Furjam! Many thanks and congratulations to aussiehusky for organising Furjam and doing so with no discernible hitches. I only attended Friday and Saturday nights' events due to work on those days and other social plans today, but what I did see was good.

The Rose of Australia hotel in Erskineville was once again a good venue for Friday, though it's obviously straining at the number of people there, if the community gets any bigger that place is either to collapse or need some extensions on its Elbow Room.

Saturday was similarly good, with an abundance of junk food, entertainment and card games to keep people amused, and whilst hard to reach (as I hadn't been at Centennial Park beforehand) the Arcade Room at UNSW was nice and spacious enough for the group. Extra props go to Anthrax, the blue collar blue heeler, for a good comedy routine. His delivery's good, timing is better, though his choice of language would limit the venues he could play at before 9:30pm.

The rest of the weekend was spent partying and vegging with a friend and some acquaintances in Newtown, no better way to christen a new household than by having an insane all nighter there!

To everyone who participated in the goodness of the past few days, thanks. My only regret is that my head's been in entirely the wrong space lately, and I wasn't at all receptive to meeting any new friends or communicating much with the old ones. 

But the way I see it, something like Furjam's just a once off that serves to make the process of communication easier. One can meet new people and better know familiar ones any time, and it's best to do so when ready and willing.

The only concern I come away with is the ever lingering fear that for all my intellectual bravado and verbosity, I lack substance and initiative. Or to be succinct, I talk the talk but don't walk the walk. Still, the only time one can ever truly fail is if they give up. With that in mind, time to rest and try another day, best wishes to you all!

Friday was the Lunarmorph alternative fashion parade, an event defined by...

1. Bad sound cues
2. Ticket bitches (damn you ticket bitches, you made us wait for 40 minutes and accused us of not having any when you had them in your damn hands!)
3. Generally good clothing (highlights were The Wild One with a Vegas/goth styling and a sexy dustandfox , Gallery Serpentine and Matt Bylett) 
4. Overpriced drinks
5. The presence of good friends (aforementioned fox, Lupie and Temba)
6. Weirdoes/perverts who were amusing

Saturday started with work, which is never to be discussed here. Following this I made my way hastily to Wollongong, to scope out atpaw and Weasely's new place. It's nice, a definite improvement for all concerned. A birthday party for an RL friend of the weasel's, being driven around absurdly tight mountain passes by the spotcat and breakfast by the beach were all highlights. Thanks again to the pair for hosting me, and to the cat for being an endless source of amusement.

The weather down that way was still grim, but not as bad as Sydney for the most part, though I did feel some precious things freeze solid in the chill air around Kiama. Returning on Monday evening to find that Balmain was blowing away was quite a surprise, with trees and signs scattering equally in the face of the massive winds.

The normal Monday ritual of TV and food with Dustan and Lupie yielded a fearsome (in a good way, tasty and such) burrito recipe from the fox and the wonderful little Studio Ghibli film "My Neighbours The Yamadas". It's a light and oddly rendered look at family life, made unique by a great musical score and a fantastic sense of humour. The bitter and cynical grandmother gives it a necessary shot of bitchiness, but it's still a sweet and joyful experience.

Next on my list of things to do:

• Continue/finish commissioned pictures
• Write reviews for a new site Temba and I are on, expect me to be (shock!) more evil than usual
• Waiting on uni news for next year
• Staving off negativity and drama in their many horrible forms

Second night of Furjam, thanks once more to aussiehusky for planning events and such.

Food was good, paying a bill in a restaurant full of furs wasn't as painful as one could expect it to be. Cinema didn't sound too good so went pubbing in Newtown with dustandfox, his boss and a good friend of theirs. Expensive but fun.

After crashing back at his place for a while for some sleazy anime and chemical sin, I rolled back here.

Tonight was also notable in that I watched some friendships on the rocks go even further, not mine actually, but friends of mine facing their own dramas. A shame to watch, and I wish them well.

This Furjam's been odd, mainly reminding me of how different some things are a year later, not sure for the better or worse. More on that if I feel like it.

Take care all, these are stormy seas. 

First night of Furjam last night, dinner/drinks at The Rose in Erskineville.

