Hello, to those who still watch this account. I still log on here to check journals and art, but I haven't posted new material in over a year now, having made  DuskySam my main FA page. Yes, that would explain the strange conversations I have had with that weird cat in the past, him being the darker flip side of my shinny penny self. Dusky has expanded onto other sites and ventures and shouldered all of my more recent creative endeavors, leaving this account rather redundant.

Max Carotski started off in late 2010 after attending Furfright and being told that FA was the place to be for furry phenomena. He was based on a 7th grade sewing project who become a childhood best friend and who grew up with me having strange and silly adventures, as any stuffed animal friend should have. He seemed to be the right guide into this furry landscape back in 2010, and through 2012 he was fairly active here. DuskySam, originally a bad seed joke nemesis, grew out of more adult fantasies that I was engendering in 2011, and he made his debut here, hijacking Max's journals and inspiring some amusing back and forth until he opened his own account. As I put more time and effort into him, Max languished.

Now in 2014, with my attentions focused elsewhere, I feel it is time to move on. After January's FA debacle and the large migration to Weasyl of many people I watched, this site seems far less active (to me). I will post no more photos or journals under this name, but I will leave my galleries and entries intact for casual passersby. I will still log in occasionally to view things, but will likely migrate my watches to Dusky's account.

For further creative updates, you can visit  DuskySam here on FA and on his tumblr account: sammycatnipnik.tumblr.com

Thanks to all who have watched me here, it's been an interesting time!

(Steps into teleporter, vanishes into thin air, leaving the faint odor of regret behind)

Richard Coeur-de-Lion - Ja nuns hons pris (5:54)
http://youtu.be/5Mth1M7787Q

Richard the Lionhearted: Ja nuns hons pris (9:36)
http://youtu.be/lJEZ4ODUuk4


Brought about by listening to Track 7 (Ja nuns hons pris) on Bryan Ferry's 2002 album "Frantic". I am entranced everytime I hear it, and thought I would find some longer versions on youtube for your listening pleasure. Also, I could not find his version online without paying for it, and I have the CD already. Enjoy!

http://news.yahoo.com/rats-control-.....231125831.html

Tele-conference interactions between rats and humans. Very fascinating, got some groovy images ready this!

Hello all! I haven't posted a journal in a zillion years. Or much of anything (sob).

Here's some entertaining Russian animations dating back to the early 80s. Subtitled of course!

Three From Prostokvashino - Part 1
http://youtu.be/FOebKn_WhI0

Three From Prostokvashion - Part 2
http://youtu.be/3hnPSSnS1g0

Vacation in Prostokvashion - Part 1
http://youtu.be/B2L6sS4DsMY

Vacation in Prostokvashion - Part 2
http://youtu.be/6PuN-jRQ9Y8

Enjoy!

http://shine.yahoo.com/fashion/minn.....172800382.html

The concept art is rather frightful, and plays into the ridiculous body-images one expects from a "model": rail-thin and corpse-like.
Not sexy. Not hot. Just awful.

Leave your toons curvy, Disney!!!

Oh, shit. I mean, oh fuck.

http://movies.yahoo.com/news/top-gu.....041553449.html

Tony Scott has been a director I have admired and appreciated for the longest time. He isn't always respected or considered a genius, but he managed to make a lot of really good popcorn films and big blockbusters like Top Gun, Days of Thunder, and Crimson Tide, along with more interesting and personal films like True Romance, Domino and The Hunger.

The brother of Ridley Scott (Alien, Blade Runner, Prometheus), he spent a long time in the commercial world doing groundbreaking work in the British and international advertising scene, and he was very gifted visually, his training as a painter coming in good stead. His early work seemed to corral him into high-end hack work, but later on in the 90s he began to pursue more fascinating projects, while still balancing it out with very successful advertising campaigns at RSA and producing efforts through Scott Free, his and Ridley's production companies.

I'm going to miss the hell out of him. The last project he had been trying to get off the ground was a remake of Walter Hill's The Warriors. His concepts for it sounded really stunning and messed up, I wish he had gotten the chance to do that. I'm going to be in a funk for some time...

R.I.P. Tony. You were one in a million.

So I just came back from seeing Manos: The Hand of Fate Rifftrax show at my localish movie theatre. It was cool to see the MST3K gang back to improvise a far funnier soundtrack to this ghastly bad film, along with several shorts preceding it.
HUGE crowd went to see it, so it felt like how a movie theatre should feel: live, loud and having fun! This happens so rarely these days with your typical Hollywood product, I think The Avengers was the closest to receiving enthusiasm that I've seen outside of a specialty/festival show.
Hollywood, you're losing your way and spending way too much money doing it. This is why I don't go see films much these days, and I'm an avowed movie enthusiast! I have my massive pile of DVDs and Blurays to sift through, so I'm not missing much.
Dark Knight Rises, eh. Total Recall sucked so much ass. Last good film I saw in theatres was Moonrise Kingdom, and that was more firmly in the independent realm. Sigh.

WHAT'S UP, MOVIES?????

http://youtu.be/Q4uu3jQU19c

<iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Q4uu3jQU19c"; frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

This was a short film I completed back in 2007, revised in 2010, and have sat upon until now for no good reason. I am pleased with the final result and have decided to share it with the world!

It tells the tale of a lowly goblin scout who wanders the woods in search of adventure. He encounters a friendly woodsman and they strike up a good time. Will they become friends, or will the goblin's darker impulses take over? Watch and see!

So I went to see Aga-Boom today as it was showing at a nearby college theater. It consists of a Ukrainian husband and wife team and their Russian compatriot doing an action packed clown extravaganza. They performed in the past for Cirque du Soleil, which is notoriously difficult to be chosen by. Their performance was physical, heavily mime, and on the slapstick side. They brought up members of the audience to help participate, and in the climax launched paper, balloons and confetti out into the mostly young audience, which went nuts playing with the debris for a solid 15 minutes. I did my fair share of paper tossing and regressing, but it was a good thing!

It was delightful and a pleasure to watch, and I got a lot of ideas about how to do some simple clowning on my own. Dax will certainly be grilling me for tips and pointers, and I'm sure he'll work some of that into his own performance routine which is great! We both see clowning as a positive and potent force for good, and not the domain of creepers, losers, pedophiles and madmen.

Of course, clowns have developed a really bad reputation over the last several years, with lots of teenagers and young adults cringing with fear at the sound of the word, let alone the sight of the actual thing. I feel this is rather sad, it's a sign of our times that people would rather identify more with zombies than real humans in greasepaint doing their damnedest to entertain and enlighten. Our need to have clowns relegated to horror attractions only reinforce these fears, I don't see this as a good thing.

Dax: That's right! There's gotta be some accountability for how clowns get portrayed! Not a whitewash mind you, but a more balanced account of their history and importance in your human civilization over thousands of years. They've graced the courts of kings, defied regimes and united people with their tireless efforts and madcap escapades. Would you rather get stuck in the muck of tedium and disgust that you seem all too willing to wallow in, or just have a good unforced laugh at the expense of others willing to expend that effort for your entertainment?

Thanks, brother! I'd pardon this turning into a soapbox, but we both love clowns and want others to share in those simple joys. Burn your video games and learn to juggle! Smash your televisions and go out tumbling! Trade your iPods in for calliopes! And for goodness sake learn to laugh freely and without malice, it makes everyone's lives that much more bearable in the end. I've said enough, I'm going to help Dax out with his zany endeavours.

http://gallery.furry-tales.com/main.....&g2_page=2

I had already gone through my DVD copy months ago and did Photoshop/cropping/finessing on a few of Dax Carotski's pics already posted here, so these are strictly rough and unfinished to me. Still, nice to see them up. The young gentleman taking them was courteous and professional. And Dax fared better than  DuskySam, his are positively laughter inducing, HOO HOO HOO! He had the main photographer, the big indifferent humorless fellow. That's just my opinion, I know Dusky cleaned his own photos up extensively for his site, these raw shots I can understand why he'd not want them up! Again, HOO HOO HOO! I'm so rotten...

And go ahead, Dusky, spam me! I dares ya!

More clips have been posted from the Calamity Menagerie performance at Otto's Shrunken Head, I videotaped this on Jan 11, 2012.

Orange Crayon Song
http://youtu.be/qDUNSXvRlDc

INformAtion
http://youtu.be/Er4BUAnR65Q

 Scurrow is bassist and accordionist of this band.

Last night I went into NYC with the band Calamity Menagerie to videotape their performance at Otto's Shrunken Head. It was a special Sesame Street themed night, so the three bands playing mixed original music with covers of songs found on the Sesame Street kid's show. CM's total performance came in at around 35 minutes, and band member  Scurrow has posted a song clip on his youtube page Mooshpups.

Go check out the first video here:
http://youtu.be/MU4f4hZF5PM

And as they will be posting more clips in the near future, keep checking his channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/Mooshpu.....eo-mustangbase

And while you are at it, check out my own channel faddeus, I recently posted a short film up and have a lot of older live performance and short films on display as well.
http://www.youtube.com/user/faddeus.....eo-mustangbase

(Sneaky aren't I, going from promoting Calamity Menagerie to my own stuff! Hoohoohoo!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v1Z8yGugaY

I have worked on this film on and off for many years now, and finally it is complete. I did not direct it, but I photographed, edited, and handled post production work on it. Go check it out on youtube and let me know what you think! Any comments or feedback I will be glad to hear, and feel free to forward this link to others with an interest in independent no-budget films!

I had spent roughly the last two weeks out of state, mostly in Indiana visiting my relatives. I stayed at my mom's house with Brunhilda, the family dog and defender, seeing my brother and his family once to visit their house and a second time to do a premature Christmas celebration on the 23th. That was fun, and we wished them well on their trip to Disneyworld, which they departed for on Christmas Day.

So for several days after my mom and I discussed our/my futures, mostly as to how I will turn my hobbies/passions into actual self-sustaining jobs. Last year I felt that I was fairly productive, but that I didn't take it too seriously and could have acheived a lot more. My main resolution for this year is to work my butt off pursuing photography and videography jobs so that I can stop living off savings and get properly established. That or find another lab tech job (ugh). I also went to see The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Sherlock Holmes: Game of Shadows and MI4: Ghost Protocol. They were worth matinee prices.

I left Indiana on the 29th and went to visit an online friend in Canton Ohio before heading down a bit to visit  mx_scade. We talked a lot about costuming and character things, he read me a chapter from Parasite Rex (a parasitology book), and then we brainstormed how parasites could be used with his new character Trevor and a mad lab rat character I've been pursuing for fun on my own. Lots of giggling ensued!

On the 30th we went to explore this nature reserve and hiked around a waterfall, some slippery rocks (yes, I fell in the river, thank you) and forest terrain. I took a bunch of pictures that I will sort through and maybe post (last time I visited I took tons of photos and didn't post a single one, ooh!), it was a pretty cool landscape. We got back to the car and as it was starting to get dark we drove around a bit until we came upon an Amish operated cheese and sweets shop. We sampled all sorts of cheeses (my favorite was the mild and green Moon cheese), and I picked up a bar of Ambrosia dark chocolate while he got some corncob jelly and some smoked pepper cheese. We went back to his place and had dinner, then I was introduced to  dog12 via Skype. Both of them discussed their gruesome and awful plans they had in store for me once dog12 moves here from Hungary. I took it in stride, despite how much enthusiasm and tittering they displayed. They've definitely discussed such plans beforehand when I was not privy to them... ooh!

On the 31st we got up late, I stayed until 4:30pm and then finally departed. I drove pretty much nonstop barring gas and bathroom/food breaks until I got home last night at 12:25am. So no celebrations, no parties, just being on the road with the radio for company and no DUI jerk drivers to run into. I've been up since noon today sorting out stuff, putting away trip items and readying myself for paying bills tomorrow bright and early in the morning.

So that's that. It's already the new year, so hopefully it will be happy for all of us!

Yes, Christmas is a wonderful time of the year, when young criminals run rampant smashing store windows and assaulting old ladies for their food stamps.
So when you are confronted by the growling, hissing, braying masses of lustful teenage gangs, remember to wish them a Merry Christmas so they don't kick all of your teeth in. That or wield a sword cane and take as many down as you can before you succumb to their mindless wrath!

Hoo hoo hoo!

(I need to stop watching exploitation films...)

Random, needless, trivial, foolish? Perhaps! But I've been doing some research on old childrens' TV shows, as I may take a stab at something like that for the internet. Because it would be fun, and inexpensive, and why not?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pcvm83q5-8 : Somehow this makes sense, and would make for a wonderful show... in a drug induced state!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&a.....;v=87NHueHBHwY : Not sure why this is here, outside of it will creep out people...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtO7EQrMPdQ : Roland Rat Rapping... "yiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiih!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-S7.....eature=related : Audio only, but British rats covering Elvis, I can work with that!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEnXtq-oQJA : Yes, I need to head to the library now, after this ridiculous youtube perusing!

Will these be templates or will they be avoided at all costs? My tastes are bizarre, by far! So I'm sure I will step in something along the way on this treacherous path. Ooh.

He recently started up a wordpress blog so that he could promote his filmmaking, photography and writing. This is a good thing! However, his last journal was decidely more personal and not what I'd consider professional. After a short discussion we agreed that he should remove it from that site and post it here instead.

Why here, you may ask? 'Why do I want to know what some human person thing feels?' Some days I ask the exact same question, but I'll refrain from saying anything until you've read his piece. Here goes.


"My furry friend  Scurrow was holding a birthday party yesterday. A costume party. I think, yeah, I can do that! So I cobbled together a somewhat creepy outfit of coveralls, balaclava, black leather boots and gloves. I'll do alright, I can't wait to see what everyone else dressed up as!

And then it snowed. And I was the only one to show up in costume. Er... actually, one other girl dressed up somewhat, but that was it. Later on, Scurrow and a few furries got into their fursuits and frolicked and cavorted, but one should expect that when furries are present! By then I had already removed my own costume, feeling rather out of place and growing rapidly more uncomfortable with the whole scene. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't what anyone was doing, or anything in particular.

It was more the overall crushing feeling of not wanting to be there, of not wanting to be seen. The awkwardness, the constant grazing on food, the hovering near but never really joining any particular group to talk or hang out. Christ, it was bad.

I am getting worse and worse in social situations. The more people around, the more panic I feel rising up in me. It's awful, and I'm sure it is treatable with therapy or drugs or something else I can't afford. But just grinning and bearing it isn't cutting it so well these days.

It did improve somewhat as the crowd began to thin out. I was handed a video camera and that was good, I became a documenter of the event vs. a participant, so that gave me some relief. Later on I hung out with some musicians and we just tooled around on instruments, some real (banjos) and others improvised (frying pans). That was fun, as I could just do art and not give a damn about anything but riffing and grooving and enjoying myself.

I stayed the night, and then went to a diner with the remaining guests for breakfast. They were pleasant, but the guilt of not doing much with them the previous night colored how I was with them today. I warmed up a bit, but found it tough to connect. I hovered mostly, occassionally interjecting a comment if I had something to say, but still feeling like a fifth wheel. If I hadn't gone, or hadn't stayed the night, I'm sure it would have been more enjoyable for them all.

I've brought this up to my long suffering mother, who has told me I should perhaps speak to a priest about my feelings. If they get any worse I will be utterly crippled, and at a time when I can't afford to withdraw into some shell. Thankfully this doesn't affect my business or professional dealings, only my casual social ones, else I'd truly be fucked. I do perfectly fine when I need to get things done, or direct a film, or tackle some artistic/work challenge.

But parties just kill me. Sorry, Scurrow, for being a dead fish, it was crummy of me."


So that was his blog. He's right, he does need help. And I'm not here to garner sympathy, money, advice, or anything from anyone. But I am concerned.

As a boy, this human created me many years ago, and we've grown up together ever since then. He invented all sorts of adventures for me and other animal pals, and that took a lot of energy and creativity to pull off. Because of his life and his experiences, I evolved and grew into who I am today. Without him, I wouldn't be here. And without me, his creation and furry surrogate, he wouldn't have been able to engage the furry world and its denizens.

Once we set up an account here on FA, and made friends in the real world, slowly but surely we've etched a toehold into this community. It's a good thing, and it has spawned lots of new characters and stories, which is a beautiful thing! My brother Dax is the most recent addition to this wacky family, and is quite happy when the human puts on the makeup and costume and goes out into the real world dressed as him. Dax helps our human to gain the confidence and snappiness that as his own normal self is too afraid to commit to. And fantasy characters need to stretch their legs and see the sights, even if they are borrowing someone else's body to do so, we both love the human for the opportunity!

GAHHHHHHHHHHHHH

That was your brain trying to process this. All these "creations", "identities", "personalities". Who is who, and what is running the show here? Good question.

You see, myself, Dax, that pesky cat Dusky Sam, and countless others, we all have been born from this human fellow's vivid and colorful imagination. We see that he is suffering through what looks like some sort of depression, a deep seated feeling of being trapped in a world he is growing less willing to inhabit. We understand this. We also know that without him to write about us, or photograph us, or dress up like us, we will cease to exist. So if he succumbs to foolish thoughts of killing himself, or moving to a monastery and forsaking the world, we go with him. And we like it here too much to give up that delicate toehold that we have now. There is so much more to commit to paper, to celluloid, to video, to foam rubber and snazzy pants, that to cut it short now would be like genocide. We, the fantasies, have to keep our maker, our human, our friend, from forgetting this. Even if we have to cajole or threaten him with bad haircuts and feverish nightmares!

Because our razors are buzzing, and fantasies can get very down and dirty when it comes to survival!

Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
Human: No... no please, God, no, don't do this to me! I can't take this pressure much longer... oh, oh... oh...
Dusky: Shall I cut off his balls and stuff them in his mouth?
Max: If that's what it takes to get his ass back to work then so be it! Hoo hoo hoo....
Dusky: Nyeh heh heh! You're more ruthless than I thought, Maxie! I'm beginning to like you, almost.
Max: Sheesh! We've got more in common than not, cat!

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?.....p;l=cc554c65a5

Despite how much he angers me...
Despite how much he toys with me...
Despite how much he loves to ruffle my rhubarb and rile my reasoning...

He is trying to make a name for himself, in a legitimate and reasonable way. So click on the above FB link to see all the photos and descriptions Samuel wrote up for his Furfright SFX Makeup Panel he held this year. By all accounts it went very well, and I'm not one to begrudge him honest, well earned work.

So keep it up Dusky, you depraved cat you, and maybe one day you won't make me gnash my teeth so much... OOH!


And my brother Dax made his presence known there as well, he enjoyed it and got some nice things said about him, so thank you to all who took his photos and came up to him with kind words, we both deeply appreciate it. I posted a few pics up for those who wish to see him, thank you very much.

Yes, they shall be out and about in the flesh for this year's Furfright. Dax will be around on Friday, possibly volunteering on the registration line, and that fiend  duskysam will be around on Saturday evening to head up his makeup effects panel and otherwise mingle and murr about.

They tell me someone else might be making a surprise appearance on Sunday, I have a feeling he will be awful, rude, surly and a royal terror. Good luck with him, hoo hoo hoo!

He met up with another rabbit fellow this past weekend and had a really interesting character roleplay session. From all accounts he had a blast, and can't wait to work on his video version! Photos will be posted individually here on FA later today, but for now here's a link to them on facebook.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/.....767&type=3

Enjoy them, he has a new and improved look and is looking for fun and excitement wherever he goes! You will certainly see him at Furfright!

(Off to bed, photos will be loaded directly to this site as soon as I wake up! zzzzzzzzzzzz)

Ugh, my head hurts. Stupid sinus headache. But that's not what this journal is about!

So my mother and I took an 11 day round trip to Colorado, and we had mostly good weather and some nice scenic places to visit. I've only been to Colorado once before, back in 2006 when I took a long road trip down through New Mexico and Utah, I swung up to Mesa Verde in the Southwestern corner of CO to contrast with the deserts of NM. This time around we hit Colorado Springs, cut through Alamosa, Rio Grande Nat'l Forest, Gunnison, Montrose, then down to Durango and then Cortez, the closest town to Mesa Verde Park.

Lots of mountains, trees, lovely clouds and other natural things awaited me. I took WAY too many photos, I think over 2000! Now I have to go through all of them and see which I'll post up here, or just set up links to other sites so that I don't swamp everyone with big puffy cloud shots!

I must admit, as much as I enjoyed the trip and the getaway from NJ, I was a bit restless perhaps. Some of the topography was similar to NM, or gave me that sense of familiarity that dulled my excitement somewhat. I had some visual fatigue on certain days, but on reviewing my photos realize that there was enough variety and change of scenery to keep each day reasonably fresh. And you really can't beat cool fresh mountain air, even when you get to over 11,000 feet high and have some trouble running (or walking) up nature trails!

When we arrived back in Indiana this last Monday, we retrieved my mom's dog Hilda from the kennel, and over the next couple of days we shot some good action photos of Hilda catching balls in midair, she's quite the athlete! Those I can post a few up here, as dogs performing acrobatic feats of leaping and coordination should be acceptable with the AUP, hoo hoo!

Put away all of my things and straightened out the house today. Got errands done, went food shopping, am now settling down for some music and sculpting.

Have a good night, pics will dribble in soon!

Yes, I am off to Colorado for the next two weeks, and likely won't check up on the internet in general during that time. So have fun while I'm away, and don't loot my refrigerator, there isn't anything in there now, hoo hoo!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/.....767&type=1

Hosted on my human's facebook account (thanks, human!), here are my photos of what I encountered in 4 townships while on an errand for my dizzy roommate  duskysam, who needed a webcam so he could participate in a costume TF panel held by  swatcher yesterday evening.

I culled through over 100+ photos to pick my final representations. They are a bit forlorn, there's a big clean up job ahead, but as the sun came out and the rain went away there was a fresh smell in the air and a rare beauty to the turmoil. I hope you enjoy them!

Recently I was asked to shoot promotional photos for a friend who needed cool pics for his band. After I wrapped on that I gave  scurrow a call to see if we could hang out, as he lives nearby. And we did, and it was fun, and we did some food shopping at the 24hr ShopRite. For 2 hours... lots of food, lots of impulse shopping!

I stayed overnight and woke up late. Scurrow knew I had my camera with me and asked if we could shoot some pictures out at a railroad. Having already shot the band pics at another railroad I thought, hey, why not? He told me the premise of the shoot, which was of him being tied up helpless on the tracks, waiting for his impending doom. After figuring out which tracks were best, we hopped in my car and drove to them, got him nice and tied up, laid him down on the tracks and started snapping away. 30 pics in total, he has already posted this one below:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6378725

I will be adding a few more to my own gallery, as I had some favorite pics of my own from the shoot. Good toony fun, sadly we did not have a villain around to cackle and cavort around Scurrow's helpless prone form. I suppose that can happen in the future! Enjoy the pics!

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6379443/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6379459/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6379479/
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/6379500/

Ooh! It looks like several of my photos have been taken down. Namely the ones of Pink and Flop, two silly stuffed animals that I bought from Goodwill several months ago for use in youtube skits (that haven't been filmed yet... ooh...).
I read their guidelines, which say that I can't post inventory items, i.e. things that I own and would like to show off. I can understand that to the common viewer, the photos were of plushies that I own. To me, they are (or will be, one day) part of my cast of characters for a ridiculous variety show, so they are invested with personalities and have lives of sorts.
I will not contest FA and their deletions. They touched nothing else, and I'm fine with that. Next time you see Pink, Flop and other furry critters they shall be as headshots and action poses from their new show, accompanied by fancy art, cartoon captions or real live fursuitters and animal actors/performers/weirdos.
Creative circumvention is the key!
*rubs hands together evilly*

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/.....767&type=1

By the way, click the above link to see the Flop and Pink photos, they've been on FB for some time now...