Check out this charming Order of Odd-Fish Christmas card I received from Emily Bricker, also known as Pirka (here’s her DeviantArt profile and Twitter). It’s fantastic!

I’ve featured Pirka’s marvelous art on the blog a couple times before (here’s the first collage I received from her, and here’s a horn-o’-plenty of Odd-Fish art including a very amusing animated video of the Odd-Fish knights and squires singing and dancing to a Monty Python song).

Above, we have Jo, Ian, Audrey, and Nora flying their armored ostriches (I like the neck-armor; makes sense!) with Santa’s sleigh being pulled by a Ken Kiang-mounted Schwenk. With, of course, Sefino at Santa’s side. It’s gorgeous, a delight! But I expect nothing less from the talented Pirka. I’m really glad I got to meet her this year.

2011 was a great year all around. My second daughter Ingrid was born, we pulled off the first annual 90-Second Newbery Film Festival (with screenings in New York City and Chicago), I had the privilege of meeting Neil Gaiman and introducing him at the Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago, we put on another Odd-Fish fan art show at the Hegeler-Carus mansion . . . and on and on.

I’m very grateful for this year. And I’m looking forward to 2012. I expect big things! See you then!

We’ve seen Shelly Tan’s great fan art for The Order of Odd-Fish before (check it out here) and even her fan art for my work-in-progress The Magnificent Moots (she was one of my writing students and I read the first two chapters aloud to the class; you can see her terrifying squid-worms and dragon-wasps from the book here). Now Shelly has come back with one of her best pieces yet, above―the pernicious centipede journalist Chatterbox, resplendent in his exquisitely tailored “fifteen-piece” suit.

I love it! Especially all the different “business” Shelly has for his palps―grasping his hat in mid-doff, fiddling with his cane, angling in akimbo skepticism, etc. In the lower left hand corner, Shelly notes, “Those brown curvy things near his face are actually a first pair of legs that Nature has modified into a pair of poison fangs. Yes, poison fangs. Awesome, No? (All centipedes have them. And some centipedes eat roach babies. Just a heads-up.)” Whaaaat! So there is a natural animosity between centipedes and cockroaches that I coincidentally alluded to with Odd-Fish‘s rivalry between Chatterbox and Sefino? Perhaps I was drawing upon some great collective unconscious of entomological lore. Great work, Shelly! Check out all of her work on DeviantArt here.

Have you heard of the TED Talks? “TED” stands for “Technology, Entertainment, and Design.” Their slogan is “Ideas worth spreading” and it’s a series of talks by smarty-pants people about topics like using video to “reinvent education” or advances in brain imaging or counterintuitive statistics about developing countries. At their best, the TED Talks are illuminating; but on their off days, there’s a mockable tendency towards naive techno-utopianism, cockamamie schemes for “changing the world,” and a self-satisfaction in the speakers and audience in how smart they are.

Enter the NED Talks of Chicago. Their motto? “Spreading worthless ideas.” It’s ballyhooed as “TED’s idiot brother” and it’s the brainchild of why-aren’t-they-millionaires-yet Chicago comedians Seth Dodson and Kellen Alexander. (The hilarious Seth was my co-host for the Chicago screening of the 90-Second Newbery Film Festival).

So last night I did a NED Talk at the Hideout (about the 90-Second Newbery, actually), along with other hilarious presenters Steve Waltien, Christina Boucher, Ross Bryant, and Grace Tran. It was a lot of fun! Someone was videotaping it, but the video isn’t online yet. However, I did find a video of one of the older NED Talks.

As far as I’m concerned, it is the Platonic ideal of all NED Talks―adroitly skewering the preening vocal style of the presenters, Wired-magazine faith in technology, and condescension to developing countries (essentially, a sandbox where Silicon Valley philanthropists can try out their Innovative Ideas), etc. The talk is by Daniel Kibblesmith, speaking here as “Miami Volt,” about his new nonprofit “Level-Up”―a way to help Third World countries through the power of video games. “We all know that you can save the world in video games. But can video games help save the world?”

Brilliant. To learn more about the NED Talks, here’s a story in the Chicago Tribune that also has an interview with Seth and Kellen. An idea whose time has come!

CHICAGOANS. Last-minute notice: I’ve been invited to give a quick 15-minute version of the 90-Second Newbery madness this Wednesday night at The Education Show, “Chicago’s premiere edutainment variety show.” Special musical guests Casimer + Casimir. At the Pub Theater @ The Fizz, 3220 N Lincoln Ave. $5 admission. Bring some new school supplies to donate to kids in need and get a prize! 8 pm.

So now that the New York and Chicago 90-Second Newbery film festival screenings are over with, it’s time for me to hunker down and do some serious writing and family enjoyment this holiday season. That is to say: my postings will be briefer, and there will be more time in between them!

While I’m gone, I’ll be posting some of the 90-Second Newbery videos I’ve received that, while great, I did not have time to post before the film festivals occurred. Today’s offering: a rather urban Bridge to Terabithia as adapted by 14-year old Mana Taylor and her 10-year old sister Soley of Chicago. They’re from Iceland! Mana tells me she wants to be a filmmaker. I say she’s got a flying start! You can also see her “behind the scenes” footage here.

Very enjoyable! Good acting (Mana plays a double part), and the costuming was spot-on too: Leslie’s kooky outfit vs. Jesse’s normal boy clothes. I liked the switch from the normal world to Terabithia (inside a bedroom― resourceful!) by cutting during the camera spinning around Jesse. The sped-up footage effectively got the necessary info across quickly. (Stick around for the charming dance party at the end, too.)

Thanks, Mana and Soley! I’m looking forward to seeing what you cook up for next year’s festival.