WTFur)
5) State of the hotel
6) Registration news

---

Click here for the English newsletter</a

We received this communiqué from our Programming Director. After some deciphering, we are posting the text as best we could make out.

( A new year has arrived and like zombies rising from the grave it’s time to gear up for What The Fur 2011. )

-----
Nous avons reçu ce communiqué de notre directeur de la programmation. Après quelques déchiffrage, voici le texte mieux nous pourrions faire.

( Une nouvelle année est arrivée et comme les zombies ont déjà commencés à se lever, il est grand temps de s’armer pour What The Fur 2011.  )

Well, What The Fur has come and gone, and now we all sit back and wait.
Wait for what you might ask? Well, I’m glad that you did.

We’re planning for next year already! That’s right, WTF? Did so well for its first year that we’re going to be doing it all again!

For a little bit of information, here’s what happened in June 2010:

* 228 people came to Montreal and had a great time! 4 more wanted to come, but unfortunately couldn’t make it.
* 21 people got a chance to walk around the Hotel Espresso in their fursuits, and then had a chance to surprise the city of Montreal by going out onto one of the more busy streets in the downtown core for a photo shoot!
* The people that attended What The Fur gave so generously that we are able to proudly announce that we will be giving $738.60 to our selected charity, the Saint Lawrence Valley Natural History Eco Museum!
* A taste bud explosion was said to have occurred at the opening ceremonies, reportedly caused by the consumption of mass amounts of some of the best chocolates out there! (We sincerely apologise to those who lost sleep due to the ingestion of too much chocolate)
* People bought art, learned about the fandom, learned a few new skills, and made a lot of new friends.

And due to all of this, we have decided that yes, there will be a What The Fur 2011! Details will come out soon as to what we’re planning, but rest assured that even though we might take a couple of days off, the staff and crew of WTF? are going to make every effort to make 2011 even better than 2010.

To close off this year, I would like to thank each and every person that attended the event. You are all what made it worthwhile. From those that lent their time in giving a panel or workshop, those that volunteered their time to make sure that everything ran smoothly, to the tireless staff who gave up so much to make sure everyone enjoyed themselves, and to you, the attendees, without whom this wouldn’t have been possible. I would also like to thank our gracious guests, Max Blackrabbit and gNAW for being there and being so very good about not winning the Iron Artist Competition.

I would also like to send out a special thanks to the staffs of several other conventions, without their help, we couldn’t have done what we did. So, in no particular order: Furnal Equinox, FurFright, Con*Cept, Otakuthon, and Anticipation. Also, to the members of both MonFur and Francofur, for their support and help before and during the convention.

Rest assured we are already working on What The Fur 2011, and there will be news posted as soon as we have something. IN the meantime, take a few moments to visit the forum and say hello.


Thank you for 2010, and see you next year!

Chris "Feli” Pilgrim
-Chairperson