Comments on: What’s on YOUR iPod?

By: kate in Phila

kate in Phila — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 18:07:19 +0000

I don’t read this comic but I have done what the character in the last panel is doing. I put on my headphones and people think I can’t hear them and they leave me alone to get some work done.

By: Trouser Cough

Trouser Cough — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 23:52:05 +0000

I hate to push this into the EWWW file, but I think that the woman in the last panel is giving a little lean to let loose some gas. That’s what she is listening to.

By: DocBob

DocBob — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 20:24:45 +0000

@Morris Keesan

I think the reason that we are seeing the old strip is that it was recently re-run. While I have read the archives I seem to remember seeing this not to long ago. I get the RSS feed for Unshelved and I think it was in one of his recent messages.

By: Hockey Baby-Mama

Hockey Baby-Mama — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:47:08 +0000

I think the answer for the last panel is indeed “nothing,” including the question that was asked. I wish I had the ability to listen to nothing, but when it’s quiet outside, the voices in my head pipe up…

By: Cidu Bill

Cidu Bill — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:19:12 +0000

I believe you’re right, Ploughman: It occurred to me recently that people today are essentially cyborgs, wearing their entertainment devices, communications devices or both on their ears like permanent fixtures, and the outside world has to compete with these these devices for their attention.

By: Dawn

Dawn — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:47:26 +0000

The “funny” in the final panel is not that she’s passionate about office supplies. It’s just an acknowledgment that some people like silence.

I chuckled. I like this strip quite a bit. And yeah, I can understand why people got confused if they’ve never seen it before.

By: Judge Mental

Judge Mental — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:17:14 +0000

The guy’s comment in panel two sounded like gibberish to me. This was due to three reasons. 1) The standard comic strip procedure of writing dialogue in all caps 2) “Amour” not being enclosed in quotation marks and 3) I had never heard of Malcolm Gets

For these reasons I didn’t interpret “Amour” as being the name of the Broadway musical and I didn’t interpret “Gets” as Malcolm’s last name. I read these as regular words (i.e. “love affair” and “obtains”) It came across like weird Yoda-speak with “The Incomparable” being the name of a WWE wrestler.

By: The Ploughman

The Ploughman — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 16:02:06 +0000

I like Bill’s title better than the comic’s inscription, because Mel (on the right) probably wouldn’t even own an iPod (maybe not even know what one is). One of the enjoyable themes of “Unshelved” is the clash between old and new forms of disseminating and ingesting information and media.

Even in the days of the Walkman, I don’t remember lives having a constant personal soundtrack like they seem to with the iPod. I’m sure I’m victim to selective memory, but there seem to be more youth with earbuds now than there were youth with fuzzy headphones back in the day.

By: Austin

Austin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:08:58 +0000

I just wanted to agree with the fellow in the third panel. The Time Traveler’s Wife is an amazing book.

By: Morris Keesan

Morris Keesan — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:57:09 +0000

Yeah, Cornbread has it right. The naked guy is a lawyer and library patron, the other three are librarians. What humor there is in this strip (basically of the “smile knowingly” kind, not the “laugh out loud” kind) comes from familiarity with the characters, especially Mel, the branch manager in the last panel: one of her great passions in life is office supplies.

(and WHY are we seeing four-year-old strips, out of context?)