text:
Tuesday, November 13, 2012
Comics 1130-1133: Fly Me To The Moon
1131. As fascinating as I find the inability of both the media and the political campaigns to understand how math works, this is not the best way to take a jab at that. C
1132. Hasn't Randy done a joke about p and .05 before? F
1133. Kind of amusing, I guess? B-
102 comments:
- AnonymousNovember 13, 2012 at 7:29 PM
Fuck, ROB, nobody wants to scroll past a comment just to read the comments section. Get your ass in gear and make a new post, you lazy shit.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 13, 2012 at 7:31 PM
I thought critics were supposed to state their opinion, not guess.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 13, 2012 at 9:28 PM
I guess.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 13, 2012 at 10:27 PM
Alright, I'll say what we're all thinking: "Ten hundred?"ReplyDeleteReplies
presumably 'thousand' isn't in the top thousand wordsDelete
- AnonymousNovember 14, 2012 at 3:50 AM
Yes, it's between "the top" and "words".Delete
- AnonymousNovember 14, 2012 at 4:06 AM
I guess it depends on what source you use for your data because in something like this context is everything, but when I searched for 'most common thousand words' and picked off the top relevant result, the list I found had 'thousand' in it- and not near the end but around the middle.Delete
Even simple english wikipedia uses 'thousand'.
- AnonymousNovember 14, 2012 at 5:17 AM
Rob, my rhetorical friend, you have to let go. xkcd will always suck, but xkcdsucks is dead. Just accept it. The comments here have gotten as boring as the comics they mean to deride. Even the random ones, that provided such a good outlet for xkcdsuckers to show their creativity, aren't so clever anymore. Why are you still feeding the zombie horse? It is not the one you knew and loved; only, a rotten memory.ReplyDelete
Also, 1130 deserved at least a B- :(
I'm really late to the party (actually there is no longer a party and everyone left, only the mess remains and rob is drunk and unconscious) but I wanted to say something after reading all xkcdsucks' posts up till comic 800, when Carl left.
It was a nice trip. I wish I was part of the community and all the discussions that happpened at that time. I've read some of the comments as well and read many interesting opinions about webcomics, art and writing in general. I am saddened by the fact that this no longer is the case: the blog is dead but walking (wow! if I was Randall I could TOTALLY MAKE THAT A COMIC) and the comments are just zombies. I don't think it's a shame though, it was only natural for a comic that waned from good to bad and to mediocre on a regular schedule. One can only endure so much before waning as well.
I'm sure neither Carl nor Rob (well, maybe he will but won't say anything) will read this but I just wanted to thank you for putting so much effort and giving me a more critical eye regarding comics and humor in general. And thanks to Aloria for making me laugh and always being drunk.
That is all.
- AnonymousNovember 14, 2012 at 11:00 AM
"1130. Contrived, but with a good heart. D+"ReplyDelete
Really, Rob? I've learned not to expect much from either you or your blog, but this is a new low. Since when did you give a flying fuck about Randall's intentions? Supposing Mr. Munroe is an artist, comic 1130 only stands as a testament to his incompetence.
Randall doesn't know how to write a punchline. "Brevity is the soul of wit," and this comic would be funnier (or at least less painful) without the dialogue from offscreen. We KNOW the main character is a dweeb with no life, we DON'T NEED Randall to explain his "joke" with some contrived Voice of God.
As for the alt-text: This would be funnier if anybody cared.
Rob, you've gone soft as well as fat. D-Replies
Trite and full of web-spun 'wisdom' that would not pass muster on the most banal of forums. This review-of-a-review is replete with the unnecessary exaggeration typical of comments on this blog, and the author's anger is as contrived as the comic itself.Delete
The author would also do well to put a line of space between their paragraphs - it is impolite to present the reader with such an ugly mass of text.
Final score: D-. At least the spelling and grammar are accurate.
- AnonymousNovember 14, 2012 at 2:48 PM
LOLOLOLOL METADelete
- AnonymousNovember 14, 2012 at 3:40 PM
As predictable as it is cringeworthy. F-Delete
- AnonymousNovember 15, 2012 at 7:34 AM
"Rob, you've gone soft as well as fat."Delete
Well, duh. Fat people *are* soft. That's why we use them for cat pillows and to catch us when jumping from burning buildings.
- AnonymousNovember 17, 2012 at 9:31 PM
Is Rob really fat? I didn't think I could be more sexually attracted to him.Delete
- weaselsoupNovember 21, 2012 at 7:35 AM
that's my line.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 24, 2012 at 2:17 PM
Seriously though, is Rob fat?Delete
- AnonymousNovember 24, 2012 at 2:39 PM
Quite an understatement.Delete
- The FictionatorNovember 14, 2012 at 2:47 PM
So jokeless poster bait is "kind of amusing" now?ReplyDelete
Fuck you, Robdall.Replies
- AnonymousNovember 15, 2012 at 10:21 PM
heh, 'posterbate'Delete
- AnonymousNovember 16, 2012 at 6:29 AM
LOLOLOLOL PUNSDelete
- The FictionatorNovember 14, 2012 at 2:55 PM
1134 was alright. While pointing out that logic puzzles rarely conform to common sense is an old observation, I've not seen exactly this joke made before.ReplyDelete
I wouldn't grade it as high as B-, but it was way fucking better than 1133.
- AnonymousNovember 15, 2012 at 7:38 AM
|-|3Y GU15, \/\/|-|47 D0 U 7|-|1|\||< R4|\|D4|_|_ \/\/1|_|_ D0 F0R C0|\/|1C 1337?ReplyDeleteReplies
- AnonymousNovember 15, 2012 at 7:57 AM
F1|\|4|_|_`/ (0|\/||\/|17 5U1(1|)3 |\/|4`/|33?Delete
- AnonymousNovember 15, 2012 at 8:40 AM
Weak. "D" should be "|)", "C" should be "(", etc. |_34R|\| 2 1337, |\|00|3.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 15, 2012 at 8:42 AM
- AnonymousNovember 15, 2012 at 10:28 AM
+#4|\||<|=(_)11`/, \/\/£ [)0|\|'+ #4\/£ +0 \/\/0|2|2`/ 4|30(_)+ +#4+ |=0|2 4|\|0+#£|2 `/£4|2 4|\|[) 4 (,)(_)4|2+£|2Delete
- AnonymousNovember 15, 2012 at 2:55 PM
LOLOLOL LEET SPEAKDelete
- AnonymousNovember 15, 2012 at 6:39 PM
soz guys ths leet speak thng s b4 my time. Wot r u tlking bout?Delete
- AnonymousNovember 16, 2012 at 7:58 PM
"noob" is certainly not part of classical leetspeak, so above poster is a fraud.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 17, 2012 at 5:37 PM
(_)|> `/0(_)|25. |\/|`/ (0|\/||\/|3|\|75 4|23 6|2347.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 15, 2012 at 7:56 AM
Ron Paul 2012ReplyDeleteReplies
- AnonymousNovember 15, 2012 at 9:32 AM
Pon Raul 2016Delete
- SemicolonsNovember 15, 2012 at 8:29 PM
Rob Carl 20fuckDelete
- AnonymousNovember 16, 2012 at 12:39 PM
1135 is so badly drawn that I can't tell if Beret Guy is pulling a spider-knitted sweater off that frame...thing... or if he's deliberately allowing cobwebs to cling on to a sweater for some logic-fucking bullshit reason because he's 'kooky' (near-invisible gossamer patterns, maybe? I don't know).ReplyDelete
Frankly, after Endless Wings, either are plausible, though the first option seems to imply that Beret Guy is sane enough to formulate a plan that's grounded in reality (albeit a reality where Spider Psychology is an actual thing, and not a Randallian plot device), and has the patience to wait for a payoff, neither of which are exactly traits that he's been shown to possess.
Basically, Beret Guy has reached a point where nothing that he does can be interpreted to be the actions of a cohesive mind. He is Randall's first Postmodernist character, basically (and I hope that this observation triggers an aneurysm in some xkcd fan somewhere).Replies
- AnonymousNovember 16, 2012 at 12:41 PM
Speaking of which, is Randall so dumb as to not know that neurology != psychology, or is this some textbook-title joke I'm not getting?Delete
- AnonymousNovember 16, 2012 at 7:15 PM
Okay, I'll say what we're all thinking. This blog has gone downhill and the single force powerful enough to revive it is pornographic stories centered around Randall. I want to see some when I get back.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 16, 2012 at 8:01 PM
Okay, I'll say what we're all thinking. Complaints about this blog have gone downhill and the single force powerful enough to revive them is pornographic stories centered around the whiners. I want to see some when I get back.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 16, 2012 at 8:17 PM
@Anon 7:15: Wrong thread, dumbass.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 17, 2012 at 8:32 AM
Pretty sure it's the right thread. 12:39's comment was tiresome, inaccurate and irritating.Delete
Just like xkcd!
- AnonymousNovember 17, 2012 at 8:48 AM
@Anon 8:32: Up yours. My comments are great.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 19, 2012 at 3:02 PM
LOLOLOL REPETITIONDelete
- AnonymousNovember 19, 2012 at 3:39 PM
LOLOLOL THIS "LOLOLOL" THING MAKES ME WANT TO SLAP YOUR FACEDelete
- AnonymousNovember 20, 2012 at 8:18 AM
Yeah, I'm beginning to regret starting it.Delete
- weaselsoupNovember 21, 2012 at 7:38 AM
blah blah pornographic stories centered around Rob blah etcDelete
- AnonymousNovember 16, 2012 at 9:00 PM
@Anon 8:01ReplyDelete
You're being silly at best, and I honestly want to believe that you're smarter than comments like that. Pornographic stories about "whiners" would lack a clearly defined protagonist. The literary value of that kind of erotic fiction would be of a quality barely above the works of Ayn Rand. You are simultaneously denying the work a meaningful plot (by refusing to incorporate a clearly defined lead character) and disallowing the leadership to impose themselves into the story by defining the lead with a single negative trait (whiny). How will anyone enjoy the comedy or the tragedy of the tale? How will they fap to it?
