Or hyvää joulua, if we want to be foreign. The best time of the year, no BORING "OH ITS SO COMMERCIAL AND CHRISTMAS IS RUINED" cynicism allowed! :D

Here is a selection of fox-approved Christmas music if you fancy.

Anyway, spending another family Christmas back in Finland, this time with my boyfriend with me (should be intriguing for him to experience our Finnish christmas). Should be great :).

Hope the holiday season goes well for you even if you're not into it for whatever reason, and may Steam sales bring great things for you!

I can now confirm that I shall be bouncing about in Confuzzled next year, hope to see whoever of you goes there then :).

Will also attempt at going to EF next year but that's still very much in the desperate planning stage...

is a lovely fellow made of certified awesome and who's been hit by financial gremlins. He's doing doodles for donations to remedy that situation so go help his wonderful dooky butt and gain some great artwork in the process if you donate enough!

http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2606556/
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2606556/
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2606556/
http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/2606556/

Thank you everyone for making it the most amazing weekend there could be. Friends, pals I knew but had never in person before, acquaintances, familiar faces from previous years, new encounters, perfect strangers and, of course, the staffers. You were all a part of a weekend that'll stay in my memories for a very, very long time in the most heartwarming way.

I did a 'bit' of fursuiting and will be uploading photos here as soon as they start arriving.

Thank you again everyone, it was amazing. And if you weren't there, do it in the future.

Now for the painful task of somehow returning to reality, to a month filled with essays and exams. Talk about a comedown :/.

Apparently it's now time to start doing these.

Where are you staying?
At home; sadly, couldn't afford a residential ticket this year with everything else taking its financial toll. On the plus side I live about a 5-10 bus ride from the hotel so it's all cool, even if a bit uncomfortable.

What day are you getting there?
Friday.

Who will you be with?
I'll probably be hanging out a lot with a fair amount of peeps.

Do you do free art or trades?
Wish I did art in the first place.

Do you do commissions/badges?
Still not doing art.

Do you have prints/CDs?
*obligatory yes I do indeed have a lot of music CDs reply*

Do you have art in the art show?
Are you still going on about art? GOOD GAWD.

What suit(s) will you have?
Flint, of course.

Can I dance with you?
Good luck finding me on the dancefloor (although I might dare to give it a try this year but not sure really. Dancing never did much for me)

You're talking to someone, and I would like to say hi, but don't know how, what can I do?
Just come next to me and say hello and introduce yourself and everything's cool.

What is your gender?
Cuddlyfox.

How old are you?
Almost 23 by the time of the con.

How tall are you?
I have no idea. Average?

Are you mated?
Yer.

Can I touch you?
Preferably after asking permission, if you're not a friend I know already.

Can I talk to you?
Sure, but I'm boring and not a great conversationalist so be warned.

Can I hug you?
Hugs are awesome. So of course.

Can I take photos of you/with you?
Not too fond of getting photos of my HYOOMAN self taken but you can snap Flintshots anytime.

Can I buy you lots of drinks?
Yes. My drink tastes are also cheap, so I'm the economical choice.

Do you drink Alcohol/Smoke?
Can't stand smoking, so no. Not much of an alcohol drinker, but can do it if I've got the money handy.

Can I give you lots of money?
I wish this would actually happen :(.

Can I hug or snuggle with you?
Hugs are always welcome, snuggles if I know you D:.

Can we hang out?
If for some reason you specifically want to hang out with me, sure!

Are you nice?
People keep telling me I'm cuddly and nice and lovely so yeah, I suppose I am. I won't bite, in any case.

In fursuit...
I will be bouncing about and being quite silly.

Where will you be most of the time during the con?
Inside the convention area. Most likely in fursuit.

Other cons you may go to?
I wish I had the money to go to more cons.

Four Jobs I've Had
- gardener
- a guy who turns old VHS and Umatic tape footage into a digital format
- electronics store bottom-tier assistant (basically the guy who does all the things no one else cares to do). This was a week-long assignment and around half the week the store managers ran out of things for me to do so most of the second half I spent watching TV and playing the video game stands.
- not had anything that could seriously be considered a fourth job

(basically, my CV is an incoherent mess)

Four Movies I Can Watch Over and Over
- Rocky Horror Picture Show
- My Neighbour Totoro
- Aliens
- Up

Four Places I've Lived
- Salo (Finland)
- Stockport
- A horrible part of Manchester
- A good part of Manchester

