tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post1184581683047692671..comments2024-03-17T05:03:46.056-07:00Comments on xkcd sucks: Comic 684: Telling the WorldCarlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-46850659559245997372010-01-13T22:53:56.216-08:002010-01-13T22:53:56.216-08:00I'm going to have to agree with 10:15 anon, th...I'm going to have to agree with 10:15 anon, there are many things I can hold against Randall but building a school in laos is not one of them.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-91198501250234374342010-01-11T20:28:34.695-08:002010-01-11T20:28:34.695-08:00Unrealistic dialog is unrealistic.Unrealistic dialog is unrealistic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-19276779425650876892010-01-10T22:15:44.215-08:002010-01-10T22:15:44.215-08:00(Oh god, this is probably useless considering it w...(Oh god, this is probably useless considering it was a long time ago and the guy don't seem to be popping in much but nvm.. here goes:)<br /><br />Anononymous at 5/1, 09:10..<br />I've been to Laos, and if your partner really got mad at Randall for building a school there and naming it XKCD, she's full of shit. Either about coming from Laos, or just generally... <br /><br />Laos is a beautiful country, but right now they need all the help they can get. And it's not like he named the school "COCKS!CKER" (pronuncable though!), he named it after the webcomic which made the school possible. Hell, even if he did name it "COCKS!CKER!" it would still be one school more than anyone here has built in a country that really really needs it. <br />I don't understand how this is something you can try to use against him. It's a good thing. It doesnt make Randall a good man, or his comic any better, but it is a good thing.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-59718934532612652922010-01-09T23:25:15.679-08:002010-01-09T23:25:15.679-08:00Cute! Actually, that's what you're doing i...Cute! Actually, that's what you're doing in disingenuously claiming that the only reason I dislike XKCD is because I already disliked it. See, the <i>facts</i> of the matter are that I used to like XKCD a great deal until I turned a critical eye to it, and that it was only because upon thinking about it critically that I realized it was a hackneyed cliche. I then changed my theory--"XKCD is a good comic"--to fit the facts--"every XKCD comic these days is utterly shit."<br /><br />Also, as Voltaire once said, "A witty quote proves nothing.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-52611862760693163852010-01-09T22:49:17.796-08:002010-01-09T22:49:17.796-08:00Since you like Sherlock Holmes, here's one of ...Since you like Sherlock Holmes, here's one of Holmes's lines in the original Conan Doyle stories: "People tend to twist facts to suit theories, rather than theories to suit facts."<br /><br />That's pretty much what you are doing with these xkcd comics, Rob.Sylocathttp://www.youtube.com/user/Sylocatnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-17142976329725510812010-01-08T18:57:31.357-08:002010-01-08T18:57:31.357-08:00Of course, there is nothing more fun than complain...Of course, there is nothing more fun than complaining about club music and telling people who enjoy it that they are listening to their music wrong.<br /><br />There's often not a lot of depth to talk about in certain genres, but you can still talk about it. There's artistry even in the simplest of pop songs, and you can talk about that even if the lyrics are completely mindless. You can talk about why, despite being completely mindless, people love the lyrics so much.<br /><br />Ditto movies. Sometimes you want a dumb action flick. You can talk about what made them so enjoyable despite being so dumb--pretty explosions, pacing, etc. A movie is usually about two hours long these days. There's something to talk about there.<br /><br />An interesting case of genre . . . not quite confusion, but here it is: shortly after I watched the movie <i>300</i> I encountered someone who really disliked it. On questioning them about this, they said that, basically, they disliked epic battle scenes and over-the-top violence and action films in general. They said they wanted more political intrigue.<br /><br />I asked if they knew that they were going to get epic battle scenes, over-the-top violence, and an action film, with no political intrigue to speak of. They said yes. So they went into a film, knowing it was a genre they hated, and then complained that it was of a genre they hated.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-73651531629840865242010-01-08T18:42:06.693-08:002010-01-08T18:42:06.693-08:00I think that most of the time someone says "w...I think that most of the time someone says "watch it for what it is" it's to defend it from criticism. It's not uncommon to hear complaints that essentially boil down to the work being in the wrong genre. If a song is made for dancing, don't complain that it's all rhythm and has only a simple melody since fixing those problems ruins it for its intended purpose.<br /><br />I'd also say that sometimes the genre expectations should include that it won't have much depth to discuss or think about. I haven't seen it, but what my friends told me about Shaolin Soccer leads me to think that'd be a good example. Roger Ebert almost says this is why he didn't really enjoy Taken but could recommend it. I liked American Outlaws.Way Walkernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-24655112852913247952010-01-08T14:59:32.898-08:002010-01-08T14:59:32.898-08:00WayWalker: That's asking you to watch it expec...WayWalker: That's asking you to watch it expecting the correct genre, not to not think about it.