xkcd

by **Dampening** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:05 am UTC

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Title text: "That eggplant is in something of a flaccid state."

Was kind of surprised by the style on this one, but I like it. I'll also admit to being a bit slow and taking a moment to actually get the concept, but I'll pin that on the late hour rather than on any personal failing. Pretty nifty--even speaking as a non-American

by **rhomboidal** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:05 am UTC

Louisiana is the Timberland Italy of America.

by **Daimon** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:06 am UTC

I was suprised to NOT see this thread when I looked for it. Then I refreshed the page.

by **-KF-** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:10 am UTC

Needs a link.

Also, the Missouri/Georgia thing reminds me of the similarities between Japan and New Zealand that Randall pointed out in I don't even remember which comic.

by **engr** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:11 am UTC

New York gearbox is just... so... beautiful.

by **Steve the Pocket** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:11 am UTC

Obligatory:

Also, New York could also be a CRT monitor with its case stripped off.

by **dash** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:20 am UTC

Outstanding

by **Dampening** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:38 am UTC

-KF- wrote:Needs a link.

~~Yeah, post count requirements are a pain.~~ Scratch that, we're in business.

If nothing else, this has made me look up the geography a bit. The more you know!

by **whateveries** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:40 am UTC

and for wednesday we want Asia.

also is this Randalls way to distract Steve Waterman from the 34 (and counting) pages of cartesian confusion being deployed over in the Pressures thread?

also, it makes me realise I know very little of the placing of the various states in your nation, so much for that cultural colonisation we always hear about down here. (hurrah! I'm Ignorant!)

I would like to live in the cupcake but.

by **Number3Pencils** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:42 am UTC

BAAAHAHAHA The proper pronunciation of Colorado is "Eyjafjallajökull".

Edit: Also, Ohio refers to itself as "The Heart of it All" (or at least that was on the old license plates), but I think a pair of underwear clearly shows more honesty.

by **glasnt** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:43 am UTC

It's kinda weird to see the dog of Texas has eyes.

I'm used to no eyes in these comics.

by **jcivitello** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:47 am UTC

Coulda swore Nebraska was going to be Slave 1
Alas

by **admiralshazbot** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:48 am UTC

I'm a little bummed out by Kentucky just being a cloud. It's pretty obviously housekey-shaped, if you don't feel like getting inventive. Otherwise, I appreciate the amount of detail that went into this comic.

by **scotty2haughty** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:52 am UTC

Great comic. My home state does look like a whale. Will probably print this one out and pin it to one of my three cubical walls.

by **possum888** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:53 am UTC

The trefoil in New Mexico should be upside down. Looks funny when you turn your monitor upside down to read the container.

by **krabcat** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:54 am UTC

am i missing something with the Georgia/Missouri switch?

by **Editer** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:54 am UTC

Eh, not all that funny. When will Randall get back to the good joke strips for once?

...

...

(yes I'm joking)

by **Dampening** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:55 am UTC

admiralshazbot wrote:I'm a little bummed out by Kentucky just being a cloud. It's pretty obviously housekey-shaped, if you don't feel like getting inventive. Otherwise, I appreciate the amount of detail that went into this comic.

Hey, at least you can tell what it is. I'm still trying to decipher Hawaii, and it's been like fifteen minutes now. I mean really, what is that even? Snow? Ice cream? Volcanic ash? A huge mound of feathers?

by **JRS1386** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:56 am UTC

Anyone else notice the prairie dog of Delaware in an inopportune position compared to the old man of New Jersey?

by **Max™** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:56 am UTC

It was very amusing indeed, I as well liked the Missouri/Georgia bit and pronouncing Colorado as an Icelandic volcano with an almost impossible to pronounce name is great.

Hawaii is a snowball.

by **siecraticmethod** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 4:57 am UTC

Knights still shows up as the "newest", this has to be found by number.

by **Eternal Density** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:00 am UTC

I want to buy this poster and then rip it up because of the tearable puns. (Sorry glasnt)

by **Quicksilver** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:03 am UTC

I like the whale.

by **Dampening** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:03 am UTC

Max™ wrote:It was very amusing indeed, I as well liked the Missouri/Georgia bit and pronouncing Colorado as an Icelandic volcano with an almost impossible to pronounce name is great.

