I find myself at a rare loss for words, simply because I cannot say with my usual certainty what exactly is happening in this comic. Ordinarily I turn to the forums and to your comments for help, but there isn't a consensus here. Is the man inspiring the girl to donate her organs, because once they are "done" being used by her body, they are like lone lego pieces that can be used for other projects (/bodies) ? That was how I first interpreted it. Or is she irritated by his philosophical elitism, and thus driven to make him an organ donor, using his own logic? Or, is she changing her organ donor card from "donor" to "non-donor," because the Lecture convinced her that she will lose all her individuality if even a small piece of her is removed? Or maybe she is changing his card from one to the other. I'm not sure you can make a persuasive case for any of them.
That's because so little context is given. Presumably, randall has an idea about which person's organs are being donated or not. But he doesn't tell us, at least not clearly. He could have shown the whole driver's license, including a picture, so we know if it's the girl or the boy. He could have shown us a little more of a reaction from the girl instead of "blank stare," so we could know if she is generally agreeing with the man or disagreeing. I personally think the first interpretation I listed is correct (which makes the comic only slightly funny, in a sort of profound life-explained-through-toys sort of way) but I really don't know.
So I won't say any more, and maybe the next comic will be simpler.
Prediction: At least one cuddlefish will write a long rant about how dumb i am because obviously this comic is X Interpretation, and I am worthless scum etc and this shows how unqualified I am to write this blog and therefore xkcd is great, but before I get a chance to respond, another cuddlefish will write the exact same post but says it is obviously the exact opposite interpretation.
=======
In Other News: I have just learned of a most extraordinary coincidence. Google Analytics informs me that on September 2nd, 2009, the day of the infamous Comic 631, the number of people who visited my blog after googling "xkcd sucks" jumped up to 631. how can it be??
That's because so little context is given. Presumably, randall has an idea about which person's organs are being donated or not. But he doesn't tell us, at least not clearly. He could have shown the whole driver's license, including a picture, so we know if it's the girl or the boy. He could have shown us a little more of a reaction from the girl instead of "blank stare," so we could know if she is generally agreeing with the man or disagreeing. I personally think the first interpretation I listed is correct (which makes the comic only slightly funny, in a sort of profound life-explained-through-toys sort of way) but I really don't know.
So I won't say any more, and maybe the next comic will be simpler.
Prediction: At least one cuddlefish will write a long rant about how dumb i am because obviously this comic is X Interpretation, and I am worthless scum etc and this shows how unqualified I am to write this blog and therefore xkcd is great, but before I get a chance to respond, another cuddlefish will write the exact same post but says it is obviously the exact opposite interpretation.
=======
In Other News: I have just learned of a most extraordinary coincidence. Google Analytics informs me that on September 2nd, 2009, the day of the infamous Comic 631, the number of people who visited my blog after googling "xkcd sucks" jumped up to 631. how can it be??
FIRST!
ReplyDeleteShe's becoming an organ donor. He convinced her to, though there's no reason to suspect he was doing that intentionally.
ReplyDeleteIt wouldn't be hard to interpret, except there's no joke, and it's natural to try to track one down.
I think your first interpretation is right, too. I don't mind this comic much: It's not funny, but I don't think he's trying to be. It's a decent point to consider.
ReplyDeleteNew one is surprisingly good...I actually liked it a lot.
ReplyDeleteHOW MUCH BETTER would this comic have been if, in panel one, the first guy had said "The instant my brother died..."
ReplyDeleteWHO HERE FEELS that this is at least better than 514?
WHAT'S THE DEAL with more decapitated stick figures?
@Sean & Anon (sounds like a good band name :D)
ReplyDeleteNo, he's not trying to make a joke, but he IS trying to be thought-provoking and original by simply applying the Ship of Theseus paradox in a conversation about LEGOs.
Ship of Theseus is basic philosophy stuff. I have never even taken a philosophy course and I could see what he was doing. Douglas Adams has an awesome, insightful anecdote about Ship of Theseus, which he wrote down in his book "Last Chance to See"...in 1990. That's almost 20 years ago. His analysis of (and reaction to) confronting the paradox in real life is brilliant, well-formed, and (best of all) not preachy and up-it's-own-ass like...well, pretty much every "serious" comic Randall Munroe has ever made.