The answer is they won't. You would have us produce shit comments that mean nothing to anybody. I hope that you reflect on this and reconsider your toxic views before you drag Western civilization below it's current depths. Your attitude is the reason that the Dean Koontzs and the Lisa Gardners of the world pollute our culture with shit novels and I don't appreciate it.Replies
- AnonymousNovember 17, 2012 at 8:46 AM
I'd say that a lead character defined exclusively by a single trait, negative or otherwise, is pretty damn well clearly-defined.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 17, 2012 at 8:13 PM
You'd be wrong, unless you also think the word 'cube' would pretty damn well clearly define your house.Delete
'Whiny' is an attribute that applies to a massive amount of people, and reveals essentially nothing about background or motivation. You might as well say that you can define a lead character by their hair color. It tells you very little overall about who that person is or what they are like. It would be fair to say that a minor character could be defined in that way, but that's because a minor character is allowed to make a minuscule contribution to the story and then disappear. Our protagonist needs to be in the thick of the plot, which means in almost all cases make it necessary for him to be more developed than that.
Unless of course, that single trait is what the story is really about. But in this case it's not. It can't just be about whining, the story needs to be pornographic in nature. Which (to my surprise) apparently requires more character depth than whatever fiction you're used to consuming.
- AnonymousNovember 17, 2012 at 8:16 PM
8:13 is so whiny.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 19, 2012 at 5:56 PM
Thanks, 8:13. You've displayed the sort of whiny garrulous self-righteousness I was looking for in a lead.Delete
And the story will be pornographic in the sense of 120 Days of Sodom. Enjoy your rape.
- AnonymousNovember 19, 2012 at 7:17 PM
LOLOLOL RAPEDelete
- AnonymousNovember 18, 2012 at 12:17 AM
Jesus Christ this site has gone downhill. Rob was always a poor shadow of Carl, but this is just pathetic.ReplyDeleteReplies
- AnonymousNovember 18, 2012 at 6:59 AM
Clearly you do not understand the beauty of concision and no fuck giving.Delete
Dear Fred,Delete
I don't give a fuck who you are or where you live, you can count on me to be there to bring your fucking life to a hellish end. I'll put you in so much fucking pain that it'll make jesus being nailed to a cross in the desert look like a fucking back massage on a tropical island. I don't give a fuck how tough you are, how well you can fight, or how many fucking guns you own to protect yourself. I'll fucking show up at your house when you aren't at home.I'll turn on all the lights on in your house, leave all the water running, open your fridge door and not close it, and turn your gas stove burners on and let them waste gas. You're going to start stressing the fuck out, your blood pressure will triple, and you'll have a fucking heart attack. You'll go to the hospital for heart operation, and the last thing you'll see when you're being put under in the operating room is me hovering above you, dressed up like a doctor. When you wake up after the operation, you'll be scared for your fucking life, wondering what I did to you while you were being operated on, wonder what ticking time bomb is in your chest waiting to go off. You'll recover fully from your heart surgery. And when you walk out the front door of that hospital to go home, I'll run you over with my fucking car out of nowhere and kill you. I just want you to know how easily I could fucking destroy your pathetic excuse of a life, but how I'd rather go to a great fucking length to make sure your last remaining days are spent in a living breathing fucking hell. It's too fucking late to save yourself, but don't bother committing suicide either... I'll fucking resuscitate you and kill you again myself you bitchfaced faggot. Welcome to hell, population: you.
i never call people faggotsDelete
try harder next time
- AnonymousNovember 19, 2012 at 10:20 PM
Well if you were looking for pornography involving cuddlefish here, there you go. I'm turned on anyway.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 19, 2012 at 10:21 PM
That's funny because you call people faggots all the timeDelete
oh right i forgotDelete
- AnonymousNovember 20, 2012 at 10:38 AM
that's right you foggotDelete
- AnonymousNovember 21, 2012 at 6:05 AM
LOLOLOL GAYSDelete
- AnonymousNovember 21, 2012 at 2:31 PM
@Rob 10:23Delete
- AnonymousNovember 19, 2012 at 11:40 AM
Whatever Randall's done to black hat guy in 1136, I don't like it.ReplyDeleteReplies
- AnonymousNovember 19, 2012 at 11:53 AM
IDK, my first reaction when I read it was "didn't he mean to draw béret guy instead?"Delete
- weaselsoupNovember 21, 2012 at 7:39 AM
both of them are cunts. beret guy is even more of a cunt actually.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 20, 2012 at 6:25 PM
I'd like to take a dump on Israel, but I wonder: would that be an antisemite thing to do? I sure hope not! I couldn't live with that. I'd rather rape my children, eat my wife and kill myself than being called an antisemite! God, please, no. Not that.ReplyDeleteReplies
- AnonymousNovember 20, 2012 at 8:35 PM
'I see you're in this mood again.' 'I am always in this mood.'Delete
- AnonymousNovember 21, 2012 at 9:13 AM
LOLOLOL REFERENCEDelete
- AnonymousNovember 21, 2012 at 1:55 AM
Is Randall ever not late to the party?ReplyDelete
It's like he discovers things once the Internet is tired of them.
- AnonymousNovember 21, 2012 at 2:48 AM
1137: What hte Hell indeed, Randall. What hte Hell.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 21, 2012 at 3:35 AM
1137: this is terrible. also has he made an error in that 'the' spelt backwards is 'eht' not 'eth'? Perhaps I'm missing somethingReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 21, 2012 at 7:36 AM
Well that was quick. What If is already running repeats. Guns can stop trains. Guns can make a jet pack. Yeah, there's a difference between force of impact (the train one) and recoil (jetpack), but it's still basically the same idea.ReplyDeleteReplies
- SleeperNovember 22, 2012 at 8:43 AM
It's not even just that. It's the bastard child repeat of Guns Have Force and Fuel Is Heavy.Delete
Has he already found the limit to how many shitty foundations he can expand to make the world explode ad nauseam (specifically your nauseam)? Stay tuned next week, when Shitpile Discovery picks up his prime-time option.
- AnonymousNovember 21, 2012 at 3:34 PM
There are actually a few funny comments here. Specifically "that's right you foggot" and vicinity.ReplyDelete
Otherwise, I miss ALTF.
You are all cunts.Replies
- AnonymousNovember 21, 2012 at 5:17 PM
Up yours. My comments are great.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 22, 2012 at 7:18 AM
ALTF was nowhere near classical Usenet kook standard but she did provide a certain flavour of the Old Religion.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 22, 2012 at 1:44 PM
LOLOLOL NOSTALGIADelete
- AnonymousNovember 22, 2012 at 4:18 PM
LOLOLOL LOLOLOLDelete
- AnonymousNovember 23, 2012 at 5:53 AM
LOLOLOL METADelete
- AnonymousNovember 24, 2012 at 5:57 AM
LOLOLOL IM SO META EVEN THIS LOLOLOLDelete
- AnonymousNovember 24, 2012 at 12:15 PM
LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL Hey JudeDelete
- AnonymousNovember 21, 2012 at 7:08 PM
Next xkcd Randall discovers the combining cyrillic millions character! What whacky hi-jinks will the Black Hat man come up with using that? Stay tuned!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 22, 2012 at 8:43 AM
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ReplyDeleteReplies
- AnonymousNovember 22, 2012 at 1:42 PM
LOLOLOL SMILIESDelete
- AnonymousNovember 22, 2012 at 4:56 PM
Ⓐⓛⓢⓞ ⓣⓗⓘⓢDelete
- AnonymousNovember 22, 2012 at 5:59 PM
le fuck offDelete
- AnonymousNovember 23, 2012 at 4:37 AM
DAE( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ??ReplyDeleteReplies
- AnonymousNovember 24, 2012 at 3:46 AM
No way, jose. I run through the entire internet to escape you and you will not catch me. You will not catch me. I will still be running long after you are dead and forgotten, and I will smile for I will have escaped.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 24, 2012 at 1:43 PM
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)Delete
- AnonymousNovember 24, 2012 at 3:14 PM
So, looks like another shitty webcomic has ended. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e60JlM6ZXHc sums up my feelings on the matter.)ReplyDelete
How long until Randall finally moves on?Replies
- AnonymousNovember 24, 2012 at 3:36 PM
Randall relies on xkcd for income, possibly his sole source of income. If he stops xkcd people won't buy as much of the stuff. He's been out of actual work too long to really go back.Delete
xkcd will never end.
- AnonymousNovember 24, 2012 at 6:04 PM
People have been saying that about CAD for years, though, and Buckley has even less prospects than Randall. At least Randall has some science/computer background to fall back on, not to mention a legion of fans who would probably jump to work alongside him, regardless of his qualifications. B^Uckley has a reputation as a complete asshole, a horrible artist/writer, and a plagiarist, and his only education is the art school he dropped out of because they made him do, like, figure drawing and perspective and shit. Not to mention his fanbase has dwindled over time as his stories got more and more tedious.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 24, 2012 at 10:16 PM
hurray! miscarriages 24/7!Delete
- AnonymousNovember 25, 2012 at 1:39 AM
I must say. the fact that you have nothing better to do with your life than rant about some web comic that no one's forcing you to read is very amusing. bravo. If you have so much to say about XKCD, why don't you try creating your own?ReplyDeleteReplies
- AnonymousNovember 25, 2012 at 5:51 AM
I create my own every day when I wipe my ass after dropping a shit. I just don't have the poor taste to upload a scan of it on the internet.Delete
- SleeperNovember 25, 2012 at 7:58 AM
Ah, the repetitive bullshit of tired questions and their funneled echo. Every dam must leak.Delete
- AnonymousNovember 25, 2012 at 12:15 PM
Shit, the worlds worst facebook page has been posting the worlds worst webcomic: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=504513526236330&set=a.456449604376056.98921.367116489976035&type=1ReplyDelete


text:
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Blue tuesday
Posted by A MAD TEA PARTY at 8:26 AM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked. "Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad." "How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice. "You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

subset: commoncrawl


text:
David Duchovny and Tea Leoni have decided to call it quits.
The couple, who has been together since 1997, minus a brief separation in 2008, filed for divorce back in June. Everything went smoothly, since they settled the terms themselves.
Duchovny and Leoni have two children one 15 and another 12. Both live on the Upper West Side of New York City.


text:
Andrew's leaving me for a week. He doesn't travel often but over the next two weeks he has business in Seattle and Washington D.C. which means I'm doing the single mom thing. I don't like doing the single mom thing.
He's left plenty of times before but the difference is that in the past I've never wanted to go with him. For example, in summer he's gone to the Alagnak River in Katmai National Park. You're not familiar with the Alagnak? Well according to the men around here it's the Most Holy of Holy Fishing Spots where the men are men and the salmon lounge on the banks just waiting for the mighty hunters to arrive for the fight.
World class fishing, breathtaking scenery, even a bear or two thrown in for good measure. They stay at a place called the Katmai Lodge and Andrew's often asked me if I'd be interested in joining him there for three or four days.
