The summer travel season is upon us, and with it comes the unfortunate realization that, to many, gas prices have moved beyond an annoying inconvenience into a travel barrier.

Lots of folks are therefore looking for productive ways to deal with the gas price crunch, and none more than our Community. This makes good sense – you sell a shirt, you buy yourself a gallon of gas.

Some of the more creative gas price merchandise commentary we’ve seen:

So harness that gas price annoyance into productivity with t-shirt commentary about gas prices. Who knows? You may buy yourself a full tank.

And hey, it’s less likely to get you arrested than stealing used grease from fast food restaurants (will this be marketed as “pre-owned,” we wonder?) – and you’ll stay a lot cleaner.

For those clamoring to see footage of Madam Dethface, we ran across this Air Guitar video from the SF Chronicle highlighting her impressive use of an everyday fan.

This was a stylistic and practical choice. It was hot in there.

Wall of Expression
A collection of posters
Shopkeepers designed

Add yours to the wall
Post a link to your poster
We’ll get that right up

Last night, San Francisco was done proud by CafePress’s own MADAM DETHFACE, who brought down the house as one of only 3 women in front of a sold-out crowd at the US Air Guitar Regional Finals.

This amazing event featured 20 hopefuls competing for a slot in the U.S. Air Guitar National Championships, which are right here in San Francisco this coming August. The U.S. Air Guitar folks have had their official gear with us for many years, and we’re thrilled to be able to make it to the main event this year.

The winner of last night’s contest was sporting a big blonde afro, headband, leg warmers and a cut-off T-shirt that read “Awesome” in rainbow fade lettering. This fine San Francisco representative was, in point of fact, awesome. (We’ll get pix and video up soon – promise!)

All the contestants deserve air high-fives and clapping for getting up there to strut their virtual virtuosity.

If you’ve never seen Air Guitar live, get out there and get some tickets. (Get them fast, because they do sell out.) A good substitute for the live show, though, is watching Air Guitar Nation…

Ah, heck. Let’s just watch some Air Guitar now. (We met this guy last night. Rad.)

A Los Angeles woman is suing Victoria’s Secret after suffering an eye injury due to what she claims is a defective thong.

(The thong in question was hers, making this story slightly less interesting than it could be.)

The offending undergarment had a rhinestone heart on it that was connected to the fabric via some metal fasteners. Apparently, while the victim was in the process of putting on said undergarment, the thong elastic served as an impromptu slingshot and hurled a piece of the decorative metal into her eye, thus scratching her cornea.

An interesting sidenote is that the victim is a traffic cop who’d just finished a shift, thus raising the issue of karma with various citizens who feel that those issuing parking tickets might, perhaps, deserve to be hit with a projectile thong and/or thong decoration here and there.

More on the story can be found at MSNBC, complete with video coverage. (Of the story. Not of the injurious thong incident itself.)

This story got our attention, and it would seem that some of our Shopkeepers have also taken notice and initiative from the news. In addition to the safety thong above, we have a few other creations that remind anyone nearing or wearing a thong of the potential for bodily injury.

Of course, it’s worth noting that the thongs in our catalogue do not contain any metal decoration. They do however contain elastic, so those of you decorating your thongs with minibuttons might consider protective eyewear in order to prevent a similar calamity from bethonging you.

CafePress and LFP recently settled a lawsuit over User-Generated Content.

LFP, the owner of the HUSTLER trademarks, and CafePress, the leader in user-generated commerce announced the amicable resolution of a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Federal Court. LFP alleged that the use of the word “hustler” and other similar words and phrases in images created by users of the CafePress service infringed upon LFP’s trademarks.

In the interest of building a positive relationship with LFP that can benefit its users, CafePress has agreed to remove certain user-generated content from its website. This resolution is a great example of a large rights holder and an internet service provider reaching a non-monetary compromise that balances the rights of a trademark holder with the fair use rights of the users.

LFP filed the lawsuit last year after discovering that users of the CafePress service had created and uploaded images utilizing the word “hustler,” which could have been printed on various types of products, without authorization from LFP. The CafePress platform enables users to upload user-generated content. Users can monetize that content by customizing products, such as T-shirts, stickers, pillows, posters and more, with their content and offer their products for sale.

Moving forward, LFP and CafePress intend to work together to avoid litigating disputes arising from user-generated content and instead work together to find reasonable approaches to addressing arguably objectionable content. This in turn allows for a positive educational process for creators of user generated content while maintaining protection for permissible fair and non-trademark uses.