So you're both right - it's not a funny comic. It's just not an original or thought-provoking comic, either. It's pedantic bullshit, and you should feel bad for even considering thinking about possibly liking it or even acknowledging it as something that is not shit for even one tiny freaking split-fucking-microsecond.
(Sidenote: I know some cuddlefish might bring up the argument, "Well, Douglas Adams is a professional writer and it's unfair to compare Randall Munroe to Douglas Adams." No. They're both professional writers - Randall makes his living off xkcd (and if you try to claim that Randall also has to worry about "art", I sincerely believe Douglas Adams could draw stick figures just as well as Randall). The fact that one is shitty and the other isn't doesn't mean I can't say that the one that isn't shitty did a better job.)
Dude. Randall's NOT a professional writer. He's a professional T-SHIRT SALESMAN. Totally different.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your first instinct. I think the significance of her looking at the lego piece is to remind her that the pieces are strictly material.
ReplyDelete@The P
ReplyDeleteI agree, nothing new here with respect to Ship of Theseus. However, I do think its a moderately neat to connect it to organ donation. Maybe not horribly original, but still, neat.
I'm not trying to argue that this is a great comic, but I don't think its as horrible as your making it sound.
@Carl
I don't think any interpretation other than your first makes sense. At the end, box is checked, so either she is checking hers or his. And, it seems unlikely that she would check someone else's driver's licence, so it must be hers. Finally, she seems to have gained some insight from the conversation where before she thought that even when the pieces are taken apart, the whole still exists and now she "realizes" (in quotes because this is something people disagree on) that this is not true, whereas the guy clearly believed this to begin with.
I agree, nothing new here with respect to Ship of Theseus. However, I do think its a moderately neat to connect it to organ donation. Maybe not horribly original, but still, neat.
ReplyDeleteisn't organ donation like the Number One Thing people will try to Apply the theseus business to? what's so neat about that?
WHAT (THE ****) IS THE POINT OF THE TICK-CROSS THINGY?
ReplyDeleteConfused the hell out of me. Is it an affirmative or negative? Is it a 'funny' (I can barely force myself to type the word) way of referencing the tick-vs-cross form filling debate? What sort of lame **** would waste their time with such a debate?
At the very least, showing the blank form in panel 5 and then a ticked (or crossed) form in panel 6 would result in a comic that made sense, and might even be a mildly amusing of the Theseus paradox (oh The P you are so clever I want to fawn over you in admiration) to organ donation.
/qyf
I don't know about other places, but the "She's checking him off as an organ donor" thing doesn't even make sense...it's not an empty box to check on a license (at least not in VA), organ donors here have a red heart and "Organ donor" beside it, and non-donors don't.
ReplyDeleteAnd I don't think she could fill out a form in his place at the DMV. If that's even where she is. God, I know he's not an artist but would it kill him to give at least a little hint as to where the hell she is and what the hell she's doing?
I think the fact that even the fans on the forum can't figure out the comic proves how shitty it is.
Oh yeah, and I've been lurking here for a while. I thought I was the only one who felt xkcd was past its prime, so this site took me by surprise. Can't for the life of me remember how I found it though.
I wonder what completely unpredictable hilarity awaits us in comic "666".
ReplyDelete10:20 Anon: The problem is the whole 'what defines a human?' thing has been done before. Especially in cyberpunk, sci-fi, and transhumanist stories: people who augment themselves cybernetically are often portrayed as being less human, either in fact or in perception. Especially popular is the idea of the brain-in-a-jar, or even replacing the human brain with a cybernetic brain. Is it still the same brain?
ReplyDeleteOrgan donation is pretty much a philosophical non-issue. Those who are inclined to care about it will do so for religious reasons, and will not agree with Stickman's argument that 'you are just gone when you die, you don't go anywhere.' Indeed, that argument only works on atheists, who pretty much already believe in that particular point.