Four TV Shows I Love
At the moment:
- Masterchef
- Never Mind the Buzzcocks
- QI
- Murphy's Law (boyfriend's been going through the box set and despite the fact that I didn't even see the first two seasons, season 3 got me sorta hooked or something)

Four Places I've Vacationed
- Sweden (about n times, some relatives live there so I've went there fairly often with family)
- Greece (about three times)
- Turkey (twice, I think)
- Portugal (school trip so only half-vacation BUT WHATEVZ)

Four of My Favorite Dishes
- Pasta dishes with creamy sauces OH YES
- French fries with some awesome meat and salad
- Traditional Finnish pea soup, the way my parents do it
- The donner kebab pizza the nearby takeaway does

Four Sites I Visit Daily
- Rate Your Music
- Rock Paper Shotgun
- Google Reader
- FA I spooooose

Four things I like to do in my spare time
- Listening to + generally geeknerding about music
- Play games
- Hang out with my homiez (and bore them to death)
- Think about all the things I want to do that I'm not doing and mentally whine about not doing them because I'm a pillock

I'm not dead! I'm just really bad at doing journals about WHAT ARE THE HAPZ. Especially since nothing's really been happening furry-wise for me (this is a furry site journal after all, so I attempt to keep things topical). Been to a few meets, seen some friends, etc but nothing really all that extravagant. Haven't been able to fursuit for yonks either outside my home, and my home-suitings do not really produce any interesting photograph material so hence no new photos or any other visible activity in this account.

Random question time - I've been slightly thinking of uploading the occasional art I commission/receive in this account to sort of counter the quiet activity, would you lot who have actually bothered to +watch me find this annoying? I mean I take it most of you watched me so you could see photos of my fuzzy frolics, not artwork by someone who isn't me. But yeah, it's an idea.

Confuzzled is coming soon though, can't wait. I'll probably end up spending most of the con in fursuit, unleashing all the energy that's been gathering in me all this time. I've been thinking about my in-character performance a lot and can't wait to see if I really can flesh out my fuzzier persona even more in person. Also got some possible other things in the uncertain future but you know, future's uncertain so I'll just go with the flow.

Finally, to bloat this journal a bit more, in a completely non-furry related note I just want to take this opportunity to proclaim that 2011 is turning out to be one hell of a good music year. We're only at the end of March and there's already been a cavalcade of excellent new albums from Bright Eyes, Elbow, Radiohead, R.E.M. and Guillemots (well technically that's out next month but I managed to hear it already), and the new Rubik arrived on my doorstep today and it's already sounding rather fine. And there's still new stuff from Moby, Death Cab for Cutie and My Morning Jacket to come too, plus I need to check the new CunninLynguists album at some point as their previous one is one of the few rap albums I've heard that's been consistently great rather than filler city. Music is about the only thing I blog pseudo-regularly about so click that link if you're bothered about my thoughts on the crap I like. Also hit me up on RYM if you're there.

Anyway yeah HELLO AGAIN. HUGS FOR ALL.

Best time of the year.

https://youtu.be/KSvsy11PHxM

For some reason I have a weird desire to talk about music in places where I normally don't talk about music. This has no place on RYM, too messy for my blog and I've no idea what to do with my LJ so FA it is!

1) Take your mp3 player/massive playlist/Last.FM personal radio/anything with a big library of music you listen to and has a shuffle function. List the first ten songs that appear - no cheating! And link to them if possible so other peeps can hear 'em too.

2) And write about them! Don't just post a boring list, say something about the music that you obviously like or has a connection to something you like because it's in your music library.

---

1) bLiNd - Starfox Space Cowboys OC Remix

Oh wow, game remixes right from the start. I used to spend ages in OC Remix, searching for new awesome stuff. I haven't visited the place properly in eons but I've got a bucketload of old favourites saved and this is one of them. I absolutely love the soundworld in this one - that glistening, popping percussion, those breezy synths and that generally really airy, open feeling. You can just imagine the Starfox team chilling out in the Corneria sky. Music for floaty chilling.

2) Moby - Sunday (The Day Before My Birthday)

Probably as typical as you could go with Moby - you've got the Mobystrings, the calm and moody pace, the fragile vocals, and all that. Can't blame it for that though, considering how great that recipe is. 18 is a bit of a weird album, a transitional effort if anything, and while it suffers from major overlength issues this is definitely one of its keepers. Just a really well-crafted, beautiful song.

