Groundhogs' Lovey Family Journal + Kaffre talks Candy #47

Welcome once again Journal Readers! February was, all told, pretty uneventful for me with Groundhogs' Day, Valentine's Day, and Family Day all passing without incident. I had had a dental appointment scheduled as well, but that had to be postponed due to inclement weather. On the other paw, my sister fell down during a snowboarding trip and needed two trips to hospital to check for broken ribs, but for the most part I didn't really go anywhere or do anything this month which, while it certainly helped me stay away from fast-food, also means I don't have a whole lot to talk about regarding my human life.

Insofar as Kaffie goes, I've not drawn or written anything this month (shocking, I know), but I did grab some fresh art supplies and leafed through some manuals at 'Michaels' and discovered that I've been holding my pencils in a very sub-optimal way so hopefully when I do draw again, you should see some improvement in the quality of my sketching. I also decided to join the burgeoning babyfur community on twitter and created an account there it's, unfortunately, suspended (possibly indefinitely) at the moment but you'll find me at www.twitter.com/KaffieKitty

After skipping it last month, I'm returning to discuss: TL 4 - Furries of the Sail. While GURPS' own treatment of this epoch is, unfortunately, somewhat Eurocentric, it does note that many of these technologies and innovations were underway in China and the Middle-East which entered TL 4 earlier, but as the consequences were broadly similar, I'm going to try avoiding region specific stuff in my overview.

Unlike most of the epochs previously covered, TL 4 is not easily defined by any one material or technology so we'll be treating the keystone technologies in piecemeal fashion as I generally feel the consequences of most of them would have been largely indistinguishable from the world we inhabit.

Communication: The printing press allowed for books and similar documents to be reproduced more quickly and accurately than before thus facilitating the spread of knowledge. This could be different in a furry world in two cases - the first is that, if there was no Roman Furry Empire, different parts of furrydom might have drastically different alphabets which hinder the spread of printing technology the other is that, if furries possess poor eyesight as many animals do, they might not have developed written languages at all and while these were both mentioned in earlier installments their effect here has just as much least as influence in terms of the modern furry world.

Governance: TL 4 saw the decline of feudalism in favour of absolute monarchies allowing for sophisticated government infrastructure and smoother running of bureaucratic systems. For furries, these could be affected by natural group dynamics of that species so something like horses or wolves would benefit in a very different way than, say, cats. The specifics would vary, of course, but the main change from our world would be that furs of a more solitary temperament would be less inclined to certain careers.

Magic and the Occult: This is he epoch where belief in the supernatural began to decline though new pseudosciences did arise to take their place. In a world where magic is real, however, I believe the trend would be similar to what happened in the sciences with experimenters taking an empirical approach to traditional magic leading to changes there as well though naturally whether a given magical system lends itself to that sort of approach will depend on the specifics of the setting, but even if it fails to generate novel effects, furrydom's understanding of the arcane arts would grow either way.

Military: The changes to government and communication also changed the battlefield. With feudalism in decline, it became more and more common to pay a scuttage fee to hire mercenaries rather than serve in a liege's army oneself. This resulted in armies being larger and cheaper than before with most soldiers being unarmed and equipped with, perhaps, a spear or some kind of firearm. As noted previously, I believe furries would be less inclined to war than humans due to valuing different sorts of resources, but under an absolute monarch in this era that could change somewhat. Nevertheless, I feel most furry wars would be relatively small scale compared to our own world.

Science & Technology: It became increasingly apparent in this time frame that the Classical authors were not only fallible, but provably wrong about a number of things Aristotle's theory of how vision works having been discredited by Ibn Haytham, for example, led to a re-examination of the natural world and new theories to explain it - first and foremost being Isaac Newton's Theory of Gravity which replaced the earlier idea of Natural Motion. This also indirectly led to calculus and other advanced forms of mathematics. It seems to me that furries with the ability to fly might have realized the falsity of Natural Motion earlier than humans, but perhaps not - people with sight believed Aristotle's ideas even though they were demonstrably incorrect.

Transportation: As you might expect, 'The Age of the Sail' saw the creation of larger ships capable of transoceanic voyages. This allowed for the cheaper and more rapid transportation of people and cargo this was a boon to mercantile pursuits as well as opening the doors to colonialism. Both of these seem like they could have realized differently in a furry world, however. Depending on dietary differences from humans, furries might have a difficult time feeding themselves on prolonged sea voyages which would result in land routes being viable for a much longer time. Also, we once again come to the fact that furry civilizations would need different resources than humans which would result in less colonialism as well as different resources would be valued differently by different species resulting in less incentive to control them. Of course, most colonial projects actually lost money in the real world too so once again logic doesn't necessarily work here.

That about covers TL 4 so what do you think of the ideas proposed? How would they impact the lives of your characters in the modern day?

Well, thanks for taking time from your busy schedules to read my journal *hugs* I hope to see you all again next month, but for now...

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Kaffre talks Candy #47

Name: Coca Cola Classic
Manufacturer: Coca-Cola
Size: 710mL bottle
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: Consists of a dark coloured carbonated beverage supposedly flavoured like Kola nut.
Opinion: A product that requires no introduction, Coca Cola I haven't reviewed till now, but as I lack a fifth item this month, it seems like a good time to use it. Coca Cola is, for the most part, a pretty standard tasting cola which is unsurprising as it was the first beverage of its kind. Compared to most colas, Coke is drier and less sweet which sounds odd, but is, in fact, pretty enjoyable. Personally, I'm not very particular about what sort of pop I drink, but grab coke pretty frequently and will continue to do so in the foreseeable future.

Name: Fox's Glacier Fruits
Manufacturer: Big Bear Confectionary
Size: 195 gram bag
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Consists of fruit flavoured hard candies with a roughly ice cube shape and individually packaged in bowtie wrappers.
Opinion: Another British treat, this product features six flavours (blackcurrant, lemon, lime, orange, raspberry, and strawberry) and tastes something like fruit juice concentrate with not quite enough water added - unsurprising as that's the main ingredient. Despite their simplicity, however, I thought these little candies were pretty tasty and while I doubt I'll be purchasing them again, I would happily snack on them!

Name: Hello Kitty Lucky Stars Candy
Manufacturer: Boston America Corp
Size: 42.5 gram tin
Where Purchased: Midori
Description: Consists of red and white star-shaped dextrose tablets. Come in a red metal tin designed to look like a Chinese carry-out container and decorated with pictures of Hello Kitty.
Opinion: This candy has a vaguely fruity flavour (maybe banana or pineapple) that's not really sweet or tart. Overall, I thought the candy was pretty good, but very generic and probably wouldn't buy it again. On the other paw, several people have already admired the tin so that's kinda nice...

Name: Little Debbie Be My Valentine Cakes
Manufacturer: McKee Foods
Size: 312 gram box of ten cakes
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Consists of heart shaped pieces of devil's food cake with cream sandwiched between them that are then coated in milk chocolate and decorated with a sort of drizzled pattern they come bundled in packages of two (presumably for sharing with your valentine)
Opinion: These cakes are quite rich and chocolatey which contrasts nicely with the sweetness of the cream filling. The chocolate coating tasted a bit cheap, but it didn't really detract from my enjoyment too much. Overall, this was a fairly pleasant snack and I would definitely consider buying them again next year.

Name: Toffypops
Manufacturer: Lyon's Biscuits
Size: 120 gram package
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Consists of shallow biscuits with an indentation at the top that's been filled with toffee and then topped with a layer of milk chocolate.
Opinion: Initially, I expected this British snack to have a crunchy type of toffee and was surprised to find it uses the chewy kind instead and while the texture was a bit strange at first, it grew on me rather quickly and the taste goes quite well with chocolate. Overall, these were pretty good and while I'm not sure whether I'd purchase them again or not, I am glad to have sample them.

New Year's Journal 2019! + Kaffre talks Candy #46

Greetings and welcome to my very first journal of 2019! *sounds noisemaker*

To begin I'd like to affirm this year's resolutions and how they relate to my presence here on Furaffinity and the babyfur community in general.
1. To continue to focus upon my health. I got new glasses and nearly finished all the dental work I needed in 2018. Therefore, in 2019 I'll be trying to find a new physician I can get to more easily and get a long overdue check-up! This also applies to my mental health situation - about a year ago I was formally diagnosed with ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder) since I rarely interacted with others outside of structured environments like school, the full extent of my social deficits never really became apparent until I graduated and tried to enter the workforce. That's where I'd like help from you guys please give me honest feedback on my comments, journals etc so that I can try to improve my social skills in the coming weeks and months.
2. I say this every year, but I also want to try to draw and write more I don't know if I'll be any more successful this time, but I've also decided to try to overcome my dislike of social media and open a Twitter account as quite a few of my babyfur friends are there and it would open up another way for me to engage with the community! I'll be sure to let everyone know my handle when I post my February journal.

Beyond that, Christmas and New Year's went OK. I didn't really do anything special, but I did get to spend them with my family which is always nice! Watching my nephews play with their new gifts was a lot more fun than opening stuff myself and even though they had to go home fairly early Christmas Day and thus disrupted our own Holiday Dinner, I'm glad they came out to spend the holidays with us. Hopefully it will become a tradition of sorts! We're currently in the middle of a cold snap with temperatures dipping down into the -30s, but it's set to end soon and usher in some more seasonal weather.

I've decided to postpone TL 4: The Furry Renaissance. The main reason for this is that it's getting late in the month and I don't know if there'll be time to write it up, but I'm also not really sure if people like the monthly topics as nobody really seems to respond anymore... Plus, TL4 is the traditional dividing point between GURPS: Low-Tech and GURPS: High-Tech so I feel justified in having a buffer episode of sorts here. That said, I am still including my candy review, however, as it was already written up and I don't see any reason for it to go to waste...

Well, I guess that's it for January. Thanks for taking the time to read my journal *kerhugs* How are the rest of you enjoying 2019 thus far?

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Kaffre Talks Candy #46:

Name: Barq's Root Beer
Manufacturer: Coca-Cola
Size: 355mL can
Where Purchased: Dollar Tree
Description: Consists of a dark coloured carbonated beverage.
Opinion: Where most root beers are flavoured with either sassafras or sarsaparilla (something sassy either way), Barq's supposedly utilizes a different flavouring altogether. The flavour is fairly similar to standard root beers (a sort of mellow sweetness), but has a certain sharpness that is unusual. Overall, I enjoyed this product and while not the biggest fan of root beer, I would consider purchasing it again.

Name: Dairy Milk Oreo (Mint Flavour)
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Size: 120 gram bar
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Consists of a large bar of Dairy Milk chocolate where the centre is filled with a green substance that seems to be a mixture of mint oreo filling and oreo cookie crumbs. The bar is divided into eight rows and three columns for a total of 24 segments.
Opinion: This British import seems to be a limited edition and features a sweet minty flavour while the cookie bits added a pleasant crunchy texture. Overall, I enjoyed this bar and would probably buy it again it weren't a limited release, but for now I'll probably stick to the somewhat more common Mint Crisp instead.

Name: Kinder Chocolate Happy
Manufacturer: Ferrero
Size: 102 gram bag
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Consist of foil-wrapped pieces of white chocolate with a thin layer of milk chocolate coating. The pieces are ovate in shape.
Opinion: This was an interesting product in that it resembled a Kinder Surprise in both taste and form (both are egg-shaped in a sense) while being very distinct in construction. Proportionally, this product contains less milk-chocolate due to its shape, but this doesn't detract much from the taste. Overall, I liked this product and will consider buying it again...

Name: Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes (Vanilla)
Manufacturer: McKee Foods
Size: 270 gram box of six cakes
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Consists of Christmas-tree shaped pieces of vanilla cake with cream sandwiched between them that are then coated in white chocolate and decorated with red frosting stripes and green coloured sugar.
Opinion: This cake has a pleasing texture and while it is a tad sweeter than I'd have liked, the cake was very tasty too while coloured sugar gave the whole thing an interesting crunchiness. Overall, I enjoyed this item and will probably look for it again next year!

Name: Ramune (Orange)
Manufacturer: Kimura Drink Co.
Size: 200mL bottle
Where Purchased: Midori
Description: Consists of a yellow-orange carbonated beverage sold in an unusual Codd-neck bottle.
Opinion: This Japanese import was quite fizzy, but the flavour was quite different from standard North American orange-flavoured sodas in having mellower, less acidic taste that almost reminded me of pineapple. Still it was pretty tasty and despite the small size and expense, I am interested to try some of the other flavours in future.

Festive Journal 2018 + Kaffre talks Candy #45

Now that it's finally winter, I'd like to welcome everyfur to my December journal *distributes candy canes and hot chocolate* Thus far, December has been wet and mild, but otherwise uneventful as both of my dental appointments and my nephew's birthday (Dec 12) went off without incident. I did, unfortunately, wind up going a bit over-budget on gifts for the holidays, but I feel that's standard for this time of year and I should be able to replenish the money taken from my savings in relatively short order. I'm also pleased to tell you all about my gift to myself this year - I sponsored a Canada Lynx with WWF and recieved a charming plush of it whom I plan to name 'Marley' in honour of my seldom seen and lynx twins Marlene and Marlowe though I am, at present, open to other suggestions.

I don't really have any concrete plans for the remainder of this month, but my brother and his two children may be coming to spend the holiday with us which would certainly be nice and provide a bit of extra excitement for the holidays. Beyond that, my cat, Parker, is a bit underweight so we'll be trying to fatten her up a bit before the vet spays her this spring as the other main project in my life. Finally, I say if every month, but I really do need to get back into drawing and/or writing a semi-regular basis and that will definitely be one of my resolutions for this coming year though, lacking a personal scanner, I'm not 100% sure when I'll be able to share any results with my many friends here on FA, but I'm sure I'll manage it eventually!

Well that's about if for real-life. Kaffre has past few weeks since reverting to his normal age being extra good, but alas any hope of receiving the pet he asked Santa Claws for is in vain though he may be lucky enough to get some toy animals to practice caring for and maybe some books on the subject. For this month's topic of conversation, we continue our voyage through Furry history with as we delve into: TL 3 - Medieval Furrydom. Unfortunately, this particular, installment turned about a bit more Eurocentric than I'd have liked, but ultimately Europe experienced more change in this time period due to instability resulting from the collapse of the Roman Empire than most other regions where things had greater measure of continuity.

In the real world, the medieval period began with the collapse of the Roman Empire and the resulting lack of a strong centralized government led to loss of infrastructure. As a result of this (and the Church's opposition to slavery), the majority of technological advances during the Medieval period were related to finding ways to replace human labour. While primitive watermills and windmills had, of course, been used during the iron age, but their design was much improved during the middle ages and they were used in far greater numbers than before. The other major way in which slave labour was replaced was by using animals which, depending upon whether or not 'normal' animals exist, might not be feasible, but could still have ramifications for furries by virtue of how it was achieved. Firstly, animal breeding allowed for larger more powerful beasts of burden (horses of the modern size first appeared in this epoch) while the other was a result of superior harnesses which furries might benefit from. Particularly the quadrupedal furs popularly referred to as 'ferals' who would be quite grateful at not being choked while pulling. Paper was another important invention in this epoch, but I can't see it being much different from our world unless the furries' vision was so poor as to preclude reading, but even that would affect any written languages regardless of medium and would largely do away with any need for paper anyway - though if the paper is thick enough, it can be used as a construction material which could be useful. In Kaffre's world, all of these changes happened as they did in ours and while Kaffie has yet to encounter the four-legged varieties of equines, I feel he would be suitably impressed by their stature.

Warfare in the medieval period tended to feature smaller armies which, combined with the previously mentioned improvements in horse-breeding meant that cavalry was very important as it allowed a force of soldier to ride out, attack, and return to their fortifications within a single day. Therefore, this era saw improvements in saddle-design, the introduction of stirrups, couched lances, asymmetrical bows, and other paraphernalia to facilitate fighting from horseback. In a world without four-legged riding beasts, these technologies would never have developed. The middle-ages are also the time period when Black Powder first appeared and while it saw very limited use outside of siege warfare, it is worth considering whether furries would've developed it. In our world, Black Powder is believed to have been discovered by Taoist alchemists experimenting with saltpetre (KNO3) and as discussed in the installment of furry warfare, I'm of the opinion that a furry society would be significantly less likely to invent the stuff - mostly due to differences in diet and the possibility of not having surpluses of animal dung and/or carcasses lying around for deposits of potassium nitrate to form under. So far as Kaffre's world goes, I still think war would've been less frequent among furries which may have pushed back some of these inventions.

