Last year's Rodent Party was so great, I'm hosting another one this year at MFF! All rodents and friends of rodents are invited!

The official party time is 8-10PM on Saturday at MFF, though it'll very likely be extended if people want to stay longer. (I probably will!)

Cheese and drink will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. You may also bring your own alcohol, since we won't be providing that.

Fursuits are very welcome, in fact we'll do a quick photo shoot! I recommend fursuiters be here towards the beginning of the party so we can have everyone attending and in suit at the same time.

The party will be in my room, but I don't know the room number yet. I will post another journal on Thursday of MFF (two days from now) to let you know what room we're in. Be on the lookout!

Looking forward to seeing all you squeakies there!



ALSO:

There are a few rodent friends of mine who I know can't make it, so I'll be hosting a low-key rodent gathering Friday at 6:30! We'll meet in the ground floor lobby and go out to eat somewhere. If you're interested in this, let me know, in case we get a huge group of people and need to make a reservation.



UPDATE: the Saturday party will be held in Room 2329 (in the executive wing). Many thanks to Scooter Squirrel and his roommates for allowing us to party there!

There's a ton of concerts being put on by the NIU School of Music this month, and I'll be performing in several of them! (some more than others)

You can watch all of these concerts live online at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCK.....0GciqUmGq35-lg Or drive all the way out here if you really want to.

I'll be posting more info about the Composers' concert later since that's my major.


Tuesday, April 7, 8 PM - Percussion Ensemble
Thursday, April 9, 8PM - World Music Symposium (Music Exotica)
Sunday, April 12, 3 PM - Steelpan Band
Wednesday, April 15, 8 PM - NIU Composers' Concert
Sunday, April 26, 7 PM - Guitar Ensemble

WOW- I had a rat-tastic day yesterday and I want to thank everyone for coming!

Although it was a lot of fun there were a few issues with the stream, so I want to see if I can fix them for the next time. I know people were having a lot of glitches in the stream so they couldn't really watch, but we still had fun in the chat box. I'd also really like to have several people streaming next year on one screen, but I didn't have the time to figure out how to do that this year.

Also, although I drew 7 head shots (which I will be uploading later today) there are still plenty of people I didn't get to draw. I will attempt to draw everyone who gave me a ref in the next few weeks and be sure to stream the drawing process, so maybe we can have some impromptu mini rodent parties then! I want to finish two more heads today so I can post them in a single 9-frame Brady Bunch-style submission like I did last year (http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13137916/) so look out for a livestream later today!

Until next time,

Squeak!

-Dittman Rat

I'm streaming live now at http://www.livestream.com/gregtrailarts !!!

I'll be drawing headshots for free, so post your references here! I'm hoping I can get some other people to join the free art thing I'm doing, we'll see!

One of my favorite bands of all time is They Might Be Giants, so I was pretty psyched when I heard they were releasing a new song every week in 2015 as part of their Dial-A-Song project.

But then I noticed they were also releasing the lyrics to these songs a day before they released the audio. This gave me an idea- what if I took the lyrics and tried to write my own version of the song based solely on the words?

This playlist is a collection of songs where I sing TMBG's lyrics, but accompany it with my own music. I have been writing these songs as soon as possible after the lyrics come out and before I listen to the music!* My goal is to make a song as creative and catchy as I can while remaining completely faithful to the lyrics- i.e. no adding, no taking away, no rearranging any of the words. I then record myself singing and playing guitar, do some minimal mixing, and upload! These tracks aren't meant to be finely polished masterpieces but I still hope you enjoy them as much as I've enjoyed making them!

Also, give lots of love to TMBG and their music if you haven't lately. They're totally worth it.

*I had already listened to the first four TMBG tunes before I wrote and recorded my covers so my versions are probably less original. You can particularly tell the similarities between their track and mine in "Erase", for instance.


https://soundcloud.com/dittmanrat/s.....g-lyric-covers

If you didn't check it out before, please listen to my new experiment in acoustic rock at https://gregtrail.bandcamp.com/album/room-ep-2 !! You can listen and download the album for free, with the option to donate. Please support me if you're able, but if you don't have the money I'd rather you have the music than not, so feel free to download!

Thank you, I hope you enjoy the music!

It's here! It's here! It's finally here!

After years of horrible procrastinating, I present my first album! Listen and download for free!

https://gregtrail.bandcamp.com/album/room-ep-2

Every Fur down in Furville liked Christmas a lot...
But the Rat in the sewers of Furville, did NOT!

Dittman Rat hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right.
It could be, perhaps, that his lair had no light.
But I think the most likely reason is this:
Dittman Rat's heart simply did not exist.

