explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

3052: Archive Request

2025-02-19T16:29:34Z

KirkLand: /* Explanation */ added note about plato's cave

{{comic
| number = 3052
| date = February 17, 2025
| title = Archive Request
| image = archive_request_2x.png
| imagesize = 346x481px
| noexpand = true
| titletext = They just want researchers in the enclosure to feel enriched and stimulated. ('The Enclosure' is what archivists call the shadowy world outside their archives in which so many people are trapped.)
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|Archived by an ENCLOSED RESEARCHER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
Research sometimes involves looking up old data in an archive, and old data is often not stored in a modern standard of file format. It may either be an older standard, largely forgotten and no longer catered for, or a choice of original archival format that made sense only within the organisation itself; either way, being a proprietary internal or licensed third-party format that lost (or never gained) wider support in the world at large. Unless the archive's contents are periodically re-examined, and up-converted into more contemporary standards in a timely manner, they might not be able to provide the data the researcher needs in a convenient way. The comic shows [[Cueball]] facing several issues that can happen with archived data:
* The data is stored as paper records, which will have to be scanned into a digital format.
* The data is being sent as a CD-ROM instead of being emailed or shared online, so it will take time to arrive. Also, most computers sold today do not come with a CD or DVD drive so the researcher might need to use another computer, or buy an external CD drive, to read it.
* It will take 10 business days (about 2 weeks) to process the request, plus shipping time.
* The data is not being sent in a common format for scanned documents, such as PDF, but a proprietary format that needs special software to decode.
* The decoder software only runs on Windows 98 or XP, versions of Windows which are no longer supported by Microsoft, and cannot even be installed on most modern computers,{{actual citation needed}}requiring a very old computer or the installation of a virtual machine. This often happens when old software is no longer supported by the manufacturer, so it cannot be updated to work on newer versions of Windows. This will add to the difficulty for the researcher to decode the data when they get it.

Normally, the reason for data coming in deprecated formats would be that it is held within a legacy system that was built around those formats. However, since these records are having to be scanned from paper in the first place, the rest seems to simply be inserting extra complication unnecessarily. The records could simply be scanned and shared using current systems and formats. This is borne out by the caption and the title text.

In zoos, captive animals need {{w|behavioral enrichment}} to promote physiological and psychological well-being - to keep them active and reduce behaviors such as pacing back and forth in a cage. Zookeepers provide this by putting toys in their enclosure or putting food in hard-to-open containers so that the animals have to work for it. The comic humorously suggests that archivists are doing the same thing as zookeepers - providing intellectual stimulation for the researcher by forcing them to jump through hoops in order to get their data. The title text suggests that archivists live in their world of archives and see the rest of the universe outside it as a cage that's trapping the rest of us. This is perhaps a reference to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allegory_of_the_cave Plato's Cave], a philosophical question about what it means to perceive reality. Randall has enjoyed poking fun at the idea before[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/876:_Trapped].

In libraries and archives, catalog enrichment means adding useful data to the catalog, including scans of the table of contents or the whole book. Many institutions have already digitized large parts of their collection. Researchers can then download a scan directly from the online catalog, just by clicking on a link.

==Transcript==
{{incomplete transcript|Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}

:[A side view of Cueball, sitting on a wheeled office chair, at a desk with a laptop on it and his hands on the laptop. A jagged line comes from the laptop screen presumably representing text on the computer screen.]
:Computer: To request data from the archives, fill out this form. The pages will be scanned, encoded to CD-ROM, and mailed to you within 10 business days.
:Computer: Download the decoder for our proprietary format here (Requires Windows 98® or XP®)
:Cueball: ''Ugh, fine...''

:[Caption below the panel:]
:Archivists actually have everything in digital repos now, but they still do this to provide enrichment for researchers, the way zoos hide food for animals in hard-to-open boxes.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Computers]]
[[Category:Animals]]

Talk:Jill

2016-10-19T22:36:54Z

KirkLand:

Maybe she is [[Black Hat|Black Hat's]] daughter?
~ {{unsigned|Will X}}

I think we should expand it to all clearly double-bunned young girls. I suggest [[573: Parental Trolling]] [[856: Trochee Fixation]] [[946: Family Decals]] --[[User:KirkLand|KirkLand]] ([[User talk:KirkLand|talk]]) 22:35, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

Talk:Jill

2016-10-19T22:35:39Z

KirkLand:

Maybe she is [[Black Hat|Black Hat's]] daughter?
~ {{unsigned|Will X}}

I think we should expand it to all clearly double-bunned young girls. I suggest [573: Parental Trolling] [856: Trochee Fixation] [946: Family Decals] --[[User:KirkLand|KirkLand]] ([[User talk:KirkLand|talk]]) 22:35, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

1145: Sky Color

2016-10-19T22:33:42Z

KirkLand: Science Girl!

{{comic
| number = 1145
| date = December 10, 2012
| title = Sky Color
| image = sky_color.png
| titletext = Feynman recounted another good one upperclassmen would use on freshmen physics students: When you look at words in a mirror, how come they're reversed left to right but not top to bottom? What's special about the horizontal axis?
}}

==Explanation==
The point of this comic is that often, curious children ask their parents simple questions about understanding how the world works. Often, although the question is simple, the answer is not. "Why is the sky blue?" is a common example, since most parents are not familiar with {{w|Rayleigh scattering}}, and thus are unable to answer the question.

[[Randall]]'s hobby is to make those questions even harder, in order to stump the (scientist) parents and make them uncomfortable.

Another point of this comic is that we often think that we understand a scientific phenomenon (e.g. why is the sky blue?); however, a certain simple question (e.g. why isn't the sky violet?) can often uncover large gaps in our actual understanding.

{{W|Rayleigh scattering}} is the phenomenon that explains the color of the sky, where light of every wavelength gets scattered in the air by the inverse quartic (fourth power) of its wavelength as given in the comic. In the {{w|visible spectrum}}, blue light has a wavelength of 450–495 nm while violet has a shorter wavelength of 380–450 nm. Violet light does indeed get scattered more than blue light, however the lower portion of the spectrum for sunlight consists of blue light and eyes are much more sensitive to blue light than violet light. This leaves the impression of a blue sky. A good explanation, including why blue and not violet, can be found in [http://math.ucr.edu/home/baez/physics/General/BlueSky/blue_sky.html Usenet Physics FAQ :: Why is the sky blue?], but note that human color perception [http://blog.asmartbear.com/color-wheels.html is more complicated] than described there.

The title text refers to a {{w|mirror image}}, and is discussed by the famous American theoretical physicist {{w|Richard Feynman}} in a famous BBC documentary [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tuxLY94LXw], as one of the problems which he used to have fun with first years (British English for first year student or freshman).

A mirror image is a virtual image produced by the reflection of light on a mirror. In the mirror image, only front and back are switched around — like a printing press or a rubber stamp. Left and right are still left and right in an absolute reference frame — wave your left arm in front of the mirror and the "mirror person" also waves the arm on the left side. It is only when using "personal" reference frame —tied to the individual— that we can say that the "mirror person" is moving their right arm. The apparent inversion comes from the fact that the mind projects itself onto the person in the mirror.

To help understand why this effect happens, imagine that you are holding a sign which says "MIX" and facing a mirror. Initially, you face the sign towards you. The M is on the left and the X on the right. Now, you turn the sign around so that the sign faces the mirror. Now, even without paying any attention to the mirror, simply because you have turned it around, now the M is on the right and the X is on the left and if you could see through the back of the sign, it would say "XIM" from your perspective. When you look at it in the mirror, you are now able to see that orientation and it appears to read "XIM". If instead of turning the sign around horizontally to look at it in the mirror, you flipped it vertically and looked at it in the mirror, it would appear to say "WIX" in the mirror. Thus the mirror is only revealing how the text is oriented relative to your eyes. Or, to put it more succinctly: mirrors ''don't'' reverse left to right, ''turning around'' does. Mirrors reverse along whatever direction is perpendicular to the plane of the mirror. You can induce a mirror to reverse left and right only --- by standing next to it instead of in front of it, facing along the plane of the mirror itself. If you lift your right arm, you can clearly see your image's left arm raising, without having to adjust for frame of reference. Similarly, you can induce a mirror to reverse top and bottom only by holding it flat above your head or laying it flat on the ground and standing on it (or perhaps standing under a suitably equipped bedroom ceiling).

