tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post7360559376392157788..comments2024-03-17T05:03:46.056-07:00Comments on xkcd sucks: Comic 574: The Pig DiseaseCarlhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comBlogger74125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-42434558553866766672009-04-30T20:39:00.000-07:002009-04-30T20:39:00.000-07:00On the topic of swine flu: http://bouncewith.me.uk...On the topic of swine flu: http://bouncewith.me.uk/europe/8027043.htmStevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06178364663978405979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-4164351341912628552009-04-30T19:07:00.000-07:002009-04-30T19:07:00.000-07:00I <3 the 1984 refs... I have no idea how they s...I <3 the 1984 refs... I have no idea how they spontaneously generated, but i love them.dragon2041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-2860106594948217042009-04-30T15:26:00.000-07:002009-04-30T15:26:00.000-07:00robdoesntsucks.blogspot.com?robdoesntsucks.blogspot.com?Ann Apolishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08566528013026340201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-63033843470763453812009-04-30T15:11:00.000-07:002009-04-30T15:11:00.000-07:00I WILL NOT BE SILENCED
seriously though you are p...I WILL NOT BE SILENCED<br /><br />seriously though you are pretty much right I just like telling people that I am awesomershttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-15021283937229747872009-04-30T15:03:00.000-07:002009-04-30T15:03:00.000-07:00See, that was good. I'm not saying you're not bril...See, that was good. I'm not saying you're not brilliant. I'm saying that your brilliance, such as it is, is misplaced.<br /><br />(I like the lowercase 'i's. It lends an apocalyptic air to proceedings. And the enjambs. Nice touch.)Ann Apolishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08566528013026340201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-6956283691952352712009-04-30T14:44:00.000-07:002009-04-30T14:44:00.000-07:00very well carl I will write a poem about it:
ann ...very well carl I will write a poem about it:<br /><br />ann SUXpolis<br />by rob<br /><br />sometimes carl<br />sometimes i wonder if maybe i've gone too far<br />i wonder if my burns are too sharp<br />too severe<br />too burny<br />what have i become?<br />am i a monster?<br />have i turned on those who love me<br />destroyed them by<br />inserting the word 'sux' into their name<br />in an exceedingly clever way<br />or have i<br />just written a shitty poem?<br />DOWN WITH ROB<br />DOWN WITH ROB<br />DOWN WITHrshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-83451346771098292802009-04-30T14:40:00.000-07:002009-04-30T14:40:00.000-07:00rob you didn't make fun of Ann's name you should h...rob you didn't make fun of Ann's name you should have been like "fuck you, more like Ann CRAPolis" or something.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-23665707997233147442009-04-30T13:40:00.000-07:002009-04-30T13:40:00.000-07:00fux you Ann Apolis. I am utterly brilliant and wil...fux you Ann Apolis. I am utterly brilliant and will not have some peon complaining about how I am talking about my effortless brilliance. I WILL HAVE NONE OF IT. If you have a problem with people being brilliant I SUGGEST YOU KILL YOURSELF STRAIGHTAWAY BECAUSE I WILL NEVER STOP UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES so it is pretty much not worth your time.<br /><br />dick.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-45059775953544593382009-04-30T13:38:00.000-07:002009-04-30T13:38:00.000-07:00Better.Better.Ann Apolishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08566528013026340201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-73766756488707841422009-04-30T13:06:00.000-07:002009-04-30T13:06:00.000-07:00I suck at art. I sometimes think i could make a go...I suck at art. I sometimes think i could make a good webcomic, but usually not.<br /><br />Steve: welcome to the world of commenting. you are off to a mighty fine start.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-75204124914553675382009-04-30T12:32:00.000-07:002009-04-30T12:32:00.000-07:00No! No! No! No! No! No!