Whatever the reason, his heart or his lair,
He stood there and sulked, in the sewery air.
And the longer he heard the Christmas Eve bells ring,
The more the Rat thought, "I must stop this whole thing!"
"I'm much too evil to let Christmas come now!"
"I MUST stop this Christmas from coming!... But HOW?"

Then he got an idea! An awful idea!
THE RAT GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA!

"I know just what to do!" The Rat laughed in his throat.
And he made a quick Santy Claws hat, beard and coat.
And he chuckled, and said "What a great evil trick!"
"With this coat, beard and hat, I look just like Saint Nick!"

And so, when night came, and the Furs were asleep
He came out of the sewers, his home in the deep.
All the Furs were all dreaming sweet dreams without care.
When he came to the first little house on the square.
"This is stop number one," the old Ratty Claws grinned,
And he climbed to the chimney, and slipped himself in.
He slid down to the fireplace (no fire was aglow)
And the stockings that hung there were the first things to go!
Then he slithered and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant,
Around the whole room, and he took every present!
The bright decorations, all merry and cheerful,
Were snatched by the Ratty Claws, all nasty and sneerful.

He stuffed all these things up the chimney with glee.
"And NOW!" grinned the Rat, "I will stuff up the tree!"

And the Rat grabbed the tree, and he started to shove,
When he heard a small sound like the coo of a dove.

He turned around fast, and he saw a young Fur!
Little Otter-Lou Blue, who wasn't quite sure
What to make of the Ratty Claws who'd just appeared.
(After all, she'd been Furry for less than a year)
She stared hard and said, "Ratty Santy Claws, why,”
"Why are you taking our Christmas tree? WHY?"

But, you know, that old Rat was so smart and so slick,
He thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick!
"Why, my sweet little Fur," the fake Santy Claws lied,
"This here Christmas tree is just not the right kind"
"You need fir trees, not pine, if you want to be "Firry","
"So I'll get one for you, and be back in a hurry."

And his fib fooled the Fur, so he got her some water,
And she went back to bed like a good little otter.

Then, when he was sure he had all of their stuff,
The Rat pushed the tree up to the roof with a huff!

And he did this all throughout Furville that night,
Stealing everything Christmas, 'til the dark became light.
The Furs would wake up soon, in ten minutes, or fewer.
So he took all his loot, and dumped it all in the sewer.

And what happened then? Well...in Furville they say,
They had the most miserable Christmas that day.
The furs were all selfish, and greedy, and bratty
And moaned and complained, to the glee of our Ratty
Who loved hearing all of the self-centered whining,
Of all the poor Furries who couldn't help crying.

And so, they were deprived of their joy and good cheer,
And that is how Dittman stole Christmas that year.

I'm still going to try to keep it brief-ish, since all the furries I know have ADHD and won't pay attention for more than two sentences (myself included).



MFF definitely was awesome! Just WAAAYYY too short (like always)… Honestly the majority of it is a blur but I'll tell you the highlights! I got there around noon on Thursday and proceeded to rat around the lobby for a couple hours until my roommates showed up. I had finally "finished" my new Dittman head (it's not finished at all but I did what I wanted to get done before the con), so this was his debut. Most people didn't know about my new Dittman suit so I was rarely recognized, and I didn't always tell people either, since I like being secretive and lurking in the shadows. So I got to run around and sometimes talk to people who didn't know I was me, although :kamunt: figured it out right away ("You're wearing the same tail as before!" …… dammit Kamunt stop being so observant)

My roommates  haal (Marko Rat) and  Nodd-Mouse arrived later in the afternoon and we checked in to our room, officially the Rodent Room! Originally, my friend  DuskySam was going to be the fourth rodent (I promise he's a real rodent despite his icon) but he fell sick, and was replaced by one of Marko's friends (I don't know his FA, I'll link it here once I figure it out). After we got settled in, we went to dinner at this really fancy bowling place… I'm not kidding, it's the fanciest bowling restaurant I've ever been to. We were with three other furries who I didn't know and can't remember :/ but we had a good time, got good food, and it didn't cost a fortune either.

Basically, the rest of Thursday was just fursuiting and goofing off as Dittman. :P



Friday! First full day at the con. I took  Timothy_Rat out for suiting in the morning for the opening ceremonies, which I think is the first time I've gone to that, actually. I got to see a TON of my furry friends then, especially since I was being a rat people recognized at that point. It also ended up being the only time I took Timothy out to play, which is sort of unfortunate but at the same time I saw pretty much all the people I wanted to see as Timothy that morning.