1. Furs were good, lots of new/unexpected faces
2. Food was good and surprisingly fast
3. Lots of people, public transport was hectic too
4. Bartender (the older one) was an arsehole

Thanks/props go to aussiehusky , the masochist organising this all. Anyone who thought I was high or drunk will be sorely disappointed, my usual misbehaviour was absent, in its place was a case of insomnia that left me somewhere in between The Sandman and zombies in terms of alertness.

This has been the week of food! Last night was Japanese in the city at Daruma with Aussiehusky, Temba, Taubu, Wolven, Moddy and Insinc. I quite enjoyed my chicken katsu ramen (the batter was sinful) as was my takoyaki (creamy octopus tentacle balls for those of you who haven't had the pleasure), and gorging on gelato afterwards was the cherry on a good evening.

Highlights following that  included the unfortunate demise of a rat and the disturbing revelation that Vietnamese families are incapable of seperating, needing to leave their car blocking the parking lot exit so they can all cluster around the payment machine. What odd physiology...

The night prior to that saw Dustan, Lupie, Temba and myself go to a favourite old haunt of us Balmainiacs, the Bald Rock Hotel. The steak was late, undercooked and not what I asked for, but the company and the memories more than made up for it. More of that nostalgia I referred to a while back seems to be bubbling up, demanding outlets such as that.

Currently, I've no plans for the next few days, which means that something crazy will happen. Always does. And I get a later start every second Saturday now which gives me more sleep on Friday nights, always useful.

Oh yes, before I forget, I got my paws on Spore, a game for the PC by Maxis/Electronic Arts. Anyone who hasn't heard of this will be glad/horrified to hear it is essentially the Sims on a global scale. One creates and guides a single-celled creature through evolutionary and society phases until (hopefully) the space age. Ranging from a simple point-and-click adventure to a simplified RTS, it's cute and intriguing seeing how many creatures one can create and how they interact with each other/their environment.

Simplifcation is Spore's weak point, in that the gameplay can feel so forgiving that it's easy to shoot through, either missing the nuances or creating a sense of repetition as one quickly upgrades body parts instead of enjoying the aesthetics and mechanics of what they currently have. In a game about customisation, I wish there were more detailed skin texture/colour options, as well as more freedom to alter creatures' meshes.

Still there's more in it to recommend than there is to dissuade people from, so if you're already interested, go get it by all means, it's about $10 off at JB Hi Fi right now if you're like me and want to justify an impulse buy by not paying full retail.

I think that's all there is to say for now, wishing you all well, take care and be sure to--

WE NOW INTERRUPT YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED SIGNOFF WITH...

IEMMA RESIGNED AFTER FIRING COSTA! FUCK YEAH!

Ahem...

Yeah, anyway, take care and see you all later!

Yo, wassup furs and murrs? Jay here, bringin' you the 411 on what the haps have been over the past few days.

Thursday night saw me fight the late night shoppers to hang out with aussiehusky and a fur from Florida, Kevlar, for dinner at a preferred restaurant of mine, by the name of Daruma in Chinatown.  It was a nice night, the food was good and the gelato afterwards broke the laws of how much generic but good chocolate one can cram into such a dessert. Meeting kevlar23 was good too, he was amusing to talk to, and its nice to meet furs who are capable of operating in normal social situations.

On Friday night I hung out with dustandfox , Lupie, and a certain rubberised fox. Along with him were some intriguing friends, including a lovely lion from North Carolina by the name of Eldric. A night of bad/toilet humour, DVDs and silliness ensued, and it was only when my "pre-Saturday work alarm" went off that I realised I'd be going into work 'under the influence' and with no sleep. It went surprisingly well, as the only person who could spot I was out of it was more out of it than I was.

And on this fine Sunday morning, upon filling a bowl with Nutrigrain and realising I had no milk left (Woolworths doesn't open til 9 on Sundays) I used a chocolate Up and Go in place of milk. The result? I think I need to go to a confessional, anything that good HAS to be a sin.

So yeah, that's what the past few days have comprised, odd and good little discoveries. I hope you're all well, take care, and look out for bees (spring is coming, it's not just a non-seqitur!)

Hey there friends and foes alike, it's your favourite urvulpine here with a quick note about what he's been upto as of late.

