1190: "Time"

[yappobiscuits]

Great, now you've inspired me.

I'm halfway done:

Spoiler:

Coma Molpy Style
Molpy Style

Blitzin' the thread, just one more page until I ketch it
Read through the decrees, signposts, ONGs and ponder ev'ry tidbit
All I need is just a bit of Time to read all of it
But Outside says I have to quit

Mustard might appear
The other night we saw an extra star just disappear
Some extra Cueganites went too, turned back into thin air
An extra alt-text dot is gone as well, will we ever know where?
Were they ever there?

In the O.T.T., follow the decree
Cos I'm the pope, hey!
So post some rope, hey!
When you're postin', you can be boastin'
About out aims, hey!
To have no flames, hey!

Cos we turn our disagreements into games...

Coma Molpy style
Molpy style
Co - co - co - co - Coma Molpy Style
Molpy style
Co - co - co - co - Coma Molpy Style

Heyyyy, Neat Sandcastle
Co - co - co - co - Coma Molpy Style
Heyyyy, Neat Sandcastle
Co - co - co - co - Coma Molpy Style

(Technically I'm OTTifying Minecraft Style because it has English lyrics I can actually see the rhyme and rhythm of it.)
Thoughts/suggestions?

(edit: note: some words need emphasis on the wrong syllable to fit )

⁴! Love it. I sang along, it fits the rhythm pretty well and many moments made me grin hugely!

ETA:

Pope Captain Yappo says, let this be the Newpage of Sailing and Nautical stuffs! Interpret that however you wish...

[mscha]

I'm halfway done:

Spoiler:

Coma Molpy Style
Molpy Style

Blitzin' the thread, just one more page until I ketch it
Read through the decrees, signposts, ONGs and ponder ev'ry tidbit
All I need is just a bit of Time to read all of it
But Outside says I have to quit

Mustard might appear
The other night we saw an extra star just disappear
Some extra Cueganites went too, turned back into thin air
An extra alt-text dot is gone as well, will we ever know where?
Were they ever there?

In the O.T.T., follow the decree
Cos I'm the pope, hey!
So post some rope, hey!
When you're postin', you can be boastin'
About out aims, hey!
To have no flames, hey!

Cos we turn our disagreements into games...

Coma Molpy style
Molpy style
Co - co - co - co - Coma Molpy Style
Molpy style
Co - co - co - co - Coma Molpy Style

Heyyyy, Neat Sandcastle
Co - co - co - co - Coma Molpy Style
Heyyyy, Neat Sandcastle
Co - co - co - co - Coma Molpy Style

This is one ottification where I don't want the original playing in the background.
Still, pretty ⁴!

[Arky]

I'm still astonished at the time commitment this must take from GLR.

The current newpix change by enough and are detailed enough that if we said it takes 5 minutes to draw a newpix, save it, hash it etc (let alone the time to plan it) it's probably an understatement. But even if it is 5 minutes a newpix, that's 2 hours per day in outsider time plus planning time.

It was one thing when he was changing a few pixels or showing Cueball and Megan move slightly against a simple background, but now.... man.

In terms of just drawing time, not considering planning and research etc, he may well have spent more time drawing Time than he has spent drawing the entire rest of XKCD.

It's selfish, but I'm desperately hoping he gives an interview at the end of this and that either an OTTer gets to be a part of it or we get to submit questions.

[mscha]

Spoiler:

So they're stuck in the hills until the water rises over them? Can't they just go around?

The hills have already gone under, leaving them far away from the receding shore. Hence rebuilding the yurt and getting ready to stay on the rafts a while.

Although, quite recently there were still "shallows" for the Other 20's raft to get bogged down in. So the hills are not yet entirely submerged (or possibly the tops just now went under). I think the issue is more that the hills are local maxima, with plains on the other side, and those plains are already well underwater. There's no useful refuge within poling distance.

ETA:

So all they've got left is to huddle together and suddenly figure out how to paddle, or hope for enough wind to blow them to shore?

Or else "wonder where they'll float next"

Yeah, it's not clear to me exactly what the plan is now....

This is a bit strange. They were following a river. If they aren't still in/over that river, one of two things happened:
(a) the river arose in a spring on a local hilltop, so following it just took them there.
(b) the time they spent in reuniting the 40 left the water's edge so far away and the water so deep that they can't pole along anymore.

I thought Megan's point in M3067 was that they wanted to cut across the (now seaish) rivulets on foot, but can no longer do so. They may still be in "their" river, but it isn't the one they want. It wouldn't take them to the castle.

The hills are in the middle of the plains, where the river doesn't descend much. As the sea is rising very rapidly, it doesn't take long for the entire plains to be deep under water.
Once they float to the foothills of the mountains, they can hopefully stick to the river valleys and canyons again.

ETA: and ‘their’ river is probably a branch of the extended Rhône as well. And even if it's not, I don't think they care where they end up, as long as it's dry and safe land.

[charlie_grumbles]

Yeah, it's not clear to me exactly what the plan is now....

Isn't it obvious?
Just keep floating and hope that the current will bring them to land (which it probably will, as the sea¹^¹ still has quite some growing to do). There's not much else they can do, after all.

(They'll probably float up through one of the valleys/canyons of the Rhône – perhaps we'll see our ⁷terfall again – and end up at Château d'If.)

I'm pretty sure that there isn't any "current" that will take them closer to land. I think that under these conditions it tends to leave you approximately between where you are now and the receding edge of the sea. In other words, you move forward, but not as fast as the water is advancing.

At least it isn't like a real surf, with riptides and such. The energy is all directed toward the shore.

On another topic: Hygene while at sea. When you have to "go" you "go" over the side of the boat. Thus it has always been on small boats. Done it myself. On a sailboat, you use the leeward side of the bows as the sail provides a bit of privacy from the rest of the crew. Bigger boats have holding tanks. In between there are boats with "heads" that just port into the sea. Usage disallowed in harbors. If you are soloing, there are other arrangements, which might be quite dangerous in some boats. You don't want to go over the side with your waste.

Anyway, I'm leaving you with that thought for a few hours. See you in the mornix.

[HES]

I'm still astonished at the time commitment this must take from GLR.

The current newpix change by enough and are detailed enough that if we said it takes 5 minutes to draw a newpix, save it, hash it etc (let alone the time to plan it) it's probably an understatement. But even if it is 5 minutes a newpix, that's 2 hours per day in outsider time plus planning time.

While I don't wish to disagree that this is an astonishing undertaking, I easily spend more than 2 hours per day following this thing. That's my spare time - this is his job.

ETA: Molpy down

Spoiler:

[AluisioASG]

Wanted to show you this:

Spoiler:

[tavella]

In terms of water, remember they have the "steambottles" (presumably some form of solar still), which Megan and Cueball seemed confident would provide enough water for them if they had to resort to them. I doubt they took the only one in the camp with them on the trip, and the 40 apparently spend a large portion of the year in a dried up plain, so they likely have enough to provide them with a minimum supply for the whole tribe, presuming they brought them (and they seem like an odd thing to leave behind.)

If Randall's planning to have them float out the whole of the flooding, though, he's either going to have to cheat a lot on the speed or they are going to run out of food. The western abyssal plains will flood quickly, but things will slow after that, because there will be more and more surface to fill for every rise in elevation and because the speed of the flood will slow as the height differential between the Atlantic and the Med surface decreases. Once the sediment has been scoured from the channel, it's constrained by mountains and bedrock, and those will not erode fast enough to make a serious difference in the "pipeline" size.

[BlitzGirl]

We all fall dONG:



Oh dear. At least Littlest Bangs is having fun, maybe...

[EraObserver]

Question: Shouldn't the water be... worse?

[nsub1]

We all fall dONG:

I SAW YOU MUSTARD THAT!!!

Now off to be semi-away from the OTT until Monday evening. Don't let anything happen without me.

[HAL9000]

IN CASE OF TIME-ENDING EVENT, BREAK OUT SKETCHPADS.

It's time for me to update my signature.

[Arky]

I'm still astonished at the time commitment this must take from GLR.

The current newpix change by enough and are detailed enough that if we said it takes 5 minutes to draw a newpix, save it, hash it etc (let alone the time to plan it) it's probably an understatement. But even if it is 5 minutes a newpix, that's 2 hours per day in outsider time plus planning time.

