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Post by aaroncampbell on Aug 18, 2010 7:00:37 GMT
[761] Yay, another random facts page! I like going back to the old style!
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Post by edzepp on Aug 18, 2010 7:03:06 GMT
Took a disturbing turn at the end there, but still...Yay pigeons!
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Post by aaroncampbell on Aug 18, 2010 7:03:31 GMT
Bobby's little story at the end is, um, interesting.
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Post by mudmaniac on Aug 18, 2010 7:18:21 GMT
I dont care what Bobby has to say, that forth one has a City Face.
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Post by Refugee on Aug 18, 2010 7:21:43 GMT
I have a friend who watched a pigeon commit suicide. It had a tumor that covered half its face, was generally bedraggled, and could barely fly.
It had taken up station behind the tire of a parked car. Bill tried to move it away, finding various comfortable shady spots near water, grass, food, etc, but it kept returning to the tire. Bill went on about his business, and a couple of hours later came back to find the pigeon squashed.
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Post by Snes on Aug 18, 2010 7:27:31 GMT
Tom's mastery of black humor continues to entertain.
Bobby seems like a nice guy.
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Post by legion on Aug 18, 2010 7:44:40 GMT
That was entertaining, before degenerating into absurd at the bottom of the page. Fun page. It somehow reminds me of this Donald cartoon about bird photography: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u0rBeoOiV1c
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Post by judgedeadd on Aug 18, 2010 9:59:48 GMT
Subject line has an erroneous number. Should be 762
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Post by Tenjen on Aug 18, 2010 10:03:31 GMT
absurd nothing.
He had a profound experience and related to the bird. He understands the ability to feel deeply or intensely and have no true external expression.
bobby loves animals very much. though thats not the right terminology to use.
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Post by legion on Aug 18, 2010 10:33:18 GMT
The fun corner definitively is absurd, and its absurdness contaminates the whole bottom.
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Post by jimbobbowilly on Aug 18, 2010 13:43:03 GMT
I thought the fun corner would be One Pig. Oh well.
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Post by tyler on Aug 18, 2010 13:44:47 GMT
I try my hardest, now that I'm outside the demographic the fun corner is geared toward, to unscramble those words into something that makes sense even if it isn't the answer. One pig works for me.
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Post by legion on Aug 18, 2010 14:04:02 GMT
What about "pi gone"?
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Post by Casey on Aug 18, 2010 14:34:34 GMT
ion peg
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Post by aaroncampbell on Aug 18, 2010 17:54:10 GMT
Subject line has an erroneous number. Should be 762 Thanks for keeping an eye out, but the page actually is 761 (check the URL.) The previous discussion thread labeled 761 should have been numbered 760. Tom did some upload edits recently, which breaks the normal order. This has happened a few times in the past (pages 46, 55, 135, and now 763) and Tom just keeps the misordered page numbers as-is. Following posts just backfill the lowest available number, until they are caught up. The most recent page numbers go in the following order: 757 758 759 763760 761 Barring any further upload edits, Friday's will be 762 and Monday's will be 764, and we will be back on track from there. (Interesting tidbit: there are two pages which are missing -- pages 44 & 131. I'm not sure what happened to them; perhaps they were accidental duplicates or something. I don't know why they weren't backfilled.)
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Post by GK Sierra on Aug 18, 2010 19:31:48 GMT
Paragraph at the bottom made me laugh hysterically for almost three solid minutes. Thanks Tom, now my new jacket has Cognac all over it.
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Post by frankenmilk on Aug 18, 2010 19:46:55 GMT
(Interesting tidbit: there are two pages which are missing -- pages 44 & 131. I'm not sure what happened to them; perhaps they were accidental duplicates or something. I don't know why they weren't backfilled.) Perhaps those pages were about the cursed teapot, and the secret pact between Tom and Annie made him to remove them... ;D By the way, new reader here I can see now, that I'm gonna hate this comic... You know, over 700 pages in two days, and now I have to wait, and wait, and wait to get only one... Oh, and I'm from Hungary, and never learnt english, so everything I know is from movies, games and books, so feel free to correct me
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Post by aaroncampbell on Aug 18, 2010 20:15:30 GMT
(Interesting tidbit: there are two pages which are missing -- pages 44 & 131. I'm not sure what happened to them; perhaps they were accidental duplicates or something. I don't know why they weren't backfilled.) Perhaps those pages were about the cursed teapot, and the secret pact between Tom and Annie made him to remove them... ;D By the way, new reader here I can see now, that I'm gonna hate this comic... You know, over 700 pages in two days, and now I have to wait, and wait, and wait to get only one... Oh, and I'm from Hungary, and never learnt english, so everything I know is from movies, games and books, so feel free to correct me Welome, Frankenmilk! Yes, you're going to hate love this comic! If you've made it through the entirety in only 2 days, you're already a lost cause, hopelessly hooked. Wecome to the insanity! I know the time can seem to drag between updates, but Tom is awesome about reliability and thrice per week is a very quick schedule for a long-format story. If you're hungering for more, the discussions here in the forums might help you keep your sanity. Then again, we might make things worse. ;D
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Post by wittgen on Aug 19, 2010 6:01:53 GMT
Bobby's story at the bottom of the page struck me as one of the most touching and heartbreaking things I've read. I don't know why. Maybe it was that "I have never relayed this story to anyone." It's such a distinctly robot-sounding take on "I've never told anyone this story," but it manages to feel just as intimate and vulnerable. Awesome stuff.
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Post by Tenjen on Aug 19, 2010 6:45:01 GMT
The fun corner definitively is absurd, and its absurdness contaminates the whole bottom. oh that. ya that is absurd. Though it does explain something about the robots personality and what must have run through his mind when he considered what the children would need. dont forget the "it had no expression, just like i have no expression" part
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Post by Per on Aug 19, 2010 16:25:22 GMT
I have no marker. And I must draw an expression.
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valiums
New Member
Hey. Your crack is showing.
Posts: 9
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Post by valiums on Aug 19, 2010 22:52:25 GMT
I thought the last box was some kind of Post Secret letter.
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Post by aaroncampbell on Aug 19, 2010 23:11:29 GMT
I found the bit about the decorated war hero pigeon Cher Ami very interesting. The soldiers that were saved were being killed by friendly artillery fire, and Cher Ami was the last pigeon left (the previous two having been shot down.) Here is a poem that was written about him. Cher Amiby Harry Webb Farrington "Cher Ami" and Poems From France Rough & Brown Press, 1920Cher Ami, how do you do! Listen, let me talk to you; I'll not hurt you, don't you see? Come a little close to me. Little scrawny blue and white Messenger for men who fight, Tell me of the deep, red scar, There, just where no feathers are. What about your poor left leg? Tell me, Cher Ami, I beg. Boys and girls are at a loss, How you won that Silver Cross. "The finest fun that came to me Was when I went with Whittlesey; We marched so fast, so far ahead! 'We all are lost,' the keeper said; 'Mon Cher Ami--that's my dear friend-- You are the one we'll have to send; The whole battalion now is lost, And you must win at any cost.' So with the message tied on tight; I flew up straight with all my might, Before I got up high enough, Those watchfull guns began to puff. Machine-gun bullets came like rain, You'd think I was an aeroplane; And when I started to the rear, My! the shot was coming near! But on I flew, straight as a bee; The wind could not catch up with me, Until I dropped out of the air, Into our own men's camp, so there!"
But, Cher Ami, upon my word, You modest, modest little bird; Now don't you know that you forgot? Tell how your breast and leg were shot. "Oh, yes, the day we crossed the Meuse, I flew to Rampont with the news; Again the bullets came like hail, I thought for sure that I should fail. The bullets buzzed by like a bee, So close, it almost frightened me; One struck the feathers of this sail, Another went right through my tail. But when I got back to the rear, I found they hit me, here and here; But that is nothing, never mind; Old Poilu, there is nearly blind. I only care for what they said, For when they saw the way I bled, And found in front a swollen lump, The message hanging from this stump; The French and Mine said, 'Tres bien,' Or 'Very good'--American. 'Mon Cher Ami, you brought good news; Our Army's gone across the Meuse! You surely had a lucky call! And so I'm glad. I guess that's all. I'll sit, so pardon me, I beg; It's hard a-standing on one leg!"
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Post by Ulysses on Aug 19, 2010 23:39:03 GMT
I try my hardest, now that I'm outside the demographic the fun corner is geared toward, to unscramble those words into something that makes sense even if it isn't the answer. One pig works for me. Eno gip. Brian isn't feeling very well. I think Bobby did wonderfully. They should ask him to do another animal based fact page.
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Post by aaroncampbell on Aug 20, 2010 1:44:06 GMT
I think Bobby did wonderfully. They should ask him to do another animal based fact page. I second the motion! On an unrelated note, I have what might be a silly question. Do we know what Bobby's gender is? The reason I ask is that the name Bobby can be a female name/nickname (while not that common, I personally know one,) and Bobby's torso and head decorations suggest a bosom and pigtails to me. Of course, robots may not even have a programmed gender, and it isn't likely important to the story. I just thought I'd put the question out there to see if anyone else got the same impression I did.
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Post by cannedbreadmaker on Aug 20, 2010 5:26:48 GMT
I think Bobby did wonderfully. They should ask him to do another animal based fact page. I second the motion! On an unrelated note, I have what might be a silly question. Do we know what Bobby's gender is? The reason I ask is that the name Bobby can be a female name/nickname (while not that common, I personally know one,) and Bobby's torso and head decorations suggest a bosom and pigtails to me. Of course, robots may not even have a programmed gender, and it isn't likely important to the story. I just thought I'd put the question out there to see if anyone else got the same impression I did. Bobby is a male name. Bobby is referred to by Paz with the pronoun "he".
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Post by Chemical Rascal on Aug 20, 2010 12:13:48 GMT
He could also be taken to mean the uni-gender pronoun.
Which is he. Depending on who you ask.
If you ask me, it's he.
Or him.
Him's good.
His, also.
Depending on usage.
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Post by theweatherman on Aug 21, 2010 10:36:18 GMT
Bobby probably doesn't have a gender, but when people are confused about genders for inanimate objects they normally call them male.
Plus to me, he just looks guyish
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Post by exuberancium on May 16, 2013 2:37:43 GMT
Sorry to bump a really old discussion thread, but does anyone know what the 6 species able to recognize their reflection are (as mentioned in fact #2 on this page)? Obviously, human and pigeon/dove are 2, but what are the other 4? I'm guessing animals that spend a lot of time near water? Crow might be one, but I'm not sure.
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Post by warrl on May 16, 2013 3:18:20 GMT
Sorry to bump a really old discussion thread, but does anyone know what the 6 species able to recognize their reflection are (as mentioned in fact #2 on this page)? Obviously, human and pigeon/dove are 2, but what are the other 4? I'm guessing animals that spend a lot of time near water? Crow might be one, but I'm not sure. First, pages got reindexed. Here's the now-correct link to the page referenced: www.gunnerkrigg.com/?p=760Here's the list according to Wikipedia: * humans * bonobos * chimpanzees * orangutans * gorillas * bottlenose dolphins * orcas * elephants * european magpies You'll notice a couple of things about this list: that there are more than six species, and that pigeons aren't mentioned. I would add that a lot of people aren't aware that bonobos are a separate species from chimpanzees, and that the evidence on gorillas is consistent with it being only a few exceptional (and/or human-acclimated) individuals who recognize themselves in a mirror - thing is, there is evidence for a few exceptional individuals of quite a few species passing this test, even though most individuals of these species do not. The literature on pigeons and the mirror test indicates that with a massive amount of conditioned-response training it is possible to get a pigeon who appears to pass the test. Dogs and cats aren't on the list, but it's known that adults of both species - at least the ones acclimated to human households - react very differently to a reflection of themselves as opposed to a real other dog or cat. However, there's a difference between "hey, that's me, over there!" (shades of the Unix file system) and "I don't know what's going on but that isn't a real animal over there, snore." and it can be hard to discern what's going on inside those furry heads. (For both species, a good case can be made for some individuals passing the test; it's the general question that is difficult.) On the other hand, the few tests with adult lions... tended to end with broken mirrors. And mirrors that size aren't cheap.
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