This weekend, aside from a lovely shift at work on Saturday and a quick inspection of the new place (big and friendly, though possessed of that suburban eccentricity you find in the European influenced suburbs), was comprised of my going down to Wollongong to catch up with friends. Namely, Atpaw and Weasely!

With the formidable 'Gongians I set out to Hog's Breath cafe, home to the species Boganis Generica, for the first time. It was an experience, welfare mothers howling at misbehaved children, loud and overdressed women who couldn't decide if they wanted to be sow's ears or silk purses and no shortage of men who I imagined leaving the establishment in one-ton utes.

My normal urge to review places of mass consumption was squashed by the realisation it was a chain and that I had somehow missed this piece of commonly held knowledge. The service was fine, the venue was loud (which may have lead to Atpaw's order being incorrectly heard, as they gave him a standard cut of meat when he asked for the large one, though they did compensate him for the difference in price) and the food was simple but alright. Far be it from me to argue with giant steaks.

Later that night I watched a delightful B-grade movie with Atpaw by the name of Death Race 2000, a fantastic bit of dystopian vehicular campness. Starring David Carradine it imagines a future in which the US principles of free enterprise and self reliance have evolved into a country wide car race in which contestants compete to hit as many pedestrians as possible while racing from the east coast to the west. It may be where the "100 points if you hit an old lady" joke came from! DR2000 casts a gleeful but disparaging eye over the soullessness of modern entertainment, the free market's generation of a "survival of the fittest" society and of course has both David Carradine and Sylvester Stallone which equals instant cool.

Otherwise my weekend was mostly geekery, pizza and expensive/high quality alcohol, much fun was had and many calories were consumed. Now, I think I've got the flu and the week ahead will be busy.

Anyway, take care, see you on the other side of the veil, and peace out!

Welcome to my parlour of pointless exposition! I'll be your host, Jay Fear, bringing you an account of recent events and a restaurant review that could (and has) kill a horse!

Friday night was a lovely get together at techie_fox and Yuumei's house, much liquor and good vibes were shared by all.

I attended a dinner celebrating the 27th birthday of atpaw last night, with a fur visiting from the US, Armadillos, who is soon to have a birthday of his own. Also attending was aussiehusky, rob_wolven, taubu_lion, Harley, techie_fox, Yuumei, Weasely and Zwabbe.

The night was expensive but good, and in the cut below I've written a review of the restaurant it was held at. Happy birthday to Atpaw once more, and here's hoping for many more! Oh, and as of 10:05am, 2-6-08 I edited this to correct the dish that Atpaw had.

Translation of the title: Being drunk, drinking, humanity, sobriety, beauty

Well friends and foes alike, I return to scourge the earth with my fearsome tales of past events, and auguries of the terror that awaits. Let's get all existential.

A week or so ago I attended an amusing rock gig by the name of Black Cherry, a sampling of retro rock and light metal at Hermann's Bar near the Sydney Uni campus. The security were a lovely bunch of lesbians and islanders, and while small and watered down the bar was definitely affordable. Much love of the A and E variety was on offer too, and let it be said that the foundations of reality itself were unsettled by the deep and meaningfuls shared that night.

Work the day afterwards was an amusing affair, it's amazing what raver candy, a hangover and two hours of sleep will do for you in a customer focused role.

The subsequent week has been an even more perplexing affair, some quandries as to my life plans were interrupted by the stark reality of food poisoning from what WAS one of my favourite restaurants. I'm a very forgiving fellow but when my drinking and socialising is harmed by your bacteria, I turn nasty.

I have greatly enjoyed the past couple of days however, time at both a quiet do by Aussie Husky and hanging out with a certain Balmanian wolf and fox for the Eurovision song contest was spent.

In the future, as in the upcoming weeks, I sense great turmoil and a change in the natural order of friendships for everyone. Me, because June's coming up and I always get mopey around June, and for my friends as I know that uni and work weighs on them heavily, like a stone on Atlas' shoulders, or Oprah's thighs after a yo-yo diet.

So, we must show great reserves in these trying times, for dark things lie ahead. Okay, lol, kay, thanks and bai for now.

We come to you live this morning from Balmain, where something shocking and IMPOSSIBLE has occurred!

wolven84, dustandfox and his wolf held the first official housewarming party for their new domicile, and against all odds it was respectable! Jay Fear reports live from the scene!

