Thursday, January 1, 2009

Comic 525: Imaginary Friends


Randall has taken an amusing, semi-OCD behavior and drawn it out for us. It's one of the more charming things he does, in my opinion, mainly because -just like counting floor tiles- I used to do it, too! Fun fact: I also push in all of the drink bubbles on fast food cups, but that's as a secret message to my family in case the place where I eat is ever gunned down to let them know I thought about being gunned down before it happened. And one day, I may be right! But this comic has some underling freaking out at a console, so that's something. His reaction probably wears out after the 500th empty room announcement (who'd listen in during reading time, anyway?), but the fantasy is what counts.

My complaint with this one, which is a fairly common one from me, is that Randall felt the need to write out his joke in narration instead of using, you know, the comic to deliver the punchline. He even drew little scribble-words in the panels where the actual lines could have gone, perhaps like this:

Stick-Randall: "I know you're listening."
Underling: "He's onto us! Abort mission! ABORT!"

But I get the feeling Randall had trouble fitting this joke into a multi-panel story on its own merits, so we get the "let me explain my joke" version instead. At least with the floor tiles, we went into then out of the OCD guy's head. Here, we're just in Randall's head.

I'd tell Randall to get out of my head, but I know he's listening.

Alt-text Hoedown: Sure, it's exactly like Pascal's Wager, right down to how funny it is. Ask the conspirators to do housework from time to time -- couldn't hurt, right?

And that's my week! Thanks to everyone who read my posts, no matter what degree of love you commented. You're all special, special snowflakes in the circle of Blog. Fractal-snowflake thanks to Carl and Rob for buffing this site to a shine before my week.

21 comments:

  1. I agree, the delivery could have been done better. Squiggly lines don't do it for me. I like the idea though, I'm definitely trying it next time I'm uber paranoid.

    The word verification thing for this post was "remortio." I don't know what that is, but it sounds AMAZING

    I like being a snowflake.

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  2. I actually spent a long time wondering what the hell those squiggly lines were. Dammit.

    I also think it might have been more effective had he done an actual comic...

    Stick-Randall: "I know you're listening."
    Underling: "He's onto us! Abort mission! ABORT!"
    Stick-Randall: [thinks] "Ha ha I am so quirky I bet I just freaked out some dude listening in on me."

    Except funnier.

    Thanks for your commentary, Thomas! I have appreciated it.

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  3. David: "remortio" sounds like a spell from Harry Potter that makes the target feel remorse for past mistakes.

    Amanda! You are good at commenting and a proud Mama Cuddlefish. Stay fertile!

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  4. Fun fact from Wiki:

    "The American Meteorological Society has reported that matching snow crystals were discovered in Wisconsin in 1988 by Nancy Knight of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The crystals were not flakes in the usual sense but rather hollow hexagonal prisms."

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  5. Oh yeah. I should say I actually thought this one was kind of funny, but yeah it could have been better executed. That said, I think it would still have been funny even when XKCD was still being good, so... I mean, that's something, right?

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  6. I always thought the "confessional" way of spelling out the joke pulls the comic a lot more towards "deadpan" and away from "Cartoon Network"... which is, you know, a matter of style. Really, guys, really. "ABORT MISSION"?? Then we'd just need the canned laughter.

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  7. RANDALL GET OUT OF THEIR HEADS

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  8. speaking of when xkcd was at its hieght, this comic would have been a PERFECT 'MY HOBBY' COMIC.
    but noooo, ...

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  9. Anon - Agreed. "My hobby: Saying 'I know you're listening...' when I'm alone. Just in case..." and then a picture of a super complicated surveillance facility behind a wall near him or something.

    Was I the only one who, when they read this, thought of the scene in The Truman Show where Truman suspects he's being watched, and starts talking to the camera behind his mirror? I did!

    Amanda, your idea reminds me of a great Onion point/counterpoint from this summer. if this link doesn't work go here and find "point/counterpoint".

    Rob, are you saying that you and I are those two identical snowflakes? How nice of you.

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  10. I didn't love it. I don't think the quote is funny enough. It'd be funnier if he said "I know you're there." A nitpick.

    But it is an improvement! Maybe ol' Randy ol' pal is reading this and learning.

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  11. Carl, thank you for making me not the only one to think of The Truman Show when i saw this comic.

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  12. Yes, we are identical hexagons.

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  13. Cuddlefish: yeah I actually really enjoyed the MY HOBBY comics, esp. that one with the alt-text about seeing the cashier's face as you purchase a coat hanger and a preggo test.

    Carl: Amusing link, I really ought to start reading the Onion. But it was totally Thomas's idea, I just stole it so I could add on the extra dialogue from stick man. =)

    Also I thought of The Truman Show too! But not because I'm cool like you guys and remember random things but because I just saw EdTV on tv the other day and that made my think of Truman and that gave me the idea to buy Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind for my friend and now I believe I have gone off-topic.

    Rob: I don't know how to tell you that your fun fact was actually super interesting without sounding sarcastic ("That's so interesting!" sounds like wowwwwwww no.) But it really is cool.

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  14. I know! I was looking up snow on the Wikipedias the other day and I was like "I wonder if it has anything to say about no two snowflakes being alike" and it DID, and science ruins EVERYTHING.

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  15. =(

    http://thisisindexed.com/2008/12/the-worlds-not-flat-anymore/

    Next we'll be hearing that two peas in a pod do not actually get along.

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  16. Careful guys, we're straying close to comic 357. (and I found that one without the help of the Oh No Robot)

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  17. Oh anyway guys we can resolve the snow thing if you want: wikipedia says that the two identical hexagons were "not flakes in the usual sense" so we can still say that no two actual snowflakes are alike.

    my favorite part of that article is the caption that says "People clump snow into spheres for fun. These are called Snowspheres." UM NO.

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  18. But they have planted the seeds of Doubt in my mind, Carl. DOUBT.

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  19. LOL SNOWSPHERE FIGHT

    Also Carl have you noticed that on the left side of the page, one of your FAQ links includes the ellipses while the other does not? Whether or not this is on purpose, it has bothered me for quite some time now because I am borderline OCD and also because I was hoping you would notice it without my help.

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  20. I had not noticed, but now it is changed, just for you.

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  21. Hoorayyy now I may be happy once again.

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