1Feb/1290

Baby Names

by Jeff

Image text: I've been trying for a couple years now but I haven't been able to come up with a name dumber than 'Renesmee'.

Ok, the punchline for this one is in the image text as Renesmee is the name of Renesmee Cullen, who is the baby born in the book and movie, Twilight to parents Edward and Bella (spoiler alert if you have been living under a rock and don't turn on the internet or TV).  Edward and Bella get Renesmee from an amalgamation of the names of Bella's mother, Renée, and Edward's adoptive mother, Esme.

Randall's point above stands.  All those names are terrible, but not nearly as terrible as the name Renesmee.

Filed under: Movies, books 90 Comments
20Jan/1214

Sloppier Than Fiction

by Jeff

Image text: Roger Ebert once called you directionless and unwatchable.

This comic is basically about a terrible person that Cueball is somehow talking to, possibly at a bar or party as Goatee Guy is carrying a drink.

The title of this comic is a play on the phrase "Stranger than Fiction", which means that sometimes real life can lead to some unexpected ups and downs that would not even make sense in a fictional representation in a book or a movie.  Goatee Guy unfortunately for him, is "Sloppier than Fiction".

In the image text, Roger Ebert is a well-known US-based movie critic.

Oh and FYI, if anyone ever says "It wasn't technically cheating"... it was cheating.

Filed under: Movies 14 Comments
16Jan/1232

Batman

by Jeff

Image text: I'm really worried Christopher Nolan will kill a man dressed like a bat in his next movie. (The man will be dressed like a bat, I mean. Christopher Nolan won't be, probably.)

This comic is a reference to the comic book and movie character 'Batman', who actually rich businessman Bruce Wayne as we see on the left being referenced as "Master Wayne" by his butler Alfred.  In the middle is the stick figure representation of Batman and on the right is the Joker as played by the late Heath Ledger.

If we translate the image text, Randall is afraid that Christopher Nolan (the director of the last two Batman movies) will kill Batman in the next movie.

Filed under: Movies 32 Comments
4Nov/1133

MTV Generation

by Jeff

Image text: If you identified with the kids from The Breakfast Club when it came out, you're now much closer to the age of Principal Vernon.

This one is pretty straightfoward, so let's just do some definitions.

MTV is Music Television, it is a TV channel is the US and elsewhere that when it started in the 1980s used to show music videos.  Now it only shows crappy reality TV.

The Breakfast Club is an iconic movie from 1985 in which 5 very different teenagers spend a Saturday detention together at the school.  Principal Vernon was obviously, the principal in the movie and was the overseer of the detention.

This comic is one of the rare appearances of the White Hat character, who is seen much less than the Black Hat character.

17Oct/1145

Elements

by Jeff

Image text: Of all the nations, the armies of the ununoctium-benders are probably the least intimidating. The xenon-benders come close, but their flickery signs are at least effective for propoganda.

The character on the left is a reference to the TV cartoon and live action movie by the name of Avatar: The Last Airbender.  The character in question is named Aang.  He is master of the four elements, earth, water, fire and air.

On the right is Dmitri Mendeleev, who is credited with the creation of the periodic table of elements, which is why he is the master of all 118 plus elements.  Polonium is the radioactive element discovered by Marie Curie (as referenced in previous xkcds).  Just as Marie Curie died of radiation poisoning, that is the attack that Dmitri uses with polonium.

In the image text, ununoctium is the element with atomic number 118 and it has no other use besides basic scientific research.

Xenon is a colorless gas, that emits a blue or lavenderish glow when the gas is excited by electrical discharge

8Jul/1117

Fight Club

by Jeff

Image text: I'm not saying it's all bad, but that movie has not aged as well as my teenage self in 2000 was confident it would.

Fight Club is a movie starring Brad Pitt and Edward Norton that was released in 1999.  It included this oft-quoted and parodied line: "The first rule about Fight Club is do not talk about Fight Club.".

Honestly, I haven't seen the movie since seeing it for the first time circa 1999-2001, so I'm not sure how well it has aged.  But, there is certainly a greater meaning aimed for in the movie rather than being just about a Fight Club.

Filed under: Movies 17 Comments
27Apr/1113

Movie Ages

by Jeff

Image text: If you're 15 or younger, then just remember that it's nevertheless probably too late to be a child prodigy.

