Editing Talk:1575: Footprints

I know a lot about the poem this is referencing as it was my deceased grandmothers favourite. However I am omitting myself from making any changes other than putting in the poem it is referencing and the most brief of explanations to begin so someone with less emotional bias can fix formatting and improve wording. The poem can be found here: http://www.onlythebible.com/Poems/Footprints-in-the-Sand-Poem.html [[User:Squirrel killer-|Squirrel killer-]] ([[User talk:Squirrel killer-|talk]]) 06:01, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

Should we address that AT-ST' nickname is "chicken Walker"? [[Special:Contributions/198.41.243.249|198.41.243.249]] 08:46, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

Should we address that riding around in a captured AT-ST is what Chewbacca did in Return of the Jedi? [[Special:Contributions/188.114.106.173|188.114.106.173]] 22:30, 4 December 2015 (UTC)

The title text is not in textese (which you be "theres 1 set of fps bcs I carried U".) I'm not sure what it is exactly (not being American) the closest I can get is "Valley girl" (which is not right) and "that one dialect the frat-boys speak in the movies", which can't be it's name. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.88.224|141.101.88.224]] 09:43, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

"Going home == death" Are we certain that this is meant? I feel it could also poke fun at the whole "walk of life" concept, and going home simply means going home... --[[Special:Contributions/162.158.92.10|162.158.92.10]] 09:55, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

I've removed the definite implication that "Going home == death", and instead made it a possible interpretation. I agree that the title text is "frat-boy speak", but I'm not sure what you would call it -- [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.55|141.101.99.55]] 10:08, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

First contribution, apologies if I mess up... Going home could be a reference to Forrest Gump where he ends his multi-year walk by saying "I'm pretty tired... I think I'll go home now" {{unsigned ip|108.162.237.171}}

I think the quicksand is a reference to Lawrence of Arabia, in the movie(spoiler alert?) Lawrence walks across the Sinai Desert only to see one of his men caught in quicksand and die immediately before reaching their destination.
[[User:Joar|Joar]] ([[User talk:Joar|talk]]) 10:15, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

:I immediately thought of Artax, Atreyu's horse in Neverending story drowning in quicksand. Artax carried Atreyu, like Jesus in the poem, and his death is an Iconic Moment of Sadness, which I think makes the reference work well with the parody of over-sentimentality in the footprints poem.[[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.59|141.101.66.59]] 18:50, 10 September 2015 (UTC)

I'd call the title text dialect "bro talk" or something similar. Also, the quicksand bit is definitely in reference to Jesus' ability to walk on water: since quicksand is a mixture of water and sand, presumably it would be easier to walk on than regular water. [[Special:Contributions/173.245.54.153|173.245.54.153]] 13:52, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

The presumed reference to "Winnie the Pooh" is very far fetched. The joke of following its own footprint is used in many other works. Same for drawing in a quicksand. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.66.23|141.101.66.23]] 14:03, 9 September 2015 (UTC)
:Ha! Edit conflict, for exactly the same subject.  What I was about to say was: The 'following our own footprints' bit reminded me, initially, of Tintin (In The Land Of The Black Gold?), with Thomson and Thompson's jeep, although that was two, four, six, etc tyre-tracks.  I think the Pooh example is the more likely archetype.
:(i.e., in light of what I'm now replying to, more likely than the Tintin version. Whether or not Pooh was ''the'' inspiration.) [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.114|141.101.99.114]] 14:11, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

: I've noticed that problem quite a bit around here - generic comments being explained as specific references. But I'm too lazy to change them myself. Anyone up for it? [[User:Zweisteine|Zweisteine]] ([[User talk:Zweisteine|talk]]) 14:35, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

Can someone translate "There's one set of foot-p's cause I was totes carrying you, bro!" into normal english? {{User:17jiangz1/signature|15:45, 09 September 2015}}
: "There is one set of footprints because I was totally carrying you, my brother"
: "There is one set of footprints because I was fully-committed to carrying you, my good friend whom I consider like a brother" [[User:JamesCurran|JamesCurran]] ([[User talk:JamesCurran|talk]]) 16:17, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