3) M83 - Be Wild

Dead Cities, Red Seas & Lost Ghosts is an album I put on whenever I just want to sink into sound. That thick, loud, impenetrable wall of buzz, fuzz and rigid synths is a great place to just disappear into. Be Wild is less raucous than its other counterparts but its secret weapon is that tense feeling of constantly seeming like it's going to blow up and hit a climax, but it never does. Keeps you on your toes. And god, love that synth sound.

4) Sigur Rós - Salka

It's Sigur Rós, so it's basically a dictionary definition of beautiful, ethereal, magical and all other sorts of strong adjectives that describe something rather special. And yeah, Salka hits that same definition too. What a band.

5) Radiohead - Weird Fishes/Arpeggi

Weird Fishes (aaaagh, grammar error!) took the longest to grow on me from In Rainbows. It's an album composed of very strong, individual moments and Weird Fishes is a bit weird in that respect that it's a very subtle song that doesn't really make a ruckus about its existence. It just kind of... flows. But the subtle ones are always growers and time has shown where Weird Fishes' magic lies: specifically, that hypnotic combination of the near-mechanic drumbeat and lingering guitars, the drawn-out backing vocals that catch you unaware the first time, and that final rush to the end that completely turns the song's mood upside down. And of course, how could I not mention the brilliant shredded version and especially its amazing backing vocal parts.

6) Beck - Elevator Music

Beck has to be one of the most annoying artists I like. He's a man capable of utter brilliance, but his slapdash do-whatever attitude results in half of the man's arrows missing the goal completely. To quote someone else, he is an artist who has created an absolutely phenomenal classic - shame he's scattered it all over several albums. Fortunately for this list, the shuffle picked out one of his great tunes for me. It's so loose and lazily groovy - love it.

7) R.E.M. - Daysleeper

R.E.M. are one of my favourite bands ever, Up is one of my favourite albums ever, Daysleeper is one of my favourite songs on that album and its video is one of my favourite R.E.M. videos. How wonderful! That jaunty rhythm and drowzy atmosphere perfectly capture the insomniac feel the song's meant to convey, and like much of Up it has that beautifully melancholy heart that really lifts it into somewhere special. Absolutely gorgeous.

8) The National - About Today

During 2010, The National have really become an immensely personal thing for me. I liked, even loved them before but during the course of 2010 I've formed a really intense, personal bond with their music. I know that sounds cheesy but y'know, I've lost the count on how many times I've zoned out on their music and felt it really speaks to me. Anyway, About Today is phenomenal. It's simple, but it takes that simpleness and turns it into a precise, powerful stab - both musically as well as the lyrics, which in all their straightforward minimalism really hit a tender spot (much thanks to Berninger being such a brilliant and evocative singer). That violin gets me every single time...

9) Ben Folds - The Luckiest

One of my favourite sincere, no-strings-attached love songs. The song that actually introduced me to Folds. Stunning.

10) Kent - Ingenting

I'd love to link to the full album version but I love the video so much that I can't help but post it, even if it uses a radio edit (the rushed ending really pains my ears). It's just so brilliant visually. The song's fantastic too - it was the first song released to public from Kent's current, more electronic-driven incarnation and I remember hearing it for the first time, just overwhelmed by how excellent it was. I love rock-Kent but I do feel they've made an absolutely brilliant transition to a more synth-filled form and Ingenting continues to be as brilliant as it always was. Love that little glimmering signature keyboard melody.

1) The latest World of Warcraft patch that has completely redone the old world and radically changed (and improved) the 1-60 questing experience, making an old game feel something completely new which places so much emphasis on the story of the zones and general feel of the game that it's almost like a singleplayer game, except it's not. And most importantly, has given us the fox pet that can dance.

2) The debut album of Kirahvi nimeltä Tuike who's peculiar brand of giraffe pop with its sparkling melodies, awesome synth action, whimsical lyrics about animal heroes saving the world and feeling like it's music created of all the awesome 80's caroon theme tunes has been long coming, and definitely worth the wait. Very excellent.

3) Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. This is interesting because before Kanye's not done much anything worthwhile, unless you count taking something that was born to become an awesome sample and somehow managing to botch up sampling it (hello "Stronger"). And now all of a sudden he's created an ambitious, bombastic album that has a rather fair chance to find itself in my top 10 of 2010. Lost in the World is a tune. And it features Bon Iver. Bet you didn't see that coming from a mainstream rap album.

4) The solitaire on iPod Classic. Saviour of boring university lectures.

5) This video, which is three years old but only linked to me yesterday so it counts.

http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/533302
Sydney Shark! A document-like look at everyday life in Australia.