This thread has just beco...No! No! No! No! No! No!<br /><br />This thread has just become "we're so brilliant, look at those proles out there, they have no sense of True Art". Stop it. Now. Just shut up.<br /><br />No-one is allowed to comment on this thread any more. It's over. OVER. STOP. SPEAKING.Ann Apolishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08566528013026340201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-48024226876548323742009-04-30T09:53:00.000-07:002009-04-30T09:53:00.000-07:00While we're talking about making comics, I might a...While we're talking about making comics, I might as well throw a plug out there. I do a twice a week comic for my school newspaper. Reading this blog has definitely helped me improve some of my humor. <br /><br />stealmycomic.com if you're interested. Criticism always welcome.Ch00fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14703378421203267656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-7105626087181382412009-04-30T09:14:00.000-07:002009-04-30T09:14:00.000-07:00@Rob: First of all, if that promotion goes through...@Rob: First of all, if that promotion goes through I promise that my first act will be to delete xkcd from existence. Second would be giving myself laser eyes. Solving all the world's problems would be fourth of fifth.<br /><br />Secondly, I didn't mean to suggest that no one here is better than Randy at writing/drawing/humor. I just meant that it's irrelevant, because critiquing (man that word does not look right) is about judging the merits of a work as compared to other works in the field, not as compared to your own. Seems like a lot of us have read other webcomics, and that is part of why we all understand how overrated xkcd really is.<br /><br />That said, I have very little trouble believing that many of the commenters here are writers or artists who could, in fact, make a better comic.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06178364663978405979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-67050851087589745572009-04-30T05:08:00.000-07:002009-04-30T05:08:00.000-07:00Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa WHOA. Last time I ch...Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa WHOA. Last time I checked this was "xkcdsucks", not "delusionsofgrandeur.net". Don't go "oh, I'm so awesome me", go "oh, randy's so not awesome him". If we've already established - nay, the point of the blog is "i think stuff other people enjoy sucks", you can't then go "this is stuff other people will enjoy", because that will make it SUCK.<br /><br />Again, does anybody actually read this flippin' thing?Ann Apolishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08566528013026340201noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-75092799187876455972009-04-30T00:11:00.000-07:002009-04-30T00:11:00.000-07:00Hi Steve! Thanks for posting!
Mostly I agree and ...Hi Steve! Thanks for posting!<br /><br />Mostly I agree and would like to promote you to God, but one thing: I think "I'd like to see you do better" is actually so stupid it does merit comment! It has crossed the threshold. While any given critic is not necessarily claiming they could do better, in this case I am pretty sure most of the regulars could--because XKCD lately is really just made of suck, partly, but also because some of us are also writers or people who make jokes or even sometimes cartoonists. And while I don't maintain a website for my jokes (except maybe for Twitter?) I do have a morose self-absorbed fiction blog, and I am definitely much better at morose and self-absorbed than Randall's attempts, especially lately.<br /><br />Now, do I think I am, specifically, a better cartoonist than Randy? Yes, obviously, Randy is kind of terrible and a sack of bricks is a better cartoonist than Randy. But do I think I could make a good webcomic? Yes. Yes I do. So far I have yet to find an artist to work with. It would actually be a fun project, though the trick is finding someone else who would be devoted to the project.<br /><br />Uh, I kind of lost myself there. So, hi again Steve.<br /><br />Lint: excellent.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-89539036927072011502009-04-29T23:55:00.000-07:002009-04-29T23:55:00.000-07:00@Rob: "It's like when you take allergy medication ...@Rob: "It's like when you take allergy medication and it works so well you can't even tell you have allergies. Then you skip a dose and the next day you are on fire."<br /><br />Whether it's just being used as an analogy or not, I am going to treasure my mental image of this sequence of events.Lint of Deathhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14683235360544381944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-58543696120299112982009-04-29T23:27:00.000-07:002009-04-29T23:27:00.000-07:00Alright: first post here, though I've been reading...Alright: first post here, though I've been reading for a few weeks now. Never really felt like it was worth it before, either because I agreed with Carl or because my disagreements were small enough that they didn't feel worth trying to put into words. But there have just been way too many xkcd bitches cluttering up the comments today for me to let it slide, so here goes:<br /><br />All of you Anonymous haters, you are COMPLETELY MISSING THE POINT. There are tons of terrible webcomics out there, and if xkcd were any one of them you would be right. If I started a blog dissing on Stick Figure Mania (anyone want to check if that's a real thing?), then yes, it WOULD be a complete waste of time, because no one cares. But xkcd isn't just another crappy webcomic. It's a crappy webcomic which has, for some reason, received fame and attention way beyond anything it deserves. Beyond, even, the fame deserved (or received) by MUCH BETTER COMICS. I'm a little disappointed, actually, that the blog's title has been changed from the previous "XKCD: Overrated", because I think that pretty much summed up why we feel so strongly about it. We see xkcd everywhere. We hear about it from everyone. And we are freaking tired of it. So we vent our frustration by reading the often-more-angry rantings of dear Carl, and that keeps us from murdering you sheep who wouldn't know a good comic if it stabbed you in the face.