And the whole comic takes themes from Oz. You know that right? Tip, the color thing, many more that I don’t get because I never read a lot of that series…
Let’s not forget the Patchwork Girl, either. It’s the books more than the movie. (This saved me from making a joke about the Wicked Witch of the East.)
Actually “Safe as Houses” is merely period slang for Moustachio, it was an expression coined when the railroad investment bubble burst so there was a massive shift into property markets instead believing real estate to be much more stable of an investment. Alternatively in modern media there’s a tie with Fringe S01E17 – Bad Dreams When agent Dunham and Peter Bishop come to NYC to investigate what has been ruled a Suicide their liason contact is justifiably worried that instead they’re giving her a cover story and are actually investigating a possible terrorist plot and asks them “Are we safe?” to which Peter replies “We’re safe as houses”
Most likely (although perhaps due to ill-considered house-smashing efforts rather than enemy action) but I’m not sure that was enough to stop him: I think he’d be less blase if a house actually ended his rampage.
Sonic weaponry works on the principle of forced resonance (see Tacoma narrows bridge 1940-aka Galloping Gertie) tuned to proteins or organs. The results of shattered eardrums, collapsed lungs, and destroyed intestinal tract-hence the term black note.
A bullet is still cheaper and more effective, though it lacks points for style one could say…
Nerve gas would also be cheaper and more effective, without the problems of force falloff. There is a reason weapons technology is developed within bounds.
Well definitely the insane crystal entity in the sub basement, It can’t take Brittney Spears on full volume so what ever is on that disk is bound to hurt
Hmmm, does M mean if a building is dropped on you? Or if you are dropped on a building? (obviously he means the prior rather than the latter, but it’s still fun to imagine the latter, specially if the building has a nasty spire or weather vane :D)
@Guesticus: Fortunately, proper application of cartoon physics can allow one to come to a sudden stop mid-fall and gingerly step out from above said pointy object 🙂
“They are quite heavy if dropped on one… should be “heavy if one is dropped on you” They way you said it, it implies that the you fell onto the house. Not the same thing
It’s perfectly correct as is. English normally operates under SVO sentence construction. They (houses, note plural construction) is the subject noun–what is being dropped–and one(-self) is the object noun–what They is being dropped on.
An interesting bit of etymology behind the phrase ‘Safe as Houses’. Houses used to be considered a safe /investment/, especially after such nonsense as tulip-mania and unscrupulous investor choices – everyone needs a house, after all.
You don’t hear that in the original sense very often anymore.
Nick IS a pacifist. For example, he refuses to mount weapons and was willing to die rather than be pressed into military service. But I don’t think he counts (cyprus) zombies since they’re not sentient.
Ahh a Wizard of OZ reference!
Well after all he does resemble the TicTock Man
And the whole comic takes themes from Oz. You know that right? Tip, the color thing, many more that I don’t get because I never read a lot of that series…
Let’s not forget the Patchwork Girl, either. It’s the books more than the movie. (This saved me from making a joke about the Wicked Witch of the East.)
Actually “Safe as Houses” is merely period slang for Moustachio, it was an expression coined when the railroad investment bubble burst so there was a massive shift into property markets instead believing real estate to be much more stable of an investment. Alternatively in modern media there’s a tie with Fringe S01E17 – Bad Dreams When agent Dunham and Peter Bishop come to NYC to investigate what has been ruled a Suicide their liason contact is justifiably worried that instead they’re giving her a cover story and are actually investigating a possible terrorist plot and asks them “Are we safe?” to which Peter replies “We’re safe as houses”
His first line was period slang.
His last line was the Wizard of Oz reference.
Deathly? Don’t you mean deadly? Deathly is with the pallor of death, deadly is able to kill
also lol nick I love you
I know this was all orchestrated by Gavorte to distract them, but Mustachio should stop helping, seriously!
I love that M can pronounce the ampersand. I need to figure out how to do that.
It evolved from a calligraphic ligature of the Latin word “et,” meaning “and.” I assume he just said et cetera.
He may have taken the correspondence course from to P.T. Bridgeport, of Pogo fame.
So, does Moustachio speak from first-hand experience on this?
After all, his rampage back in the day had to be stopped somehow . . .
Most likely (although perhaps due to ill-considered house-smashing efforts rather than enemy action) but I’m not sure that was enough to stop him: I think he’d be less blase if a house actually ended his rampage.
Wait, so Nick made a brown note?
The lethal version is called a black note.
Interesting. Most sheet music has all the notes in black.
Sonic weaponry works on the principle of forced resonance (see Tacoma narrows bridge 1940-aka Galloping Gertie) tuned to proteins or organs. The results of shattered eardrums, collapsed lungs, and destroyed intestinal tract-hence the term black note.
A bullet is still cheaper and more effective, though it lacks points for style one could say…
Nerve gas would also be cheaper and more effective, without the problems of force falloff. There is a reason weapons technology is developed within bounds.
Who in the building would be effected and who would be safe from the noise? Might there be some consequences aimed at the man behind the curtain?
Well definitely the insane crystal entity in the sub basement, It can’t take Brittney Spears on full volume so what ever is on that disk is bound to hurt
Oh, and, hey – did we decide what noise is on the CD? Perhaps the Ramones?
That would fit with the design principles.
Don’t something like 75% of all accidents happen in people’s homes?
Gavotte is a swarm of bees, who are not physically connected. I’m guessing there’s at least one in that flower on the desk, watching everything.
Nice 1.
go primal skin care
Shaenon, you’ve got (old) spam!
–Dave
Hmmm, does M mean if a building is dropped on you? Or if you are dropped on a building? (obviously he means the prior rather than the latter, but it’s still fun to imagine the latter, specially if the building has a nasty spire or weather vane :D)
@Guesticus: Fortunately, proper application of cartoon physics can allow one to come to a sudden stop mid-fall and gingerly step out from above said pointy object 🙂
Nah, Chris’ skin looks fine. Certainly not bad enough to warrant hundred dollar soap!
Yeah, the spambot could have picked a better target. After all, Tip’s innermost secret was that “deep down, you know you need a stronger moisturizer”…
“They are quite heavy if dropped on one… should be “heavy if one is dropped on you” They way you said it, it implies that the you fell onto the house. Not the same thing
It’s Victorian language.
“They’re quite heavy if [they are] dropped on [some]one.
It’s perfectly correct as is. English normally operates under SVO sentence construction. They (houses, note plural construction) is the subject noun–what is being dropped–and one(-self) is the object noun–what They is being dropped on.
An interesting bit of etymology behind the phrase ‘Safe as Houses’. Houses used to be considered a safe /investment/, especially after such nonsense as tulip-mania and unscrupulous investor choices – everyone needs a house, after all.
You don’t hear that in the original sense very often anymore.
I think there’s a reason for that
Pacifist? We’re talking about the same Nick here, right?
I mean, yeah, he’s not as violent as Unity, but that’s not exactly saying much.
Well, it _is_ Moustachio speaking. There is some precedent for his not understanding “safety” quite the same way as the others do.
Nick IS a pacifist. For example, he refuses to mount weapons and was willing to die rather than be pressed into military service. But I don’t think he counts (cyprus) zombies since they’re not sentient.
…Eugene Parsons up there is blogspam.
–Dave
To paraphrase Monk: “Coma, THEN filling my trousers?”