He tells me how posh the lodge is, saying that I'd love it but whenever I quiz him on the accommodations they don't quite match my idea of luxury. For example, he raves about the food but really what this means is that there's merely lots of it. With men quantity is often mistaken for quality. If there's enough to make your gut ache, then who cares what it is.
Andrew loves it because the guides take them on the river and when it's time for lunch they whip up a fish, flapping and fresh, slit it open, pull out its guts, rinse the blood in the river and grill it up right there off the back of the boat on the guide's hibachi. My husband doesn't realize a woman isn't impressed by watching her dinner die.
He insists I'd love staying at the lodge and says each of the men get their own private room. Hmmm. Doesn't sound so bad until you probe:
Me: So do they have king-sized beds in each room then?
Andrew: Well . . . no.
M: Oh, so you must have a queen.
A: Well . . . no.
M: A double?
A: Not exactly.
M: You're kidding, you mean you get a twin bed?
A: Well, they aren't quite as big as a twin.
M: So what? Are we talking a cot or something?
A: Oh, it isn't a cot. Definitely not a cot. It isn't a cot—it's a bed—just not as big as a twin.
M: Hmph. Sounds like a cot to me.
The important thing to remember here is that as long as Andrew's in heaven all is well and when he's gone I can compensate by getting a real queen-sized bed to myself.
During these male-bonding fests I indulge myself in various ways. I make quiche (with plenty of mushrooms), watch Cary Grant movies, stay up late, wear less make-up (I say less because if I told you I don't wear any you'd be appalled) and sleep in the middle of the bed. It doesn't take the place of having my husband here but it helps.
The only problem is this time he's not going to a place where he needs to pack mosquito repellent and rain gear. He's heading south--south means warmth--and he's going to D.C. That's where we lived when we were first married. He'll see places full of memories and is even planning on eating at Continental Pizza and Subs the absolute, hands-down, most fabulous, tastiest, hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop we haunted in the evenings when we finished our daily commute. We dream about their steak and cheese sandwiches, there are none to compare. He'll be visiting my brother and sister-in-law and he'll be going out with old friends that traveled the east coast with us back when we were young and childless. Sigh.
Cary Grant and quiche isn't going to cut it this time. This is going to call for some serious indulgence.
Technorati Tags: travel, Washington D.C., Seattle, Katmai, Alagnak
Monday, March 12, 2007
Cary Grant and Quiche
Andrew's leaving me for a week. He doesn't travel often but over the next two weeks he has business in Seattle and Washington D.C. which means I'm doing the single mom thing. I don't like doing the single mom thing.
Email this post Labels: family life
28 comments:
- Robin said...
Oh dear, that is serious. I think the internets need to send you chocolate. Lots and lots of chocolate. Quick. And, DH better tell you that the sandwich shop has changed ownership and gone wayyyyyyy downhill.
- Sandra said...
I agree with Robin .... loads of chocolate is in order. Now chocolate and Cary Grant is a winning combination.
- A chuisle said...
i also agree. maybe you can treat yourself to like, an in-home massage or something to make up for it. :)
- Keith said...
Since I am a man I will not submit an idea of how you should indulge yourself. But, I will say that he better bring you back a sandwich!!
- Babystepper said...
I suggest you start working your way down your amazon.com wishlist. One purchase for every cool thing he gets to do that you don't.
I guess I must be apalling, because I only wear makeup to church. I hate the stuff! Mucky. Too bad I also have a bad face.
- chelle said...
awww I hate when my husband goes out of town!!!
And he BETTER bring home something good *wink*
- nutmeg said...
In a couple of weeks my husband is leaving for two weeks in Italy without me and our four kids. Forget quiche, I get through it with red wine and chocolate. When he gets home he's into me for hours of free time and back rubs, and I better get something in Italian leather!
- wheresmymind said...
Bears!! That sounds like fun!
- wheresmymind said...
Bears!! That sounds like fun!
- grnidlady said...
well as others have commented this does call for chocolate! :)
- Melissa R. Garrett said...
My husband travels a lot too - in fact, I am playing the single mom, as well, this week. Unfortunately for me, with only the picky eaters to please, dinners without hubby usually consist of hot dogs and vegetarian "chicken" nuggets. I don't even get the benefit of having a bed to myself as one kid or another ends up with me. And it never fails that one of them gets sick. Yep, wouldn't you know the youngest woke up with a terrible cold. Sigh. And there he will be in Georgia, Tennesee, and South Carolina. In the sun. In the warmth.
I may take the advice of the others and indulge in something chocolate. And possibly that risotto ;-)
- Lei said...
Well I'll indulge with you cuz my husband is going out of town too.
Sleeping in the middle of the bed is the best, isn't it?
- edj said...
I know how you feel...last fall I had to come back alone (well with the kids) to Mauritania in the middle of the hot-and-sticky season (WORST time of year) while my husband was writing to me from coffee shops in the NW about fall colours and crisp mornings and Thai food and time with friends. It was rough! Here's hoping your time of single mom-hood passes quickly and you get lots of chocolate, red wine, Cary Grant, new books, whatever it is you want.
- Marie N. said...
Your methods for coping with a husband on a business trip are very, very familiar.
Would bringing home some take out meals help?
I love it when I don't have to cook or clean up/supervise clean up.
- J Fife said...
Funny. My husband and I have steak and cheese sandwich memories from early in our relationship - only ours came from Cambridge, Ma.
Solo parenting is so hard. Good luck!
- Pendullum said...
Have a few galpals over , stinky cheese and a few nice bottles of wine and some really fun music...
Sooo, when would you like us to virtually to arrive????
- An Ordinary Mom said...
Sleeping in the middle of the bed is great, especially when you don't have to share covers or pillows.
So sorry you don't get to go,though. Just think, you are saving up for India.
If Cary Grant and Quiche don't cut it, what are you going to indulge in? Do share :) ?!?
- Heffalump said...
When my husband goes out of town I usually stock up on comfort foods and frozen things that will please the kids and take less work in the kitchen for me.
I have to tell you though, that I don't wear make-up at all. Maybe every couple of years. I do put on lipstick to place kisses on little notes that I hide inside his luggage for him to find while he is gone. But since he doesn't go traveling much anymore, I haven't had to do that for a long time.
Sounds like you need to learn to make Philly Cheese Sandwiches. I am looking for a good recipe for those myself. Right now we make due with the ones they sell at Costco.
- scribbit said...
You've all given me something to think about. I may have to order a wild mushroom pizza at Moose's Tooth and go see the new Sandra Bullock movie--Premonition. I really want to see it.
Where's my mind says the bears would be fun. You know that picture with the bear opening it's mouth and the salmon is jumping up the waterfall into the bear's waiting jaws? That's taken close to Katmai. I forget the name of the place but it's close. At least in Alaska terms.
These steak and cheese sandwiches have all sorts of odd things in them--like salsa and mushrooms--but the combo is that secret thing that makes them fabulous. They are huge and 14 years ago were only $2.75 for a full-sized sandwich, if my memory is correct. By any standards that's a bargain and by D.C. standards it was a miracle.
I've tried making them over the years and can't duplicate it.
- Susan said...
I know what you mean about not being able to replicate it. I also think it's not just the sandwich, it's sharing it with Andrew and all of the associated memories that go along with it. I'm sorry you can't be there with him.
How about something carby and filling like cheesy pasta or pizza? Then have the chocolate. Stick with Cary though. He always makes me feel better.
- Haley-O said...
CHOCOLATE!!! And HUGS your way! We're hear if you need to vent while he's away. That's a long time!
- Christie said...
man, that's a tough one. i hope he brings you back something deeeelish, and not something that you have to watch die on a plate! by the way, that made me laugh out loud. you're too funny. good luck to you. i hate playing single mom when hubby goes out of town. i usually head to my mom's. i'm a wimp.
- Amanda said...
Oh, now you have me feeling soft and wishing for the hill behind our house, taking us from Watertown and down into Belmont. Over to the corner shop for the amazing calzone, past the place we bought the antique chair for Spalding Gray's Swimming to Cambodia at Harvard. Our windy T stop outside the diner. For the days before kids and owning a business. Mind you, I wouldn't want to live in those days again, but to visit for a night might be sweet.
Good luck.
- The Wooden Porch said...
That fish is amazing! I'd jump at that vacation offer from my husband. We were just talking about where we were going to go for our fishing/camping vacation this year. With a barely one year old, I think we may have to pass on fishing. :-(
- Anonymous said...
Sending lots of virtual chocolate, and hey, the "stinky cheese" (LOL!) would be a great thing, too. Hard to beat stinky cheese! ;)
- Linda said...
I know a lot of guys who would be drooling at the mere reading of your post - fishing lodges, grilled fish on the back of a boat, uncomfortable places to sleep - oh yes, they would be all over that in a New York minute!
I hope your time apart from your husband isn't too unbearable. The new Sandra Bullock movie sounds like it would fit the bill nicely and go for the pizza, too! Indulge yourself!
Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier - you have a very nice place here! And that's an amzazing list of links you have in the post above this one!
- Blondie said...
It's so true that if there is a "lot" of something like food, men think they are in heaven.
Yes, you are going to have to spoil yourself. I think this should involve expensive earrings.
- J said...
Sorry you can't go with him. :( I love DC, and it would SUCK to have my husband there, eating at my favorite ethiopian restaurant over in Adams Morgan, and me at home eating quiche. I mean, I like quiche as much as the next person, but, well...


text:
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Comic 602: Broken Social Life
So apparently Randall Munroe (or his stand in, Generic Stick Man) is awkward at parties. This is because he cannot handle much social interaction and would rather think of math! Things would be so much easier if we could all just hang out with robots.
This comic has of course inspired on the forums (as well as in comments here) lots of "oh man i TOTALLY do that to, get out of my head" type responses. That's what I hate about xkcd: He just writes about nerds bein' weird and awkward and everyone identifies with it and is like "oh man that is so awesome, I am validated now because Internet Man has the same issue, that makes me less weird" and that somehow translates into "xkcd is funny."
But enough of that. The real problem with this comic is that we've seen it before. Yes, he has some more interesting that usual visuals (both party-turning-into-the-dude's-mind kind of thing and the visualization of prime numbers) that prove, once more, that Randy knows basic photoshop. But "I am bad at social interaction but have to pretend I am not because of social pressure" is an old xkcd trope. You see it in 358 and a while ago in 92. Of course, this one is even pander-ier to his fans.