<br /><br />Taking a step back, I'd like to say that XKCD has its moments; perhaps even that Randall is a talented, clever, creative person. I'd like to say that. But you know what's stopping me? His own insistence on misapplying statistics to everything. Because statistically, he is none of these things. The vast majority of his comics do nothing more than reference memes, or even reference previous comics, so that tosses cleverness and creativity out the window. As for talented... I'm a little uncomfortable rejecting the validity of stick-figure art, because if I were to do a comic it would likely be in that style. Still, given how long he's been doing it, and how he only updates three times a week, you'd think he could do a little more with them. Maybe make them identifiable? Give us some characters that we could actually be interested in? But now I'm straying into territory that Carl has previously covered...<br /><br />Which brings me to my final point: reasons why Cuddlefish propaganda is retarded. Firstly, the claim that Carl just criticizes little things that don't matter at all to the comic. While I do think he tends to focus a little much on the whole floating-over-chairs thing (because honestly, I think it would look even weirder if they were connected to the chair), he doesn't really have a choice. He's covered all the main criticisms already: XKCD is more recognized than it deserves; it is repetitive; it spends way too much time referencing memes that even the general public thinks are out of date; it is often very, VERY creepy when it comes to relationships - or at least really depressing. The thing is, once you lay out these criticisms, you realize there's not much left to say. The comic is just too damn repetitive. And yet it's still huge, which means that we're still all irritated by it, so Carl has to post something. So he does what a good critic does: he picks it apart. He ignores those problems with the comic that we all take for granted, and instead analyzes the sad remainder. And what makes it truly pathetic is that even ignoring those huge, overarching issues, Carl is STILL able to find things wrong with the comic.<br /><br />Secondly: the way-overused argument "I'd like to see you do better" is too stupid to discuss. I'm serious. I refuse to say anything further about it except that anyone who feels that way does not understand what a critic does.<br /><br />Man, I hate for my first post to be so angry. But I guess I probably never would have gotten around to posting otherwise. I am an internet Hulk. I'm prepared to admit that I'm being a little unfair; after all, there have been several truly genius xkcds. The "ass-car" one is still one of my favorites, and I automatically make that switch in my head whenever I hear the phrase. I also have been feeling more angry about the comic lately than usual; it might have been the Hannelore Twitter thing, which I now realize is unjustified if it really was Randall's idea first (but why, then, did Jeph ruin the joke like that? Maybe he's being passive-aggressive about Randall's sucky comic being more famous). Alternatively, it might just be that my life sucks right now. Either way, I will concede that I may be being too harsh. The general ideas behind each of my comments stand, however, even if they should be presented in less stark terms. And I'm sorry that this post was so ridiculously long.Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06178364663978405979noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-40665604139883135412009-04-29T23:23:00.000-07:002009-04-29T23:23:00.000-07:00Ugh, the worst part about the smug mocking of the ...Ugh, the worst part about the smug mocking of the swine flu thing is that, if we actually take preventative measures and those measures are what prevent it from doing any damage they'll all be like "see I told you it was nothing to worry about" and you won't ever be able to prove that it would have been worse without medical technology.<br /><br />It's like when you take allergy medication and it works so well you can't even tell you have allergies. Then you skip a dose and the next day you are on fire.<br /><br />But yeah, by my count Randy referenced at least three other webcomic people, and I'm not really sure what he's going for. This is probably just me being anti-Randy, it seems like he maybe just did it for the links it generated? I mean, I didn't see Joey Comeau mention it, but Jeph Jacques and Jeffrey Rowland both mentioned it (on Twitter, maybe on their websites, I don't remember). It's not making it any more funny for me that I know the people he referenced; if you don't know them it's meaningless. I can only see him doing something like this in the hopes of getting some linkage happening, or something.<br /><br />A few more problems here. First, with the guy who liked the autism joke: if you're a Twitter person this probably didn't hit you as a Final Punchline because you read Twitter from the bottom up--most recent tweets first.<br /><br />Second, a lot of these are kind of obviously jokes. "I broke my arm, is this swine flu?" This sounds more like someone making fun of the phenomenon that Randy is trying to make fun of. Similar with the Jeffrey Rowland/Joey Comeau conversation--that isn't an uninformed panic, that is, if it were really happening, a joking response to an off-screen joke Joey Comeau made. In both of these, the humor is kind of off-camera and meta at best.