==Transcript==
:[Girl and her mother, Megan. Megan is at a desk and facing the girl.]
:Girl: Mommy, why is the sky blue?
:Megan: Rayleigh scattering! Short wavelengths get scattered ''way'' more (proportional to 1/''λ''4). Blue light dominates because it's so short.
:Girl: Oh.
:Girl: So why ''isn't'' the sky violet?
:Megan: Well, because, uh... ...hmm.

:My hobby: Teaching tricky questions to the children of my scientist friends.

{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Science Girl]]
[[Category:Physics]]
[[Category:My Hobby]]

1511: Spice Girl

2016-10-19T22:32:24Z

KirkLand:

__NOTOC__
{{comic
| number = 1511
| date = April 13, 2015
| title = Spice Girl
| image = spice_girl.png
| titletext = Haha, you'll see!
}}
''Not to be confused with [[1554: Spice Girls]]''
==Explanation==

===The Spice Girls===
The Spice Girls are a British pop girl group formed in 1994. It consists of five girls who each have a "spice girl" nickname. The five girls with their respective nicknames are:
*{{w|Mel B}} (MB) or "Scary Spice"
*{{w|Mel C}} (MC) or "Sporty Spice"
*{{w|Emma Bunton}} (Em) or "Baby Spice"
*{{w|Geri Halliwell}} (G) or "Ginger Spice"
*{{w|Victoria Beckham}} (V) or "Posh Spice"
The letter in parenthesis are relevant for the interpretation of the [[#The title text|title text]]

In [[1554: Spice Girls]] he shows how difficult it is to remember these five names...

===The internet quiz===
This is one example of a trend of on-line quizzes that would "identify" the user with one person/personality of a group based on a series of personality questions. This will most often concern which member of a band, TV cast/film cast or character from books etc. the quizzer most resembles. In this comic it is specifically [[#Spice girl quizzes|Spice girl quizzes]] that are the subject.

In this comic, [[Randall]] is suggesting that in order to cope with what he probably considers to be irritating {{w|clickbait}} links to these quizzes, he imagines the link titles as ''being shouted through a door in a postapocalyptic dystopia''. This is a reference to a trope in movies set in such postapocalyptic settings (which Randall presumably enjoys more) in which the heroes must determine whether an unknown agent is friend or foe, which in some such media occurs by shouting through locked doors. It is not likely that Randall would actually complete these quizzes, but if he did in this fantasy setting, the stakes would be higher and each answer would be fraught with dangerous meaning. It would thus also be much more fun taking the quiz and the result would seem to be important.

In Randall's fantasy dystopian future, the character who is subject of the dialogue may be one of two Spice Girls, described alternately as the one who is merciful and the one started the war (which likely resulted in the said dystopia). It is possible there are only two remaining Spice Girls, or that there are simply only two likely options in the particular circumstances of the comic. It is also unclear if Randall may be suggesting two fictional Spice Girls, or if in his fantasy future, two of the actual original Spice Girls fit the criteria mentioned. ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2SQYLHWo8TA The Merciful One]'' could be a reference to the song with the same name by {{w|Zohar (band)|Zohar}}, another British music ensemble.

===Two interpretations===
As a result of the way the speech line was drawn in this comic, there is ambiguity as to the source of the dialogue. The official transcript now states: "A CRUEL INTERLOPER, external to the scene and room, pounds on the door and shouts at the two figures in our sight.". But, before that was available, there were two possible interpretations:

====The shout comes from outside====
The four little lines at the source end of the speech line are often used by Randall to denote sound coming from an unseen source. This suggests that the quiz question is being shouted by an angry agent or crowd ''outside'' the door in reference to the female character seen in the comic. Presumably if she is "the one who started this war", the person(s) outside would be hostile toward her.

In this case, it looks like the female character (who otherwise appears to be a [[Hairbun]] character) does not have any intention of answering, and is preparing for when the people outside break down the door by loading her shotgun to defend herself. In this interpretation, [[#The title text|the title text]] is said by "Hairbun" Spice indicating that when they get through the door they will be in trouble.

