Furries return. Frickin’ weirdos.
Posted by pittgirl on 27 Jun 2008 | Tagged as: Celebrity sightings, David Conrad, Downtown happenings, Weird Burghers
Since they adopted Pittsburgh as their hometown, we knew they would be back. They are. It’s still weird.
Before you Furries/animal lovers/weirdos email me to scold me that Anthrocon and its participants are not weird, please note this quote:
“It’s very weird. I don’t even know how to explain how weird it is.”
Cliff Floyd on Anthrocon, a convention of furries — people who dress like humanized animals — that will be in Pittsburgh this weekend. He’s been to the city twice during the event with the Mets.
I’m sorry, weirdos, but it’s weird, this thing you do.
You’d think after the third year of seeing this, I wouldn’t be fazed/freaked/scared for my dreams anymore.
But that’s just not the case.
This fazed me, as in, gave me pause:
That middle Furry, in between the wolf and the drunk Fonzi wolf that just came from the luau? What is he supposed to be*? A wild boar? Worst Furry costume EVER. F for effort.
This freaked me out a bit:
It’s like CatWoman and Hannibal Lecter had a farsighted baby. And the baby wants to eat me. Nom nom nom.
And this, well, I’m scared for my dreams tonight.
All this tequila + enough Sucrets to numb Shamu + that Furry = guaranteed nightmares.
I’ll never sleep again.
Unless David Conrad comes and spoon-feeds me NyQuil.
*Psst. Yes, I’m aware that’s Big Bob from the Kiss 96.1 Freak Show. He’s the one that sent me the picture.
38 Comments »
on 27 Jun 2008 at 12:02 pm 1.cultlord said …
Here’s something to get a better understanding of the types of people that have been invading our city for the past several summers.
http://www.somethingawful.com/d/weekend-web/furry-forums.php
If I hear one more person yiff while grabbing some unkempt / unwashed person next to them in some disgusting way while trying to swat them with their tail, I may just start beating on them with my cane.
on 27 Jun 2008 at 12:16 pm 2.Monty said …
Is that Slash dressed up as Spy vs. Spy?
on 27 Jun 2008 at 1:02 pm 3.JP said …
Yeah, there really strange but harmless, kind of like a bunch of man-children. In a grown up city nobody would pay them any mind. But here in hoopyville it is front page news, I am sure there will be protesters showing up to protest their presence.
on 27 Jun 2008 at 1:49 pm 4.Chelly said …
I just peed my pants at work reading, “It’s like CatWoman and Hannibal Lecter had a farsighted baby.”
Thanks, PITTGIRL!
on 27 Jun 2008 at 2:19 pm 5.Julie said …
Wasn’t there a CSI episode on a “Furries” love triangle gone wrong?
on 27 Jun 2008 at 2:29 pm 6.Goob said …
Apparently they’re all staying in the same hotel as the Yankees.
And the Yankees are finding it all a little… weird.
on 27 Jun 2008 at 2:37 pm 7.Kelli said …
Actually, JP, my understanding is that they return here every year because they feel this little hoopyville has given them the best reception of all the cities the convention has ever been held in.
And by best reception, my understanding is that they feel like we mock them less than other cities.
Which is pretty unbelievable, because I know I heartily mock them.
on 27 Jun 2008 at 2:51 pm 8.KGC said …
WTF?? What is the mental state of anyone who would willingly spend money to go somewhere for several days and dress up as an animal?
Man-o-man, I’m not sure I want to take any meds that they’re on (legal or illegal). And, I couldn’t drink enough beer either.
on 27 Jun 2008 at 3:09 pm 9.PittinDC said …
In response to Goob’s post above, here’s the Deadspin link talking about the Yankees and the furries… http://deadspin.com/5020342/say-hello-to-a+rods-new-friends
on 27 Jun 2008 at 3:12 pm 10.Kat said …
Eh, it makes them happy. People go places and spend lots of money to do other things, like watch sports or gamble, which I don’t get, either. So the furries have found others like them and want to hang out together. No skin off my nose.
on 27 Jun 2008 at 3:16 pm 11.JP said …
Really I read in the paper it was cheaper here.
on 27 Jun 2008 at 3:41 pm 12.CS Keys said …
I sat next to table of four furries at McCormick & Schmicks before the Pirates game last night. Wolf ears, tails and all.
on 27 Jun 2008 at 4:02 pm 13.Mikey said …
They used to have their conventions in Philly but they trashed hotels so bad that the city gave them the boot from what I heard.
