 On Friday we hosted a Twi-hard Trivia Treasure Hunt through the various Twilight T-shirts in the CafePress Marketplace. (If you want to test your own skills, start here. Type the answer into the search box, find the new question and answer it, and keep on truckin’ until you’re at the Treasure T-shirt.)
We’ve had a lot of requests for us to publish the answers, so if you scrooollll to the bottom of this post you’ll find them, in order, for your own higher learnings and such.
“New Moon” hits theaters on Thursday 11/20. But you knew that, didn’t you?
Answers to the trivia questions below…
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(1) Isabella Marie Swan (2) papercut, Jasper Hale (3) Demetri (4) The Bloated Toad (5) March 19th (6) moonless night (7) la tua cantante (8) port angeles (9) the denali coven (10) the cold ones (11) Never Think, Robert Pattinson
Here at CafePress, it’s a given that you can find T-shirts on any subject imaginable (and several thousand topics that you can’t begin to imagine).
But as new state tax laws now go into effect in California (and taxes continue to rise around the country), it’s getting harder-and-harder to find T-shirt designs that give a thumbs-up to our tax system.
Unless of course you’re a tax preparer or work for the IRS. Then you give two BIG thumbs-up.
It’s not that people seem to have a good solution for our current tax woes. But at least here in the CafePress community (and this is backed-up by counting the available inventory of tax-themed designs on our gear), we have to conclude that people are … well, feeling taxed about the situation.
 It’s Veterans Day today, a day when we pause to honor the military servicefolk who have risked (and ended) their lives to protect our country.
And so we at CafePress take a moment to day to honor our veterans – and, it may be noted, we have a whole lot of designers who have done the same thing via the almighty T-shirt. The same goes for troop support, which is a popular theme among our community.
For those of you who are interested in supporting troops currently deployed, check out Operation Gratitude – they have a great program helping out the future veterans of America, including an online shop.
Now ask yourself if you’ve hugged a veteran today, and if you haven’t – get on with it. (We recommend of course that you hug a veteran that you actually know, in order to prevent the likelihood of a socially awkward moment and/or arrest.)
Happy Veterans Day, everyone.
 In this week’s installment of Shirts that Make You Go Hmm….
Sleepless Peruvian farmer Ignacio was watching the same Saturday Night Live rerun for the 50th time in his lonely Andes hut with his trusty llama Fernando, and realized that he still had no answer as to who Quién es Más Macho – Ricardo Montalban, or Fernando Lamas?
Ignacio looked to his Fernando for guidance, but Fernando wasn’t interested. Such matters were above him, and in any case Fernando himself felt that he was clearly más macho than either aging star mentioned.
 Ignacio then realized that Fernando the Llama was, indeed, the most macho of all. But was he the most macho of all llamas? He posed this question to Fernando, who snorted his derision while chewing some freshly harvested alfalfa and then proceeded to spit at the television in annoyance. Ignacio understood, and happened to agree – could anybody compare with the lush brown and white coat, the perfect roman nose, the bountiful fringe of lash highlighting the bright and lively eyes of his own Fernando?
Not having a llama version of Dogster for a comparison point, Ignacio decided to investigate the situation by examining neighboring llamas to determine quién indeed was el más macho de todos in the llama world. And so he and Fernando trekked bravely through the Andes, searching high and low for other (and often inferior) llamas.
After a few failed attempts at closer llama inspection from farmers who didn’t appreciate the handsome duo trespassing on their lands (Ignacio, truth be told, wasn’t a bad-looking fellow himself), and the awkward matter of approaching perfect strangers during other random llama sightings with such an odd request, Ignacio realized that he’d have to be more official if he were to continue his llama census without the inconvenience of shouted insults, off-putting dogs and the occasional brandished weapon.
And so he and Fernando came up with the perfect T-shirt to formalize their project. The “random llama inspection” T-shirt, above, was just perfect for the bilingual llama owner ISO other attractive llamas as a comparison point.
(Regrettably, Fernando himself did not fit into the T-shirt, and as far as we know nobody makes llama-wear yet. He’s considering that as his next project.)
 It all started with a spider.
Well, actually, it all started with a spider drawing.
Well, no, it actually all started with an overdue chiropractic bill and the resulting email exchange regarding that bill. (As well as, one might imagine, a terrifically colorful childhood.)
