The movie theater Tom talks about changing the title of Jackass Two to Jackbutt Two is absolute reality. Here’s the link from over at TMZ.com to prove it. (you can see the original, undoctored photo there, as well)

I knew about this story for a while and questioned writing a strip about it sooner, but wasn’t sure how to approach it. The thought kept gnawing at me. Especially since it took place in Iowa and I consider myself an ambassador of sorts. If someone doesn’t speak up and say "Not all of us are culturally xenophobic whack-jobs," then who will?

Orange City is about 4 hours away from Des Moines and I doubt I’ll ever visit there. But if it’s anything like every other small town in Iowa I’ve been to (and chances are, it probably is) then I have no need to check it out. Every small burg in this state is cute with its rustic town squares and city halls. There are usually a few good dive bars to check out, but little else going on. This kind of persnickity avenue is prevelant and it makes me glad that – if my parents had to choose Iowa to settle down and raise a family – they at least decided to stay close to the capitol.

I talk about being from Des Moines like it’s significant. I have no delusions of granduer about it. I know we’re small time. It just made me think of my time back in college, meeting new people and telling them where you were from. Every once in a while you’d meet up with a farm kid who came from a high school of 30 people and when you told them you were from Des Moines, they looked at you like you came from that city-planet Coruscant from the Star Wars movies. "What’s it like?" they would ask, mouths agape? "Uh, we have two gas stations instead of just one?" What do you tell these people. I told them we rode hoverbikes to work and school.

I mentioned this in yesterday’s blog, but I want to mention it again here on Friday because I know more people will read it.

I want to extend my thanks to everyone who sent an e-mail, posted in the THorum or even sent me messages through the Theater Hopper LiveJournal feed or my MySpace page wishing Cami and I congradulations on the upcoming birth of our first child. It’s amazing to be on the receiving end of all this love and support. Cami and I are talking about collecting these messages along with the birth announcement from Wednesday and putting it in the baby’s scrapbook. We want our son to know that there are good people in the world who want to share in joy and to never doubt the kindness of strangers.

I got a lot of e-mails from people who would say things like "I’ve been a fan of your comic for years and I’ve never written you. I want to say congradulations. Even though I don’t know you, I know you and Cami will be great parents."

That sounds like an exaggeration or like we’re pre-emptively patting ourselves on the back. But I’m serious. I got at least 5 e-mails like that. It’s flummoxing. I mean, I like to think that I’ll be a good Dad and I plan on working hard to do so. But it’s a little surreal when someone identifies a characteristic in you that you don’t immediately see in yourself. Very humbling. Thank you.

One more quick note and then I’m out of here… literally.

I’m kind of bringing this up on short notice, so my apologies. But I wanted everyone to know that I will be attending the Minneapolis FallCon comic book convention at the Minnesota State Fairgrounds this weekend. I’ll be there both Saturday and Sunday from 10 until 5. So if you live in the Land of 1,000 Lakes, stop by and say "Hi."

I should mention that Cami is coming with me to this convention – her first ever. So be gentle! She probably won’t be hanging around all day, though. My sister-in-law is coming with us and I think the two of them are going to check out The Mall of America while I’m on the convention floor. Still, if you get there early, you might catch her!

Cami is commemorating her first convention appearance by stitching up another ten hand-made Truman dolls. We got a lot of e-mail from people who really wanted to get their hands on one during the "Theater Hopper: Year Two" pre sale, so we’re testing the waters to see if they’ll be popular outside of that environment.

I don’t know? What do you guys think? Would you buy a hand-made Truman doll for say… ten dollars if we sold them here on the site? Send me an e-mail and let me know!

Oh! Oh! Before I forget. I just got the proofs to "Theater Hopper: Year Two" in the mail yesterday and they look GREAT! Year Two is the first year where I started to save my original works. There are still a few strips at the front that I had to strip and reformat from the site. But the strips later on that were saved at 300 dpi look excellent! You guys are going to be really pleased! I’m signing off on the proofs this afternoon and mailing them back so they can start on production right away!

Deadline for the book is Wednesday, November 8 because I’m going to be taking copies with me to Wizard World Texas on November 10 – 12.

In the interest of full-disclosure, there are an additional 30 pages of content in Year Two as opposed to Year One. Unfortunately, what I didn’t see coming was the extra expense of that extra content! So it turns out production of the book is going to run me about $500 more than what I had originally budgeted for. Also, since I dropped the price of Year Two to $15.00 (down from $18.95 on the first book), I’m left with less money to cover costs.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I won’t have to dip into savings to get this book made because if I do, it’ll probably be a while before you guys see Year Three on the shelves. So if you haven’t pre-ordered your copy, PLEASE DO SO TODAY! The waiting period will be much shorter this time around. We’ll be shipping out everyone’s book BEFORE I leave for Texas. So you’ll get them by mid-November at the latest. Just in time for the holidays!

In fact, if you’ve already bought a copy for yourself, have you considered buying one for a friend? Perhaps as a present of some kind? I know we haven’t even gotten to Halloween yet, but it’s something to consider!

Don’t forget that we’re bundling copies of Year One and Year Two together for $25. And, as always, every book is signed with a personal note of thanks from yours truly.

If you can’t afford a book right now, don’t forget about our t-shirt and baby doll tee liquidation sale going on right now! We’re clearing out inventory to make room for new designs and you can get your hands on t-shirts for $7.99 and baby dolls for $9.99 (plus shipping and handling). There are limited sizes left and I’ve actually sold out of a few designs in a couple of sizes. So get your hands on them now before they’re gone. After I’m done at FallCon this weekend, there will probably be less to choose from. So ORDER TODAY!

Whoa. Kind of rambled on there, didn’t I?

Thanks again to everyone for their kind words of support. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about our pregnancy as the due date nears. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a great weekend. I want to see The Departed, but I’m pretty busy in the evenings, so I don’t know if I’ll be able to squeeze it in. If you see it, don’t spoil it for me! I want to be surprised!