Indie Squid Kid

We had a marvelous Christmas here at ISK headquarters, and if you celebrate I hope you did too! This year was Kid Indie Squid Kid’s first Christmas, and even though he is a little too young to know what was going on, it was still very exciting. Family came to us, so we didn’t have to worry about traveling with the baby, and that turned out to be ideal, because I seem to have the virus and/or secondary bacterial infection that WILL NOT DIE.

It will come as little surprise that there were a number of cephalopods underneath our Christmas tree. Here’s a rundown of all the loot…

• Imaginext 3-Headed Sea Dragon Gift Set
• Imaginext Ocean Squid
• Arkham Horror: Innsmouth Horror Expansion (by Fantasy Flight Games)
• orange googly-eyed plush octopus
• Young Mad Scientist Alphabet Blocks (by Xylocopa from ThinkGeek)
• polymer clay tentacle pendent/ornament (by bunny X productions)

Well, I think that’s it for now. I’ve been unplugged for a week so I got to ease back into things, you know?

Today is Cephalopodmas, but there’s too much to do for that other Capital C holiday that’s just around the corner to post much this week.

The Santa Squid was designed by Adam “Apelad” Koford and the shirt is offered by greyaenigma. It is available in a variety of colors and styles starting at $12.95. Buy it now from Zazzle.com.

Have a squelchy Squidmas and a tentacular New Year!

My plans for a week of short Christmas ornament posts got waylaid by a time destroying combination of illness, work, weather, and social commitments. So here are the two that were intended for Thursday and Friday…

This Santopus (or should that be Cephaloclaus?) ornament sports a biologically inaccurate toothy grin (and eye brows), but I’m willing to go easy on it because its arms all twist and curl in different directions. And I think that’s neat.

This one is probably my favorite of the bunch—a Sperm Whale and and a Giant Squid (and some echinoderms) on a wreath of seaweed. The ornament came from the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. It is particularly appropriate because the museum’s logo was inspired by one of the oldest specimens in their collection: a complete skeleton of Physeter macrocephalus.

The classic image of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy draped in giant tentacles, that we first saw in Hellboy: Seed of Destruction #2 (1994), was finally rendered in Christmas ornament form in 2002. The ornament was sculpted by the now apparently defunct Big Chief Studios and released by Dark Horse Comics.

Elves make the toys, reindeer pull the sleigh, but cephalopods are perfect for the oft-overlooked but highly important task of keeping the Christmas lights untangled!

My sister got this festive octopus ornament for me a couple of years ago in the U.S. Virgin Islands—St. Thomas, to be exact.

Cephalopodmas (aka Squidmas, aka Solstice) is next Tuesday, so every day this week I will post a bonus photo of a different cepahlopod holiday ornament.

I don’t think this rubber octopus was intended to be a Christmas decoration, but it has a string on it so…POW! ORNAMENT!

Cephalopodmas is December 22…only eleven days away!
Watch this feed in the days to come for more holiday fun!

I really should have included this in last week’s Holiday Shopping Guide, so consider this an addendum. This three-button polo features the by-now-familiar Gama-Go Giant Squid and is available in Black, Navy, and Khaki. It originally retailed for $32, but it is currently on sale for a mere $12 USD!!! My guess is that this sale will probably last until they are sold out…so what are you waiting for?? Buy from Gama-Go.com.

I hope that this week’s shopping guide has helped some of you find the perfect Christmas and/or Cephalopodmas gift for the squidophile in your life. To round things out, here are a few products that didn’t really fit in the other categories. And in case you missed them, those categories are:

Toys | Apparel | Books | Jewelry

Gama-Go

This sticker is roughly 3″ x 4″ and is printed on durable transparent vinyl.

Buy from Gama-Go!

This embossed vinyl wallet is a variation on the same theme we saw with their “Geisha Tentacles” shirt (which is still available!). It has two i.d. windows, three coin holders, and “surprises a-plenty.” Buy from Gama-Go!

Futuregirl Leah Riley

From Leah’s product description:

The best thing about Squiddish Pouches is their diverse capabilities -
- they can be closed using the convenient button and button hole method OR
- they can be hung on the wall using a nail or pushpin through the buttonhole OR
- they can even be attached to holiday trees or other shrubbery by running a string through the buttonhole

Each Squiddish Pouch is hand-cut from thick wool felt, which means each one is unique.
Each piece is securely sewn together, and features a lovely button eye.

Measurements:
Open: 11″h x 3.25″w
Closed: 7.75″h x 3.25″w

Other details:
Bright pink button
Rich Purple wool felt with darker purple thread design swirling through

Kamibashi Freak*O*Bags™

These fair trade, colorful creatures open up to reveal a sturdy 16″ x 16″ tote bag that can be used again and again. Bring them to the grocery store or anywhere you typically receive plastic bags. When you’re done, simply stuff it back into the attached pet and clip it on to anything so it’s always around when you need it.

Articulate Matter

Justina Kochansky’s Etsy shop is the companion site to her webcomic Articulate Matter (previously reviewed here). She sells prints, a brand new calendar, and some of the actual polymer clay sculptures from the comic!

Sorry for the slap-dash nature of this post. I’ll fix up the formatting and add more description to each book when I have a little more time.

Anyway, because Wednesday is normally devoted to comics, let’s start our book list with a few graphic novels.

Comics/Graphic Novels

Jules Verne’s Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (2008, Flesk Publications)

adapted and Illustrated by Gary Gianni

In addition to the fully illustrated adaptation of Verne’s sci-fi classic, this beautiful folio-sized hardcover includes H.G. Wells’ short story “The Sea Raiders” (which features an encounter with a Giant Squid) and an introduction by Ray Bradbury.

List Price: $24.95 — Buy on Amazon.com

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Cthulhu Tales (2008-2009, BOOM! Studios)

written and illustrated by various authors/artists

List Price: $15.99 per volume

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

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Fiction

Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters (2009, Quirk Books)

by Jane Austin and Ben H. Winters

List Price: $12.99 — Buy on Amazon.com

(Covered previously on ISK)

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Mall of Cthulhu (2009, Night Shade Books)

by Seamus Cooper

List Price: $13.95 — Buy on Amazon.com

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Non-Fiction

Cephalopods: A World Guide (2000, Conch Books)

by Mark Norman

This is the oldest book in this list, and the only one that doesn’t appear to be currently in print. However, this is pretty much the definitive source book for cephalopod identification, and a must have for any serious cephalopod enthusiast.

List Price: $69.95 — Buy on DiveSeekers.com

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The Deep: The Extraordinary Creatures of the Abyss (2007, University of Chicago Press)

by Claire Nouvian

List Price $60.00 — Buy on Amazon.com

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For Kids

The Octonauts & The Only Lonely Monster (2006, Immedium)

by Meomi

List Price: $15.95 — Buy on Amazon.com

Other titles in the series:

The Octonauts & The Sea of Shade

The Octonauts & The Frown Fish

The Octonauts & The Great Ghost Reef

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20,000Leagues Under the Sea: A Pop-Up Book (2008, Sterling)

by Sam Ita

List Price: $26.95 — Buy on Amazon.com