Dance Break

I decided to take a break from all this Barry stuff to bring you this video. Y'all know I love dancing robots.

Barry Joins Distinguished Group of Extinguished Toons

Death of F Minus character expected to be "less emotional than Grandpa (Family Circus), more emotional than Bill the Cat (Bloom County)."

Tempe, Arizona: Asok ("Dilbert"), Mort Park ("Rudy Park"), Lisa Moore ("Funky Winkerbean")-- these are just a few of the comic strip characters that have recently met their makers, according to an article in Editor & Publisher last week. The story highlights the news of "Big Hat Barry," a F Minus character scheduled to die at the end of the week.

In 2007, the AV Club listed some of the more memorable deaths in cartoon history. Barry is expected to fall somewhere within the top 75 most important syndicated comic strip character deaths. Exactly where on the list he will end up is a hot topic on the world wide web. Also in question is the impact the event will have on the nation.

"I'm using this event as a learning experience for my kids." says local parent, Janae Cooper. "We bought a goldfish to teach them about life and death, but the darn thing won't die! So we're going to talk about Barry instead."

Heated discussion about the death of Barry rages on at The Daily Cartoonist, a cartoon industry news blog.

Update: Imminent Death of "Big Hat Barry" confirmed

News of impending death draws criticism, apathy.
Tempe, Arizona-- After a frenzy of rumors flooded the internet, F Minus creator Tony Carrillo decided to reveal which of the estimated 800 F Minus "characters" would die next week. His name is Barry, but he has been referred to as "Big Hat Barry" and "Blind Date Barry". His signature trait is a carnation worn in his lapel.

It is still unclear how Barry will meet his end, although it has been indicated by Carrillo that it may have to do with an oversized hat. For years, Carrillo has sought to raise awareness of the dangers of wearing unusually large hats for the purposes of fashion, sport, or otherwise.
The first and only appearance of the unfortunate character was in September of 2006. The comic (seen below) suggests that Barry was a spirited single in his mid-thirties, and active in the dating scene. Reaction to the news has been mixed.
"I think I remember that guy."
-Doug, Des Moines, IA
"Aren't comics supposed to be cute and funny? Why can't they just be about kitties? My neighbor's sister was seriously hurt by a big hat!"
-Jen, Cleveland, OH
"I hope Carrillo continues this shift towards a more serious F Minus. There's not enough seriousness in the funny pages if you ask me. People need to "heavy up".
-Winston, Milwaukee, WI
"I just wish it was the Creepy Old Hobo. I hate that guy."
-Blaine, St. Louis, MO

F Minus Creator To Kill Off Character

Tempe, Arizona-- Tony Carrillo, the creator of the daily comic strip F Minus, revealed that one of his characters will be "killed off" next week. The nature of the death is unclear, and a cryptic statement by Carrillo has drawn much speculation:
"The ultimate goal of my comic strip is to bring attention to important issues, and that includes the danger of oversized hats."
The identity of the doomed character has yet to be revealed.

F Minus is a single-panel comic that appears daily in about 125 newspapers.

Book Smarts vs. Stupid Smarts

Here is an email I received this morning, and my reply:

Dear Sir:
...I’m 26, and I’m from Baltimore, Maryland. I’ve read a little bit about your strip and your background online. I must say, I have read your strip for several months now and never laughed (nay, smiled) even once. This especially puzzles me since it would seem I am squarely in your target demographic. Am I missing something? Your strip is so consistently nonsensical it boggles my mind. (By the way, I’m a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of a private college, so I like to think I can puzzle this stuff out). Could you please explain it to me? Thank you.
Just hit “reply”


Howdy howdy friend! I'm glad you explained how to reply to your email, cuz I kept clicking random buttons but nothing happened! Anyways, I think I know what the problem is... you're too danged smart! See, I'm no Pie Butta Katta graduate like you. I went to a public college (yuck!) and before that I went to the Southwest School for Stupid Boys. We learned how to scrawl simple pictures and things like that. We never did no puzzle solvin' like at your fancy school.
You need to read stuff for smarter people! Stuff like newspapers and owner manuals and no-picture books. F Minus is just too dumb for a smarty-pants like you!
From, Tony
Now how do I send this dang thi....