====The shout comes from Cueball====
In this interpretation, the four little lines at the source end of the speech line denote shouting, indicating that the quiz question is being shouted by Cueball to whoever is on the outside of the door, trying to determine if that person is merciful or hostile.

In this case, it looks like Hairbun is preparing for the latter possibility, loading her shotgun to defend herself if the person/people outside break through the door. [[#The title text|The title text]] is said by the spice girl outside, its inherent challenge suggesting that she is not the merciful one.

===The title text===
The title text refers to the [http://lyrics.wikia.com/Spice_Girls:Wannabe lyrics] from the Spice Girls' debut single, ''{{w|Wannabe (song)|Wannabe}}'' (Listen to ''[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJLIiF15wjQ Wannabe on YouTube]'') Here below is the relevant excerpt from the song where the letters in the last four lines refer to the spice girls [[#The Spice Girls|as given above]]. This rap {{w|bridge (music)|bridge}} is sung by Scary Spice except for the line with Easy V which is sung by Ginger Spice:
:So here's a story from A to Z,
:You wanna get with me You gotta listen carefully
:We got Em in the place who likes it in your face
:You got G like MC who likes it on an
:Easy V doesn't come for free, she's a real lady
:And as for me, '''ha ha, you'll see'''

These lyrics function as a little introduction to the (then) less-well-known girl group. The final line takes on a threat-like tone in this new context of the comic. And it doesn't help that it is Scary Spice who sings it.

The text may seem a little confusing to understand, especially the line that finishes ''on an''. According to another lyrics-site, which also has [http://genius.com/3134866 explanations] to some parts of the text, it means that G and MC likes it (sex) together with {{w|MDMA|ecstasy}} - as "On an E" is slang for being on ecstasy (see it used in this [https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090518130834AA0QdJD discussion]). They could not sing this directly without resulting in a PG rating, thus they inserted the "E" in the next line as '''E'''asy V, a line which is even sung by another spice girl, Ginger spice, where the rest of this bridge is sung by Scary spice.

==Transcript==
:[Cueball is trying to barricade a door with his own body (although it already has a bar in front of it). He is in a room that is deteriorating with Hairbun who is loading a shotgun while sitting behind some sort of box.]
:Knocking on the door: '''Thump Thump'''
:Voice (see [[#Two interpretations|here]]): '''Which Spice Girl are you?!'''
:Voice (see [[#Two interpretations|here]]): The merciful one, or the one who started this war?

:[Caption below the frame:]
:'''When I see those quiz titles, I like to imagine they're'''
:'''being shouted through a door in a postapocalyptic dystopia.'''

==Spice girl quizzes==
*''What spice girl are you?'' quizzes
**[http://www.buzzfeed.com/lyapalater/which-spice-girl-are-you#.gbkv2p3jDX Buzzfeed]
**[http://www.zimbio.com/quiz/w-MjcRyEoFZ/Which+Spice+Girl+Are+You Zimbio]
**[http://www.brainfall.com/quizzes/which-spice-girl-are-you/ Brainfall]
**[http://www.gotoquiz.com/what_spice_girl_are_you GoToQuiz]
*Kidspot
**''[http://www.kidspot.com.au/the-spice-girls-and-10-other-mummy-types-you-might-know/ The Spice Girls and 10 other mummy types you might know];''
**Baby Mummy, Sporty Mummy, Scary Mummy, Posh Mummy, Ginger Mummy and 10 others.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairbun]]
[[Category:Spice Girls]]
[[Category:Music]]
[[Category:Songs]]
[[Category:Clickbait]]
[[Category:Science Girl]]

Talk:1748: Future Archaeology

2016-10-19T22:16:19Z

KirkLand:

Second reference is actually to music video: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfhhWA9GF0M Aaron Carter - That's How I Beat Shaq]] [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.5|141.101.98.5]] 04:11, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