"Thanks Jay, I'm here at the aftermath of the party, which has been described as a " furry cheese and wine do' by those who attended. There don't seem to be any broken windows, no orgies have been reported and no police activity was noted, though there are reports that numerous livers plan to lay assault charges on their owners.

There we also excessive calories consumed on the premises, with a variety of cheese and 'nibbles' available, most notable among them the tarts made by aussiehusky, and a reportedly delicious selection of finger foods brought by a notable member of the weasel community, known in some circles as Weasely or Woozl, or more simply as the Dookmeister.

Notable socialites there included the fine feline atpaw, taubu_lion, liontemba, master_flea, techie_fox and Yummei, Coe, Alex, Auri Zwabbe, Enigma, Janus, Ray, BCWolf and his partner Spence, who were a smash hit with their canines as well as BC's fursuit. In fact, several fursuits were present there, so expect to see scathing videos and shocking exposes on less refined news networks than our own.

There are reports of 'Wii' playing having taken place, as of yet unconfirmed, though it is believed that atpaw repeatedly 'threw it down old school' in Mario Kart Wii. Games involving multi-sided die and cards also supposedly took place, but those believed to have participated have refused to comment for fear of recrimination.

Your reporter attended the event undercover and despite having to consume a large amount of fine wine in order to maintain his cover he is not suffering any ill effects. The team and I at FurNews Australia would like to thank the party's hosts and all attending for making it an event to remember. Back to you Jay!"

Thanks Jay, and that's all from us at FnA today, we hope to see you again next time!

-AT THE SWAN DIVE HOTEL, SOMEWHERE IN INNER WESTERN SYDNEY-

Hey! What are you doing in here? You know we have laws about your kind coming in here... Well, if you're a paying customer I guess I don't care about licensing laws, just wipe your hooves and hide the tail for the love of christ. So what'll you have?

A Thor's Hammer?! Man, you must have the liver of a... oh wait, you ARE a horse. Okay...

Actually I've always thought you furs were interesting, that not needing clothes thing especially, I remember thinking about how nice it would feel in winter. I'd probably be a bear or something, though I'm a little too spry for that... maybe a fox. I don't know...

Anyway, how was your weekend? It's been a wild one for most my customers lately, even mine was worth mentioning really...

Oh, you had a quiet one? Too bad, mine was anything but quiet... Oh, you want to hear? Alright then.

Well, it started on Saturday after I clocked off at the bar, I didn't really have any plans but I had to get out there and do SOMETHING, so I give a fox I know a call... hey, seems I can't get away from you furs... and ask what's happening. He lets me know there's a party out in Camperdown, but is a little vague as to location and time so I end up wandering Newtown for a few hours before it begins, though I did score this great shirt from a punk/rockabilly store I like...

Whatever though, that's the boring stuff, when I finally got the time and place nailed down, the fox, dustandfox, and his wolf, Lupie were there...

Oh, you like wolves? Yeah, I gotta admit, they're pretty hot, so rugged and manly... and don't get me started on their kn-- Never mind...

Anyway, they were there with a human friend of mine, Emily, and we were quite surprised, and happy, to find the party was being held on the roof of an apartment block that overlooked the entire city! It was pretty fantastic, full 360 degree views of the place, and it was a rather nice event in itself. One of Emily's friends was having a birthday party and it made the perfect excuse to get some booze, fried food and some unmentionables...

It got even better when a good friend of mine, a ferret by the name of Coe, came after a celebration of his. He's a muso and an activist but he doesn't get out there enough, so I insisted he make his way over. I think the party went on til about 3 or 4am though it's a bit hazy...

Huh? Oh yeah, you know that's a sign of a good party.. we could have done with a horse there too actually, can you write your number on that coaster?

So, after things wrapped up... heh, we'd well outlived the party itself, I won't tell you how... we ended up walking from Camperdown to Balmain, it's a long walk but we were all pretty warm and fuzzy, and the damn canines were outlapping me and Coe, those paws were made for cross country treks I swear... I'm not the sleepy type so me and the ferret just spent the next few hours chatting back at Dustan and Lupie's place, those two went upstairs and did whatever those people from Blotch are into drawing lately...

Hey! Someone showed it to me at the bar, what are you accusing me of?

