Wardrobe
Cidu Bill on Dec 15th 2009
Jon Delfin: What cultural reference do I lack? (I know of, but do not know, Narnia. That’s a wardrobe?)
FWIW, the secret hidden meta-nonsense is “Moments later, the White Witch rolls up and, confused, tries to tempt the probe with a firmware upgrade.”
Filed in Bill Bickel, CIDU, comic strips, comics, humor, xkcd | 20 responses so far
Pirk Dec 14th 2009 at 11:07 pm 1
it’s Narnia. she’s sending a robot probe ahead to explore and get data to see if it’s safe, like in Stargate
TasmanSea Dec 14th 2009 at 11:54 pm 2
Yes… what’s funny to me is that she’s using a high tech solution to solve a problem created by a children’s fantasy story.
Marshal Dec 15th 2009 at 12:35 am 3
Didn’t we do this one a week or so?
Dr. Shrinker Dec 15th 2009 at 12:36 am 4
So a child’s wagon with a string attached is supposed to be “a robot probe”? I know this is xkcd’s style, but sometimes you’ve still gotta DRAW.
Marshal Dec 15th 2009 at 12:37 am 5
Oh, and did they have this tech back in WWII?
Frank the curmudgeon Dec 15th 2009 at 01:25 am 6
Underneath the lantern,
By the barrack gate
Darling I remember
The way you used to wait
T’was there that you whispered tenderly,
That you loved me,
You’d always be,
My Lilli of the Lamplight,
My own Lilli Marlene
Cornbread Dec 15th 2009 at 01:55 am 7
For those who haven’t read the book, Lucy essentially discovered Narnia in this way; they were playing hide-and-seek, she hid in a wardrobe, and then realized that the wardrobe was a portal to another world. The difference is this girl’s smart enough not to go in herself, and sends an unmanned probe in case it’s dangerous in there.
The White Witch mentioned in the alt-text has as her modus operandi winning over at least one of the children by offering a sweet dessert and then working her magic on him.
Still CIDU for anyone?
PeterW Dec 15th 2009 at 01:57 am 8
It’s not a string, it’s a data cable. The wagon has a camera and some kind of parabolic antenna.
jjmcgaffey Dec 15th 2009 at 06:26 am 9
Actually, what I like best about this is the (normal) minimalist drawing of the real world contrasted with the art of the Narnia panel…
I recognized it immediately, between the lamppost and Mr Tumnus with his umbrella. The metatext was also amusing to me (though why rolled up? It’s a sled she travels in).
Tom T. Dec 15th 2009 at 07:07 am 10
It’s not a wagon, it’s a Mars Rover. And a pretty good rendition.
http://www.physics.arizona.edu/~thews/reu/Mars%20Rover.jpg
Soup Dragon Dec 15th 2009 at 08:40 am 11
The Mars Rover has a cable?
Another Josh Dec 15th 2009 at 10:22 am 12
The wardrobe is drawn pretty well too: Here’s a picture of an actual wardrobe:
http://www.konteakifurniture.co.uk/images/wealden_wardrobe.jpg
Having grown up with built-in closets, when I originally read the book it took a while to figure out what a wardrobe was.
I’m sure Lucy (or whatever this protagonist’s name is) just threw together a quick probe with a handy Lego Mindstorms kit, which would be easy enough to do.
Karen Dec 15th 2009 at 10:47 am 13
I love it, Narnia and Stargate combined in one strip. It’s an early Christmas present for a geek like me.
Dave Van Domelen Dec 15th 2009 at 12:51 pm 14
The real Mars Rover doesn’t have a cable (it’d need to be pretty long), but when you’re not sure radio signals will cross a dimensional boundary, a hardcable’s the way to go.
And a MALP is too big to fit.
Frank the curmudgeon Dec 15th 2009 at 01:12 pm 15
I would like to thank Mrs. Harrison of the Buckingham School for introducing her third grade to C.S. Lewis during the after-lunch rest period in the early fifties.
Jeff S. Dec 15th 2009 at 04:28 pm 16
The metatext refers to Edmund (Lucy’s obnoxious brother). When he enters Narnia, the White Witch tempts him with Turkish Delight. What better way to tempt a rover but with a firmware upgrade?!
Craig Dec 15th 2009 at 04:46 pm 17
I love XKCD. The best site for explanations of it (and yes for non math/science geeks it gets pretty esoteric) is www.explainxkcd.com
sal Dec 15th 2009 at 06:07 pm 18
XKCD is pure genius. The stick figures don’t detract from the story, and the ideas are always great, I think the guy who writes it should write a screen play, it would be a great movie.
Mark in Boston Dec 16th 2009 at 01:06 am 19
I thought it was a toy chicken.
aoeu Dec 16th 2009 at 05:22 am 20
First off, it’s VERY obvious what she sent through - it’s clearly a robotic probe; a child’s wagon is generally not equipped with a robotic eye and a satellite dish.
Second, she found Narnia, yes you missed the reference pretty badly.
Third, though, she’s not scouting for danger: she’s produce a record of Narnia, a scientific mapping; usually it’s a pseudo-fantasy world that may or may not exist and is possibly selective about who it admits. If I recall correctly, some people just find coats in the wardrobe. Now anyone can see it and it can be shown to actually exist.
I’m rather disappointed with recent quality of XKCD, they just fail to be funny.