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Thread: xkcd

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    Default xkcd

    I noticed there was no thread for xkcd, and it's the only other webcomic I read.

    Anyone want to talk about it?
    Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
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    Default Re: xkcd

    It's a fun, witty, and often confusing comic. Unlike the other webcomics here, there isn't anything like a plot to fuel a discussion.

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    Default Re: xkcd

    Quote Originally Posted by Leewei View Post
    It's a fun, witty, and often confusing comic. Unlike the other webcomics here, there isn't anything like a plot to fuel a discussion.
    I dunno, this thread did okay while it ran. Posting there would be thread necromancy, though, so making a new thread was maybe the right move?

    There was a comic I wanted to say something about recently, but the thread was locked. What was it...oh right, this one! So...you think Luke gave Yoda this much crap about grammar?

    EDIT: Plus, giving a dude crap for using archaic rules of grammar when he's legitimately ancient would be like complaining about Shakespeare speaking like a character from one of his plays.
    Last edited by AvatarVecna; 2016-12-19 at 02:28 PM.


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    IT ME I ALLOWED IT is far funnier than it has any right to be.
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    Quote Originally Posted by AvatarVecna View Post
    EDIT: Plus, giving a dude crap for using archaic rules of grammar when he's legitimately ancient would be like complaining about Shakespeare speaking like a character from one of his plays.
    I was about to say "Palpatine isn't that much older than Luke and Anakin, is he? He's not ancient the way Yoda is."
    And then I remembered that it's Star Wars, so everything is ancient.

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    Quote Originally Posted by 137ben View Post
    I was about to say "Palpatine isn't that much older than Luke and Anakin, is he? He's not ancient the way Yoda is."
    And then I remembered that it's Star Wars, so everything is ancient.
    My recollection was that Sideous had gained some kind of immortality secret from the Sith that trained him, and he had at least a couple centuries under his belt - if only because he was able to hold his own against the 877+ year old Jedi Master Yoda, who's likely so powerful due to having been doing this Force crap for so long. A quick perusal of the wiki shows that he was 86 at the time of his death, with Vader and Luke being 45/23 respectively. That means that the Palpatine we see in Episode III, who killed three Jedi Masters before they could react, who only "failed" to beat Windu because he was sandbagging to stall long enough for Anakin to arrive and cement himself firmly in the dark side, and who later dueled Yoda to a draw/win, was only about 63. I mean, that's old for a human, but not anything like what I was expecting. I guess the Dark Side really is better, if it lets a dude power-level anywhere between 4 and 10 times as quickly as the Light Side practitioners.


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    Default Re: xkcd

    Well, do remember that Yoda had been relegated to training younglings for the past Force-knows-how-long, and the galaxy was experiencing an unprecedented era of peace. He had no real reason to keep pushing himself to improve.

    I'd also imagine the Sith are trained to fight other Force users way more comprehensively than Jedi are, given that's their whole deal.
    Last edited by Yuki Akuma; 2016-12-19 at 07:07 PM.
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    In the novelization, it's stated that Jedi learn a fighting style based on reflecting blaster fire, and Dooku used an old-fashioned fencing technique from when the Sith were more numerous than two and Jedi were trained to fight saber-on-saber.
    Of course, Yoda should remember that fighting style.

    This is LIKE a discussion on xkcd.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tetrimino View Post
    I noticed there was no thread for xkcd, and it's the only other webcomic I read.

    Anyone want to talk about it?
    That won't actually work. Whenever there is a thread about XKCD, the conversation turns to something related to a recent XKCD comic, like grammar or Star Wars, rather than the comic itself. Not that I'm complaining, but it seems inevitable.

    I guess it's that the topics that Randall chooses are often topics that people find frustrating or just like to talk about.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Yuki Akuma View Post
    Well, do remember that Yoda had been relegated to training younglings for the past Force-knows-how-long, and the galaxy was experiencing an unprecedented era of peace. He had no real reason to keep pushing himself to improve.

    I'd also imagine the Sith are trained to fight other Force users way more comprehensively than Jedi are, given that's their whole deal.
    Really? I'd think that someone who says "do or do not, there is no try" would be the type to always try to improve.

    That being said, one of the books has a whole thing about how Jedi who use the force too much always turn to the Dark Side, so he could have stopped becoming more powerful on purpose.
    Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
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    Actually it means when he can't do something he just immediately stops trying. Joda was telling Luck that he was a failure and should just give up.

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    Default Re: xkcd

    I'm too lazy to look but I feel this is like the tenth xkcd thread... And like all others it's doomed to die. Most strips are just not fit for discussion.. Sure, this time we could come up with a bunch more adjective foods but else?
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    Quote Originally Posted by Xihirli View Post
    In the novelization, it's stated that Jedi learn a fighting style based on reflecting blaster fire, and Dooku used an old-fashioned fencing technique from when the Sith were more numerous than two and Jedi were trained to fight saber-on-saber.
    Of course, Yoda should remember that fighting style.

    This is LIKE a discussion on xkcd.
    Canonically there were 7 main lightsaber styles in use by the Jedi, each with different strengths and weaknesses, and various small variations and sub-forms.

    And yes, Dooku used both a fighting style and lightsaber style that were based around saber to saber dueling, which gave him a huge advantage.

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    Default Re: xkcd

    Going to move back to the topic of the actual comic...

