My husband, Dennis, has been following the t-shirt production of a certain web comic on topatoco.com for years now. That comic is Tiny Kitten Teeth by a pair of brilliant young folks who go by Becky and Frank. Imagine my delight as I was aimlessly wondering the floor of San Diego Comic Con 2011 to spy the Tiny Kitten Teeth banner in the web comic section.
I went over to inspect the wares of this adorable little gem when suddenly I spied a small, cheerful display of the single most soul-warmingly adorable book I had ever seen. The happy little cover proclaimed that it was a "Tigerbuttah" golden book style storybook. I was completely paralyzed by cuteness.
The Tigerbuttah golden book was actually a Kickstarter project that Frank and Becky did. I am so incredibly glad it got funded. I immediately bought a copy for Fiona. Becky even put Fiona's name in the inside cover and drew a kitten for her. SOOOO CUUUUUTTTEEEEE. As soon as Fiona got home from grandma's house yesterday, I gave her the book. It's been less than 24 hours since I gave my daughter Tigerbuttah and she's already insisted I read it to her six times. Every time she sees it, she has to have it read to her. She calls it "Tigerbwahbwah" which is so cute I could die.
The story of Tigerbuttah is actually really terrific. Tigerbuttah looses his ability to imagine and pretend, then goes on a great adventure in a big, yellow balloon and meets all kinds of adorable new friends who help him to get his imagination back.
Tigerbuttah's art is exquisite. The colors are vivid, the scenes are detailed, and every last character is adorable. The style really does hearken back to the days of my youth when I would read The Pokey Little Puppy over and over. There is so much energy and life in Tigerbuttah and his little friends that every page is a delight to behold.
Honestly, I can't say enough good things about Tigerbuttah. If you have a young 'un, this is certainly a must have in your library. The message is timeless and appropriate for any age. If you use your imagination, you can go on fantastic adventures every day. On top of that, did I mention it's so cute you could die? I'm pretty sure I did, but it warrants another mention. CUTE.
You can pick up a copy at Tiny Kitten Teeth's Topatoco page. Just click here. Oh, and while you're there I also recommend you pick up their Pabst Blue Kitten tshirt. There is so much adorable going on in Tiny Kitten Teeth's little corner of the Internet that you just can't settle for only one thing in your basket. :)
In closing, let me reiterate that if you are looking for an amazing story with fantastic illustrations that's one of a kind and wonderful, you need to pick up Tigerbuttah. Get a few copies, actually. Keep one, get one for a friend, take one to your local elementary school library so you can share the precious joy that Tigerbuttah brings to readers of all ages.
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
"Most Frequently" at San Diego Comic Con 2011
I know it's been a while everyone, and I apologize. Honestly, my inspiration fell flat, and my time became much more of an issue. This summer has been hectic and awesome and I just got back this morning at 2am from San Diego where I worked at the San Diego Comic Con. It was so fun, and I got to make a lot of my twitter friends, so that's always awesome.
This installment of my blog will feature phrases, costumes, and stuff in general I saw the most at SDCC this year. Those of you who attended with me can probably relate to this post, so comment away. :)
So where to begin...
Matt Smith Cosplay
It seems like, as I worked the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund booth, there was at any given moment someone dressed up as the 11th doctor. Boys, girls, grown adults, the floor was filled with bobbing fezes. Fezzes? yes, fezzes. I even got to meet one young man who was actually British, brunette and adorable who did the Matt Smith. It was awesome. Though, I did hear two little twelve year old girls in way-too-short mini skirts puzzled as to why people were wearing fezzes, which made me giggle. I guess there's all kinds of nerdery out there, but it seemed a pretty absurd question at the time.
Avengers Assemble
Ok, I like Captain America. He's awesome. Also, there was a ton of great Cap cosplay at Con. My issue is this; with the practically endless list of terrific Cap quotes to choose from, the only one I heard any of the cosplayers exclaim was "Avengers, assemble!" Really? I honestly thought that I would hear at least one "You think this A on my head stands for France?!"