This was the most annoying part of the comic for me.
ReplyDeleteI mean the title field is RIGHT THERE, why he feels the need to have two titles is beyond me.
Randall is not very good at realizing when people have understood what he has communicated. Perhaps he is mildly autistic.
ReplyDeleteIn Washington state, the temporary license you get has a box you can tick for being an organ donor.
ReplyDeleteLatest comic: never say "the moment" or "instant" around a phsyicist because they're pedantic assholes? (Femaletoth, you're on the money tonight)
ReplyDeleteI once linked this blog to some folks who accused me this was a "textbook case of trying too hard." I want to link them Monday's comic in rebuttal. Is this what happens when you say "joke" in front of Randall> I mean goddamn, it doesn't even pay lip service to its geek niche this time, it's just annoying.
I'm glad this blog is still here :D
Time for me to be EVEN MORE PEDANTIC THAN RANDALL'S FICTIONAL PHYSICIST: I think that "instantaneous" would probably be used instead of "instant" in panels three and four. However, Randall probably used "instant" for the sake of panel composition.
ReplyDeleteHonestly the thing that bugs me is that the physicist replies as if the guy used the word "instant" and he didn't and Christ Randall it would've been SO EASY to write it that way.
Well, today's comic couldn't have come at a worst time for me.
ReplyDeleteUnless the physisict has also lost a brother, the comic should be entitled empathy. Just throwing that out there.
ReplyDeleteHugo, you've got it wrong. Empathy would be if he'd actually lost a brother and thus felt similar to how Guy 1 felt. Sympathy is when he simply can imagine what it would be like to lose a brother. If you're going to just throw something out there, at least make sure it's the right thing.
ReplyDeleteNerd service references Randall did not use:
ReplyDelete- "He's more machine now than man."
- "Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology."
- "Part man. Part machine. All cop."
- "Go go gadget _____"
Also, has http://badwebcomics.wikidot.com/xkcd been posted here before?
Man, 660 is funny because Physicists are basically unfeeling dolts incapable of connecting with people on any level and need to be told not to nitpick people's statements with science! Am I Right?
ReplyDeleteI thought she is changing her organ donor card from "donor" to "non-donor," because the Lecture convinced her that she will lose all her individuality if even a small piece of her is removed because it looks like a tick has been changed to a cross but now on reading this I'm not sure.
ReplyDeleteI really liked the new one. This is one of the best of XKCD. You know, the one for which Carl has yet to post criticism for. I know that physicist jokes are a major no-no, but it's just too good.
ReplyDeleteIn summary, LOOK AT IT! LOOK AT IT!
I agree with Anon 3:15. I can see how your first analysis would make sense, but that line extending out of the box just makes me think it used to be a checkmark and now is an X. ...But would that really make any difference? Wouldn't it still be marked as a yes, or does it work differently for organ donor cards?
ReplyDeleteYou guys, we're all looking at it wrong. This is about the unreliability of words to communicate. What is a "lego" or a "house?" What does it have to do with "organ donors?" NOTHING. Don't you get it? That's the point! We just happened to contrive a stupid reason to connect the two. Words are meaningless!
ReplyDeleteAnd it goes even further. Symbols are meaningless! Even something as simple as the humble checkbox communicates nothing, NOTHING. It still relies on those treacherous words! It betrays us all in the end! Is she donating her organs? Or canceling her organ donation? WHO KNOWS THIS WHOLE COMIC IS ABOUT BEING WACKY AND NONSENSICAL
I sort of enjoyed the new strip, but I'm fully aware it's more of the same beating on a dead horse "ha-ha-scientists-being-quirky" unimaginative bullshit, just done a little differently. But there isn't anything immediately awful in the execution. It's a bit enjoyable, but forgettable.
ReplyDeleteI didn't like the new one much, although I found the alt-text hilarious.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty sure it's the first one.
ReplyDeleteYou are just trying too hard.
Today's comic sucks though.
Has anyone actually filled out a form with a single box in which you either write a check or an X to indicate yes or no, respectively?