While I don't wish to disagree that this is an astonishing undertaking, I easily spend more than 2 hours per day following this thing. That's my spare time - this is his job.

ETA: Molpy down

Spoiler:

This is his spare time too. That's the thing. And nothing happens if one of us obsessives takes a week off or just skips a few pages of the OTT rather than ketching up.

[Arky]

We all fall dONG:



Oh dear. At least Littlest Bangs is having fun, maybe...

I've lost track of Cueball. I hope he hasn't gone over the side!

[Random832]

ETA: and ‘their’ river is probably a branch of the extended Rhône as well. And even if it's not, I don't think they care where they end up, as long as it's dry and safe land.

I thought we thought their river was fed by the other system of tributaries with headwaters in France's continental shelf.

Hey - what's the relative elevation between France's continental shelf vs the Sicily Sill?

[BlitzGirl]

I've lost track of Cueball. I hope he hasn't gone over the side!

Cueball wasn't visible in the last newpix - I think he's inside the geraft or the raftcastle.

IN CASE OF TIME-ENDING EVENT, BREAK OUT SKETCHPADS.

It's time for me to update my signature.

Awesomeful!

We all fall dONG:

I SAW YOU MUSTARD THAT!!!

Shhh...if you fix the mustard fast enough, nobody will ever know...and there will be no edit history...

[lgw]

In terms of water, remember they have the "steambottles" (presumably some form of solar still), which Megan and Cueball seemed confident would provide enough water for them if they had to resort to them. I doubt they took the only one in the camp with them on the trip, and the 40 apparently spend a large portion of the year in a dried up plain, so they likely have enough to provide them with a minimum supply for the whole tribe, presuming they brought them (and they seem like an odd thing to leave behind.)

If Randall's planning to have them float out the whole of the flooding, though, he's either going to have to cheat a lot on the speed or they are going to run out of food. The western abyssal plains will flood quickly, but things will slow after that, because there will be more and more surface to fill for every rise in elevation and because the speed of the flood will slow as the height differential between the Atlantic and the Med surface decreases. Once the sediment has been scoured from the channel, it's constrained by mountains and bedrock, and those will not erode fast enough to make a serious difference in the "pipeline" size.

The food question has bothered me ever since The Fading. If you have some clue about wilderness survival, and are stuck in the wilderness long term, starvation is the most likely way to die. I'm sure Cuegan took some provisions when they set out, but you just can't carry that much (and foraging for berries and grapes only helps a little if you don't already know where the food grows). Molpy hunting is often a net calorie loss (rabbits are infamous for this - you can't find and catch a rabbit without spending more calories than you get from one, on average, unless you use snares or dogs or some other trick). It's hard to believe the 40 are carrying more than a few day's food now, and I'm not sure they'd know how to fish.

I'm betting they discover some useful means of propulsion shore-wards. Rowing scales nicely, and sailing directly downwind isn't rocket science, if the wind's blowing some useful direction (and the inflow to the Med would dominate local wind action IIRC, so maybe). I also wonder where they'll end up - anywhere near that group of Beanies we've seen seems like a stretch.

[Random832]

This is his spare time too. That's the thing. And nothing happens if one of us obsessives takes a week off or just skips a few pages of the OTT rather than ketching up.

His point was that GLR doesn't (as far as I know) have a "day job".

Of course, the OTC isn't exactly a profit center in the xkcd enterprise (not directly, anyway - you guys are all buying merch, right?) so it's still a heck of a time commitment.

[SBN]

The food question has bothered me ever since The Fading. If you have some clue about wilderness survival, and are stuck in the wilderness long term, starvation is the most likely way to die. I'm sure Cuegan took some provisions when they set out, but you just can't carry that much (and foraging for berries and grapes only helps a little if you don't already know where the food grows). Molpy hunting is often a net calorie loss (rabbits are infamous for this - you can't find and catch a rabbit without spending more calories than you get from one, on average, unless you use snares or dogs or some other trick). It's hard to believe the 40 are carrying more than a few day's food now, and I'm not sure they'd know how to fish.

I'm betting they discover some useful means of propulsion shore-wards. Rowing scales nicely, and sailing directly downwind isn't rocket science, if the wind's blowing some useful direction (and the inflow to the Med would dominate local wind action IIRC, so maybe). I also wonder where they'll end up - anywhere near that group of Beanies we've seen seems like a stretch.

