Remembering Stan Lee and Fred Patten

The one thing you can say about Stan Lee that no one could argue that the man was unique.

There was and sadly only be 1 Stan Lee.

He will be missed…I kinda liked his cameos in the Marvel films.

There is a huge difference between reading the works of someone vs. actually talking to them like I did when I interviewed Fred Patten for a piece on my blog.

It was the behind the scenes stuff I wanted to include that I thought was the most interesting. It seems in his later years Fred Patten felt just plain felt overwhelmed by how the fandom grew and of also the sites like mine growing in popularity. One man operations butting heads with the Dogpatch Press and Flayrah. Mr. Patten actually wanted his reviews to be spread out among these smaller operations. But had already committed himself previously to both Dogpatch Press and Flayrah. Speaking of which I wonder like Mr. Patten did himself will these reviews still be used after his passing.

I will go on record asking that his reviews not be used. For a very simple reason, it just feels wrong.

Veteran’s Day

Since I have been volunteering over at the local VA Hospital here in Chicago the more and more I take the side of the Vets vs. our own government. Some might ask, Aren’t both the same? I am sorry to say the answer is a solid NO, Vets as much as our elected leaders tell us differently get the worse of it. Don’t get me wrong if they are an inpatient at the VA hospital they get great care and all their meds are 100% covered. But what I am talking about is the stuff I clearly see. The quality of care is institutional at best, you know there is sometimes a 4-hour wait or longer just to see a doctor, and getting their meds can sometimes take hours. What every Vet has ever said to me that they should get the option to see a doctor in their neighborhood. I know Trump made a big deal out of this last year when he signed that Executive Order. But the reality of it is quite different, it only applies if you live 20 or more miles away from a VA hospital, and even then everything has to be approved by a VA doctor and yes this has cost lives. But yet no one will do anything, like the food at the hospital in the cafeteria. I will admit it’s about average for any hospital…meaning if it was replaced by a McDonalds it would be a step up in quality. Nearly everything on the menu is loaded with FAT, SALT, and SUGAR and we are talking about a place where most of the patients are on special diets. You know most of the staff there gets their food delivered.

Given all the budget cuts the VA has endured it is a fact the Volunteers are taking positions that the VA staff once occupied.

But that is not what caused me to write this piece.

World War 1 Memorial Service Trump doesn’t show up because it is raining. He was the only world leader who never came. Okay, Trump supporters back him up on that.

G+ Is Shutting Down

I know to some this means nothing (shutdown info), but I do have a presence on G+ and I do moderate the Greymuzzle group there. So this news took me by surprise, and have caused me to make my own plans. Not that you will see any difference here, except for my interest in video games will be seen more here. I love certain games, I won’t bore you with purchases, just to tell you if a game I get is good, weird or just plain sucks. I have noticed more and more are interested in retro games. Certainly, the buyers of retro games at my favorite gaming store have gotten noticeably younger.

The Biggest Non News Story of The Week—Furries and the FBI

You might have seen the post on social media or the subject on some sites of how the FBI did not investigate the Furry Fandom, and how someone found proof.

I kid you not that is longer than the actual post. But everyone is making this out to be a huge deal, me I just don’t get it. Why just ask yourself this why would the FBI conduct a criminal investigation of the Furry Fandom?

You can’t come up with an answer, can you? Neither can I but I know something that the other sites have either missed or just plain forgot. Remember that gas attack on MFF a few years back, I learned from one of the staff and I won’t say whom for. Told me that the FBI did check out the fandom, but in order to see if we had any enemies. They wore actual fursuits to some conventions bought furry items in the dealer’s area at certain cons and online.

There was no actual investigation they wanted to check out the fandom in general and see if some of the rumors were true.

Amazing no one even talks about that except for little me.

Alt-Right Furries Are Raging Online, And Leftist Furries Wonder What Is To Be Done

Recently Huffington Post did an article on Alt-Right Furries making it sound like what has become common place on Facebook. Namely the divisiveness, the name calling, taking sides. They even threw in Patch O’Furr, Deo, Pepe the Frog and the Furry Raiders. It’s hard to know who is acting like a bigger idiot. Where do you draw the line between getting your view known, and giving these idiots free publicity.

I have dealt with 2 of the 4 names I mention, and I would not let either one walk my dog. Now watch to see if they attack me, even though I did not mention them by name. That is why I say these groups want attention good or bad. 2 of them are complete idiots anyway, which is why I feel the hate comments coming.

99% of the furry fandom isn’t like this they just want to have a little innocent fun and leave the world and it’s problems at the door.

But still is that nasty and vile 1% who will do anything to get to see there view whether it is stealing someones meet, or making threats against a convention like some terrorist group. Just so they get people to talk about them.

One of the reason I don’t, normally talk about the Alt-Right or Leftists they just want publicity, like that nut job who runs the furry raiders. I call him that because what person in their right mind would try and join the american nazi party even though they don’t meet their standards.

It is getting so bad on social media in general my list of blocked names just get longer and longer. Social media is just blowing itself up to a point it is literally driving people away. As to the apps they are no better, many of them just have a personal agenda. Reason why I personally stay away from them, too many bad experiences.

Speaking of which and you don’t have to post an answer. Did you become a furry for fun or do you have a political agenda which your trying to ram down peoples throats?

