Monday, January 24, 2011

Comic 851: NA NA NA NA, NA NA NA NA

sodium

[Comic title: Na; alt text: I hear that there are actual lyrics later on in Land of 1,000 Dances, but other than the occasional 'I said,' I've never listened long enough to hear any of them.]

I was conflicted when I started writing up the HTML for this post (I, too, am a programming enthusiast, Randall!). For, you see, I could not decide which version of the comic to link to, or which image to display. As a diehard originalist, I naturally opted for the original, but it was a near thing. This marks the first time that Randall Munroe has ever changed his comic or alt text in any way, and I wanted to commemorate it somehow--perhaps I will still do so, with a song, perhaps featuring the word "na" prominently.

In any case, this comic continues Randall's attempts to tell jokes by being as unfunny as possible--this time without any subversion of any kind to speak of! I expect that the subversion is on a much deeper, more "meta" level than any other subversion--you are expecting a joke, and he fails to deliver. Surely that is why, when I walked through the labyrinthine corridors of MIT this evening, the only sound I heard was peals of laughter.

The comic came about, as so many of Randall "My Ping Is Measured In Months Rather Than Milliseconds" Munroe's comics do, when he was reading through some old things on the internet, and discovered the actually rather amusing Hey Jude Flowchart.

"That's good," thought Randall to himself, "but it's not quite hamfisted enough. And it doesn't have enough references. What if my readers, who, let's be fair, have the cultural awareness of a bag of potato chips, haven't ever heard of Hey Jude?" It was not too difficult to come up with some other songs which contained the word "na." And so the flowchart was born.

But so caught up was he in the joy of references that he forgot the most important reference of all: the one to the original flowchart that he ripped off in an inferior fashion! And, since Randall Munroe is a conscientious individual who would never just go back and change errors or quietly add a "zing!" to the end of an offensive alt text, he made certain to point out his error and add a link to a corrected version. The world was right once more.

81 comments:

  1. Hmm. Although there is comparitively less ad hominem in this review, nobody wants Randall's supposed life story that somebody made up to go with the background of a comic. Rob scored a few points here, but there's still a distinct lack of a review of the comic.

    Rob: 0.5
    Idiocy: 1.5
    Randall: zilch

    Try harder, Rob. Try harder.

    AA Signing out.

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  2. "I don't get do-overs"

    I LOL'D HARD HOLY SHIT

    FUNNIEST THING ON XKCD SINCE THAT ONE WITH A JOKE

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  3. No Megan this time. Surprised, Rob.

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  4. Should have added more hominem.

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  5. Let's be fair: I highly doubt Randall considers minor corrections "do-overs".

    AA (I feel like I should be drinking something when I say that): It seems like Idiocy should be trying harder to get that far ahead. What happened to impartiality?!?

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  6. that's because I don't remember anyone complaining in the last comment thread.

    bets are now open on how long it will take before AA stops commenting. my money is on 'his last post will be in comment thread 854.' he's pretty dumb, but also exceedingly self-important, so I think he's deluded enough to think his opinion is actually relevant to another human being, so I give him about a week of staying power.

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  7. Very disappointed by the lack of Megan. 4/10 you can do better.

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  8. He got two of his four references wrong.

    There are at least 10 na's in katamari damacy
    and there are 3 heys

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  9. Dearest Rob:

    if I was so self-important, I would have given myself a part in the scoring. I could care less what other people think of me. It IS, however, quite amusing to me.

    as a side note, you got half a point for resisting the "LOL MEGAN" impulse.

    AA Signing out.

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  10. actually, if you were so self-important, you would be commenting on every thread with a running tally of arbitrary points you've given to me based on how well my posts coincide with your idea of what they ought to be like. which you're doing!

    and I didn't "resist" the impulse, I didn't post any Megan jokes because nobody complained about them last time around. unfortunately you count as a complaint, so I'll just have to continue in the next post. just when I was looking forward to a break, too.

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  11. The first song that came to mind when reading the comic was So What by Pink

    Does that make me a terrible person

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  12. Fuck I did neglect to comment about Megan jokes in the previous topic. I must have forgotten to fill in the captcha or something.

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  13. Dearest Rob:

    You assume that I am creating this tally alone. Perhaps I have a whole legion of xkcd fans who i'm taking a vote. Perhaps it's being done with my family. Perhaps I have a circle of friends who share my view that randall is losing quality but you suck at reviewing.

