Hello folks! August is here. You might remember that, last month, we mentioned June being known as Strawberry Moon to the First Nations people in our area - and July is Raspberry Moon. August is the Thimbleberry moon. If you've never heard of the Thimbleberry (like us!) you can learn more here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thimbleberry.
=================== Studio Happenings: ==================
Check out our brand new Meet Farley section: www.fborfw.com/char_pgs/farleynew. It's a great introduction to the Pattersons' beloved mutt, with a little info about Farley himself and a portal to all our other Farley-related content, in case you've missed something over the years.
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You asked, so we're responding - we're working on making larger copies of the strips available in our feature pages throughout the site. For example, Lawrence's Story (http://www.fborfw.com/features/lawrence/) will soon include larger strips to make reading easier. The newspapers may squash comics down to illegibility, but we're going in the opposite direction. Stay tooned for bigger strips.
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We've just added a whole pile of new words to our Food Fight game by reader request: http://www.fborfw.com/fun/foodfight/ Check it out - it's a great way to get your brain ready to face the day!
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Got a request or a suggestion for the website? Send it to steph@aloeroot.com. We built the website for you, and we want to know how to keep it at the top of your list of favourites.
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Our Uncover Summer Fun game is now up - test your memory with this fun matching game. http://www.fborfw.com/fun/summer/
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We're now on Twitter with 225 followers and climbing! Follow "fborfw" : http://twitter.com/fborfw - we tweet whenever there's news or a little tidbit of information that needs to be sent out in a timely manner.
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Our stuffed Farley dogs are still in the works - thanks to everyone who's gotten in touch with encouraging words. We promise we'll make him available for sale as soon as he comes in, which should be in time for Christmas!
>From Lynn, about the Farley dolls:
"The hold up, now is: the plush material we wanted for the body is no longer available and the new fabric, though really nice is fluffier, which changes the shape of Farley's face. The last sample they sent was so close! I took a pair of thinning shears to the cheeks and muzzle and soon, Farley began to emerge. I was quite happy with the results and asked if they could reproduce the look I came up with. They are amazing, so I'm sure we'll have a good likeness with the next sample. This process is time consuming, but it's like doing a portrait in plush...which is quite a challenge! I always learn a lot when I work on a project that's not pen and paper!!"
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For those of you who've been asking about Lynn's six animated specials including The Christmas Angel and A Valentine From the Heart, Lynn says "I have had 5 of the Lacewood shows copied from the master and am trying to locate the 6th master. If I can't find it, we are going to release the 5 Lacewood shows on DVD in the fall- in time for Christmas."
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Join our brand-new official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Near-North-Bay-Ontario/Syndicated-Comic-Strip-For-Better-or-For-Worse/91672947902. We just created this page and we're already up to more than 800 fans - come join a big group of likeminded people and discuss the strip!
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You may have noticed that some of the collection books in our store have been listed as "sold out" for a while now. We've recently found out that Lynn's publisher is planning to move forward with treasury editions of FBorFW strips (like the Far Side and Calvin and Hobbes deluxe box sets), and therefore Lynn's earlier books may no longer be reprinted. If you want to order signed copies of any of Lynn's books from our shop, we'd encourage you to do so as soon as possible because we're not sure when or if we'll have more in stock. You can visit our store here: http://store.fborfw.com/catalo
================== July's Giveaway: ===================
This past month we gave 5 lucky winners a limited-edition FBorFW print (from a print run of only 2000). Here are the answers to last month's trivia questions:
1. What was Michael's reaction when Elly told him he'd never have to go back to kindergarten? He cried.
2. What colour is the poodle skirt in our Dress April game? Pink
3. What was the date of Mike and Dee's wedding? Officially, they got married on September 15th, 2001 but they were secretly married before then!
4. Name three people on the cover of our Home Sweat Home book. All of the characters: John, Elly, Michael, Robin, April, Edgar, Dixie and Meredith.
5. Where did Lynn stay while she was in Oaxaca? Alvin and Arlene Starkman's bed and breakfast, Casa Machaya
================== August's Giveaway: ===================
Just correctly answer the questions below and we'll enter you in the draw - the prize is a limited-edition FBorFW print (from a print run of only 2000), and we'll select 5 lucky winners at the end of the month. Send your answers to fborfw@aloeroot.com with the subject line August Trivia Contest. We regret that this contest is not open to residents of Quebec for legal reasons which we don't really comprehend.
1. What's wiggling on the Food Fight page?
2. In what province are the Farley license plates available?
3. Name the three characters who blink in the strip from August 6, 2007 on our website.
4. Beth Cruikshank contributed research and text to two of the FBorFW Special Edition books. Which ones were they?
5. What kind of building did Lynn turn into a studio when she was freelancing in the early seventies?
=================== Ojibwe Word of the Month: ===================
This is the month when we have some of our most spectacular thunderstorms up north.
To say "it is thundering" in Ojibwe, you'd say: Nimkiikaa, which is pronounced nimkeekah.
=================== Studio Photo of the Month: ===================
Here's a bonus photo from Lynn's trip to Oaxaca, Mexico that wasn't featured elsewhere in our website. This is a newsletter-exclusive picture of Lynn's daughter Kate (a potter herself) photographing a local potter at work.
Click this link to see the photo: http://www.fborfw.com/newsletter/studiopic/oaxaca2.jpg
=================== A Quick Tour of our Site: ===================
Our website can, as always, be found at http://www.fborfw.com.
You can read the strip online at http://www.fborfw.com/strip_fix
We post our major news items here: http://www.fborfw.com/news
Our store is here, where we offer signed copies of all Lynn's books: http://store.fborfw.com
To check out our Coffee Talk feature, click this link: http://www.fborfw.com/fun/blog
Our site contains five and a half years' worth of strips, plus lots of additional content like our popular e-greets, games and behind-the-scenes info on Lynn and the strip. Please feel free to explore the site, play the games, read the features and send your feedback to stephanie@entercomcanada.com.