I’ve been sitting on a few bits of news that I’ll now spew out in list form.

First, we’ve got 3 days left in the ASIFA-Hollywood Fundraiser, which features auctions of Jim Smith’s Ren and Stimpy layouts. There’s several drawings up for grabs, most from the Ren & Stimpy pilot, Big House Blues. More information at the ASIFA-Hollywood blog.

Second, the 8th International Bitfilm Festival for Digital Film is accepting Flash animated submissions for another 2 weeks. The prize money totals 1,500 Euros. Voting will then take place between August and October 2007.

Next, mushygushy.com has launched, featuring animated work from Flinch Studios. Users can upload their photos into these ecards and send along to friends.

Sons of Butcher, a Flash-animated series mentioned here before, has been been acquired for the Latin American market. The series follows “the shenanigans of three men who are butcher shop owners by day, but are rock stars by night.”

Rocket Fish Studios, a new studio in Kuala Lumpur headed up by Terry Thoren, has cut a deal for a 66-minute Flash-animated DVD titled Warriors of Chaos. Some great animation on their website menus.

Combo Niños, a new Flash-animated co-production between SIP Animation and TF1, has been announced by Jetix Europe.

There’s very limited character animation in this Flash animated video, but I couldn’t resist posting it. It was created by Arizona’s Brian Shaler.

Today is the official launch of the Cold Hard Flash Store. There’s actually been a store on the site for a while, but it’s primarily a repository for Flash-animated DVDs we link to on Amazon. This section is now called ‘Products,’ and the brand-new Store features 3 new t-shirts, all screen-printed on American Apparel 100% cotton, pre-shrunk material.

The proceeds from the store aren’t padding the Cold Hard pockets, but will instead be dumped into the CHF redesign fund. This project is already underway with some exceptional developers, and it’s shaping up to be something quite special indeed.

Amplifier, an Austin-based distribution company who specialize in businesses with online audiences, built the store. They’ve got quite the client roster, which includes Penny Arcade, JibJab, Ask a Ninja, Despair.com and Rooster Teeth, the gang behind Red vs. Blue. I’ve spent time with these fine people in Austin, and I’ve been bragging about them ever since. A big CHF thanks to Greg, Brenda, Thomas, Macon, Jud, John, Marc, Becky, Jef and Joel.

This seems like a good a time as any to announce that I’m officially independent. Cold Hard is now my full time job, and along with a small team of people far smarter than me, we’re going to see just how far we can take this. Consulting is the primary business right now and as the new site launches this summer, the second half of the equation will begin.

SuperDeluxe has released the second episode of The Ted Zone. This series created by Lance Myers centers on a nerd of extraordinary proportions named Ted. This episode titled People of Earth focuses on Ted’s sci-fi movie club and some language is NSFW.

Jeff Victor, an animator and illustrator living in Los Angeles, has created a new superhero series concept. SuperFiends was created by Victor and his friend Joseph Schneider, who also provides the voice of Lord Drakor in the pitch video below. Jeff, an illustrator by trade, is just learning Flash, so the animation is simple, but his designs and layouts are spot on.

The Duck and Cover Initiative has released a new politically-minded comedy short titled Super Force. The team behind this short is comprised of Mysh and Oren Mashkovski, who both work at Tel-Aviv based Pil Animation by day. This is the second release from duckcover.com, the first being The End.

Kurt, an animator out of Cincinnati, created this quickie about a toaster and a blender.