2/28/02
Submitted some poems to the Humpback Barn Festival today. Mailed those suckers in just this afternoon. Not the greatest poems, but they are mine. We'll just have to wait and see if one of them get chosen.

Well, it looks like I'll be going back to work next week. Mixed feelings abound, but you have to make the money somehow.

It was nice to see the soundtrack to O Brother Where Art Thou? sweep the Grammys last night. Score one for the good guys.

The legendary Chuck Jones died last week. I always thought Chuck Jones's cartoons were the best of the Warner Brothers cartoons. They had a very distinct feel to them that I enjoyed. Jones was truly a master of timing and character. Heck, he was one of the masters of animation and he'll be missed.

Speaking of cartoons, Evan Dorkin's Welcome to Eltingville debuts Sunday on the Cartoon Network. I have recently become a big fan of Dorkin's work so the show is a must see for me. It's on at 11:00pm. Check it out! 

2/27/02
That ice cream truck was no harbinger of spring. It snowed yesterday. About three inches or so. It stayed off the pavement for the most part so it wasn't a major hassle, but it served as a reminder that winter is still here.

2/24/02
A ice cream truck circled the ol' neighborhood today. Does that mean spring is near?

2/20/02
Not much to add today. Spent most of my time cleaning out my dresser's drawers. It's amazing how stuffed they were with quick sketches, old scripts, construction paper, check stubs and numerous other things. I freed up some space, but there is more work to be done.

Here's a quote I found amongst the piles of papers:
"A comic artist ain't no different than you or me or anybody excep' he knows how to draw pitchers an' is crazy in the head"
~ Popeye the Sailor

2/19/02 (9:15pm)
Received a surprise phone call from our public access coordinator earlier today. There are changes afoot. Screwy changes. New guidelines have been drawn up by Muncie's own mayor, the Honorable Dan Canan, concerning the use of public access air time. I don't have all the new rules on hand, but it appears shows are not allowed to repeat more than twice a week. In other words, we cannot show the same episode more than two times a month. Government programming (YAWN!) will be scheduled from 5:00pm to 10:00pm Monday thru Friday starting in March. 

So how does this effect Those Funky Idiots? Well, from now on, the show will only air once a week. Starting March 7, Those Funky Idiots will be seen on Thursdays at 11:00pm. I don't like losing our other timeslot, but it can't be helped. Change is in the air so grab your gasmask! 

2/19/02
Someone (Hi, Eric!) told me yesterday that Active Blather is pretty whiny. I was taken aback by that. I never thought I was whining in this space. I have mentioned some frustrations on my part. Is that considered whining? I don't think so, but I could be wrong. If so, I'll try to keep my whiny factor in check.

Hey, we did some filming Sunday! We had to redo a scene for an upcoming episode. It took a little longer than planned, but it was fun. I got to wear my Arlo Wazzo costume which was cool. It really helps to get into character. Thanks again to seamstress extraordinaire, Karen Hiday, for creating the wonderful Wazzowear.

Tim (as in, actor/director/editor/founding Idiot Tim Richardson) is making some progress on the editing front. Hopefully, he'll have a new episode completed by the end of the week. Yay! Thanks, Tim!

Last night, I was watching E!'s True Hollywood Story on the Brady Bunch. I've seen it twice before, but I couldn't pass up the chance to see it again. It appeals to my cheesy nature. Besides seeing the gnomish Sherwood Schwartz pondering his greatness, I enjoy watching the clips from the classic Brady Bunch variety show. It's always fun seeing Ann B. Davis doing the hustle. And whatever happened to the Fake Jan? Is she still acting? Imagine how hard it would be getting parts when you're known as an Eve Plumb impersonator. I hope you're doing well, Fake Jan, wherever you are!

2/16/02
I finally finished my Valentine's Day strip. It was a slightly messy affair (Here's a hint for any aspiring cartoonist: Fight the urge to erase after you just inked. Allow time for ink to dry, then you erase! If you don't allow the ink to dry, your erasing may cause the ink to smear all over the place and you'll feel like a complete jackass!), but photoshop took care of the mess. I don't know if you know this, but Adobe photoshop is a great thing to have. Especially if you're a complete jackass.

In Eric Whetsel news, Eric's mom was appointed to the Dunkirk City Council. No one really knows how this came about, but we wish Councilwoman Whetsel the best!