One of the most interesting things about the CafePress catalogue is that, by nature of it being user-generated and a form of self-expression, the designs you see are part of a larger conversation.

Recently we ran across folks expressing themselves via dance during National Dance Week in San Francisco, and after talking to multiple dancers it became clear that dancing, too, was not only a way for people to express themselves, but a way for them to invite and include other people in communication that transcends a verbal back-and-forth.

And that brings us to Matt Harding, who you may know as “That dancing guy on YouTube – no, not the Evolution of Dance guy, the other guy.”

Matt’s been traveling the world for a few years now, dancing his way across the globe. (If you haven’t seen his dancing videos you might want to watch his other videos before jumping into the new one.)

His newest video has recently been posted, and this video in particular is most definitely one that indicates that dancing (even silly impromptu dancing) is a form of self-expression that invites people across borders, language and culture to take part in a larger conversation.

So the next time you’re in a foreign country and you’re having trouble connecting with the locals, you might bust out a jig to see what happens. (Note: this is more than likely not advised if, for whatever reason [most assuredly not your fault of course] the local police is already involved…)

And military caps off to Matt for starting something so interesting, and for letting us all share in his very cool job.

What do you get when you combine an American documentary filmmaker, an eccentric Bavarian town, a BMW, a colossal ramp and that special brand of German optimism?

Rampenfest!

If you’ve missed the video that’s been floating around YouTube and beyond for the past few months, you might take some time out of your day to enjoy Rampenfest. Hey, it’s Friday. Or as they say in Bavaria: Es ist Freitag! (If you have seen the video and already know the backstory, feel free to skip to the “spoiler alert” part of this post…)

And what documentary film about a giant ramp with cows as extras would be complete without a CafePress shop? Yes, the fine people of Oberpfaffelbachen have seen fit to commemorate their historic achievement with a Rampenfest shop. (Regrettably, we do not sell the actual pretzels.)

Spoiler alert:

Yes, it’s really a spoiler alert. So stop reading if you want to maintain your suspension of disbelief and believe on this fine Friday that, somewhere in the world, there’s a pot of gold under that rainbow and a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.

Here’s the deal: this documentary is actually a clever and extremely well-executed marketing campaign by BMW. The Wall Street Journal covered the story this week, noting that BMW managed to pull off what other buzzmarketing campaigns haven’t: consumer interest without backlash (or a $2M fine).

Sure, there’ll always be critics. But for our part, we give an Alpine hats off to BMW. And there’s even a feather in it.

As has been buzzed about in the press and the blogosphere, Jessica Simpson was recently photographed in a “Real Girls Eat Meat” t-shirt – thus leading vegetarians, the generally eco-conscious and animal rights activists alike to groan in collective annoyance.

Her intentions behind making the meaty statement are unclear. Here’s some theories:

1. The t-shirt is a not-so-subtle jab at beau Tony Romo‘s ex, American Idol scion and active vegetarian Carrie Underwood.

2. Jessica’s demonstrated lack of knowledge as to the relationship between a live animal and the food it becomes (Chicken of the Sea and buffalo wings being the prime examples) may indicate that she’s confused about meat’s origins.

3. She and Tony Romo have invested in a chain of barbeque restaurants and are trying to subconsciously put consumers in the mood for some Hickory-smoked meatiness. (Note his shirt in this picture – coincidence?)

4. Her “Meat is Murder” t-shirt was dirty.

Whatever her intentions, one thing is for certain: alternative t-shirt answers are one indication that there’s a number of people out there who don’t agree with her (or her t-shirt).

Here’s some of the answers we’ve seen:

If you have theories, thoughts or just plain opinions about Jessica Simpson’s fashion statement or you just want to share your own design, give us a holler or just upload it to your CafePress shop.

Who knows? Maybe Carrie Underwood will show up at the airport sporting your creation.

What happens when a group of motivated Shopkeepers come together in the spirit of community and the awesome t-shirt?

The Tuesday Teez. Good name, good shirts.

These stalwart Shopkeepers fearlessly comb millions of designs to bring you their picks for the best t-shirts out there, every Tuesday, rain or shine.

So mark your calendars and keep checking back to see what in the world might pop up next. You never know what fine find might make your Tuesday a kinder, gentler and more exciting day to be a t-shirt fan.

And that, indeed, is keachy peen.