Open-to-the-Public-Ultra-Speed-Walk
Every morning, as soon as the pre-recorded announcer lady warned us that the exhibit hall was "now open to the public", the crowds would waddled in amid the choruses of "NO RUNNING IN THE HALL!" For the first five minutes the floor was open there wasn't one "attendee" who didn't look like a duck that had been hit by a car. Gotta be first in line for the free stuff, you know. I guess...
Con Hoes
As they bottle necked the traffic in front of our booth, Betsy mumbles something about con hoes, to which Dave replies, "They're like regular pants, but smaller."
Arkham Asylum Demo
It was awful. Scripted, with a girl who was absolutely not chosen at random and wasn't actually playing. I heard it about five times a day, and the announcer was so loud and yelly and obnoxious that he actually was loosing his voice by Saturday. Awful. And loud, and it gets really annoying. Did I mention that? Because I don't feel bad about mentioning it again. It was that bad. Thanks, DC.
Man Hating Catwoman Girl
I only had the pleasure of hearing her assault Geoff Johns, Scott Snyder and a panel full of other DC big wigs once, but that was enough. I guess she did it again, if I read the tweets correctly. Anyway, short story, this girl dressed as Catwoman got in like for Q and A at the New 52 panel and was like, "Are you committed to hiring more female artists and writers?!" Then continued to insist that DC has no women and that it's a boys club because she's been to all the panels and they're all men. Whatever Catwhineygirl! People are people. Can we please get over if they're men or women? They're talented, and that's enough.
Angry Birds Guy
I only saw one guy dressed as Angry Birds, but he was always in front of the booth. Always. He wore a beak and had angry bird plushies on his shoulders, and he'd built his entire sling shot out of PVC. It was pretty impressive, but also the lamest cosplay I've seen to date. Really? Angry Birds is a cosplay now? That's really reaching.
n00b
I had never actually heard it used earnestly in conversation until my first night a Comic Con. It was pretty freaking hilarious. "There are two stories, n00b!" he said to his buddy, pointing to the stairs, at the top of which the panel rooms sit. There was no sarcasm when he used it. He honestly just calls people n00bs when not sitting in front of a computer screen. To me, that is weird and funny.
Lantern T-Shirts
I appreciated the shirts. There were a TON of them. So this wasn't funny, or annoying or stupid. There were just a lot of lantern shirts there. Go figure, right? But still cool.
Lost Children
Sunday is kid's day at San Diego Comic Con. This is a terrible idea. If you've ever been, you know how incredibly difficult it is for an adult to keep their bearings on the con floor. Think of how hard it is for kids to find their way around. Taking small children to Comic Con is just an irresponsible idea. It's one thing if they're strapped in strollers or in packs on your back, but kids who have independent mobility are a liability. I lost count of how many times I heard lost children announcements on Sunday. They may make adorable cosplayers, but seven year olds get waaaaay too hyper at the sight of a giant Lego Batman to keep track of.
TV Nerds
Fillion. (No really, I love Nathan, but hoards of screaming fans behind a removable wall are super irritating.)
Loud Mouth Panel Attendees
There's one in every crowd. I got the pleasure of sitting directly in front of one of them this past weekend. Not fun. They're the one who yells out storyline corrections while the panel members are trying to speak. They're also the people who ask two to three questions in Q & A. It's like they get some kind of gratification for knowing more about the comic books than the people creating them. I think of this as a conditional truth because you can memorize issue numbers and names all you want and it still doesn't mean that you get what's been put into every single book you've read. Anyway...these people are way too common at Cons, and they're always an unwelcome part of every panel you attend.
Hipsters
That's right. Comic books are super hip now. I saw a guy walking around with one of those retro phone receivers that plugs into your cell phone in his back pocket. THIS DEFEATS THE POINT OF HAVING A CELL PHONE. I wasn't aware that comic books are the hipster thing now, and I'm sad to think that I'm a part of a fan community that's ok with punctuation mark bands. Oh well. I'm still a nerd, but I will never, ever carry around a full sizes phone in my pocket so that people who watch me taking calls on it can marvel at how completely ironic I am.
Movie Posters That Don't Matter
I'm ok with getting handed free stuff most of the time, but someone tried to give me a Zookeeper poster while I was wandering aimlessly around the floor one morning. Zookeeper, with Paul Blart Mall Cop. You know the festering turd I speak of. I asked this sweet kid handing them out "What am I going to do with a Zookeeper poster?" His fellow booth slaves immediately answered with "burn it" and "use it as a napkin." I respectfully handed the poster back and moved on saying "Give it to someone who wants it." I am constantly amazed at what people will take home with them just because it's free. I ended up with some free stuff because Conan the Barbarian is AWESOME and I love checking out all the 'unknown' creator booths. I sure as hell am not going to take home a fucking Zookeeper poster. Ugh. If I had to choose between lugging home a Zookeeper poster, and receiving a paper cut, I would take the paper cut. At least that would heal over quickly and the memory would fade with it. A Zookeeper poster would linger and eventually become a threat to the environment as it rots in my backyard making the chickadees sick.
Cosplay Poses
These cute little kids sit at home in front of their mirror and their television simultaneously and practice exactly what pose they will strike when the un costume clad people walking around ask them to stop and pose for a picture. I find this kind of sad. I know it's part of the whole cosplay thing, but it's super hardcore. Feel free to chalk it up to my inability to feel that strongly about anything in life except my adorable kid. I just don't get the appeal. It's like Halloween on steroids and meth at the same time. You pretty much have to be abusing drugs to think that you're getting life experiences out of practicing a pose for six months that you will use for one day. Let me clarify that if you're under the age of 21 then it's totally fine. Kids love that shit. If you're of legal drinking age, there are better things to do with your nights.
Adventure Time Hats
They were everywhere. Was Cartoon Network giving these away or something? Finn hats were like a virus. every time I finished my pitch, I would look up and there would be five more than when I started. I love Adventure Time. It's a fantastic show and I begrudge no one for wanting to wear these hats. But seriously, someone had to be just giving them away because no merchant would have brought that much stock of one single hat design.
People Asking Me Where the DC Booth Was
I think I mentioned early that the CBLDF was stationed directly across from the DC booth. Not only that, but DC wasn't exactly hard to see from anywhere on the con floor. It was surrounded by banners of iconic DC characters that reached from the floor to the ceiling. Yet at least once a day I had someone come up to me asking "Could you tell me where the DC booth is?" The first time this happened I must have given the guy a 'are you pulling my chain look' because after a short silence he said, "Is it right behind me or something?" My only guess is that the people asking me this question have no idea which characters belong to DC and which to Marvel. Then again, they might have just been tired or ditzy. I guess I'll never know.
Comic Con was a great experience. I loved volunteering for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and I got to meet a lot of amazing people. I hope you enjoyed my little list of things that I found frequent at the con. Hopefully soon I'll be putting up some more Con and comic related posts. Until then, goodnight at good luck.
By the way, make sure you're buying Future Foundation. Insider information from @dreamyeyed tells me that Medusa will be appearing in an upcoming book. FUN!
<3Saz
This installment of my blog will feature phrases, costumes, and stuff in general I saw the most at SDCC this year. Those of you who attended with me can probably relate to this post, so comment away. :)
So where to begin...
Matt Smith Cosplay
It seems like, as I worked the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund booth, there was at any given moment someone dressed up as the 11th doctor. Boys, girls, grown adults, the floor was filled with bobbing fezes. Fezzes? yes, fezzes. I even got to meet one young man who was actually British, brunette and adorable who did the Matt Smith. It was awesome. Though, I did hear two little twelve year old girls in way-too-short mini skirts puzzled as to why people were wearing fezzes, which made me giggle. I guess there's all kinds of nerdery out there, but it seemed a pretty absurd question at the time.