In the realm of the occult, the medieval period sees two significant changes.The first of these involved comprehensive 'scientific' theories about how magic functions (in those worlds where it does) this makes it possible for magic-wielding furs to design their own spells and rituals from scratch as opposed to compiling them piecemeal from disparate sources. The other is that, despite the church's policy being that "Witches don't exist," there were, in many places, rumours of furs making dark pacts with malicious entities in exchange for magical power. Naturally, the impact either of these have are contingent upon the existence of magic and, to a lesser extent, how much furries actually believe in it as well as the nature of religion practiced by said furs. Sadly, Kaffre's world is devoid of magic apart from occasional games of make-believe and I've not really given much thought as to what their religions might be like yet.

How have the innovations introduced in this epoch affected the lives of your characters?

Well, I guess that's it for this month. Thanks for stopping by to chat with me! *holiday hugs* Anyway, I hope to see everyfur again happy and healthy in 2019! *nuzzles and purrs*

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[b]Kaffre talks Candy #45[/b]

Name: Fox's Chunky Cookies
Manufacturer: Fox's Biscuits
Size: 175 gram package
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Consists of cookies with cookies with chocolate chunks embedded in them and a coating of milk chocolate on the bottom.
Opinion: British product I've not tried before. Despite a number of similarities, these are a bit different from most North American chocolate chip cookies in that they're lighter in colour, and are harder possibly to facilitate being dunked in tea. They are, however, quite tasty nevertheless and I would definitely consider buying them on a semi-regular basis were they more readily available.

Name: Pocky, Chocolate Banana
Manufacturer: Thai-Glico
Size: 70 gram box
Where Purchased: Midori
Description: Consists of thin biscuit-sticks one end of which has been lightly dipped in a yellow, banana-flavoured compound.
Opinion: A Thai import I've seen around, but never tried until now. This product was an interesting one imparting a very artificial, but nonetheless tasty banana flavour. Overall, I enjoyed this product, but am unsure whether I'll buy it again as there are other varieties of Pocky that I like better.

Name: Ramune, Original Flavour
Manufacturer: Japan Sangaria Beverage Company
Size: 200mL bottle
Where Purchased: Midori
Description: Consists of a clear carbonated beverage sold in an unusual Codd-neck bottle.
Opinion: This product is a Japanese import - the name being a localization of the English word 'Lemonade' though it does come in a multitude of flavours. The product itself was pleasantly fizzy, but I found the flavour somewhat milder than I'd have preferred. Despite this, I did enjoy this item and am looking forward to sampling some of the other flavours.

Name: Smarties, Orange
Manufacturer: Nestle
Size: 38 gram tube
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Consists of orange-flavoured chocolate pieces coated in an orange coloured candy coating
Opinion: Limited Edition British product. While I have yet to sample the British iteration of Smarties, these are very similar to the Canadian version except for the addition of a pleasant dose of orange flavouring. Therefore, your opinion of this product is mostly a matter of how you feel about orange-flavoured chocolates - I like them! Overall, I enjoyed this product and would likely buy it again if it were available year-round.

Name: Tim Tams
Manufacturer: Arnott's Biscuits Limited
Size: 200 gram package (11 cookies)
Where Purchased: Food Basics
Description: Consist of two chocolate biscuits with a layer of chocolate cream between them and then enrobed in a layer of milk chocolate.
Opinion: An Australian product I was unfamiliar with, but decided to sample. These cookies are, if nothing else, very certain about what they're trying to be and do it quite well being very crunchy, very chocolatey, and very sweet. Of these, only the sweetness bothers me at all and, worst case scenario, all three can be rectified with a glass of milk! Overall, I enjoyed these cookies and would certainly consider trying them (or one of their many variations) again at some point in the future.

Good 2B Big Again Journal + Kaffre talks Candy #44

Greetings once again, Journal readers and welcome back! Last month's journal was, unfortunately marred by me being temporarily regressed back into an itsy bitsy newborn kitten from October 29 until just now. While I did enjoy all the cuddling and attention that comes with being so little, I am also very glad to be three again. I missed being able to see, hear, and talk! Besides, baby formula at every meal gets old rather quickly. On the plus side, being a good kitty is very easy when you're that little so I'm expecting lots and lots of presents from Santa Claws! *rubs paws excitedly* I just hope he remembers that I'm back to my right age again when it's time for selecting any gifts... *is worried now*

Now that I'm back to my proper age again, however, I'm very excited to talk about the last two months! For starters, my dental work has been proceeding nicely and while I will need to schedule some further extractions, those are unlikely to happen until some time in the new year so I'm in the clear until January at the earliest! The 100th anniversary of the end of WWI was a suitably somber occasion an while I didn't really do anything special, I do feel that it was an extra-special Remembrance Day. Beyond that, there are a few family gatherings scheduled in December including my nephew's birthday on December 12 (the same day as MJ), but otherwise things seem to be pretty quiet. The only other thing worth mentioning is that I recently started watching Harvey Street Kids which I found entertaining - Audrey, Dot, and Lotta's personalities have all changed quite a bit from their respective comic book iterations, but feel like natural outgrowths of the series' aged up and modernized take on the classic characters and I found myself enjoying their adventures and looking forward to Season 2!

Anyway, following last month's regression-related hiatus, this month we'll be returning to our exploration of furry history with: TL 2 - Furries of the Iron Age! Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Iron Age, was defined primarily by the emergence of Iron as a material. While inferior to bronze in many ways, the fact that iron ore is far easier to obtain made the use of metal tools far more common. As noted in previous installments, I believe furries would've been less likely to war against each other than early humans so we won't go into too much detail though we should note that the advent of iron would make it far easier to equip such armies that did exist with the weapons and armour that they would require though as furries vary rather considerably in terms of bodyshape, mass production and stockpiling of such gear still wouldn't be very practical.

As with TL 1, familiar species continue to progress towards their modern forms - horses, for example, become large enough to ride which spells the end of the chariot. Similar changes manifested in other domesticate species as well though whether corresponding increases in size would affect their anthropomorphic equivalents would naturally be contingent upon the specifics of the world. Furthermore, many TL2 innovations like glassblowing, theoretical mathematics, and architectural improvements are likely to proceed pretty much exactly as they did in our world. While wind and water driven mills first appeared in this epoch as well, but saw little use as slaves labour was much cheaper. In a furry world, however, the relative absence of warfare could result in such technology being adopted earlier. Alternately, if the furries were noticeably bigger and stronger than humans, it might've never been adopted.

As far as magic goes, TL2 is where theurgy was introduced - Theurgy is where elaborate rituals are performed to achieve a state of unity with the Divine (henosis) as a means of perfecting the self. Another form of magic that appeared during this era is the power to create imbue an object with an Anima, or spark of life which could result in anything from golem-like creatures to talking brass heads. Numerology, astrology and other more sophisticated forms of divination also appear while alchemy is reinvigorated by the discovery of new materials.

Unfortunately, as nothing about this particular era seems to deviate from the real world all that much to me, I'm struggling to think of how any of it would affect Kaffre or his family in the modern day, but I am nevertheless very excited to hear what the rest of you think iron-age furries might have lived either in general or juxtaposed with RL human settlements.

Anyway, I guess that's it for this month, I'll try to post my December journal before Xmas, but given my history with such things, I'd rather not make any promises. Before I go, however, I've promised to remind everyone that lil' Jennie hosts two story-time streams on (most) Sundays @ 11AM and 10PM Eastern time. The address is www.picarto.tv/drawwifjennie I don't think you need to register to watch/listen to the stories though you might have to if you want to join the chat8.. *bye-bye hugs* And now...

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Kaffre talks Candy #44:

Name: Cheetos Snowflakes
Manufacturer: Fritolay
Size: 180 gram bag
Where Purchased: Food Basics
Description: Snowflakes consist of puffed cornmeal pieces that come in a variety of shapes that are flavoured with white cheddar and can, supposedly, be assembled into a snowflake, but most of mine were damaged in some way.
Opinion: A Limited Edition item, this product strikes me as being something like a cross between cheetos and corn twists - they have a very cheeto-like texture, but the white cheddar is very close to the buttery flavour used for corn twists. Overall, I enjoyed this snack, but am not really sure whether I'd buy them again as

Name: Maltesers
Manufacturer: Mars
Size: 100 gram bag
Where Purchased: NoFrills
Description: Maltesers consists on a sphere of malted milk cookie about 3cm across that is then enrobed in milk chocolate.
Opinion: This product is an interesting one. It was originally marketed as a diet candy for women and the centre is a type of nutritional biscuit designed for infants. Anyway, typical of Mars' products, the chocolate is of good quality, but for me the cookie is the star imparting a unique flavour and plenty of crunch. Overall, I liked this product and would definitely consider buying them again in the future.

Name: Pocky, Cookies n' Cream
Manufacturer: Thai Glico
Size: 70 gram box
Where Purchased: Cataraqui Town Centre, Snack and Lottery Kiosk
Description: Pocky consists of thin biscuit-sticks one end of which has been lightly dipped in a flavoured compound of some kind. In this case, white chocolate with powdered Oreo.
Opinion: This product is an interesting one as the 'stick' portion appears to be made from a different material than other pocky varieties I've sampled, but tastes pretty similar. The coating is mostly reminiscent of white chocolate with the cookie adding a bit of flavour, but mostly contributing to the texture. Overall, I liked this product and would eat it again, but don't know if I'd necessarily choose it over other flavours of Pocky.

Name: Pringles, Mystery Flavour
Manufacturer: Pringles Manufacturing Company
Size: 156 gram tube
Where Purchased: Food Basics
Description: Pringles consist of special potato chips made from a potato-based flour and baked in a very specific and consistent shape that lends itself well to 'stacking'.
Opinion: Despite the somewhat ominous title, these chips were fairly enjoyable having a cheesy yet spicy flavour. My first thought was quesadillas, but I suspect the actual answer to be somewhat less specific maybe nachos, or cheddar and jalapenos? Overall, I enjoyed this product and would probably buy it again were they didn't appear to be a limited time offer.

Name: Rockets
Manufacturer: Rockets Candy Company
Size: 1.8 kilogram bag
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: Rockets (known as 'smarties' to US denizens) consist of small tablet candies shaped as biconcave discs 1cm in diameter and about half that thickness. Rockets are individually wrapped in rolls of 15 pieces.
Opinion: A staple Halloween treat, rockets offer a sweet yet tangy flavour in a portable and relatively cheap package. Each colour is supposedly associated with a different flavour, but they all taste fairly similar to me though a few do have a vaguely citrus taste to them. Overall, these were better than I remember and while I'll happily eat them, they're not really the kind of thing I'd go out of my way to pick up.

Mommy and Daddy Kitten enter the living room where the partygoers have assembled and gingerly place a festively decorated bassinet on the floor.

Inside, the freshly regressed Kaffre is attired in a fleecy sleeper and a diaper nearly as big as himself. As a newborn kitty, he cannot see or hear yet, but his keen nose picks up the familiar scents of his friends causing him to coo happily around the pacifier he's lazily nursing upon.

Adding a party hat to the kitten's ensemble, the grownups invite the guests to give the birthday boy his annual hug to kick off the party before he needs to nap again...

Unbeknownst to me, I was volunteered to help out with a Halloween party this weekend and, as a consequence, will almost certainly have limited or non-existent internet access from Friday through Monday.

Therefore, please do not be alarmed if my Birthday journal (Oct 29) winds up being a bit late this year - my annual regression into a newborn kitty will still occur, it just might be delayed by a day or two..

Thanks for your understanding. I'll try and be extra cuddly and soft when it does occur to make up for any inconvenience *apology hugs*

Impending Kitten Birthday + Kaffre talks Candy #43

Greetings loyal Journal-Readers and welcome to another installment of Kaffre's Journal! September has actually been a relatively quiet month for me as the only things to have happened that were out of the ordinary were a banking error (which was successfully resolved), visiting my Grandparents for a week, and attending the Garlic Festival in Verona - I bought Buckwheat Honey and Garlic Mousse! I also considered going to the city fair, but as my nephews weren't staying with my brother that weekend it wasn't feasible for us to do so - though we did manage to attend Poutine Fest in the City Park which was rather fun and provided a welcome opportunity to play with the squirrels and chipmunks who inhabit said park. I don't think they were really interested in the poutine (more of a seagull or pigeon thing), but they definitely seemed to appreciate the peanuts we brought to share with them!

I don't really have anything new to say concerning art, videogames, or RPGs this month, but before we move on to the monthly topic of discussion, I wanted to remind everyone that from my birthday (October 29) until I post my November Journal, Kaffre will be regressed into a tiny and helpless newborn kitten for everyone to dote upon and snuggle so be sure to apply for your kitten-hugging vouchers today as they tend to go fast! Now that that's out of the way, we may as well move on quickly to this month's topic of conversation. This month we'll be continuing into the history of the furry world as we enter: TL 1 - Bronze-Age Furries!

While I inadvertently touched upon a few bronze-age technologies in the last installment, I fear it's not really possible to avoid anachronisms (if they can even be called that in an alternate universe) when organizing history along technological lines as such things different technology developed differently in different places for different purposes. In any case, we'll begin as we did last month by talking about furries themselves.

While stone-age peoples may well have begun the process of domesticating animals, the bronze age is when the practice began in earnest and because of this - the bronze age is where many domestic species first come into being in a recognizable form. Of particular interest to us, Kaffre is based upon a species that first appeared in this epoch. When humans began to practice large scale agriculture, they created an environment favourable to rodents and birds that ate their crops which in turn drew predators some of which were also dangerous to humans or their livestock such as venomous snakes - cats, however, proved adept at killing all of these. Depending on whether the rodents in questions were sapient or not, these earliest felines might have been worshipped for ensuring good crops with their hunting skills or treated as a despised undercaste living on the outskirts of herbivorous society performing the shameful and unclean tasks related to the handling of dead furs and animals. I'm not quite sure which of these I imagine being the case in Kaffre's world, but would suggest that it probably varied by individual furry settlements. Of other domesticated species, ferrets probably held a similar role to cats while I envision dogs as being servitors created from wolves either themselves or after being captured by another species. Herbivorous ungulates are probably analogues of early humans serving as farmers, merchants, herdsmen and similar occupations. Though horses might also have served as a kind of elite warriors possibly fighting from chariots drawn by their non-morphic kin, ferals, or even furries of lower social status.

The impacts of intensive agriculture and smelting would be roughly similar to those they had in the real world, but there are a few unique factors that could enter play in the furry world - unlike humans, not all furry species would favour grasslands and hence the cradles of Furry civilization could be very different from those we see in the real world which would also affect the types of crops and livestock that are kept. Likewise, if the furries diet is sufficiently different from humans (cats being obligate carnivores, or bunnies eating mostly grass) agriculture may either not develop at all or be almost unrecognizable. Likewise, if non-sapient animals don't exist then furry livestock generates some particularly unsettling questions. Since slavery, as it's usually defined, began in the bronze age this could replace some tasks normally performed by domesticated animals in our world, but existence of furry cannibalism could remain a disturbing problem.

As the first cities came into being furries developed written languages and began to develop the various sciences. These would likely be similar to early humans apart from some species possibly demonstrating an affinity for certain trades. Some furry worlds, however, may possess magic or technologies that don't exist in the real world - while it wasn't really touched upon in my previous journal, I feel that any magic possessed by stone-age furries would've been rudimentary aimed mainly at communing with and propitiating the spirits of plants, animals, and natural features. With broze-age, however, furry magi might learn to divine the future from observing the stars, brew wondrous potions, or summon up and bargain with powerful spirits using appropriate rituals.

In my own setting, magic doesn't exist and non-sapient animals are plentiful so those don't factor in at all. Furries do, however, show a high degree of variation in both diet and habitat preference which could have certainly affected settlement patterns in the ancient world. Particularly as furry species mightn't necessarily share a common ancestor. I imagine Kaffre's ancestors were probably hunter-gatherers for at the start of the bronze-age who would've been pushed into more heavily wooded areas via competition from herbivore agriculturalists and larger more powerful predators alike. Here they would've probably practiced light agriculture while simultaneously cultivating an environment favourable for their preferred prey animals. Given their affinity for fish, but dislike of water, basket-fishing or fishtraps might see use as well. While unlikely to found towns themselves, cats would probably come to trade for items they can't acquire on their own (dairy products, perhaps) I'm not really sure what they'd be able to offer in return though animal pelts, leather, certainly would've been possibilities as could their services as exterminators or warriors - male lions aside, felines aren't really built for fighting head-to-head, but could make for respectable assassins, skirmishers, or scouts.