But I do have some nice things to say this time! this makes me feel good. He finally has put some work, apparently, into the art. That's rare, and it's nice to see him not be so damn minimalist. Good job expressing your thoughts in a good combination of words and pictures! this is what comics are for. yay
99 comments:
holy shit carl you posted BEFORE THE NEXT COMIC WENT UP what is going onReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 28, 2009 at 2:13 PM
Ah, no, the next comic is up and has been so for a long time...ReplyDelete
I seriously can't get why Carl identifies the "Generic Stick Man" with Munroe, the author has not stated this even once, as far as I am concerned.
Half of the problems you (@Carl) have with his comics are based on this false assumption and it leaves a truly bad impression. You don't comment on the joke and your arguments are predominantly ad hominem because sometimes you have nothing else to grab onto. Your logic is weak and falls apart even under superficial examination. You say you hate XKCD for something someone else has done. This argument would not stand in front of any thinking person, I believe you understand why. Apart from that, I do agree that identifying oneself with a comic strip that is about the most unbelievable geekiness and then saying "I feel better now" is a subject for examination by trained specialists. However, you cannot blame Munroe for that.
Munroe's jokes aren't always top-notch humor, however, you are doing even worse at criticizing them.
P.S. Please, excuse any errors in grammar, punctuation, and word choice, English is my third language and I have not had too much of a chance to practice it.
- AnonymousJune 28, 2009 at 2:15 PM
Is English being your third language why you don't get that this post on 602 went up while 602 was still up and that is actually amazing given Carl's recent track record?ReplyDelete
While I agree that sometimes this blog is a bit hairy with distinguishing between author and character, in this case I think it's justified assuming that it is Randall. It seems focused enough on this one cypher that we haven't seen before, and who we know works on maths papers, etc, that I feel confident saying "this is meant to represent Munroe".ReplyDelete
CAPTCHA: "pulvors". I fractured my pulvors once, and it hurt.
- Joey BloggsJune 28, 2009 at 2:22 PM
To be honest - in comparison to the latest few comics, this one has no openly sexual references, actually deals with a preference for (real) math and just is a "not-crap" comic overall. Maybe way below former par, but I see this as a way back to the roots of the glorious days.ReplyDelete
But then again, the alt-text ruins anything. In a way, it sounds like he were to say "I made a fun math reference, but am not sure whether my readers like it, so I better add a 'yeah, me totally too'-reference for the non-math people in here"
Come on, don't feel bad for turning your back on cheap mainstream comics!
My next studio album, "Roots of the Glorious Days", is available via Parlophone Records from July 7th at iTunes!ReplyDelete
CAPTCHA: "pantisho". Hmm.
I don't think the real problem is that we've seen it before. I think the real problem is that he's basically saying "PEOPLE WHO ENJOY PARTIES ARE SHALLOW AND I AM SUPERIOR TO THEM BECAUSE I PREFER TO THINK OF MATHS."ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 28, 2009 at 3:06 PM
That's a pretty intense generalization. He's setting the scene of a particular kind of party. The people are talking in a bitchy, banal way about other people, and stick guy wants to escape. You're adding the shallow/math stuff yourself; this could appear on a tennis comic site with stick guy escaping into his head to play pretend tennis, but this is xkcd, so obviously, we're gonna get some primes.ReplyDelete
First Anon: What fluffy said. By "next" I meant 603. Hence the word "next."ReplyDelete
That's a pretty intense generalization. He's setting the scene of a particular kind of party. The people are talking in a bitchy, banal way about other people, and stick guy wants to escape. You're adding the shallow/math stuff yourself; this could appear on a tennis comic site with stick guy escaping into his head to play pretend tennis, but this is xkcd, so obviously, we're gonna get some primes.ReplyDelete
Alternately, of course, he could've written it at some other sort of party! Is the point of this comic "People are bitches" or "Math guy just wants to do math"? If the latter, well, it could've been in any kind of party, and actually the message would've been stronger if he'd been at a conventionally entertaining party. As it is, it dulls the point because even a perfectly normal person might be turned off by the jackasses Randall has filled his imaginary party with.
If, however, we think of the comic as saying "Man, people suck SO HARD, thank God for math," well, the terrible people are actually integral. The fact that a solid five panels and the alt text are devoted to demonstrating just how shitty these folks are--more narrative space than the guy's math fantasy!--seems to support the hypothesis that, yes, people being vapid assholes is an important part of 602.
It could be both, but it definitely seems that the message of "People suck" is present, and probably stronger than "Mathematicians are autistic."
@Anon 2:13:ReplyDelete
"blah blah words You don't comment on the joke blah blah oh look I'm smart please someone respect and pay attention to me blah blah bullshit"
It's hard to comment on something that doesn't exist. This comic had no joke. It had an observation that might, to a feeble-minded, fanboy lackwit, might be perceived as amusing, but calling it a joke is quite a stretch.
In regards to the rest of your post:
-Prove the assumptions are false, and provide evidence to support your argument
-Saying ad hominem makes you look like a pretentious high school debate student. This is the Internet - if you want perfect debate etiquette, get the fuck out.
I didn't find it funny, but at least it wasn't downright bad.ReplyDelete
Meh! Not much else to say.
Actually, many, many, many comics make the fair (though implicit) point that its main character IS a projection of Randall himself. That doesn't imply he's putting into the comic things that DO happen to him, of course. Oh, and in more than one occasion, the character was referred to by Randall's name. Either way, though, the using of xkcd's strips as a means to comment on Randall personally is reaching stupid proportions. It's funny how people criticise him so fiercely, when in fact THAT is what helps people become notorious. If he was really all that bad, it would be better to simply ignore him.ReplyDelete
This comic was damn solid, and again, very easy to find all sorts of stupid, idiotic subtexts in. "Oh, Randall is showing how superior he is!". Pathetic. "Oh, Randall is socially inept and doesn't know how to deal with people". Well, nothing in the comic implies that ALL non-geeky people are as stupid and shallow and false as that, but people like that exist, and it's not such an absurd point to prefer maths than to staying around people like that (unless you're also stupid and shallow and false, in which case you'd say "deuhhr, you don't like parties because you don't know how to enjoy life, deuhhr"). The comic's single important point is at the end: people automatically assume (usually unwittingly) you're exactly like them, so you obviously enjoy what they enjoy, and everything they don't enjoy is a burden to you. If that never happen to you, maybe you just don't have any idea of what the comic is talking about and your points are pretty much stupid. What *I* find is that I the comic wasn't trying hard to FORCE me to relate with it. It's quite in tune with the more assorted, unassuming ideas of old, and I like that; it's just one of those "oh, funny, I've been through that before! Turns out I'm not alone in this world" moments, and if Randall was just trying to cater to his fans' pleasures, at least he put some effort in it.
As for the "BUT HE HAS DONE THIS BEFORE!!!!!11" criticism, meh. You've been making the same style of criticism over and over and over and over, yet you're just ok with that...
- AnonymousJune 28, 2009 at 6:22 PM
Guys, xkcd has recently started using nicer visual effects, what with the Robot's electric arc, meteors and the slipstream-ish slide into a mathworld.ReplyDelete
Is it a real trend of improvement from the sticks-n'-words style Randall has used for ages or just some stochastic behavior of this sad sad system?
- AnonymousJune 28, 2009 at 6:39 PM
Sorry, had some more to write:ReplyDelete
Oh and xkcd#92 and xkcd#358 has real frigging art in them! FRIG!!
Randall, stop being such a lazy ass and make good art again! We know you can do it! WE KNOW!
Look at this awesome bark! Look at these stylistic red cups and movement of the partiers! Look at the SHADING! We never see no frigging shadings in an xkcd anymore, not like the one in xkcd#358. Look at the rudimentary, one-point, perspective in xkcd#92! It is much more pleasing with the zero-point we see in the usual flatland xkcd. xkcd#92 even has a nice negative colours effect!
and again
p.s. Even though xkcd#602 is not a humorous xkcd, it has a nice commentary. Also, it talks about a different aspect of parties than the other two and each of the other two talks about a different aspect. So I don't think he is recycling... not much.
- RamseyJune 28, 2009 at 8:00 PM
I'm still surprised that so many people liked this. Look at it. THEY'RE STANDING IN SINGLE FILE, WTF?! And there's one lonely, miserable cup on the table. Which disappears in panel 5.ReplyDelete
If doing the same thing over and over again is wrong, then Randall and Carl are BOTH wrong. Saying, "Oh, it's wrong to criticize Randy for being repetitive, but I will criticize YOU, Carl, for being repetitive", is a double standard, and it fucking pisses me off.
If Randall is immune from criticism for repetition, then so is Carl. Similarly, if you forgive Randall for it, you must also forgive Carl for it. Get Randall's dick far enough out of your ear to think clearly before making such a stupid argument.
Also, as for this:
"The comic's single important point is at the end: people automatically assume (usually unwittingly) you're exactly like them, so you obviously enjoy what they enjoy, and everything they don't enjoy is a burden to you. If that never happen to you, maybe you just don't have any idea of what the comic is talking about and your points are pretty much stupid."
Perhaps there is a scenario you're forgetting; that Carl (and I, and others) find this point incredibly trite, cliche, and frivolous, and thus consider it a rather uninspired, unoriginal point.
Go eat a dick, you self-righteous prick. It's not that we don't get it - it's that we don't want it. Try peddling your superiority complex elsewhere, asshole.
(P.S. - Gin does make a man mean.)
I thought the entire point of being friends with someone was because of mutual interests. But Randall has proved me wrong by showing true friendship is about standing in a single file line, doing whatever you feel like.ReplyDelete
Also, something I'm surprised no one mentioned that random cup on the table. It has no apparent purpose, but in the last panel one of the generic girls goes to pick it up. It just feels out of place that no one else would have a plastic cup drink or why it would suddenly be of importance. But that's me nit picking.
Also if Carl's humor is repetitive, it's because his xkcd dictates what he writes. If Randy makes the same mistakes, Carl pretty much has to write the same criticisms.ReplyDelete
It's like they say, you can't polish a turd.
Hunter Barry: What's so wrong with the cup? She was drinking it before the comic started, she stopped drinking it to talk, then she resumed drinking it to get a sip later on.ReplyDelete
The_P: What's so wrong with ad hominem? It's a perfectly good word.
Hunter Barry (again): Who said he was at that party with his friends? Maybe he had one friend at the party who dragged him there. Maybe he decided to try and meet new people, but it didn't work out.
And to anyone: What's wrong with this "not having a joke"? Comics don't need jokes; the point of a comic is not to make you laugh; it's to entertain/please/satisfy you.
