Got mine!

claps hands.

giggles like school girl.

wants t-shirt that says "So kosher law was a defensive mechanism. How clever."

I just got mine too, hurray! The mini-comic is one of the funniest things I've seen in ages -- great work there Jon. Once I get all the salt and grime off my car I look forward to plastering it with stickers. This is awesome and certainly helps a crappy work day go by faster.

(baby quibble: There's some smeared ink or something across diablo's face on the t-shirt. I'm hoping this "detergent" stuff I keep hearing about will take care of it.)

In Response to misere (#13079):

(baby quibble: There's some smeared ink or something across diablo's face on the t-shirt. I'm hoping this "detergent" stuff I keep hearing about will take care of it.)

I have the same problem. It seems to have come from packing the Certificate of Memberness ink-side towards the ink-side of the shirt. The residual thinners in, or otherwise natural "stickyness" of, the t-shirt acrylic ink caused ink from the Certificate to bleed over.

I'm still waiting for some cheese, too.

In Response to zamphir (#13080):

we all love the cheese.

and i love the RfV stickers.

In Response to zamphir (#13080):

Consider this a lesson learned -- next year we'll turn the certificates around the other way.

If any of you want to return your shirts, let me know and we'll see what we can do.

This just brightened my day. My t-shirt is not inkified and the whole package is great. I guess "got crabs?" is no longer available on a t-shirt, though, eh? The stickers are making me want a t-shirt with it on there now.

In Response to jon (#13082):

Yeah, my shirt is pretty inky. I'll run it through the wash this weekend before I make a return decision.

-Chris "of course, nothing says 'evil' quite like ink smears" Combs

In Response to jon (#13082):

I also got my SPEY package today and had no ink whatsoever on the (very kick-ass) shirt. The certificate did get pretty beaten up in the envelope, however, with lots of creases, mashed corners & edges. I'm guessing this was mostly due to the curve imparted to the envelope by the shirt's non-flatness, followed by USPS handling. Why the change from last year's boxes, which seemed to do the job so flawlessly?

The tattoos, buttons, and especially the stickers are all excellent. And the mini-comic is definitely some of your best work ever. The cover design in particular makes me really happy for reasons I'm not quite able to put my finger on, though I think it may have something to do with the inverse 'goats' logo... Hmmm.

I'm still not sure what I think of the gocco print. I think I'll take a few days to ponder, and maybe see what it looks like framed. While the picture is really cool (a happy mellow fish in beer) and the packaging is first-class, I'm not sure about the gocco process itself and what appear to be its attendant natures. It is definitely more colorful than line art or a woodcutting would be, but the intermittent spottiness seems a bit jarring (though you might expect to find the same sort of thing in a woodcut print). And as in silkscreening, there's the difficulty of getting the different screens/colors to align perfectly, so often you can end up with small lines of white at the interfaces between color areas. It seems like either of those attributes by itself would be fine and lend an 'artsy' feel to the picture, but somehow together the effect looks more 'messy'.

... Or maybe I'm just not looking at it in the right light yet. I don't know. What I do know, is that for me anyway, color isn't such a big deal. I absolutely love that black and white sketch from last year, and if you had been considering a black and white woodcut (simple in color, but complex in design and cutting) for this year, then let me cast my vote (such as it may be) for trying that out next year. :)

My certificate was also a little crinkled by the close quarters with the shirt, although there was no cross-inkage. The important stuff was fine.

All in all, I think the shirt was the greatest joy. It made me happier than a suicidal chicken in a Perdue plant.

However, the text of the certificate confuses me. I actually happen to enjoy 'pornography of a "furry" nature'. Does this mean that I now have permission to scorn myself? But I do that already! Every day, twice on Thursdays!

I feel...liberated, and yet somehow cheated.

...

How evil.

In Response to jmpaolilli (#13086):

8|? There were stickers with 'Got Crabs?' written on it????

*Coronary*.

In Response to bnagy (#13092):

Why the change from last year's boxes, which seemed to do the job so flawlessly?

Yeah, absolutely flawlessly [goats.com].

In Response to albionsoft (#13098):

I wonder when I'll actually get mine? Damn the demons of the international postal service :/

(GigGleR goes back to sitting by his postbox in anticipation)

In Response to GigGleR (#13099):

I haven't got mine, yet, either. If it's not here today, I'll have to show Mr. McFeely that we do not tolerate failure.
 
Perhaps the attack kitten will speedily deliver him to death! MUAHAHAHAHAHA!

In Response to albionsoft (#13098):

Hrmmm. I wasn't reading the forums a year ago so I missed that bit. My box arrived completely intact, sealed & uncrushed, with all of its intended contents happily inside so I only had the one data point. I'd read the comments about 'missing buttons raided by postal employees' but hadn't seen the open box discussion. Thanks for pointing it out to me.