I think the walk to the castle showed us that they don't stress over food. Not sure what they have, but it is good enough and light enough that they could carry what they needed in their bags and not worry. The berries and grapes were nice, but not necessary. So, they brought a reasonable supply on board. Not that things might not get interesting if they can't make progress.
But, I think they'll get moving ok. Because they just put more flags on the castle-raft (carafe? no? ok.) We never saw so much as a pixel twitch during the whole sandcastle era, but now we've got flag movement. Soon enough they'll be learning to sail.

[hunjoh]

[On another topic: Hygene while at sea. When you have to "go" you "go" over the side of the boat. Thus it has always been on small boats. Done it myself. On a sailboat, you use the leeward side of the bows as the sail provides a bit of privacy from the rest of the crew. Bigger boats have holding tanks. In between there are boats with "heads" that just port into the sea. Usage disallowed in harbors. If you are soloing, there are other arrangements, which might be quite dangerous in some boats. You don't want to go over the side with your waste. .

I remember seeing some safety information from the Coast Guard that stated that a in large percentage cases where people fall overboard and drown, the bodies were recovered with their fly unzipped. (The Coast Guard was emphasizing the need to wear life jackets at all times...)

[Rule110]

RUNTIME ERROR: TIME (1190) PANEL 3074
MISSING TROPE -322
Group of ten or more civilian refugees escaping catastrophe is lacking pregnant woman in labor. Please add full-term fetus and re-run comic.

Thus ends Time.
>

[fatness]

I also wonder where they'll end up - anywhere near that group of Beanies we've seen seems like a stretch.

Don't discount the possibility that the Beanies are looking for them using their towers and telescopes, and may be able to provide an assist to land. Cuegan made it all the way back to 'camp' pretty quickly on foot so they can't be that far away that a properly positioned 'scope wouldn't see them on what is rapidly becoming open water.

[yappobiscuits]

Hmm, I'm getting a kinda "Don't really care about ottifications and just want to discuss the comic" vibe from the thread at the moment, but I don't want to postpone posting this because it's about what's happening in the comic now. So...

With all this sailing, it's time for a sea shanty!

The High-Rising Sea
Ottification of traditional sea shanty, "The Coasts of High Barbaree". Here's my favourite version, an epic metal take on it by Wilderun, but here's a more traditional (and cheesy) version. (Although this is really based on Wilderun's version because it's so amazing and brings a whole new epic dimension to the song.)

Spoiler:

Look ahead, look astern
Look the weather in the lee
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we
I see a raft to the windward
And more people there float free
A-sailing down along the coasts of high-rising sea

"Oh are you of our tribe
Or hill people?" cried we
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we
"Oh no, we're not hill people
But we're from your tribe!" Cried he
A-sailing down along the coasts of high-rising sea

"So push into the current!
We'll throw our rope to you!
And you can come and join us!
And we'll get you safely through!"

"We'll push into the current,
And catch your rope from you!
And we will join with your raft,
And we'll all get safely through!"

For broadside, for broadside
The rope flew straight and true
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we
Until at last we hauled them close
And joined them with our crew
A-sailing down along the coasts of high-rising sea

Through currents and debris
We rode the waters wide
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we
We must do all we can
To escape from the rising tide...

"Our plan, what is our plan?
Can we get across the plain?"
"No, we're already cut off
It'll only be in vain!"

There's nowhere left to run now,
Of that there is no doubt
Blow high! Blow low! And so sailed we
So get ready for the long haul,
'Cause we're going to ride it out!

Blow high!
Blow low!
And so sailed we!

[jjjdavidson]

Yeah, it's not clear to me exactly what the plan is now....

Isn't it obvious?
Just keep floating and hope that the current will bring them to land (which it probably will, as the sea¹^¹ still has quite some growing to do). There's not much else they can do, after all.

(They'll probably float up through one of the valleys/canyons of the Rhône – perhaps we'll see our ⁷terfall again – and end up at Château d'If.)

I'm still worried that the main current affecting them will be sweeping up the western coast of Sardinia and Corsica, then west across the French coast, possibly making a big eddy out east of the Balearics, over what used to be "their" sea. That could keep them at sea for weeks, unless the wind pushes them to shore. And who knows which way the wind is blowing? (The Forty need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.)