ReplyDeleteI've NEVER seen that, so I find it hard to comprehend the confusion surrounding the Lego comic.
Also, is she actually carrying around a piece of Lego in the bottom panels?
ReplyDeleteWhatever the blob at the end of one of her arms is, it's not the pen or the form she's filling out... but carrying around a piece of Lego would be retarded, so it's hard to say.
I think the confusion is more, like, it looks like she made a check, and then changed her mind and crossed it out, with an X.
ReplyDeleteNot that 'check for yes, X for no.'
I don't understand this one. At first I thought it was what Carl said, but the changing from a tick to a cross is definitely there.
ReplyDeleteSo...I guess it's bad? Because either way I don't think it's that funny or poignant.
Anyway, today's comic is alright I guess. Apart from the fact that no effort has been put into it, it's fine.
I assumed that she was checking the guy's driver's license. I think this is a reasonable assumption because generally speaking, people who are old enough to have driver's licenses aren't playing with Legos. Thus, she probably has no license to check.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you people on about? She just ticked the box with an X. With a flourish. None of this crossed out check nonsense.
ReplyDeleteI really hope Randall acts smug now that he's misunderstood.
ReplyDeleteFuck you, Carl, for writing a long alt-text. I had to repeatedly move my mouse on and off the image to read it all.
ReplyDeleteAnd count me among the people who were unable to discern whether the girl was checking the field or crossing it out.
"....and I am worthless scum etc and this shows how unqualified I am to write this blog..."
ReplyDeleteThe expectant puerile dross of Cuddlefish notwithstanding Randall, could not the above be true nonetheless?
Innit?
wait a minute, if she checked/flourished outside of the box, wouldn't that make her decision null any ways? Because she marked outside of the box on a legal document? I don't know how it works in the States but in Canada if we make any marks outside of the allocated writing boxes on any legal documents, they are voided and we have to write them out again and this includes check boxes (which also have instructions to mark with an "x")
ReplyDeleteComments on Monday's, all I can say is that if someone said what #3 said to me in real life, I would probably punch them in the throat, if I heard #2 I would probably comment if it was instant or not, but #3 is completely "wtf is wrong with you?" but we don't know what context this is being told out of either. Was the guy talking about this at a funeral, a wake, where were they?
Her crossing out the check mark doesn't make sense to me. The main reason being that nobody would cross out a check mark by turning it into an X. The other being forms don't work that way, so to speak.
ReplyDelete"Sympathy" wasn't funny to me until I imagined the last panel spoken by Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth.
Thanks a lot Way Walker, now I'll never be able to unhear it.
ReplyDeleteYOU WATCHED IT!
ReplyDeleteYOU CAN'T UNWATCH IT!
Thanks a lot, Way Walker, since that actually DOES make it a lot funnier.
ReplyDeleteGreat. Way Walker used the device that makes me read things in my head, in Professor Farnsworth's voice. Dammit, even as I type this it's being said in his voice in my head.
ReplyDeleteChanging a check to an X doesn't even work because as far as I know an X and a check would mean the same thing as far as the state is concerned probably. Just a matter of "There's a mark in the box, that means they're an organ donor."
Ah, now I can change from Professor Farnsworth to Linkara. "THIS COMIC SUCKS!"
For Monday's. Blargh. Awful. Agree with what Daye said earlier.
@Amartya
ReplyDeleteI thought what happened is that the first 2 panels were her as a kid, then the next row was her grown up. Notice how she seems taller/bigger in the bottom row (though this could just be poor art)
@Anonymous 1:54:
ReplyDeleteThat makes a little bit of sense, but if so, I would have put panel three first. She's at the DMV, she thinks about what the guy told her a long time ago, she checks off "doner."
Actually, crap, if panel 3 was first, this comic would have made so much more sense.
It's pretty obviously the first interpertation. Which makes this comic somewhat preachy, but a kind of preachy I agree with so I like it. That may make me shallow but at least I'm an organ donor.
ReplyDeleteThe new comic looks like a flat-out rip-off of the much-funnier SMBC.
