Make an “Arlo was first” tag, and log all the comics that use the joke.
Pete, great idea, but wouldn’t a “Jack O’ Lantern with mask” tag make more sense?
@ Bill – I think you should telescope that down to “Mask O’Lantern“.
I wanna know if that is a pumpkin[pie]-spice-scented mask.
So who will get the first “hanging chad” joke before the election?
Nah, Chad was in Zits. But hasn’t been hanging there much in recent times.
Oh, he can’t be…
I don’t have a case of anyone else but surely it’s been done. What with everyone putting masks on everything and the covid cabin fever of rushing the seasons it must have been done by now.
Sixteen years later, chad references might be moving into Geezer territory. that’s a scary thought.
I see that since Comicgeddon, the only chad references here have been to Chadwatch itself:
Bill, your choice of course, but I thought the tag should reflect that Arlo & Janis predicted it
>Sixteen years later, chad references might be moving into Geezer territory
Sixteen? I mark it 20.
Phil, it wasn’t until the next election that I decided that there was no legitimate reason for any but a thoroughly brilliant chad gag.
But Chad in Zits is not a “hanging chad” reference. It’s MUCH more geezer than that!
Okay, is everybody okay with the tag now?
Well, if you changed it to “Mask O’Lantern (Jimmy Johnson got Arlo to do it first)“, you might be able to break the record for “tag that spans the largest number of lines”, but it’s going to be pretty hard to beat “I DON’T HATE WORDPRESS AS MUCH AS I HATE GODADDY, BUT IT’S GETTING THERE“.
Do Arlo and Janis break the fourth wall/acknowledge they are in a comic like this a lot?
@ SingaporeBill – I couldn’t remember when or where I had seen it happen before, so I had to look it up:
By this time, I’ve forgotten what the tag was for. I guess I’ll go back to the beginning and read all the comments again.
I should point out that the A&J Kilby posted here appeared the morning we returned to Standard Time.
@ Bill – That info was (too well) hidden in the “look it up link” above.
A&J has seemingly often broken the 4th wall throughout its entire run.
Is CIDU broke again? I haven’t seen any updates since September 16th.
I’m going to miss him, this site, and all of you who I meet only here.
Are you sure that’s our Bill Bickel?
Arthur: Yes it’s him; they have his picture up at the tribute site.
I’m also going to miss him, this site, and the people and interactions here, very much. It was a rare treat to have such civil, intelligent, online discussions, and it formed around Bill thanks to his hard work in running the blog and moderating discussions. The world will be a poorer place without him.
Alas.
Wow, what a shock.
In other news, would any of you happen to know why the discussion in last comic posted had been locked?
Because someone dissed PMP one time too many.
I relayed the info on Bill to Random, After the news settles in, we’ll need to discuss the future, if there is to be one. Maybe a central point for that. Up you you folks of course. No telling how long the site will remain.
This is deeply saddening. CIDU was one of only about eight sites I regularly checked in on the net, and one of only about five where I had a sense of belonging among people I felt I knew and liked. Most of all, of course, around Bill himself.
“Shrug” (Denny Lien, in Minneapolis)
I am very sad to hear this. It’s the end of an era. I’ll miss Bill, and all the regular commentators.
Condolences to Bill’s family, friends, and ‘CIDUzens’.
Did Bill(or anyone here) belong to “Comics Curmudgeon”?
I do.
I just came here and found this out after reading all the Justice Ginsburg news articles… This !#%$#&* year.
Oh no!
I’d wondered about the lack of updates but I was busy with work and didn’t follow up.
Very sorry for his loved ones.
And I’ll say I’m sorry for us. Been coming to CIDU for about 22 or 23 years. Nobody else could have made this what it is. He did this with passion and with care and respect for all of use who used the site. I can’t imagine anyone else — except maybe King Solomon himself — running the site so well.
Keep laughing, Billo
Oh, no. What awful, shocking news. I’m so sorry to hear this. Such a loss.
I discovered CIDU more recently than most of you, but for me it’s been a ray of light in a dimming world and on the darkening web. Getting to know Bill and you all this way was a real privilege.
