https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Jumpycamel&feedformat=atomexplain xkcd - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T15:13:27ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.30.0https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=1635:_Birdsong&diff=2290411635: Birdsong2022-03-26T00:39:09Z<p>Jumpycamel: /* Explanation */ who needs to know</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 1635<br />
| date = January 27, 2016<br />
| title = Birdsong<br />
| image = birdsong.png<br />
| titletext = Maybe if I put it in a box for a while with a speaker playing some pleasant pastoral music, I can reprogram it.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
The comic shows [[Cueball]] walking and singing along with the {{w|songbird}} singing above him; Cueball is apparently enjoying the perfect weather and the birdsong as he comments on both. In the next panel, the bird continues to sing but now it sings actual words (to the song "{{w|Smooth (song)|Smooth}}" ([https://youtu.be/6Whgn_iE5uc?t=1m26s official video]) by {{w|Santana (band)|Santana}} featuring {{w|Rob Thomas (musician)|Rob Thomas}}). This gives the word songbird a completely new meaning. The bird's singing begins to annoy Cueball, so he chases the bird with a {{w|butterfly net}} in an attempt to catch it. Meanwhile, the bird just continues with the song. (Interestingly, the two lines from the last two panels follow each other in the song, but Cueball manages to get hold of the net in between).<br />
<br />
The lines the bird sings are (most) of the last three lines from the chorus (see the [http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/santana/smooth.html lyrics]):<br />
*And it's just like the ocean under the moon<br />
*Well, that's the same as the emotion that I get from you<br />
*You '''got the kind of loving that can be so smooth, yeah.'''<br />
*'''Gimme your heart, make it real'''<br />
*'''Or else forget about it'''<br />
<br />
The comic is a play on the words ''bird'' and ''song''. Songbirds, of course, don't actually sing: the sounds they make are territorial challenges, mating cries, etc. But in Western cultural traditions, particularly the {{w|pastoral}} one, imagining these sounds as 'song' is part of seeing nature as beautiful and harmonious. Ironically, the fact that this bird is really singing pop music is perceived by Cueball to be an intrusion.<br />
<br />
In the title text Cueball suggest playing {{w|Pastoral#Pastoral_music|pastoral music}} to 'reprogram' the bird, which is of course an even more unnatural intervention - all with the purpose of restoring the pastoral naturalness of the bird. Of course, some birds can actually {{w|Talking bird|emulate human words}}, and in this way also sing real words, like with the {{w|common hill myna}}. Other birds can mimic any odd and unusual sounds, particularly the {{w|lyrebird}} of Australia is known to reproduce all types of sounds from chainsaws to barking dogs and certainly also music.<br />
<br />
The title text of "reprogramming" the bird by placing it in a box also refers to {{w|B. F. Skinner|B.F. Skinner}} and his development of {{w|Programmed learning|programmed learning}} through his theories of operant conditioning and behaviorism in psychology. By famously using birds in so-called {{w|Skinner boxes}}, he conditioned birds to respond to certain stimuli and expect rewards for particular behaviors, leading to an understanding of many impulsive behaviors in humans like addiction. Cueball apparently hopes to "correct" the bird and its song through this method. <br />
<br />
Animal conditioning was also referred to in [[1156: Conditioning]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball is walking and talking, while a bird, flying above him is singing, with four notes floating around it to indicate this. The notes are clearly above and removed from Cueball's text.]<br />
:Cueball (singing): The sun is shining, the birds are singing—<br />
<br />
:[Cueball stops and looks up when the bird above him starts to sing using human language; four notes are floating around the text. The text of the bird's song is in ''italic text'' to indicate this.]<br />
:Bird (singing): ''Got the kind of lovin' that can be so smooth, yeah''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball looks down and black smoke emanates from the top of his head. The bird now flies above the panel but still sings in human language, four notes are floating below the text.]<br />
:Bird (singing - off-panel): ''Give me your heart, make it real''<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is chasing the bird with a butterfly net, the bird is flying away from Cueball, continuing to sing, four notes are floating around the text.]<br />
:Bird (singing): ''Or else forget about it''<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Music]]<br />
[[Category:Songs]]<br />
[[Category:Animals]]<br />
[[Category:Butterfly net]]</div>Jumpycamelhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=655:_Climbing&diff=228847655: Climbing2022-03-22T22:27:29Z<p>Jumpycamel: /* Explanation */ alternative reading</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 655<br />
| date = October 28, 2009<br />
| title = Climbing<br />
| image = climbing.png<br />