ReplyDeleteThree random examples:
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1597#comic
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1617#comic
http://www.smbc-comics.com/index.php?db=comics&id=1661#comic
I actually liked hte new comic up until the alt text.
ReplyDeleteGood news, everyone. It appears that reading questionable scientific conjecture in Professor Farnsworth's voice can inject some much needed humour into the conversation.
ReplyDeleteSee, it works so well with 660 because he's already known for being that uncaring, not because he searches for ways to defy the laws of physics. Established Characterisation. Making someone behave unrealistically usually doesn't work unless it's a consistent trait. It doesn't hurt to have an explanation for such behaviours either.
xkcd, on the other hand, seems to be projecting the same flaws across most of the "cast" as if they were commonly occuring behaviours. This seems to stop short at the straight men (the role, not preference) but they're just there to provide a way of saying "See? I'm MOCKING this jerk, not agreeing with him. War/Gangster movies don't glamourise violence, etc.!". The worst part is that most of these flaws are usually deliberate acts, not unintentional as they're portrayed in xkcd.
Who takes things to there literally-worded illogical conclusions on a regular basis? Okay, without purposely trying to be an arse about it (guilty)? Who can be so unserious and whimsical about absolutely everything right up until they start considering their own problems? Who honestly doesn't understand that people read and/or assume someone's intentions from their behaviour?
I'm hearing three answers from the audience over here: Randall, Trolls and Asspies. Hey, do you guys mean the the fakers or us real Aspe- What do you mean there's no such thing as Asperger's? Get the hell out of my studio! Ahem. Like I said, I don't know anyone who acts like that without trying. Then again, I've never met any of those damned Asspies. But I do know plenty of fictional characters that do these kinds of things. Most of them are sitcom characters. Or children. But never the entire cast of a work, and rarely more than two. Does that mean Randall's projecting (not necessarily himself)?
Oh, and that BadWebcomicWiki review is WAY out of date. Pre-400s I presume. Complains about it requiring high level, obscure science knowledge and not catering to less technically-minded readers. Heh. Still got the pretentious nerd-wanking and fake existentialist charges spot on though.
I think Carl's 1st reading is the right one here. The other possible reading I had was that she was trying to preserve herself by keeping the form of her organs intact so that at least a piece of her could continue to exist after her death.
ReplyDeleteIt's obviously the first interpretation, because you only check boxes if you mean 'yes'. Not checking them at all is 'no'. There's no way around it. On ABCDE tests, you don't check A, only to make it an X to null it. Computers don't read it that way.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, you don't need to overthink every strip.
If you check a box and later decide you don't want to check it, you will cross it out.
ReplyDeleteI hear there's this wonderful invention out there called an eraser...I think you can use it to uncheck boxes or something.
ReplyDeleteYeah, except for when you're using a pen, like you do on official documents.
ReplyDeleteSince when do you decide to make one line through your check mark, in the box, to indicate that you are not checking the box anymore?
ReplyDeleteIt goes like this: you make a check mark, and then you say "oh, I don't want to do that," so you cross it out. You cross things out by drawing an X.
ReplyDelete(Someone has obviously never seen disputed ballots before.)
--"It goes like this: you make a check mark, and then you say "oh, I don't want to do that," so you cross it out. You cross things out by drawing an X."
ReplyDeleteI think you are projecting your belief that Randy is a moron onto all of his stick figures. Surely there are umpteen better ways to indicate that you have changed your mind about a check mark than by turning it into an X.
I don't believe that Randy is a moron. I believe that there are multiple people who think that it is very clearly a check mark that was crossed out by someone drawing an X, and I don't think it requires a genius or someone who is 'overthinking it' to think that is the case.
ReplyDeleteSo anyway, organ donation. People should donate their organs after death, and here is a disturbing advert from the my homeland to make you feel guilty.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWkc-kVyNgY
(also, comic was poop didn't make sense and again art was crap. come on randall drop the stick figures and start drawing properly and also start writing like a real person)
Also math mage, does the fact that people are actually confused about the check mark not mean that it is not clear enough as to which one it is?
