It seems 2011 is the year for the natural disaster, if I held any belief that the world was going to end at 2012 I'd have a pretty good case to climb atop of my soapbox right now and start preaching. Floods, fires, earthquakes, tsunamis... good ol mother nature seems to have it out for us at the moment and the media is in a bonanza of shock and sympathy coverage that has us glued to our seat in fear we may miss out on something. Disaster is not without profit, and exploiting humanities inquisitive and sympathetic nature is on top agenda for the world news.

It came as a shock to me to see that only one station (a subsidiary station at that) covered potentially the worst disaster this year has seen to date. I mean no discredit to the disaster that swept Christchurch, NZ; but as the devastation of the earthquake in NZ unfolded, every station on Australian television quickly established themselves as the leaders in reporting and fund raising for appeal and relief. The Australian government committed troops and rescue teams within hours and like the Queensland floods, Australia opened their hearts and wallets to help.

This leads the question, that now... many hours after the impact of the earthquake and the devastating tsunami that followed, where is the comprehensive coverage? where is the commitments? where is the deep pockets of the sorrowed heart? Now if you want to know anything about the disaster in Japan, you have to flick over to ABC3 to get content-less, uncommitted repeat footage with over exaggeratedly bias media spin to keep you watching as they cross back and forward to unrelated threat locations under the highly unlikely pretense that the viewer may witness another disaster strike! Chile had a 6.8 earthquake only last month and the world carried on as business as usual, I hadn't even HEARD of it happening until reading up on it today.

The multi-million donation dollar question is: Are we rapidly desensitizing to disaster or merely over glorifying other coverage because it's in our own backyard? Are our sympathetic bleeding hearts only a shallow flag for an inherently selfish disposition to care only when it could potentially effect or relate to us? 400+ people are reported dead, Japan has openly identified as being ready to accept aid.... where are the superpowers commitment and support? Where is the comprehensive media coverage bringing education so the private entities who (are after a tax break) can afford to donate to an appeal can do so?
...
When George Takei and Alyssa Milano are strumming up more relief appeal on their twitters than the Australian news... there is something seriously wrong in this world.

Spent the greater of 6 hours working on these tonight.
Folks who submitted as per request of twitter have been included, if you wish to be added please give me a poke. If you didnt poke me about it, I havent added you even if I know you play with us alot (respecting people not to be weighted up against others) Understand all the below statistics are intended for a bit of fun and by no means a indication of skill nor 100% accurate.

Atpaw, Drake, Kaz, Sek, Oz, Miles, Fairbank, Weasely, Ravs, Bingo, Foxy and Kiba submitted thier player information and fun facts were found below.

Tank Sharpshooter:
Thrown the most rocks as a tank
1st. Fairbank - 95 rocks thrown
2nd. Kaz - 51 rocks thrown
3rd. Sekular - 41 Rocks thrown

Addict
Most games played
1st. Drake - 182
2nd. Kaz - 180
3rd. Oz - 152

Backing the odds.
Win percentage
1st. Kaz - 65%
2nd. Sek - 59% (over both accounts)
3rd. Bingo - 58%

Tanks for the points
Dealt the most damage with a single tank
1st. Drake - 11147 points
2nd. Oz - 10350 points
3rd. Atpaw - 8261 points

Making it count!
The longest life average special infected.
1st. Kiba - Spitter - 1 minute 38
2nd. Weasely - Spitter - 1 minute 25
3rd. Foxy - Hunter - 1 minute 14
Last. Tied Drake - Boomer and Bingo - Charger. 30 seconds.

"Special" infected!
Highest average of Survivors hit per match
1st. Kaz - 48
2nd. Oz - 40
3rd. Atpaw - 40

( Individual Special infected information.Collapse )

Thinking about a TMI post but its been a damn long time since I used the TMI filter.
So a request

Folks wanting in on my TMI filter please either respond here or PM/DM me

THanks:D

So today I had an interview for a small family owned warehouse doing picking and packing. The woman I spoke to was very friendly, she explained that the roll was fulltime but very quiet with alot of downtime to just hang out there. The work wasn't very difficult and I would be the only one in the warehouse for most of the time. I honestly had never gotten my hopes up so fast that this could have been a great job.

We talked some about my aspirations, my experiences and all that clutter that associated with interviews. She then took a moment to consult with the owner and then reported back. "We don't feel that this position will be challenging enough for you. You seem like a bright, energetic and outgoing guy who will strive and push for more and we are looking for someone who will settle into the position long term."

I didn't have a response, the surge of hope plummeted under the weight of her words. Managed to embarrassed and dejectedly wind up the call thanking her for her time. I think I am in a bad way when it comes to jobfinding, the countless almost-then-knock-backed takes it toll. Normally I take it in my stride but today it's really just getting to me.

I then slunk to the internet, to do the daily rake of employment opportunities. Tweaked my resume and applied for a whole bunch more. Got an appointment with my jobsearch provider who will ask me a bunch of questions why I don't have work yet... i wish i could use the flakey excuse "I must be too overqualified to employ" that employers are hiding behind recently.

Before the cut I'd like to go on to say a huge thankyou to all those whom came out and supported FurDU on it's maiden voyage. Oz and I greatly apreciate the overwhelming support and help we recieved getting this convention off the ground and the hard work put in by our great friends reflected singificantly in how well the weekend ran. It's one thing to string together a location and event list and slap a fancy name onto it.... anyone can do that! it's something entirely differnt to watch as our extended furry family take those things and make it thier own, breathing life into it. Thankyou everyone for making it such a fantastic weekend!

I prewarn you that this entry is going to be long winded and will cover things from both a attendee and a organiser view. I've tried to include and credit photos to break up the monotony of the text and placed each day behind a cut.

( Friday.Collapse )
( Saturday.Collapse )
( Sunday.Collapse )

I feel exhausted even reflecting back on the weekend. It was seriously a really great time and one surely wont forget meeting some great new friends, catching up with old friends who I fell out of contact with and of course spending time with my little furry family away from home. For those after numbers our rego count just missed 90 with 87 people attending the convention at some point. There was a tiny bit of drama to deal with, someone was caught sleeping in the carpark, someone was exposing themselves from a balcony and a single noise complaint but for most part everyone was perfectly behaved and made me feel proud to be a furry. The hotel itself was fantastic though the weekend staff seemed somewhat complacent with thier jobs and lacked the high quality customer service we had recieved from the managers/organisers... which made our decision to host elsewhere next year alittle eaiser if not for the sheer size/turnout.
I have to admit I was honestly glad that MIDFUR drama did not surface at all during the convention and I truely hope that when we return next year we do not have to face the same resistance that we did this year.

All in all I am proud and honoured to be apart of FurDU that was made a success purely by the fantastic support of the people who attended it. Thankyou all for making FurDU what it was and I can't wait to show you what we can do in 2011.

-Drake.