| titletext = Where did you even get this wall? Return it there and stand it back up right now.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
This comic makes fun of a certain type of images very common on the internet. Those pictures are taken with a camera turned by 90° or rotated later by software, thus creating the illusion of people walking on walls or ceilings. While the original pictures depict the physical impossibility of a rotated {{w|gravitational force}}, Cueball uses the aforementioned technique to create pictures of himself on a {{w|climbing wall}}. Megan approaches him from above the wall, indicating that the climbing wall is in fact lying on the floor. It becomes clear that Cueball was not able to climb a real wall and therefore crawled on the floor with his camera adjusted accordingly.<br />
<br />
Her comment is a sideswipe on the practise of self-display on {{w|Facebook}}, which is often done with the help of {{w|image manipulation}}.<br />
<br />
The title text implies that Cueball has in fact stolen a real climbing wall, and that Megan wants him to return it.<br />
<br />
An alternative reading is that Cueball could be climbing a relatively easy climbing wall, and the joke is it’s so easy that Megan can walk on it, thus conveying that it could be really easy, but Cueball might perceive it as hard; thus, Megan impresses the viewers more than Cueball by showing how easy the course is.<br />
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==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball seen from his back, as he is ascending a gray climbing wall with 16 white handles in different shapes and sizes. He is standing on one near the bottom left of the panel with his left foot, holding on to a large handle to the left of his head, and one to the right at shoulder height. His right foot is seeking hold on another handle above knee hight of his left leg.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball is seen in profile still climbing up the gray wall, which is drawn in the right part of the panel, 13 handles protruding. At the top of the panel something is protruding from the wall at more than ninety degree angle to the wall, as the line soon goes off panel at the top, but it seems to be directed at a small white half circle at the top of the panel. The line begins in front of the last of the handles at the top, a small one, and below this there is a larger handle bending up making it easy to hold on to. Cueball is holding on with his hands to two similar "easy" handles.]<br />
<br />
:[Cueball climbs a bit further up till his hand reaches the up bending handle in front of the line, and his lower leg and upper knee touches the two handles his hands where on before. Here he has stopped climbing and lifts his head back to look up and sees Megan standing there above him (as she was also doing at the top of the previous panel, but cut off at leg and face). She just stands perpendicular to the wall facing down towards Cueball. The panel has panned up following Cueball so there are only 11 handles now, two more visible "above" Megan, and four from the previous panel are now below this panels frame.]<br />
<br />
:[Same scene but Cueball is now looking at the wall as Megan speaks.]<br />
:Megan: Your Facebook rock climbing pictures just got a lot less impressive.<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Social networking]]</div>Jumpycamelhttps://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php?title=417:_The_Man_Who_Fell_Sideways&diff=225647417: The Man Who Fell Sideways2022-01-26T03:14:40Z<p>Jumpycamel: /* Explanation */</p>
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<div>{{comic<br />
| number = 417<br />
| date = April 30, 2008<br />
| title = The Man Who Fell Sideways<br />
| image = the man who fell sideways.png<br />
| titletext = Strip originally conceived in conversation with Jeph Jacques. Soon to be a major motion picture.<br />
}}<br />
<br />
==Explanation==<br />
[[File:A Matter of Some Gravity.png|right]]<br />
<br />
This comic is humorously built-up like a short drama story, about a man (Cueball) with an unusual physics condition.<br />
<br />
It might have been inspired by the {{w|Uncle Scrooge}} adventure comic "{{w|A Matter of Some Gravity}}" ([http://coa.inducks.org/story.php?c=D+96001 Inducks]) by {{w|Don Rosa}}, in which {{w|Magica de Spell}} makes gravity pull sideways at {{w|Scrooge McDuck}} and {{w|Donald Duck}}.<br />
The same topic is covered by 1996 graphic novel ''{{w|L'enfant penchée}}'' (''The Leaning Child''), but, as it was only published in English in 2014, it’s very unlikely to be a source of inspiration for this comic.<br />
<br />
"Soon to be a major motion picture" in the title text might refer to ''{{w|The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (film)|The Curious Case of Benjamin Button}}'', a film released later in 2008 (and based on a short story), in which the protagonist Benjamin suffers of the impossible condition of aging backwards.<br />
<br />
"Over land... and sea" might be from the song "Nature Boy" by {{w|eden ahbez}}. Nat King Cole sung (the most famous version) about "A very strange, enchanted boy. They say he wandered very far, very far over land and sea."<br />