Well, I guess that's it for the bronze-age. How do you think your fursona or its ancestors would've lived during the rise of furry civilization?

Thanks again for taking time out of your busy day to read my journals *huggles* Also, given that I'll be only just tiny, suggestions for Halloween costumes suitable for newborn Kaffre to wear would be much appreciated - It needs to be warm and comfy, but allow for easy changings. Also cute, of course!

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[b]Kaffre talks Candy #43[/b]

Name: Kinder Bueno (Dark)
Manufacturer: Ferrero
Size: 43 gram bar
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Kinder Bueno consists of two smaller bars packaged together not unlike Twix or Twirl. The bars themselves each consist of a wafer cookie filled with hazelnut cream and coated in dark chocolate. The bar appears to consist of four segments, but these don't seem to help it break any more evenly.
Opinion: A limited edition item I hadn't seen before and grabbed up. Unsurprisingly, this bar is very much similar to the Kinder Bueno, but for the substitution of dark chocolate for milk the difference is definitely noticeable, but for me the hazelnut flavour tends to overwhelm the chocolate in most Kinder products and so the switch to dark chocolate isn't much of change - then again, I'm not the biggest fan of dark chocolate anyway and a connoisseur might like it more, but for me it's about the same as the standard Bueno - very tasty!

Name: Kinder Joy
Manufacturer: Ferrero
Size: 20 gram egg
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: Kinder Joy consists an egg-shaped container that can be divided into two separate compartments with an odd spade-like plastic spoon. One compartment contains a toy while the other holds a mixture of milk and chocolate creams with two 'crispy cocoa wafer bites' in it - originally developed for markets where the standard Kinder Eggs would melt, but also legal in the USA since the toy isn't inside the food.
Opinion: An item I've not seen in Canada before and snapped up! The eggs I bought were Jurassic World themed and so my toy was a white plastic dinosaur (probably meant to be a fossil) with two plastic bits that could be secured around it to form the body - the card included called it a Dimorphodon. The creams tasted a lot like a Kinder Egg in semi-liquid form while I found the wafer bites to be somewhat insipid, but felt that they provided some welcome texture. Overall, an enjoyable item, but I think I like the standard Kinder Eggs better.

Name: Lay's Pizza Chips
Manufacturer: Lay's
Size: 170 gram bag
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: Lay's Pizza Chips consist of standard-looking potato chips with a reddish cast to them from the flavourings used.
Opinion: A limited time item, I grabbed for review. The chips taste is somewhat muddled, but I can definitely detect cheese, garlic, tomatoes, and oregano which is a pretty good deconstruction of a cheese pizza, but somehow things just didn't click for me and while I'm not the biggest pizza fan there is, I can't really see myself buying these again even if they were available - they're not bad per se, but there just so many other flavour of chip that I like better.

Name: Lay's Taco Chips
Manufacturer: Lay's
Size: 170 gram bag
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: Lay's Taco Chips consist of standard-looking potato chips with an orange cast to them from the flavourings used.
Opinion: A limited time item, I grabbed for review. As with Pizza flavoured chips above, I found the flavours rather muddled, but chips dominant flavour is definitely cumin, but cheese and onion were quite noticeable as well and the package also cited sour cream and tomato. While not particularly familiar enough with Tex-Mex cuisine to comment on the quality, I can say that I found these chips were fairly tasty and while I'm not sure whether I'd buy them again or not, I am very happy to have done so at least once.

Name: Starbucks Frappuccino (Mocha)
Manufacturer: Starbucks
Size: 281 mL bottle
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino consists of an opaque brown beverage darker on the bottom than the top (until shaken as directed on the bottle).
Opinion: An item I've had once before, but couldn't remember much of. Let me preface by saying I'm not quite sure what frappuccino is, but google suggests it's a portmanteau of 'frozen' and 'cappuccino' used by Starbucks for their iced coffees and thus similar or the Iced Capps served at Tim Hortons. The first few sips were somewhat bitter, but this quickly faded to creamy with an understated sweetness. The coffee flavour was quite a bit stronger than the chocolate which tends to be the case with mochas, but overall I liked the taste and while certainly not up to par with a freshly brewed iced coffee, I do think it's pretty good for something from a bottle on a dollar store shelf and may buy it again.

A Slightly Less August Journal + Kaffre talks Candy #42

Greeting once again loyal journal readers and welcome to another August Journal! It won't however, be quite so august as last year's as my bathrobe is in the wash and I'm out of bubble fluid for my pipe so we'll just have to conduct in diapers and t-shirts as usual though I did manage to procure juice for everyone! August, like the last two months has involved spending more time than usual away from home and, correspondingly I faced the similar challenges - eating too much fastfood resulting in being poor and feeling crummy, and having somewhat limited access to my computer. Fortunately, with September soon arriving my brother's children will be back in school and I will have more time to myself once again!

On somewhat less serious front, my save data on MKX became corrupted, forcing me to start over - PSN saved my actual achievements, but I do need to unlock a lot of the in-game stuff again (Krypt and so forth), but I can't really say I mind too much - it actually seems pretty fun so far though that might not last. I also recently bought Sims4 I've never played the franchise before and there was quite a steep learning curve (my first two sims died...), but I am slowly getting the hang of it, I think. Also, is it just me or do all of the 'Toddler' sims seem really bratty even with maximum stats?

I has also hoped to participate in the open playtest of Pathfinder 2nd edition, but a combination of not being able to assemble my usual group and not generally liking the content of the new game seems to have put the kibosh on that idea, but did get me thinking once more about my Babyfur RPG. That project fell to the wayside not just due to my laziness, but also because it was conceived as a vanity project and I'm not really sure what sort of campaigns, if any, people would want to run with it which makes it difficult to design appropriate mechanics therefore I'd like to ask you al directly: What sort of campaigns should a babyfur themed RPG be targeted at?

For this month's topic of conversation, I've decided to try something a bit new and try looking at different historical epochs through a Furry lens. Obviously, this will be less useful to those of you whose furry characters are the result of genetic experimentation, magic, aliens, or what have you, but hopefully it will prove a fun point of discussion anyway. Since I'll be using Tech Levels from the tabletop RPG GURPS for organizational purposes, we begin at TL 0 - The Stone Age of as I like to call it: Cavefurries

The first question we must ask ourselves concerns the furries themselves - are only modern species represented or were there furries based upon various megafauna long extinct in the modern era? This is a tricky question as while it can certainly be fun to include species no longer extant in the current era, it does raise the somewhat unsettling question of what exactly happened to the furries based on those species. A corollary to this is whether stone-age furry tribes consist of only a single species or incorporate many different types of fur. Due to differences in preferred habitat, I don't think all species would be found in every region, but do feel that furries would be wise enough to take advantage of the different skills possessed by the various furry types and so multi-species bands would be quite common.

The next thing to look at relates to the development of technology and how that have been affected by the different capabilities evidenced by furry species. Kaffre, for example, has a warm coat of fur and some handy claws so he items like animal pelts or flint knives would be less important to his survival than they would've been to early humans. Agriculture, for example, may have taken longer to develop for species who can simply graze on grass and leaves while the other technologies such as the bridle might appear early since the furries can test new designs on themselves. Fire is a trickier topic as while many furries can indeed keep themselves comfortably warm via fur and feather, readily digest uncooked food, and possess keen night-vision, not all species are equal in each of these regards. Most birds, for instance, have poor low-light vision and would doubtless appreciate being able to see predators approaching.

As part of this new approach, we can also examine reexamine topics covered in previous journals in a new light. Did prehistoric furries wear clothing for decoration or just go naked? Did they coexist with 'real' animals or were all lifeforms anthropomorphic? Careful readers of my previous journals will know my thoughts on both of those points, but I am excited to hear what the rest of you think life might've been like for the first furries. Also, whether you like this model for my Topic of the Month feature and what time periods you'd like me to discuss once I've reached the current era under GURPS?

Well, I guess that's about it for my august journal. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment it's much appreciated! *hugs* I'm not yet 100% sure what September will hold (beyond a Dentist Appointment on the 18h), but I'll try and get that month's journal out even earlier if I can!

Now I proudly present...

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Kaffre Talks Candy #42

Name: Barq's Cream Soda
Manufacturer: Coca-Cola
Size: 355mL can
Where Purchased: Sunshine Variety
Description: Consists of a transparent carbonated beverage flavoured with vanilla.
Opinion: A product I'd heard of, but not actually seen before. Vanilla is definitely the predominant flavour, but there's something else too presumably the grape juice cited on the packaging or possibly the PEG (polyethyene glycol) in any case, it has the same 'bite' as the brand's famed rootbeer. Overall, I enjoyed this item and will probably buy it again depending on the availability.

Name: Coca-Cola, Orange Sorbet
Manufacturer: Coca-Cola
Size: 500mL bottle
Where Purchased: Sunshine Variety
Description: Consists of a dark coloured carbonated beverage flavoured to taste kola and orange.
Opinion: A product I'd never seen before and scooped up. The beverage provides a refreshing citrus taste that's very distinct from the more common lemon and/or lime, but nevertheless tastes surprisingly good combined with Cola. Overall, I enjoyed this product and would buy it again if it were available. At the very least, I can create my own using the Freestyle machines at my local Wendy's...

Name: Kit-Kat (Mint Cream & Cookie Smash)
Manufacturer: Nestle
Size: 140 gram bar
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: This product consists of a fairly standard-looking Kit-Kat bar except that the wafers are 'shorter' and are topped with a white mint-flavoured substance.
Opinion: An item I'd never seen before. The overall effect is pretty similar to the standard variety Kit-Kat. The chocolate seemed a bit darker than usual, but it didn't have the characteristic bitterness of dark chocolate and the cream added a nice hit of mint flavour there was a bit of crispiness and cookie flavouring to the cream as well, but they weren't as noticeable as they might be due to the usual wafer cookie. Overall, I liked this product and might buy it again.

Name: Lays Grilled Cheese Chips
Manufacturer: Lays
Size: 170 gram bag
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: This product consists of fairly standard looking potato chips with a slight orange cast due to the flavourings used.
Opinion: A limited-time product I decided to snap up. These chips are intended to taste like a grilled cheese sandwich so, appropriately, cheddar seems to be the dominant flavour which is certainly a positive with me. One minor source of disappointment, for me, is the inclusion of ketchup flavouring as well - a flavour I'm not so fond of though it's not actually too bad here as the acidity is mitigated by the cheese. Overall, I enjoyed this item and would probably buy it again.

Name: Tic Tac (Bubblegum)
Manufacturer: Ferrero
Size: 98 gram container (200 pieces)
Where Purchased: Walmart
Description: Tic Tacs consist of small cylindrical candies with rounded ends. These particular ones are yellow and have the face of cartoon character Bart Simpson printed on them.
Opinion: A new product I decided to sample for review. The tic tacs are just as hard as I remember and not particularly substantial even when eating several at a time. As promised they feature a fairly strong bubblegum flavour. While not exactly unpleasant, however, the taste is very reminiscent of very cheap bubblegum of the sort that was once bundled with Hockey cards. Nevertheless, it was certainly an interesting product and nice change from the usual mint and orange flavoured candies.

Another late monthly journal + Kaffre talks Candy #41

Well, it's been an interesting month full of many ups and downs. My dental work went off without a hitch and I was able to encounter many cute wild or semi-wild animals: a skunk, a pheasant, a turkey, several bunnies and lots of seagulls, pigeons, ducks, and geese. At the same time, however, out pump broke depriving us of water and while visiting family is always nice, my brother's lack of internet at the moment did prove problematic and a cute baby cat of our acquaintance passed away (he looked a lot like Blaze and, by extension, Kaffre) which left me a bit depressed I'm afraid. Living with my brother also meant that I wound up eating out more than I'm used to which left me both poor and not feeling very well, but hopefully I can rectify both of those once August rolls around.

There are also some financial matters that I need to deal with before the end of the month, but I feel confident that they can still be resolved with a minimum of fuss and, even if I can't, I should be able to afford food and rent if not much else so while I am under a bit of stress at the moment please don't worry too much - I'll feel better soon once the matter has been dealt with one way or another!

For this month's topic of conversation, I have selected: Human Holdovers - Relics of Domestication in Furry World.

This topic falls somewhere between the grooming and clothing-based journals that appeared previously. While it's not really applicable to Kaffre or any of his closest friends there do exist certain procedures that people perform on animals that are occasionally represented in furry artwork. This month we'll take a look at some of these and how they might fit into a anthropomorphic milieu.

The first instance I'd like to look at is grooming conventions. Poodle characters, for example, are frequently depicted bearing that breed's iconic fur-style even if they aren't a involved in aquatic sports it was developed for. While this could certainly represent a popular fashionable fur-style among certain canines and whose origin, if known at all, is considered irrelevant to those who wear it. Similarly, anthropomorphic sheep are frequently depicted as being sheared - a procedure that while necessary for the health of domesticated sheep is a bit weird for anthros unless for some reason they selectively breed themselves for peak wool production a preposition that somehow strikes me as eve stranger than the existence of human-made animal breeds in and of themselves which can theoretically make sense if furries evolved from (or were created from) animal stock or are actually simple analogues for real-breeds. Maine Coons, for example, mightn't exist, but large long-haired tabbies with a similar temperament certainly would and would be indistinguishable to casual observation.

A step beyond this we find medical procedures performed on animals. Some of these such as ear or tail cropping in dogs or the removal of wolf teeth in horses might possibly be practiced by furries as they could be argued to offer benefits to the animal even as they are increasingly considered barbaric since the furs might be able to perform them in ways that inflict less suffering than is the case with animals in real life. Other practices like declawing or debarking, however, are entirely for human convenience and don't really make sense for a furry under normal circumstances. Branding horses or fitting rings through a bull's nose might be practiced for purposes of self-expression or as a rite-of-passage while descenting or dehorning could, conceivably be performed to make the furry's life easier in a modern urban environment, but how popular such practices would probably vary by time and place. Depending upon how reproduction is handled, spaying and neutering could be very common or unheard of depending upon its effect on the patient's quality of life - a ferret, for example, with the reproductive cycle of her animal ancestors would probably sign up.

As previously noted, none of these are particularly relevant to Kaffre as none of the above are generally performed on cats except for neutering - which, as discussed in a previous journal, doesn't apply as, while furries in Kaffre's universe do have an estrus-cycle, it's very low-key and only real affects when the female is able to be impregnated - and declawing which is both increasingly rare in the real world and doesn't really make sense to do with a furry since Kaffre can be told what not to scratch and, if necessary, put in his trusty KittenMittens until the lesson sinks in. Do any practices of this type affect your own fursonae?

Well, I guess that's it for this month. Thanks for taking time to read my journal - I know I promised to get it out earlier this month so I should probably apologize for that *sorry hugs* I promised to do my very best to ensure that my August journal comes out more than a few days before the end of the month!

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Kaffre talks Candy #41

Name: Coca-Cola, Raspberry
Manufacturer: Coca-Cola
Size: 500mL bottle
Where Purchased: No-Frills
Description: Consists of a dark coloured carbonated beverage flavoured to taste kola and raspberry.
Opinion: A product I'd never seen before and scooped up. As expected, this product was basically Coca-Cola with a hit of raspberry flavouring and while two go together much better than I would have expected, but unfortunately I'm still not a big fan of raspberry and would still prefer the regular variety.

Name: Green Apple Drink
Manufacturer: Grace
Size: 355mL bottle
Where Purchased: Food Basics
Description: Consists of a dark green carbonated beverage flavoured to taste like apples.
Opinion: A product I'd often seen, but never tried. While I actually found this pop to be reasonably tasty, but I found the apple flavour to fairly mild which would seem to undermine the main reason for choosing this beverage over other, more commonly available, varieties of pop. Overall, I thought this was OK, but can't really say whether I'd buy it again.