Condolences to Bill’s family, kudos to his memory and legacy, and thanks to him and everyone.
Fair sailing, Bill.
What a shock. I am absolutely devastated. Bill was such a great guy, not only for keeping up this website, but for his charity work, his humour and his intelligence. I visit about 3 sites regularly and this was one of them, and that was all down to Bill. A truly sad day.
This is very sad news. This is, or sadly now was, a great site and a great idea for one: an affable space where a not too big cast of visitors looked at cartoons and discussed the meaning of funny and, to an extent, life. Bill ran it with great good humour as well, and commitment – it must have eaten into his time for other things. All the best to everyone.
If anyone would like an address (PO BOX) to send a sympathy card, please email me: adenning2@tampabay.rr.com (even tho it’s a PO BOX, I don’t want to put it out on the web).
Well, I knew it would happen – whilst reading today’s comics, I thought, “There’s one to send to . . . oh, I can’t anymore, never mind.” I’ll NEVER be able to read comics without thinking of CIDU Bill, and CIDUers.
Brian in STLsaid: “After the news settles in, we’ll need to discuss the future, if there is to be one. Maybe a central point for that.”
This thread is as good as any. Maybe “Random Comments” is more general and neutral in a sense, but it has the down side of awkward page structure. Also, the discussion has already started here. We can cross-post of course.
Yes, eventually someone should be delegated to contact the family and see if they have any plans for continuing this or a successor site as Bill’s legacy, or info as to what he may have expressed.
From active fans but outsiders in that sense, we might think about 4 areas to discuss / arrange / implement eventually.
1. Top-level policy & administration. — Family contact, decisions like “continue here or establish a successor site”, even passwords and email. (Though that last may also be under “Technical”)
Also, without Bill, would we want the site to continue to be on a basis of “email submissions to an editor” [with generous post-within-comments policy] as up to now, or go for a typical forum or blog structure where established commenting users may also start new-post threads. Like google Groups as somebody remarked.
Actually, that is just one example of early decisions that the interested fan base may want to decide along with the family.
2. Financial support — I’m surely not the only one who will say “I’m ready to contribute a share to paying for hosting, transfers if that’s how we go, and incidental expenses.” Also the family-contact people could inquire if there is any help required for expenses outstanding.
3. Tech group. The fan group definitely has the tech talent to do whatever is decided upon, and after that to keep it running.
4. Editorial, day-to-day administration, moderation. I see this as separate from the early and high-level what-to-do decisions in (1). This is also the hardest to contemplate, as this was the role where we mostly felt Bill’s presence and even-tempered judgement. But somebody, or some team, needs to do some filtering and commenting/moderation on a day-to-day.
Jewish year 5781 doesn’t look much better than Gregorian year 2020 so far.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the friendly and intelligent tone of this forum. I’ve stumbled across too many blogs that feel whiny or angry at the world and aggressive–over minior issues.
It’s been fun reading about books I’d not been familiar with.
Well, 2020 is now officially the suckiest year ever.
Condolences to Bill’s family and loved ones. Many thanks for 20+ years hosting one of the best sites on the internet.
What a shock. He seemed to live his life with a great attitude, and it’s hard to imagine anyone filling his shoes on this site or something similar. But I certainly hope someone can. If not, it’s been great.
Let’s try this again, without unintentionally throwing this into moderation.
2020 is now officially the worst year ever. Condolences to Bill’s family and loved ones. Many thanks for 20+ years hosting one of the best sites on the internet.
I hope Arlo is more careful with his own mask. The Jack-O’-Lantern’s “nose” is exposed, thus making the mask ineffective. I see this every time on my weekly shopping runs – including the pharmacist who served me when l picked up a prescription recently. Yes, I tried having prescriptions delivered but gave up because the delivery guy refused to put them in the mailbox and insisted – unmasked – on handing them to me.
“. . . because the delivery guy refused to put them in the mailbox . . .”
Rightly so – that would be a federal crime. NO excuse not to put a mask on, tho; have you complained to his boss? WM has curbside prescription pickup, which I’ve used since March.
