A Plush and Fuzzy Menace

Jen brought me to San Jose proper. I'd commented one time or more too many on the overall sterility of the San Jose suburbs, and we both felt that the only way to really give the southern end of the Bay Area a fair hearing would be to head to its center and cop a feel.

I'd heard little about San Jose other than its importance in the high-tech field, and my expectations for encountering anything strange were low. The tech museum was holding some sort of Star Trek exhibit, which gave some indication of what the town had to offer. We were looking for parking when we saw the first sign of them.

There were two of them. At first I assumed they were involved in some bizarre mating ritual. But on closer observation it became clear that they were only frolicking, with some light cavorting thrown in for good measure.

Then we saw more of them. Dozens. Prancing around the pedestrian mall. Posing for photographs with Japanese tourists. Dancing about publicly in a gay and joyous fashion in the lobby of the Fairmont hotel. The Fairmont, it turned out, was ground zero for what we later learned was a happening called FURTHER CONFUSION, a convention of "FURRIES" - folks who dress up as anthropomorphic animals and get together to cavort, prance, pose and hug each other and strangers.

We parked the car and decided to give the Star Trek Exhibit a miss. Weirder, more adorable things were afoot.




Furries cavorting inside Fairmont Lobby



My lovely assistant gets mauled adorably.



An attempt at investigative journalism goes adorably wrong.




A final hug