This one is very straight forward.  Based on the person you are talking to, take their age on the far left, add "Did you realize that..." add the corresponding movie that is across from their age then "...came out..." add the phrase at the end of row.

E.g. - If a person is 30, then it would go a little something like this "Did you realize that Home Alone came out more than 20 years ago?"

And since this chart is designed to make someone feel old, anyone over 35 gets lumped in with "older people" which no one likes.

Filed under: Movies 13 Comments
2Feb/115

1999

by Jeff

Image text: 'Whoa, twenty-two in two hours!' 'Your site got twenty-two hundred hits in two hours?' 'No. Twenty-two. But still, that's like half the people on the internet!'

If you have seen the Social Network, this comic is a parody of that movie.  If you haven't seen it, you should it's highly recommended from explainxkcd.com.  For whatever that's worth.  Probably nothing.

The website referenced is Zombo.com also known as Zombocom which is a website that only has movie colors and a voice that says "This is Zombocom, welcome to zombocom" and then moves on to other strange phrases.  Turn on your speakers and check it out for yourself. Zombo.com

Filed under: Movies, internet 5 Comments
17Jan/1120

3D

by Jeff

Image text: The LINACs in the glasses frames can barely manage one MeV. You should've gone to the screening at CERN.

String theory is a candidate for the theory of microscopic theory of gravity. It also attempts to provide a complete, unified, and consistent description of the fundamental structure of our universe.  String theory is the theory that all points like protons are actually points on a string.

In this comic, our three protagonists go to a movie that purports to be "String Theory: An Expose" Presented in 3D.  So, they put on their 3D glasses, but they glasses do not show them the movie in 3D.  So, they go to Black Hat, the standard xkcd foil, and ask why they couldn't see the 3rd dimension of the movie.  (A typical flat movie is in 2 dimensions (height and width).)

String theory however, had 11 dimensions, 7 of which need to be so tightly rolled up that we cannot detect them.  Hence, the 3rd dimension in the string theory movie was one of those 7 dimensions.  Which is why in the image text, which is a continuation of Black Hat's words, he says that they should have gone to the screening at CERN, where they would have been able to see the 3rd dimension in the movie.  CERN is the European Laboratory for Particle Physics where they have the Large Hadron Collider.

In the image text, a LINAC is a linear particle accelerator.  MeV is multiples of the electron volt, which refers to 1,000,000 eV.

17Nov/1019

Five-Minute Comics: Part 2

by Jeff

Image text: Dear Wiccan readers: I understand modern Wiccans are not usually all about the curses and hexes. But Darth Vader was recently converted from Episcopalianism and he's still figuring it all out.

Top Comic - This is a parody of the frequent conspiracy theories that have come about since the events of September 11, 2001.  The use of the "grassy knoll" is a reference to the conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of John F. Kennedy, a US President on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas.  Some people say they saw another or different shooter over on a "grassy knoll" by the road where JFK was shot.

Middle Left - Some people say that when women are pregnant, they have a certain glow about them, whether it is just their general happiness or something else.  In this case, the woman is really pregnant and then promptly gives birth.

Middle - In this comic, the character says "Cogito Ergo Cogito" instead of the traditional phrase "Cogito Ergo Sum".  The traditional phrase is Latin for I think therefore I am, which was said by René Descartes.  In this comic, the character is playing it safe by just saying I think therefore I think.

Middle Left - This comic is a pun on the phrase "Bail out!" When it is used by fighter pilots, it means for them to hit their ejector seats and parachute to safety.  In this comic, the pilots are using the phrase as would two people in a boat that is filling up with water.

Lower Middle - This is a joke on how in Star Wars they have lightsabers.  In this case, they created black-lightsabers which use black light bulbs.  Black lights just make every thing seem really eerie and you are able to see dust and dirt particles on everything.

Right - I think that one is pretty self explanatory and pretty gross.

Lower Middle Left - I'm not sure what is up with the sandwich making one, but it appears to be an inside joke somehow.

Bottom Left - This is a lawyer who is going to make a defense that will offend women and he prepared an opening statement incorrectly thinking there would be both men and women on the jury.  This comic is an extension of the stereotypical lawyer opening "Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury...".

Bottom Right - From the start this is a full quote from Star Wars in which Conan Antonio Motti rips Darth Vader's ancient religion, which in the movie is The Force. Vader proceeds to force choke Motti until Moff Tarkin tells him to stop. In this comic, Vader's ancient religion is of course Wiccan.

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