I feel happy!

I just realized that three of my comics this week have been about death. I don't know what my state of mind was when I wrote them. I've actually been in a pretty good mood.

Ten points if you can identify the quote:
"Death comes for us all, Oroku Saki, but something much worse comes for you. For when you die, it will be ...without honor."
Twenty points if you identify the quote from the title of this blog.

EDIT: Speak of the devil... death showed up on CIDU today. Just a tip: F Minus will never contain an intentional reference to Star Trek.

Wait wait...

Last night I attended a taping of my favorite radio show, Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me! on NPR. It was fascinating to see how a radio show works. The guest was the governor of my great state, Janet Napolitano. She was funny. Afterwards, I got to meet a show regular, Kyrie O'Connor. She's the deputy managing editor at the Houston Chronicle (The Chronicle was one of the first papers to pick up F Minus). It turns out she's a big F Minus fan! You can read Kyrie's blog at http://blogs.chron.com/memo/

Sports Moment

It looks like Shaq is coming to the Phoenix Suns. I've been booing Shaq for such a long time, it's going to be difficult to make the mental shift. Also, we're loosing one of my favorite players, Shawn Marion. But Shaq could be the big guy the Suns have been needing. I don't know how to feel. I need to go lie down.

Shhh!

Do you read? Books? Then get over to Goodreads.com and share what you're reading with me, and see what I'm reading.
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What the...

I was just watching a Simpsons re-run, and saw Principal Skinner react to one of Bart's pranks by saying, "What the F Minus?"
I've never seen that before! Are there any Simpsons nerds out there with some insight on this line?

Pretty Good Bowl

The Super Bowl just left town, and since I forgot to get tickets, I went to a celebrity football game instead. After waiting for an hour to get in I didn't feel like sitting in metal stands, so I decided to sneak into the VIP section. Since I didn't have a fake pass or staff shirt with me, I pretended to be on the phone and walked confidently past security. Confidence works better than a pass around your neck most of the time.
The VIP section had comfortable white couches that were marked with the names of different companies. I sidled up next to some guys from Pontiac and pretended they were my good friends. The security guard in the red jacket knew I was up to something, so I moved back a section.
In about two seconds I realized that I was in the Playboy section. I clearly did not belong here, and the ladies knew it. Since my options were blend in or get kicked out, I moved over one more section. After pretending to be part of the TV crew for a while, the game finally started and I settled down into an unoccupied couch. I was surrounded by random celebrities and very important looking people.The game was fun. It was hosted by Maria Menounos and included David Spade, Stacey Keibler, Matt Leinart, Kendra Wilkinson, Kim Kardashian, Warren Moon, Pete Wentz, and more. I know, I had to look some of them up too. But there was one guy I recognized right away... Wee-Man!
I sat next to Wee-Man for most of the game. Of course he was dressed as an Oompa-Loompa. I also met Terry Crews from Everybody Hates Chris...
After the game there was a concert by Fall Out Boy.
They were good, but their biggest fan was clearly this woman, who I call "Embarrassing Mom":

Good bye, Super Bowl. I'll miss you.

New Traditions

Did you know in the Ukraine they decorate Christmas trees with spiderwebs? It's true. Why do they do it? Because somebody decided they should, and so they did. Now it's our turn.
F Minus day is a relatively new holiday and has no set traditions yet. That means it's up to us, the F Minus generation (I just made that up, and I love it), to decide how future generations will celebrate this holiday. What are your ideas? Here's a few to get you started:
On F Minus day...
-Wear a shirt from the back of your closet that you never intended on wearing again.
-Pick your favorite meal, and eat it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
-Purchase some comfortable underwear and give it to a stranger.
-Decorate your house with stuff from every holiday. (Eggs, pumpkins, mistletoe, shamrocks)
-Wear a wig.
None of these ideas are set in stone. They are just off the top of my head. I need to hear some more ideas, so tell me what you think.

F Minus Day- April 17th

Why are these postcards flooding my mailbox? No, it's not spontaneous love. They are from F Minus fan club members taking part in the F Minus Day (April 17th) giveaway. If you're in the fan club but you haven't heard about this, email me at tony at fminus.net

If you haven't joined the F Minus fan club yet... well, I don't know what to tell you.