Name: M&Ms Crunchy Mint
Manufacturer: Mars
Size: 95 gram bag
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Crunchy Mint M&Ms vaguely resumble standard M&Ms, but are slight and the colours are differly larger and more irregular in shape. They appear in brown and two different shades of green. As advertised they have a cookie-like texture due to crisped rice centres.
Opinion: A limited edition item I decided to snap up for review purposes. The M&M pieces are pleasantly crunchy and offer a respectable amount of mint flavour and unlike the Crunchy Expresso variety reviewed last month, a noticeable chocolate flavour as well. Overall, I enjoyed this product and would probably buy it again if it were available, but there are so many other mint-flavoured chocolate items that I voted for Expresso for the sake of variety since there's pretty much just Coffee Crisp in terms of coffee-flavoured chocolate products.

Name: Scotch Drops (Licorice)
Manufacturer: Kerr's
Size: 200 gram bag
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Scotch Drops consist of white candies shaped like flattened sphere and filled with a chewy licorice-flavoured substance.
Opinion: A product I'd seen often enough, but never tried. The candies are hard, but once their thin shell is weakened, become somewhat chewy. The flavour is a mild, but somewhat metallic licorice or anise flavour that I personally enjoy despite it not being somewhat one-note. Overall, I found this product quite enjoyable and am looking forward to sampling the regular Scotch Mints soon.

Name: Tic Tac (Donut)
Manufacturer: Ferrero
Size: 98 gram container (200 pieces)
Where Purchased: Walmart
Description: Tic Tacs consist of small cyclindrical candies with rounded ends. These particular ones are yellow and have the face of cartoon character Homer Simpson printed in them.
Opinion: A new product I decided to sample for review. The tic tacs are just as hard as I remember and not particarly substantial even when eating several at a time, but do deliver a pleasant flavour. In this case, 'doughnut' is very interesting as it manages to capture not just the taste of vanilla frosting (a common enough trick), but somehow manages to imbue the candies with a subtle cake-like flavour as well. Overall, this was a fun product and one I'm very glad to have tried, but I'm not really sure whether I'd buy it again or just grab some doughnuts instead.

Ju-june Journal + Kaffre talks Candy #40:

Welcome once again, loyal journal-readers! First, Parker remains un-spayed as my sister's cat, Kai, developed a potentially lethal bladder condition thus requiring me to give her most of the funds that I'd saved up for that purpose. Fortunately, I've already managed to rebuild about 1/3 of the required money and, if all goes according to plan, I'll be able to apply my tax rebate next month to the fund as well and have her neutered by September at the absolute latest. While her Cerebral Hypoplasia makes keeping her inside and away from the Toms relatively easy, her yowling and climbing at the windows is becoming wearisome and it will be wonderful to finally have the matter resolved. *crosses claws* As it happens, however, I will be going under the knife myself this month to have a tooth extracted - it had originally been scheduled for July, but had to be moved forward for emergency reasons - wish me luck!

The used laptop I've acquired works OK, but I can't use it for all the sites I'd like to (most notably KimCartoon.me doesn't load), but it's still definitely worth the cost. Unfortunately, I'm still not able to use my scanner with it which continues to kill my artistic motivation, but I remain hopeful of picking up again at some point in the not too distant future though my ability to share it with all of you will be contingent on the college or library still having scanners available to the general public. In any case, this week looks set to be a busy one for me With my sister's birthday June 28 and followed shortly thereafter by Canada Day. No particular plans exist for either event at this point, but I feel certain that something is bound to come up by the time they actually arrive.

For this month's topic of conversation, I've settled on: Fur-niture - Home Decor in a Furry Setting.

Inspired by watching a few episodes of 'Sheriff Callie's Wild West' where the titular heroine's desk is adorned by a basket of colourful yarn balls and a scratching post/cat tree stands in one corner of the jailhouse which got me to thinking about what other sorts of accoutrements would be popular is a world inhabit primarily by furries. From a feline perspective, I like Callie's decorating sense and while a greater assortment of toys might appeal to Kaffre, I think the show had a good design for an older kitty. While I can easily foresee other species wanting similar amenities in their habitats, for the sake of this particular journal I'd like to focus on breadth rather than depth.

Heated Rocks could be very popular with reptilian 'furs' while pools would be beloved of amphibians and other semi-aquatic species. Potted plants would be enjoyed by a wide range of species both for giving a natural touch to their urban life and as an impromptu salad bar for certain herbivorous species. Exercise wheels or habitrail-style environmental enrichment might appeal to rodents as could special dark rooms for those species like rats or hamsters that love the darkness. Many furs could also enjoy scent-based items such as carrion scented candles for our canine friends, or possibly catnip stuffed throw pillows to ensure a good night's sleep for us felines.

Some sort of indoor jungle gyms could provide fun for arboreal species like squirrels or chipmunks. Other species may require saunas or dust baths to be comfortable. While others, like birds, will probably collect colourful art or other knickknacks to decorate their homes and nests.

I guess that's about it for this month's topic. What do you think your character would like to incorporate into their domiciles?

Thanks again for reading my journal *hugs* Sorry for waiting so very long to post this, I'll try to do better next month! Incidentally, if anyone has suggestions for other Topics please let me know as I'm currently a low on ieas and would appreciate the help! ^^

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Kaffre talks Candy #39:

Name: Fanta, Fruit Punch)
Manufacturer: Coca-Cola
Size: 473mL bottle
Where Purchased: Sunshine Variety
Description: Fruit Punch Fanta consists of a pink carbonated beverage flavoured to taste like a combination of pear, pineapple, and orange juice.
Opinion: The flavour is a fairly standard fruit punch and like other Fanta products I found it to be fizzier and less sweet than most softdrinks, but I do think that works well with fruit flavours. While I do enjoy fruit punch, I think it loses something in the carbonation process and am correspondingly unlikely to purchase this item again.

Name: Junior Mints
Manufacturer: Tootsie Roll Industries
Size: 74 gram box
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Junior Mints consist of tiny portions of peppermint fondant covered with a very thin dark chocolate coating.
Opinion: A product I've sampled a few times, but never really thought about reviewing until now. Mint is by far the dominant flavour with the chocolate featuring mainly as an aftertaste. The mint is a bit stronger than I remember, but not overpoweringly so and it's actually fairly smooth. Overall, I enjoyed this product, but can't really say whether I'd buy it again as there are other mint and chocolate confections that I like better.

Name: M&Ms (Crunchy Expresso)
Manufacturer: Mars
Size: 95 gram bag
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Crunchy Expresso M&Ms vaguely resumble standard M&Ms, but the shape and size vary substantially and the colours are different coming in: black, brown, and cream. As advertised they have a cookie-like texture due to crisped rice centres.
Opinion: A limited edition item I decided to snap up for review purposes. The M&M pieces are pleasantly crunchy and offer a respectable amount of coffee flavour similar to that of a Coffee Crisp. When first sampling this item, I failed to notice that the centre was of crisped rice, thinking it was cookie instead due to the texture. In any case, I thought the product was very good and would probably buy it again. One minor complaint is that I found it difficult to taste any chocolate, but it didn't really detract from my enjoyment, I just found it 'odd'.

Name: Pocky, Strawberry
Manufacturer: Thai Glico
Size: 33 gram box
Where Purchased: Food Basics
Description: Pocky consists of thin biscuit-sticks one end of which has been lightly dipped in a flavoured compound of some kind. In this case, a pink coating.
Opinion: A Singaporean item, I'd often see, but never sampled before. I'm not normally a big fan of strawberry, but as with the green tea flavour, I generally found this product to taste mild enough that not only did it not bother me, but I actually found them somewhat pleasant. That said, there are other varieties of pocky that I like better.

Name: Skittles (Berry)
Manufacturer: Mars
Size: 191 gram bag
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Berry Skittles are a brand of chewy, fruit flavoured, candy pieces. The individual pieces are thick rounded discs with Ss emblazoned on the surface. Various colours each represent a different flavour (cherry, strawberry, melon berry, berry punch, and raspberry).
Opinion: Despite lacking my favourite flavours from the 'Original' skittles, and having only one flavour in common (strawberry), I personally found it rather difficult to distinguish between the two varieties as the individual tastes tend to become muddled when you eat multiple pieces at once. Therefore, despite not really liking any of the constituent flaours, I do like these candies and would happily buy them again, but I still like the original skittles better.

May Be a Good Month! + Kaffre talks Candy #39

Greetings journal readers! The reason for my happy-go-lucky introduction today is that, for the first time since last September, I am writing this journal on my very own computer! I managed to acquire a previously used Compaq Mini which seems to suffice for my needs - the batter's shot, the screen is a little small, and the internet might not be quite as good when I get it home, but at the very least I can type and download which is mostly all I really need at this point.

Beyond that, May has been pretty quiet for me. I went to my dentist appointment and will be discussing a treatment plan next month. My brother's birthday was on the 19th and we celebrated by going to Boston Pizza (a Canadian chain that, like 'New York Fries' and 'Swiss Chalet' has no connection to the location in its name). Today's Victoria Day (a holiday I only recently learned isn't celebrated in other Commonwealth countries) apart from fireworks, there really isn't anything special to do, but a day off is a day off! One minor setback is that, because, I was late talking to the vet, Parker won't be able to be spayed until next month, but this might not be so bad either as it means the surgery will happen around the time we were planning to apply flea medicine to all the animals anyway.

This month's topic of conversation is: Fists of Furry - Martial Arts in a Furry World.

My own interest in the martial arts is almost entirely related to their history and development rather than the physical aspects so hopefully nothing here is too technical. As I mentioned in the entry on Furry Warfare a few months back, I believe that furries having access to claws, fangs, hooves, and antlers would not have developed weapons to quite the same extent as humans did thus increasing the social importance of the martial arts.

In our world, martial arts can be split into three rather broad categories and overlapping categories:

Combat Sports are things like boxing, wrestling or muay thai where practitioners compete against each other in sterile 'fair' conditions under an agreed upon set of rules and using regulation protective equipment. Many animals engage in mock combat for social status, territory, or to attract mates which could easily develop into sports of this kind whether it be ungulates butting heads, degus slap-fighting, or even baby wolves tousling.

Traditional Martial Arts are things like jujitsu, kung fu, or kempo that emphasize self-improvement and self-defence. These styles I believe would develop out of predatory behaviour - there's no way to turn clawing eyes, biting throats, or snapping necks into a sport so such methods need to be abstracted to train them at all. I personally feel that most feline martial arts would fall into this category as would those of other ambush predators like foxes and mustelids.

Military Martials Arts are things like Tae Kwon Do, Krav Maga, or SAMBO where the main goal is to promote physical fitness and instill confidence while achieving a moderate level of proficiency with minimal practice. As in our world most of these would be relatively new as over time, they'd tend to develop into one of the other two styles. Also, since modern furry armed forces would include furs of all different sizes and species, I believe these styles would emphasize natural weaponry like horns or talons far less than the other two categories mentioned and so more closely resemble human martial arts than the other two categories.

What do you think? What sort of martial arts do you imagine your fursona's species practicing?

Well, that's it for this month. I may be going to a rock and precious stones show next weekend, however. If so, look for the details in next months journal! *thanks-for-reading hugs*

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Kaffre talks Candy #39:

Name: Coconut Patties
Manufacturer: Anastasia Confections
Size: 70 grams in two patties
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Coconut Patties consists of two square patties in which the four edges (and one of the faces), have been coated in dark chocolate.
Opinion: An American product I've never bought before. The coconut patties were soft and chewy, but not overly sweet. The dark chocolate seemed to be of decent quality as well. At the very least, it wasn't too bitter and complimented the coconut well. Overall, I liked this product and will probably purchase it again at some point.

Name: Kit Kat (Tiramasu)
Manufacturer: Nestle
Size: 170 gram bar
Where Purchased: Shoppers Drug Mart
Description: Kit Kat (Tiramasu) consists of 11 wafer cookies joined together with milk chocolate. The tops of the pieces alternate between white and brown giving the bar a striped appearance.
Opinion: Tiramasu is, apparently, a classic Italian dessert made from marscapone and expresso. Unsurprisingly then, this bar exhibited a very strong coffee smell and if eaten alone, the 'brown' pieces do have a fairly intense coffee flavour, but if eaten together with a 'white' piece as recommended on the package, the cream cheese mellows and compliments it rather considerably. Unfortunately, I can't really find the worlds to describe marscapone, but it too way rather pleasant. Overall, I liked this bar and would probably buy it again if I have someone to share with, but the large size does constitute a minor impediment in this regard.

Name: Pepsi Lime
Manufacturer: Pepsico
Size: 591mL bottle
Where Purchased: Food Basics
Description: Pepsi Lime consists of a dark coloured carbonated beverage.
Opinion: A product I tried and enjoyed many years ago. The citrus flavour seems a bit stronger than I remember, but it wasn't overpowering and seemed like this would be a very refreshing choice of beverage on a hot summer day. Overall, I liked this product and would probably buy it again as I like it quite a bit better than the standard pepsi.

Name: Pringles Tikka Masala
Manufacturer: Pringles Manufacturing Company
Size: 156 gram tube
Where Purchased: Dollar Tree
Description: Pringles consist of special potato chips made from a potato-based flour and baked in a very specific and consistent shape that lends itself well to 'stacking'.
Opinion: I've not had pringles in a while, but a new flavour tempted me. I was a little confused by the name which apparently translates as something akin to 'cutlet spice blend', but decided to give them a try anyway. At first they tasted a bit like a standard 'barbecue' flavour, but the peppery-taste continued to grow until it was quite hot while an odd, almost floral taste appeared further distinguishing the two. Overall, I thought this was an interesting flavour, but am not sure whether I'd purchase it again for myself or not as it's not really my thing per se...

Name: XXX Mints (Peppermint)
Manufacturer: Big Bear Confectionery
Size: 41 gram tube
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: XXX Mints consist of white mint flavoured candies shaped like short cylinders.
Opinion: A British product I'd not tried before. As promised, these mints are very strong, but not unmanageable so long as they remain intact. Unfortunately, they become more fragile as they dissolve and upon breaking, they unleash a very intense peppermint flavour. Overall, I found these candies to have a very strong mint flavour, but not a good mint flavour being slightly bitter and actively painful if chewed. I might buy this product again if I want something really strong for whatever reason.

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.

With April rapidly approaching, I figured I really ought to go ahead and publish my obligatory monthly journal. As you can probably guess, I was without access to a real computer for most of this month and was forced to rely on my trusty PS4 or borrowing a tablet to access FA which is a big part of why this journal will likely be rather short compared to my last few journals - it's too hard for me to type this way.

In spite of being mostly without a computer, March proved a very productive month for me - I did my taxes, got a new set of glasses, and have prepared a Dentist appointment for the near future. Of course there were also timesinks the announcement of Pathfinder 2nd Edition, and my discovery of KimCartoon both kept me pretty distracted for a big part of the month though the latter did remind me of one of Kaffre's inspirations I'd lcompletely forgotten about 'Daniel Striped Tiger' of Mister Rogers fame, he's not a cat, of course, but the personality was very similar to how I've always thought of Kaffre.

For this month's topic of discussion, I've selected Doggies & Diapers: Childhood in a Furry World.

While the title was selected mainly for alliterative reasons, diapers are as good a place to start and thanks to the wealth of body and tail shapes that exist in a typical furry world the task of purchasing diapers that actually fit a particular baby could prove morechallenging. Particularly if there are substantial differences in size between say a whale and a shrew both factors I feel would delay the adoption of disposable diapers among furries and make cloth diapers more popular. Furthermore, while diapers are designed to catch waste in a sort of 'pocket' and keep it away from the baby's skin they're not always 100% successful at this for species with fur, this probably necessitates more frequent baths. :eek:

Having for would perhaps reduce the need for baby clothes resulting in baby clothes being mainly decorative, or going about in just a diaper. For species with sharp claws, scratch-mittens are a must and could be worn much later than any human would (Kaffre still sometimes needs them at 3). Similarly, mammalian furs will require milk and while fomula would probably exist, due to differing nutritional requirements I believe breastfeeding would be preferred by most and would probably continue longer than most humans do. This would, of course, reduce the need for pacifiers, but as many animals continue to nurse even after they are capable of solid food, I think pacifiers too would be used longer by furry populations.