D'oh! I meant phrase, not word.ReplyDelete
What's wrong with the cup is it just seems out of place to only have one person drinking it. It's not a major problem, it just irks me that he would add detail to that one insignificant part.ReplyDelete
I assume they're his friends because why else would he be hanging out with them. Occam's Razor at it's finest. If he was dragged there against his will, then Randall should establish that earlier in the strip. Otherwise, the sane reader will be left to assume the most likely explanation and the fanboy will assume whatever makes the strip work.
Usually, comics need to have some point to work. XKCD doesn't have art, a narrative, or a punchline in this case. So what is the point? I guess the point is this one hypothetical character prefers math over conversation. Whoop de doo.
On an unrelated note, I actually liked the most recent comic. It was pretty rational and well thought out. About the only complaint I'd have is why is he talking about a 2006 film in 2009, but he's committed worse sins in the past week than that.
- AnonymousJune 28, 2009 at 9:46 PM
I'm pretty sure the rich don't have more children. Make whatever point you want about societal decline vs complaining about it, but don't have your "good" character spout crap.ReplyDelete
This comic is like "HI I'M RANDALL AND I THINK I'M SMARTER THAN A BUNCH OF NAYSAYERS OH SNAP THAT COULD BE A COMIC"
603's biggest problem, for me, was that Idiocracy came out three years ago.ReplyDelete
The next biggest problem is that this is the third or fourth time Randall has mocked a satire or a parody--he did it with Princes Brice and MathNet, for example. It's very lazy to riff off already funny material.
Of course, the Idiocracy stuff is gone by panel two, and I'll confess that I wasn't really able to completely follow the thrust of the guy's argument.
But I actually didn't mind it, because for ONCE it felt like he's written two characters who are different and also NOT RANDALL. Mr. Some Other Kind Of Hat is clearly not Randall, because he's a NEW CHARACTER. And Random Stick Figure isn't Randall, because he's kind of dumb.
Similarly, I don't mind how incredibly preachy and abrasive stuff like the fourth and sixth panels are, because it's coming from a character who's supposed to be a hateful jackass. Okay, I mind a little bit, because it's not funny. But at least it doesn't feel like Randall, personally, is condescending to his readers.
I find Mr. Some Other Kind Of Hat's claim in the fifth panel very, very dubious, but I'm not actually sure how I would even begin to quantify stuff like "harm done by social decline" or whatever. Also, re-reading it, the grammar is off--I'd suggest replacing "ever did" with "itself."
Alt-text is cheery and optimistic, and that's a pleasant change of pace from the usual relentless "People suck love sucks I suck KILL ME NOW" tone that XKCD has adopted as of late.
The alt-text made me think of Pictures for Sad Children, although I really read that particular one as applying more to Aaron Diaz than to Randall Munroe.
Also, FUCK AARON DIAZ TO DEATH.
- AnonymousJune 28, 2009 at 10:25 PM
I thought idiocracy was a lot of fun -- but I also agree with Randall.ReplyDelete
However, the comic simply doesn't have a joke or a punch line. It's just Randall being preachy, which should have been saved for his blog. On the other hand, theres no stick figure fucking, so that alone makes it one of the better recent comics.
the comic is so much funnier if you assume no-hat-guy = randy. it's in characterReplyDelete
I feel like that last panel can be used in any number of xkcd: could be better parodies.
Also Randy spelled zealots wrong.ReplyDelete
So, in panel 4, there's a vowel in "zealot" that shouldn't be there.ReplyDelete
It COULD be an ingenious gambit attempting to combine the word "sellout" and "zealot" (the sounds are similar, the slur wouldn't be hard), and the implication that being high-and-mighty with morality is hypocrisy?
Or Randall could use a proofreader.
p.s. why is White Hat offscreen in the last panel? Is he just walking away because he's that done with the conversation, or is it because the text was written before the illustration was done, and there wasn't room for White Hat to stick around, making a dismissive gesture?
And does it even matter?
Who has two thumbs and is too young to drink gin like Poore? IT'S THIS GUY
Aside, I briefly read PVP Makes Me Sad because Carl mentioned it in an (old, old) comment...ReplyDelete
...and I'm stopping, because overall I really think it IS too positive. PVP's really pretty trite and banal, and though the illustration has steadily improved, the jokes are actually pretty much at XKCD-level "i am referencing the 80s: laugh now" stuff. And then there's the fact that he writes long-format storylines based around characters who are exclusively idiots, jackasses, or overprotective mothers.
While it's nice for there to be genuine fans of stuff offering well-thought-out critique of a comic, I was hoping for something a bit ruder, and a bit less inclined to say "Wow! I really like where Scott's been going with a lot of this stuff :)"
So, it's not for me, and I'm not reading it.
Thought you might like to know.
- SubcultureJune 28, 2009 at 10:56 PM
603 is preachy. Isn't Randall so kind to enlighten us by attacking preachy idiots? Oh wait, that is exactly what Randall is too. So I present alternate panel 4 text:ReplyDelete
You're like the webcomic artists who are burdened by their superiority with the sad duty of decrying the obvious intellectual decay of each new idea. And you're just as wrong.
- Cuddlefish PrimeJune 28, 2009 at 11:08 PM
Who wants to bet that "zealouts" will mysteriously disappear by tomorrow morning, with no acknowledgement from Randall? I'm calling it now!ReplyDelete
Oh and 603 pisses me off. New Hat Guy is pretty obviously supposed to be Randall, and either he just thought the hat looked cool or he somehow wanted to make people think it wasn't him. His little rant makes no sense and isn't even responding to anything in the movie (a movie which I never considered to have any sort of message in the first place, beyond "hay what if everyone in the future was totally stupid lol komedy gold").
Randy-in-stylish-summer-hat may or may not have an excellent point anyway, but the presentation is just overly irritating and reminds me a little too much of this: http://www.shmorky.com/comics/big20060619.gif
Also I hate not being able to copy and paste in this comment box. PLZ FIX IT CARL OR BLOGGER OR WHOEVER'S IN CHARGE KTHX
Oh and 603 pisses me off. New Hat Guy is pretty obviously supposed to be Randall, and either he just thought the hat looked cool or he somehow wanted to make people think it wasn't him.ReplyDelete
It worked on me. I thought that the hat combined with the ridiculously over-the-top verbal abuse were supposed to clue us in to the fact that everyone in this comic is a gigantic stupid douchebag.
- Cuddlefish PrimeJune 28, 2009 at 11:15 PM
Ooh ooh ooh I just refreshed the comic and there is no comic there! Perhaps a certain typo is getting unpersoned as was foretold? We shall see!ReplyDelete
I just refreshed, and it's "zealots"!ReplyDelete
Nah, 603 is a repudiation of the arrogant geek culture that everybody* heaped scorn upon him for the last comic. People like this are bullshit. For the first couple panels I was afraid xkcd was going to play that trope straight.ReplyDelete
He took it a little far into Godwin territory (he didn't actually Hitler or Nazis but we all know where he was going with that), but just because Randall has been an arrogant prick in the past doesn't mean he can't decry other arrogant pricks. It might be hypocritical, but that's never stopped anybody (nor is it really a good argument when we can all agree that arrogant prickery is annoying, except when it's not).
His comic is down now (he's probably fixing the spelling for zealot) and I just had to refresh, so I can't be specific. I'm amused at the forums, though -- a bunch of the posts are already taking the side of the moron in the comic.
*to within experimental error.
Ens, you HAVE to be specific--WHICH moron are they siding with? I cannot check myself, for my mind would surely combust.ReplyDelete
It's already fixed.ReplyDelete
603 wasn't as bad as 602. This marks a slight upward trend, but after 600, I'm not holding out hope for much.
I'm actually pretty happy with 603. Makes a good point, pretty amusing, starting to break up the 4x1 panel flow.ReplyDelete
Despite it being a tad preachy and awkwardly presented, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that 603 is a bit of a high note in the latest series of XKCD's solely for the fact that for once it goes against the "People are dumb" dogma that nerd culture is so in love with and which XKCD is the prime prophet of. Somebody finally pulled the emergency break on the whole "I'm not shallow because I do math"/"Pep rallies are for sheep"/"Math people are better than all other scientists" thing, and it was XKCD itself that did it. Amazing.ReplyDelete
- JonathanJune 29, 2009 at 1:19 AM
the "get out of my head" brigade have arrived: http://echochamber.me/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=41627#p1654729ReplyDelete
On the comic, it's alright I suppose. Not really funny and I'd like to know what inspired the rant but at least it's an improvement over the recent efforts.
One thing that suddenly struck me about 603: it reads almost -exactly- like a Chick Tract. The way the text in panel 4 is seperated into two bubbles, seperating a line like "And you're just as wrong", the whole wall of text with poor art thing, or the whole 'everything you believe is wrong' sentiment. I mean: http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0093/0093_01.aspReplyDelete
This may actually be true for a lot of preachy XKCD's, but it suddenly became noticable for me.
last panel of 603 reminds me of dinosaur comicsReplyDelete
And then there's this lovely chestnut:ReplyDelete
"On any measure of intelligence, I surpass either of my parents".
Any measure, you hear that, folks?
I identify with this comic, but I have this radical solution where I don't go to parties. So I guess I don't identify with this comic, because I don't do things that I don't want to do. Apparently Randal Munroe does. Bummer for him I guess.ReplyDelete
@Grand Master: holy shit that guy sounds like douche. he claimed in like 3 sentences that he was smarter than both of his parents in all aspects of life and that he was the tallest human in his family line.ReplyDelete
"If doing the same thing over and over again is wrong, then Randall and Carl are BOTH wrong. Saying, "Oh, it's wrong to criticize Randy for being repetitive, but I will criticize YOU, Carl, for being repetitive", is a double standard, and it fucking pisses me off."ReplyDelete
Gee, how surprising you're missing the point. You forget that if Randall and Carl are "BOTH wrong", then neither has the right to criticise each other. Pot calling the kettle black, much? Hypocrisy, much? Not having any mirrors in the house, much?
"Perhaps there is a scenario you're forgetting; that Carl (and I, and others) find this point incredibly trite, cliche, and frivolous, and thus consider it a rather uninspired, unoriginal point."
That's NOT the criticism I found around here -- people were way busier attacking Randall himself for supposedly being self-righteous and arrogant, and did NOT bother about what the strip actually meant. You just thought that criticism up right now, and, well, guess what? ANYTHING can be trite, cliché and frivolous; it only depends on how conceited you want to be. If all people in the world shouldn't be allowed to make the same point more than once, art would have been completely depleted centuries ago.