<br /><br />Third, the "reaches me in Madagascar" thing: this joke was <A HREF="http://hasmadagascarcloseditsport.com/" REL="nofollow">making the rounds</A> well before the comic was posted. This would normally have been kind of funny, but I'd already seen it--from a source that doesn't normally post memes, I might add. I laughed then. This is just Randy hijacking a referential meme. Again, not funny.<br /><br />Fourth, the Hannelore tweet is a reference to a character who is germophobic. This doesn't add to the "haha, Twitter is dumb" hysteria.<br /><br />Fifth, Crackmonkey74 is too obviously a parody of crazed religious wingnuts. Even if it were totally legit, it wouldn't be uninformed panic so much as hateful and stupid religious diatribe. Ignorant/uninformed is the wrong term here.<br /><br />The only legitimately "uninformed" comment is "I ate bacon before I knew about swine flu." And that's not even a terribly stupid comment--it's an easy link to make. Most people don't know much about epidemiology. I doubt they even know the mechanisms by which normal flu spreads.rshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15828938843801425383noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-25519488347893750912009-04-29T23:21:00.000-07:002009-04-29T23:21:00.000-07:00oh my god I tried it and it's awful:
"Sw...oh my god I tried it and it's awful:<br /><br />"Swine Flu" --> "Hurricane Katrina"<br />"Ate pork" --> "drank rain water"<br />"Madagascar" --> "Super Dome"<br />"What did you say you did with a pig" --> "What did you say you did during mardi gras?"<br />"Autism" --> "Black people"<br />"Autistic kid" --> "black kid"<br /><br />HOLY CRAP THAT IS OFFENSIVE i feel dirty already<br /><br />also not relevant but i may have just accidentally eaten some soap.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-13776659717956270302009-04-29T23:16:00.000-07:002009-04-29T23:16:00.000-07:00holy crap that's a good point. Let's all change SW...holy crap that's a good point. Let's all change SWine Flu to Hurricane Katrina in that comic (and any other details as needed) and see what it looks like. ch00f, I am looking at you.Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01074589998141327538noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-38170921176828850902009-04-29T22:57:00.000-07:002009-04-29T22:57:00.000-07:00What makes this comic particularly awful in my vie...What makes this comic particularly awful in my view is that Randall is essentially taking the legitimate (if often misguided) fears of millions of people, exaggerating their stupidity beyond the point of believability, and then laughing at them. Sure, the comments in the comic are (for the most part) ridiculous, and yeah, there are definitely some astoundingly stupid people on the internet (ever seen Yahoo! Answers?) But I actually performed this search on Twitter right after the comic went up, and you know what? Just like in most situations, the majority of people aren't actually nutjobs. Most people are worried about the same things the WHO and the CDC are.<br /><br />So what's really the moral here? Yeah, let's all laugh at these stupid people who think the swine flu is a bigger deal than it is. They think that it's going to kill them, when in fact we're really not sure how many people it's going to kill. I mean, yes, there's misinformation out there, and yes, there are many people who react to this misinformation publicly before looking into the facts. But honestly, I think that Randall's just going to look like a dick if the swine flu does turn into a worldwide pandemic. Would you want to have been the guy who made fun of people in New Orleans for asking panicked questions about Hurricane Katrina before the fact, even if the questions were legitimately inane? Is it going to be funny that there was premature overreaction on Twitter if it turns out that, hey, swine flu actually <I>was</I> a big deal?<br /><br />Even in the best-case scenario, this just feels like a smug, condescending comic that's taking down a whole string of straw men without any regrets.Kristenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05239346965965322170noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-29039492386904632392009-04-29T22:07:00.000-07:002009-04-29T22:07:00.000-07:00Sorry Ch00f, randall's still riding pre-existing h...Sorry Ch00f, randall's still riding pre-existing humor waves.<br /><br />"Any tag combination" turns into "make sex jokes?" I thought Randall held these kind of "give me a category" challenges in higher regard. Not this "two innuendo mashups in a row? WOW" crap.<br /><br />Hey guys remember the 80s pretty crazy huh you should all come to my 80s party except it's an 1880's party! Warm up your wikipedia bookmarks for some incoming history references! Haha ok buy a tshirt.thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03123852112758346209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-87147241742389359812009-04-29T20:57:00.000-07:002009-04-29T20:57:00.000-07:00So, I refreshed the xkcd page tonight and I swear ...So, I refreshed the xkcd page tonight and I swear something changed in Monday's comic. Did he make another post-publication adjustment?Ch00fhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14703378421203267656noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-73285991737603158822009-04-29T19:11:00.000-07:002009-04-29T19:11:00.000-07:00I can whing whenever I want to, thank you.I can whing whenever I want to, thank you.Johnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6714810984552499396.post-43027257944889025042009-04-29T19:09:00.000-07:002009-04-29T19:09:00.000-07:00Oldav misspelled whining. Heh heh.Oldav misspelled whining. Heh heh.Schadenfreudehttp://www.amazingsuperpowers.comnoreply@blogger.com