ReplyDeleteAlso that's not what 'projecting' is. Projecting is when you feel something unacceptable or undesirable--anger, for instance--and then 'project' that feeling onto someone else. It manifests when people say things like "I'm not angry, YOU'RE angry."
ReplyDeleteThere isn't even a tick on the bottom. How could that be seen as a check mark to begin with? Let alone a check mark with an improbable X-making slash.
ReplyDeleteThank you for correcting my usage of the word 'projection', by the way.
ReplyDelete"Make you feel guilty"? Jesus. That was extremely tame. Organ donation should be mandatory anyway.
ReplyDeleteSorry anon, I just lost someone recently so maybe it hit a bit closer for me.
ReplyDeleteYou can have my organs, but most of them will be of little use to you since I am trying to slowly kill myself with alcohol. :3
ReplyDeleteNOW WHERE'S MAH SCOTCH AT
I like how Carl accurately predicted that people would claim that it's obvious and indisputable with different things.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that we don't know:
a.) Whether she's making a check or an X
b.) Whether or not that's relevant
c.) Whose driver's license she's marking
d.) If she's marking "Yes, X will be an organ donor" or "No, X will not be an organ donor"
e.) If she's doing so because she agreed with her dad's Ship of Theseus or because she disagreed with it
f.) If she plays with legos in her late teens, or if several years passed between the two rows of the comic
Means that QUITE A LOT of relatively relevant information is either missing, debateable, or inscrutable. Sure, we can be fairly confident that she's marking her own driver's license in order to make herself an organ donor because she agreed with her dad. But since Randall presented so much information so ambiguously, it's frustrating to fill in the blanks and parse it.
Possibly relevant: In Illinois, not sure about the U.S. generally, you're assumed not to be an organ donor unless you explicitly declare yourself one.
In the two places I've held drivers licenses, NJ and ME, it was opt-in for organ donation. So we can't even make the determination based on that, since it's different depending where you are.
ReplyDeletedur dee dur, totally misread mal's post.
ReplyDeleteI think I know what happened here: Randall meant for it to be Carl's first interpretation, and it was supposed to be a checkmark, but when he started drawing it the first stroke when all the way across the box instead of stopping halfway, and instead of fixing it he made some half-x half-check thing and went "good enough".
ReplyDeleteWhat do you guys think?
It's okay Aloria. I think it helps establish my point--it's totally unclear what protocol is actually going on here.
ReplyDeleteI think there's a good reason not to sign one of those organ donation things.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aclS1pGHp8o
I know that quoting Python is uncreative, but this is the perfect comic to quote it for.
xkcd is about as deep as a puddle of water.
ReplyDeleteum.. that was.. different. I liked it.
ReplyDeleteIt was a good idea.
Hi guys! Here's something to put a dampener on your good mood (and mine.)
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wired.com/geekdad/2009/11/10-geeky-laws-that-should-exist-but-dont/
"1. Munroe’s Law: A person in a geeky argument who can quote xkcd to support his position automatically wins the argument. This law supersedes Godwin, so that even if the quote is about Hitler, the quoter still wins."
Are there any xkcds that you can quote to support any theoretical argument?
ReplyDelete3:35, why?!?!?!
ReplyDeleteIf anyone ever uses Munroe's Law on me in an argument, I will kill myself. And when my tainted spirit finds its destination, I will topple the master of that dark place. From my black throne, I will lash together a machine of bone and blood, and fueled by my hatred for them this fear engine will bore a hole between this world and that one.
ReplyDeleteWhen it begins, they will hear the sound of children screaming, as though from a great distance. A smoking orb of nothingness will grow above their bed, and from it will emerge a thousand starving crows. As I slip through the widening maw in my new form, they will catch only a glimpse of my radiance before they are incinerated. Then, as tears of bubbling pitch stream down my face, my dark work will begin.
I will open one of my six mouths, and I will sing the song that ends the Earth.