Guinea pigs having noms.

https://youtu.be/tjuLb7CRADk
https://youtu.be/q85Tq3C6Bcc
https://youtu.be/m904SQBfCBI

Sorted out my registration, #187. At the moment attending only but might upgrade to residential later on when the finances required magically appear.

So yeah, see you there :).

Just bumping off that long meme away from stretching the profile page.

So, uh. Hi guys. And stuff. Go spam my Formspring (http://www.formspring.me/FlintyFoxy) or something.

There's a meme going round where you have to choose your top 10 video game songs but because I hate trying to choose a top 10 from about a bazillion choices, here's a select 10 songs that are completely unordered (in fact, I shuffled them in Winamp just to create the order of posting!) but which are all bound by them being awesome.

Sonic Adventure 2 - Believe in Myself (Theme of Tails)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6XfRGxKd0Q

I used to be a pretty hardcore Sonic fan; I still follow the games and such these days but I've somewhat distanced myself from the overtly cynical fandom and generally don't listen to a massive playlist of hundreds of Sonic songs every single damn day. I still consider the series to be a shining example of fantastic music throughout its history. Here's a story from a few years ago: this song had somehow found its way on my old mp3 player despite the fact that at the time I had more or less alienated from the games and such. This came on randomly during a shuffle and pretty much every good nostalgic memory ever flooded into my mind as it played. It's painfully cheesy to the point of cringe but goddamn, it's one of my favourite things ever.

Outcast - World of Temples
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2S5w86wxCk

Outcast is my favourite game ever so obviously its soundtrack means a lot to me. I could pick any song from it to be here but this one continues to give me the most shivers. It's the song for the first full area of the game after the brief training area. Just seeing the world open up...

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - Sky Chase Zone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FCHk_gSwKo

My favourite retro Sonic tune. It might be an off-beat choice but god, I adore it. There's also a fantastic remix for it here: http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR00337/

Deus Ex - Main Theme
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yUvMuple5I

Classic.

Unreal - Dig
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YWfb3ti4V8

Unreal is such a criminally underrated game and its soundtrack is similarly never spoken about despite being wonderful. I suggest listening to the above song in full - the switch from the tranquil march to the action-sequence dance-a-thon around halfway through is excellent.

Arcanum - Arcanum (Main Theme)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftvpi-6Z6qw

Arcanum is one of my very favourite RPGs and its soundtrack one of my favourite soundtracks. The unique "fantasy world meeting its industrial age" setting is wonderfully backed by the hauntingly melancholy string quartet soundtrack: the world is moving on, old ways are becoming history and soon there's no going back to the way it used to be. The game has a tinge of sadness everywhere and the soundtrack really pushes it forward. And you can download the whole thing for free here: http://www.terra-arcanum.com/sierra.....oundtrack.html

Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - Ozar Midrashim (Main Theme)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e54tu2XGfGU

The bit that starts around 2:30... *backspine shivers*

StarFox Adventures - Early Thorntail Hollow (Night)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7he9YgTX5AY

I'm a weirdo who not only loves Starfox Adventures but thinks it's the best Starfox game. One reason for that is the excellent soundtrack. Like this beautiful moment of peace and tranquility.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker - Ocean
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN_x1rpGbY8

I like the sailing. And this song is the best in bringing back all the fantastic moments spent with the game to me.

World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King - Garden of Life
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6ORD6bXkgA

There are many great moments in the WoW music history. There are many fantastic moments in the Wrath soundtrack, too many to choose from really (Blizzard upping up the ante in everything also reflected in the music). But when I first heard this song in one of the dragon zones in Dragonblight, I stopped doing what I was doing and just stood there, listening. Completely unlike anything else ever heard in WoW, and utterly wonderful.

A - AVAILABLE: No. Unless my relationship isn't an obstacle for you, you flirty sod you.

B - BIRTHDAY: May 18

C - CRUSHING ON: :3

D - DRINK YOU LAST HAD: Dr Pepper.

E - EASIEST PERSON TO TALK TO: My close friends.

F - FAVORITE SONG: Manic Street Preachers - If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next

G - GUMMY: Wat.

H - HOMETOWN: Salo, Finland.

I - IN LOVE WITH: Dragon Age.

J - JUGGLE: Financial situation.

K - KILLED SOMEONE: Any insect that dares crossing to my personal space.

L - LONGEST CAR RIDE: Some family reunion far away from where we lived, spent a few days in car.

