This is obviously a reference to the recent jewel theft at the Louvre, but in fact the Mona Lisa was the subject of a famous theft. From Wikipedia:
“The painting’s global fame and popularity partly stem from its 1911 theft by Vincenzo Peruggia, who attributed his actions to Italian patriotism—a belief it should belong to Italy. The theft and subsequent recovery in 1914 generated unprecedented publicity for an art theft, and led to the publication of many cultural depictions such as the 1915 opera Mona Lisa, two early 1930s films (The Theft of the Mona Lisa and Arsène Lupin), and the song “Mona Lisa” recorded by Nat King Cole—one of the most successful songs of the 1950s.”
I was lucky enough to visit the Louvre about 10 years ago with a friend from high school who was a professor of art at a midwestern university. On the way in, I asked him if we should get the audio tour. His response was something along the lines of “We don’t need no stinkin’ audio tour”. As we proceeded through the galleries I got educated painting by painting by my friend. There are, of course, many, many masterpieces in the Louvre. The only gallery that was really crowded – overcrowded, really – on that rainy January day was the gallery housing the Mona Lisa. We ducked in and out just to say we’d seen it.
Boise Ed sends this in: “I get how breaking up can make one feel insignificant, but why are they still sitting together five minutes later, and why is she still making small talk?”
Comics I Don't Understand 
The real-life theft of the Mona Lisa was just step one: The thieves had several excellent counterfeits produced and ready. They would then sell these secretly to different tycoons, each buyer convinced he was getting the recently stolen original and the thieves effectively netting several times what they could have gotten otherwise. The scheme fell apart somehow.
The Jeremy Brett “Sherlock Holmes” series fictionalized this plot for “The Final Problem”, making it a Professor Moriary scheme that Holmes cracked.
I don’t get the first one. The charging-for-new-cables thing only works if the port is replaced every few years. Needing a new implant every few years is not very practical on any kind of scale.
Powers, I think the premise is that users will indeed get an upgrade every couple years, and that might involve a change in connection method.
Hey, next time might not even allow a plug, it’ll have to be by Bluetooth or whatever short-reach wireless system has taken hold by that time!
I think the Hagar one involved the “we should stay friends” variety of breakup. And Lucky Eddie being the dishrag he is, went along with it.
You can’t gaslight a self-driving car.
Only because they are all electric…
Late thought: Does anybody remember “The President’s Analyst” (1967)? MAJOR SPOILER: At the end the faceless supervillain turns out to be the telephone company, which needs government cooperation to replace physical telephones with tiny devices in everybody’s brains.
The head-jack joke might’ve worked better if it was the operating system that changed over time, like, say, Windows
The opening of The President’s Analyst has a guy killed and shoved into a clothing cart. Godfreu Cambridge said that the people weren’t extras, they just shot the scene on a NY street. Not sure if that’s true, but an interesting tale.
Directed by Theodore J. Flicker — I remember him from Barney Miller, because the font they used on the credits had close kerning and was all caps, so I was sure that his last name was something else when I saw “FLICKER” flash across my TV screen…
Brian in STL –
There is a good chance that what he is said is true. There are movies which are filmed in NYC (more specifically in Manhattan in particular) and they film the general public passing by.
A client of mine was in Marathon Man. He is working in his booth in the jewelry exchange which Lawrence Olivier comes into to ask about the value of a piece of jewelry. Client did nothing other than keep working at his normal work as Olivier goes past. (It has been decades since he was a client and a long time – though more recently than I last saw the client – since I have seen the movie and I think the client was an engraver or a chaser (similar) but he may have been a jewel setter instead. He is working on a ring in the movie.) (I was not there the day they filmed there and am not in the movie.)
(Sigh) I really miss going to work in Manhattan – there is always something interesting going on. Stopped going out to clients at start of Covid. Most them shut down during same. I charged clients less during same as I was having them mail me their records (most do not/did not use computers) and the ones still in business after Covid preferred doing it that way so I have not made any trips in, especially not on my own, since – I miss going into same.
(Dad had a client which was a SOHO art gallery and which was used for some movie or another, as well as its records being transferred to the Smithsonian after it was closed and the owner died.)
(sorry for running on personally)