Friday afternoon…. um, I honestly can't remember. Probably fursuiting.

Early Friday night we went to Gino's East to get some authentic Chicago deep dish pizza - I'm pretty sure that was a first for both Marko and Nodd. We asked for extra cheese. In short, it was delicious.

Later Friday night is a blur but I know I spent a bit of time in the con suite, and had more deep dish pizza there. I mean, one slice just isn't enough, ya know?



Saturday was the big day, the day of the Rodent Party! I had been thinking of it all con, of course, and inviting any rodents I saw. We needed to go to the store to get some rodent food, but we still had the fursuit parade before we could get to that! Marko only wanted to go to the photoshoot beforehand and not the parade, but we ended up being late and stepped inside the room roughly 30 seconds before they started ushering us out. So Marko accidentally got in the parade with us, and we got to be right near the front. Afterwords Marko went to the room to change, and Nodd and hung around briefly, then headed out to my car… except the parade was still going on so we kinda had to actually join the parade again to get to where we were going. XD

Then, Marko came back down and the three of us went shopping for rodent party supplies! Nodd and I were both in suit, at least for a while at the store. I eventually took my head off, which in retrospect I'm pretty damn ashamed of :( but we were in a hurry and I needed better vision to shop. That being said, we still got back to our room right at four and were setting up everything when our guests started arriving!

OK, I'm going to attempt to remember everyone who came to the party:
My roommates and myself
 syn and  tiptoe, two of my rat friends from Wisconsin
 Scooter_squirrel
:ratcoffee:
 reservedrodent
 GrilledCheese
Syber Hamster (don't know FA)

aaaaaaaand…… uhhhhh…. I know there's several more that I can't remember. (I'm really sorry…. :( )I'll add more as people mention them.

…..and there were several more friends who were there in spirit :)

So! Yeah, we partied and did rodent stuff for a couple of hours.

I also drank towards the end of the party, which is new for me. Pretty much everyone was gone so only a couple people saw it but I actually got pretty damn drunk. O.O I'd like to give a huge thanks to both  Werewolff and  Barkley_Beaver for coming to my aid and taking me back to my room since I was literally having problems standing. So I stayed in the room awhile, resting, since it had been a really long day.

Unfortunately, right as I was actually about to go to bed we had "Incident", so…. that was a thing. I was mostly sober by this point, though, so it wasn't a huge deal. The main problem was we were really tired, but we stuck to it and hung out in the DoubleTree Inn's lobby for several hours. Finally, we were let back in and I got to start sleeping around 5 AM.



Here's the sad part: Sunday. I had to leave as soon as I got up because I had a concert to perform in at my college, so I had to drive an hour to get there by noon. I knew this all along, but I was originally planning on coming back after the concert to stay one more night at MFF. But since I got so little sleep that night because of the chlorine thing, I knew I wouldn't be awake enough to drive back… :( So I said my goodbyes to Marko and Nodd right then and there- it was kind of a rushed deal and I wish I had had more time, but that's how it happened. As it turned out, I ended up being more than half-asleep throughout the entire concert though I somehow managed to play my parts correctly when we were up.

Overall, it was a really great con, it just had a sudden and disappointing ending. :/ I've definitely thought about the good parts more than the bad parts, though, so I'm definitely calling this year a success.



P.S. - Other highlights:
Getting to see people I knew, meeting friends for the first time in real life, meeting new friends for the first time ever…, basically, all that mushy-gushy stuff.
Nodd,  silver_raccoon and I being a mob of angry rodents and ganging up on Mr. Peanut.
Getting to wear Marko's rat, Ziggy, several times during the con. (thank you Marko!)
Getting some fursuit construction tips from the owner of MoreFurLess

Con report #2. This time with video!

An accurate representation of my life before, during, and after MFF: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7bOMu027oW0

MFF 2014 was crazy.

Now I'm in the middle of finals week.

Will write a less brief journal once I'm done with finals week.

.....just what the title says! We didn't know the room number until today, so you just need to know we're in the Hyatt, room 1045. Everything else is in this journal: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6301233/

Oh, and we're going to have cheesecake too. Forgot to mention that last time. ;)

 haal and I will be hosting a Rodent Party in our room this year at MFF! All rodents and friends of rodents are invited!

The official party time is 4-6PM on Saturday at MFF, though it'll very likely be extended if people want to stay longer. (I know I will)

Cheese and drink will be provided, but feel free to bring your own. You may also bring your own alcohol, since we won't be providing that.

Fursuits are very welcome, in fact the more the better! We might even have a photo shoot! (this is still in the planning stages)

The party will be in our room, but I don't know the room number yet. I will post another journal on Thursday of MFF (a week from today) to let you know what room we're in. Be on the lookout!

