Regular readers may recall that for the second half of March, I donated all Paypal profits for copies of Tonoharu sold to the Red Cross, to benefit Japan earthquake/tsunami relief. The promotion ended yesterday. I sold ten books, for a total of $155 going to the Red Cross. My thanks to all those who purchased books during that period!
So that ends that, but I’m still involved in a couple another relief efforts:
1) The JET Alumni Association of Minnesota will be holding a benefit for Japan on Saturday, April 16th at Moto-I Sake Bar in Uptown Minneapolis. All proceeds will go to the JETAA USA Japan Earthquake Relief Fund. All the details can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=203477753010794
2) My friend Adam Pasion is creating a comics/art anthology called Aftershock: Artists Respond to Disaster in Japan, with proceeds going to Japan relief. I’ll be contributing something. I’ll update with more details when I have them, but in the meantime, check out the website: http://aftershockcomic.blogspot.com/
My friend Ted Anderson is a huge fan of the new My Little Ponies series, a show I wouldn’t even know existed were it not for his tireless efforts to spread the My Little Pony gospel.
I still haven’t seen it yet so I’ll reserve comment on that, but there is a Japanese children’s cartoon that I really love called Oden-kun. The first episode heads this entry.
It’s not one of those ironic, winking-at-the-adults shows; instead, it’s sweet and earnest. (Although the super-long intro in this episode is weirdly dark.) Oden-kun just has a quality to it that always makes me smile, and I’ve met other adults in Japan that felt the same way. I suppose in that sense it possesses that rare quality that Peanuts has, in that it could be enjoyed by nine year old girls or 34 year old cartoonists.
English subtitles are available by pressing the “CC” button. Enjoy!
Hey Minnesotans! I’m going to be appearing on an upcoming episode of Minnesota Original, a series about Minnesota artists produced by Twin Cities Public Television!
The episode that includes the segment with me will air on channel 2 this comingThursday, 4/28/2011, at 7:30PM and on Friday 4/29/2011 at 1:30AM. So, check it out!
Otherwise, it will be available online eventually as well (maybe the same day it airs?) at http://mnoriginal.org . I’ll let you know when it’s up.
This is the first time I’ve ever been on tv, so I’m anxious to see how it turned out. I’ll probably come off as a moron. Also, remember the camera adds ten pounds, *cough cough*!
These videos have a few images from the forthcoming Tonoharu: Part Three, so check ‘em out!
My thanks to Angie Prindle, Steven Flynn, Joel Zimmerman, and all the other folks at Twin Cities Public Television / Minnesota Original for putting together such a wonderful piece.
Also, thanks to everyone who joined me for the viewing party last night! I appreciate it!
