Tag / Insanity Streak

by zbicyclist

Floating Gravestones

Lopes has an idea here, a link to either Native American burial grounds or elephant graveyards. But somehow I’m bothered by the elements. Stone tombstones floating? Who puts up the tombstones? Why would a ship pass through this unsafe area? Are whales Christian?

Elephant graveyards are said to be a myth, although when I visited Ngorongoro Conservation Area in Tanzania the guide showed us one. It was suspiciously close to a road, so I suspect this may have been where they would haul dead elephants, or maybe the result of poaching for ivory. Guides are, of course, always looking for a good story to tell the tourists.

Dead whales usually sink to the bottom, where they can become whale falls, an ecosystem supported by the dead whales. Since they are whale falls, does this mean whales tend to die in autumn?

But while we’re on the topic of graveyards, this non-CIDU was farther down in my comics feed:

by multipleciduers

Sunday Funnies, LOLs – April 6, 2025

JMcAndrew sends this in: “I believe the object on the left is an old style computer. I’ve spent longer than I care to admit contemplating the mechanics of how this “affair” might happen.”

This might be filed under “jokes that don’t work well anymore”. At the time this was done (1987), this would be hard. Now, linking computers to TVs is ubiquitous in several ways, most obviously via HDMI, which dates from the early 2000s. There’s some history of HDMI here: https://blog.solidsignal.com/tutorials/sordid-history-hdmi-revised-updated/

Parenting isn’t quite what it used to be, either (or, as JMcAndrew suggested, this deserves an Arlo tag).

And: would Alice’s condition be covered by United Healthcare?

Tony sends this one in, which began as a CIDU: “as I was writing this realized that the punchline was about a nose job. It didn’t even notice the change at first. I guess not having a nose must be pretty miserable, but I couldn’t even tell that sphinx was supposed to be a living creature.”

by multipleciduers

Sunday Funnies, LOLs – March 9, 2025

Not confusing enough to be a CIDU, but a couple of questions. There’s the English expression “Too many cooks spoil the broth”, which makes sense because you can mess up a broth or soup by messing up the seasoning (Italian herbs make a good soup; Indian spicing makes a good soup; adding both does not make a good soup). But toast?

Second, there’s 23. That’s probably just a random number pick here, but even the most casual fan recognizes 23 as Michael Jordan’s and LeBron James’s number: undeniably two of the greatest basketball players ever.

Mitch4 sends this in:

FYI: PM is short for Project Manager.

On dating shows, the contestants are hoping. Here they are also hopping.

by multipleciduers

Sunday Funnies, LOLs – February 16, 2025

Boise Ed sends in this one:

Dan Sachs sends this in as a partial CIDU, wondering “Is that an asterisk? Where is the footnote?”

So, another upgrade on the GoComics website. It’s a bit mean to post this as an LOL, but it seems like every time GoComics “upgrades” there are problems. I remember after one “upgrade” Comic Sherpa (a showcase for new comic authors) was promised to return “soon”, but never did and was eventually abandoned. In recent weeks, some Barney and Clyde comics have been missing dialogue, even though they show up fine on Arcamax. But we can hope this “upgrade” will be less glitchy.

That email to subscribers mentions that the cost will be going up to $35/yr, although they are holding the price for 1 year for existing subscribers at $20.

UPDATE: As if on cue, GoComics does it again today (Feb 16):

At the same time, Arcamax has the entire comic:

by zbicyclist

Philosophy Phriday

Some philosophy showing up in my comic feeds this week.

The term Axial Age is new to me. It comes from a German philosopher, Karl Jaspers, and refers to the 8th to 3rd centuries B.C. For more, see Wikipedia. I note that some major religious thinkers (Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Joel Osteen) are outside this period. I wonder if Zach’s comic was inspired by some trivial argument with his HOA board.

In that column on the left, there is a Suggest-a-CIDU form. If you see something that particularly puzzles you, let us help by sending it in.

by multipleciduers

Sunday Funnies – LOLs, December 8, 2024

Radio has certain requirements. Sports announcing, too. Dead air is the enemy. Some of the most painful examples to me are long bicycle races (4+ hours) that end in a sprint stage. So until the last kilometer, not much is going on if there’s no breakaway. But 4 hours must be filled with announcing, regardless. Particularly painful if there’s only one announcer, not two.

A quick look around my dwelling shows 6 books that I’m partway through but intend to finish, a couple of which I haven’t make any progress on in at least a year. (Not counting ones I don’t intend to finish, or haven’t started.) Should I invoke a statute of limitations on these 6?

The New Yorker has posted a page of the magazine’s cartoons which were most liked on Instagram.

This one pairs nicely with Parisi’s one above.

by multipleciduers

Sunday Funnies – LOLs, September 01st, 2024

Such practical good advice!

Chemgal sends in this unusually funny fourth-wall break.

Understanding hotel etiquette.

From Boise Ed, who gets the intended joke but remains dubious about there being something actually funny going on.

And a LOL from Usual John: