LOL-November 16
Cidu Bill on Nov 16th 2009
Nicole:
Laurie B. Wylie:
Filed in Abstruse Goose, Arlo and Janis, Bill Bickel, Dave Blazek, Diet Coke, Francesco Marciuliano, Funky Winkerbean, Jimmy Johnson, Loose Parts, Mark Parisi, Medium Large, Mentos, Off the Mark, Robert Frost, Star Trek, comic strips, comics, comics that made us laugh out loud, humor, lol | 36 responses so far
Usual John Nov 16th 2009 at 01:23 am 1
I realize that I may be putting my nerd credentials (otherwise thoroughly established) at risk here, but can someone explain the Capt. Picard strip to me? All I know is that he starred in one of the later versions of Star Trek.
David N Nov 16th 2009 at 01:28 am 2
All of the boxes are from different episodes of “Star Trek: The Next Generation”, specifically ones centering on Captain Picard.
Nerd card pulled.
PeterW Nov 16th 2009 at 01:30 am 3
Basically, everything he complains about is true. Thus, how did he go so long without professional help?
Cidu Bill Nov 16th 2009 at 01:43 am 4
Actually, didn’t we see Picard getting counseling after the Borg business? So I would guess he had his head shrunk after the Cardassian torture session as well, but that one took place between episodes.
Kamino Neko Nov 16th 2009 at 02:12 am 5
Specifics - the first two panels refer to an episode where an alien probe gave him memories of being a member of a then extinct people. He lived an entire long life in a span of minutes. He ended up replicating the small flute-like instrument he played in those memories and was seen playing it in several other episodes.
The next two refer to when Sarek (father of Spock) was on the Enterprise, while he was negotiating with the aliens of the week. It was revealed in the episode that he was suffering from a Vulcan disease called Bendii Syndrome, which screwed up his emotional control, as well as potentially causing non-Vulcans around him to experience the emotions. He mind melded with Picard, causing Picard to suffer the symptoms in his stead, so he could finish his work.
The next is when he was assimilated by the then still scary Borg.
Then it was the time he was captured and tortured by the Cardassians (’There are 4 lights!’)
Finally, all the episodes where he deals with Q…an omnipotent, easily bored, and quite annoying being…from a whole species of omnipotent beings.
Arthur Nov 16th 2009 at 02:27 am 6
The Arlo wasn’t bad, but I prefer Frazz’s variation from February 2008:
http://c0389161.cdn.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/dyn/str_strip/48925.zoom.gif
mkilby Nov 16th 2009 at 04:20 am 7
As long as explanations are being offered, can someone tell me what happens when mentos are mixed with Diet Coke?
Arthur Nov 16th 2009 at 05:04 am 8
GIYF:
http://www.google.com/search?q=mentos+%22diet+coke%22
Powers Nov 16th 2009 at 08:21 am 9
Yeah, the Picard strip is all right, but the punchline just isn’t that funny, since he had a counselor right there on his ship the whole time. In fact, I can only imagine the rigmarole Starfleet put him through just to get his command back after Wolf 359. He probably had to talk to every psychiatrist in the fleet.
Daniel J. Drazen Nov 16th 2009 at 10:43 am 10
[Brace for major geek-out] Although Picard DID achieve a measure of catharsis after mud-wrestling with his brother Robert back on the family vineyard. Then the two of them got shnockered together.
Judge Mental Nov 16th 2009 at 11:19 am 11
I liked “Off the Mark”, but when I first saw it, I was fearful it was going up to end up here as a CIDU. Not because anybody didn’t really understand it, it is just the type of strip that shows up here because some sourpuss does understand it, but claims “The strip doesn’t make sense because there is no such thing as a Diet Coke factory or a Mentos factory. Diet Coke is bottled in the same Coke plant as all other Coke brands. Mentos are made in a factory that makes all sorts of confections for the Perfetti Van Melle company…blah, blah, blah..”
Morris Keesan Nov 16th 2009 at 11:28 am 12
The Arlo strip, and the similar Frazz strip, were both “smile appreciatively” rather than LOL for me, but with both of them I speculated, briefly, whether Stephan Pastis was doing guest scripting. Both punchlines seem like the sort that would get Rat standing next to a desk with a baseball bat.
Usual John Nov 16th 2009 at 12:10 pm 13
Morris Keesan - Although I did like both the Arlo strip and the Frazz strip (with the Frazz strip striking me as more of a groaner), it’s true that most puns aren’t terribly funny. Actually, I think the following one is the only one that ever made me laugh out loud:
A New York judge is presiding over the divorce proceedings of a Jewish couple. When the final papers have been signed and the divorce is complete the woman thanks the judge and says “Now I have to arrange for a Get.”
The judge inquires what she means by a Get. So the woman explains that a Get is a religious ceremony required under the Jewish religion in order to receive a divorce.
The judge says, “You mean a religious ceremony like a Bris?
She replies “Yes, very similar, only in this case you get rid of the entire schmuck.”
Fnord Nov 16th 2009 at 12:10 pm 14
Powers: I would think Starfleet has to be rather permissive about returning officers to duty after episodes of mind control. That sort of thing seems to happen really often in space. If a crewman had to go off duty and be recertified every time he got brainwashed, possessed, or otherwise taken over, they would need a whole lot more than one counselor per ship.
(Remember the Wesley episode with that virtual reality game? The entire crew was under the control of hostile aliens, yet the ship was back in service again immediately afterward.)