Here I thought it was a reference to The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny--[[Special:Contributions/108.162.226.115|108.162.226.115]] 04:25, 19 October 2016 (UTC)
:I made the same mistake! Had to recite the entire thing in my head to see if those two fought, then impressed myself with my memory of lyrics I hadn't heard since high school. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.87|173.245.48.87]] 04:51, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

"we do like our flood narratives" - the same day (or the day before?) a new what-if.xkcd (152) about flooding death valley was uploaded - the first for a while... [[Special:Contributions/162.158.86.29|162.158.86.29]] 08:18, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

:Thanks for telling me! New What-If? Sweet! [[User:Jacky720|Jacky720]] ([[User talk:Jacky720|talk]]) 10:52, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

;A rare type of series?
{sorry if it sounds dumb: first time here} Have any two consecutive xkcds ever been part of such a clear "series" without being labelled "part I", "part II", ...? Or is this a rare occurrence of such thing? In case, it should be mentioned in the trivia, maybe? [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.70|141.101.98.70]] 08:04, 19 October 2016 (UTC)
:No it is interesting and not seen like this before --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:28, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

Aaron who?
[[User:PoconoChuck|PoconoChuck]] ([[User talk:PoconoChuck|talk]]) 12:27, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

Someone should make a character page for the time traveler dot dude. This is at least the third time xe has appeared. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.48.69|173.245.48.69]] 13:15, 19 October 2016 (UTC)
:No. As noted in the previous comic there is no reason to assume that previous dots are the same. The Category should be deleted. But later when finding out if there are more than these two comics to come a series category should be created with a good name not this one that has been used: Category:Comics featuring the floating sphere from the future... --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:28, 19 October 2016 (UTC)
;Which sounds more reasonable?

I think there's another layer to this comic not yet address by this page.

From Future Dot's perspective, a man building a boat to survive a flood sounds like a real event. A man challenging and defeating a God, less so.

However, in modern times, the story of Noah's Flood is widely regarded as a myth, while the music video is widely regarded as having actually happened.

I believe this comic is meant to make us ask "What stories that we dismiss as myths have a kernel, however small, of truth to them?".
[[Special:Contributions/108.162.237.84|108.162.237.84]] 14:49, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

So far the comics in this series have had the name pattern [noun] [field of science ending in -ology]. Too perfect to be a coincidence. [[User:CJB42|CJB42]] ([[User talk:CJB42|talk]]) 17:36, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

Anyone taking bets against Friday's comic is also in this series? ;-) --[[User:Kynde|Kynde]] ([[User talk:Kynde|talk]]) 19:28, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

So if I'm right, I believe there has not been any consecutive continuity in xkcd since [[:Category:The Race|The Race]], which ended a little over seven years ago.... [[User:Schiffy|Schiffy]] ([[User_talk:Schiffy|Speak to me]]|[[Special:Contributions/Schiffy|What I've done]]) 20:45, 19 October 2016 (UTC)
:Not unless you count the vague continuity in the five-minute-comic series.--[[User:KirkLand|KirkLand]] ([[User talk:KirkLand|talk]]) 22:16, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

141: Parody Week: Achewood

2016-08-02T02:13:22Z

KirkLand: Did my best to cover the things in the incomplete tag.

{{comic
| number = 141
| date = August 14, 2006
| title = Parody Week: Achewood
| image = achewood.png
| titletext = I always wanted to impress them with how well I could hear, didn't you? Also, this sets the record for number of awkward-pause panels in one strip (previously held by Achewood)
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete|The subject of beef and rays discussion about beef setting up ray and the program ray seems to be invited to has not been explained at all. There seems to be many things in that part of the comic - before the awkward pauses, that are not easily understood and need explanation. And what's with the food references in the last panel wit text?}}

This comic is a part of the [[:Category:Parody Week|Parody Week]], just joking about other {{w|webcomics}}. This series was released on 5 consecutive days (Monday-Friday) and not over the usual Monday/Wednesday/Friday schedule and is comprised of the following five {{w|parodies}}:
*[[141: Parody Week: Achewood]]
*[[142: Parody Week: Megatokyo]]
*[[143: Parody Week: TFD and Natalie Dee]]
*[[144: Parody Week: A Softer World]]
*[[145: Parody Week: Dinosaur Comics]]

{{w|Achewood}} is a webcomic by {{w|Chris Onstad}}. It portrays the lives of a group of {{w|anthropomorphic}} stuffed toys, robots, and pets. The comic's humor often lacks a traditional punchline, and utilizes numerous {{w|Awkward silence|awkward pause}} panels.