    Thing is... you'll never know. You just get the results.

    AA Signing out.

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  14. haha, as if AA has a circle of friends

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  15. Wow Always Anonymous is a wiener.

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  16. lolz yeah. AA is an idiot. a battery full of dumness.

    geddit?

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  17. Sounds like Randall slept with your mom, sorry about your pent up anger to someone who does web comics. People enjoy them, who cares if they have flaws.

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  18. This marks the first time that Randall Munroe has ever changed his comic or alt text in any way...

    Assuming that you got that info from the text up above the comic (rather than, say, dragging it out of your ass), Randall apparently himself forgot having quietly edited a comic on at least one occasion: he used the wrong diacritic on a vowel in the name of a prolific Hungarian mathematician (it's 'Erdős', not 'Erdós', how stupid can you be???). The mistake wasn't up for very long.

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  19. This comic had the potential to be at least mildly interesting if Randall had at least bothered to look for an absurdly high number of songs with "na" on their lyrics. A quick Google search for "na na lyrics" gave me at least three more. Then this could be a huge flowchart and I'd have at least to commend Randall's effort on this absurdity.

    But seeing he forgot the most goddamn obvious song with endless strings of "na na" on it(where's Hey Jude, dammit?), I can only say Randall is a doofus and this was a waste of time. He'd rather draw another map of the world and label it "The World According to Russians Who Know Geograhy LOL LOOK AT ME, I'M SUBVERTING YOUR EXPECTATIONS LOLOLOL"

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  20. "Assuming that you got that info from the text up above the comic (rather than, say, dragging it out of your ass)"

    Sarcasm much? Rob knows quite well that Randall has quietly edited many xkcd strips in the past. I'm pretty certain he's commented on it in previous reviews.

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  21. 3:58: BUT HE SED IT WAS TEH FERST TIM

    HOW CUD TE INFALIBLE ROB BE LYIN

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  22. clearly Rob is trying to cover up Randall's past failures (possibly due them being the same person)

    how... ORWELLIAN

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  23. AA:

    You're about as legion as lance armstrong's testicles and about as funny as the cancer that consumed them.

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  24. Dammit Ann, stop having the initials of an unfunny troll.

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  25. fuck, but Always Anonymous writes exactly like everyone at the xkcd forums.

    i can't quite put my finger on it. maybe it's the incredibly lame comebacks, maybe it's the complete lack of subtext, where you feel he has written down exactly what was on his mind, and it's disturbing that his mind fits in 300 characters.

    and signing out every time is retarded even for highschoolers.

    i don't know. it's like when people make chatbots. something always feels wrong about them.

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  26. Hey guys I was just joking about everything I said. I'm actually just a lonely sodomite and bestiality fanatic. Disregard anything I may say in the future.

    AA Fisting in.

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  27. I thought there were 16 "na's" before "Batman."

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  28. I just wanted to say that this comic was a one of the laziest, most worthless, most pathetic things I've ever seen in my life. It's awful. It's so bad it sucks. I hate it. I don't think a single comic has ticked me off this much since 794. Once again, Randall has shown that he's more than willing to sucker fans in with a 30-second comic, and, once again, his idiot fans have bought it. I think I wouldn't care so much if he was some nobody and had a REASON for sucking, but he's making money off this! He's making money off a comic that took so little thought that he actually had to go back and CORRECT it to put it one of the most obvious songs in this category!

    Randall, if you're reading this...

    I hate you. You suck in every way imaginable, and probably some ways unimaginable, and you're a hack. A fraud. Children hear your name and get cancer. Animals see your comics and collapse, dead. There aren't words to describe how much I despise you and your "work" right now.

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  29. > I think I wouldn't care so much if he was some nobody and had a REASON
    > for sucking, but he's making money off this!

    Dude, I think you're going to be unpleasantly surprised by the state of popular culture.

    Have you seen what goes by "acting" (Russell Crowe), "music" (Justin Bieber) and "writing" (Dan Brown)?

    Suck as he does, at least Randy isn't a millionaire off of his crap.

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  30. Yeah, those people tick me off too. But at least they have to put in time, even if they don't have talent.