Ill-adjusted (that’s a chiropractor joke, folks – sometimes you just have to walk through that door) Australian e-mail guerilla aficionado David Thorne bravely addressed this overdue bill by sending a personally-crafted drawing of a 7-legged spider (some might call it “defective;” we call it art) as compensation. This back-and-forth exchange didn’t, regrettably, get him out of his bill (art valuation is so subjective). The e-mails did however make him groovily e-famous, putting him in hallowed company with likes of RatherGood and Beached As and the Flying Spaghetti Monster – namely, as an insider T-shirt joke among those of us who simply spend far too much time on the interwebs (a series of tubes). The spider first made an appearance on T-shirts last year and has been adorning the chests of snarky e-mail fans ever since.
We too had the distinct pleasure of an intriguing e-mail exchange with David Thorne (and a spider drawing exchange, to be entirely truthful), and as it happens seems we’re not alone. David now has a book out (with the rather jaunty title “The Internet is a Playground“), and so if you feel a need to immortalize the digital playground that binds us all together, hey – buy the book. It’s funny. And it gives you an excuse to doodle spiders with a questionable limb count.
We recently asked David 5 Very Important & Investigative Questions to get to the bottom of this offbeat merchandising success story. Here is our official 1-part, 5 question interview:
1. CP: Do you believe that the 8th leg of the spider is worth more than any individual of the 7?
DT: Surprisingly enough, every day I am sent emails with an attachment of the missing leg from people thinking they are the first to do so. I now have enough collected to make several hundred spiders. If each of those was actually worth the original, I would have enough money to quit my job and devote my time to developing my idea for a television series about a talking car that fights crime.
2. CP: How has your CafePress shop changed your life?
DT: The extra spending money each month has come in quite handy. Not that long ago, I worried a lot about paying the bills, having food in the fridge and even buying my son a birthday present. Now that I can afford decent drugs, these things no longer concern me at all.
 3. CP: Why did you write a book?
DT: There was certain content on the website that had to be removed or amended due to legal reasons. This did not apply to the book which annoyed some and amused me. I also had a few people at the time telling me that it would be great if the content was in book form so they could give it to people they don’t like.
4. CP: Have you seen Jane since your coy email exchange?
DT: No, I have not been back to that chiropractor and will never go to another. It is a well known fact that the medical test for becoming a qualified chiropractor is to sing as much of the ‘hip bone is connected to the thigh bone’ song as you can remember. This test can be completed online or by mail.
5. CP: Why is Australia so freaking far away from everything else?
DT: Although Australia is well known for its native pandas and snow capped mountains, its large volume of New Zealand immigrants, spiders the size of small children and khaki wearing crocodile wrestlers means that the distance from other countries is probably best for all. The only country worse, and thankfully even further away, is New Zealand.
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So if you want to support David’s effort to improve his attitude and overall worldview via abundant self-medication, buy the book. And if you just want to enjoy some free laughs, check out the 27bslash6 website.
Not to scare you, but Halloween is hours away. If you haven’t found an outfit (gulp), it’s do-or-die time.
We can help, but let’s keep it simple. Start with our better together (part 1) and better together (part 2) T-shirts. Collectively, they’re a springboard to infinite self expression (and possibly poor taste?).
If you have a partner in crime: With a little imagination and a few household items (who doesn’t have a 1930’s machine gun sitting around?), the two of you can go as Bonnie & Clyde, Bill & Hillary, John & Yoko, Kanye & Taylor, Captain Kirk & Spock … you name it. Or think outside the box: Peanut Butter & Jelly, Gin & Vermouth, Leather & Lace or Smoke & Mirrors. The possibilities are endless. 
If you’re flying solo, but have an inflatable doll: See notes above, only dress-up and carry the doll. (However, be prepared for questions on why you own an inflatable doll. Not recommended for church parties, grandma’s house, etc.).
If you’re single, but ready to mingle: Wear one T-shirt (plus appropriate costume accessories), and carry the other T-shirt in your free hand. Wave it in the air occasionally, letting people know you’re looking for someone to be your better half. You can’t go wrong dressing as Annie (looking for Daddy Warbucks), Prince Charming (looking for Cinderella), Beauty (looking for the Beast), or Guns (looking for Roses).
 This week we’re thinking of groovy costumes one can assemble from the CafePress catalogue, and given the interest our design community has had in the H1N1 scare it seemed remiss to leave out such an easy costume.