[randomdylanattack]
How many coasts must a band drift down,
Before we see them on land?
How many seas must a wide raft sail,
Before it beaches on sand?
How many flags can a sand castle fly,
And still leave us some place to stand?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
[/randomdylanattack])

In terms of just drawing time, not considering planning and research etc, he may well have spent more time drawing Time than he has spent drawing the entire rest of XKCD.

This morning, after my post about posting numbers, I realized that the number of unique posters on the One True Thread (1287 as of then) now exceeds the total number of xkcd comics (1242 as of yesterday). Randall isn't the only one who's devoted an extraordinary amount of time to Time...

[hunjoh]

The western abyssal plains will flood quickly, but things will slow after that, because there will be more and more surface to fill for every rise in elevation and because the speed of the flood will slow as the height differential between the Atlantic and the Med surface decreases. Once the sediment has been scoured from the channel, it's constrained by mountains and bedrock, and those will not erode fast enough to make a serious difference in the "pipeline" size.

Umm, the first time this happened the bedrock eroded fast enough to make a very large difference. Why would this time be any different? Reference - Figure 3

[BlitzGirl]

The High-Rising Sea
<snip>

Huzzah! A shanty!
A-sailing down along the coasts of high-rising sea...

[CasCat]

Yappobiscuits and jjjdavidson: wild applause!

[Valarya]

@chem1990c - awesomeful animation manips, holy cow!
@Eternal Density & @yappobiscuits - treeish song manips!
@ the poetry manips - you guys always impress me.
@everyone who gave me cake - I you.

Valarya your recordings did sound like you were inside a bit and we want them to sound more like outside recordings which means you may need a bigger room to record in with more curtains or furniture to deaden the sound a bit. hard flat walls are your enemy.

Yep, yep.. I believe I mentioned in one of my emails that I just used a webcam mic to record for the voting, but I have a field mic I'll use for the real deal. No worries, I hope!

It's again Japanese
The first is kami-no-ku
The second shimo-no-ku

I've been studying Japanese for the past year or so. Can you come be my personal tutor?

About the OTC - We had so much suspense and panic and SEA-ish amounts of text/info that these past couple newpix of the 40 Geraffting up the river were slightly yawn inducing^H. UNTIL THEY BUMPED INTO SOMETHING AGAIN AND CUEBALL WENT MISSING! Oh, BlitzGirl says he's OK. I trust her.

For the Cap'n (pope)! (ps. I had the pirate on the raft smiley until I previewed and saw I was ninja'd, again, by BlitzGirl. So here's this one - for Cueball)

[nerdsniped]

RUNTIME ERROR: TIME (1190) PANEL 3074
MISSING TROPE -322
Group of ten or more civilian refugees escaping catastrophe is lacking pregnant woman in labor. Please add full-term fetus and re-run comic.

LOL^3.

You, sir, have made my day.

[frakhorsestaplers]

YurtONG

[Valarya]

Megan and La Petite on top of the sand planks.

Cueball is inside the new yurt and it looks like someone is helping him stand up. Glad he's OK!

What is wavy-haired lady handing baby-bunny in the old-front (cripes, hyphens)?

[moody7277]

YurtONG

Spoiler:

So, it would appear that they are reassembling a yurt on the hill people's raft, right?

[frakhorsestaplers]

YurtONG

Spoiler:

So, it would appear that they are reassembling a yurt on the hill people's raft, right?

It sure looks like it to me. Where they got the materials for the yurt without taking apart the yurt-material I assume they put into this boat thing is beyond me.

[maletero]

Hey guys. I checked out that Nature paper that hunjo posted on this page and saw the "Zanclean Channel" mentioned in fig. 2b. I checked to see whether this is the same flood as was on yesterday's Other Comic. Well, it was, but it's not on there, anymore. Was this already reported somewhere?

I seem to remember reading about references to the OTC in the Other Comic, but I never did check any of them out. Has anyone gone back to see whether GLR has gone and "fixed" any other references to the OTC??¹

₁I try to keep up to date here on the OTT, so maybe this was covered a hundred New Pages ago, but I may have missed it. Apologies if I'm reporting a known bug.