Since some species might be ambulatory from birth, the use of babygates, reins, and similar contraptions will be even more prevalent. In fact, most species will probably be walking and talking earlier than humans making furry babies even more of a pawful (Kaffre's own bell-collar is but one way to keep track of fleet-footed toddlers). Due to differences in dentition between species, a wide variety of teething rings will need to exist while other species will be born with teeth - some of which, like rodents, will need to wear them down with special wooden blocks or else have them filed at the vet.

I guess that's about it for this month's discussion. I look forward to hearing your own thoughts and am currently accepting suggestions for future discussions. Now, without further ado...

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Kaffre talks Candy #37:

Name: Cinnamon Bun Oreos
Manufacturer: Mr. Christie
Size: 303 gram box
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: Cinnamon Bun Oreos are a type of sandwich cookie consisting of two crunchy, but gold-coloured biscuits with a portion of cinnamon-flavoured creme between them. Box contains 21 cookies.
Opinion: While Oreos do possess a certain nostalgic appeal for me, I'd not actually had any in a few years when I bought these so I can't really compare them to the standard variety, but thought this product was pretty good. The creme was very sweet, but still provided a nice amount of cinnamon flavour and while the cookie portion were fairly insipid I think that was for the best given the strongly flavoured filling and they gave some texture. Overall, I liked this product and might buy it again if I were in a 'cookie' mood.

Name: Hostess Hickory Sticks
Manufacturer: Hostess/Lays
Size: 175 gram bag
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Hickory Sticks consist of julienne-style cuts of potato about as thick as your average potato chip with a slight brown colour due to the flavouring used.
Opinion: A childhood favourite of mine and one of only a few remnants of Canadian snackfood manufacturer Hostess since it was acquired by Lays, but an item I'd not had in a while. Perhaps because of their unique shape, these sticks were very crunchy compared to most chips which I could appreciate and while the flavour wasn't as strong as I remember, the smoky salty taste was still very pleasant. Overall, this product held up well despite the change in manufacturer and I'll probably buy it again soon.

Name: Soft Eating Licorice
Manufacturer: Capricorn
Size: 170 gram bag
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Soft Eating Licorice consists of cylindrical pieces of Australian-style licorice.
Opinion: An Australian product I've had before, but never really thought to review. This product offers a hearty licorice flavour and while I'm aware that most critics consider a metallic aftertaste to be a flaw in licorice, I personally like it. Overall, I liked this item and would cheerfully recommend it to anyone who likes licorice and isn't averse to the aforementioned 'fault'.

Name: Refreshers
Manufacturer: Candyland/Barratt
Size: 34 gram tube
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Refreshers consist of slim concave discs each in a pastel colour corresponding to a flavour (lemon, lime, orange, or raspberry)
Opinion: A British product I hadn't seen before before reviewing. The first impression these little candies left on me was 'fizzy' and while they are pretty flavourful, they are rather tart which made it difficult for me to differentiate between the different varieties. Overall, I thought these were pretty good and while I'm unlikely to actively seek them out again, I certainly wouldn't decline a piece.

Name: Terry's Chocolate Orange (Toffee)
Manufacturer: Mondelez (Chocolate Works)
Size: 152 gram sphere
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: Terry's Chocolate Orange (Toffee) consists of 20 wedge-shaped segments of orange-flavoured milk chocolate, with granules of toffee embedded in them, that have been arranged radially around a central point and fused together.
Opinion: A variation on the classic holiday orange that I hadn't seen before and decided to snap up. While I was initially somewhat apprehensive about the combination of 'orange' and 'toffee' flavours, this proved to be unfounded as they actually complimented each other magnificently and toffee bits themselves lent the product a pleasant crunchiness. Overall, I greatly enjoyed this item and will probably select it over the standard orange in future.

Rodent-y Month Journal + Kaffre talks Candy #36!

Greetings loyal readers! With February rapidly on its way out, I came perilously close to missing this monthly journal!

As it so happens, February has proven a fairly uneventful month so far. Our local groundhogs offered conflicting predictions for weather, but it has been fairly mild since, but with March approaching that could easily change if that particular month is feeling more leonine than ovine. Valentine's Day was livened up a bit by the holiday Premier Tower on MKX, but was otherwise just another day. Today is Family Day in Ontario, but it's a fairly new holiday invented solely so each month will have one statutory holiday and few people take it very seriously, but as I am, in fact, visiting my brother today, it can be counted a success! ^^ Also, with Easter rapidly approaching, cute lamb plushies are beginning to appear in local shops and I've grabbed two new prospective Edgars to join my current one both were cheap and cute, but I'm still not sure which of the three to make official...

So far as other matters go, I have tried drawing and writing a bit, but haven't quite managed to complete anything I can share with everyone just yet, but am hopeful of being able to do so in the near future. I know I say that pretty much every journal, but if all goes according to plan, I should have a functioning computer within a few months (or at least more access to a public scanner) which will no doubt afford me better opportunities to share my artistic and literary output with all my wonderful friends here on FA, something I've really missed the last few months.

This month's topic of discussion overlaps somewhat with July's talk about senses: Food n' Furs - What is Cuisine like in a furry society? Obviously, food preferences vary dramatically by nation in the real world for a variety of reasons, but for the purposes of this journal we will only be considering those differences that are specific to the furry condition or some subset thereof.

The first thing to be considered is whether the furries in question are more human or animal in their dietary preferences as this will influence all subsequent decisions. Personally, my furs are generally more animal-like, but due to my personal prefered foods being fatal to a cat (lots of allium), I lean more to the human side of the equation on this topic than I do on most with Kaffre mostly liking human foods with, at most, a few idiosyncrasies resulting from his feline nature such as the fish-flavoured cake he suggested for Zee-Zee's birthday in one picture, or his favoured breakfast of 'Kibble-Os'. I mostly hinge this on having previously established that Kaffre's sense of taste is nearly on par with a human and he can taste sweet which would result in him possessing a far more sophisticated palate than real cats. I haven't decided yet how to handle nutritional matters one possibility is that furries are sufficiently divergent from their respective progenitor species that their dietary requirements are different, but I think I prefer the idea of species specific vitamin supplements to avoid eating foodstuffs they'd likely find unappealing or difficult to obtain. Most animals have a less developed sense of taste than humans, but this hasn't really figured in my worldbuilding as, even if furries did have a reduced sense of taste, it would seem equally likely that they'd favour bland foods since they can't taste well, or go the opposite direction and compensate with strongly seasoned meals.

Beyond that there's a question of preferences - what the furries like to eat. For the most part, this is where I like to institute any stereotypes. Thus, while Kaffre may not actually be an obligate carnivore require large quantities of taurine and fatty acids, he still enjoys the taste of fish, salt, and rodents which is reflected in his meal choices (to such an extent as a toddler has a choice). Naturally, there is some room for ambiguity here. Real bunnies, for example, mostly eat grass or hay while vegetables like lettuce or carrots are only recommended as special treats, but with anthros salads and crudites are far more appropriate though I think caecal pellets would probably only be eaten by very desperate (or jaded) of lagomorphs. Of course, in a world of anthropomorphs, the question of where one's meat comes from is, potentially, an important one. Assuming unintelligent animals exist, I maintain that cannibalism would be almost universally frowned upon (there are some interesting anthropological ramifications if this wasn't the case, but these are beyond the scope of this month's topic). I also like to think that many furs might feel weird eating animals closely related to their base species or those of friends. Thus, for example, Kaffre would not eat cat and I once considered a picture of him sighing with relief that a bag of 'Rodent Snax' used Artificial Flavours only, but just as there are human societies that eat primates or even human flesh, this probably wouldn't be universal, just very widespread.

Well, I guess that's all I have to say on this month's topic, but I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts! Thanks for taking the time to read my journal please accept these a hug in recompense! *huggles* I'll try to pen next month'ds journal earlier than this one was. And now, without further ado, I proudly present: Kaffre talks Candy #36!

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Kaffre talks Candy #36

Name: Coffee Crisp Stix (Salted Caramel)
Manufacturer: Nestle
Size: 32 grams in two bars
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Coffee Crisp Stix consist of two small Coffee Crisp Bars packaged side by side as per Twix. The individual bars are coffee-flavoured wafer cookies topped with a portion of salted caramel before being coated in milk chocolate.
Opinion: A product I'd not seen before, but decided to snap up for review purposes. Coffee remains the dominant flavour in this product, but the saltiness was very noticeable as well and while it was a bit weird at first, I acclimatized to it fairly quickly and thought it provided a nice counterpoint to the sweetness of the chocolate. Overall, I enjoyed this product and would probably say I liked it better than the standard Coffee Crisp, but part of me suspects that to be the novelty of the thing. In any case, I advise trying it out!

Name: Kit Kat (White)
Manufacturer: Nestle
Size: 41 gram bar
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Kit Kat (White) consists of four wafer cookies enrobed in white chocolate in such a way that they're moulded together and can be broken off and consumed individually as needed.
Opinion: I thought I'd reviewed these before, but can find no record of such (apart from the Chunky version). The packaging of this bar indicates it's imported, but doesn't say where from. In any case, there's not really much to say about this product as it's basically a standard Kit Kat where the milk chocolate has been replaced by white chocolate. That said, this item is actually quite good having a pleasant flavour devoid of the unpleasant aftertaste one gets with a lot of white chocolate and seems to compliment the wafer very nicely. Overall, I thought this item was good and would probably buy it again though obviously this is contingent upon the prospective buyer liking white chocolate...

Name: Kit Kat Chunky (New York Cheesecake)
Manufacturer: Nestle
Size: 42 gram bar.
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Kit Kat Chunky (New York Cheesecake) consists of a wafer cookie similar to those in the standard Kit Kat Chunky, but topped with a crumbly white substance before the whole thing was coated in milk chocolate.
Opinion: Another product I'd not seen before. The package says it was imported, but not from where - I suspect the UK due to seeing them in the British Isles Shoppe too, but this is purely speculation. In any case, this bar certainly delivers a significant hit of cheese flavour which, while a bit strange at first, worked surprisingly well with the Kit Kat flavour for a very unique treat. Overall, I enjoyed this product and would definitely buy it again, but it appears to be a limited release so I encourage you grab one while you can as they're quite interesting!

Name: Reese Sticks
Manufacturer: Hershey
Size: 85 grams in four bars
Where Purchased: Dollar Tree
Description: Reese Sticks consist of four peanut-butter flavoured wafer cookies that have been enrobed in chocolate and are packaged together in a 2x2 configuration, but are not individually wrapped making them difficult to portion out over time.
Opinion: A product I'd seen a few times, but never tried until recently. Despite having no visible peanut-butter, that was the dominant flavour and while the chocolate tasted nice, it did have an unusual texture, but not enough to be truly offputting. Overall, I liked this product and would consider buying it again, but felt that four pieces was perhaps a bit excessive given the size of the bars which are quite big!

Name: Sea Greens (Korean Barbecue)
Manufacturer: Young & Young
Size: Three 5 gram bags
Where Purchased: Food Basics
Description: Sea Greens consist of paper-thin sheets of green/black seaweed with the texture and appearance of cellophane.
Opinion: A Korean product I'd not seen before, but decided to grab for review as it was on sale. The initial flavour was a moderately pleasant salty and savoury flavour vaguely reminiscent of aromatic herbs, but this faded very quickly leaving a mouthful of insipid, mucilaginous substance. Try as I might, I couldn't bring myself to eat more than a few sheets and I really can't recommend it to anyone, but at the very least it was definitely 'interesting'

Kitty Journal: 2018 + Kaffre talks Candy #35

Greetings loyal journal readers and welcome to 2018! Thus far, the new year has been fairly good to me - I got a new pair of boots, some mittens, and a cheeseboard for Christmas and bought a lovely snow leopard plush through the WWF (I had planned to get the Canada lynx, but couldn't find it when I was checking out) and we're getting along quite well - I had considered naming it 'Droogami' after Lini's companion in the Pathfinder tabletop RPG, but I decided against that in favour of giving plushy an original name and am taking suggestions! Moving on to the weather, there was a nasty cold snap in earlier in the month as well with temperatures plunging down well into the -30s when wind-chill was factored in, but it has warmed up considerably now and I feel much better about the future!

My computer is still not working, but I've gotten better at browsing via my PS4 and am spending more time at my brother's house helping watch his children which gives me the opportunity to use his computer to compose longer journals such as this one. I've also recommenced writing new candy reviews and have made some progress on my New Year's resolurtion to draw more - nothing I have yet is really good enough to post just doodles here and there, but I'll try and upload a few of them as soon as I can manage to do so. I'm really enjoying it, but definitedly need to expand my reportoire as I'm fairly limited in the poses and perspectives I can use effectively so I'll be trying to work on improving those areas.

For this month's topic of discussion, I've decided upon - Fangs and Fury: Warfare in a Furry World.

Being blessed with claws, teeth, antlers, tusks, and similar natural weaponry, I feel that early furry civilizations would have been slower to develop tools than humans and, due to variations in diet and habitat preferences, been less likely to clash violently with their neighbours - fights would still happen, but I feel most would involve posturing and displays of dominance than mass slaughter. The only real exception I can see is if non-anthropomorphic animals didn't exist in which case predators may have had to resort to cannibalism, forcing prey species to defend themselves. In this scenario, I feel that herbivores being on the whole larger and more numerous than carnivores would prevail in most conflicts and subjugate the meat-eaters who could find themselves confined to the margins of furry society disposing of corpses or serving in certain military roles. As the dark ages come into being and armies become smaller, pack hunters like wolves and lions could begin to carve out a niche for themselves among the ruling classes. I haven't really decided yet whether firearms exist in Kaffre's world - generally it's supposed to be very similar to ours, but there's no particular reason someone would want to combine saltpetre, charcoal, and sulfur and it's quite possible nobody did in Kaffre's world, but it's rather unlikely to come up so I'm not particularly worried. As for other forms of violence, apart from occasional Andy Capp style dust-cloud fights with his friends, I generally feel that Kaffie's too mild-mannered to engage in any sort of combat and while he does canonically enjoy pouncing he's rather too little yet to appreciate that it's a form of martial art yet.

Well, I guess that's about it for now, thanks a whole bunch for reading and please stay tuned for Kaffre Talks Candy #35, but first I want to thank everyone who helped m finally reach 13'000 page-views and all the wonderful furs who have Faved things since September. Normally, I like to thank everyone individually, but I find it takes too long to do so on PS so please accept this heartfelt collective thank you hug! *hugs*

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Kaffre Talks Candy #35:

Name: Lay's BLT Chips
Manufacturer: Lay's
Size: 255 gram bag
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: BLT consist of fairly normal-looking potato chips with an orange cast due to the flavourings used.
Opinion: As I'm not a huge fan of tomato, I've never had the iconic sandwich (Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato) this product attempts to mimic and thus cannot comment on the authenticity, but did find it an interesting experience. Despite a strong Ketchup smell, I found bacon and pepper to be the dominant flavours at first though as I ate more it transitioned to something more akin to 'All Dressed' (no attempt seemed to be made to replicate lettuce or bread). Overall, I thought these chips were OK and would happily eat them again, but when Ketchup, Smokey Bacon, and All Dressed are already available, I just don't see myself buying these again.

Name: Terry's Chocolate Orange (Milk Chocolate)
Manufacturer: Mondelez (Chocolate Works)
Size: 157 gram sphere.
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: Terry's Milk Chocolate Orange consists of 20 wedge-shaped segments of orange-flavoured milk chocolate that have been arranged radially around a centre fused together there.
Opinion: A British product that appears in stores every winter and I've enjoyed many times in the past, but somehow never thought to review until now. The chocolate had an unusual texture, but that may be because of how cold it was when I opened it. The taste, however, was excellent, a nice creamy milk chocolate with a very appealing orange flavour that blends seamlessly with that of the chocolate. Overall, I enjoyed this product and will almost certainly continue buying them around the holidays and while its appeal will necessarily be contingent upon one's attitude to orange-flavoured chocolate, I heartily recommend this item.

Name: Kit Kat Matcha Green Tea
Manufacturer: Nestle
Size: 35 gram bar.
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Kit Kat Green Tea consists of a slightly smaller version of the standard Kit Kat except that instead of milk chocolate, the bar is coated in a greenish substance (probably white chocolate and finely powdered tea)
Opinion: A product I've heard was common in Japan, but had never seen in Canada before and snapped up. The packaging says it was imported, but gives no indication from where. The bar has a strong aromatic component, but the flavour is a very mild herbal taste that's neither bitter or sweet, but rather an understated earthiness. Overall, I thought this product was interesting and, if it stays, might change it out for the regular Kit Kat now and then as a change of pace, but find that I miss the creamy quality of the milk chocolate too much to replace it with this bar.