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The title text mentions {{w|Jeph Jacques}}, who runs the webcomic ''{{w|Questionable Content}}''. Jeph has also described the creation of this comic in his [http://jephjacques.com/post/11265563239/qa-dump-09 blog] while working at [https://ezplaytoys.com ezplay company].<br />
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When Cueball hits Megan, he knocks her down and "knocks her up", in what is probably intended to be a visual form of {{w|antanaclasis}}. Megan tells [[Hairy]] about a person knocking her over and tumbling into the distance. She hints that she is falling for him, which is a joke regarding Cueball's condition.<br />
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The baby shares his tendency to be pulled sideways by gravity, but this apparently does not start until she is born, because Megan and the doctor do not seem to have been expecting it. If gravity had affected the unborn fetus in the same way, Megan would have been able to feel it, would have noticed that her uterus was hanging differently, and would have had difficulty balancing due to the sideways forces. <br />
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The last panel is a reference to the opening scene of ''{{w|The Lion King}}'', called 'The Circle Of Life'.<br />
<br />
The first part of the comic has some resemblance to this much later comic: [[1376: Jump]].<br />
<br />
==Transcript==<br />
:[Cueball standing, with a dotted line perpendicular to him and a 30 degree angle going downwards.]<br />
:From a young age, gravity pulled him wrong.<br />
:[Cueball bouncing around his house.]<br />
:Sometimes east, sometimes west. When he was restrained, it grew erratic.<br />
:''WHAM WHAM''<br />
:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground.]<br />
:So he fell.<br />
:Cueball: AAAA<br />
:''THUMPA THUMPA''<br />
:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground in a desert.]<br />
:Constantly<br />
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAA<br />
:[Cueball bouncing/rolling off a rock on the ground in a desert.]<br />
:Over land...<br />
:Cueball: AAAAA-''THUD''-A<br />
:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground in the desert.]<br />
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAA<br />
:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground in the desert.]<br />
:Cueball: A-''THUD''-AAAAAA<br />
:[Cueball bouncing/rolling on the ground in the desert.]<br />
:Cueball: AA-''THUD''-AAAAA<br />
:[Cueball skating the surface of the sea.]<br />
:And sea.<br />
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAAA<br />
:[Cueball skating the surface of the sea.]<br />
:Cueball: AAAAAAAA<br />
:[Cueball skating the surface of the sea.]<br />
:Cueball: AAAAAA<br />
:[Cueball skating the surface of the sea.]<br />
:Cueball: AAAAAAAA<br />
:[Tree in the savanna, with Cueball off the panel.]<br />
:He found, where he could, food-<br />
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAAA<br />
:[Tree in the savanna, with Cueball still off the panel, but zoomed out so that part of Cueball's bounce/roll path is visible.]<br />
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAA<br />
:[Cueball upside-down, still bouncing/rolling in the savannah, with a gazelle galloping away from him.]<br />
:''GALLOP GALLOP''<br />
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAA<br />
:[Savanna with a tree in it.]<br />
:Cueball: AAAAAAAAAAA<br />
:[Megan standing, with Cueball off screen.]<br />
:And love.<br />
:Cueball: AAAA-''THUD''-AAAA<br />
:[Megan standing, with Cueball off screen.]<br />
:Cueball: ''THUD'' ACK ''CRASH''<br />
:[Cueball crashing into Megan]<br />
:Cueball: Hiwhat'syourname-<br />
:''WHAM''<br />
:[Megan on the ground, with Cueball off screen.]<br />
:Cueball: AAAAAAA-''THUD''-AAA<br />
:[Megan speaking to Hairy.]<br />
:Megan: I met this guy. He knocked me over and tumbled into the distance.<br />
:[Megan speaking to the same man from the previous panel, with Hairy's hand to his mouth.]<br />
:Megan: We only shared a few seconds, but in his panicked scream I heard something beautiful.<br />
:[Megan speaking to the same man from the previous panel.]<br />
:Megan: I think... I think I'm...<br />
:[Megan speaking to the same man from the previous panel.]<br />
:Hairy: Falling for him?<br />
:Megan: I wasn't going to say it.<br />
:[Megan at hospital with doctor, giving birth.]<br />
:She never saw him again. But nine months later...<br />
:Doctor: Okay, push!<br />
:[Megan at hospital with doctor and new baby, who is bouncing/rolling away.]<br />
:Doctor: It's a gir-<br />
:Megan: !!<br />
:Doctor: Whoops!<br />
:Baby: Ga! Ga!<br />
:[Baby bouncing/rolling out of hospital.]<br />
:Baby: WHEEEEEEEEEEEEE<br />
:[Baby bouncing/rolling in front of a sunset.]<br />
:Baby: EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE<br />
:The End<br />
<br />
==Trivia==<br />
There is a [https://youtu.be/Rew-Q1b7kdo fan made animated version of this comic].<br />
<br />
{{comic discussion}}<br />
<br />
[[Category:Comics with color]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring Hairy]]<br />
[[Category:Romance]]<br />
[[Category:The Lion King]]<br />
[[Category:Comics featuring babies]]</div>Jumpycamel