Editing 1434: Where Do Birds Go
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| titletext = Water/ice has a lot of weird phases. Maybe asking 'where do birds go when it rains' is like asking 'where does Clark Kent go whenever Superman shows up?' | | titletext = Water/ice has a lot of weird phases. Maybe asking 'where do birds go when it rains' is like asking 'where does Clark Kent go whenever Superman shows up?' | ||
}} | }} | ||
− | + | [[File:Wet kookaburra 6674 Crop Edit.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5| A wet bird sitting in the rain. (from Wikimedia Commons)]] | |
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
Cueball searches [http://lmgtfy.com/?q=where+do+birds+go+when+it+rains%3F Google] to find out where birds go when it rains. He finds that the question is asked worldwide, across many different languages and websites. A variety of screenshots are shown of different websites and forums where users have asked where birds go when it rains, with at least nine languages shown. The bottom of this panel fades to white, suggesting that the occurrence of these questions stretches on and on. Cueball expresses delight at the idea that this question is the one to which everyone wants to know the answer; worrying about birds getting wet is "the thing that unites us". | Cueball searches [http://lmgtfy.com/?q=where+do+birds+go+when+it+rains%3F Google] to find out where birds go when it rains. He finds that the question is asked worldwide, across many different languages and websites. A variety of screenshots are shown of different websites and forums where users have asked where birds go when it rains, with at least nine languages shown. The bottom of this panel fades to white, suggesting that the occurrence of these questions stretches on and on. Cueball expresses delight at the idea that this question is the one to which everyone wants to know the answer; worrying about birds getting wet is "the thing that unites us". | ||
− | Later in the comic, a bird in the rain is also searching on the Internet for where birds go when it rains. This is humorously implying that a significant set of these questions are being typed by birds looking for a dry place after being caught in the rain, and not humans. This | + | Later in the comic, a bird in the rain is also searching on the Internet for where birds go when it rains. This is humorously implying that a significant set of these questions are being typed by birds looking for a dry place after being caught in the rain, and not humans. This makes Cueball wrong; worrying about birds getting wet does not unite us. In reality, as the comic states, birds look for shelter so they can stay dry. On a rainy day you can usually find birds in leafy trees, caves or other kinds of cover. |
− | + | In the {{w|Superman}} comics, Clark Kent ''is'' Superman, so you never observe both Clark Kent and Superman simultaneously. By analogy, the title text whimsically suggests that a possible inference from the observation that you never see birds and rain together is that birds ''are'' the rain. Perhaps birds are an unknown {{w|Phase (matter)|phase}} of water. In addition to its familiar phases of {{w|ice}}, {{w|water vapor|vapor}}, and {{w|water|liquid water}}, water has more exotic phases such as {{w|Ice#Phases|low-temperature and high-pressure ices}} and {{w|Supercritical fluid|supercritical gases}}; why not birds? | |
− | + | The title text imbues the question with more philosophical significance than it warrants (prompted, perhaps, by Cueball's earlier hyperbole), and points up the irrationality of the implication that a question must be deep simply because a lot of people ask it, and that such questions demand a complex, radical answer. | |
− | ===English=== | + | ===Websites shown in image=== |
− | [https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid= | + | *English |
− | ([ | + | **https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110223085537AAiOFTk |
+ | **http://www.enature.com/expert/expert_show_question.asp?questionID=23847 | ||
+ | **http://activerain.trulia.com/blogsview/1452078/where-do-birds-go-when-it-rains- | ||
+ | **http://www.godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message979308/pg1 | ||
+ | **http://randomthoughtsfrommidlife.wordpress.com/2011/11/22/where-do-the-birds-go-when-it-rains/ | ||
+ | *Non-English | ||
+ | {| class="wikitable" | ||
+ | ! Language | ||
+ | ! Question | ||
+ | ! Translation | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |French | ||
+ | |[https://fr.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110327100813AAMj2hy Où se cachent les oiseaux quand il pleut?] | ||
+ | |Where do the birds hide themselves when it rains? | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |rowspan="3"|German | ||
+ | |[http://www.gutefrage.net/frage/was-passiert-jetzt-eigentlich-mit-den-voegeln-die-bei-dem-wetter-in-den-baeumen-sitzen Was passiert jetzt eigentlich mit den vögeln, die bei dem wetter in den bäumen sitzen?] | ||
+ | |What actually happens with the birds that are sitting in the trees in this weather?<ref>In proper German, all nouns should be capitalized. The author leaves them uncapitalized, characteristic of lazy/hurried typing.</ref> | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |[http://www.vogel.info/schlechtes_wetter.htm Was machen Vögel bei schlechtem Wetter?] | ||
+ | |What do birds do in bad weather? | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |[http://www.gutefrage.net/frage/wohin-gehen-voegel Wohin gehen Vögel?] | ||