Name: Blackpool Rock
Manufacturer: John Bull Confectioners Ltd
Size: 50 gram stick
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Rock consists of a roughly cylindrical piece of hard candy. This piece was pink with a white interior and the word 'Blackpool' printed on the ends.
Opinion: This product is an interesting one being similar to our domestic candy canes, but larger and coarser (I cut my tongue), and available year round. Overall, I thought this was an interesting product, but kind of wish I'd gotten a flavour other than peppermint which is just a bit too similar to candy canes and makes the product seem just a bit less unique I also wish it was a tad smaller as I doubt I could finish it on my own in a reasonable time frame. Still, I'm glad I tried it and may give it another go in the near future.

Name: Jos Louis
Manufacturer: Vachon
Size: 324 grams in 6 cakes
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: Jos Louis consist of two circles of red velvet cake with cream filling sandwiched between them and then enrobed in chocolate.
Opinion: A popular brand of snack cake in Canada, Jos Louis was a fairly frequent part of school lunches when my mother didn't have any homemade cookies or brownies to include. Taken on their own, the cake, chocolate, and cream filling are all pretty good (although the filling is a bit sweeter than I'd prefer), but even as a child, I found the cake didn't really go particularly well with the chocolate coating, but it certainly gives the product a 'distinct' taste which is probably a good thing from the manufacturer's point of view. Overall, whether from nostalgia or not, I still thought this product was pretty good and will probably buy them again at some point, but not with any sort of regularity.

Greetings, journal-readers!

With the winter holidays and 2018 fast approaching, I figured it was about time for me post my monthly Journal. Firstly, I'd like to apologize for my scarcity this month. My sister hasn't been available to baby-sit my nephews so I got pressed into doing so 3-4 days a week which has kept me from the computer more than I'm used to. I also broke my favourite USB-drive which means I lost a lot of your wonderful artwork (among other things), but I hold out hope that it is recoverable.

In happier news, I've been a very good kitty this year and thus feel confident of receiving commensurate holiday lucre from Santa Claws! I may also be able to reinstate my Candy & Monthly discussion features in a limited way next year. I'm not really sure anyone actually liked them, but they were a very convenient way of padding out these journals which otherwise seem really short.

Finally, I just wanted to wish everyone here a very happy holiday season and offer special festive hugs to that effect. *delivers aforementioned hugs* Also, as it relates to the holiday meme currently making the rounds, my holiday wish is that you do something nice for someone.

I guess that's it for this journal *hugs* Have a happy Solstice tomorrow and see you in 2018!

Nothing particular to add, but I think Kaffre was getting grumpy after three weeks of being a newborn so it was time to change him back to his proper age!

My Birthday was largely uneventful, but I did receive $100 and a few tardy parcels I've ordered finally arrived so I've had a few plushies and games to keep me entertained.

My computer still refuses to boot so I'll be trying to replace it just as soon as I can afford to do so - probably after the Holidays while simultaneously hoping my harddrives were undamaged. *crosses claws*

Lastly, I understand US-based cubs will be Giving Thanks later this week so hugs for them and anyone else within reach! *hugs*

At the stroke of midnight, as Kaffre Kitten lies slumbering contentedly in his little bed, the mysterious annual Birthday Magic takes effect. Thus transforming the three-year-old feline back into a soft and fuzzy newborn kitten for the next week or so.

This is, of course, inconvenient for Kaffie, but does make him extra easy for all of his friends to snuggle and dote on like the diminutive ball of fluff that he is for the magic's duration. So please feel free to do so! ^^

Also, since he'll just be tiny for Halloween, perhaps some of you might suggest some costume ideas appropriate to a baby so he can go out and collect some yummy candy to enjoy when he gets big again?

Thank you all for taking the time to read and/or reply *baby kitty hugs*

Greetings once again.

You may have noticed that I've been even quieter than usual for the last month or so. The reason for this is that my aged computer finally died. It was quite old so assuming I can recover the data from the hard-drives, it's not a huge loss, but I'm not sure when I'll be able to replace it. Iam currently using a PS4 to access FA and it is adequate for viewing art and leaving short comments, but I will likely be quieter than usual the next few months.

In happier news,  zee-zee &  tjfoxxxx have birthday this Saturday be sure to prepare hugs for them both! I'll also be having my 10th annifursary on October 18 (an impressive feat for a 3 year old!). I've also got an optometrist appointment on the 24th and, of course, my birthday on the 29 during which, according to recent tradition, Kaffre will be temporarily regressed into a tiny newborn kitten more easily showered with affection...

Since I can't access my backlog of reviews or type at a decent rate, there will be no reviews or discussion topic this month.

Thanks for taking the time to read my journal *huggles*

Soap-tember Journal!

Greetings gentle readers, firstly I would like to apologize for the low quality of the pun incorporated into this month's journal title - it was all I could really think of, however, and I justify its use on the grounds that perhaps Kaffre's efforts to create an august atmosphere for his last journal resulted in a larger than expected mess thus requiring some extra clean-up and perhaps even a dreaded bath for a certain feline. A thought which helped to inspire this month's topic of discussion.

My real-life was pretty uneventful in August and September apart from overspending slightly during both months and having to dig into my savings a bit (nothing serious). I visited with my brother and his family a lot including celebrating my nephew's 2nd birthday, but haven't really been working on any art or stories - because while I really want to I just can't seem to be able to make myself work on anything artistic. Hopefully I can break this funk soon though, it has been years since I was drawing regularly and I really want to draw more adorable kittens :sad: If I can't squeeze out at least a few pictures before the end of 2017, however, I feel that I may have to take some sort of special effort to jumpstart my output. I'm not quite sure what I'll do yet, but perhaps setting up a designated 'Art Time' would prove effective I'll keep you all alerted to my progress in future journals.

With that out of the way, I'd like to present September's topic of discussion - Fur & Filth: Hygiene in a Furry Universe.

For a species covered head to toe in fur, the prospect of drenching oneself in liquid to get clean would seem a daunting undertaking. The disadvantages are: No matter how warm the water might be, you'd be chilled badly when you got out, you'd be weighed down by waterlogged fluff, you'd smell funny, and you'd take forever to dry completely thus exacerbating the previously mentioned disadvantages. In ancient times, as in our world, bathing was probably an occasional luxury or done expressly to remove particularly messy or hazardous substances from one's fur due to the time and effort required to heat the water and manufacture soap or shampoo. Modern technological innovations can mitigate some of these disadvantages, but I still feel that most furs would shun baths or showers in favour of other methods of keeping themselves clean.

Tongue-baths are somewhat cute with babyfur characters who don't know better, but I feel most modern furs would find the process undignified though it might still persist in a limited form - helping parents bond with their offspring or as a romantic activity. In previous epochs there may well have been a special class of servants who helped groom their clients in this fashion, but in the modern era, I think most furs would prefer the sponge-bath for their day to day grooming regimen as it's probably the most direct analogue to the tongue bath and one that I feel could develop naturally from it.

In a more modern to futuristic setting, furs might use special sonic, steam, or vacuum cleaners to remove daily dirt and grime and resorting to water only when a chemical solvent is specifically required. Alternately, they may utilize special grooming nanobots to clean and style their fur each morning. If magic exists, spells to destroy, repel, or banish dirt would almost certainly be researched at some point (they're good for cleaning up laboratory accidents if nothing else).

Oral hygeine would depend upon the diet one envisions for their furries. If more animal-like, the rigours of chewing and gnawing are likely sufficient to keep their teeth and gums healthy. If they enjoy a more human diet, they'll probably need to practice good dental hygiene by brushing and flossing regularly. In addition, some species such as bunnies and squirrels have teeth that grow continuously and need to keep them worn down by gnawing on hard, but inedible objects. Kaffre mostly enjoys human fare so he needs to brush.

While furs are free from some of the grooming chores that humans face, they also face several unique challenges in that they must deal with the effects of shedding or moulting. In olden times, of course, shed fur would be carefully saved for use as insulation or for manufacturing felt (feathers would be used to fill mattresses and pillows). In the modern day, however, most of it probably gets thrown out though in keeping with Kaffre's world being more environmentally conscious than our own, I like to imagine the bulk of it being bioremediated rather than simply ending up in a landfill.

Claws and hooves will want trimming as well, but the process seems too similar to the human analogue to merit much attention except in two special cases: Firstly, if the furs in question are digigrade they'll be walking on the 'nail' being trimmed and so will have to be more careful with the trimming. Secondly felines who want to keep their claws looking their best will need to sharpen them - ideally using a scratching post, but I haven't decided yet whether Kaffre's parents keep his claws clipped for safety reasons or struggle to get him to use his new post rather than, for example, the furniture...

There are also special cases. Reptiles will need to shed their skins periodically, but I can't really see much use for them, but at least they seem to biodegrade more readily than fur or feathers. Species with horns will need them trimmed or sharpened in a fashion similar to that described for claws and hooves above. Those with antlers will shed them periodically as well, they're probably tricky to get rid of, but have a number of craft uses that cervine families might put them to.

Well, that's about all I have to say on the matter, what do the rest of you think?

Anyway, thanks for reading my journal, I truly hope you all enjoyed it! *hugs*

Now, without further ado, Kaffre talks Candy #34 it's extra-special because it marks my 200th review!

Kaffre talks Candy #34

Name: Coca-Cola Life
Manufacturer: Coca-Cola
Size: 500mL bottle
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: Coca Cola Life consists of a dark coloured carbonated beverage flavoured to taste like kola and sweetened using cane sugar and stevia extract
Opinion: A product I hadn't seen until recently and decided to review, not realizing that it was a 'diet' product. Unsurprisingly, this product was most reminiscent of the standard Coca-Cola except that the taste is somewhat clearer while also having a curious, but not unpleasant, aftertaste which I presume comes from the stevia. Overall, this was an OK product and while I'm unlikely to purchase it again, I do think it's head and shoulders over any other diet soft drink I've had.

Name: Dairy Milk Bubbly
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Size: 90 gram bar
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: Dairy Milk Bubbly consists of a milk chocolate shell filled with aerated chocolate. The shape of the bar is highly irregular with hemispherical 'bubbles' overlapping one another in a seemingly random arrangement as such, it was especially difficult to share..
Opinion: A product I'd seen before, but hadn't been in stock for some time. The bar is very similar to Nestle's Aero but sweeter and with a creamier texture. This disproved my hypothesis about the textures of the aerated chocolate in Wispa being strictly due to the chocolates used as the texture of this product is virtually identical to Aero. Overall, I enjoyed this product, but despite the chocolate being of good quality I'm not sure I'll buy this again as while it's very tasty in its own right, it's just a bit too similar to the more readily available Aero and thus tastes 'wrong' to me though it's possible the effect would fade with greater exposure.

Name: Hello Panda (Chocolate)
Manufacturer: Meiji Seika
Size: 57.5 gram box
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: Hello Panda cookies consist of small, thick.shortbread cookies filled with chocolate. The cookies come in a variety of shapes and feature illustrations of the company's giant panda mascot engaging in various sporting activities.
Opinion: A Singaporean product I hadn't seen before, but grabbed because they were on sale. The actual cookie portion was somewhat bland (though by no means bad), meaning most of the flavour came from the filling which was, thankfully, quite rich and tasty. Overall, I thought these were cookies were quite good, if somewhat one dimensional, but due to the relatively small portion size, I can't really say whether I'll be purchasing them again...

Name: Jaffa Orange Bar
Manufacturer: Lees of Scotland
Size: 60 gram bar
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Jaffa Orange consists of a slim bar of orange fondant (in terms of colour and flavour), enrobed in a thin layer of dark chocolate.
Opinion: A British product I'd seen before, but not tried. This product is an interesting one - the filling is extremely sweet, but manages also exhibits a strong, but not overpowering orange flavour. The chocolate appears to be of decent quality, but the structure of the bar makes it difficult to evaluate the taste independently. Overall, I thought this product was quite tasty and found the mellower flavours preferable to, for example, Fry's Orange Cream. At the same time, however, while I do like orange-flavoured chocolate, I think it works best in small doses which, combined with the difficulty of acquiring this item in North America, means this bar is likely to remain an occasional treat.

Name: PUR Gum, Chocolate Mint
Manufacturer: Action Candy Company
Size: 12.6 grams in 9 pieces.
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: PUR Chocolate Gum consists of white chicle style gum pieces flavoured with chocolate and peppermint
Opinion: A product I'd seen from time to time, but never purchased until now. The flavour begins similar to a chocolate-covered mint such as After Eight and was in fact quite tasty. Unfortunately, both the chocolate and mint flavouring tend to fade rather more quickly than I'd expected which detracted from my enjoyment somewhat. Overall, this gum was an interesting one and I'm glad I tried it, but can't say whether I'll buy it again or not, the whole thing was just a bit too strange to come to terms with yet.

An August Journal

Greetings once again gentle journal readers. For the August installment of my journal I've decided to create the most august journal I can manage! *dims lights, passes out bubble-pipes and chilled juice, and puts on quiet music* There, very nice!

As you all probably suspected, I was away for a big chunk of July visiting family and as such had only limited internet access. It was during that time that Pandr passed away. Despite not knowing him especially well I was struck unusually hard by news of his death (perhaps because I didn't know him and was unaware of his poor health) in any event, I always appreciated the many Faves and friendly comments that he left - he will be missed.

Other than that, however, July was fairly uneventful for me. August will see a few birthdays in my extended family so that should compensate somewhat the FA being a bit less active than usual due to the advent of Convention Season.

For this month's topic of discussion I've chosen a simple topic albeit one that I'll need to send little Kaffre away for: How does reproduction occur in a Furry World? While this topic is fairly discrete, it does consist of multiple parts which I shall endeavour to address individually in the following paragraphs.

The first area I'd like to look at is where do babies come from anyway? While I favour a real-world answer in terms of Kaffre's origin, there's no reason one couldn't instead have babies delivered by storks as in Piers Anthony's "Xanth" series, or be the result of cloning, magically regressed adults, built in factories, even ordered over the internet. As previously mentioned, Kaffre's the result of normal biological processes, but this had never been directly referenced in any of my art or stories and probably never will be.

Next, starting chronologically then, we begin with the reproductive act itself. The basic mechanics are similar for most mammals, but there are a few matters that do bear thinking about. Most directly relevant is when a female furry is fertile. In the real world, most animals experience estus or 'heat' triggered by changes in the level of sunlight and during which time they are receptive to mating. Humans are an exception to this as we can mate at any time with odds of conception being dependent on the menstrual cycle. I've never really given the matter myself, but based on others' work I tend to think in terms of a hybrid approach where furries can be sexually active year round, but are only really fertile during defined mating seasons which may or may not vary by species (I've not decided).

A quick corollary in so far as male fertility goes, I've given no real thought as to the structure and use of the male organ as it relates to this topic as while mammalian genitals can vary widely from species to species the reproductive processes set up above render most changes strictly cosmetic in nature. The matter's largely moot in Kaffre's case as feline's don't develop their iconic penile spines until puberty, but more importantly, the topic's one I am perhaps most emphatic in saying will never be addressed.

Moving along, next subject is one of gestation. The real world, mammalian gestation can range from two weeks to almost two years depending on the species in question, but given that I tend to imagine furries of all species being of similar size and longevity it stands to reason that their gestation would be similarly standardized. I had thought about the use of humans as a base, but as babyfurs are generally more advanced than humans of a similar age would be, perhaps a slightly longer gestation is in order. In any case, this is another topic that I've never really addressed and likely won't be.

Next up is the act of parturition. Since most furries are bipeds, I imagine childbirth being much closer to the human model which, unfortunately, means it will usually be far more difficult than their base species. The only real exception might be some specific 'breeds' of dogs who can have severe problems whelping, but I generally like to think the more extreme modifications domesticated animals have suffered as a result of selective breeding never occurred in a furry universe. On a related note, many species have litters containing multiple offspring. I don't see this as the norm in a furry universe, but do like the idea that multiple births are slightly more common than among the general human population. At present, Kaffre is an only child, but that could always change at some point.