Avengers Assemble
Ok, I like Captain America. He's awesome. Also, there was a ton of great Cap cosplay at Con. My issue is this; with the practically endless list of terrific Cap quotes to choose from, the only one I heard any of the cosplayers exclaim was "Avengers, assemble!" Really? I honestly thought that I would hear at least one "You think this A on my head stands for France?!"
Open-to-the-Public-Ultra-Speed-Walk
Every morning, as soon as the pre-recorded announcer lady warned us that the exhibit hall was "now open to the public", the crowds would waddled in amid the choruses of "NO RUNNING IN THE HALL!" For the first five minutes the floor was open there wasn't one "attendee" who didn't look like a duck that had been hit by a car. Gotta be first in line for the free stuff, you know. I guess...
Con Hoes
As they bottle necked the traffic in front of our booth, Betsy mumbles something about con hoes, to which Dave replies, "They're like regular pants, but smaller."
Arkham Asylum Demo
It was awful. Scripted, with a girl who was absolutely not chosen at random and wasn't actually playing. I heard it about five times a day, and the announcer was so loud and yelly and obnoxious that he actually was loosing his voice by Saturday. Awful. And loud, and it gets really annoying. Did I mention that? Because I don't feel bad about mentioning it again. It was that bad. Thanks, DC.
Man Hating Catwoman Girl
I only had the pleasure of hearing her assault Geoff Johns, Scott Snyder and a panel full of other DC big wigs once, but that was enough. I guess she did it again, if I read the tweets correctly. Anyway, short story, this girl dressed as Catwoman got in like for Q and A at the New 52 panel and was like, "Are you committed to hiring more female artists and writers?!" Then continued to insist that DC has no women and that it's a boys club because she's been to all the panels and they're all men. Whatever Catwhineygirl! People are people. Can we please get over if they're men or women? They're talented, and that's enough.
Angry Birds Guy
I only saw one guy dressed as Angry Birds, but he was always in front of the booth. Always. He wore a beak and had angry bird plushies on his shoulders, and he'd built his entire sling shot out of PVC. It was pretty impressive, but also the lamest cosplay I've seen to date. Really? Angry Birds is a cosplay now? That's really reaching.
n00b
I had never actually heard it used earnestly in conversation until my first night a Comic Con. It was pretty freaking hilarious. "There are two stories, n00b!" he said to his buddy, pointing to the stairs, at the top of which the panel rooms sit. There was no sarcasm when he used it. He honestly just calls people n00bs when not sitting in front of a computer screen. To me, that is weird and funny.
Lantern T-Shirts
I appreciated the shirts. There were a TON of them. So this wasn't funny, or annoying or stupid. There were just a lot of lantern shirts there. Go figure, right? But still cool.
Lost Children
Sunday is kid's day at San Diego Comic Con. This is a terrible idea. If you've ever been, you know how incredibly difficult it is for an adult to keep their bearings on the con floor. Think of how hard it is for kids to find their way around. Taking small children to Comic Con is just an irresponsible idea. It's one thing if they're strapped in strollers or in packs on your back, but kids who have independent mobility are a liability. I lost count of how many times I heard lost children announcements on Sunday. They may make adorable cosplayers, but seven year olds get waaaaay too hyper at the sight of a giant Lego Batman to keep track of.
TV Nerds
Fillion. (No really, I love Nathan, but hoards of screaming fans behind a removable wall are super irritating.)
