Yesterday I got an email, an email addressed to almost 100 people, most of whom shared the same last name, which is not mine. My name/address were buried in the middle of the recipient list. The email was a sad announcement of the death of the sender's 100-year-old grandmother in Michigan. The sender's address was at an ISP in Portland, Oregon. I live on the East Coast. A fair amount of the addressees are at Swiss email addresses.

This does not seem like a hoax. A google search reveals the deceased's name in a genealogy web site with the proper birth date.

Today I got a follow-up mail. The funeral will be Saturday ...

Now the problem: I have no idea who the deceased was, who the sender or any of the other recipients are, and how and why I got on this list. Unless the reason was to create a novel idea for a comic contest.

The rules are simple: Come up with an explanation behind this turn of events, or a story related to some aspect of it. And be quick. Since I was recently on the Hot Seat, I only plan to stay on it until Friday night, when I will name its next occupant.

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ken.kaufman@gmail.com

[ Posted comic does not exist ]
I'll get this little joke outta the way first...

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I has a flavor!

[Click to view comic: 'Careful With That Pun, Eugene']

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Chicken Feather Bed Bugs Bunny Hop Sing Out Side Street Walker Texas Ranger Cookie Dough Boy Wonder Years

This four-part series is my entry. I hope you like it Kaufman, otherwise I probably won't win!

[Click to view comic: 'CC 193, Part I: Zounds!']
[Click to view comic: 'CC 193, Part II: The First Letter']
[Click to view comic: 'CC 193, Part III: Kaufman and Descolada']
[Click to view comic: 'CC 193, Part IV: Why IS Kaufman Here? (Future Conjecture)']

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HALPUU!

[Click to view comic: 'CC: 193 They just needed seat fillers...']

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Mediocrity at its most average.

[Click to view comic: 'CC193: Funeral for a friend']

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Peeing sitting down is the gift you give yourself.

But personally, I would've liked kaufman to go like "ooh, ooh, me, me!"

[Click to view comic: 'Kaufman Physics']

[Click to view comic: 'Bad spelling']

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I don't use drugs; my dreams are frightening enough.

[Click to view comic: 'Mixed up Stiffs']

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"Jelly-belly gigglin, dancin and a-wigglin, honey that's the way I am!" Janice the Muppet

[Click to view comic: 'CC 193: Oh No, Not Grandma!']

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"No obscene images." I guess I'll just have to settle for saying cocksucker a lot.

[Click to view comic: 'CC193: Meanwhile in Michigan']

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Peeing sitting down is the gift you give yourself.

[Click to view comic: 'CC 193: Inside the Thoughts of a Grieving Grandson']

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Sex Piano.

[Click to view comic: 'CC193: Last Words']

heheh, this is the real story! it has four parts, so it must be true!

[Click to view comic: 'cc193 Poor lady, she had Devin as a grandson!'] [Click to view comic: 'cc193 I'm sure Kaufman will care!'] [Click to view comic: 'cc 193 Yes, he enjoys looking at it....'] [Click to view comic: 'cc193 all of the guests....'] hmmm.. PS, in case you don't know what's at goatse.cx, feel free to take a look.. when there is no one else in the room.. and have a bucket nearby, you may need it.

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[insert catchy signature here]

Perhaps this sheds some light on why kaufman got the e-mail.

[Click to view comic: 'Grandma killed herself. Here's why.']

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My love for you is like diarrhea, I just can't hold it in. -Weird Al Yankovic

TheGovernor's entry made me giggle.

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Mediocrity at its most average.

[Click to view comic: 'CC192: Punderful']

[Click to view comic: 'CC192: My two sons']

Oops, I put the wrong CC#...oh well.

[Click to view comic: 'The disadvantage of being a spammer']

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My love for you is like diarrhea, I just can't hold it in. -Weird Al Yankovic

You know, I think I have to win more contests and start more contests about personal things. You guys sent me some real ego-strokes, and thanks for the sincere flattery. crabby was right that puns could easily be inserted into all those text boxes (e.g., comic 153322), and TheElPaso broke my record for shoehorning death into a comic. And what more can be said about maddog00's punchline, other than that if he had had a bit too much wine to drink before composing that, I'll be happy to let bygones be bygones, and forgive the vine.

But there were also some beautiful comics without the gross punnery. "Last Words" and "Meanwhile in Michigan" create unexpected explanations of the events in question. And don't you love the sentiment of "The disadvantage of being a spammer"? Read it again, and see how seamlessly it fits into the premise, while living out most every stripcreator's third wildest fantasy.

Still, I haven't mentioned this week's winning entry.

This, most simply, is a comic that caused me to blurt out a gust of laughter in response to a final panel that was most unexpected. Very well engineered. Let me post it for your enjoyment once again:

[Click to view comic: 'CC193: Funeral for a friend']

Congratulations, mmyers, I can't wait for CC 194: Love Lies Bleeding.

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ken.kaufman@gmail.com

A worthy winner. I was talking about how great that comic is in #stripcreator the other night. Congratulations, mmeyers.

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The what mentioned above is total fiction. Please don't take it seriously!

Thanks Kaufman and evil_d for the kind words. I had a ton of fun with this CC. Give me a bit and I'll come up with something too. Later taters.

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Peeing sitting down is the gift you give yourself.

I gotta learn to read previous entries before entering something.

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"Jelly-belly gigglin, dancin and a-wigglin, honey that's the way I am!" Janice the Muppet