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  31. Oh shit, I thought the link was part of the humour - hence the name 851_make_it_better. Like it's been "made better" by inclusion of hey Jude.

    But no. Apparently that feeble attempt at humour is wistful thinking and the original comic was actually that bad.

    :(

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  32. Wait, what was the difference? I didn't see any differences between the two although I glanced at them both relatively quickly.

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  33. Nevermind, I didn't know I could click on that xkcd comic for a new nerd pandering hey jude version.

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  34. cuddlefish says:
    A softer world: It's in love with randall monroe.
    http://www.asofterworld.com/index.php?id=633

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  35. @ Anon 7:34

    Yeah, I thought about making that remark about "Batman" but if you take just the second set of "nas" then there's only eight, so it still works. Basically it's the way Homer was doing it in the episode of Simpsons where he joined the cult (na na na na na na na na Leader!).

    There is no excuse however for missing one of the "heys" before goodbye or the missing four "nas" before "Katamari Damacy" though...or if you want to be generous, putting "Katamari Damacy" one "na" too late. He's wrong by less in the second option.

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  36. "a lot of popular songs that my fanbase will have heard of contain 'na.' how can i introduce a geeky element into this observation, beyond mentioning katamari damacy?
    a graph or perhaps a table? ...not quite right
    a rant to the audience maybe? nah, not specific enough to be self-righteous
    a flowchart? that's it! i'm a genius!!"

    yes this is how randy thinks

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  37. Is this comic any good? Na.

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  38. Guys! Guys! It turns out there's more than one song with "na" in it!!!1!eleven

    The Rand man has done it again.

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  39. I was very disappointed that one of my favorite songs wasn't on here. [Appropriately titled Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)]

    I guess that's what I get for being a teenage girl reading xkcd.

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  40. I am ashamed to admit that, at first viewing, I thought this comic was kind of clever. But the Hey Jude thing, man, that killed my buzz. Randal is a damn thief.

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  41. Australians all let us rejoice, for we've no Tea Party. With gold and oil and wealth for China our towns resemble sea.

    Big shout out to all the AUSSIES out there in xkcdsucks land WOO!

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  42. Hey everybody

    I think Always Anonymous is a bit of a cuntfaggot

    does anyone agree, or at least share some form of mild dislike of him also

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  43. Also FUCK RANDALL IN THE ASS WITH A THOUSAND ANGRY DICKS for not including Beck's E-Pro on the flowchart (really? this string of rabbit turds counts as a flowchart?) of na songs.

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  44. I, too, am proud of the accomplishments of people who just happen to be born in the same country as me that I otherwise have nothing to do with. Fuck yeah. Woo.

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  45. i'm starting to suspect that AA is actually someone who really likes my reviews and thinks that the way to keep me writing them the same way is to complain about them.

    which, let's be fair, is probably the best way to do so.

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  46. I always heard LA LA LA LA instead of NA NA NA NA.

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  47. How is doing the same shitty thing over and over again to illicit mindless criticism different to doing the same shitty thing over and over again to please mindless fans? It isn't, beyond the fact that one doesn't make you any money, you shit-cunt Randall clone.

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  48. well, that and I'm basically doing this for shits and Randy is doing it for a living. and while Randy lives in an echo chamber which only praises him for his greatness, I get a constant stream of hilarious comments telling me how terrible I am.

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  49. but that doesn't count, you write all these comments yourself

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  50. yes, but I find each and every one hilarious

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  51. Got to know how to pony, like Bony Maronie. Mashed potato, do the alligator. Put your hands on your hips, yeah let your backbone slip. Do the Watusi like my little Lucy.

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  52. I think Always Anonymous is going to be gone really, really quickly. Here's my reasoning in list format because people love reading lists.

    He pierced his veil of anonymity by calling himself "Always Anonymous." By making himself known, he's increased the stakes. If he were a witty troll, or someone akin the William Monty Hughes, he'd stay a while. But, clearly he's not.

    Everyone here has been mocking him. It's patently proven that mocking someone and the speed with which they leave are directly proportional. (You know, just to create a relationship between values, something that no one on this blog has -ever- done before, right AA?)

    Soon enough, he'll realize that his pathetic tally system has no relevance, importance, or impact on anyone here. Maybe if we respected his thoughts, they would. But right now, the only purpose his "point system" serves is for him to gawk at his ability to sum numbers together. (Which is not something one should be proud of.)