I also appreciate the insults; it only shows how little you care about actual criticism, and you're only catering for the "insulting xkcd makes me cool" crew. You're doing here exactly what Randall is supposedly doing in his comic: crowd pleasing. But that's not my problem: if it floats your boat, don't let me stop you.
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 7:20 AM
"More harm has been done by people panicked over societal decline than societal decline ever did."ReplyDelete
I guess I take issue with that? Even excepting things like the dark ages, general downturns in economies and standards of living and whatnot have done a whole hell of a lot of damage to things.
Second, indignant-hat-man's "theory" is a hypothesis, and is also pretty churlish. What an ass.
Finally, the guy on the left isn't really getting much in edgewise. Hat-man interrupts him repeatedly, assuming, probably, that he doesn't have any legitiamte arguments. Which is the same dogmatic stylings, naturally, of the people he decries.
Basically, I don't have an opinion on the issue, really. I'm led to believe that there is evidence supporting the theory that the Flynn effect is reverting itself in developed countries, which are what I assume is being discussed, and I have a lot of anecdotal evidence to support that idea. Regardless, I don't feel well-informed enough to make a judgment; Randall clearly does (or at least thinks he does), but man is he insufferable, and there's not actual evidence for anything that he presents.
Also, no joke, unless "You're ugly" counts.
- harrisonJune 29, 2009 at 7:25 AM
I'm definitely getting a Mary Sue vibe from New Hat Guy. I kind of hate him, he should go fuck himself.ReplyDelete
('cuz no one else will amirite lol)
@Fernie Canto: Honestly, what is your stance on xkcd and this blog?ReplyDelete
Here you say how you like 600 but fanboyism is getting on your nerves. And also how terrible 601 is.
Here you say that because of 601 xkcd has hit the point of no return in awfulness, but 602 has fully redeemed it. You also mention that you "get a little bit of refreshment and pleasure by being nasty and bitter at a goddamn webcomic author.".
And lastly, above this you mention that "people were way busier attacking Randall himself for supposedly being self-righteous and arrogant, and did NOT bother about what the strip actually meant."
So according to you, its okay to absolutely hate some comics, absolutely adore the others, be nasty and bitter at Randy without any cartoon criticism some of the time, and then call others out on this message board for doing just that? I mean for christ's sake, how can you go from saying xkcd has hit the point of no return to back to being amazing in 2 comics!?
How about you pick a side and go with it.
- formatJune 29, 2009 at 7:43 AM
Yeah fernie pissed me off and lost any credibility when he said xkcd hit the point of no return and then was fully redeemed. In the same sentence.ReplyDelete
Do you know what 'point of no return' means?
I don't think it's worth arguing with such a fickle, and feeble minded, person.
"Gee, how surprising you're missing the point. You forget that if Randall and Carl are "BOTH wrong", then neither has the right to criticise each other."
Is that how it works? I don't think that's how it works. Because, if you believe in freedom of speech, then both still have the "right" to say whatever the fuck they want. That kind of PC censorship bullshit doesn't fly.
"That's NOT the criticism I found around here"
Really? Because I just made it around here. The quote of me comes directly from here. Here is the only place that specific criticism has been found.
"If all people in the world shouldn't be allowed to make the same point more than once, art would have been completely depleted centuries ago."
I'd like to see you prove this, because it's an incredibly untestable claim. Accepting that it's okay to be cliche is an attitue that breeds stagnation and hinders innovation. I'm not saying that all points that have been made before should never be made again - I'm saying that, after 600 fucking comics, you'd think Randall could come up with something actually original for once.
"I also appreciate the insults; it only shows how little you care about actual criticism, and you're only catering for the "insulting xkcd makes me cool" crew."
So assumptions you make about me from the things I do and say online are correct, but the assumptions we make about Randall from the things he does and says online are not reasonable? Fuck that noise.
Also, see Mike G.'s post. I can't decide if you're an idiot, a troll, or just plain crazy.
@format and Mike G.ReplyDelete
First of all, he says that he HAD (previously) considered xkcd to have hit the point of no return. His point is that 602 proved this idea to be false--it's really not that confusing.
In any case, the point of no return is the final point at which return--that is, if you are to return, you must do it before passing that point. To have PASSED the point of no return implies that redemption is no longer possible, to have HIT it implies that if you are to redeem yourself, you must do it immediately. Since his claim is that 602 does redeem xkcd, the terms have all been used acceptably and without contradiction.
Thats understandable Chris. I just find it nonsensical to flip flop so much and so easily on such extreme ends of the spectrum.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 8:07 AM
I just found something worse than the xkcd forum: the xkcd LiveJournal comments. Sadly, they disappear after two weeks.ReplyDelete
I'm a socially awkward nerd who doesn't like math, that's right I said it. I would rather think about video games or naked girls, but I guess that is because I am just a plebian in the eyes of supar genius math language and love expert randall.ReplyDelete
Oh and I also get the feeling that he hates women. Why won't Megan screw him and save us from more terrible comics?
This weekend someone referenced xkcd IN REAL LIFE IN MY PRESENCE, but I was able to choke back the bile. It was a math major talking to some other science major about that stupid xkcd 435, fields arranged by purity.ReplyDelete
Specifically, it was brought up because of its intense pandering, as some sort of justification that math is awesome.
And people like it because of this. I'll just never understand.
- WilhelmJune 29, 2009 at 8:31 AM
Amen. When will Randall learn that we use blogs to preach our simplistic worldviews, and webcomics to amuse others? Unless xkcd isn't supposed to be funny or insightful in anyway, in which case good job Randall.
Even though I agree that the story in Idiocracy is far fetched, couldn't Randy have made a strip that wasn't so indignant, preachy, and... unfunny?
A: "Here's my elitist opinion x."
B: "You're wrong because you're just like people you hate. Oh, and x is probably true because you suck in a way that validates x. Haha! *walks away*"
HAHAHAHAHA you sure told him what's what, Randall analogue. That's what I'm gonna do next time someone spouts an ill informed opinion; be a boorish and condescending asshole, which is essentially the prerequisite for finding #603 funny.
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 8:46 AM
To be fair, people who talk like the hat guy in 603 are usually boorish, condescending assholes themselves.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 9:31 AM
"If doing the same thing over and over again is wrong, then Randall and Carl are BOTH wrong. Saying, "Oh, it's wrong to criticize Randy for being repetitive, but I will criticize YOU, Carl, for being repetitive", is a double standard, and it fucking pisses me off."
Though his "Gee, how surprising you're missing the point" post seems to indicate otherwise, I felt that Fernie was criticizing Carl for being hypocritical, not directly just for being repetitive. I didn't think he was holding Carl accountable while giving Randall a pass. He was just saying that Carl shouldn't criticize for something he does himself.
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 9:36 AM
"No links before 5 posts. Especially if you link to filthy scum like the BNP.ReplyDelete
~Unnamed mod
Looky, biased mods!
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 9:45 AM
Wow, this was actually a good criticism. Carl usually makes critical assumptions which lead him down a path to possible misinterpretation. Then, he presents his interpretation as being the ONLY interpretation. However, I don't think he did that once in the one.ReplyDelete
I, for one, didn't interpret 602 as him being snobby. I think it's just a dude who can't leave his work behind. I thought the main character was sad at the end that he couldn't just enjoy the party. However, the particular style of the party banter does lend credibility to the snobby interpretation.
From our friend teapotdome:ReplyDelete
603 in a nutshell. (It's still better than 602, TYVM.)
603: Soapbox rant. Hat-less assuming man comments on an old video before the hat-wearing guy just bitches him out. Who's Randy trying to fool, we can see him under that hat.ReplyDelete
Which brings up a complaint I have had with XKCD for a long time. Look at 602. Goddammit why are all the guys bald? It just looks wrong if you take the time to give girls hair but not guys.
Oh wait, excuse me. Look at #600. Give a creepy male sex-bot hair but not the other guy?
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 10:32 AM
Just as there is nothing indicating they have hair, there is nothing indicating that they are bald. He just didn't draw hair. Complaining that men are bald because only girls have hair would be like complaining that the stick dude on a men's restroom door is naked because he doesn't have any indicated clothing, while the woman on the door has a dress. The pony tail or long hair indicates a girl. No hair drawn indicates a guy. I wouldn't expect more from a stick-figure comic.
As for the sex bot having hair, perhaps that just indicates that he is something more than the stock male character.
Finally, everyone just shut the fuck up on them standing in single-file line. It's a 2D comic. If he drew them non-single-file they'd be on top of each other and you wouldn't be able to tell what's what. And then you'd probably complain about that...
- WilhelmJune 29, 2009 at 10:51 AM
I think we can all agree that good writing can save bad art. But when the writing sucks, criticizing the art is fair game.
I don't mind the non-existent hair or the stickmen. But the perspective is just awkward as hell. What's wrong with a 3D room with 2D stickmen? Seriously, if you're gonna use the same panel 6 times in a strip, you better be sure the panel doesn't look like ass.
There's minimalism, and then there's laziness.
Randy isn't drawing some OSHA warning label, he's drawing a comic. Stick figures to begin with are lazy because they're cliche and frankly boring. I support artists who can make stick figures interesting by giving them unique detail, Raymondo Person Raymondo Person would be an excellent example. Only drawing hair on girls makes the guys stick figures look identical, anonymous, and lazy.
"I wouldn't expect more from a stick-figure comic."
Well I am a visual artist and even when I liked XKCD I hated the stick figures. I'm sorry if I expect more from a COMIC, which is just as much art as it is writing.
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 11:23 AM
That (Mal from Firefly) dude had hair...ReplyDelete
Why so lazy, Randall?
Carl is an eagle-eyed critic this time.ReplyDelete
I didn't recall either of those prior two comics, namely 358 and 92.
In light of this, 602 is basically the exact same thing as 358, only more poorly done. These two comics together are basically proof positive of the decline of xkcd. Take the exact same idea, and look at how it was executed two years or so ago versus today.
603, of course, sucks as well. It's like Randall's setting up his own straw-man type arguments, then knocking them down himself. The tacked on "you're ugly" joke just makes it even worse.
Randall has an annoying tendency to try to add on a joke, with that joke being super lame and bringing down the rest of the comic.
- Not a fanboy (xkcd sucks)June 29, 2009 at 11:45 AM
Webcomic art doesn't matter as long as it conveys information. Nobody cares about the art as long as it's not an eyesore. And even then, good writing can save it.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 12:12 PM
Tomical and WilhelmReplyDelete
Anon here again
I just don't understand your complaint. It's been stick figures that look like that for 603 comics now. You know the score. And that's the style of the comic. Mostly stick figures, mostly black and white.