In Response to unFalln (#13097):

8|? There were stickers with 'Got Crabs?' written on it????

Yep. iPod for size comparison

There were also RfV stickers, "My Special Purpose" stickers, and "You Rock my small, self-centered universe" stickers. But my camera just freaked out due to low batteries.

Got mine yesterday as well. As others have said, the mini-comic rocks, as does the shirt. One of the RFV stickers is now hanging proudly in my cube, until someone complains to management about it, which I'm sure will occur. (Yes, welcome to Kansas, where personal beliefs are encouraged, as long as you agree with everyone else.)
        I'm curious, is the extra Cold War Supervillan sticker without any black ink intended, or just a misprint? Did anyone else get one? (I have 2 regular Supervillan stickers, and one with no black ink. It's sort of an interesting look.)

SPEY arrived yesterday...completly making my week. Stuck the RfV on a nalgeen and Im off to work to stare at it for long periods of time.

THANK YOU JON. I'm definalty renewing.

Yay! I was beginning to think that it wouldn't ever come, but I guess when you expect someone to tell you when your mail arrives at work, because you never check your mailbox because nothing ever gets mailed to you there. Stupid me.

Fortunately, I guess the cold freeze of postal coming to the left coast made the ink not go onto my shirt. Now to read the mini comic.

Highly tempted to put bumper stickers on my car now. I had vowed to never put anything on there, but perhaps it is time to delve further into the depths of hypocrisy. I live in California now after all.

In Response to jferg (#13112):

One of the RFV stickers is now hanging proudly in my cube

Same here, but since my boss has one on his wall too, I think I'll get away with it.

I too received my SPEY. Great shirt Jon, only minimal ink on the "evil" text. Liked the url font on the sleeve. Great blue shirt color too.
The gocco print is great. As a "charter" member how come I got print 143 of 150? (Kidding) Look along the right edge and you'll see Jon's signature and your print number.

In Response to Rich (#13146):

I got print 143 of 150? (Kidding) Look along the right edge and you'll see Jon's signature and your print number.

I thought that was a very nice touch. It's my first experience with a gocco print, and I'm very impressed. It's just darn nice to look at. I should have it framed and hung next to my fish sketch soon.

In Response to jettaboy20 (#13147):

I should have it framed and hung next to my fish sketch soon

I should have planned behind, and gotten a fish sketch to match the Gocco print.

But I got Toothgnip, instead.

And my Gocco is #37, which doesn't match my #33 hardcase books either.

Darn those lords of chance!

In Response to zamphir (#13149):

Well, yes, but it's number 37, which makes it all OK.

The Gocco numbered prints were distributed in an entirely random fashion; We mixed 'em up and didn't really keep track.

Amy worked like crazy on these prints; each one was created individually and by hand (which accounts for the subtle variations and imperfections on each one), and doing all 150 literally took weeks. Personally, I think it should be her sig on there, as she did all the real work, but she tells me that this is a traditional sort of printmaker/artist relationship and such things simply aren't done.

Anyway, my wife rocks. I'm looking forward to doing another one for next year, assuming she's not still mad at me for making her do it this time.

In Response to jon (#13161):

Anyway, my wife rocks

Yes, yes she does.

Here is a quick, easy thank you gift for her.

Zamphir's No-Egg Chocolate Mousse
(Based on a variety of other recipes, all half remembered when I made this the first time - so no credit given to anyone else!)
Ingredients

• 8 to 9 ounces of good chocolate [scharffenberger.com]
• 16 ounces whipping cream (heavy or regular, your choice, but must be whippING cream, not whippED cream)
• 1 packet unflavored gelatin (about a tablespoon)
• Sugar, to taste but somewhere around a cup (less if using sweetened chocolate!)
• a pinch or two of salt

Directions

1. Divide cream in half. Stir gelatin into one half. Let "bloom" in refrigerator for about ten minutes until softened.
2. Chop chocolate into small pieces. Place in a large mixing bowl. Add salt.
3. Whip the other half of the cream, and add the sugar, beating until firm but not dry.
4. Heat gelatin and cream in pan until simmering, stirring to prevent burning.
5. Add hot cream to chopped chocolate. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. If the cream wasn't hot enough to completely melt the chocolate, heat it over a pot of boiling water until melted.
6. Fold whipped cream and chocolate mixture together until mostly incorporated.
7. Divide into serving size dishes (about 4 ounces per serving) and cover with plastic wrap
8. Chill in refrigerator until set, about an hour
9. Serve, garnished either with a little more whipped cream and some chopped chocolate bits, or pony (your choice)

This really takes much less time than it looks like, and is easier as well.

In Response to zamphir (#13164):

Fabulous, except

A) she doesn't dig on mousse for some strange reason and

2) there's no pony in that recipe.