Looking forward to seeing all you squeakies there!


EDIT: We're in room 1045!!!

EDIT 2: There will be booze! Free home-brewed beer and wine. Although you should still feel free to bring your own food and drink/booze to share!

This is the first time I've ever bothered to do one of these…… but I haven't posted anything in forever so I might as well do a journal to get out of my FA drought!



Where are you staying?
Main hotel

What day are you getting there?
Thursday afternoon

How are you traveling?
I'll ride a skateboard through the sewer systems

Who will you be rooming with?
Welcome to the Rodent Room, with me,  haal,  Nodd-mouse, and  DuskySam! (Dusky looks like a cat sometimes but he's really a rat, I promise.)

How is the best way to find you?
I'll try to check Twitter and Facebook regularly. If you really want, I might give you my number.

Are there any panels you might be attending?
Probably a couple, maybe the puppeteering ones.

What do you look like?
A rat. Sometimes a human. (gee that's helpful)
Well ok, I haven't finished my rat suit yet, but it WILL be done for MFF, and it'll be a brown rat partial. So there's that! And when I'm human I'll probably have a rat tail and maybe my NIU Huskie hat (complete with huskie ears).

Will you be suiting?
As often as possible! And I'll quite possibly be hanging out with other rodent fursuiters.

What is your gender?
Yes, please

Can I talk to you?
Yeah, though I won't always talk back in suit.

Can I touch you?
No you can't, no matter how hard you try the electrons between you and me will repel each other because they're the same charge.

Can I visit your room?
If you can find it! Heh heh…..

Can I buy you drinks?
I really don't expect this to happen but I do like soda.

Can I give you stuff?
I really really don't expect this to happen.

Can I hug or snuggle with you?
I won't snuggle unless I know you pretty well, but hugs are automatic for pretty much everyone.

Are you nice?
If you're talking to my human self I'll probably pretend to be nice, but I'm an evil nasty lab rat, so… yeah.

Will you be going to parties?
Marko and I are hosting a Rodent Party on Saturday! All rodents and rodent lovers are invited. We haven't decided the specific time but I'll post another journal within the next few days.

Will you be performing?
I'll hopefully play a song in the variety show, I need to sort that out.

If I see you, how should I get your attention?
Yell something like "HEY, EVIL RAT FREAK!". That should do it.

Where will you be most of the time during the day/s?
I'll be out mingling in the lobbies and dealer's den quite often.

Can I take your picture?
Yes, feel free to capture a flat pixelated rendition of my awesome ugliness.

What's your goal(s) for the con this year?
Enslave everyone and make them my minions. Shouldn't be too difficult.



I'm super excited for MFF! See you all there! Squeak!

After seeing the new TMNT trailer, I've come to these conclusions:

Every scene with Splinter in it will be THE BEST THING EVER.

Every other scene will SUCK.

This is the best article I've read about school shootings, by far. Please read, this is important.
http://markmanson.net/school-shootings

So… people may have noticed I haven't mentioned my secret Pokemon suit in a while.

I'm just waiting for the official Pokedex pics to come out before I reveal it! ‪(should be soon)


Anyways, I had a really great time at ACen- I didn't quite finish the partial suit but it was enough for me to wear and I had fun! As soon as I get the official pics I'll do the reveal and also a con report.

Oh boy, oh boy! Pokémon Hoenn remakes have finally been confirmed at pokemon.com!!! You don't know how excited I am for this! Pokémon Ruby was my first Pokémon game and it's just so nostalgic for me. I also didn't play the earlier ones which means this will be the first time I see a remake of a game I've already played! Oh boy oh boy oh boy!



....But that's only the first thing! Many of you know from reading my last journal that I'm currently making a Pokémon fur suit for Anime Central next weekend! But I haven't announced which Pokémon yet because I want you guys to guess it! I'm not sure what the prize will be yet, but there will be one!

Anyway, here are the rules for guessing:
-Everyone is allowed ONE guess.
-This guess can be either a single Pokémon, or a family of Pokémon (i.e. "Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, or Venusaur") (If you guess a specific Pokémon, the prize will naturally be greater)
-If you've made a guess on the previous journal, you can undo that guess and make a new guess here!
-Guesses are due by midnight, at the end of Friday, May 16. (U.S. Central time)
-I will reveal the answer at the end of Sunday, May 18th!

Here are the official hints I've given out so far:
-It is one of the original 150 Pokémon.
-It is not Rattata or Raticate.

