Category / (Not a Cidu)

by zbicyclist

Sunday Funnies – LOLs – August 9, 2026

Mitch4 sends this in, along with today’s important medical information: “I noted this because it was a misunderstanding I used to have. The point of the “turn your head” part of the hernia check is really just “so that you don’t cough on me!”. But I long thought it had something to do with some connection between the muscles and tendons in the neck and upper torso with the scrotum and waistline (potential hernia areas), so that the cough-test would work.


“And the cartoonist is here relying on that misunderstanding, or even worse, not only thinking that the turned head is an inherent part of the test, but here seeming to rely on the turned head *alone*, without the visceral grip.”

by zbicyclist

Fourth Wall

New Adventures of Queen Victoria is now irregularly updating, and the 3 after this one have also just been thought balloons in the dark. Per Wikipedia: “The strip ended on February 14, 2021; according to Sungenis, “15 years is long enough to do anything.” In January 2026 the comic returned to GoComics with new strips.”

There’s not much about new projects on Pab’s website. I dimly recall hearing he had some health issues.

by multipleciduers

Sunday Funnies – LOLs – August 2, 2026

The fun part of this one is figuring out what real cereals Nathan Pyle is referring to:

I had dessicated grape chaff for breakfast this morning.

I may have the citation wrong here. This is a comic that resurfaced among the ones I’ve saved over the years, but this one was saved without citation, and may not be from Bug Martini.

by zbicyclist

95 Years Ago in The New Yorker

July, 1931. The Great Depression is in full swing. Still over a year until the 1932 election. The New Yorker has always had a subscriber base with a richer demographic than average, but these cartoons from the 7/4/31 and 7/11/31 don’t show much awareness of the Great Depression.

Another ping-pong related cartoon. Was there a ping-pong boom in 1931?

What is that device?

by zbicyclist

The Odyssey

The distance from Troy (near modern Çanakkale, Turkey) to Ithaca is a bit over 600 miles. At a rowing speed of 4 to 5 knots, that’s not a terribly long journey, without the involvement of the gods.

If we went from Troy, New York to Ithaca, New York by water (Erie Canal, then portage to Seneca Lake) it would be about 250 miles — shorter, but the same order of magnitude.

One person decided to use the modern Turkish city and make up alternative lyrics to City of New Orleans.

I just finished re-reading the Odyssey. I used the Samuel Butler translation, which is prose and emphasized the story more easily because it abandons any attempt at poetry. I’m also cheap: it’s available for free at Project Gutenberg.

Yesterday, I saw the movie, which didn’t disappoint. Highly recommended. Of course, there are many plot points which diverge from Homer, but overall I think that improves the flow — especially the ending.

by multipleciduers

Sunday Funnies – LOLs – July 26, 2026

There’s limited continuity expected in a gag strip, particularly between Sunday and the rest of the week, but there’s an interesting contrast between the Sunday strip and the Monday strip here: (7/12 and 7/13)

Reminds me a bit of that meme where you are supposed to punctuate this sentence:

Woman without her man is nothing.

Are trust falls still a thing in workshops? I do remember one time when the person doing the catching was surprised when the person fell sooner than they anticipated, and they both hit the ground. Luckily, the damage was limited to bruises and future teasing.

Mitch4 sends this in:

My favorite are the historical markers that talk about towns that WERE there at one point, but there is no current sign of the town. Nothing to see here, folks!