Just read the sad news. For days I just wondered, whether there were more technical issues with the site, and did not notice this discussion.
Comics I don’t understand has been a daily institution for me for some years now, like for so many others. It was making me chuckle or scratch my head, the discussions pointing to interesting facts or cultural idiosyncrasies, other sites to explore and sometimes allowing me to throw my own two cents into the ring. Looking back I never wondered about how civilized everyone remained. If I had, it might have dawned on me earlier, what a remarkable person was behind this endeavor that is CIDU.
I will miss Mr Bickle and his inconspicuous way of keeping everyone on their good and polite side.
Markus
What a shock and a loss. I have no original words today. May Bill’s memory be a blessing. And may this site or a successor continue in some form. I know of nothing like it on the 21st Century internet.
‘“. . . because the delivery guy refused to put them in the mailbox . . .”
Rightly so – that would be a federal crime.’
*Citation needed.
It is illegal to put anything except USPS mail into a mailbox.
I am sorry to hear of Bill’s passing. Although I didn’t comment much, I stopped by every day to see what comics were puzzling, which one’s were Oy worthy, and which one’s sparked an LOL. On the few occasions I had to e-mail Bill (usually about a Comic I Didn’t Understand), he was unfailingly gracious and polite. The world is a little bit less than it was, but better because of Bill.
Andréa, thanks for that link. Being a city guy, I tend to conflate “mailbox” and “mail slot”.
You know, I’ve always wondered about the legality of shoving something thru a mail slot . . . I suppose as it is part of the door, it isn’t a federal item.
And now Idiot Bill Bickle’s email will no longer get properly redirected. :-(
Mitch, sorry, I’m weird. I don’t do Facebook or Twitter at all, and will only gingerly approach Google Anything. Being an open source guy old enough to remember when email addresses had !s instead of @s, II try to stay close to the open web and away from the walled gardens. What is in the Google Groups link you posted, please?
Alas! And farewell, good sir.
Is there any chance of getting the password(s) from Aaron and just continuing on this same site?
As I responded to Andréa’s similar post in Random Comments:
If anyone is following this Random Comments thread but doesn’t get notifications from the site for new postings, please go to the top and find a new post, from Bill’s son Aaron, and responses from several CIDUers. As Andréa suggests, we could stay in contact with Aaron, after a decent interval, to explore with him the possible future paths for the site and the community.
There are, I think, good thoughts on either side of the question whether it would be better to try to continue here or start a new chapter some other way.
@Le Vieux Lapin, heck yes I remember “bang paths”!
Don’t worry, you’re not missing much of anything at that Google Groups site. It was meant as a “backstop” alternative for discussing / planning whether and how the CIDU community can have a hand in a continuation of CIDU — a backstop in case the discussions here on CIDU became inaccessible, say if WordPress didn’t get their next payment or whatever, we could all still find each other. (I was *not* proposing it as a place or platform for starting a replacement site for new CIDU content!)
But that seems unnecessary in light of the message from Aaron.
@Le Vieux Lapin, I *think* that UUCP-style email emerged later than ARPAnet-style, but I’ve only been around since 1983; they certainly coexisted for a while after that.
@Mark Jackson – you may be right. I recall the bang paths not really from email but from transport of Usenet messages.
…and if you are both old *and* weird, you remember email addresses with :: in them…
Ah, this is CIDU. Diversions and excursions that go beyond tangential, pushing deep into the weeds.
Since this “he wins” thread is starting to get a little buried, I’d like to suggest that tributes be placed in the “Recent News” thread, and discussions about any future comic website should go in Random Comments. If we are all going to have (and read) opinion(s), it would help to gather them in one place.
Kilby very good sense. That is how it mostly has jelled, indeed, after some jostling.
Well crap. Go away for a few days and everything comes unstuck…
Comics I Don't Understand 
Make an “Arlo was first” tag, and log all the comics that use the joke.
Pete, great idea, but wouldn’t a “Jack O’ Lantern with mask” tag make more sense?
@ Bill – I think you should telescope that down to “Mask O’Lantern“.
I wanna know if that is a pumpkin[pie]-spice-scented mask.
