We first discovered Miguel when he created the “What is Hipmunk” video for his favorite flight search website. He kindly donated his time to build what I think may be an even better video for the pig with bread wings.

Miguel is also the first person to explain just how breadpig flies. That flapping sound & animation make me giggle every time. Let us know what you think in the comments!

If you can’t tell, I love talking about breadpig, so please don’t hesitate to drop me a line if you’re interested in an interview.

(Thanks, Nathaniel!)

Here’s my favorite quote from the piece:

So, what to take away from all of this? First, even transgenomic pigs can be a great brand if people associate it with cool things. Second, social entrepreneurship looks and sounds different in different places, but continues to grow as a hallmark of this generation. Third, trying crazy ideas beats bottling them up.

We’ll do our best to keep the crazy ideas flowing!

We also had a number of independent booksellers contact us to get the xkcd book on their shelves; we’re happy to supply you!

And now for a buzz recap:

The story ran on the front pages of reddit (OK, not a huge surprise there), digg, and Hacker News.

Longtime breadpig loyalist, Scott Beale shared some linklove, as well as Cory “I sometimes wear a cape and goggles” Doctorow, who first convinced Randy to publish under a CC license (yes, the book will be under it, too). And our close friends at Wired wrote that we were promising summertime laughs with this dead tree edition of xkcd.

Robot 6 at Comic Book Resources included a link to the article in a roundup — we’ll see you all at Comic-Ccon, I’m sure.

The breadpig never expected to grace Gawker’s frontpage, but there it is. What was Gawker’s response to their first breadpig encounter?

“Randall Munroe, creator of the awesome (and popular) Web comic xkcd, skipped past the overtures of large publishers when it came time to publish his work on paper. Instead he’s working with “breadpig.” WTF?”

Hug.

Here’s the New York Times article.

The breadpig is thrilled to be working with xkcd on this venture and we’re expecting the book to hit the virtual shelves of the xkcd store this summer.

If you’d like to be notified, sign up for the breadpig mailing list (your information will not be sold, bartered, or used for any kind of evil). We’re not a traditional publisher, but this isn’t a traditional book — the majority of the profits from each sale will go directly to the artist (xkcd).

As for the rest (as with all breadpig projects) our profits will be donated; for this project, the non-profit recipient Room to Read, a splendid organization committed to bringing quality education to children worldwide (with books!).

2008 was a great first year for breadpig, with LOLmagnetz generating a solid $15,000 for the SF SPCA and shirts selling well throughout the year. ROFLDNA got 09 off to a good start and we’re all very excited about the xkcd book.

Got nothing to give that special skinjob in your life? I think you know what to do.

Back in April, when we were assembling the first order of LOLmagnetz, breadpig had to rush together some cover art for the sticker adorning the case. My cat back home looked much too sinister for such a joyful product. (See picture on right.)

Time was one thing we didn’t have, so I turned to a Flickr search for Creative Commons licensed photos of ‘funny cat,’ or something like that.

And that’s how we found the lovely Roslyn, who had exactly the expression demanded for a case of LOLmagnetz.

I tried sending a message to the photographer, ocean yamaha, with a note and the promise of a free kit of magnets. This either didn’t go through or I’d smoked too much catnip and dreamed the whole thing up.

Either way, an email showed up from the photographer asking about attribution. I assured him that he was credited both in every kit and on the website.

He (and presumably also Roslyn) was quite pleased to be associated with a product helping so many orphaned dogs and cats. I sent them a pair of kits with one small request: to photograph Roslyn sitting beside a kit of LOLmagnetz.

Well, Ocean Yamaha went above and beyond, providing not only the photos I requested…

view original

view original

but also this:

admire the greatness of the original

Truly awesome. The entire breadpig legion collectively salutes you.

This was the first post-Christmas LOLmagnetz tweet and the breadpig thought it worthy to mention. It appears cbartlett’s stocking was stuffed with some extra LOL this year, proving yet again that pigs with breadwings can fit through chimneys better than a fat man.

In the spirit of giving, we do hope you’ll share your LOLmasterpieces with everyone at LOLmagnetz.com. It’s the gift that keeps on giving. Kinda like the flu, only more fun.

Larsz, a proud LOLmagnetz owner and flickr photographer, uploaded this evidence of his LOLfridge. Click on to see the full image, it’s worth it. Breadpig loves it, Larsz, now you just need to LOLify that “I love you!” note. That will show her/him just how much you care.

Remember mySimon? One of their holiday recommendations is our magnetic LOLpoetry.

Ebisucho, a kaboodle user, decided she needed a kit of LOLmagnetz for her future home — right after the hidden wall safe. We like those priorities.

Lastly, Toysgadget.com enjoys some LOL and isn’t ashamed of it.

Time to start chugging the eggnog, folks. Breadpig is already wearing its tacky holiday sweater (the one with the snowmen dancing with Christmas trees).

This $20 pack of fridge magnets contains 384 LOL-speak words for you to arrange as you please. Y3S, WE CAN ALL HAS BUCKET!!1