M- MILKSHAKE FLAVOR: Oreo.

N - NUMBER OF SIBLINGS: Two.

O - ONE WISH: To get life sorted perfectly so I wouldn't have to fret and worry all the time.

P - PERSON YOU CALLED LAST: My mom.

Q- QUOTE: "When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty, I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up."
-C.S. Lewis

R- REASON TO SMILE: My morning / late night extended Dragon Age sessions.

S - SONG YOU LAST HEARD: Kelis' Song for the Baby. Flesh Tone's a pretty surprisingly good album, not my usual cuppa but it's damn good cuppa.

T - TIME YOU WOKE UP: A bit past 9.

U- UMBRELLA: Can't use them, feels too awkward.

V - VEGETABLE(S): Cucumber. I could have it with everything.

W - WORST HABIT: Massive shyness.

X - X-RAYS YOU'VE HAD: My teeth.

Y – YOYOS ARE: It was a great joy when I finally learned how to actually pull a yo-yo back up. That's the only thing I can do with them though. Are they still popular?

Z - ZODIAC SIGN: Taurus. One thing all taurus descriptions seem to have in common is stubborness. I guess that works for me even though I just keep quiet and mutter to myself how things don't go my way.

I honestly have no idea what Web 2.0 (or are we at 3.0 already?) has against clear sidebar navigation.

There's this by yours truly:

http://ramblingfox.wordpress.com/

(banner still a placeholder etc, will try and get some custom artwork drawn at some point)

This thingy by is pretty snazzy-looking:
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/3137407

(and if you want to get rid of the hover banner thingy, check the comments section)

Yeah it was. Absolutely insanely fun. And second place at Furrylimpics \o/ (which I couldn't have done without my balloon-popping competition-crushing, literally, team mate  blue)

Next year again, eh?

(and if you see pics or vids of me acting like a dolt floating about, liiiiiink)

Nabbed from

Where are you staying?
At the hotel. Despite the fact that I live in the city where the con's in. OH YEAH.

What day are you getting there?
Friday, should be there around the time the reg opens up.

Who will you be with?
I'm rooming up with the scruffy bastard and the good sirs and are going to accompany us in our horribly long 10 minute travel. And at the con I'll be hanging out with them, other friends, acquaintances and strangers. Whoever wishes, really.

Do you do free art?
I don't do art in the first place :(.

Do you do trades?
I can give you a bunch of pretty beads in exchange for all that land you do nothing with.

Do you do commissions?
Goddamn artists hogging up my meme.

Do you have prints / CDs ?
387 of the latter, at the moment.

Oh, you mean CD-ROMs of my nonexistent art? I have a whopping nil of those.

Do you do badges?
I'll wear yours if you make me one :(.

Will you have Art in the Art Auction?
No but drew the conbook cover and there's a poster of that in the auction so GO BID.

And regarding the Dealer's Den in general, I'm not there but and are! Go buy stuff from them! They like money! They're even right near the entrance of the the hall! SUPPORT FLINT HOMIES.

What is your gender?
Cock-creature.

How old are you?
Passively enjoying my last days of being 21 before ticking on another year in a few weeks.

Can I talk to you?
If you can catch me out of suit, of course!

Can I touch you?
Hugs are awesome! Let's hug!

Photographs?
My dearest, my attention-seeking cartoony red fox fuzziness is always glad and willing to become your photowhore.

Can I hang out with you?
Yeah go on. I'm boring but I do enjoy a good chat.

How can I find you?
If I'm not being a ridiculously visible fuzzy fox bouncing all around the place, look for a git with a picture of the said character hanging from his neck. Said git will also, in all likelihood, look like an exhausted but blissfully happy mess

I'm moving house tomorrow and naturally we won't have an internet connection for a while, unless there's some sort of a cheap Wifi spot nearby. So basically, I'll be disappearing for a bit.

I'm going to be taking my laptop to my university more frequently from now on so I can use their free WiFi but safe to say, it's likely that me being as frequently online as I am now will be a bit unlikely.

Going there again this year, shall be extremely fun. If you're there, come say hi and give a hug! If you're not coming, YOUR LOSS and DO IT NEXT YEAR.

http://www.formspring.me/FlintyFoxy

Baa *chews on grass*

Yeah.

Totally need to get some Christmassy suit pics done next year. Or something.

Also yeah hope you lot had a great Chrimbo and cheers again for watching this boring bastard :O. Enjoy the rest of the holiday period and your pressies.