    To put the above succinctly: If he were smarter, he'd stay. But he's demonstrated his ineptitude and idiocy, and people will actively try to weed it out.

    TheMesosade, signing out.

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  53. Seriously, though, five songs? I can do better. For the record, I think the ambiguity and potential for incorrect lyrical outcomes is actually a positive endowment. Otherwise it ceases to be entertaining, and just, "look, I've organized your songs according to duration of a particular sound! I'm like your mother, except instead of your room, I'm in the internet!"

    Where are my legions of adoring fans? Where's my multi-hundred dollar webcomic?

    Ravenzomg, signing out.

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  54. Also, first person to seriously critique that abomination gets expelled from the human race.

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  55. ....Who am I kidding, we're dealing with the internet. Have fun, kids, I'm on vacation. =D

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  56. "I hear that there are actual lyrics later on in Land of 1,000 Dances, but other than the occasional 'I said,' I've never listened long enough to hear any of them"

    If he started from the beginning of the song, he might've heard them

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  57. @ Anonymous Jan 24 11:25

    Missing an "ad" before the "hominem." Unless you're saying that Rob needs to add more "man" to his reviews.

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  58. @dom:

    you apparently didn't notice, but that was a pun, or play on words

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  59. Rob has too much man in his life already -- not by discrete count, but by sheer mass, that is.

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  60. Always Anonymous is never anonymous, because he can always be identified as Always Anonymous. This, my frenemies, is irony.

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  61. This blog isn't interesting to read anymore. Can you get back to comic reviews and less making up uninteresting fantasies about Randy? I just don't give a shit. It's like a fucking fan fiction.

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  62. 852

    "can vary buy nearly half a percent"

    only language majors need to "no" their homophones

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  63. http://www.webcitation.org/5w17zacZN

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  64. Haha! It's funny because he's stupid!

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  65. 852: Did he really need to literally reference and cite HIMSELF in panel one?

    And, re: this whole buy/by thing, we know Randy doesn't get do-overs so he's stuck with this mistake forever now!

    CAPTCHA - tralin. Sarah Tralin.

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  66. Darn it. I was going to WebCite it (and I did). But, alas, you have beaten me to it.

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  67. Anyway, this webcomic SUCKS. Well, at least he put the punchline in the last panel. But, still, what a terrible punchline, and what a terrible idea! Also, that's totally not how it works. All in all, I AM SHOVING MY TESTICLES DOWN YOUR THROAT NOW MR. RANDY

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  68. sorry. it was just so glaringly obvious as soon as the comic popped up in my RSS feed, I couldn't just let it stand idly buy.

    (see what i did there)

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  69. 852
    http://www.webcitation.org/5w19cVYXf

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  70. oh god

    the punchline isn't in the last panel, it's in the fourth-to-last. the last three are randy sucking the usual ass.

    even if he had to make the last three panels, why the post-post-punchline dialogue ("right")???

    fuck it only gets worse every time, this is some kind of monument to lack of comedic timing

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  71. maybe this is his response to my assertion that he needs to stop using 1-panel comics

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  72. Ha ha suck it jocks! Your records are meaningless because of MATH AND SCIENCE! Once again nerds triumph over jocks because nerds are smart and jocks are dumb!

    The comic actually would probably be better if it was just the bottom row of panels. No context might make it work to an extent, and the situation is decent enough humor-wise on its own. But instead we get a huge contrived setup and a nice "Suck it jocks!" to pander to his audience. Pretty standard for Randall. Not terrible enough to rage about though.

    Oh and actually...the title for 852 is kind of clever too. I'll give him credit for that.

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  73. guys i am really upset about this comic, it isn't funny at all

    i don't know what to do, please advise

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  74. New xkcdsucks meme: replace all instances of the word "by" with "buy".

    plz do it

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  75. Does he not know self reference is a sign of a week character?

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  76. "Randall pushed Rob back, straddling him in one fell motion..."

    More like "one fellatio motion", amirite?

    And I'm guessing Raven doesn't drink whiskey all that often.

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  77. HAHAHA DISREGARD THAT, I SUCK COCKS

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  78. hey guys the mistake is still there

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  79. he also forgot Rock and Roll part 2...

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