Dear Party People,

This is the end, my friend. You may have noticed our neglect of Blobbyfarm.com since, oh, around April of 2006. At that time we moved (again), started new jobs, and just got busy. As we got more and more entrenched in our new lives, we found that there were a number of other things that trumped Blobbies in our lives - curating exhibitions, teaching, getting ready for our first child (woo-hoo!), locksmithing classes, frosting graffiti, etc. Blobbies fell by the wayside.

We recently received an email from our domain registrar notifying us that the URL Blobbyfarm.com expires on October 5th. We have made the decision to just let it go. Blobbyfarm.com will no longer exist. Sure, we'll make a few Blobby related items for our new baby (we just got a silkscreener after all), and we can make a Blobby every now and again for our friends and family members. But as far as the general public is concerned, Blobby Farm is extinct.

We sincerely appreciate all the support we've received and friends we've made because of this goofy endeavor. As a final thank you, between now and October 5th, you can purchase anything on the Blobbyfarm.com website for 50% off the original price (sale price is as marked). It's not like we were ever really in this for the money anyway. Make sure you download your coloring book pages and send your last Blob-E-Grams before October 5th when everything disappears.

Thanks again and we'll catch you on the flip side.

Thanks and Cheers,
Maria and Chris
(The Blobby Farmers)

Lord and Lady Skewampus stumbled upon death when their automobile swerved into the tar pits off Highway 5 in rural Newbraska just after 2:00 p.m., December 1, 2006. Lady Skewampus was known for her je ne sais quoi, esprit d'accord, and coup de pied aux fesses. Lord Skewampus was known for his indavertant insults and an acute penchant for licorice whips. But, it was the couple's love of swerving their car uncontrollably around the road that led to their demise. They leave behind no children, but a legacy of destroyed mailboxes, nearly missed pedestrians, and bent rims.

Services will be held at noon on Tuesday, December 5, at the Bittles and Hurt funeral home on Main street in Newbraska. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that trees be planted along the roadside to replace the ones felled by the Skewampus's wild rides.

NEWBRASKA — We've been waiting with baited breath for Lark Book's latest tome to arrive in our mailbox. Plush-O-Rama: Curious Creatures for Immature Adults finally landed on our doorstep yesterday. Blobby Farm has two tutorials for making your own Blobby inside the pages of the book. We are featured alongside such luminaries as Lizette Greco, Jenny Harada, Creature Co-op, and Beck Wheeler. Pick up a copy for yourself and master the art of plush. Don't forget, the holidays are right around the corner. . .

SEATTLE — Apparently the Plush You 2 show at Schmancy in Seattle was a success. We weren't able to make it to the show as we're still wading through cardboard boxes at our new digs in Colorado and all of our money was spent to get us here. So, we are just living vicariously through Flickr tours of the show. Peruse out the photos of Snaggs, Mai Le, and Kristen Rask herself to get a sense of the glory of a small room stuffed with people and plush.

Word also has it that if you like what you see, you can contact Kristen at Schmancy and order some plush online (alas, as of this writing, Señor P. is sold, but you can still get the Brown Recluse and/or Moodzilla).

NEWBRASKA — Hundreds of Blobbies reaffirmed their opposition to genocide, rape, plunder and dismemberment Monday by attending the annual Abolish Columbus Day march in downtown Newbraska. The march was a peaceful one, with all the proper demonstration permits obtained ahead of time from the proper Native American tribal authorities. Authorities of neighboring occupational western powers were not consulted.

"We just feel that since Columbus was a sea pirate, he should go down in infamy like Blackbeard or Captain Hook. If kids want to dress up as him on Halloween, we wouldn't stop them, but we would encourage them to adopt appropriate accessories like a necklace made of slaves' hands, a vial of small pox around his neck, or a flask of human blood strapped to his thigh. These accouterments will help kids remember the thousands of limbs he cut off and other such destruction he brought," said event co-planner Señor Pooglins.

While some Blobbies feel the day should be recast as a national day of mourning, others feel that the western consumer's need to celebrate is too strong and therefore support a renaming effort that would allow people to continue their BBQ and retail sale extravaganzas.

"Personally, I think we have a responsibility to publicly mourn not only the horrendous treatment of indigenous peoples by Columbus and his governing successors, but also the legacy of state-celebrated atrocities. That is why I give my students extra credit for wearing black to school on Columbus day," said activist and Blobby, Jr. elementary school teacher Mrs. Smelnor.