Swine Flu has garnered more designs than Bird Flu and Anthrax together, and brought to us the brand-new term “Hamthrax.”
So, costume #4:
Swine Flu (potential) victim
What you’ll need:
See? Easy. A blue surgical mask is so much more comfortable and practical than that plastic Transformers mask you were thinking about anyway.
If you’re really feeling it, adding tourism-style accessories (camera around the neck, fanny pack, hat, tropical shirt over your swine flu T-shirt) will give you extra bonus points and a perfect excuse to carry around frosty beverages bedecked by umbrellas and fruit. Optional: portable blender to make one’s own frosty beverages throughout the evening. Bonus: carrying a portable blender is a really good way to make a lot of new friends.
 With the Balloon Boy hoax having taken over the airwaves for a week, inspiring our design community to get busy making Balloon Boy T-shirts and such, it seems only fitting that The Great Balloon Boy Saga Hoax be our third Halloween costume suggestion this week.
There are a few variations of this costume, and all can involve a groovy T-shirt.
Costume 1: Balloon Boy
What you need:
If you’re an overachiever and you have friends that want to be part of a group costume, you can easily outfit the Heene parents with some relevant T-shirts and have your other friends dress as the paparazzi. Or reporters. Or Wolf Blitzer.
Extra bonus points: build a cardboard TV screen frame and carry it around, posing with reporters behind it at random.
Extra extra bonus points: actually go out on the town with Wolf Blitzer.
Costume 2: The Balloon Boy Saga
Carrying around a mylar balloon and an empty box all night can be so cumbersome, and it takes away your drinking hand. With 6 simple T-shirts, you (or you and 5 friends) can be the balloon boy saga. Either line up together, or if you’re solo just layer them (it’s chilly on Halloween anyway – layers are good!) and then, at random, blow a whistle* to let people know that you’re about to dramatically re-enact the balloon boy hoax.
What you’ll need:
- A collection of T-shirts (below is a suggested narrative, but you have lots to choose from)
- *a whistle (but only if you want to call attention to periodic, dramatic re-enactments)
- friends (but only if you want to share the glory)
     
 When you run a company that’s been unleashing the power of human expression for 10 years, you expect the occasionally offbeat letter. Sometimes we get suggestions for creative merchandise – everything from rubber bracelets to Jesus track pants (the latter being what you think they are – track pants emblazoned with Jesus on them, the concept pitch accompanied by a handmade illustration). Sometimes we get returns that have been… tampered with. Sometimes we get plain old love letters, and sometimes we get edible yummies. But never before have we received a troll. Until now…
A CafePress fan from Norway sent us one of the most intriguing boxes we’ve ever received. In it was: a letter thanking us for our reliability and customer service, a silver Viking ship, multiple Norwegian calendars (including a troll one most awesomely titled “TROLLKALENDER,” which I of course promptly “borrowed” until 1/1/11), and a groovy little troll. That groovy little troll is seen here at left.
The package was regrettably addressed to our CFO, making it very difficult for this blogger to make any quality troll recipient jokes without serious fear of reprisal.
In any case, we’re all really enjoying our wee but mighty troll. According to the accompanying letter, “According to tradition here in Norway these trolls are supposed to [be] living in the deepest and darkest forest. The T-shirts I ordered him didn’t fit so I sent him over to be measured!”
Thank you, funny Norwegian fan. Your little troll has emerged from the dark woods of Norway to sunnier, milder California climates and is currently enjoying the company of a potted plant (we don’t want him to miss the woods), a Rubik’s cube (we don’t want him to get bored), and a stuffed platypus (we don’t want him to be lonely).
And don’t worry – we have 30,000 Troll T-shirts to make him feel relevant and appreciated. Takket være!
 In the latest installment of “shirts that make you go hmm…”
You are a gay Scandinavian penguin lover, devastated at the memory of gay penguins Roy and Silo breaking up when that harlot Scrappy decided to lure Silo away forever. You knew she was trouble from the beginning, but nobody would listen. Not even Roy.
Feeling that Roy might have been better off staying in the closet and avoiding the painful tabloid breakups so common to celebrities, you designed this shirt to warn any future penguins from having such a public same-sex relationship.
Or maybe you designed it to make Silo feel guilty, since you suspect that he’s just putting on appearances to please the naysayers and the media.
Or maybe you don’t like tuxedos.
Hmm.
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