Elyrest Nov 16th 2009 at 12:35 pm 15
Don’t start applying logic to the Star Trek universe - you’ll just end up with a Vulcan-sized headache.
CIDU Bill Nov 16th 2009 at 12:45 pm 16
Judge Mental, I doubt that’s ever actually happened, because that simply isn’t what a CIDU is.
and Usual John, you don’t like the one about the camel?
John DiFool Nov 16th 2009 at 12:45 pm 17
Okay, so it’s fine (1st strip) for a strip to mock another strip. Is it allowed for me to state that I agree with him?
CIDU Bill Nov 16th 2009 at 12:51 pm 18
Eh, that’s too easy, John: I think we’d all be fascinated to hear from somebody who disagrees.
Fred Nov 16th 2009 at 01:30 pm 19
@Usual John - You’ll love this one…
If you show me where Lenin is buried, then I’ll show you a communist plot.
Man, that’s a knee-slapper. Deny it.
Usual John Nov 16th 2009 at 02:17 pm 20
Fred - I can’t get past the fact that I’m well aware that Lenin’s body is not buried, but is displayed in the Lenin Mausoleum in Red Square.
Cidu Bill - What’s the one about the camel? I can only think of the quick quip “strain at a Nat, while you swallow a Campbell.”
CIDU Bill Nov 16th 2009 at 02:27 pm 21
Usual John, the joke’s similar to yours:
A rich man, who wants to show off his wealth, buys a large camel, adorns it with fine fabrics and jewelry, and rides it through town every day. One night, the camel is stolen.
He goes to the police to report the crime and one of the questions he’s asked is whether it’s a male or a female camel. He says he doesn’t know, then says “wait, I do know, it’s a male. When I was riding through town, I sometimes heard people say ‘hey, look at the schmuck on that camel!’”
paperboy Nov 16th 2009 at 06:09 pm 22
CIDU Bill #21: Ha Ha HA Ha! NIR! (Not Ironic Laughter)
Rumplestiltskin Nov 16th 2009 at 08:45 pm 23
CIDU Bill #21: LOL — a new one to me.
Ray Brady Nov 16th 2009 at 09:40 pm 24
“If you show me where Lenin is buried, then I’ll show you a communist plot.”
—–
Would it be overly pedantic to point out that Lenin isn’t buried anywhere?
JamesK Nov 16th 2009 at 10:20 pm 25
Ray #24 Thus if you were to find his grave, you would have uncovered a Communist plot. About a Communist plot. It works on many levels.
Joshua Nov 16th 2009 at 10:41 pm 26
Can someone clarify the Medium Large cartoon? I am familiar with the general tone of “Funky Winkerbean” but not how this rope fits into it.
Elyrest Nov 16th 2009 at 10:49 pm 27
Joshua - that would be one of the depressed denizens of Funky Winkerbean (take your pick there are quite a few) hanging thenmselves on said rope. Alive on the left and dead on the right.
Mark in Boston Nov 17th 2009 at 12:40 am 28
Seems like Captain Picard is almost as unlucky as Hamilton Burger, the D.A. on Perry Mason who lost case after case, week after week ….
Fred Nov 17th 2009 at 01:16 am 29
@JamesK - Thanks for defending my fantastic pun. You hit the nail on the head.
John Small Berries Nov 17th 2009 at 03:26 am 30
Elyrest,
I assumed the character at the end of the rope was Les Moore, about whom (way back in the gag-a-day era of the 1970s and 1980s) there was a running gag about being afraid to climb up the rope in gym (and, then when he’d finally mustered the courage to do so, couldn’t climb back down).
Elyrest Nov 17th 2009 at 01:25 pm 31
John Small Berries - I had forgotten about Les and climbing the rope, but I really don’t think that is the joke here. It was so long ago that I don’t think Francesco Marciuliano would be lampooning it on Medium Large. What is current is the view that Funky Winkerbean is depressing and that Tom Batiuk has been known to kill off characters. So the comment in the fourth panel is about a character’s final conclusion.
Elyrest Nov 17th 2009 at 01:27 pm 32
John Small Berries - I just reread your comment and if what you were saying is that it was Les Moore hanging that would be appropriate. You do have a long memory.
Todd Nov 17th 2009 at 05:58 pm 33
The panel with Q claiming to be God is more specific to an episode where Picard got shot, damaging his artificial heart. This lead him to see how his life would have turned out if he had lead his life differently. In the end, it’s not clear if Q really had anything to do with the episode, or was just a figment of Picard’s imagination.
And, David, the only way you get a pass on this is if you’re a fan of Babylon 5. I’m convinced a person can only be a fan of one series because a person can only take so many aliens who differ from humans because of funny hair or facial ridges.
Tim Nov 17th 2009 at 06:31 pm 34
Todd,
Different alien species would evolve similarly on countless worlds simply because bipedal life forms are the most efficient, and therefore most likely to survive.
Or the shows have a real small makeup budget. Take your pick.
John Small Berries Nov 18th 2009 at 01:36 am 35
Elyrest - yeah, I had assumed that it was Les hanging himself. I mean, he suffers from depression so badly that he hallucinates talking cats, and he’s still so hung up about his wife’s passing that he insists her replacement make sandwiches exactly the same way she did, twelve years later…
Jeff S. Nov 18th 2009 at 03:46 pm 36
I used to like Funky Winkerbean, back in the day… but thanks to this site, I now know what it’s turned into. All I can say is, I really do laugh each time I see this strip.
Truly inspired!