Hawaii is a snowball.

Ah, I see it now. I'm too tired for this; best for me to try again in the morning, I think.

The Georgia/Missouri switch-up tickled me too, albeit with a brief peek at Wikipedia to confirm my knowledge of state geography.

by **Djehutynakht** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:04 am UTC

So Massachusetts is a guy riding a tea barge with an elephant for a figurehead.

Wierd, but awesome. Wonder why Randall chose that for his (and my) homestate.

This was a beautiful and well done comic. I hope he comes out with one of the world shortly, or maybe different regions at a time.

I would totally go for that.

Because, comeon, we all do this in our heads

by **PsiSquared** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:08 am UTC

Wonderful Comic. Witty, original and artistically pleasing.

I think it's the best one since the epic "Every Major Terrible" Comic (which is a work of genius and is going to be very difficult to surpass).

by **Envelope Generator** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:18 am UTC

Eww, Hawaii.

by **Itsnotinmyidiom** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:29 am UTC

I was gonna leave a post about how I made an account just to say how much I liked this comic, but it turns out I already had one.

...and the name is something Randall specifically doesn't like. I'm going to hell :'(

by **CatOfGrey** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:39 am UTC

How many of these have plays on words, or other bizarre or obscure references to state mottos or titles?

California's motto ('Eureka') is shared by a vaccuum cleaner manufacturer, for example.

And should North and South Dakota be offended that they have been lumped together as one, yet again?

by **sbkp** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:49 am UTC

first (of many to come, I suspect) lol moment...

Colorado state motto: "With preparation, survival is possible for over a week."

by **Ryltarr** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 5:57 am UTC

Ok, so I'm sure you were all considering it already; but I editted the wikipedia article on Colorado. It needed to be done, ~~let's see how long it lasts.~~ not long...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colorado

It's reverted back to the "sane" version, here's a permalink to the revisions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Colorado&oldid=501353694

You're Welcome!

Spoiler:

by **da Doctah** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:01 am UTC

Michigan's a mitten?

Fess up. You didn't come up with that one by yourself!

by **Elrieve** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:17 am UTC

I don't think I've ever known of anyone else who's read The Way Things Work. A+, sir.

by **J L** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:21 am UTC

Artistically, it's wonderful. But humor-wise, most representations seem a bit ... arbitrary?

by **smonahan** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:24 am UTC

admiralshazbot wrote:I'm a little bummed out by Kentucky just being a cloud. It's pretty obviously housekey-shaped, if you don't feel like getting inventive. Otherwise, I appreciate the amount of detail that went into this comic.

When I was a child, I used to think that Kentucky was named after Kentucky Fried Chicken, since it looks like a fried chicken leg.

by **Plasma Mongoose** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:26 am UTC

California is a vacuum cleaner, does that mean you think it sucks?

by **Number3Pencils** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:32 am UTC

I just noticed that the serial numbers on the top bill in the Minnesota wad of cash show its land area (KM 225181.00²) and population as given by Wikipedia (P 5344861.00). Attention to detail.

I'm still not sure exactly what New Mexico is. A storage tin? What are those shapes stacked on top of (beneath) it?

by **pbnjstowell** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 6:48 am UTC

I live on a whale's eyebrow!

Elrieve wrote:I don't think I've ever known of anyone else who's read The Way Things Work. A+, sir.