Loud Mouth Panel Attendees
There's one in every crowd. I got the pleasure of sitting directly in front of one of them this past weekend. Not fun. They're the one who yells out storyline corrections while the panel members are trying to speak. They're also the people who ask two to three questions in Q & A. It's like they get some kind of gratification for knowing more about the comic books than the people creating them. I think of this as a conditional truth because you can memorize issue numbers and names all you want and it still doesn't mean that you get what's been put into every single book you've read. Anyway...these people are way too common at Cons, and they're always an unwelcome part of every panel you attend.
Hipsters
That's right. Comic books are super hip now. I saw a guy walking around with one of those retro phone receivers that plugs into your cell phone in his back pocket. THIS DEFEATS THE POINT OF HAVING A CELL PHONE. I wasn't aware that comic books are the hipster thing now, and I'm sad to think that I'm a part of a fan community that's ok with punctuation mark bands. Oh well. I'm still a nerd, but I will never, ever carry around a full sizes phone in my pocket so that people who watch me taking calls on it can marvel at how completely ironic I am.
Movie Posters That Don't Matter
I'm ok with getting handed free stuff most of the time, but someone tried to give me a Zookeeper poster while I was wandering aimlessly around the floor one morning. Zookeeper, with Paul Blart Mall Cop. You know the festering turd I speak of. I asked this sweet kid handing them out "What am I going to do with a Zookeeper poster?" His fellow booth slaves immediately answered with "burn it" and "use it as a napkin." I respectfully handed the poster back and moved on saying "Give it to someone who wants it." I am constantly amazed at what people will take home with them just because it's free. I ended up with some free stuff because Conan the Barbarian is AWESOME and I love checking out all the 'unknown' creator booths. I sure as hell am not going to take home a fucking Zookeeper poster. Ugh. If I had to choose between lugging home a Zookeeper poster, and receiving a paper cut, I would take the paper cut. At least that would heal over quickly and the memory would fade with it. A Zookeeper poster would linger and eventually become a threat to the environment as it rots in my backyard making the chickadees sick.
Cosplay Poses
These cute little kids sit at home in front of their mirror and their television simultaneously and practice exactly what pose they will strike when the un costume clad people walking around ask them to stop and pose for a picture. I find this kind of sad. I know it's part of the whole cosplay thing, but it's super hardcore. Feel free to chalk it up to my inability to feel that strongly about anything in life except my adorable kid. I just don't get the appeal. It's like Halloween on steroids and meth at the same time. You pretty much have to be abusing drugs to think that you're getting life experiences out of practicing a pose for six months that you will use for one day. Let me clarify that if you're under the age of 21 then it's totally fine. Kids love that shit. If you're of legal drinking age, there are better things to do with your nights.
Adventure Time Hats
They were everywhere. Was Cartoon Network giving these away or something? Finn hats were like a virus. every time I finished my pitch, I would look up and there would be five more than when I started. I love Adventure Time. It's a fantastic show and I begrudge no one for wanting to wear these hats. But seriously, someone had to be just giving them away because no merchant would have brought that much stock of one single hat design.
People Asking Me Where the DC Booth Was
I think I mentioned early that the CBLDF was stationed directly across from the DC booth. Not only that, but DC wasn't exactly hard to see from anywhere on the con floor. It was surrounded by banners of iconic DC characters that reached from the floor to the ceiling. Yet at least once a day I had someone come up to me asking "Could you tell me where the DC booth is?" The first time this happened I must have given the guy a 'are you pulling my chain look' because after a short silence he said, "Is it right behind me or something?" My only guess is that the people asking me this question have no idea which characters belong to DC and which to Marvel. Then again, they might have just been tired or ditzy. I guess I'll never know.
Comic Con was a great experience. I loved volunteering for the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund and I got to meet a lot of amazing people. I hope you enjoyed my little list of things that I found frequent at the con. Hopefully soon I'll be putting up some more Con and comic related posts. Until then, goodnight at good luck.
By the way, make sure you're buying Future Foundation. Insider information from @dreamyeyed tells me that Medusa will be appearing in an upcoming book. FUN!
<3Saz
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