Perhaps the characters, for the most part, are SUPPOSED to look identical and anonymous. Then, the joke is about the joke and not the character(except the few times it is about a character). I just see each stick figure man as a person I've never seen before(hatted-men exceptions aside).
When I read books, I almost never fill in faces, so reading a comic like this with little facial detail is fine for me. Maybe Randall made the stylistic decision a long time ago for things to LOOK lazy. If something like that is the case, lazy or unlazy can't really apply since it is deliberate.
"just as much art as it is writing"
I think that would be up to each individual reader or the author to decide. I don't read xkcd for the art(even though I like the style), I read it for what the characters say. And when it is good, it doesn't matter what the drawing looks like, it gets the point across and the comic isn't hindered by it.
But my main point is that it has always been this way and it isn't going to change. And if it DID, it would cease to be xkcd.
602: More boredom has been caused by passive-aggressive elitism than actually trying to correct it. Aw, could the math man not turn relationship gossip into a logic puzzle? So sad.ReplyDelete
603: Randall makes a bold statement against preaching to the choir, complete with a "no one will fuck you" insult. I predict the next week of comics all contradict his message.
At Anon:ReplyDelete
I'm not trying to get Randy to change his art style, I know that's futile. What I am doing is complaining about an aspect of XKCD which has always really bugged me. If I wrote this blog, I'd spend most of each post complaining about the bad art. I'm sure I'm much more judgmental on art then you, but that's because it's what's important to me.
"When I read books, I almost never fill in faces, so reading a comic like this with little facial detail is fine for me."
Well, this is why I stated my opinion and not yours. Because my opinion is that the art is lazy.
"But my main point is that it has always been this way and it isn't going to change. And if it DID, it would cease to be xkcd."
If this is true, then I am for it.
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 1:27 PM
Anon again
Looking at some of the older comics(well, the graph paper sketches), it is clear that Randall has considerably more talent than he displays in most comics. And we see colors and interesting things, sometimes. Now, if he has this talent, but decided to make xkcd look the way it does to save time, then it would be lazy.
But, if he made the decision for any other reason, I don't feel that it can be called lazy, as I don't think that term or its opposite could ever apply in that case.
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 1:38 PM
He's not shading, leaving characters off screen, making mistakes, not proofreading all that jazz.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 2:07 PM
Not shading - could be stylistic, but debatableReplyDelete
Leaving characters off screen - come on, in 603 "leaving" that character off screen could be used to show that the character is practically gone already. It can be used to comedic effect.
Making mistakes - I'll give ya that one, though I feel Tomical disagrees with the style of the comic, and the mistakes don't really have anything to do with the style
Your post is like a distilled post by Carl. You got some things right, but so much of it is choices and personal preference. What you call "leaving" I call "placing". So, you say he did something wrong, I say it's a choice. It's fine if you don't like that he "leaves" characters off screen, but don't act like it is an objective mistake.
The same applies to calling the art lazy(unless he made the choice because he didn't want to work hard). Lazy implies he did something straight up wrong, but I feel it is just a personal preference, a stylistic choice that he made. For all we know, he could've taken a very long time and made distinct choices to have xkcd look the way it does today. Or maybe he's lazy, who knows?
But, if anyone(especially Carl), wants to criticize xkcd, ya gotta get as objective as possible and stay fresh. Blasting the art for being "lazy" is parading personal preference as objectivity(except in that one specisl case), and since it never changes, a blog that only criticizes that would soon become as repetitive as Carl thinks xkcd is.
Honestly, I think Carl should create a repeat offenders list and just check off which ones the comic uses each post and display that. Then, write anything else. that is unique to that comic. If he gets to the point where he can't find anything except the checkboxes, it's time to shut it down. But, that probably wouldn't be as much fun.
- WilhelmJune 29, 2009 at 2:08 PM
Anon 1:27, look at this.ReplyDelete
My version
Look at the way my stick figures are distributed; instead of looking like they're in a single file line waiting to be served, you instantly realize you're looking at some sort of party.
Wouldn't you agree that my version in no way compromises xkcd's style? Then why doesn't it look awkward like Randall's? Oh that's right, it's because Randall's a lazy hack.
"Looking at some of the older comics(well, the graph paper sketches), it is clear that Randall has considerably more talent than he displays in most comics. And we see colors and interesting things, sometimes. Now, if he has this talent, but decided to make xkcd look the way it does to save time, then it would be lazy.ReplyDelete
But, if he made the decision for any other reason, I don't feel that it can be called lazy, as I don't think that term or its opposite could ever apply in that case."
Then what if I don't call it lazy? What if I just call the art bad? Because it's bad. Floating heads, floating bodies, shrinking chairs and disappearing cups.
I think I laughed harder than I should have at that different version, Wilhelm.ReplyDelete
Meanwhile, I really don't think it's that Randall's lazy in this instance. Well, he definitely is with his writing, editing, etc. But I just don't think he has any conception of things like framing, placement, consistency, etc. Look at that one frame of a zoomed in cherry in that arc welding comic as a perfect example.
Randall is not an actual artist. He's got some skills at drawing, but that's it. He's not some great webcomic artist that should be doing better than he is.
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 2:48 PM
Anon 1:27ReplyDelete
"Lo, the Lord did rain down gifts upon..." Oops, sorry about that.
That's cool. I just don't like the more objective sounding "lazy" to be used when you just don't like the style.
Sorry, I typed up a response but a glitch caused me to refresh, and I don't feel like typing it again, but I'll say this much. If I had to criticize your drawing, I'd say I don't like how it's 3D, yet there are no boundaries. They're all in some sort of limbo. Randall's boundary-less 2D doesn't make me feel unsettled like yours does. Either way, you version does not change my experience of the joke so I feel it adds no value.
Could you get a better comment box? Pajiba.com has a particularly nice one with preview and everything. It's the fuckin' bees's knees.
- WilhelmJune 29, 2009 at 3:11 PM
You're right, Anon, I should have zoomed in the frame a little more so the white background would be less exposed. But still, I used 30 seconds in Photoshop, so my point remains: Why can't Randall at the very fucking least make the frames a little interesting to look at? Just a little?ReplyDelete
The art is the very least of my complaints with xkcd. But I think it's justified to call him out on it.
I disagree. The reason I call him lazy is because Randall has used framing, perspective and all that good comic jazz before, even when it didn't add anything to the joke. Just check 294, 295 or 304 for example. Not just lazy writing and lazy editing, but lazy art.
Lazy everything.
- formatJune 29, 2009 at 3:18 PM
a terrible comment box is part of the xkcdsucks experienceReplyDelete
Funnily enough, "The XKCDsucks Experience" is the name of my forthcoming live album. Available with bonus tracks on iTunes, 12th July onwards!ReplyDelete
- William Monty HughesJune 29, 2009 at 4:42 PM
haw haw hawReplyDelete
I hope you're satifised with your feeble lives at insulting an honourable man! And a talented one at that. xkcd is one of the most hilarious "comics" I have ever had the fortune to lay my eyes on. It is pure, undiluted "awesomesauce". Carl (if that IS your real name, coward!), your thinly veiled attempts to cloak your own jealousy is laughable. You hide behind poorly worded and ridiculous criticisms to make you feel better about yourself. xkcd has not gotten worse, you have simply grown bitter.
Don't try to hide it, don't try to "flame" me. I am much, much smarter than all of you and I mock your futile attempts at fabricating a false aura of intellect. Randall is too.
Please, re-evaluate your own lives and perhaps grow something called a "sense of humour." Also, look into getting a "life" also.
-William M. Hughes
PS. if anyone has the courage to leave this pit of spite and decadence and enter the Respectable xkcd Fora, you'll know where to find me so we can discuss matters in a civil matter. If you philistines are capable of such a feat.
- William Monty HughesJune 29, 2009 at 4:46 PM
Ooh, I apologise. My advanced verbiage is too elaborate for you primitives to comphrehend.ReplyDelete
If anyone can, please meet me in the Fora (username: Mathstar)
-William M. Hughes
WMH, sir, you have brightened my entire day.
- William Monty HughesJune 29, 2009 at 4:54 PM
I am a parody.ReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 5:05 PM
Don't Explain the JokeReplyDelete
- AnonymousJune 29, 2009 at 5:18 PM
"If anyone can, please meet me in the Fora (username: Mathstar)"ReplyDelete
Your name doesn't come up in a search and there are 62 pages of "M" users. You'll have to do better.
Don't Believe the HypeReplyDelete
@ Anon 5:18 PMReplyDelete
You didn't get it.
Don't Stop The Beat (but do Let The Beat Drop)ReplyDelete
Especially when I drop the beat and do my a capellas
(P.S. - Everyone who doesn't get that reference is a fuckin' noob (except Amanda, who is immune from my scorn))
Also, @WMH:ReplyDelete
You gave it away too soon, and too easily. You are a comedic slut, turning over your secrets at the drop of a hat for a bit of notoriety. You are a magician who reveals his secrets; a prostitute who kisses and tells. You have no honor, and thus, you do not deserve my respect. It is a miracle that I am even willing to openly mock you, for the recognition of your very existence galls me. Count yourself among the worthy few who escape my wrath through virtue of their insignificance.
- Cuddlefish PrimeJune 29, 2009 at 10:44 PM
i don't know what you are talking about, I wrote this sentence in my URL bar and copied it in here just fine.ReplyDelete
@The_P: is it Flight of the Conchords?ReplyDelete
@Ann Apolis:ReplyDelete
So very, very wrong.
- AnonymousAugust 29, 2009 at 12:18 AM
Yah this is totaly just nerds being awkward, it's not at all say preffering math to the inane bable that is gossip.ReplyDelete
Spelling: a life skill.ReplyDelete


text:
The winner of the Baked Explorations: Classic American Desserts Reinvented is Liz of Little Bitty Bakes. Congrats Liz, this is a stellar cookbook!! I wish I had more to give away, I really do. I had so many comments, and I could tell you all wanted to win this. Let's do more giveaways....I will make this happen. Promise.
As for this pound cake, well it's interesting.