[NetWeasel]

Hey - what's the relative elevation between France's continental shelf vs the Sicily Sill?

I think the Sicily sill is about 500 meters below the Chateau d'If's current (21st century) coastline...
charlie_grumbles found a pretty good animation/simulation of the most recent filling... I'll try to find it again.

(I'm calling that part of the event FloodPause)

[maletero]

Oh, and I would have posted pictures, but I don't know how. Maybe like this?

That seems to work.

[hunjoh]

The food question has bothered me ever since The Fading. If you have some clue about wilderness survival, and are stuck in the wilderness long term, starvation is the most likely way to die. I'm sure Cuegan took some provisions when they set out, but you just can't carry that much (and foraging for berries and grapes only helps a little if you don't already know where the food grows). Molpy hunting is often a net calorie loss (rabbits are infamous for this - you can't find and catch a rabbit without spending more calories than you get from one, on average, unless you use snares or dogs or some other trick). It's hard to believe the 40 are carrying more than a few day's food now, and I'm not sure they'd know how to fish.

If you are unexpectedly thrown into a survival situation exposure kills the quickest (a matter of hours), followed by dehydration (a matter of days), followed by starvation (a matter of weeks). We can rule out the threat exposure for this group.

That leaves dehydration as their next threat. They loaded on at least two barrels when they left camp, so that alone would give them at least couple of gallons per person. (Given our 2D perspective they could have loaded on a dozen barrels in two rows, and all we would have seen are the two barrels closest to us.) Plus all of the smaller containers of water they would have carried on. These are desert survivors, so I think water would have been one of their highest priorities.

If they can stay cool, in the shade, resting, they might be able to get their water consumption down to a couple of gallons per person per week. Also, all of this Atlantic water is going to be cool, lowering local temperature quite a bit, so from this point on we shouldn't be thinking of them sweltering in the heat. And if it rains, then they can replenish their water stores.

As far as food goes, I expect the water to be full of all kinds of molpies, swimming or freshly drowned. And many of those Atlantic fish that died from the trauma of becoming Mediterranean fish should start floating to the surface. That should supplement their food supplies nicely.

So in the context of this story I think they can survive on their rafts for at least 2 weeks, maybe a month, before it starts straining believability.

[yappobiscuits]

Yay for completed Geraft! I also love how LaPetite's looking over Megan's shoulder like "Hi! Whatcha doin?"
BlitzGirl, CasCat, Valarya - Thanks! Maybe I was wrong about the thread not being in an ottification mood

[randomdylanattack]
How many coasts must a band drift down,
Before we see them on land?
How many seas must a wide raft sail,
Before it beaches on sand?
How many flags can a sand castle fly,
And still leave us some place to stand?
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.
[/randomdylanattack]

*sways while singing along*

[BlitzGirl]

maletero - that was a joke by mscha. The flood was never actually there.

What is wavy-haired lady handing baby-bunny in the old-front (cripes, hyphens)?

Probably her molpysnake, or whatever she was holding earlier.

[ucim]

Finally had a bit of time for my backlog of saved ottifications. Wanted to shout out to:

yappobiscuits: Stars
chem1190c: Beanish navy
arky: "Born to run", "Here Comes The Flood"
BytEfLUSh: Swim (from Pink Floyd "Breathe")
taixzo: "Still alive"
42 guests: Walking with Cuegan (Waltzing with Cugan)
Pfhorrest: Time Warp

All treeish.

rvloon: Neat anthem, but I don't recognize the tune. I don't know Meat Loaf (though I've heard of them). I did laugh at Approxalypse, actually... I just didn't laugh into the fast-moving OTT. I also saw (but didn't quite "get") the boat with St. Nicholas on it. I took him to be a random Pope. What's the reference? I don't remember hi sailing, though I do think there's something about fishes.

jjjdavidson: (Guster's "Hercules" - great find!

Blindposting, so I'm missing the latest ones I haven't heard yet, but I doubt anybody'll mind the ninja.

eta: [quote=BlitzGirl"]Cueball wasn't visible in the last newpix - I think he's inside the geraft or the raftcastle.[/quote]I read that as "raftsicle" (like popsicle).

Jose