Fans of “Deadliest Catch” are familiar with Sig Hansen‘s famous “Shut up and Fish,” which is the virtual motto of the popular Northwestern fishing vessel.  Those who watch the show probably won’t be surprised that Sig Hansen took merchandising matters into his own hands and started the official Northwestern T-shirt shop a few years back.

The Hansen brothers are lifelong fisherman who went into the family business at a young age; Sig himself started working on crab boats at 14.  Having spoken with Sig many times, I can tell you that he’s as amusing on the phone as he is on television.

Other than learning that crab fishing is just a crazily dangerous thing to do, Sig also told me a few interesting things:

• The female fans seem to gravitate towards his brother Edgar.  (Sorry, ladies – he’s married.)
• Norwegians are predisposed to be good fisherman
• There is no such thing as “crab season” in terms of the crab tasting better or whatnot; crab season is just when you’re allowed to fish

The mighty Northwestern has recently revamped their site and their Northwestern T-shirt shop, with the newest pun-inducing product being Sig’s Siggs.

May the luck of the seas be with you this season, Northwestern.

It’s Bastille Day today, so a big shout out to France on your symbolic independence day.  The storming of the Bastille was exactly 200 years ago and paved the way for a new French republic.

We don’t speak much French, but we do think that the colloquial name for this holiday – “le quatorze juillet” (which translates to July 14th) – sounds much more impressive in French.

So happy July 14th, France.  Eat crepes, drink high-end wine et soyez heureux.

…waiting it out.

NASA has grounded the space shuttle Endeavor for the 5th time due to cumulus clouds that can indicate stormy weather.  The increasingly aptly named Endeavor is manned by 7 astronauts bound for the international space station.  Their cargo: the last piece of Japan’s $1 billion space module, Kibo (“Hope”), as well as spare parts for the space station and food for its residents.

Endeavor was supposed to launch in June but a hydrogen leak pushed the launch to July.  Everyone was all set to launch this weekend, but Mother Nature had other plans.  In a Twitter update, commander Mark Polansky noted “While we all hope that today’s the day, we have a saying that you never know for sure until the solid rockets light off.”  Those rockets were set to light until 9 minutes before launch time, at which point the mission was scrubbed.

The Endeavor has until Wednesday to take off; if it can’t, the launch will be delayed until the end of July to accommodate a Russian supply ship waiting for liftoff.

And so we award an optimistic Fantasy T-Wearer award today to Commander Mark Polansky and his crew.  Here’s hoping that the clouds clear enough to take off before Wednesday.

UPDATE 7/15: Endeavor is on its way!

Just when you thought that “Wipeout” was the epitome of Crazy Summer Human Tricks, the running of the bulls in Pamplona has reminded us that other parts of the world don’t use artificial sets and padding to undertake potentially lethal activities in the name of entertainment and tradition.

The bull running is somewhat controversial these days from an animal rights standpoint, and this year the death of a vacationing runner has caused more scrutiny of what some consider the highlight of Pamplona’s age-old Festival of San Fermin.

One major point of contention with animal rights folks is that the “fighting bulls” are killed in the bullfighting ring after the run.  To protest this Pamplona tradition and that of bullfighting overall, PETA has an annual “running of the nudes” to raise awareness.  (We’d tie a PETA T-shirt in here, but given the activity it seems that PETA merch is superfluous… maybe a trucker hat would be a useful accessory, to help prevent sunburn…)

Despite this year’s human death and the usual hundreds of injury, Pamplona’s most famous extreme sport is not likely to fade away in the short term.  Like rodeos in America, bullfighting is deeply entrenched in Spanish culture.

Fans of Showtime’s Dexter are in luck – now you can design your own Dexter T-shirts, just in time for the new season of Dexter.(Spoiler hint: you might consider designing baby onesies – organic, of course).

And with the series finale keeping everyone wondering, L Word fans can keep the dream alive with fan-created L Word T-shirts.  Because after all, who knows?  Maybe Dexter killed Jenny.

A public memorial service for Michael Jackson is taking place at the Staples Center today.  The service is open to 11,000 fans, who registered online for a ticket lottery.

The site received 500,000,000 hits within its first hour of being launched, and over 1.5 million people registered for tickets.  Los Angeles authorities are asking that anyone who didn’t receive tickets please refrain from heading to the Staples Center, as the city is fearing that anywhere between 250,000 to 750,000 people might show up.  As it is, there have been hordes of fans and reporters and helicopters descending on his Holmby Hills rental house and the Neverland Ranch property since his death.

Reports are estimating that more people will watch this funeral than those of Princess Diana or Elvis.

The services will be aired on television and online, so anyone wishing to pay respects to Michael Jackson may do so without traveling to a city already famous for its incredible traffic jams.

R.I.P. Michael.

In a surprise press conference that created an instantaneous double-entendre of all the “Go, Sarah, Go!” bumper stickers, Sarah Palin shocked the nation when she announced her resignation as Alaska’s Governor, a year and a half before her four-year term ends.  She’ll be succeeded by Lt. Governor Sean Parnell.

In her speech, Palin listed her reason for departure as being one of a higher concern for Alaska and the country.  Noting that her not planning to run for a second term would create an ineffectual “lame-duck” status, Palin also expressed great disdain for the energy and money being spent on the ethics investigations into her office.

Palin had been seen as a major Republican hope for the 2012 election.  Her departure, coupled with Mark Sanford’s “hiking the Appalachian trail” debacle, now leaves the GOP without a clear candidate for the next Presidential go-round.

Palin herself has said vaguely that she’ll still be involved in politics in some way.  What that means is unknown; what’s sure is that the woman who inspired a party (and a whole lotta T-shirt designers) is going to have a lot more time on her hands come July 26th.

May that be a warning to you, moose.

We’re off for a long weekend, so here’s wishing everyone a happy and safe Fourth of July!

In honor of the country’s 233rd birthday (but not looking a day over 200), a haiku:

The Fourth of July
Is a good time to light off
A sparkler or two

Happy Independence Day, America.

Tennis fans are in for a treat this weekend, as Serena and Venus Williams will repeat their fourth head-to-head performance in the Finals – this year, on the Fourth of July.  Serena leads Venus with two wins over her big sister, but Venus leads overall in Wimbledon Finals appearances – this is her eighth.

If Venus wins it, she’ll be the first woman since Steffi Graf to win 3 Wimbledons in a row.

And so we award a Fantasy T-Wearer Award today to both Venus and Serena Williams today, with the “Sibling Rivalry” tank top – in appropriate tennis white – at right.

With worldwide attention on the Iranian election, it was easy to miss the equally dramatic Honduras coup d’etat – the first such military action in Central America in 16 years.

The democratically elected left-leaning President Jose Manuel Zelaya was kidnapped, still in his pajamas, from his home by military forces acting on behalf of his right-leaning Congressional nemesis, Roberto Micheletti.  Congressional speaker Micheletti was quickly put into power by Congress, as Zelaya was forced into exile in Costa Rica.

Tensions between Zelaya and conservative Honduran powers had been rising steadily for weeks over proposed reforms to the Constitution, including a provision that would allow Presidential re-election.  Zelaya was kidnapped hours before he was to vote on such measures.

Despite protests in Honduras and the censure of world leaders (including a somewhat watered-down stance from Obama), Micheletti maintains that Zelaya will be immediately arrested if he returns to Honduras soil.  Both the World Bank and the UN are looking into halting investment and aid in Honduras until Zelaya has returned to power, but Micheletti at this point refuses to negotiate.

What the future holds for Zelaya is unknown; he has however noted that he does not wish to seek a second term, but merely to finish his first term.