April Journal + Kaffre talks Candy #38

First, I'd like to apologize for my delay in getting this month's journal out to you all in a timely fashion. The reason for this is simply that I've been spending more time at home lately and consequently have had only limited access to a computer and typing out anything as long as a journal on my PS4 is an exercise in frustration. Fortunately, I am currently planning to invest my tax rebate into a used laptop so hopefully such concerns will soon be a ting of the past!

While April wasn't quite as productive as March, it was still a fun month for us - three calves have been born with a fourth on the way, and my siblings and I celebrated my late Mother's birthday for the 4th time since her passing on September 22, 2014 by making a nice cake and going out to dinner. Another good thing about this month is that I've finally saved enough to have my kitty Parker spayed. Ordinarily, 4 years old is a bit late for this as we'd have been inundated with swarms of kittens, but Parker has Cerebral Hypoplasia so she's not really able to mate effectively - still the surgery will improve the duration and quality of her life while sparing us her late night yowlings so it's a definite improvement!

Speaking of pets, for this month's topic of discussion, I've selected Paws & Pets: Animal Friends in a Furry World.

It hasn't really been discussed in any stories yet and only vaguely hinted at in pictures, but one of Kaffre's few real ambitions or goals at this stage in his young life is to one day become a pet owner. Obviously this hasn't quite happened yet and, due to the amount of responsibility required, isn't likely to in the near future, but it does raise the question of how pets would be regarded in a world populated primarily by anthropomorphic animals.

The first possibility of course, is that non-anthro animals don't exist which would seem to render the point moot outside certain unconventional lifestyles that fall outside the scope of this journal. While I am aware that some people find the coexistence of anthropomorphic and normal animals to be either silly or weird, I cannot say that I agree with this sentiment and feel that the existence of such creatures fits fairly well with just about ant furry setting. In fact, I would even suggest that if such beings did not not exist naturally, they would probably be created as robots, magical constructs, or similar.

One special situation that might come up in a furry world is related to the possible existence of sapient, but quadrupedal anthropomorphs popularly known as 'ferals'. While I think such creatures would likely have similar legal status to other sapients in the current era the possibility of being mistaken for mundane animals combined with a certain amount of crossover in terms of the sorts items and services required for urban life could easily result in situations where it is advantageous for them to form a mutualist symbiotic relationship with two-legged furries that may superficially resemble a master/pet dynamic.

What sorts of pets would furries want to keep? Well, I believe the answer would vary considerable based on the type of fur and their degree of anthropomorphism. As a general rule I think most furs would find the prospect of keeping a member of their base species as a pet somewhat disturbing so Kaffre, for example, probably won't be getting a kitten even though it might otherwise seem like a good choice for the young feline. If his diet were more typical for a feline, he might also avoid fish or rodents so as to clearly distinguish between 'pet' and 'buffet' in case he has company over.

Overall, Kaffre probably won't be getting a pet (except perhaps a rock) until he's bigger and more responsible, but when the joyous day does arrive and he's finally allowed one, I'm convinced he'll have plenty of options to choose from!

Well, I guess that's it for April. Thanks for reading *hugs* with any luck, May's journal will be both more timely and typed out on my own computer! ^^

Now I proudly present...

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Kaffre talks Candy #38:

Name: Ben Shaw's Dandelion & Burdock
Manufacturer: Cott
Size: 330mL can
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Ben Shaw's Dandelion & Burdock consists of a dark coloured carbonated soft drink.
Opinion: A British product I'd not noticed before. I found this beverage to be much milder than Barr's 'D n' B', but this could be a result of me getting used to the taste though the smell was far less overpowering as well. The taste could perhaps best be described as a very mild rootbeer with a cherry-like aftertaste and very unlike the Barr version which was redolent of cough syrup. Overall, I thought this was an interesting product, but doubt I'd purchase it again though I will admit to being slightly tempted to buy both brands for a side-by-side taste test...

Name: Fox's Glacier Mints
Manufacturer: Big Bear Confectionery
Size: 130 gram bag
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Glacier Mints consist of individually wrapped mints shaped like (very small) ice cubes.
Opinion: A British item I've often seen, but never bothered grabbing until now. These candies are very hard, but fairly brittle and offer a mellow, soothing mint flavour not unlike that of a humbug that I personally found to be refreshing and tasty. Overall, I though these were pretty good, but I'm not really sure whether I'd buy them again as I've never really been much for hard candies..

Name: Jube Bunnies
Manufacturer: Dare
Size: N/A
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Jube Bunnies consist of stiff jubes shaped like smiling rabbit faces and come in four pastel colours (blue, pink, violet, and yellow).
Opinion: A treat commonly seen around Easter time, I delayed this review several years while attempting to discover the manufacturer of the variety I buy, but in the end it probably doesn't matter that much. These candies have a texture similar to wine gums and are as tasty as they are cute. The different colours do seem to correspond to different flavours, but apart from yellow (lemon), I've been unable to identify them. In any event, I like this product and would probably buy them on a semi-regular basis if they were available year round, but as it stands I just grab a few bags around Easter!

Name: Munchies
Manufacturer: Nestle
Size: 52 gram tube
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Munchies consist of small candies approximately 3cm cubed, but tapering on one side. The individual pieces consist of a piece of biscuit topped with caramel and coated in a layer of milk chocolate.
Opinion: A British product I hadn't seen before before. This product is an interesting one and offers a nice blend of chocolatey, crunchy, and chewy, but doesn't really have much of an identity in and of itself. I'd happily eat or buy these again, but can't really think of any reason to seek these out over other, more readily available products (Twix, for instance).

Name: Terry's Chocolate Orange (Dark)
Manufacturer: Mondelez (Chocolate Works)
Size: 157 gram sphere
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: Terry's Dark Chocolate Orange consists of 20 wedge-shaped segments of orange-flavoured dark chocolate that have been arranged radially around a central point and fused together.
Opinion: A variation on the classic holiday orange that I hadn't tried yet. Unsurprisingly, the effect was very similar to the milk chocolate version except that the chocolate itself was firmer and there was a bit of contrast between the bitterness of the dark chocolate and the orange flavouring. Overall, I liked this product, but for my money the milk chocolate and toffee versions are superior though I would certainly recommend the item to those who are bigger fans of dark chocolate than I.