So yeah, the rest of Sunday was a lot lazier, went out and ate Vietnamese and watched some movies, basically a lazy recovery day...

Heheh, yeah, that's why I'm a little dark around the eyes today, who knows, maybe I put a few too many shots in that drink of yours. Don't worry, if I'm not sure I won't charge you extra for it. Anyway, got that phone number written down for me yet?

-FIN-

I knew I'd find you here! Guees what?

I went to a furry dinner/movie event last night (though only 4, Wolven, Enigma, Aussie and myself ended showing up after a flood of cancellations) which was rather nice (thanks to Aussie for the idea). Went to a Japanese restaurant in Broadway that overcharges for its sake, but does nice tonkotsu (pork bone) soup so I'll forgive them.

The movie was Superhero Movie, made by the delightul fellows who made Scary Movie 1-4, Epic Movie, Meet the Spartans etc etc, and it was garbage. Amusing garbage though, much like teenage masturbation its something you think is awful and base and oh I could sneak a few minutes in before anyone gets back I'm sure...

Acting was hammy and bland though Ryan Hansen makes an entertaining super villain, and Leslie Nielsen is funny even when he's not trying (or trying too hard as is the case here).

Special effects were lame and I pray to god they wanted people to notice it, because there were some tiny little gaffes in the structure of sets and lighting effects that were just off, and I'm hoping they were parodying old Batman episodes because otherwise someone needs to get their position reevaluated.

The plot was generic though Hourglass is an interesting villain concept, one I'm half-tempted to believe was "borrowed" from less popular material. It does the required parodies of Spiderman, Batman Begins, X-Men and the Fantastic Four while mixing in culturally relevant or *shudder* hip technological referances such as YouTube, Facebook and blogging.

Its better than some of the work put out by its creators as of late but that's hardly saying much. If you're inclined towards seeing it I recommend a DVD and a bunch of friends, its mindless, guilty fun that I'd give 2 stars.

Oh, and the music I have listed as what I'm listening to at the moment is by a friend of mine in the fur community by the name of Alex Coe, he's solid, as a friend and musician. He does solid dirty house tracks, good dance stuff, unique, though I don't think he's distributing yet.

See 'yall on the flipside!

Hello furs and murrs! Jay here, with all that's here and some of what's queer!

- Kevin Rudd and Hu Jintao (Chinese Premier) had an awkward meeting about the state of affairs in Asia at the moment. Summary? We've got money. We have no problems. What's that? You say we have problems? You're wrong. Kthxbai!

- Waiting eagerly/desperately/crazily for news re job interview, I have work at the moment but I'm always looking to move on and forward.

- TAFE is fine albeit slow, school holidays coming up, yay for state endorsed laziness!

- A nice, out of the bottle Indian dinner with beer at dustandfox and his wolf's place this evening, very nice!

- Will post tarot story sequence soon!

G'night and love to all!

Job interview tomorrow. Real estate agent. Respectable work and better pay. Nervous.

*paws crossed*

Oh and the Midfur fundraiser event, hosted by Aussiehusky, this Saturday was GREAT. Loved it, great people, tasty sausages (no innuendo please folks, I'm full) and booze. The camera orgy was a little scary though.

Love to all, hopefully I'll have good news tomorrow.

Hey there to whoever's checking out my journal, anyone who hasn't seen a picture of my character yet can find it at the link below!

Jay H Fear by Keovi

It was done by a great artist from Oregon in the US by the name of Keovi, she's a lovely woman and someone I'd recommend if you're ever looking for something similar to this.

First on tonight's menu,

I'm blitzing Audience Profiling and Research at TAFE at the moment, its pretty fantastic, instructor using my work as an example and the template for the class assignment. She's also awarding marks over the top of 10 so that if I bodge anything up later on they can get added to that. On the negative side she keeps on saying "Look at Jay's work, use this, pay attention to that" which I admit is super for my ego, but makes me look like a tosser without me even opening my mouth.

Otherwise, I'm planning on starting a furry theme radio program online. No, it will not be like 2 Sense, the well known US furry show. Why? Because it'll be Australian based, I can't swear as much as the host and it won't be full of penis. That's right, I said it. I'm looking for people interested in contributing segments, concepts or wishes. Feel free!