Me it has always been for the fun, that is why I love fur cons so much.

Are you with the 1% of Haters or the 99% who just want to have fun…only you can decide

A Special Message to The Staff at Weiss Memorial Hospital

I will be eternally grateful to the Doctors, Nurses and PCTs of Weiss during my recent health crisis. Some of you might of seen a previous post regarding the same thing, but something really happened beyond my control and I think you deserve an explanation. It is true that I had Colitis, (an infection of the colon). Both the infection and the meds really did a number on me. I lost weight, I couldn’t eat or drink, plus the vomiting was horrible. Well I was healthy for a week up until I got sick again with the same problems. I literally went to the emergency room 4 times at 2 different hospitals. But still nobody could figure out why I was sick and frankly after a couple of weeks I thought I was going to die.

Call it “Last Resort” which it really was. I contacted a GI doctor and made an appointment. He was in the same building as another doctor I see, and it worked out I made the appointment so I could see one then the other. In between this I got a blood test. Really I want to personally thank Dr. Steiner for having the wisdom to check me for Thyroid issues.

By the time I saw my second doctor of the day. I was half out of it and frankly way tooo ill to go home and I was checked in to the nearby hospital.

Now get this 2 hours later Dr. Steiner was in my room telling me that signs pointed to a Thyroid issue. By the next morning it was confirmed I was Hyperthyroid.

Those 4 days I spent in the hospital I went from a wreck to back to nearly I was before all of this started. I still a bit weak and it maybe a couple of days more before I could return to work. But I will recover and I will be able to inform all you furries and non furries out there.

Thank You All

Commentary: Malignant Narcissism (NPD) vs Anti-Bullshit Personality (ABSP) by Casey Thomas Lehman

So…. You know that “malignant narcissist” I talked about? Turns out we have a lot in common now. Because neither of us are malignant narcissists. We’re just anti-bullshit people. I’ve been called a narcissist multiple times, when in reality I was anti-bullshit. Though, I admit I nearly embraced it at one time.

This will be a short article, but I can say without a doubt that those terms are thrown around far too much nowadays… mostly by the people who have the personality disorders to begin with, such as the Alt-Right, Alt-Left, and many of the CEOs and big celebrities. I’m not saying they all have them, but the ones with codependency because of the treatment they have been given are the only people I feel sorry for.

…Welp, hope you enjoyed this little article – And remember – Before you label someone, please make sure you aren’t projecting.

The Draw of The Fur Con

I recently noticed of how Pre MFF several local furries said that they weren’t going to MFF. Main had some pretty good reasons, bad experiences, the crowds, etc, etc. But yet on social media without exception they had posted photos if not directly taken in front of the hotel at least nearby. Some say Animals hear the call of the wald, furries hear the call of the fur con.

What I Took Out of a Panel on Journalism

As I previous mention here I went to this panel on Journalism at MFF 2017 hosted by both Tantroo McNally and NightfOx which I really found informative and you will notice some improvements here. It really straighten me out on a couple of points, of course this doesn’t mean I am going all news site here. That really isn’t me, and trying to put everyone in the same box is crazy to me. Everyone has to be themselves right or wrong. I fully admit I have made tons of mistakes and I still came out a winner. Yesterday I had almost 600 views and I really get thanked by a lot of cons for the stuff I post about them…check out my Twitter feed. Furry Migration actually thinked me for a 360 view video I posted. Crazy for a one man operation but it’s true. You Live and You Learn.

But really even signing in to a news site were at least 90% of the items I see submitted are outright rejected. Really nothing I submitted to Flayrah was even accepted, not even my interviews and despite what was said at the panel I was NEVER told why. I know back when I was on Flayrah I would see post after post in their newsfeed of people wondering why they never heard back of anything submitted, of course they didn’t last long it seems the old editor would delete them. Really doesn’t make sense unless you know someone on that site personally they don’t want you, really my suggestion to any wannabe reporter. YouTube, or at least a podcast there. Believe it for not you will get more views in 1 day than I do. I think if I had to do this all over again Furry Times would be a podcast. But don’t worry I am keeping my blog I just renewed my domain name.

Who Killed America by Lowell Thompson

First of all Lowell Thompson is something of a minor celeb a man who can do just about anything. So why not a play…his latest project.

Link to the official site

I was at the first workshop the other day where his goal was trying to gather ideas for what I think is a good premise. Not exactly what killed America more like what killed the American dream. If your older than 30 and lived all that time in the US, you can see how things have changed and not for the better. Rise in hate groups, more violence, greed seemly everywhere, meanwhile the voters feel disenfranchised. Which is the main reason I feel why Trump was elected. There he came in with BIG promises and frankly despite what he and other presidents have said in the past, frankly there is very little they can do to change things. That is solely in the hands of the congress and the courts.

Can you even name 1 of your elected officials? Not local because they are on the news most of the time. But those we sent to Washington, DC . Which rare exception most frankly can’t why and this goes for a majority of them. They do nothing but vote on other peoples idea’s. I don’t know of 1 that ever kept a campaign promise.

I could get into greed in business but that is all over the news.

So in my mind who killed American it was our own elected officials.

Have your own ideas use the link above and send a message to Lowell Thompson