The Baron of Beef von Espy is in the other camp: "Since I am a baron, I understand the political need to ease the general public into a more enlightened understanding of history. That is why I endorse the renaming of Columbus Day to Columbo Day. It would be very easy for businesses to alter the spelling on their sale banners. We can manufacture consent by facilitating behavior that we approve of. And who doesn't approve of Columbo? I mean, the guy was an investigative genius!"

For more information on abolishing Columbus Day, visit http://www.transformcolumbusday.org/.

To view or sign anti-Columbus Day petitions, visit Petition Online and The Petition Site. You may also read a discussion with Denver organizers of a Columbus Day protest on Democracy Now!

Hi, there.

Broadway.com is launching a New York International Fringe Festival blog, and we'd like permission to use a picture of a leather fringe jacket that we found on your site. Please advise.

Sincerely,
Lyssa

Dearest Lyssa of the Fringe,

First off, "Hi, there," is not an appropriate greeting for aristocracy. You may start all future correspondences with "My Leige," "Mein Herr," or "Tootsie."

Now, on to your question. I'm afraid that I don't know to what you are referring. Do you mean the image of the leather fringe jacket from Señor Pooglins's advice to "Desperate to Look Good," or are you referring to my oft visited blog, The Baron of Beef Von Espy's Fringe Tracker? Either way, I do not own the copyrights to any of the images and you will have to contact the individual web site administrators for permission to use any images.

While I have your attention, I have been working on a script about a young and innocent baron who comes to the big city with dreams of opening his own leather and fringe store only to run into problems with a gang of local street tuffs who run the denim store across the street. Judging by the fact that you are from Broadway.com and are associated with this fascinating Fringe Festival, I think this may be right up your alley. Get back with me ASAP as I'm sure this script won't be on the market for long.

Your Friend in Fringe,
The Baron of Beef Von Espy
--
Have a question or a problem? Let or the calm your storm.

Please pardon the lack of updates recently. We're still getting settled in our new digs. But in the meanwhile, enjoy the latest Funny Pages offering.

Brigitte just submitted an awesome Mr. Man comic strip. She manages to capture the malaise of Mr. Man perfectly. To get a full view of today's strip, click on the picture or here.

Read the interview here.
See our contributions to Plush You II here.

Blobby Farm was featured on Mania TV's Shop/Surf segment in May. We're a little late with the news, but what are you gonna' do? Luckily, Mania TV has archived the clip so you can go watch it now. Poor Matt, the CJ, he had such a hard time with the Blobby names: Mr. Mau instead of Mr. Man, Singer Pooglins instead of Señor Pooglins, and Tooty McHairclip instead of Toothy McHairlip (but we might have to use Tooty McHairclip now). And contrary to popular belief, we do not live in Nebraska, we live in Indiana (soon to be Colorado), but the Blobbies come from NEWbraska (new, new, NEW!). Y'know, The Independent Commonwealth of Newbraska? Capital city: Newrusalem? I'm sure you've heard of it. Right off the coast of (mumble, mumble, mumble). . .

At any rate we would like to thank Mania TV for kindly doing a segment on Blobby Farm and battling it out with the tongue twister names. Rock on, Matt!

Pick up the new and absolutely free Blobby Farm Mocha Chocolata Ya Ya desktop wallpaper and Flickr buddy icons (48 x 48px) in the Freebies portion of the site.

Blobby Farm is pleased to have been selected to participate in this year's Morphe II in the land whose main exports are wool, wheat, flour, sheepskins, and meat. That's right, Australia. We knew you could guess it. This will be the Blobbies' second trip to the land down under (where women glow and men chunder) and they are looking forward to it. Carly Schwerdt, proprietress of Nest Studio, sent us an email last week informing us of her decision and her hearty congratulations. The Blobbies will also be in some fine company:

So those of you in Australia, keep watching the Nest Studio website for more details. You can even check out last year's show on Nest Studio's Flickr page.

Things have been a little quiet around the Blobby Farm lately. Despite the seemingly still surface of the Blobby Farm website there has been a bustle of activity both professional and personal: Maria has sewn up a new crop of Blobbies that should make their appearance on the site soon, we took a much needed vacation, and we've been getting materials ready for publication in a few different books. We're also gearing up for a cross-country move. That's right, Blobby Farm will be relocating from their current base in Indiana to Colorado Springs (for those of you under the impression that we lived in Nebraska, you need to read more closely - it's NEWbraska, not the home of Saddle Creek Records). The move is scheduled for September, so don't expect much happening on the site between the end of August and the beginning of October.