2/14/02
Hey, it's Valentine's Day and I have been drawing cards all day for my lovable ones.
(Here's proof!) However, no new strip today which is a bummeroo since the one I had planned had a Valentine theme attached to it. The strip will appear some time tomorrow though.
In the meantime, here's a little poem:

Based on an Actual Incident

Through the window he came a'crashing
On the kitchen table a'thrashing
I grabbed my cane and went a'bashing
Stupid nude druggie
Next time use the door!

That's it! Good night, America!

2/13/02
It's really amazing. I have been on lay off for over a month and I am still having trouble updating the strip! What am I doing with all my free time?! I should be cranking out some major stripage! Argh! This is so typical for the fat man! Complain about your lack of free time when you're working and waste all your time when you are not! It's a sad situation, folks, but I'm still trying to work through it! 

I have made a decision to update the strip every Tuesday and Thursday for the time being. (I'm slowly working my way into a weekly strip. Sigh.) Hopefully, I'll bump it back to MWF soon,  but we'll see how it goes. I apologize to anyone coming here and finding no updates. I can only imagine your frustration and I'm sorry. I'll do better!!!

So what's been going on in the life of a lazy cartoonist? Besides feeding my addiction to the Game Show Network, I have been reading King/Straub's Black House and it's a pretty good read. I need to finish it soon. What else? I'm slowly working on a script involving my Fanboyz characters. I have added more Simpsons action figures to my never ending collection. I grabbed Officer Marge, Mrs.Krabappel and Hans Moleman at Sam Goody's just yesterday. Practically eight dollars a piece. They are usually six dollars any place else. However, I got them with a gift certificate I received for Christmas (Thanks Jay!) so I really shouldn't complain about the price.

Anyway, it was nice to finally place Edna behind her desk in the school play set, but I'm disappointed she only says two phrases. The Officer Marge figure is great (She came with a pair of counterfeit blue jeans which was a nice little touch), but I think Hans is my favorite of the three. He is currently being held up by Snake at the Kwik-E-Mart (Poor Hans!) A fat man and his toys. It can really break your heart!

Not much to add. Oh, Eric Whetsel is sick. Get well soon, Eric!

1/29/02
This past weekend was dreadfully unproductive for the fat man. No strips completed. No scripts started. Sadly, very typical.

But, Hey!, we did find an e-mail in the Funky Idiots' Mailbag. It was a very nice note from a Miss Amber Lindstrom. Amber wanted to know if we (the cast and crew of TFI) were still filming new episodes. A good question. And the answer is yes, but very, very slowly. We have two new episodes waiting to be edited and hopefully more new stuff will follow. (Fingers crossed!)

Amber also requested to see our Blair Witch Project parody, The Baboon Woods Project.. According to Amber, it's one of her favorite episodes and one of mine ,too. So, in honor of Amber Lindstrom, The Baboon Woods Project will be airing on Channel 42 for the next few weeks! Thanks again for writing, Amber!

Received some sad news on the local public access front today. One of the best shows on Muncie's public access, Back Issue, has been pulled from the air.  Back Issue creator/co-host/producer (and friend) John Dalton has decided to pull the plug on the show. It stopped airing the first week of January. To those of you who never watched it (Shame on you!), Back Issue was a show dedicated to the wonderful world of comic books. Each week John and his co-host, Doug Wilkinson, would review and talk about various comics. Each episode usually had a theme subject as well as segments devoted to gaming, custom-made action figures and the undescribable (Brother Voodoo, is that you?). It was (and is) a fun show that I looked forward to each week and it will be missed. 

Good luck to John and Doug on their future endeavors and thanks for the memories (and the inspiration)!

1/22/02
Hello! I'm Tom Cherry. I'm the cartoonist and webmaster around these parts. I have been very naughty. I haven't been updating my site or strip for some time now. I wish I could give you some wonderfully valid reasons for neglecting my dual duties, but I really have none to offer. Sadly, I'm lazy, but I'm trying to work through it! In the coming weeks, I hope to get my comic strip and website back on track. At least, that's my hope. We'll see if it becomes a reality.

My sincere apologies to anyone who traveled to www.thosefunkyidiots.com recently and found it stuck in November, 2001. I know how frustrating it is to go to a site that never gets updated. There are plenty of ghost towns on the web and I don't want to add my site to their collective. So if I disappointed anyone, please write to thosefunkyidiots@aol.com and complain!
It'll do me some good. I'll have a long cry and feel extremely guilty. Proper punishment for a fat, lazy cartoonist! (Why I can feel the guilt already...)

And, if you don't want to write, that's a form of punishment, too! The ball is in your court, my friend! PLAY IT!