So, given the width of the "1-night" disappearances of Jesus on the chart, I think we can infer that the length of time between the quicksand incident and "going home" was a pretty long time. My sources tell me that Jesus has an affinity for resurrecting 3-days after death, and that his angels get him out of whatever place he's stuck (rolling away the tomb-stone, etc). Because of this, we might assume that the narrator had cleared enough distance away from the quicksand that he didn't notice Jesus resurrecting and being pulled out by angels... but in that case the vertical axis was being recorded "as the narrator walked", as opposed to someone else coming back and recording them after the events had taken place. (This is my first contribution to explainxkcd, so I'm keeping it in the comments unless someone else publishes it.)[[Special:Contributions/162.158.255.56|162.158.255.56]] 16:08, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

I think it's a cool deduction if a bit far fetched, but I can't complain considering we might all be over-thinking things here. [[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.55|141.101.99.55]] 17:00, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

"Who was that guy?"  "That was no guy; that was ... the Lone Ranger!" [[User:RAGBRAIvet|RAGBRAIvet]] ([[User talk:RAGBRAIvet|talk]]) 19:24, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

Note that one of the twelve Danish cartoons depicting Mohammed was not of the Prophet, but of a schoolboy of the same name.  Jesus is a common Mexican name.  Randall may be showing how context and prejudice may stir up strong religious reaction, by giving situations where one can deduce that the Biblical Jesus is not the one leaving footprints everywhere.
[[http://www.linkedin.com/in/Comet Comet]] 21:18, 9 September 2015 (UTC)

''"Jesus disappeared for an evening each time a new Twilight movie came out" probably means either that Jesus went to see the movie and left the narrator alone or that the narrator went to see the movie and Jesus refused to come with.''

The imprinting reference could also come from the twilight movies. {{unsigned ip|141.101.104.138}}

The second interpretation (the narrator went to see the movie and Jesus refused to come with) is absurdly far fetched for a sentence that says "Jesus disappeared for an evening". --[[Special:Contributions/141.101.99.85|141.101.99.85]] 21:38, 9 September 2015 (UTC)
: I agree [[User:Teleksterling|Teleksterling]] ([[User talk:Teleksterling|talk]]) 23:32, 9 September 2015 (UTC)
I thought it meant either Jesus not being there (and preventing evil from happening) allowed for a Twilight movie to come out or else Jesus was the originator of the Twilight movies and he disappeared every time to make one. [[Special:Contributions/162.158.90.220|162.158.90.220]] 06:41, 10 September 2015 (UTC)
: Why would he disappear to make the movie at the date the movie's being published? [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 06:56, 10 September 2015 (UTC)
:: Oh, I know: <del>A wizard</del> Jesus did it! http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AWizardDidIt [[User:Elektrizikekswerk|Elektrizikekswerk]] ([[User talk:Elektrizikekswerk|talk]]) 10:56, 10 September 2015 (UTC)

Using the Twilight release dates as a guide, we can actually figure out the timescale here. The full length of the graph seems to be from about the start of 2004 'til the end of 2018, with the narrator going home mid 2018 and Jesus dying in the back half of 2017. They adopted ducks in 2010, were lost for the second half of 2013, rode an AT-ST for most of summer 2014, and oh dear I've given this way too much thought... [[Special:Contributions/141.101.98.134|141.101.98.134]] 08:56, 10 September 2015 (UTC)

I've added in the alternate explanation that this is not Jesus Christ, but some dude named "Jesus". [[Special:Contributions/199.27.133.53|199.27.133.53]] 17:23, 10 September 2015 (UTC)

The "sufer dude" language could imply (since the poem specifically notes that they're walking on a beach) that Jesus went surfing.  Of course, if it were supposed to be surfer dude language, it should include the word "dude."  Though the last time I was exposed to incessant surfer talk was the 90's. [[User:Sengkelat|Sengkelat]] ([[User talk:Sengkelat|talk]]) 18:11, 10 September 2015 (UTC)

"Surfer" language, when used uncharacteristically by someone, often implies sarcasm or poorly-hidden dishonesty. The narrator could have simply punched Jesus because of the bare-faced lie. I have gone and added this interpretation. [[User:Focoma|Focoma]] ([[User talk:Focoma|talk]]) 12:20, 28 September 2015 (UTC)

It seems like "my friend" would be a better translation for "bro" then "brother" {{unsigned ip|108.162.215.163}}

I think him not being there on the nights of Twilight movies might be alluding to the whole vampires only coming out at night cliché (though I'm probably overthinking it). {{unsigned ip|108.162.218.179}}

Doesn't anyone else think that the "Who was that guy?" bit may be a reference to the Third Man Effect, as alluded to in The Waste Land, by T. S. Elliot? [[Special:Contributions/162.158.102.218|162.158.102.218]] 08:22, 26 November 2015 (UTC)