In related news, Robert Mahar, taste maven and new cyber-store owner (I love using the word "cyber," it's so 90's) has a few brand-spanking-new Blobbies sitting on the virtual shelves of his site, Mahar Dry Goods: Counselor Gumbo, Melba Toast, Tartar the Tiger, and Whaleronimo. Now at first glance these will look like your run-o-the mill full-size Blobby. However, at the very heart of these fleece and fiberfill friends lies a jingling little rattle. Look around Robert's site at his fine selection of goods, marvel at Jen Corace's nice drawings, and gasp at the fantastic green suitcase gift packaging.

There are two new coloring pages available in the Freebies section! First off, there are Blobby templates for you to create your own Blobbies. We've provided you with pale outlines of Blobby bodies. All you do is add nubs here and there, draw a face, add a splash of hair, and you'll have your very own Blobby creations! Simple, no? The other is a pastoral scene of Señor Pooglins, Sir Cutlet, and Blobzilla enjoying a quaint picnic of saltines and juice. Download and let the crayon wax fly!

This Red Newbrasquatch is for sample purposes only. He does not count.

We promised a contest a couple of months ago, and now the time has arrived. Starting April 15 at noon (EST), a new Red Newbrasquatch will be loosed on BlobbyFarm.com each week. Scour the site and find him. Once you locate the little fellow, notify the Blobby Farmers immediately! The first person to find him each week will receive a Red Newbrasquatch, Jr. On the fourth week (May 6-12), the winner will receive a full-size Red Newbrasquatch! Here are the full details and rules:

• Contest runs April 15 - May 12.
• A new Red Newbrasquatch will be loosed on the site every Saturday at noon.
• Whoever emails the Blobby Farmers with the correct location (URL and location on the page) of the Red Newbrasquatch each week wins.
• One Red Newbrasquatch will be given away each week to whoever finds it first.
• The Newbrasquatch you find must be red, not white, grey/brown, or black. Red.
• Any Newbrasquatch wearing a "Sample" sign around his neck or identified as a sample in any way does not qualify. We are looking for free range Newbrasquatch.
• A person may only win one Red Newbrasquatch through the contest. If you win once, let someone else enjoy the company of a Red Newbrasquatch.
• The loose Red Newbrasquatch will only be found on BlobbyFarm.com, not Flickr, Atomz, or any site that we link to. If the URL does not start off with www.blobbyfarm.com, it does not count.
• We will notify each winner within 24 hours after they submit their winning entry. Each winner's name will be appended to this post announcing their victory and the close of the contest for the week.
• Let the games begin!

Update 04/16/06: We have our first winner! Paul C. of Connecticut was the winner of a Red Newbrasquatch, Jr. The little rascal was hiding at the bottom of the Information page, cresting the hill over the Baron of Beef's shoulder.

Check back again Saturday, April 22, 2006 at noon EST for another chance to win!

Update 04/22/06: We have our second winner! Or should I say winners. Emma L., Zoe L., and Isabel A. put their brains together to find the wily Red Newbrasquatch this week. It was hiding at the feet of Jerry Bruckheimer in our Law and Order: Trial By Jerry post from May, 2005.

There were many others who were very close to beating out the winning trio this week, so check back again Saturday, April 29, 2006 at noon EST for another chance to win!

Update 04/29/06 (7:38pm EST): We have a winner! After only seven and a half hours of diligent searching by you Red Newbrasquatch Watchers (or Newbrask-watchers if you prefer), it was uncovered by Grace on Pootan 4's description page.

Here's a hint for next week: you may want to empty your browser's cache to make sure that you are looking at the most updated images on the site. Otherwise you might find yourself looking at old images. We hope to hear from you next week (May 6, 2006 at noon EST) to win the full-size Red Newbrasquatch in our final installment of this contest.

Update 05/06/06 (7:38pm EST): We thought for sure that it would take days to find the Red Newbrasquatch this time. It wormed his way into the newly restored Blob-E-Grams and was spotted flying through the air in The Baron of Beef von Espy Finds Amoré. Congratulations to Mandy H. for her keen eye and tracking skills. She wins the full-size Red Newbrasquatch!

Thus concludes this contest. Stay tuned for future contests and opportunities to mooch free stuff from us. If you want a competitive edge over the other contestants, sign up for our mailing list (found in the column to your left). We only send things out about once a month, but you'll be the first to know about contests, shows, and all Blobby Farm news. Thanks to everyone for participating!