Today is Black Friday, a day where thousands of turkey-stuffed shoppers put on their football helmets and elbow pads and prepare to work off Thanksgiving dinner by muscling their way through the madding crowds in order to find The Best Deal Ever.
We have thousands of Black Friday t-shirts – which is somewhat ironic given that shopping online for Black Friday gear eliminates the need to get out there and suffer through it. Hmm.
So if you’re out there braving the holiday crowds and doing your part to stimulate the American economy, best of luck to you. Be safe, keep your elbows up, and remember that you can always come home and shop online in your superhero pajamas. We won’t tell.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you from the CafePress crew. Whether you’re feasting on turkey, tofurkey or just like to save room so you can put down 3 kinds of pie, today is a day to give thanks and celebrate your friends and family.
Of course, all that food does help fortify you for the contact sport that is Black Friday. So if you’re planning to get out there tomorrow, be sure to take your vitamins and get lots of rest.
The 2008 election wasn’t only a big deal at the federal level; several states had important ballot initiatives that were being closely watched at the National level.
One such state was California, which had Proposition 8 on the ballot. This initiative amended the state Constitution to define marriage as being between a man and a woman, thus rendering gay marriage illegal. Prop 8 was a response to the California Supreme Court’s May ruling that overturned a previous gay marriage ban.
With such controversy over the issue, it was no surprise to see so many people making their voices heard via Prop 8 t-shirts and other merchandise. On November 15th, a series of anti-Prop 8 rallies took place throughout California. So we went out to the San Francisco rally in search of folks making their voices heard not just with their chants, but with their shirts, signs and other accessories as well.
Forget about the economy and the oil crisis. Germany is facing a not-so-merry shortage of its own: a Santa Shortage. (That’s Weihnachtsmann for you linguists out there.)
It seems that Germany is short on round, bearded men with clean police records who want to spend several hours swapping children on their laps. Qualified Santas must also be willing to pull up to a crowded mall in a sleigh or, alternatively, park far enough away that the children’s suspension of disbelief isn’t shattered by the arrival of Santa in a small, fuel-efficient VW.
Thought: Santa could say he’s resting the reindeer(das Rentier) for the Big Night. I’m just saying – if parking is a barrier in this time of crisis, perhaps creative solutions can be found.
And so it is that the Fantasy T-Wearer of the Week is any potential or current German Santa put off by the stringent parking requirements of the job.
May all you Santa hopefuls wear the shirt at right and park with a clear conscience and a minimized hike in the fairly cumbersome red suit. Viel Erfolg, Weihnachtsmann!
Sarah Palin made headlines last week when she visited a local turkey farm to pardon a turkey. Of course, this in and of itself isn’t hugely out of the ordinary. The President pardons a turkey at Thanksgiving every year as well.
What was a bit out of the ordinary was the location and style of the interview that Palin gave at the turkey farm, which included one of the ostensibly unpardoned turkeys being slaughtered behind her at the hands of an incredibly camera-conscious man who alternates between shoving the apparently live bird into some sort of grinder, and turning around toward the camera with, it seems, the same sense of bewilderment that those watching the video itself have.
Video of the Palin turkey farm interview has been circulating since publication. WARNING: if watching an animal die while a former Vice Presidential candidate sips coffee and blithely chats about her plans for Thanksgiving is going to bother you, don’t watch this video. Which is to say that animals were most definitely harmed during the making of this video, so be forewarned.
Of course, some vegetarians are happy that this video may be turning some people off turkey, noting that those planning to have a turkey on their Thanksgiving table should understand how it got there.
Whether the ill-fated turkey starring in this interview is the entree of honor at the Palins’ dinner table hasn’t been reported.
The holidays are a time of celebrating one another – but finding a thoughtful gift for everyone on your list can turn even the cheeriest merrymaker into the Grinch. We all have that person who seems impossible to shop for, whether it be your overly-friendly postman who’s waiting for his big break as a stand-up comedian and has a tendency to make off-color jokes on your front porch in front of company, or your brother’s annoying, airheaded girlfriend with the 5 snapping Pomeranians in matching sweaters and coordinated carrying satchels that she insists on bringing everywhere she goes.
And for those members of your shopping list, we offer you hope: you’re not alone. And you’re not out of ideas, you just haven’t found The Big Idea yet. But don’t worry, we can help.
The Ungiftables are a fearless group of gift recipients not for the faint of heart. But find them the right present and you go down as a gifting rock star.
Is your sister a vegan womens’ studies major on a macrobiotic diet who only wears organic clothing and refuses any mode of transport that involves gasoline? No problem.
Is Uncle Randy prone to wearing tinfoil hats, railing about 9-11 being an inside job and getting drunk off homemade wine that he knows hasn’t been tampered with by the Illuminati? Hey, we’ve got him covered.
So check out The Ungiftables to see whether your Ungiftable is represented. But if not, don’t fret: you’re sure to find something among the other 150 million+ products in the CafePress Marketplace. Another bonus: our presents won’t cost you an arm and a leg. (But if Cousin Sally the aspiring Beat Poet has a leg fetish with a particular penchant for skinny guys in black sock and shorts, we got her too.)
And if you’re hitting a road block and really can’t think of that perfect present for your son’s narcoleptic substitute teacher, let us help you by taking part in:
**THE UNGIFTABLE CHALLENGE 2008**
E-mail us a description of your Ungiftable, and we’ll get back to you with some ideas. Address is blog (at) cafpress (dot) com.