+ | |Where do birds go? | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |rowspan="2"|Spanish | ||
+ | |[http://noticias.lainformacion.com/ciencia-y-tecnologia/ciencias-meteorologicas/que-pasa-con-las-aves-durante-un-huracan_g1DV8AL9LSG6Bzy7q5G8s7/ ¿Qué pasa con las aves durante un huracán?] | ||
+ | |What happens to the birds during a hurricane? | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |[https://espanol.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120525145152AABvmOq ¿A donde se van los pajaritos cuando llueve?] | ||
+ | |Where do the little birds go when it rains?<ref>In proper Spanish, the word "donde" in this context should have an accent. This is a rule that even some newspapers manage to get wrong.</ref> | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |Dutch | ||
+ | |[http://www.willemwever.nl/vraag_antwoord/dieren-en-planten/waar-blijven-de-vogels-als-het-heel-hard-stormt Waar blijven de vogels als het heel hard stormt?] | ||
+ | |Where do birds stay when it is storming very hard? | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |Finnish | ||
+ | |[http://ihmepuu.vuodatus.net/lue/2014/05/minne-linnut-menevat-sateella Minne linnut menevät sateella?] | ||
+ | |Where do the birds go when it rains? | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |rowspan="3"|Chinese (simplified) | ||
+ | |[http://wenwen.sogou.com/z/q55741469.htm 下雨时鸟儿往哪躲] | ||
+ | |When it rains, where do birds go to hide? | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |[http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/270774126.html 下雨的时候小鸟住在哪里?] | ||
+ | |When it rains, where do the little birds go? | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |[http://wenwen.sogou.com/z/q145038794.htm 为什么鸟儿下雨的时候在天上飞不会因为淋湿掉下来?] | ||
+ | |When it rains, why do birds not fall down from getting soaked? | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |Japanese | ||
+ | |[http://matome.naver.jp/odai/2136533586764388601 【雑学】暴風雨の時、鳥はどこに避難してるの?] | ||
+ | |Miscellaneous Knowledge: Where do birds take shelter during a rainstorm? | ||
+ | |- | ||
+ | |Malay (Indonesian) | ||
+ | |[https://id.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20101215231444AAAVxSM Burung Dapat Bertahan Terbang Berapa Lama Disaat Hujan ?] | ||
+ | |How Long Can Birds Survive Flying In the Rain ? | ||
+ | |} | ||
+ | <references/> | ||
− | + | ==Transcript== | |
− | + | :[The comic is separated into three sections, with Cueball and Megan having a discussion in the first section, websites found through Google search results depicted in the second, and a bird depicted in the third.] | |
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− | + | :;[First Section - Cueball is sitting at his computer.] | |
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:Cueball: "Where do birds go when it rains?" is my new favorite Google search. | :Cueball: "Where do birds go when it rains?" is my new favorite Google search. | ||
− | :Megan | + | :Megan [off screen]: Why? |
− | + | :Cueball: It gives the answer, but also shows you an endless torrent of other people asking the same question. Pages and pages of them across regions and cultures. | |
− | :Cueball: It gives the answer, but also shows you an endless torrent of other people asking the same question. | + | :[Megan enters the frame and shows interest in the computer.] |
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− | + | :Cueball: I love the idea that somehow this is the universal question, the thing that unites us. When it rains, we wonder where the birds go, and hope they're staying dry. | |
− | :Cueball | ||
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− | + | :;[Second Section - A collage of screen snippets.] | |
− | :[A collage of screen snippets.] | ||
:[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110223085537AAiOFTk from Yahoo! Answers]: '''Where do the birds go when it rains?''' I've noticed I rarely see birds flying around or in trees or on power lines when it's raining, So where do they go? | :[https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110223085537AAiOFTk from Yahoo! Answers]: '''Where do the birds go when it rains?''' I've noticed I rarely see birds flying around or in trees or on power lines when it's raining, So where do they go? | ||
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+ | :;[Third section - A bird on a wire fence.] | ||
+ | :[A bird sits on a wire fence with no rain falling.] | ||
− | :[ | + | :[Zoomed in on the bird as it looks at a rain drop splashing on the fence wire.] |
− | :[ | + | :[Zoomed out on the bird looking at the rain as it increases in intensity.] |
− | :[The rain | + | :[The bird flies down to an small smart-phone-shaped object lying on the ground, as the rain increases in intensity even more.] |
− | :[The bird | + | :[The bird lands on the object, with puddles increasing in size around the object.] |
− | + | :[The bird pecks at the object, ostensibly typing.] W... H... E... R... E... D... O... B... I... R... D... S... | |
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− | :[The bird pecks | ||
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{{comic discussion}} | {{comic discussion}} | ||
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[[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | [[Category:Comics featuring Megan]] | ||
[[Category:Comics with color]] | [[Category:Comics with color]] | ||
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[[Category:Internet]] | [[Category:Internet]] | ||
[[Category:Animals]] | [[Category:Animals]] | ||
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