I have read it too. I was tickled to see it

by **relyk** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:08 am UTC

Big list of stuff:
Alabama - An Moai figure facing east
Alaska - A bear with a jetpack and a ray gun exhuming a tail of clouds
Arizona - A bread stall holding loafs of bread, muffins, and other assortments
Arkansas - A pitcher with volume marks
California - A vacuum cleaner
Colorado - An article on Wikipedia, a large image is provided. The first line is the same as the actual article while the rest continues in satire. There are artifacts dated at 11000 BC from Lamb Spring site and points at the fact the state has no natural borders. The demilitarized zone may refer to the fact the border with Wymoing is defined by the 41th parallel north like the border between North and South Korea by the 38th. The second paragraph refers to string theory, where seven dimensions are so compact they're difficult to observe with the first four dimensions being spacetime. A horcrux is a a magical object in the Harry Potter series that stores part of a soul, where Voldemort split his soul and stored them in the event his body was destroyed so he would continue to survive. The bipedal timber wolves refer to werewolves with the park service considered that they attempt to attend school. Wikipedia says that extreme weather is a common occurrence, which is probably the what the Latin quote references to?
Connecticut - A valet hat (or train station inspector)
Delaware - A groundhog or weasel
District of Columbia
Florida - A flaccid eggplant with vines consisting of the upper portion
Georgia - Shape of Missouri with an image of the Gateway Arch, purportedly the same shape
Hawaii - Snow sprinkled with snowflakes
Idaho - A gnome statue sitting down
Illinois - A shady-looking man carrying a violin case
Indiana - A paintbrush
Iowa - A sandwich with mayonnaise, tomato, lettuce, and salami, ham, or another meat
Kansas - An upright piano
Kentucky - A couple clouds
Louisiana - Shaped like a boot hence an appropriate image, in this case, stepping in gum as the bottom right part.
Maine - A hand forming the Vulcan salute
Maryland - A wolf howling at the moon, not sure if the star is included here
Massachusetts - A cowboy riding an elephant carrying boxes of tea
Michigan - The left portion is a eagle, the right portion is an oven mitt
Minnesota - A fat stack of $20 bills
Mississippi - a Moai statue facing west
Missouri - Shape of Georgia with the state fruit peaches, purportedly the same shape
Montana - Half a muffin on its side
Nebraska - A van with mattresses or something sticking out the rear door
Nevada - A clothes iron
New Hampshire - A factory building with smoke coming out the top
New Jersey - An old man with a cane
New Mexico - A canister of toxic material with a hazmat square and warning notably saying "This end up" while being upside down. Refers to the nuclear testing facility White Sands Missile Range located in New Mexico for the nuclear bomb. From top to bottom: "This end up!! Property of White Sands Missile Range. Contains White Sand. FLAMMABLE. Warning: This product contains chemicals known only to the state of Nevada. Contents under pressure from parents. If swallowed, induce labor. 56 fluid ounces and 14 other ounces."
New York - Sectional view of a mechanical contraption I cannot identify (engine, pump?)
North Carolina - A bouquet of flowers
North Dakota - Top part of a loudspeaker
Ohio - A pair of underwear (I think Ohio got the worst)
Oklahoma - A cooking pot with black ooze boiling out
Oregon - A choo choo train
Pennsylvania - A rather large book with a bookmark
Rhode Island - A wooden ship
South Carolina - A slice of pepperoni pizza
South Dakota - Bottom part of a loudspeaker
Tennessee - A stack of books, all are actual books: Handford "Where Waldo?" Or Wally, "The Wreck of the Zephyr" Chris van Allsburg, "The Way Things Work" David Macaulay, "Free Fall", "Paddle-To-The-Sea" Holling, "What It Feels Like to be a Building" Wilson, TinTin "The Crab with the Golden Claws" Hergé
Texas - A dog sitting next to a water bowl, looks sad likely because his water bowl is empty
Utah - An oven
Vermont - A microscope
Virginia - A stegosaurus eating a branch
Washington - An adorable whale
West Virginia - A frog
Wisconsin - A human skull
Wyoming - A sealed letter with a heart and Randall's signature, likely a love letter to his readers

by **rwk** » Mon Jul 09, 2012 7:26 am UTC

Be sure to check out this discussion of Colorado on the Wikipedia Talk page, and what to call its shape and whether it IS a shape, etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Colorado#Geography.2Fshape

I wonder if this was possibly the inspiration for the comic?

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