Pittsburgh welcomed them with open arms and I think they actually have the convention cented rented out every year for the next 10 years or something insane like that.
If you don’t work downtown, it’s worth the lunch trip to see a 6 foot 3 man in a bear suit walking around looking for hot action. It’s really once in a lifetime.
on 27 Jun 2008 at 4:49 pm 14.yinzerinphx said …
What?!? No link to your March 7 post? I think of that “Back to You” Furry episode where they beat up the reporter. Good times.
on 27 Jun 2008 at 5:04 pm 15.unsatisfied said …
kat — don’t you mean no FUR off your nose?
and, hey — I mentioned that “back to you” episode in one of PG’s earlier posts today — so there. that youtube clip is CLASSIC — I am sad that show didn’t escape the executioner….
on 27 Jun 2008 at 6:43 pm 16.Jessica said …
Seriously, Mikey is EXACTLY RIGHT. I work downtown and as I was standing on the corner of Liberty and 9th, waiting to cross.. I spotted the most odd couple of guys I have seen (not even in costume). I immediately thought “furry convention”. As I got closer to them… I realized that they were all wearing NAMETAGS with their “animal names” on them. I believe one was something like “Bob Willowfox”. I’m still laughing about it 7 hours later.
Last year, we spotted a pretty normal dressed man walking down 7th avenue.. however, he had this ENORMOUS tail attached to the back of his shorts.
I LOVE Pittsburgh.
on 27 Jun 2008 at 6:48 pm 17.Jessica said …
Also just as a side note, has anyone seen the Entourage episode where Drama sleeps with a furry? Classic.
on 27 Jun 2008 at 7:13 pm 18.Bob said …
The best story that we have heard this week is from a security guard that gets the lucky duty to protect convention center. He told us that some of them actually use litter boxes to make bathroom in and the hotel has asked them not to this year because of the mess in the rooms.
So when you see that 6′ 3 kitty cat man strolling quickly down liberty just think in less than 5 minutes he is going to be ankle deep in litter going wild in his litter box
God Bless America
on 27 Jun 2008 at 10:20 pm 19.John said …
PG, in regards to picture #3 - What in the blue hell is that and what can I pay you to never show it again?
on 28 Jun 2008 at 10:17 am 20.Tony said …
I think Pic #3 Guy is going to the wrong convention. Looks more like a Furry Exterminator.
on 28 Jun 2008 at 12:07 pm 21.whiff said …
People need to embrace weird more often, if only to shake them out of their Reality-TV-infused spectator lives. I’m not saying everyone should dress up as Pixie and Dixie and cavort through Market Square (not that there’s anything wrong with that). But these fringe groups are the spice in our meat and potatoes existence. As a member of a certain local guerrilla running club, I’ve seen the mix of shock and amusement in locals as we hold our annual Red Dress Run with 50 men and women all sporting scarlet skirts and crimson culottes.
At least the Furries aren’t handing out tracts in the airports trying to lure runaways to their kennel.
on 28 Jun 2008 at 12:24 pm 22.Eric W said …
Well said.
As a counter-point, though, I offer what a good friend of mine once said.
“There are weirdos and then there are frickin’ weirdos.”
To use your analogy, there’s spicing your meat and then there’s eating habanero peppers whole.
I’m not saying furries necessarily belong in the latter group; just being devil’s advocate.
on 28 Jun 2008 at 8:20 pm 23.Steeler_tom said …
And I thought $h!t was weird out here in the Mojave desert!
I wouldn’t touch that broad with the mask & glasses if someone offered me winning lotto numbers….
Way too strange…
on 29 Jun 2008 at 8:49 am 24.Amy said …
The dude in the first pic is Big Bob from the Morning Freak Show on 96.1… they actually have some awesome pics with/of the Furries from the past conventions haha… they def get as much of a kick out of it as i do.