This comic includes three of the prominent characters from the strip: {{w|Achewood#Philippe|Phillippe}} a [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Webcomic/Achewood five year old stuffed otter], {{w|Achewood#Raymond_Quentin_Smuckles|Ray}} and {{w|Achewood#Cassandra_.22Roast_Beef.22_Kazenzakis|Roast Beef}}. In the first panel, Phillippe is dreaming of having his ears checked. There's an eye chart on the wall behind him. The doctor informs him that because of his superhearing power he is needed at {{w|Hogwarts}}, School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, from {{w|Harry Potter}}.

The comic then switches to Roast Beef and Ray discussing an invitation to a competition described only by its name (that dude is pretty awesome in most measurable ways I mean wow). Ray's strategy consists of highlighting his genitals. Roast Beef offers his take on the competition; that Ray is going to lost to the other, significantly more impressive, contestants. Roast Beef says that ray wouldn't fit in with that crowd. Rather, he would look "like the kind of dude that stays at home all night playing fleshlight tag". It is the nrevealed that Roast Beef was setting Ray up, but couldn't complete his plan. Ray is dismayed, and Roast Beef proceeds to further shut him down, comparing Ray (a "McD's" hamburger) to the other competitors (a 12 oz. sirloin steak). This leads to a lengthy awkward pause, spanning the rest of the comic.

The comic is written in the style of Onstad and his humor. The last 10 panels are "awkward-pause panels", which are used frequently in Achewood, in what appears to be a joke about overuse of dialogue-free panels (there are 11 of these but the first is a shock panel, then the pause begins). This joke is continued in the title-text, where [[Randall]] claims that this strip set the record for most panels of this kind, a record previously held by Achewood.

{{w|Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song}} is a 1971 {{w|Blaxploitation}} film that is generally regarded as an exemplar of its genre.

References to {{w|Fleshlight}}, such as this comment by beef in first panel in third row: ''You are gonna stand out as the sort of dude who stays at home all night playing fleshlight tag '', is a [[:Category:Fleshlights|recurring theme]] in xkcd, but this seems to be the first time.

==Transcript==
:[Unlike regular xkcd comics the text here seems to be typed on a machine, and the speech is in bubbles rather than just indicated with a thin line from the speaker. This is true for all spoken text. Also Beef almost never uses any punctuation in his sentences.]

:[Philippe, an anthropomorphic stuffed otter, is participating in a hearing aid test with headphones over his ears, and one arm raised. He is at a doctor and behind him on the wall There is an eye chart with six lines of E's, the large one on top a regular E, and then in the next two lines they are turned around in the four general directions. The last three lines are not readable. The doctor talks to Philippe from off-panel in a bubble going to the far right. Here it meets a thought bubble line going down and left from the upper right corner. On the right side the back ground is gray and Philippe can be seen lying in a bed, dreaming the scene to the left.]
:Doctor (off-panel): Philippe, your hearing is perfect! In fact, you heard ALL the beeps! You have super-hearing! You're needed at Hogwarts!
:Philippe: Oh boy!
:Eye chart:
::<big>E</big>
::E<big>ɯ</big>EMƎ
::ƎEƎMƎME

:[Roast Beef, an anthropomorphic thin cat with pointy ears and small eyes, is looking at Ray, an anthropomorphic fat cat with black glasses, he is reading from a piece of paper that has been folded out, holding it up in front of him with both hands. They are seen from the waist up. Most of the time below, their eyebrows are visible to show feelings, but Beef's is not shown here. When they speak their mouths are open, else it is closed. Beefs is closed in this panel. Above the drawing there is a line and in the thin frame formed by that and the top panel there is a caption:]
:Meanwhile . . .
:Ray: Beef, check this out. I got an invite to that The Dude Is Pretty Awesome In Most Measurable Ways I Mean Wow competition.