(Source: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/4/10/)
I knew the source by the second sentence :)
ReplyDeleteSometimes I feel a DARK SHAME for consistently enjoying Penny Arcade, even though it has declined over the course of the last few years. I still think that Tycho is very insightful and pleasant to read in his newsposts, and that Gabe's art is very pleasant to look at, and they seem like really nice guys who can laugh at themselves and generally can do a good job cranking out rote material--a skill that their contemporaries and successors never even tried to develop.
I had nothing else to say on this comic or the most recent one(of Monday), but there's so much winning on these last comments I just couldn't be left outside. P has rised a few more points on my Scale of Internet Awesomeness. And yes, I realized what it was from ery early. You can't miss that awesomeness.
ReplyDeleteJust for nitpicking: organ doning is defined as false by default down here in Brazil, I reckon for reasons related to religion. Also, I adore alliterations.
And finally, a confession: if it wasn't for me finding this blog months ago, I'd probably be thrilled by "Munroe's Law". Seriously, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, but it's OH SO NERDY! Even more seriously, any "real" nerd should know what "Authority Argument" means.
poore: raising the bar
ReplyDelete(love you always poore)
and hugs to Danny =(
I searched around and found this:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/02/the-kindles-dir/
"XKCD is only found funny by people who understand nothing about engineering or technology.
The one-eyed king of the country of the blind…"
Heh. GET OUT OF MY HEAD.
"Jim Morrison called. He wants his shitty new-age-faux-poetry back. You sound like this guy: http://www.xkcd.com/359/."
Bleh GET OUT.
Mal, Prof- thanks for the props. As much as I hate seeming like a fanboy, I must admit my love for PA rarely wanes (though Iwil freely admit it has had its low points).
ReplyDeleteAmanda - you are still the best.
xkcdsucks: Circlejerk central
ReplyDeletexkcd forum: Circlejerk central.
ReplyDeletehow can there be two centrals????
ReplyDeletejust because poore and i drool over each other does not make this a circle jerk
ReplyDeleteespecially since one is male and the other is female (unless of cour- NOT THINKING ABOUT THAT) so we can't really have a circlejerk in the literal sense :D
ReplyDeleteWe've got some prime slash potential here.
ReplyDeleteHey this is my first post here, but I just wanted to post a possible interpretation that I haven't seen yet.
ReplyDeleteAs a child the female figure was getting that 'lesson' from what would appear to be a father figure to her. Now, as an adult she is remembering the lesson because it was something that stuck with her. That is, in fact, a lego in her hand as a sort of memento of what that lesson is. She is in fact signing up to be an organ donor. That X in the box does look wierd but I think that is more of a style thing, though I arue that yes the elongation of the upper right hand corner is odd. One would suspect that if there was to be an elongation it would be in the lower left as defined by how most make an X, but perhaps for the sake of argument she starts that line in the lower left?
The lesson here is, as I interpret, that without what defines us we are simply a series of parts in a box. Those parts can continue to be nothing or they can be used to create something else or in the case of organ donation to rebuild something or someone else.
This was for me a thought provoking concept as it is one I had not considered before. The 'humor' I would take from this is the real world application of a LEGO construction. It is by no means direct or incredibly funny but it was at least worthy of obtaining a sort of ironic chuckle from me at least.
-Steve
Hi Steve, welcome to my blog. I think your interpretation is certainly possible, but if that's what Randall is doing, he did a really bad job drawing it. The most obvious thing would be to put the first two panels in a thought bubble coming out from the girl in the bottom row. Some people might say that is too overt. In that case, some way of showing that the girl in the bottom row is the same as the girl in the top row, but older, would be good. Maybe she is taller - it's hard to tell, because she isn't standing up in the first panel, and anyway, there's no sense of distance. But maybe an "older" hairstyle? I am not sure.
ReplyDeleteIn any case, all of these point to the fact that Randall has a serious problem when it comes to communicating things through visuals.
It's obviously your first impression. If it were the second one, he would have been talking about a completely different philosophical point that...wait, no that wouldn't work. Hmm... Well it matters not. It's funny one way, and thought provoking the other. Great comic!
ReplyDeleteha ha, you are right.
ReplyDelete