NEWS

DotRot has compiled a new collection of Story-Time stories--the SummerTime Collection, along with some recipes from CC's Cafe. You can download it by clicking HERE.

This latest collection has been dedicated to our dear friend Sarah Lewis (slewvi).

After three clutches, and with Molly and McGee seemingly taking a break from raising owlets this summer, Carlos Royal announced plans to turn off the Owl Box cameras for good as of 6pm PDT on August 31, 2011. The owl box chat room and social stream will also go off at that time, so it has been an emotional time as everyone says their goodbyes and makes plans for after the shut-down.

I am going to be leaving my Ustream chat room open, albeit unmoderated (except around the times that I am broadcasting--Thursdays and Sundays at 6pm Pacific time). You can go to my Ustream channel HERE.

In honor of the occasion, I have made a little sheet that has one of my all-time favorite poems. This is a piece from 1917 by Edgar Guest, and it is entitled "Home." I think the poem is very fitting to the owl box. See if you agree by clicking HERE to get the PDF of it.

And now for one last Molly & McGee cartoon. You can download that PDF HERE.

DotRot has compiled a new collection of Story-Time stories, along with some recipes from CC's Cafe. You can download it by clicking HERE.

Also, the story from two weeks ago featured our virtual owlets Vinky & Vobble doing a crossword puzzle. DotRot has created a crossword puzzle with VacaChat-related clues, which you can download HERE.

I got an e-mail this week from a reporter at CW31, a local television station in the Sacramento, CA area. They wanted someone to come on the show and demonstrate sculpting with Play-Doh. And it just so happens that I am somewhat of an "expert" (despite the fact that I am not seven years old). You can go to their web site and look up the video entitled "Play-Doh Artist" HERE.

In last night's VacaChat, I showed a bunch of image captures I had gotten from various owl boxes. I had numerous requests to make them available online, so I have added them to my Flickr account, in my Owls set. You can find them by clicking HERE.

So much interesting stuff going on out there!

Today is Easter, and it is also a Story-Time day. So to celebrate, I am making available the two volumes of compiled StoryTime stories, as compiled by our beloved DotRot! They come as two PDF files, in volumes one and two--also known as the Holiday Edition and the Winter Edition.

You can download them here:

Volume One (Holiday)

Volume Two (Winter)

The mayor of San Marcos declared March 25th to be "Molly and McGee Day" last year, and that's today!!

I mistakenly reported on last night's VacaChat that Carlos was going to mark this day by having the owl box chat room open. I apologize for passing on information that was basically some wishful thinking. I should have checked it myself first. He has invited everyone to post memories and comments in Molly's Blog.

This afternoon I created a drawing in honor of this wonderful day of memories, laughs, and companionship with my fellow MODs. The link to the drawing is here.

Conceived by MtnGal and developed by DotRot, this is a wonderful chart full of vital information about the various owl boxes on Ustream and elsewhere. It has links to the viewing sites, names, places, dates of egg layings, projected hatching dates, and more. It's a great one-stop shop for knowledge of the various goings-on in the owl world! It is rumored that the owls themselves use it occasionally to keep track of their own eggs, on account of there being so many of them!

You can go to the chart by clicking here.

The last cartoon I drew was the one with Glowz leaving a good-bye message to Molly and the second clutch of owlets. That was back in mid October. Now over two months later comes the latest cartoon from VacaDude.

The owl box landscape is changing daily, and the New Year has seen a number of owl boxes with webcams springing up all over. The final configuration is still coming into focus as I write this. So I thought I would welcome this brave new landscape with my first comic panel of 2011!

You can find the downloadable PDF at the top of my Cartoon Samples Page.

First of all, I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year!

Secondly, I want to let everyone know that the year 2011 is likely to bring some changes for myself and all things VacaDude. On the one hand, the owl box landscape is getting complicated. With new boxes going up, and the future of Carlos Royal's owl box being unclear, things are likely to be changing fast. New boxes will mean new chat rooms--ones that I am not about to try to compete with for viewership. Two main reasons for that--one, these new chat rooms will have live owls to look at, which is something I cannot provide. Secondly, I want to be able to spend time in those other owl boxes myself!

Now I would like to continue doing the VacaChats as long as people are interested in attending. I may pare down the frequency and/or modify the hours. I plan to keep adding to the VacaBlog, though lately my frequency for updating that has been a bit sparse as well. I also have ideas for new cartoons and new products, but how much of that comes to fruition depends on a lot of variables--but it mostly comes down to my schedule. The new year is off with a bang in terms of my professional projects.

In short, there are likely going to be a lot of changes happening, and I hope to post information here as to the latest goings-on. (Though of course, I realize the VacaChat page is very out of date, but I plan to remedy that as soon as I get a chance.)

I have established an account with WordPress, where I have set up a little something I call the VacaBlog. I had done a blog in the past, but it was not very easy to publish entries, so I sort of gave up on it. However, I like the way WordPress lets you make a blog entry from an e-mail, complete with pictures! So I'm giving it another try.

Nothing fancy--just me sharing things that fascinate me, or just sharing life in general. I think of it as a chance to compare notes!

Things got really exciting on last night's VacaChat, as I unveiled a new product (formerly known as "The Top Secret Project" that I had been doing for the San Marcos picnic coming up on the 17th. It is a video DVD I am calling "A MOD's Compilation," as it is a collection of just about all the artwork and animation and video work I have done since I first got involved with the owl box back in March of this year. It will have a video version of "A MOD's Journal," several slideshows of other and newer artwork, fun videos such as "Meadow Mutual Ad, featuring Zorro the Mouse," "Kyle the Carrot," and of course--"The Owl Box Rockz!," by Johnny and the Horkers. There are also highlights from past VacaChats and DrawAlongs, as well as a few more goodies. It is a really fun collection of humor all jammed into one DVD!

It's going for a mere $24.95 and you can order via PayPal on my shop.vacadude.com e-commerce site. Also, a limited number of copies will be available at the picnic and signed by yours truly!

Other changes include a restructuring of the merchandising page, and some other things that should be finished by the morning.

However, you can look at the designs and check out the different types of fabric they offer, by going to my designer page here.

On tonight's VacaChat I played a song written and performed by Kathy Furneaux (aka BugGirl) entitled "Ode to Molly's Owlets". It's a lovely folk song and pays tribute to Molly and her family, and will bring a tear to the eye of many MODs out there. We were all touched by the song, and I applaud Kathy's accomplishment! She initially wrote it as a poem, then wrote the tune for it. Her son accompanied her on banjo and she sang it in the studio of her son's friend. It's a true labor of love, and the result it wonderful. Kathy has made it available to all MODs for download here. Thanks Kathy--wonderful job!

The eBook compilation of the eCOMIC series "Laughing Outside the Box" is now finished. For details, go to the eCOMIC web page.

I will be conducting another VacaChat tonight at 6:00pm PDT. During this one hour show, I'm going to be making an announcement about a certain eComic book compilation.

As soon as I get a chance, I am going to add another tab to the navigation bar above--one for the VacaChat. For those of you who are not aware of this, I have been broadcasting a vlog on my uStream channel (www.ustream.tv/channel/VacaDude), where I talk about various things having to do with the comic strip, and previewing items available in my CafePress store, and making various assaults on the high art of puppetry. Come and join the fun!

I have been creating some new designs for the CafePress store--some derived from the comic strip, and others that are brand new--never been seen before! The range of products has been increased as well, and now include shirts, tote bags, magnets, caps, infant wear, and more.

For more info, take a look at the merchandise section, or you can just go straight to the CafePress store and look around: www.CafePress.com/VacaDude

For more info, take a look at the merchandise section, or you can just go straight to the CafePress store and look around: www.CafePress.com/VacaDude

Okay, anyway--head on over to the coloring page section and click on the thumbail marked "NEW!". Enjoy!

So if you are a subscriber and are not getting the e-mails, send a copy of your TransferIt receipt/certificate to me: john@vacadude.com, and I will add you to my list. That way, you'll get your notification within minutes of my uploading the latest toons to the server!