Finally, I'd like to address the matter of non-mammalian 'furries' and some of the special challenges they might face in caring for eggs and hatchlings. The use of properly calibrated incubators could make it possible for avian and reptilian parents to work while waiting for their young to hatch, but could present its own challenges such as the possibility of the parents not being home when the eggs hatches and the youngster 'impressing' on a vacuum cleaner or wheelbarrow. As my characters are all mammalian, this isn't particularly relevant to me, but in keeping with Kaffre's generally being friendlier than ours, I like to think most employers and governments have very generous and flexible programs for helping new parents.

Well, that's it for this month's topic. It was a bit embarrassing to write, but I am very interested to hear about how other people imagine their characters' universes being like.

Well, I guess that 's it for my August journal and while it was, perhaps, not quite as august as I had intended apart from the first few paragraphs, I do hope it made for an entertaining read! *hugs* Anyway, thanks a bunch for reading! As per usual, we'll be closing with my candy column.

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Kaffre talks Candy # 33

Name: Caffreys Snowball
Manufacturer: Caffreys Confectionery Ltd.
Size: 30 gram ball
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Snowballs consist of a vaguely hemispherical lump of marshmallow fluff that's been coated with chocolate and dusted with shredded coconut.
Opinion: An Irish product I'd not seen or heard of before, but liked the name of! ^^ I was initially reluctant to try it as I feared the combination of marshmallow, chocolate, and coconut would prove too 'busy' for me to enjoy properly, but fortunately this proved not to be the case. The coconut proved to be the dominant flavour by a convincing margin giving the a chewy texture and pleasant coconut flavour. I've not always been the biggest fan of marshmallow, but really liked it here the texture wasn't too soft or sticky and the flavour was relatively mild, complimenting the coconut. The chocolate wasn't really noticeable, but I can't say I missed it. Overall, a tasty product that I'll probably try again, but due to the difficulty of obtaining them in Canada they will be, at best, an occasional change of pace...

Name: Kinder Bueno (White)
Manufacturer: Fererro
Size: 39 grams in two bars
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Kinder Bueno consists of two smaller bars packaged together not unlike Twix or Twirl. The bars themselves each consist of a wafer cookie filled with hazelnut cream and coated in white chocolate and decorated with a crumbly chocolate lining. The bar appears to consist of four segments, but these don't seem to help it break any more evenly.
Opinion: A new product I decided to grab up for review purposes. The bar is delicate and flaky with a rich hazelnut flavour that I quite enjoyed. The chocolate crumble that coats the bottom of bar seems to confer a bit of extra crunch, but there's little discernible white-chocolate flavour and for good or ill I found this product to be almost indistinguishable from the standard Bueno. therefore, while I'll happily buy it again, I'm not sure I'd bother choosing it over the standard bar (though it might be good for those avoiding chocolate).

Name: Mars, Maple
Manufacturer: Mars
Size: 50 gram bar
Where Purchased: Shell Canada Gas Station
Description: Maple Mars bar consists of a maple flavoured nougat base topped with caramel and enrobed in chocolate. The bar has a blocky, but polished appearance.
Opinion: A Canadian variant on the standard Mars Bar, that I saw and snapped up on impulse. Unsurprisingly, the taste is very similar to the standard Canadian version of Mars except for the fact that it's been flavoured with maple. The actual intensity of the maple is strong, but not overwhelming though it does detract somewhat from my ability to appreciate the more subtle flavours of the nougat and caramel. Overall, I thought this product was both interesting and tasty, but I can't really say I like it much better than the usual Mars and am thus rather unlikely to purchase it again.

Name: Pepsi Lemon Twist Cola
Manufacturer: Pepsico
Size: 591mL bottle
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: Pepsi Lemon Twist Cola is a dark coloured carbonated softdrink flavoured with lemon in addition to the regular cola flavouring.
Opinion: A limited time product I snapped up recently for review. Unsurprisingly reminiscent of the standard Pepsi, but with a refreshing hit of lemon flavour. Despite being quite tasty it still seemed somehow 'wrong' to me perhaps due to my fondness for the Pepsi Lime that was briefly sold a few years back and had a somewhat similar concept/flavour, but it's not really fair to judge a product based on my own expectations. Overall, I thought this was pretty good and would probably buy it again - I imagine it would be especially nice for cooling off on a hot day!

Name: Reese Big Cup
Manufacturer: Hershey
Size: 79 grams in two cups
Where Purchased: Mac's Milk
Description: Big Cup consists of two roughly disc-shaped milk chocolate shells filled with a peanut-butter flavoured substance with Reese's Pieces embedded in it. The diameter is noticeably greater at the top than at the base the and sides are scalloped to facilitate peeling, Noticeably larger than the standard cups...
Opinion: A product I'd never heard of before spotting it at a local convenience store. The overall effect is very similar to the standard peanut butter cup except that different proportions of this larger cup make the peanut butter taste more noticeably and that the Reese's Pieces add an interesting tactile effect I had worried they'd be too hard and reminiscent of 'Chunky' peanut butter (which I dislike), but the actual crispiness was just about perfect. Overall, I liked this product and would probably choose it over the standard cups if the prices were comparable, but know whether it will be purchased with any regularity.

No July Puns :( + Kaffre talks Candy #32

Greetings loyal journal-readers!

Despite a few setbacks, June was a pretty good month for me. I finally got the dentist appointment I'd been waiting on and as I've unlocked pretty much everything in MKXL (except the Mobile stuff and final Faction Kill), I've been spending far less time gaming. Unfortunately, however, this hasn't translated into any artistic or literary output. something I find increasingly frustrating. I guess I shall have to set some time aside to work on such things as it has been far too long since I've uploaded my own work here I think...

On a happier note, today is Canada Day. Normally, I don't really do anything unless I'm specifically invited to a family get-together, but that doesn't seem to be happening this year. It is our national sesquicentennial, however, which makes it extra-special, I suppose, so I felt that I ought to at least mention it here. Also, because, as it falls on a Saturday this year, we shall have Monday off so perhaps that will be when I can finally try and get some drawing n' stuff done?

Given the lack of discussion last month, I can't help feeling that, perhaps, the topic I selected may have been overly broad. Therefore, this month, I'll try somewhat a little narrower in scope: In-Sight - How would improved senses affect a furry society?

Obviously his would vary somewhat by species as a slightly different array of sensory abilities, but I think we can get a fairly comprehensive treatment by going over the various senses in point-form using my own cat fursona, Kaffre, as an example. In all cases, I'm assuming the furs' senses are different from those of humans, veering closer to those of their base animal.

Vision: As what is probably the most highly developed sense in humans, vision is somewhat unusual in that it would probably not be much improved in furries except under certain circumstances such as poor light. This could manifest in fewer light fixtures or street lights, but due to the necessity to accommodate species with very poor night-vision (such as avians), I believe a more likely outcome would be to offer a wider range of bulbs so that every species can keep their home lit to their satisfaction. Correspondingly, furries might have difficulty reading due, but his could perhaps be resolved through the use of special glasses, the use of large print books, or perhaps braille. Many would also be considered colourblind by human standards, but with it being so widespread, there would probably be workarounds to the potential pitfalls such as traffic light. In my own works, Kaffre has occasionally been treated as having better night-vision than a human would, but he can see colour. As a cat, he's probably fairly farsighted by human standards as well, but I haven't yet decided whether this is the case, but as it likely won't be noticeable until he learns to read, I'm in no great rush to decide.

Hearing: Humans have fairly acute hearing, but we generally pick up a narrower range of noises than animals and, because most can't move our ears, we likewise have a harder time pinpointing the source of sounds. While furries might also be able to pick out quieter sounds under ideal circumstances, I feel they might also suffer more from noise pollution in a modern setting resulting in somewhat reduced acuity. Therefore, I feel that the main difference in a furry world would be that it would generally be quieter than our world or that, at the very least, hearing protection would be more widespread. In my own work, Kaffre's hearing has never really been looked at in any detail, but I've usually imagined it as only slightly keener than that of the average human (bearing in mind that, due to thinner eardrums, children already have better hearing than adults).

Touch: As a general rule, I believe most animals have a roughly similar degree of tactile sensitivity once when has rules out specialized appendages such as feelers, whiskers and the like so it's another sense that's unlikely to change substantially in a furry universe. The main difference I envision is that furs would be able to use these specialized organs to compensate for vision using whiskers to navigate the nursery in absolute darkness or to read a braille equivalent. Whiskers haven't really come up in my art or stories in part as I've found that most furry characters look odd with them, but Kaffre does have them and can use them in pretty much the same way that real cats do.

Smell: As one of humanity's weaker senses, smell is perhaps the most changed from the real world. While a few creatures, such as birds, have very poor sense of smell, most are vastly superior to us in olfactory ability. Sense of smell can provide detailed chemical information about one's surroundings and thus has a much broader range of applications than many other senses allowing furs to ascertain information about others fur with but a sniff or even track them by scent alone. It could also be a useful medium for social cues among many species. Furs might not react to senses the same way that humans do, however, and a canine might not be especially bother by carrion, faeces, or trash in the same way that humans would. In my own works, Kaffre has been established as being able to recognize the scents of his Mommy and Daddy and it stands to reason that he would be able to do the same with his friends. No other smell related abilities have been established, but I've toyed with the idea he might smell basic emotional states such as 'sad' or 'angry' etc though I've not yet decided how accurate those impressions would be.

Taste: As with vision, this is a sense that is, generally, stronger in humans than it is in most animals (particularly those most likely to be chosen as fursonae), but it's also one that seems least likely to have a significant impact on a furry world as it mostly impacts cuisine, but pursuit of spices has had a surprisingly large impact on real world history and it could be the same in a furry world depending on whether one feels the furs would favour bland unseasoned food since they can't taste well anyway or would instead use them to excess in pursuit of extreme tastes. I can see both approaches being used and more or less cancelling each other out so that the end result is very much like our world. In my own works, Kaffre's sense of taste in pretty much indistinguishable from a human - he can even taste sweet things, something real cats can't - mainly because it allows me to use standardized baby trappings such as him liking cookies, and such...

Miscellaneous: Animals can have senses that humans simply don't such as heat-sensing pits, or the ability to perceive electrical fields, but these are generally too species specific to receive much detail though they could certainly lead to some species being in high demand within some careers. It has yet to come up yet in any media, but Kaffre definitely has a vomeronasal organ and uses it occasionally - mainly because I think the flehmen response is cute it probably doesn't confer any real advantage to him though....

Well, I guess that's it for this month's journal. Thanks a bunch for taking the time to read my journal and please let me know what you think about this weeks Furry World topic!

Now without further ado, I proudly present....

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Kaffre talks Candy #32

Name: Hello Panda (Milk)
Manufacturer: Meiji Seika
Size: 57.5 gram box
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: Hello Panda cookies consist of small, thick.shortbread cookies filled with 'milk cream'. The cookies come in a variety of shapes and feature illustrations of the company's giant panda mascot engaging in various sporting activities.
Opinion: An import from Singapore that I'd not seen before, but snapped up for review. The cookies were, naturally, very similar to the chocolate variety except that the filling was softer and has a creamy taste similar to the filling in more conventional sandwich cookies such as Oreo, subtlety complimenting the taste of the cookie rather than contrasting with it as in the chocolate variety. Overall, I enjoyed these cookies, but can't really say whether I'll be purchasing them again.At the very least, they were interesting!

Name: Jarritos Mexican Cola
Manufacturer: Novemex
Size: 370 mL bottle
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Mexican Cola consists of a dark carbonated beverage supposedly flavoured to taste like Kola.
Opinion: A Mexican product I'd vaguely heard of, but hadn't tried before. Despite being noticeably lighter in colour, this beverage had a fairly nice cola taste. The flavour was a rather standard cola flavour, but the use of natural sugar as opposed to HFCS meant that it was quite a bit tastier than most generic colas I've tried over the years. It also somehow tasted 'bubblier' though it didn't look any more carbonated than competing drinks. Overall, I thought this was quite tasty, but can't really say whether I'd buy it again though I am now curious to try some of the other flavours...

Name: Moritz Premium Icy Cups
Manufacturer: Regal Confections
Size: 100 gram tray (12 cups).
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Icy Cups consist of a small paper cup (reminiscent of those used for cupcakes or muffins only smaller) filled with chocolate and topped with colourful 'chocolate lentils'.
Opinion: A Dutch product I'd not seen before. I do remember eating 'icy cups' in my childhood, those were pretty much identical to the 'icy cups' reviewed in #5 apart from their shape. These, however, are a bit different. They have a somewhat similar 'cool' nutty taste as the icy squares, but not to quite the same extreme and don't melt quite so readily in your hands or mouth. Overall, I thought this was a fairly nice product, having a nice quality chocolate with the 'lentil' (actually sprinkles), giving the whole thing a nice crunchiness and I would probably buy them again from time to time though I've too much nostalgic attachment to the squares for them to be replaced completely...

Name: Tayto Smoky Bacon Crisps
Manufacturer: Tayto
Size: 37.5 gram bag
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Tayto Smoky Bacon consist of fairly normal looking potato chips with a slight orange cast from the flavouring.
Opinion: An Irish import I'd not seen before and wasn't quite sure what to expect from. The flavour of these chips is fairly intense, but somewhat nondescript - they do possess a certain understated smokiness and do have a somewhat bacon-y taste, but both are 'off' somehow. I suspect this may have its roots in the UK using different woods to smoke their foods than North Americans and the possibility of the title referring to back/peameal bacon as opposed to the strips that are more common on this side of the Atlantic, but in the end it's purely an academic matter. I thought these crisps were OK, but don't think I'm likely to buy them again - the taste just isn't me...

Name: Walkers Chocolate Chip Mini Shortbread
Manufacturer: Walkers Shortbread ltd
Size: 125 gram bag
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Mini Shortbreads consist of disc-shaped shortbread cookies with a diameter 5cm. Tiny chocolate chips are embedded throughout.
Opinion: A Scottish product I'd never seen before and decided to grab for review purposes. It's been a while since I've had shortbread cookies, but these seem to be a reasonably good example, having a rich buttery flavour and not being overly sweet. The chocolate was, perhaps, a bit sparse, but this didn't detract from my enjoyment. Overall, I liked these cookies and would gladly eat them again, but don't know whether I'd buy them again or choose more conventional shortbread or chocolate chip cookies instead.

June-al ^^

First, I'd like to apologize for being even less sociable than usual in the last few weeks. I purchased a used PS4 from a family friend several months ago, but never did anything as I'm much more into tabletop gaming these days and I never had any games for it anyway. On the Victoria Day weekend, however, I purchased a copy of Mortal Kombat XL an it has kept me fairly busy the last few weeks. It doesn't have the cute Babalities from 9, but some of the character dialogue is pretty funny and Ferra/Torr are adorable so I'm enjoying it anyway.

Anyway, despite all that, I actually have been putting a bit more effort into my art and even got a bit of colouring done on my Autumn Pic from last year (at this rate, it just might be ready by this autumn!) I've also been giving some thought to my Babyfur RPG project which has been on hiatus for quite some time at this point. Part of the problem, as previously noted, is that I didn't really have a proper vision of what I wanted to use the system for which meant that developing rules for the game was far more difficult than it needed to be. Therefore, I'm probably going to try talking to other people working on similar projects to see if I can't find a niche to work in. Wish me luck!

For this month's topic of discussion: Tale of Tails - How would having tails affect society?

As this constitutes a fairly broad topic, we should probably begin by discussing why animals even have tails. This varies by species, but some of the more common uses include: balance aid, non-verbal communication, and shooing away insects. Of these, precarious balancing acts are unlikely to be a day to day concern, and a tool using creature has other options for ridding itself of vermin so, in my opinion, only the communicative feature is likely to come have any significant influence. What this influence is would depend on how voluntary these signals are and how elaborate they can be made. Could medieval furry monks use their tails when observing a vow of silence? Would a furry courtier wear voluminous robes to prevent his tail from giving away his latest intrigues? I like to think of tail-talk as being fairly rudimentary and something that is largely involuntary, but controllable with effort like accent or body language except that tail movements, generally being more obvious, would be subject to greater scrutiny.