    The title text says

    " Guess who has two thumbs and spent the night in an ER after trying to rescue a kitten that ran under his car at a stoplight and climbed up into the engine compartment? And, thanks to antibiotics, will continue having two thumbs? THIS GUY. (P.S. kitten is safe!)"

    Did this actually happen? Explain xkcd says it did, but I'm not sure where they would have gotten it from.
    Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tetrimino View Post
    Going to move back to the topic of the actual comic...

    The title text says

    " Guess who has two thumbs and spent the night in an ER after trying to rescue a kitten that ran under his car at a stoplight and climbed up into the engine compartment? And, thanks to antibiotics, will continue having two thumbs? THIS GUY. (P.S. kitten is safe!)"

    Did this actually happen? Explain xkcd says it did, but I'm not sure where they would have gotten it from.
    The comic itself has an entry,
    Quote Originally Posted by xkcd
    "That cat bites are really serious and if bitten you need to wash the bite and call a doctor immediately"
    It looks like Randall Munroe got one of his thumbs preyed upon by a kitty.

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    not just bite, claws as well actually. Though obviously not all cats have it, there's a really bacteria that mainly grow on cat claws and can give you serious infection. I read stories once in a while about a guy who got clawed by stray cat and went into sepsis.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat-scratch_disease
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    So is BHG basing his assertion on actual early folklore I'm not familiar with, or is he just changing it to creep people out?

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    It's a reference to Sleipnir, the eight-legged horse that pulled Odin's chariot in Norse myth. The link to Santa delivering gifts is probably BHG's 'improvement'.

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    The modern image of Santa is basically Odin with both eyes wearing a different hat.
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    Quote Originally Posted by archaeo View Post
    Man, this is just one of those things you see and realize, "I live in a weird and banal future."

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    Default Re: xkcd

    I'm not sure if that counts as more authentic...
    Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
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    Default Re: xkcd

    Quote Originally Posted by Yuki Akuma View Post
    The modern image of Santa is basically Odin with both eyes wearing a different hat.
    Really? I'm not aware of all Norse myths but I can't recall any considering Odin a gift bringer... like, why would he? Just because both are old, omniscient bearded guys..?

    That said... it would be cool if Rudolph was originally one eighth of Sleipnir.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kato View Post
    Really? I'm not aware of all Norse myths but I can't recall any considering Odin a gift bringer... like, why would he? Just because both are old, omniscient bearded guys..?

    That said... it would be cool if Rudolph was originally one eighth of Sleipnir.
    It's not really a myth we hear a lot about, but the Norse believed that Odin rode across the land every Yule (their winter holiday). Children would leave one of their boots outside filled with hay, and when Odin passed he would leave presents in the boots, and his horse would eat the hay. That's where we get the idea of Santa leaving gifts in our stockings.
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    Default Re: xkcd

    The only related thing I know is that Odin would wander the land every winter in disguise and if people were hospitable to him, by offering him food and shelter from the cold, he would reward them with gifts.
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    Odin is in some myths also the leader of the Wild Hunt, most active in the 12 nights of Yule.

    The german wikipedia claims that according to one legend, the leader of the Wild Hunt warned people with a "Hohoho!" of the approaching host, but does not cite a source.


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    Default Re: xkcd

    So, summing up: back then, before there was a Christmas, Odin had a nice thing going for him: he would go around seeing if people where hospitable, exchanged gifts with those who were nice enough to give food to him and his mounts, and in case people weren't, he had a Wild Hunt? Kind of a second, exclusive Halloween?
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tetrimino View Post
    It's not really a myth we hear a lot about, but the Norse believed that Odin rode across the land every Yule (their winter holiday). Children would leave one of their boots outside filled with hay, and when Odin passed he would leave presents in the boots, and his horse would eat the hay. That's where we get the idea of Santa leaving gifts in our stockings.
    There's also an Austrian tradition of leaving shoes outside on St. Nick's Day (Dec 16), for him to fill with candy overnight. Don't think it's Norse derived, but I'm unsure.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peelee View Post
    There's also an Austrian tradition of leaving shoes outside on St. Nick's Day (Dec 16), for him to fill with candy overnight. Don't think it's Norse derived, but I'm unsure.
    It could be from there too, it's hard to tell. There's so many different cultures with similar traditions that no one really knows where it started.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Peelee View Post
    There's also an Austrian tradition of leaving shoes outside on St. Nick's Day (Dec 16), for him to fill with candy overnight. Don't think it's Norse derived, but I'm unsure.
    16th? We do it on the 6th. Weird, never knew we were a week early on that,too.
    Also, if Odin used to be Santa.. I think naughty kids got more than a lump of coal.
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kato View Post
    16th? We do it on the 6th. Weird, never knew we were a week early on that,too.
    Also, if Odin used to be Santa.. I think naughty kids got more than a lump of coal.
    Well duh. Used to be that naughty kids got beat up. Or worse depending where you are from.
    Even when I was a kid the threat was still there.

    I'm not kidding. One year I actually got a warning shot in my boot.
    That is some motivation to be a nice kid.

    What kind of punishment is a piece of coal anyway? Wouldn't that only give the kids ideas?
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    Default Re: xkcd

    They still theoretically get beat up over here. Santa is accompanied by a couple of burly woodsmen carrying sticks and big empty sacks, who are responsible for grabbing naughty kids.

    Just one more reason Santa scares the **** out of kids when he comes knocking at your house.
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