As I've stated before I am not a huge pumpkin fan. So if you like the taste of pumpkin this maybe be the loaf for you--it's very pumpkin-ey if that's a word. The white chocolate middle is very delicate, not overly sweet at all; overall loaf is very mild, hence the reason I put the nutella-cream cheese frosting on there. Lately I've been really drawn to nutella.....have you seen those super sized jars of it they sell in the grocery stores? I got one! Seriously. What have you baked with Nutella? Possibilities are endless aren't they? Sorry the photo isn't that bright...we've had nothing but rain and dark gloomy days here on cape cod.
white chocolate-pumpkin pound cake
by dawn finicane
print recipe
3 large eggs and 2 egg yolks, room temp
2 ¼ cup all purpose flour
¾ cup high quality white chocolate (like Valrhona)
1 stick of salted butter, melted
¾ cup white sugar
1 huge pinch of sea salt
A couple dashes of cinnamon
½ can of pumpkin puree (pure pumpkin not flavored)
2 TB canola oil
1 tsp baking powder
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Oil or butter and dust with flour a rectangular pound cake pan.
Melt the butter, let it cool slightly.
In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon; then sift and set aside.
Mix the sugar, canola oil and eggs with stand mixer until well combined.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in batches (of three) until just combined. Don't over mix.
Separate the batter in 2/3 and 1/3. We are going to add the pumpkin puree to the 2/3 batter by just folding it in; we don't want to over mix at this point.
Place the white chocolate in a bowl over a pot of simmering water and let simmer until the chocolate is melted. Add this melted chocolate to the 1/3 batter. You have to work quickly as the white chocolate does not stay melted for long.
Pour half the pumpkin batter into the pan, then pour in the white chocolate batter making sure to keep this batter in the middle, not to let it go to the sides so the nice swirl stays even in the middle. Recipe by dawn Finicane of vanillakitchen.blogspot.com Pour the remaining pumpkin batter on the top. You may have to use your fingers to push the batter down, as the batter is quite thick.
Bake for about 40-50 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. (mine was done at the 40 minute mark). Remove from the oven. Let cool before frosting.
If you wish to frost this (some say it was good without the frosting) all I did was add a block of 8 ounces of room temp cream cheese to about ½ (or more) of Nutella. Mix really well and frost.


text:
Warehouse team leader interview questions
Warehouse team leader interview questions The following questions help you prepare for all types of professional interview for Warehouse te...
Warehouse team leader interview questions
The following questions help you prepare for all types of professional interview for Warehouse team leader. Note that you need to refer to the method of interview, interview process for each employer as Behavioral interview, phone interview, situational interview …
List of interview questions for Warehouse team leader:
1. Tell me about yourself?
2. Why did you leave your last job?
3. Please tell me about your long-term career goals for Warehouse team leader?
4. Inform you that you would be an resource using this organization?
5. What's your philosophy towards work?
6. Explain what's dissatisfy you nearly all an early on job?
7. Please tell me top 3 of your greatest weaknesses that related to Warehouse team leader? And how do you improve them?
8. What kind of salary are you looking for Warehouse team leader?
9. What irritates you about co-employees?
10. Furthermore vital that you you: the money or even the task?
11. What are key tasks for Warehouse team leader?
12. What have you learned from your past jobs that related to Warehouse team leader?
13. Do your capabilities match this or other job more carefully?
14. How's it going aware you're effective relevant with this job?
15. In your life, what experiences have been most important to you that related to Warehouse team leader?
16. What made you choose to apply to Warehouse team leader?
17. What are top 3 skills for Warehouse team leader?
18. How do you apply ISO 9001 for your Warehouse team leader job?
19. What are most common mistakes for Warehouse team leader job and how to solve them?
20. Do you have any questions?
Useful job interview materials:
• Free ebook: 75 interview questions and answers.
• 95 management interview questions.
• 13 types of interview questions and how to face them.
• 440 behavioral interview questions, 40 second interview questions, 36 situational interview questions.


text:
Words by Alex Yoder
With December behind it's finally Go! time. Up until this point the crew has been a little bit scattered. Some of us were busy ice climbing and taking pictures of penguins in Antarctica while others had to celebrate their newfound Instagram fame by taking a quick New Years surf trip to Mexico. But now the band is together and the wheels are spinning. The shredding so far has been insane! Christmas powder at Baker and Alpental, followed up by some sunny days on the splitboards in the Baker backcountry and a recent trip out to Big Sky for the Smash Life Banked Slalom, a memorial event for our late friend and snowboarding legend Aaron Robinson.
The day after the slalom we found ourselves in a secret place surrounded by pillows aplenty. Twenty something wide eyed boarders trekked up with boards, beers, and beards and had our selves a good ol' fashioned Montana powder attack! In no more than an hour this face with seemingly endless pillow lines was completely demolished. This zone was a place Aaron had always loved to visit so to honor his life we tied one of his old boards high in a tree, resembling a cross, at the drop in to the pillows where every time someone straps in they will be reminded to go huge and get barreled as Aaron always would.…it's time to Go!
Stay tuned for Episode 2 in early February and follow the Go! boardin crew at goboardin.com and @goboardin


text:
Underwire Bras
Underwire bras have a built in wire into the underside of the cup of the bra, which is intended to life, separate, shape and provide additional support. Underwire bras are most useful to women with a fuller bust in order to minimize discomfort and maximize lift, but any woman can benefit from the support an underwire can bring. These bras come in all shapes and sizes and have been in widespread in use since the twentieth century. They are a staple of any woman's bra collection and easily available.
The wire in the underwire bra is usually made of metal or plastic. It is sewn into the bra fabric and under each cup from the center to the armpit. Many types of bras utilize this wires to support the breasts in bra styles such as demi, full cup, plunge, nursing, and even bodysuits. These types are all different but all use the underwires in the same manner. Its solid construction and versatility adds comfort and support to any style. These bras are among the highest growing segment of the bra market as of 2005 and are even used in swimsuits as well. These bras have been known to cause health problems and pain if not worn correctly. Most women do not even know they are wearing a bra incorrectly, for this please refer to our bra fitting guide on the home page of our website.
These bras are the go to bras for most women. Be it a night out on the town or a romantic date they will always support and shape to impress. Take care to hand-wash all your wire bras or machine wash in front loader machines only in a lingerie bag on a "delicate" cycle. This is to prevent the underwires from separating from the bra and ripping through the fabric or getting twisted with other garments. Because these bras are so widespread in use they face increased scrutiny. The concept of an underwire is not a new one, and can be traced all the way back to an 1893 patent that used a device that placed a rigid plate under the breasts for stability. All the way from maximizing cleavage presentation to reducing it or even having it already build into your clothing, the underwire is an essential part of any woman's wardrobe and cannot be forgotten. Always improving and changing with the styles or seasons, underwires will always be the mainstay for supporting the breast in a variety of women's apparel across the globe.


text:
A federal magistrate judge has recommended against dismissal of charges against three protesters who entered property of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge.
A federal magistrate judge has recommended against dismissal of charges against three protesters who entered property of the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant in Oak Ridge.
The recommendation is contained in a newly released report by Magistrate Judge C. Clifford Shirley Jr.
Attorneys for Greg Boertje-Obed, Michael Walli and Megan Rice argued in a Nov. 20 motion hearing for dismissal of charges against their clients. The hearing came before a superseding indictment was returned, elevating charges against the protesters.
The protesters have repeatedly said that on July 28, they cut through fences to reach the storage facility for weapons-grade uranium, splashing human blood onto it. However they claim the work at the plant is illegal under U.S. and international law.
Defense attorneys argued that work at Y-12 constitutes a war crime.
"Basically," Shirley wrote in his report, "it strikes the court that the defendants seek the dismissal ... because they contend that some other group or entity — either those operating Y-12 or perhaps the United States government — is committing a separate and distinct crime, which they describe as the production, storage, or threatened use of nuclear weapons."
The protesters will appeal Shirley's recommendation, said defense team member William Quigley on Thursday. Quigley is a law professor at Loyola University New Orleans.
Shirley also found the defendants had no legal standing to challenge U.S. policy on nuclear weapons because "the propriety of nuclear weapons is a political and, therefore, non-justiciable questions." Individual citizens cannot litigate "generalized grievance" such as this, he said.
In his recommendation, Shirley wrote that possession of nuclear weapons doesn't signal an intent to use them and likened it to a junkyard owner posting a "mean dog" sign.
Quigley didn't like the comparison.
"I think the characterization of nuclear weapons as not a threat to the peace but more like a junkyard dog will come back to bite the government in the end," he said.


text:
Guns and the Second Amendment dominated Saturday's morning forum where Sen. Ellen Roberts and Rep. Don Coram spoke to about 20 constituents at the Four States Agricultural Exposition.
The two state Republican legislators spoke for about an hour on a variety of issues, but the majority of those in attendance wanted to talk about the status of this year's gun bills.
Many of the bills are headed to Gov. John Hickenlooper who is expected to sign them into law.
Roberts urged those in attendance to contact the governor to let their voices be heard.
Coram said when the Second Amendment rights were being threatened, Roberts was at the forefront fighting to retain these rights.
That fight may have been unsuccessful.
"It is what it is," Coram said, before mentioning the bills are headed to the governor's office for his signature.
"I don't see how it will solve anything," he said.
The two legislators explained that if 30-round gun magazines were banned in Colorado, residents would go to neighboring states to purchase them.
"These are all unenforceable," Roberts said, and explained the majority of the sheriff's offices in the state are not going to make it a priority to arrest people who have these types of magazines.
Roberts said guns in rural areas are like a shovel or any other tool that is needed.
She also said people have a constitutional right to bear arms and it should be allowed for public safety.
Making people criminals for having high-capacity gun magazines makes little sense, she said.
Coram also mentioned that 88 percent of the population in the state live on the Front Range and added there is a big difference between the rural and urban populations in the state.
Coram discussed the tail dockings bill, which he believes is the humane's society way to try to shut down agriculture producers.
He also said the state Legislature in this year's session has not done anything to help the economy or to look into finding jobs for those unemployed and instead have been concentrating on social issues.
He mentioned civil unions and the bill that allows illegal immigrants to get in state tuition as just two of the bills that does little for the economy.
Coram said this is only possible because of the executive order by the president and wondered if the next president would want to continue this.
"I do not think this was the right thing to do," he said.
Roberts agreed saying that while immigration reform is needed it should not be piece mealed.
"This is a very difficult year," she said and added the real importance is finding jobs for residents.
She said people should expect to have the resources to have a roof over their heads with enough food.
The two legislators briefly talked about a bill that would raise salaries for elected officials working for counties, something that has not been done for eight years.
County Assessor Mark Vanderpool said, while this would not affect him due to term limits, he is still in favor of this occurring.
"You get what you pay for to a certain degree," he said.
Sage grouse was touched on briefly, but both state legislators explained that this was a federal government issue.