Art Thieves, You Suck So Hard

All thieves suck.

The idea of taking something away from someone else really pisses me off. However, stealing something that someone else not only owns, but also worked hard to create sends me into a molten, poptartian frenzy (to me, Poptarts represent anger, just go with it).

Typing the phrase art thief doesn't really describe these "artists" properly, so let's call them, oh I don't know... doucheparrots. Parrots copy others and douche is not only insulting, it's fun to type in a rant.

A few days ago, the folks over at hottopic.com were caught selling a tshirt that had a barely altered version of this image which was drawn by Vera Brosgol (check out her very cool site for more of her work). Vera sent Hot Topic an email and in all fairness, they got back to her pretty fast and promised to take the shirt off of their site, which they did. We'll never know for sure if Hot Topic knew that the image was stolen, but we certainly know that the doucheparrot who "drew" it knew. He (or she) is talentless, scum.

Okay, so everything was worked out. The shirt disappeared and Vera (who is obviously much more mature than I am) quietly moved onto doing what she does well, creating original art. End of the story, right? No.

Today, Hot Topic was caught again. This time they were selling buttons with art stolen directly from Meghan Murphy (whose very cool comic can be seen here). Now before we grab our pitchforks and torches, let's remember that Hot Topic might legitimately have no idea that they've hired doucheparrots. Maybe they genuinely want to sell original merchandise and they're victims of the doucheparrot people, who are dragging the good name of Hot Topic through the mud. If this is true, they had better take a close look at how they're doing business and make some much needed changes. Maybe fire whoever is responsible and start printing "We're sorry we were Pooheads to the real artists" tshirts.

And just because I'm really angry at these art thieves right now, I (or rather Mike Tyndall) present to you, Todd Goldman the King Doucheparrot. This guy deserves something angry and stinging to crawl up his pant leg. Also note that the doucheparrot in question not only stole artwork from dozens and dozens of artists, but he then threatened legal action against Mike Tyndall for making "defaming, derogatory and malicious statements" about him on that page. Now, even though I'm talking poorly about Todd Goldman here, I can't be sued because Todd Goldman is a name I just made up.

It's original, I swear.

I created that name and it's my work.

Not stolen, totally a Thunt original.

As always, thanks for reading.

~Thunt

Riddle Doors & Canadian Awards

I've been getting emails and requests on Twitter for me to explain just how the door solution worked. To see how the solution was found, check this out.

I think that it would have been much better if I'd set up the password to be something recognisable instead of a gibberish word. Some people got the word, but weren't sure if it was correct because seriously, what is a leafoof?

In other news, I am nominated for an Aurora Award! In Canada, this is actually a big deal. You get a huge trophy and your very own TARDIS! Okay, maybe not a TARDIS. Here's how the Auroras work...

The five artists who get the most nominations by Feb. 15th end up on "the ballot". From there, a voting system starts in May at Keycon 27. So if you're a Canadian citizen living in or outside of Canada or a permanent resident in Canada, then you can make me feel like a big shot by nominating me here in the catagory of Artistic Achievement - 2009.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go shower off the stench of vote-whoring.

As always, thanks for reading.

~Thunt