As for the disadvantages of tails, the most obvious one as I sit here at a computer is that tails aren't particularly chair-friendly. Chairs could, of course, be made with openings for tails, but due to the wide variety of tails that exist this mightn't be practical. Alternately furries might favour stools or never have developed such furniture and sit on the floor/cushions or inclined on couches instead as in the classical era. I've always used standard furniture in art and stories so as to make it recognizable, but ultimately think furs would have eventually developed similar technology at some point albeit perhaps later in their history than humans did. A related point, of special interest to babyfurs is the toilet - while modern toilets aren't really accommodating for tails and I generally draw human-style ones, it would be possible for furs to construct ones with the cistern to the side or with the seat set at an angle to make space for the tail. Alternately, they might prefer to squat over the bowl as is common in some Asian and Middle-Eastern countries. The biggest challenge, however, may come in the form of keeping one's tail out of the 'water' a complication I believe would probably push back the average potty-training age by a significant margin.

As regards clothing, I generally favour the idea that furs like to keep their tails exposed and so most clothing would feature openings to allow the tail to project out. Of course, there would be exceptions, Kaffre's winter ensemble includes a tail-warmer, and I can imagine furry knights donning special tail-armour before wading into battle while tail-protectors would also be worn by other furs whose jobs might require them.

Finally, many of the above points, if taken together, would point towards a beautiful glossy tail being a sign of health and status. While this works OK within the same species, it gets more complex when interspecies relationships are considered. Would they be considered relative only within the boundaries of related species or would the standards be more universal with species with less impressive tails being looked down upon? It's not really a matter I've given much thought to, but I kind of like of upper-class furs wearing elaborate and unwieldy false-tails and it seems oddly appropriate that certain wrong-doers might have their tails shaved or even docked as punishment. I can't really see such things existing in Kaffre's era, but they're interesting to think about.

What do you think on the subjects raised above?

Thanks a bunch for reading my journal *huggles* Also, as it's a Tuesday, you can ask things if you like.

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Kaffre talks Candy #31

Name: Big League Chew, Curve Ball Cotton Candy
Manufacturer: Ford Gum and Machine Company
Size: 60 gram pouch
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Major League Chew consists of finely shredded blue bubblegum.
Opinion: An American candy I don't think I've tred before but decided to grab for review. Perhaps due to the lack of powder, this gum is stickier and more compact than the other varieties I've tried and has a much milder flavour that is at least recognizable as 'cotton candy' (though I've not personally had any recently enough to authenticate it) and as with the other flavours of Big League Chew, the intensity of the taste can be readily adjusted. Overall, I thought this candy was OK, but can't really say I like it any more than 'Original' I'd probably buy it every now and again as a change of pace from other gums.

Name: Dairy Milk Golden Crisp
Manufacturer: Cadbury
Size: 54 gram bar
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Dairy Milk Golden Crisp consists of a flattish bar of Cadbury milk chocolate with 'honeycomb granules' embedded in it. It features grooves allowing the bar to be broken up into eight (2x4) individual segments.
Opinion: An Irish product I'd not seen or heard of before snapping it up at a local importer. This bar captures the signature creaminess of Dairy Milk and the bits of honeycomb toffee impart a very pleasant crunchiness, as well as giving the whole thing a nice toffee-like flavour that, while somewhat off-putting at first (the peppermint flavouring overpowered it in Mint Crisp), grew on me very quickly though it does come at the expense of the milk chocolate taste Dairy Milk is known for. Overall, I thought this bar was quite good and would probably buy it again semi-regularly if my local shop managed to keep it stocked.

Name: Fanta, Lemon
Manufacturer: Coca-Cola
Size: 330mL can
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Lemon Fanta consists of a cloudy carbonated beverage that's flavoured with lemon juice.
Opinion: A UK product I was dimly aware of, but only purchased on a whim. As with most British pops, Lemon Fanta is fizzier and less sweet than those sold in North America. It has a nice lemon flavour, but my opinion was initially marred by a bitter aftertase, but that seemed to vanish after just a few sips leaving me with a fairly pleasant tasting beverage. Overall, I rather liked this product, but am unlikely to buy it again both because it's somewhat difficult to find here and because I generally prefer a somewhat sweeter lemonade.

Name: Quiggin's Kendal Mint Cake (White)
Manufacturer: D. Quiggin & Son Ltd
Size: 85 gram bar
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Kendal Mint Cake consists of a rectangular block of crumbly white mint flavoured confection. There are grooves allowing the bar to be broken into smaller pieces, but I found that the bar breaks cleanly and along fairly straight lines even without them.
Opinion: I reviewed the Wilson's version of this classic British confection back in #10, this variation is somewhat different in having no chocolate. This product is quite durable for what is, essentially, a peppermint flavoured block of sugar, but crumbles easily with chewing which may explain why it's (allegedly) poplar with explorers and adventurers. It has a very intense mint flavour that my sister compared to eating toothpaste which helps prevent the thing being sickeningly sweet. Overall, I found this product to be very tasty in small doses, but find that it becomes overwhelming rather quickly. I may buy it again, but feel that I like the chocolate coated version better as it takes some of the edge off the mint.

Name: Riesen
Manufacturer: August Storck KG
Size: 70 gram bag
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Reisen consist of bite-sized pieces of caramel covered in a layer of dark chocolate.
Opinion: A German import I've eaten before, but not had in a few years. The caramel is stiffer than I remember, but becomes malleable with a bit of chewing. The chocolate, against expectations, adheres well even while the candy is being chewed vigorously and tends to be the dominant flavour which doesn't bother me, but might detract from the enjoyment of some caramel fans. Overall, I liked this snack and will probably continue to purchase it from time to time, but am just not enough of a caramel fan to eat it any more frequently...

May be Time for a New Journal

Well, it's May now and thus time for a new journal, but I'd like to take a slightly different tack than used in my last few journals which mostly just consisted of boring run downs of my activities for the month - very boring to write and, I can only imagine, even more boring for all of you to read.

While I've never really been the chattiest or most sociable of furs, I've been feeling rather lonely and isolated the last few months and it is my hope that a more interactive journal would afford more opportunities to chat with my friends!

That last paragraph actually came out rather whiny-sounding, but the main point is, I'm eager to reengage with the babyfur community once again and since I'm struggling with my artistic and literary output, that means journals are the best avenue to do so on a broad scale. I had hoped to foster such interaction by creating a sequel to my 'Furry World' Meme from a few years back, but questions proved too in-depth to really be addressed in point-form, therefore I've decided to try posing a single question per month to talk about with my readers.

This month's topic then is: Fur & Fashion - How would clothing differ in a world of anthropomorphic animals?

My opinion is that, since fur itself would afford some degree of protection from the elements, furry societies would be somewhat more 'clothing optional' than their closest human analogs. Also, that its role as a sign of social status would be enhanced somewhat by the fact that most items of apparel would, by definition, be a luxury designed to show off the wearer's wealth rather than for any practical purpose. Likewise, since furs wouldn't really need a lot of clothes, they'd be better able to customize what they did have to account for differing body shapes, tails, wings, etc.

In my own art one can see these principles at work in characters playing outside in just diapers and, to a lesser extent in the occasional image of characters wearing collars which I like to use as a stand-in for neck ties and similar formal wear the bells and baubles are just for fun, but in ancient times jewel-encrusted examples were common with rulers.

Your thoughts?

Thanks for reading everyone *hugs* ^w^

PS. As it's a Tuesday, feel free to ask Kaffre whatever questions you may have for him.

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Kaffre talks Candy #30

Name: Black Jack
Manufacturer: Tangerine Confectionery
Size: 36 gram tube (9 pieces)
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Black Jack consists of Aniseed flavoured chews measuring about 2cm x 2cm x 1cm. The pieces are black and square and come individually wrapped in a paper tube.
Opinion: A British product I'd never heard of before, but thought sounded promising! Despite the rigidity of the packaging, the unwrapped candies were surprisingly soft and offers a relatively mellow aniseed flavour which I rather enjoyed. The main faults were that the chews seemed to lose flavour rather quickly and that I found them to have an odd aftertaste that, while not altogether unpleasant, wasn't something I really enjoyed. Overall I thought this candy was OK, but don't really think I'm likely to purchase it again as there are quite a few licorice/anise flavoured candies I like better.

Name: Drifter
Manufacturer: Nestle
Size: 48 grams in two bars
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Drifter consists of two bars packaged side by side. Each individual bar is comprised of a wafer cookie topped with caramel and enrobed in chocolate.
Opinion: A British product I was only vaguely aware of due to Zee-Zee liking it. The bar is an interesting one with the caramel/wafer being both crispy and chewy at the same time while delivering a nice caramel flavour. Similar to 'Lion' I did find this product a bit on the dry side and would have preferred a greater chocolate:wafer ratio, but this bar is still quite good and, if it were more readily available in Canada, it might even become a regular.

Name: Kit Kat Chunky Cookie Dough
Manufacturer: Nestle
Size: 42 gram bar
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Kit Kat Chunky: Cookie Dough consists of a single large wafer cookie (about half the height of a standard Kit Kat Chunky) topped with a substance resembling chocolate chip cookie dough and then enrobed in chocolate. The structure resembled that of an oversized segment of the classic Kit Kat, but the scale is slightly different.
Opinion: A new (possibly limited edition) bar. While the bar's filler has a pleasant flavour that is indeed reminiscent of cookie dough and a slightly different texture than the standard Kit Kat Chunky all of which made for a nice change, the overall effect of this bar is so similar to that of the standard Kit Kat Chunky that I'm finding it somewhat difficult to review. I'd certainly buy this product again, but am unsure whether I like it any more than the standard version.

Name: Pepsi Ginger Cola
Manufacturer: Pepsico
Size: 591mL bottle
Where Purchased: No Frills
Description: Pepsi Ginger Cola is a dark coloured carbonated softdrink flavoured with real ginger in addition to the regular cola flavouring.
Opinion: A softdrink reviewed some time ago, but seems to have disappeared by now. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this product tastes a bit like a cross between pepsi and a rather dry ginger ale. The ginger is fairly strong and adds a certain warmth and tingliness, but also conceals some the nuances of the cola flavour, making it taste a little generic. Overall, I thought this product was fairly tasty, but I don't think I'm likely to buy it again as I'm far for likely to just snag a standard ginger ale or cola instead.

Name: Walkers Marmite Crisps
Manufacturer: Walkers (Lays)
Size: 32.5 gram bag
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Walkers Marmite consist of fairly normal looking potato chips with a brownish cast to them.
Opinion: A brand I was only dimly aware of because it was reintroduced as part of Walkers' 'do us a flavour' event last year(along with "Beef n' Onion"). These chips are supposedly flavoured to taste like 'marmite' a yeast-based sandwich spread popular in the UK, but I've never had it and so can't judge how faithfully it was replicated here. In any event, the chips have a very mild flavour that reminds me of a very faint 'barbecue', but more savoury and with a 'burnt' aftertaste/smell. I was initially reluctant to try these due to marmite's evil reputation in North America, but ultimately I found these to be almost tasteless apart from the aforementioned aftertaste and even that grew on me very quickly. Overall, I thought these chips were OK and wouldn't mind eating them again, but doubt I'll ever buy them in the future...

Easter Kitty + Kaffre talk Candy #29

Greetings once again journal-readers and welcome to my monthly journal. As it happens, March turned out to be a busy month for me!

The journal title is, perhaps, a bit misleading as there's not really anything about Easter in it as the holiday hasn't occurred yet, but I thought it made for a better title than 'April Journal' or something of that ilk and, of course, the promise of bunny, chick and lamb themed candies is fairly enticing to a certain feline!

First, I managed to obtain a fairly nice sheep plushie at Dollarama. It wasn't the highest quality sheep plushie, but it does look more like Edgar than most - all it really needs is a ribbon to be the spitting image so I'll be looking for one of those and figuring out how to tie it most attractively at some point in the near future! Once that's done, I'll see about maybe posting some photographs of him. Perhaps posed with some of my Giant Microbes (bacillus anthacis?)

I also finished my taxes and arranged a dental appointment. I was hoping to see my Doctor as well, but she'd retired so I'll now need to look into finding another physician, but that too may turn out to be a good thing as the location she was at was difficult to access via public transportation so perhaps I can improve on that. On the other paw, I think I hurt myself lifting feed bags and so the added delay is somewhat unwelcome...

I still feel bad about not really drawing or writing anything in over six months, however, but am having a difficult time motivating myself to actually engage in the creative tasks I once enjoyed so much, but fortunately, I think I may have figured out why that is and so I have relatively high hopes of increasing my artistic output over the next few weeks - wish me luck!

Anyway, I guess that's about it for now. Thanks for taking the time to read my journal. Please accept an Easter hug as recompense! *huggles*

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Kaffre talks Candy #29

Name: Big League Chew, Ground Ball Grape
Manufacturer: Ford Gum and Machine Company
Size: 60 gram pouch
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Major League Chew consists of finely shredded purple bubblegum dusted with a white powdery substance.
Opinion: I can't remember whether I've eaten this candy before, but decided to give it a try anyway. The packet I got had been compacted into a fairly solid mass, but I was ale to break it up with relative ease. The gum offers a fairly strong, but slightly sour, grape flavour. As with the original variety, the chewer can adjust the intensity of the flavour somewhat by customizing the amount they chew. Overall, I thought this gum was OK, but the unexpected sourness forced me to stick to chewing the stuff in relatively small quantities and, as such, I'm feel I'm unlikely to buy it again anytime soon.

Name: Coffee Crisp, Macchiato Caramel
Manufacturer: Nestle
Size: 42 gram bar
Where Purchased: Bulk Barn
Description: Coffee Crisp Macchiato Caramel consists of a single large coffee-flavoured wafer cookie coated in chocolate. Externally, the bar is blocky and plain looking.
Opinion: A limited edition variant on a popular Canadian bar, this product is very similar to the standard coffee crisp except that, as befits, an expresso themed product, the coffee flavouring is quite a bit stronger and not so sweet. There's also a nice hint of caramel that helps mellow any bitterness the bar might otherwise exhibit. Overall, I thought this product was a nice variant on the standard brand can definitely see myself buying it again - though even if it were made available long-term I don't think it would replace the normal Coffee Crisp because, while the two bars taste very similar, they offer rather different snacking experiences.

Name: Idris Fiery Ginger Beer
Manufacturer: Britvic Softdrinks Ltd.
Size: 330mL can
Where Purchased: British Isles Shoppe
Description: Idris Fiery Ginger Beer consists of a cloudy carbonated beverage flavoured with ginger.
Opinion: A product I'd not heard of before, but grabbed on a whim. The taste is actually quite pleasant and, thankfully, not the slightest bit 'fiery' despite the ginger giving a rather pleasant tingliness as the beverage goes down. There is unfortunately, a slight aspartame taste, but it's not very pronounced and easily ignored. While easily one of the better ginger ales I've ever drank, I'm really not that crazy about ginger ale in general and consequently am unsure whether I'll be buying this again or not...

Name: Lay's Roast Chicken Chips
Manufacturer: Lay's
Size: 66 gram bag
Where Purchased: Shopper's Drug Mart
Description: Roast Chicken consist of fairly normal looking potato chips.
Opinion: A flavour I tried once in Newfoundland before Hostess was acquired by Lay's, but hadn't seen in Ontario before. The taste was similar to the Tayto version I reviewed in a previous installment of Kaffre talks Candy, but perhaps a tad stronger. I personally found rosemary to be the dominant flavour, but my sister insisted the taste was 'poultry seasoning' instead. Overall, I found this product to be fairly tasty and would probably buy it again, but there are just too many other flavours I like better for it to ever really become any sort of regular purchase on my part.

Name: Nibs
Manufacturer: Twizzler
Size: 225 gram bag
Where Purchased: Dollarama
Description: Nibs consist of bits of red licorice about 2cm long. The pieces are solid and featureless.
Opinion: A product I've had many times, but just now got around to reviewing. I'm not normally a fan of red 'licorice' or, for that matter, cherry flavoured confections in general, but I've always rather liked Nibs. The flavour is similar to normal red licorice, but for whatever reason seems stronger to me. Also, it may sound weird, but the candy has an odd aftertaste I quite enjoy, I can't identify it exactly, but have heard it described as 'waxy' which I suppose fits. Overall, this product is pretty much as I remember and while not my favourite snack, it is one that I find myself craving from time to time and will likely continue to purchase it on such occasions.