So who will get the first “hanging chad” joke before the election?
Nah, Chad was in Zits. But hasn’t been hanging there much in recent times.
Oh, he can’t be…
I don’t have a case of anyone else but surely it’s been done. What with everyone putting masks on everything and the covid cabin fever of rushing the seasons it must have been done by now.
Sixteen years later, chad references might be moving into Geezer territory. that’s a scary thought.
I see that since Comicgeddon, the only chad references here have been to Chadwatch itself:
https://godaddyandthesquirrelmustbothdie.wordpress.com/?s=chadwatch
I second “mask o’lantern” for the tag!
Of course, that would also include things like this: https://www.etsy.com/ca/market/jack_o_lantern_mask
Okay, Mask O’Lantern it is!
Bill, your choice of course, but I thought the tag should reflect that Arlo & Janis predicted it
>Sixteen years later, chad references might be moving into Geezer territory
Sixteen? I mark it 20.
Phil, it wasn’t until the next election that I decided that there was no legitimate reason for any but a thoroughly brilliant chad gag.
But Chad in Zits is not a “hanging chad” reference. It’s MUCH more geezer than that!
Okay, is everybody okay with the tag now?
Well, if you changed it to “Mask O’Lantern (Jimmy Johnson got Arlo to do it first)“, you might be able to break the record for “tag that spans the largest number of lines”, but it’s going to be pretty hard to beat “I DON’T HATE WORDPRESS AS MUCH AS I HATE GODADDY, BUT IT’S GETTING THERE“.
Do Arlo and Janis break the fourth wall/acknowledge they are in a comic like this a lot?
@ SingaporeBill – I couldn’t remember when or where I had seen it happen before, so I had to look it up:
By this time, I’ve forgotten what the tag was for. I guess I’ll go back to the beginning and read all the comments again.
I should point out that the A&J Kilby posted here appeared the morning we returned to Standard Time.
@ Bill – That info was (too well) hidden in the “look it up link” above.
A&J has seemingly often broken the 4th wall throughout its entire run.
Is CIDU broke again? I haven’t seen any updates since September 16th.
Bill suddenly passed away on Wednesday.
https://normandean.com/tribute/details/10477/William-Bickel/obituary.html
I’m going to miss him, this site, and all of you who I meet only here.
Are you sure that’s our Bill Bickel?
Arthur: Yes it’s him; they have his picture up at the tribute site.
I’m also going to miss him, this site, and the people and interactions here, very much. It was a rare treat to have such civil, intelligent, online discussions, and it formed around Bill thanks to his hard work in running the blog and moderating discussions. The world will be a poorer place without him.
Alas.
Wow, what a shock.
In other news, would any of you happen to know why the discussion in last comic posted had been locked?
Because someone dissed PMP one time too many.
I relayed the info on Bill to Random, After the news settles in, we’ll need to discuss the future, if there is to be one. Maybe a central point for that. Up you you folks of course. No telling how long the site will remain.
This is deeply saddening. CIDU was one of only about eight sites I regularly checked in on the net, and one of only about five where I had a sense of belonging among people I felt I knew and liked. Most of all, of course, around Bill himself.
“Shrug” (Denny Lien, in Minneapolis)
I am very sad to hear this. It’s the end of an era. I’ll miss Bill, and all the regular commentators.
Condolences to Bill’s family, friends, and ‘CIDUzens’.
Did Bill(or anyone here) belong to “Comics Curmudgeon”?
I do.
I just came here and found this out after reading all the Justice Ginsburg news articles… This !#%$#&* year.
Oh no!
I’d wondered about the lack of updates but I was busy with work and didn’t follow up.
Very sorry for his loved ones.
And I’ll say I’m sorry for us. Been coming to CIDU for about 22 or 23 years. Nobody else could have made this what it is. He did this with passion and with care and respect for all of use who used the site. I can’t imagine anyone else — except maybe King Solomon himself — running the site so well.
Keep laughing, Billo
Oh, no. What awful, shocking news. I’m so sorry to hear this. Such a loss.