<br /><br />Take Sherlock Holmes. I really enjoyed the movie. If you go into it expecting a cerebral and high-minded crime drama, you're doing it wrong. This doesn't mean you can't discuss it or think about it. You just have to treat it with the correct genre expectations.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-36615995250810448762010-01-08T14:56:47.364-08:002010-01-08T14:56:47.364-08:00I think there are times when it's all right to...I think there are times when it's all right to say, "Why can't you just watch the movie for what it is?" If I said it, my meaning would be that you're missing the point. You may be comparing Mars Attacks! to Alien, or complaining that American Pie isn't American Beauty. In the words of Roger Ebert:<br /><br />"When you ask a friend if 'Hellboy' is any good, you're not asking if it's any good compared to 'Mystic River,' you're asking if it's any good compared to 'The Punisher.' ...And that is why 'Shaolin Soccer,' a goofy Hong Kong action comedy, gets three stars. It is piffle, yes, but superior piffle. If you are even considering going to see a movie where the players zoom 50 feet into the air and rotate freely in violation of everything Newton held sacred, then you do not want to know if I thought it was as good as 'Lost in Translation.'"Way Walkernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-42690514775563281402010-01-08T13:21:54.095-08:002010-01-08T13:21:54.095-08:00that is a great post.that is a great post.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-85112749537922002982010-01-08T10:29:47.592-08:002010-01-08T10:29:47.592-08:00Not really related but this post reminded me of th...Not really related but this post reminded me of the constant "It's just a comic" argument.<br /><br />http://www.racialicious.com/2009/12/21/and-we-shall-call-this-moffs-law/Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-82163179285360444732010-01-08T09:04:19.784-08:002010-01-08T09:04:19.784-08:00The fifth panel actually added quite a bit to the ...The fifth panel actually added quite a bit to the humor, showing Mr. Girlfriend's feigned ignorance of what he's doing and the redundancy adds to the joke rather than detracting from it.<br /><br />In this cuddlefish's opinion.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-60408521323097108842010-01-08T04:19:08.739-08:002010-01-08T04:19:08.739-08:00I wish you'd commented on the alt text, it was...I wish you'd commented on the alt text, it was SO FUCKING RETARDED.<br /><br />Implying that you need to be in love or plan to get married to be happy that you're with someone. What bullshit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-60621437701597869642010-01-07T18:33:52.358-08:002010-01-07T18:33:52.358-08:00For some reason, I have trouble imagining this end...For some reason, I have trouble imagining this ending at panel four. Maybe xkcd's style is just that deeply-set in my mind now.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-35845284727182100162010-01-06T11:58:18.138-08:002010-01-06T11:58:18.138-08:00It's not exactly the same thing, but I do know...It's not exactly the same thing, but I do know people who will not shut up about their SO. They're not exactly bragging, but they are completely obsessed and oblivious to the idea that they might be a bit annoying.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-77988280836709819992010-01-06T11:56:48.995-08:002010-01-06T11:56:48.995-08:00Ar-Pharazon: there are definitely people who flaun...Ar-Pharazon: there are definitely people who flaunt that they are dating someone all the time. They are usually geeks. They are fucking irritating.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-41178457323167070652010-01-06T11:17:54.091-08:002010-01-06T11:17:54.091-08:00Maybe I'm just dead inside, but I don't ge...Maybe I'm just dead inside, but I don't get this. What is this making fun of? People who constantly, uh, "flaunt" the fact that they have a girlfriend? I don't know anyone except Randull who (non-ironically) does that. Or is it a GOOMH about how when you're not seeing anyone but wish you were, every time a relationship is mentioned you get jealous and annoyed?Person Guyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03486274284758665991noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-42258640068700979872010-01-06T06:02:40.319-08:002010-01-06T06:02:40.319-08:00"Isn't Randall the guy who did the comic ..."Isn't Randall the guy who did the comic about 'Penises are THIS big. Can we move on as a society?' What a massive hypocrite."<br /><br />Now this is completely baseless and a little cruel, but I interpreted that comic as "we should stop caring how big penises are (because mine is small)".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-59592780507734440622010-01-06T05:31:09.463-08:002010-01-06T05:31:09.463-08:00"A school in Laos named a word that you canno..."A school in Laos named a word that you cannot pronounce. I was talking to my partner, who is from Laos, and she said it was fucking unbelevable that he would need to mock people who want to impove their lot in life by naming their school after a fucking web comic, a word that Randall has more than once said he used because you could not pronounce it."<br /><br />He was joking.R.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-44825922024852328962010-01-06T02:10:01.333-08:002010-01-06T02:10:01.333-08:00xkcdexplained puts it the best:
"The author ...xkcdexplained puts it the best:<br /><br />"The author is frustrated.<br /><br />He is frustrated because even after depicting a man performing oral sex on a female multiple times in his comic strip, he has not yet successfully attracted a mate. Even after endlessly proving to female readers that he cares deeply for their feelings, and will bend-over backwards to please them - he still does not have a girlfriend. He fights for them. They do not call. He praises their intelligence and strength. They will not remove their clothing. He creates diagrams, graphs, math jokes and homographic puns that perfectly describe his feelings for them. They will not let him touch their breasts. He is frustrated.<br /><br />He also refers to the movie Avatar, to ensure that some geek pop culture is still present in the comic strip."Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-14727871939147779862010-01-06T01:27:40.535-08:002010-01-06T01:27:40.535-08:00So, I sometimes do this thing when I write fiction...So, I sometimes do this thing when I write fiction where I will start out a story with a kind of unnecessary paragraph which explains why I wrote the story. If there is something specific I'm trying to convey it usually ends up here. (This is an unintentional tendency.)<br /><br />Sometimes this unnecessary paragraph is a good paragraph. It's clever and well-written and has some good turns of phrase in it. And it always ends up making the resulting story a lot worse. It is nearly always as simple as just cutting out that paragraph and the story improves drastically.<br /><br />Randy, I think, has kind of the opposite problem. I think, as Way Walker suggested, he starts with the post-punchline dialogue, or at least thinks it up first. He's fond of it because it came first, it spawned the comic, and on its own it's not terrible. And when it remains intact it destroys the joke and drags everything down.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-80478315847651167302010-01-06T00:50:39.705-08:002010-01-06T00:50:39.705-08:00Removing the fifth panel in this comic is similar ...Removing the fifth panel in this comic is similar to switching who's speaking at the start of 675. If you make these changes, then they set up a humorous character that we can love to hate. Without them, we just see an author insert ranting, which, I suppose, xkcd sucks loves to hate and fanboys love because it strokes their ego by playing to the persecuted nerd archetype.<br /><br />The problem with both these changes is that one gets the feeling he had an idea for a rant, not a comic, so the. Added irony for mocking a character that just has to stand on a soap box.<br /><br />As for 685, <a href="http://imgur.com/HRRii.png" rel="nofollow">cut it down to improve the timing</a>. Basically, cut out what you already show. It's something like Landon Aaker's edit of 684 (I really like the rhythm in the two middle panels there). I also think it works better if he doesn't hang his head in the last panel. It gives him some dignity to keep it from feeling too much like "love is hard, woe is me".<br /><br />Then again, thomas' simpler suggestion makes the dialog work as is (head hanging and all). It makes the last panel an admission. The second panel becomes an attempt to save face and the third panel shows that nobody's buying it (adding energy, making it a tense silence, the silence becomes important to the story). I like it.<br /><br />In 684, I like the nonchalance you get by removing the fifth panel. If you still want stabbings, I think this a case for <a href="http://imgur.com/t8Vxe.png" rel="nofollow">show, don't tell</a> (but I'm undecided if it works better with or without Black Hat).<br /><br />For what it's worth, in TEM, vectors in the reciprocal lattice use the variable g and appear as spots in the microscope's image. My inner twelve year old giggled through the whole lecture on finding g-spots (they come in pairs).Way Walkernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-92183328989513447062010-01-05T22:10:41.359-08:002010-01-05T22:10:41.359-08:00Remove "But" from the latest one. Even &...Remove "But" from the latest one. Even 'The Simpsons' got this right from day one.thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03123852112758346209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-56815404833984046882010-01-05T22:08:59.899-08:002010-01-05T22:08:59.899-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Pete Gordonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14153437374929803489noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-18835503862152155422010-01-05T21:54:17.221-08:002010-01-05T21:54:17.221-08:00Maybe this is just me but I don't really think...Maybe this is just me but I don't really think that Randall's being that hypocritical here. I don't honestly believe that his motivation for making those earlier comics was because he desperately wanted people to know he had a girlfriend, it was just that the jokes that those comics had needed the guy to have one. Without them the jokes wouldn't have worked.<br /><br />Except for that loud girlfriend one. That really does just seem like bragging.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com