And here are some new hints!
-NONE of the official guesses on the previous journal were correct!
-It is NOT a ground Pokemon!

Good luck, everyone!



GUESSES:
 Zorpix - Mankey
 Faros - Eevee
 voltage-X - Vulpix
 Ziggo - Electabuzz
 SilverTehCoyote - Scyther

I have one more week of school… then one week of finals…. and then one week of frantically trying to scramble together a Pokémon fursuit for Anime Central in Chicago! We are attempting to make an ultimate full Pokédex of costumes and cosplays, and although we're not going to make it by a long shot, it'll still probably be one for the record books, as the largest gathering of different Pokémon ever!

So…… what Pokémon am I making? Well, that's still a secret- you'll have to wait until I'm done! But it's going to be one of the original 150*, if you wanna start guessing, go ahead!


(*excluding Rattata and Raticate. Don't worry, I'll be making more rodent fursuits in the future!)



EDIT: I'm gonna tally people's guesses here! You can guess either a single Pokémon or a family of Pokémon (e.g. Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur). You are allowed to guess a Pokémon someone has already guessed. If someone gets it right I think I'll make them a prize…!!!


GUESSES:

 Sonnitude - Pikachu or Raichu.
 Zorpix - Nidoran (male)
 HavenWhiteWolf - Diglett or Dugtrio.
Taylona (no FA) - Raichu.
 Stunter101 - Sandslash.
 Ellie-Fennec - Cubone
 xandertheblue - Squirtle
 LionsClaws - Moltres
 EddieGreen3 - Sandshrew

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13261592/

I just can't believe someone would do this... You think I'm CUTE???? REALLY?!?!?! Yes, I can see through your sarcasm,  NicodemusRat...!!! I thought I could trust a fellow rodent but NOPE! You're definitely gonna regret this when I've taken over the world and shown my true evil genius- just you wait!!!

Squeak squeak! Happy World Rat Day Everybody!!!!

Holy rodents, I can't tell you how excited I am for tonight! It looks like there's going to be TONS of rats, rodents, and rodent lovers coming to celebrate tonight!

I can't believe how many rodents there are on FA… I spent a long time on Monday finding as many as I could to invite them to the party, trying my best not to leave anyone out! But the number of invitations has since doubled
because I keep finding more rats and rodents who I either forgot about or didn't know before. There's literally SO MANY of us, and it makes me a happy rat to know I'll be seeing many of you tonight!

I'll post more information when the stream starts, but the World Rat Day 2014 Party will take place on my art channel on Livestream: http://www.livestream.com/gregtrailarts

Squeak Squeak! <:3O~ Have an awesome, cheesy, squeaky day today!

-Dittman Rat



EDIT: I'm even finding more rats and other rodents less than 6 hours to the party… Apologies for those of you who got short notice but I hope some of you can make it!

Congrats and thank you to my friend  SilverTehCoyote for being the original/first 300th watcher! I don't normally give out prizes for being a lucky number, but I might make an exception for Silver 'cause he's a friend!

Of course, this means if any of you unwatch me right now and then rematch me, you'll be the 300th watcher and you'll get a gift too!

Er, wait, no.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7kYn5Ql2Xk

-They Might Be Giants

All right, so…… what's been happening with me lately. Well, first of all there was Winter Break, and I completed almost none of the things I had wanted to finish over break, but I still got a lot done. I started some fursuit repairs on Timothy and Chase, which are mostly finished, and I'm also close to finishing my EP (mini-album).

Even though I'm so close to finishing that stuff it might take another while to complete now because I just got back to college for my second semester at NIU (Northern Illinois University). (I'm studying music composition, for those who didn't know). Today's the beginning of the first semester, and I had a couple kinks in my schedule to work out, but it looks like I'll be getting to take a 3D Art class, along with all my musicky stuff. Maybe I'll learn something useful when making my next fursuit!

Anyway- yeah. There's the update. Cool, huh? Squeak.

“We never, ever judge someone on who’s going to heaven, hell. That’s the Almighty’s job. We just love ’em, give ’em the good news about Jesus—whether they’re homosexuals, drunks, terrorists. We let God sort ’em out later, you see what I’m saying?” -Phil Robertson

Sooooo…….. why isn't *this* quote being circulated around the internet…? I have to say, I don't believe homosexuality is a sin, but I just can't understand why everybody is getting so worked up about this.

If you actually look at what he said, basically all he said was 'I believe homosexuality is a sin'. And he later says 'but we still love them'. Since when does saying you disagree with something and/or don't understand it land you in the media hellfire???



http://www.gq.com/entertainment/tel.....?currentPage=1