So shoot us a note – we’ll get right to work finding the perfect gift for your new neighbor who wasted no time in painting her house the brightest of tangerines, and bedecking her front yard by proudly setting up her extensive collection of garden gnomes around the huge, fanciful and slightly naughty water fountain of Michaelangelo’s David.
Well, all of those things added up are a recipe for a collective sigh on behalf of the American people. Sure, there’s a credit crisis. But there’s something else, too.
A simple look at the SUV t-shirts on our site sums it up: these gas-guzzling beasts are bad for the environment, sure. But they’re also impractical, particularly in light of peak oil and the fact that we’re at war in the Gulf region. The content protesting the American move toward vehicles that have continued to get larger and more fuel inefficient in spite of so many inconvenient truths has continued to grow throughout the Bush presidency, the collective voice of an eco/socio/politically-conscious group that has watched in frustrated wonderment as the “bigger is better” mantra has been held up by the American auto industry as a symbol of our very patriotism. There was GM’s Hummer, Ford’s Expedition, Chevy’s mammoth Kodiak… heck, even Volkswagen got into the action by unleashing the massive Touareg to American markets (not available in Germany).
Whether the Big 3 will get its bailout has yet to be determined. What is certain is that, for a large number of t-shirt makers ’round these parts, bailing out the same people that proudly made Hummers a household name and urged soccer moms to trade in their minivans for V8 SUV’s is an even tougher sell than a 2009 Hummer.
Just when you thought an Obama thong was the weirdest way to pay homage to the President Elect, science – as ever – came around and proved that even the biggest star in the world can be smaller than a grain of sand.
Known as “Nanobamas,” these 3-D portraits of Barack Obama were the brainchild of John Hart, an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan. Hart devised the puny portraits to raise awareness of nanotechnology. These are not his first artistic creation of atomic scale; his other works can be seen at nanobliss.
The Nanobamas themselves contain 150 million carbon nanotubes – hollow cylinders 1/50,000 the width of a single hair on your head – stacked on top of each other. And if you truly understand this beyond a conceptual level, your left brain is considerably more honed than my own and you’re allowed to wear the super powers shirt.
The portraits are a rendition of Shepard Fairey’s famous Obama portrait, seen everywhere from signposts to garage doors to – thanks to Hart – a silicone wafer. The Nanobamas are about a half millimeter in size, meaning that unless you actually do possess superpowers you’ll need a microscope to see them. Whether Shepard Fairey will send a microscopic C&D delivered by his highly trained platoon of angry army ants has yet to be determined.
May the force be with you, sir. Now please, get back to work – those atoms won’t split themselves. Though perhaps the Nanobamas can reach across the aisle and bring them back together.
While Politico reports that some members of the Obama camp are greeting this news with ambivalence at best due to having run a contentious primary campaign with a central theme of tossing out the old establishment (i.e. Billary), rumor has it that Obama himself has offered her the job.
Certainly, 18 million voters felt that it was high time for Hillary to take a position in the White House; and with over half a million Hillary products reflecting that sentiment, the appointment would allow Hillary fans to pull a lot of those Hillary t-shirts out from under their anti-Bush t-shirt collection and wear them with pride.
Of course, technically the Secretary of State doesn’t actually live or work in the White House. But these are t-shirts, and some artistic license is allowed. Anyway, the State Department’s just down the street, and with Condi’s shoe collection it’s possible that Hillary may find a walk-in closet even nicer than the one in the White House.
While Obamamania sweeps the nation (and if you need an Obama t-shirt, we have about 2 million to choose from), the President Elect is in fact losing one merchandise primary: the calendar.
His conquistador? Man’s best friend.
Dog calendars are all the rage – and no wonder. Because dogs will let you glam them up like a 10-year-old girl’s tea party guest of honor and take pictures of them. (And, as far as we know, Obama doesn’t. But of course we haven’t seen footage of his daughters’ tea parties…)
Of course, many of these festooned Fidos are willing to suffer such embarrassment because they’re supporting a cause. Selling calendars is a great way to fundraise for animal rescue (and it’s also a great way to amuse shelter and rescue volunteers and employees). Just ask Chuckles – the fashion victim and calendar star of dooce creator Heather Armstrong, Chuck is fab in drag to raise money for the Humane Society of Utah.
Another cover dog used to the limelight: Hector, one of the dogs confiscated from Michael Vick’s fighting ring, graces the cover of Bad Rap’s Bust Dog Survivor calendar. (Hector actually lived at my house for awhile, and I had no doubt that he’d be a supermodel someday.)
Of course, even the smallest of the pack can get involved. This wee guy looks a bit chagrined by his rabbit ears, but he’ll surely perk up when he hears that his embarrassment is raising money for Brussels Griffon rescue.
And if that doesn’t help, we’ll just let him know that all the cool kids dress up in silly outfits in the name of a good cause.
(Er… at least that’s what I tell my dogs. And I think they believe me.)
So if you’re looking for the gift that gives back this year, consider a calendar that benefits a local rescue or shelter. Hey, it’s what Lassie would do.
Today is Black Friday, a day where thousands of turkey-stuffed shoppers put on their football helmets and elbow pads and prepare to work off Thanksgiving dinner by muscling their way through the madding crowds in order to find The Best Deal Ever.
