Livin' on the Web in Cincinnati

Baby, if you've ever wondered if you could watch the first season of WKRP online... the answer is hell, yeah. Last night, for instance, I stayed up a half hour longer than I shoulda, watching a fish fight a pig in a men's room.

And you can, too! (Well, most of you.)



Also available are Remington Steele, Barney Miller, Johnny Sokko and his Flying Robot, Arrested Development, 30 Rock, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, the Bob Newhart Show, Firefly and more.

But seriously: Fish versus Pig. Furry Fight!

Rob

Furry Encounter

I’ve been neglecting the blogging lately, getting bogged down in helping fledgling civilizations grow and conquer their neighbors. But there are a few things I’ve been meaning to get to in these past few weeks, and hopefully I’ll be able to touch on them before leaving for vacation in a couple of days.

First stop: Furries.

Years ago, I wrote a story for The Suburban & Wayne Times about Anthrocon, a convention for fans of anthropomorphic animals – everything from Bugs Bunny to Usagi Yojimbo (and even creatures that aren’t bunnies, like Mouse Guard or Brian Jacques’ Redwall series). It’s one of the few things I wrote back then that have survived online. You can read it here – and it’s even referenced on the Furry Fandom page of Wikipedia!

It was an interesting conversation with Dr. Conway – one of the most guarded interviews I’d ever conducted. A few months before, Vanity Fair had published an “expose” of furry fandom, casting them all as sexual deviants. His wariness of the press was certainly understandable; if I hadn’t mentioned guest Carla Speed McNeil on his answering machine, he told me he’d have never have called me back for the interview. (He figured I must be a fanboy of some stripe or another -- most reporters at the time wouldn't know who she was. I never did get the interview with Ms. McNeil about her Finder comic, but I did have an opportunity to speak with Dan DeCarlo, the iconic Archie artist who created Josie and the Pussycats.) We met at a Johnny Rocket's at the King of Prussia Mall, and I took a ton of notes – much more information than I was able to condense into the story. Dr. Conway struck me as a very nice guy, doing his best to navigate some treacherous waters. I hope the steering as gotten easier since then.

That was six years ago. (It seems like more, honestly; I guess I wrote the story as a freelancer after I left my editorial job.) Recently, Mark Evanier and his friend Carolyn Kelly went to the 2007 Anthrocon, held in Pittsburgh. Mark bogged about it here and here (with a little more here), and posts a video from a local newscast here.

I enjoyed reading his report, and am glad to hear the con is going strong. I wish I had been able to visit it when it was still in Philly.

Rob