:[This panel pans up so less of their bodies can be seen, and more text be above them. It is clear that Ray has a medal hanging around his neck, which was partly covered by his hands in the previous panel, which are now down. Apart from this they look the same.]
:Beef: Alright that is pretty sweet dogg what is your strategy gonna consist of
:Ray: I'm thinkin' I need to point out my best features -- maybe go holdin' a sign with an arrow toward my junk.

:[Ray is seen almost in full figure, which reveals that he is only wearing big black underpants and the medal, his nipples are also clearly visible on each side of the medal (as they were already in the previous panel, but not the one before). He has one arm in his side, the other holding a large sign with big bold text and beneath this a large black arrow pointing first down and then across towards his pants waistband.]
:Sign: <big>'''Yes'''</big>

:[Back to same view as in the first panel, except a pan so Ray is in the center and Beef is partly cut off at the left frame so there is space for a speech bubble to the right of Ray. Ray holds up a drink glass in front of him with a cherry in the bottom. Beefs eyebrows are missing.]
:Beef: Yeah well I always said subtlety was your middle name dogg
:Beef: And also your first and last in case they didn't get the point
:Ray: How do you think I should play it?

:[Only Beef is shown in this panel to make room for his speech bubbles.]
:Beef: Well basically you got no chance as I see it these dudes are all lovers and fighters to the last
:Beef: All sprung fully formed from the head of Sweet Sweetback
:Beef: You are gonna stand out as the sort of dude who stays at home all night playing fleshlight tag

:[Both are again in this panel but has been panned up so only their heads are visible to place speech bubbles above them.]
:Ray: These words you got are crazy. Didn't I win the outdoor fight?
:Beef: Uh huh about the fight I wasn't gonna tell you but how could you miss that I was setting you up
:Ray: What?
:Beef: You got played dogg

:[Same but panned down to below the medal on Ray. Beefs eyebrows are missing.]
:Beef: I basically just didn't have the heart to go through with it in the end.

:[Only Beef is shown to the right, making space for five speech bubbles to his left.]
:Beef: Anyway the point is that you are gonna lose this thing so hard
:Beef: All cheap McD's hamburger to their slabs of steak
:Beef: A couple 12-oz sirloins garnished with nothing but pure manhood
:Beef: Maybe some sprigs of parsley
:Beef: You are pretty much going down

:[Closeup of a shocked Ray mouth hanging open.]

:[Silence 1. Both are shown from the waistline and up standing looking slightly down, arms down. Rays has closed his mouth. Generally their ears shift a bit from panel to panel the rest of the way, and also their head position. But else they stay the same distance from each other.]

:[Silence 2. Same view. Beef looks perturbed and his ear is twitching. Ray's mouth is open again.]

:[Silence 3. Same view. Beef looks sorry. Rays has closed his mouth.]

:[Silence 4. Same view. Beef looks sorry and Ray looks angry. Ray's mouth is open again.]

:[Silence 5. Same view. Rays has closed his mouth again. Beefs eyebrows are missing, but also Rays are gone, maybe hidden by the rim of the glasses. They do not reappear in the rest of the comic indicating he keeps his eyes downcast. ]

:[Silence 6. Same view. Beefs eyebrows are back]

:[Silence 7. The view has panned so low that it is possible to see the waistband of Ray's underpants. Beef is looking even more down and has moved closer to Ray who's mouth is open again.]

:[Silence 8. Same view, but a little less waistband visible. Beef has moved back again his eyebrows are missing and his mouth are open, and Ray looks even more down than before still mouth open.]

:[Silence 9. View paned so low that a large part of Rays underpants can be seen. Beef is looking down, mouth closes with eyebrows, Ray standing more straight still mouth open.]

:[Silence 10. Beef looks surprised and has moved close to Ray who has finally closed his mouth again.]

==Trivia==
*This was the [http://www.achewood.com/index.php?date=08142006 Achewood strip] released the same day as this comic.
*According to Randall, it also mildly references to {{w|Athena#Birth|The birth of Greek Goddess Athena}}{{Citation needed}}.

{{comic discussion}}

[[Category:Parody Week]]
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[[Category:Animals]]
[[Category:Food]]