04.30.07
04.23.07
Pretty Parlor is proud to present the Miniature Art Extravaganza tomorrow night, Tuesday, April 24th.
Pretty Parlor is located at 119 Summit Ave E. on Capitol Hill (corner of Loretta and Summit - one block north of Denny).
The event is from 7-10 pm and features live music by the Tiny Vipers plus art by Andrea Heimer, Cait Willis, Noel Ill, Blush Photo, Kevin Russell, Fabio Sassi and many more.
04.23.07
FANTAGRAPHICS TO PUBLISH FIRST PEANUTS COMIC BOOK IN 40 YEARS - AND
IT’S FREE!
For the first time in more than 40 years, good ol’ Charlie Brown and
the entire PEANUTS gang will be featured in the traditional American
comic book format, when Seattle’s Fantagraphics Books publishes THE
UNSEEN PEANUTS. The last issue of Gold Key Publishing’s PEANUTS
series, published in 1964, sold for 12 cents. On May 5, 2007, when
THE UNSEEN PEANUTS is released, the price will be - FREE!
THE UNSEEN PEANUTS is one of the most exciting offerings in this
year’s sixth annual Free Comic Book Day (FCBD). As the name implies,
FCBD is a single day when participating independent comic book shops
in the United States and some 25 other countries around the world
give away comic books absolutely free to anyone who comes into their
stores. This year Free Comic Book Day is Saturday May 5th.
Several years after the passing of cartoonist Charles M. Schulz,
PEANUTS continues to be the world’s most popular comic strip,
appearing in more than 1500 newspapers worldwide, with literally
hundreds of collections having been published in the last 50 years.
Despite its seemingly ubiquitous status, hundreds and hundreds of
PEANUTS strips, after their initial appearance in the daily or Sunday
papers, have never been reprinted. Fantagraphics Books THE COMPLETE
PEANUTS has been rectifying this, and THE UNSEEN PEANUTS is a special
collection of over 100 of these rare strips. Fantagraphics will be
presenting some of the most amusing and interesting “lost” strips
that were “saved” by the first seven volumes of the COMPLETE PEANUTS
(Vol. 7, although not released, will be out by the time THE UNSEEN
PEANUTS is distributed), and in addition will also be previewing
“lost” strips from the upcoming eighth book - strips that have NEVER
appeared anywhere else since being originally published in daily
newspapers four decades ago!
THE UNSEEN PEANUTS works as both a great introduction of the strip to
new readers and as a fascinating trove of rarities to surprise and
delight even the most diligent PEANUTS fan. It’s a perfect PEANUTS
sampler for both neophyte and old hand, and an eye-opening “gateway”
into the delights of the best-selling COMPLETE PEANUTS series.
2007 also marks the 50th anniversary of the first appearance of
original PEANUTS material in comic books (in Dell’s Nancy issue 146),
and the 55th anniversary of the first appearance of PEANUTS in comic
books at all (strip reprints in an issue of Tip-Top). THE UNSEEN
PEANUTS is a wonderful and surprising addition to Charles M. Schulz’s
brilliant legacy in the comics.
“THE UNSEEN PEANUTS provides a unique opportunity for re-discovering
the sublime timelessness of “Sparky” Schulz’s classic comic strip,”
said Joe Field, owner of Concord CA’s Flying Colors Comics and the
founder of Free Comic Book Day. “I’m hoping this free PEANUTS comic
book stirs a lot of people to exploring the diverse and entertaining
medium of comic books.”
Free Comic Book Day serves as opportunity for new and curious readers
to experience comic books for the first time, while also calling back
former readers and thanking current comic book fans. More information about the
May 5, 2007 event can be found at Free Comic Book Day featuring a customized
database listing participating stores worldwide.
A selection of imagery in a variety of formats is available for
publication.
PEANUTS - 2007 United Feature Syndicate, Inc.
04.23.07
04.20.07
One of our first big clients and his work was written up in the recent (April 2007) issue of Wired. Lenn Pryor and his team were responsible for Channel 9 which openned up the door for more transparency of Microsoft and the mysteries behind “the big walls”. If you’re a fan of Major Nelson or Robert Scoble, you have Lenn Pryor to thank.
Lenn and the rest of the Microsoft Platform Evangelist team were a delight to work with–they were refreshingly creative, honest and down-right friendly. It was an honor to have gotten to work with those guys.
Cheers to their vision, passion and Channel 9!
04.18.07
Just announced! Microsoft is joining up with Namco Bandai (and Quiznos) for the Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship.
The top finalists from around the world will be flown to NYC for the champeeeenship. The winner of it all will get crowned ”the big 80’s geek” by Toru Iwatani who created Pac-Man. But that special geek will become an even BIGGER geek (in oh so many ways) once they receive the 100,000 Microsoft Points to buy content they can use on their brand-new one-of-a-kind exclusive Pac-Man Xbox and free Quiznos subs for the next 26 years!
But ask yourself this, ”Who needs to be sexy when you’re that COOL?!?”
Check out the Xbox Live Tournament Registration site for more details as they come.
04.17.07
Time Warner has given a proposal to regulators that will increase postage on periodicals. Independent publishers are fearing the worst. Publishers who deal with direct mailings, especially catalogs and magazines several times a year, will feel the heat of this hike immensely. In order to keep small local companies like Fantagraphics Books alive, we need to send our complaints to Congress.
Timeline:
May 2006: The USPS submitted an omnibus postal rate increase to the PRC. This rate increase proposal included a provision that would increase the periodical rate by 11.7 percent — a cost increase that was supposed to impact all publishers more or less equally.
February 2007: After a 10-month comment and testimony review period, the Postal Regulatory Commission released its 758-page recommended decision to the Postal Board of Governors. To the surprise of many, the PRC rejected the USPS planned periodical rate scheme, and replaced it with a scheme based on a complex proposal submitted by Time-Warner.
March 2007: The USPS allowed just 8 business days for formal responses to the 758 page February 26th recommendations. The recommended Time-Warner periodical proposal was so complex that smaller publishers couldn’t adequately assess how the rate change would impact their businesses. On March 19, the Postal Board of Governors issued the final decision, adopting the PRC’s February recommendations.
April 25, 2007: USPS deadline for the filing of comments on the implementing rules.
July 15, 2007: Without public action the change in the periodical rates goes into effect.
Freepress has a link to send your inquiries and complaints.
04.17.07
Web radio has become nearly as popular, if not more so than regular AM/FM in the past few years, and is extremely successful. Unfortunately, due to a recent increase in royalties, web radio is being threatened to extinction. The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) is paying musicians and record labels a higher percentage of royalties for streaming songs online and this is devastating small and medium independent broadcasters.
SoundExchange, the company formed by the recording industry to collect performance royalties, say rates will double in the 2007-2008 years. This is going to put many small businesses in jeopardy with the possibility of bankruptcy. The rate hike is not only going to affect streaming over computers, but with mobile phones as well, dooming the already limited amount of independent media to the public.
For more information and to see how you can help, please go to SaveNetRadio.org.