I discovered CIDU more recently than most of you, but for me it’s been a ray of light in a dimming world and on the darkening web. Getting to know Bill and you all this way was a real privilege.
Condolences to Bill’s family, kudos to his memory and legacy, and thanks to him and everyone.
Fair sailing, Bill.
What a shock. I am absolutely devastated. Bill was such a great guy, not only for keeping up this website, but for his charity work, his humour and his intelligence. I visit about 3 sites regularly and this was one of them, and that was all down to Bill. A truly sad day.
This is very sad news. This is, or sadly now was, a great site and a great idea for one: an affable space where a not too big cast of visitors looked at cartoons and discussed the meaning of funny and, to an extent, life. Bill ran it with great good humour as well, and commitment – it must have eaten into his time for other things. All the best to everyone.
If anyone would like an address (PO BOX) to send a sympathy card, please email me:
adenning2@tampabay.rr.com (even tho it’s a PO BOX, I don’t want to put it out on the web).
Well, I knew it would happen – whilst reading today’s comics, I thought, “There’s one to send to . . . oh, I can’t anymore, never mind.” I’ll NEVER be able to read comics without thinking of CIDU Bill, and CIDUers.
Brian in STLsaid: “After the news settles in, we’ll need to discuss the future, if there is to be one. Maybe a central point for that.”
This thread is as good as any. Maybe “Random Comments” is more general and neutral in a sense, but it has the down side of awkward page structure. Also, the discussion has already started here. We can cross-post of course.
Yes, eventually someone should be delegated to contact the family and see if they have any plans for continuing this or a successor site as Bill’s legacy, or info as to what he may have expressed.
From active fans but outsiders in that sense, we might think about 4 areas to discuss / arrange / implement eventually.
1. Top-level policy & administration. — Family contact, decisions like “continue here or establish a successor site”, even passwords and email. (Though that last may also be under “Technical”)
Also, without Bill, would we want the site to continue to be on a basis of “email submissions to an editor” [with generous post-within-comments policy] as up to now, or go for a typical forum or blog structure where established commenting users may also start new-post threads. Like google Groups as somebody remarked.
Actually, that is just one example of early decisions that the interested fan base may want to decide along with the family.
2. Financial support — I’m surely not the only one who will say “I’m ready to contribute a share to paying for hosting, transfers if that’s how we go, and incidental expenses.” Also the family-contact people could inquire if there is any help required for expenses outstanding.
3. Tech group. The fan group definitely has the tech talent to do whatever is decided upon, and after that to keep it running.
4. Editorial, day-to-day administration, moderation. I see this as separate from the early and high-level what-to-do decisions in (1). This is also the hardest to contemplate, as this was the role where we mostly felt Bill’s presence and even-tempered judgement. But somebody, or some team, needs to do some filtering and commenting/moderation on a day-to-day.
Jewish year 5781 doesn’t look much better than Gregorian year 2020 so far.
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the friendly and intelligent tone of this forum. I’ve stumbled across too many blogs that feel whiny or angry at the world and aggressive–over minior issues.
It’s been fun reading about books I’d not been familiar with.
Well, 2020 is now officially the suckiest year ever.
Condolences to Bill’s family and loved ones. Many thanks for 20+ years hosting one of the best sites on the internet.
What a shock. He seemed to live his life with a great attitude, and it’s hard to imagine anyone filling his shoes on this site or something similar. But I certainly hope someone can. If not, it’s been great.
Let’s try this again, without unintentionally throwing this into moderation.
2020 is now officially the worst year ever. Condolences to Bill’s family and loved ones. Many thanks for 20+ years hosting one of the best sites on the internet.
I hope Arlo is more careful with his own mask. The Jack-O’-Lantern’s “nose” is exposed, thus making the mask ineffective. I see this every time on my weekly shopping runs – including the pharmacist who served me when l picked up a prescription recently. Yes, I tried having prescriptions delivered but gave up because the delivery guy refused to put them in the mailbox and insisted – unmasked – on handing them to me.
“. . . because the delivery guy refused to put them in the mailbox . . .”