The best though is that a few of my friends work at the Westin, where the convention is, and there were many heart attacks to be had since the Furries were checking in right around when the Yankees were checking out… dont think Derek Jeter & A-Rod really wanted to see THAT… way to impress the Yankees with our awesome Anthrocon folks when they’re in Pgh for the first time in half a century hahaha
on 29 Jun 2008 at 2:33 pm 25.deebee said …
Julie..I remember that CSI episode,never heard of the Furries before I watched.
on 29 Jun 2008 at 5:55 pm 26.medgirl said …
All I can say is….God Bless America! We have all the winners here!
on 29 Jun 2008 at 7:37 pm 27.unsatisfied said …
my g-friend and I went by the convention center on fri and today and didn’t see much — except for a few dozen people just wearing tails from their asses.
my question: why the hell would you only wear a tail if you’re all into this furry stuff? why not go all the way? is it case where maybe they were newbie furries and they have to earn their fur…er, stripes…err, never mind.
on 29 Jun 2008 at 8:13 pm 28.spoon said …
I like to dress up as a 5 legged horse
on 29 Jun 2008 at 11:07 pm 29.rootdown said …
I don’t attend Anthrocon because it’s on the wrong goddamned end of the country, but surfing Technorati for these kind of overblown reactions to it a lot of fun.
Here in California nerd society is what drives the economy, and nobody even blinks at these kind of conventions. Our big annual furry con, Further Confusion, is held in San Jose where it’s no secret that some of silicon valley’s biggest brains like to wear ears and tails.
If a furry con in your city is the biggest dose of weirdness you squares have ever gotten, I honestly feel kind of sorry for you!
on 30 Jun 2008 at 7:11 am 30.Dan (Not Onarato) said …
It might be time to put the furries down….Old Yeller style…
Just a thought…frickin weirdos
on 30 Jun 2008 at 7:53 am 31.Paul said …
And people want to know why I don’t voluntarily travel into the city any more and carry a gun when I’m obligated to.
on 30 Jun 2008 at 8:11 am 32.Not a furry, but... said …
IME there are harmless ones and scary-ass ones, as there are harmless and scary-ass members of any group (sports fans, band fans, soccer moms, etc.) Doesn’t mean that I won’t still make fun of the scary/delusional ones.
However, if this freaks any of you out, wait till next spring when the anime convention moves to the DLCC. You’re going to be curled into a fetal position in your closet crying. Good times. ;D
on 30 Jun 2008 at 8:14 am 33.Geeo said …
I love the furries. What’s really wierd is ‘em ‘ere Stiller fans that all dress alike getting drunk around the stadium on Sunday afternoons, vomiting in public, peeing wherever they can, then getting behind the wheel of a car and trying to drive home. But hey, that’s celebrated in these here parts. Much like the Kenny Chesney drunks that do the same.
on 30 Jun 2008 at 8:46 am 34.JP said …
Anybody who is afraid of coming into the city of Pittsburgh without a gun is a bigger freak than whatever anthrocon has to offer..fricking hoopies
on 30 Jun 2008 at 11:44 am 35.Christina said …
Jessica, I can’t stop laughing about “Bob Willowfox”. I would have been consolably laughing all day long about it if I had seen that nametag in person.
on 01 Jul 2008 at 1:55 am 36.Furries Are Awesome! said …
The furries left Philadelphia because they outgrew their hotel. Pittsburgh was nice enough to invite them to the DLCC. So now the furries contribute much-needed tourism revenue (to the tune of $3 MILLION) to Pittsburgh’s local economy.
Furry convention a $3 million cash cow for city businesses
It’s a win-win situation for all involved… except maybe a few bitter snarkmeisters who can’t stand to see folks having some harmless fun.
Yeah, furries are weirdos… but what’s so great about being normal? Funny how they’re the ones dressing up in animal costumes but their critics are the ones acting like sheep!
on 01 Jul 2008 at 10:50 am 37.Sofa King said …
I love it. Can anyone tell me if they have banners in the airport welcoming these freaks, er, folks to our city? I just flew into Detroit a few days ago and they had banners up welcoming everyone to the National Little People Convention that is going on there now.
How awesome would it be to have the “little people” convention and the furry convention at the same time in the same town? It’d be like a real, living Wizard of Oz!
on 31 Aug 2008 at 10:43 am 38.werewolffan98 said …
who says it’s weird?
I feel that we’re using our own cultural standards to view the people as weird,heck even Christopher Columbus was viewed as weird because he said that he would sail around the world,which back in the dark ages,which people thought that the world was flat.
what matters is who is on the wrong side of history.