Comments on: When Nobody’s Watching, Scott Hilburn Searches CIDU For Argyle Sweater Comics

By: John in Tronna

John in Tronna — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:39:08 +0000

@David #12

I smiled at the comic, but your idea of Hawking reading CIDU almost made me spit-take my coffee. Thanks for that chuckle — I’m set for the week.

By: Mike in St. Louis

Mike in St. Louis — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 12:49:09 +0000

Is the creator of Argyle Sweater known to have a position on religion? Hawking’s new book contains the following quote: “Because there are laws such as gravity, the Universe can and will create itself out of nothing. It is not necessary to invoke God to light the blue touch paper and set the Universe going.” So a mini controversy has started over Hawking denying the existence of God. Showing him “researching” in the comics would seem to be a jab at his scientific method.

By: James Pollock

James Pollock — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 07:24:32 +0000

In retrospect, I think one interpretation of Stephen Hawking is that when people see him, he’s immobilized by his illness… but when no one’s looking, he is less limited than people think he is, and can sit up and read the paper.

By: Lola

Lola — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 16:32:19 +0000

All the others were just set ups for the the Carson Daly one. The wording is what gets it. “What celebrities do when nobody’s watching.” As we go through the first 5, we interpret it to mean things they would do when they feel secure nobody is watching. Poor Carson does his thing when he hopes to be watched, but alas, quite literally, nobody is watching. I loved this comic, even though I nearly choked on my tea laughing.

By: padraig

padraig — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:15:55 +0000

The Carson Daly one is a great example of the “So mean, yet so true” vein of humor. Ya wince and laugh at the same time. Or if you just laugh because you hate Carson Daly (and who doesn’t?), congrats, you just learned the German concept of “schadenfreude.”

By: furrykef

furrykef — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 07:29:45 +0000

I’m with mindermensch on this one. Stephen Hawking is famous for not being able to move any part of his body, excepting a few very small movements like twitching his cheek (which is how he types into his computer, as it watches for the twitching). If this were something not many people knew about him, it would be understandable to ignore reality in favor of humor, but this is almost akin to showing Christopher Reeve walking to the store. (If, y’know, he hadn’t died a few years ago.)

By: Kilby

Kilby — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 06:25:28 +0000

@ Kamino Neko (5), with thanks to Rebecca (8) - for the record, the names I recognized were Stephen Hawking and Lady Gaga. I should have counted Justin Bieber and Madonna, that would have upped my tally to 4 out of 8. On the other hand, I have no idea what Justin Bieber or Lady Gaga look like, even though I did recently see a (slightly synchronous) cartoon of her in a Madonna-esque bra contraption.

By: Ted in Fort Lauderdale

Ted in Fort Lauderdale — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:38:39 +0000

Re: Hawking investigating cartoon physics - well, he’s appeared on Futurama dealing with something that certainly _seemed_ like cartoon physics… He’s also appeared on the Simpsons. For that matter, he was on Star Trek: TNG, which is arguably cartoon physics even if the show itself isn’t…

By: Usual John

Usual John — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 04:13:08 +0000

Hawking is a theoretical physicist, so it’s not expected that he would conduct research. Especially research into cartoon physics.

By: Jeff S.

Jeff S. — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 03:13:23 +0000

CTew, Hawking could be reading Fox Trot. It’s known for accurate physics and math formulae and computer programming code.