Rightly so – that would be a federal crime. NO excuse not to put a mask on, tho; have you complained to his boss? WM has curbside prescription pickup, which I’ve used since March.
Just read the sad news. For days I just wondered, whether there were more technical issues with the site, and did not notice this discussion.
Comics I don’t understand has been a daily institution for me for some years now, like for so many others. It was making me chuckle or scratch my head, the discussions pointing to interesting facts or cultural idiosyncrasies, other sites to explore and sometimes allowing me to throw my own two cents into the ring. Looking back I never wondered about how civilized everyone remained. If I had, it might have dawned on me earlier, what a remarkable person was behind this endeavor that is CIDU.
I will miss Mr Bickle and his inconspicuous way of keeping everyone on their good and polite side.
Markus
What a shock and a loss. I have no original words today. May Bill’s memory be a blessing. And may this site or a successor continue in some form. I know of nothing like it on the 21st Century internet.
‘“. . . because the delivery guy refused to put them in the mailbox . . .”
Rightly so – that would be a federal crime.’
*Citation needed.
It is illegal to put anything except USPS mail into a mailbox.
https://about.usps.com/news/state-releases/tx/2010/tx_2010_0909.htm
https://groups.google.com/g/cidu-continuation
I am sorry to hear of Bill’s passing. Although I didn’t comment much, I stopped by every day to see what comics were puzzling, which one’s were Oy worthy, and which one’s sparked an LOL. On the few occasions I had to e-mail Bill (usually about a Comic I Didn’t Understand), he was unfailingly gracious and polite. The world is a little bit less than it was, but better because of Bill.
Andréa, thanks for that link. Being a city guy, I tend to conflate “mailbox” and “mail slot”.
You know, I’ve always wondered about the legality of shoving something thru a mail slot . . . I suppose as it is part of the door, it isn’t a federal item.
And now Idiot Bill Bickle’s email will no longer get properly redirected. :-(
Mitch, sorry, I’m weird. I don’t do Facebook or Twitter at all, and will only gingerly approach Google Anything. Being an open source guy old enough to remember when email addresses had !s instead of @s, II try to stay close to the open web and away from the walled gardens. What is in the Google Groups link you posted, please?
Alas! And farewell, good sir.
Is there any chance of getting the password(s) from Aaron and just continuing on this same site?
As I responded to Andréa’s similar post in Random Comments:
If anyone is following this Random Comments thread but doesn’t get notifications from the site for new postings, please go to the top and find a new post, from Bill’s son Aaron, and responses from several CIDUers. As Andréa suggests, we could stay in contact with Aaron, after a decent interval, to explore with him the possible future paths for the site and the community.
There are, I think, good thoughts on either side of the question whether it would be better to try to continue here or start a new chapter some other way.
@Le Vieux Lapin, heck yes I remember “bang paths”!
Don’t worry, you’re not missing much of anything at that Google Groups site. It was meant as a “backstop” alternative for discussing / planning whether and how the CIDU community can have a hand in a continuation of CIDU — a backstop in case the discussions here on CIDU became inaccessible, say if WordPress didn’t get their next payment or whatever, we could all still find each other. (I was *not* proposing it as a place or platform for starting a replacement site for new CIDU content!)
But that seems unnecessary in light of the message from Aaron.
@Le Vieux Lapin, I *think* that UUCP-style email emerged later than ARPAnet-style, but I’ve only been around since 1983; they certainly coexisted for a while after that.
@Mark Jackson – you may be right. I recall the bang paths not really from email but from transport of Usenet messages.
…and if you are both old *and* weird, you remember email addresses with :: in them…
Ah, this is CIDU. Diversions and excursions that go beyond tangential, pushing deep into the weeds.
Since this “he wins” thread is starting to get a little buried, I’d like to suggest that tributes be placed in the “Recent News” thread, and discussions about any future comic website should go in Random Comments. If we are all going to have (and read) opinion(s), it would help to gather them in one place.
Kilby very good sense. That is how it mostly has jelled, indeed, after some jostling.
Well crap. Go away for a few days and everything comes unstuck…
Second instance of ‘mask on pumpkin’
‘Sssssssplendid!’