# 'Splain this Far Side cartoon to me. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 26, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223 "2006-02-26T21:32:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![mostbizarrefarside](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@mostbizarrefarside](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mostbizarrefarside)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/61 "2012-07-24T17:29:18Z")
OK, I’ll accept the seance to a cat as “the joke” even though it’s not very funny IMHO. Knowing Larson a bit, I’m tempted to buy the cat biting the bird’s head off as the gag. First off, cats are notorious for leaving only a bird’s head at the door (or perhaps a headless body). Secondly, they are asking for a sign - not to appear as a body or to meow or say something specifically, but any sign - it’s totally keeping with Larson’s humor to have a beheaded bird as the sign. I suspect it would be more genuine to have the bird lying at the bottom of the cage or perhaps somehow hanging on upside down, or perhaps just a feather left in the cage. If Larson didn’t typically draw small animal heads… But the fort/Native American panel - I don’t think scalping or Trojan Horse is it. It’s probably something along the lines of the Puddin Head nursery rhyme - some takeoff on a saying or folklore… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/62 "2012-07-24T17:53:24Z")
Some of my all-time faves: [![](http://www.engineeringradio.us/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/far-side.jpg) ](http://www.engineeringradio.us/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/far-side.jpg) [![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VLOm4_559UI/TL7wqx9XF7I/AAAAAAAABe4/XetoXVg4bao/s1600/mybrainisfull.jpg) ](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_VLOm4_559UI/TL7wqx9XF7I/AAAAAAAABe4/XetoXVg4bao/s1600/mybrainisfull.jpg) [http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/wp-content/blogs.dir/311/files/2012/04/i-6fbc34164477e1a436184b931f54956a-FarSideGodComputerSmall-thumb-500x609-68177.jpeg](http://scienceblogs.com/startswithabang/wp-content/blogs.dir/311/files/2012/04/i-6fbc34164477e1a436184b931f54956a-FarSideGodComputerSmall-thumb-500x609-68177.jpeg) [http://static3cdn.echalk.net/www/lcsdschools\_ajhs/images/{D6D12BFE-D6FF-4892-B51F-385D056957A4}/Washington%20Crossing%20The%20Street%20-%20Far%20Side%20-%20Larson.jpg](http://static3cdn.echalk.net/www/lcsdschools_ajhs/images/%7BD6D12BFE-D6FF-4892-B51F-385D056957A4%7D/Washington%20Crossing%20The%20Street%20-%20Far%20Side%20-%20Larson.jpg) [![](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CJiMltRI5UQ/TPPYm0pON3I/AAAAAAAAV5I/WXDcq8OlutE/s1600/FarSideGod.jpg) ](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_CJiMltRI5UQ/TPPYm0pON3I/AAAAAAAAV5I/WXDcq8OlutE/s1600/FarSideGod.jpg) I couldn’t find the ones about the quarreling War Room technicians messing with each other’s control boards, or the man washing up on the desert island where a ventriloquist’s dummy warns him about the man who’s already there. Those are classics, too. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/63 "2012-07-24T19:08:05Z")
This is probably better suited to Cafe Society than GQ. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/64 "2012-07-24T19:15:00Z")
> [@puddleglum](#): > > [Try this site](http://www.byrnerobotics.com/forum/uploads/AndrewHess/2006-11-27_142614_cow_tools.jpg) I have always enjoyed that one, mostly for the expression of the cow. Looks like those tools were made from dung. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/65 "2012-07-24T19:18:45Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > _When the moon hits your eye > Like a big pizza pie > That’s remoraaaaa!_ _When an eel nips your cheek As you swim in the creek That’s a moray!_ ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/66 "2012-07-24T19:22:45Z")
The medium isn’t wearing cat fur, is she? (She killed the cat who done bit her bird.) ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/67 "2012-07-24T19:35:25Z")
> [@mlees](#): > > The medium isn’t wearing cat fur, is she? (She killed the cat who done bit her bird.) I don’t think she’s wearing the fur, but I do think the medium killed the cat that got her bird. Her eyes while calling for Bootsy seem to imply a little guilt. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/68 "2012-07-24T19:40:40Z")
> [@mostbizarrefarside](#): > > 1. Several Indians (Native Americans) on horses outside fort. Three soldiers inside fort yell to Indians, “Hey! What’s the matter?..There’s only three of us here! C’mon!..It’s gonna get dark soon!” Besides the 3 soldiers is a big round object, possibly a setting sun, a rising moon, or big balloon? which is made up to look like a soldier with a hat and a big menacing frown. > Any guesses? My guess is that the soldiers are trying to pull off a comically desperate bluff. ---
**Author:** ![LonesomePolecat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a88e57/32.png) [@LonesomePolecat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonesomePolecat)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2012, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/69 "2012-07-24T19:50:18Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The parakeet appears to be headless. Zooming in at a 400% enlargement on the Power Point slide shows that the parakeet is definitely headless. ---
**Author:** ![azraiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@azraiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/azraiel)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/70 "2012-07-25T02:12:19Z")
> [@ZenBeam](#): > > So can you “explain” why the parrot is missing its head? For heaven’s sake, the parrot isn’t missing its head. Larson always drew birds with teeny tiny heads, especially when they were in the background (excepting, perhaps, chickens). Go look at some other panels if his, like the pigeons devouring the old man on the park bench. Birds drawn in profile have a line for a beak. Otherwise, a bird’s head is usually shown as a lump disproportionally small for the body. Hell, the bird resting in the cage isn’t rendered very far from reality. Draw [this](http://www.panoramio.com/photo/75195607) straight on in black & white line and see what you come up with. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/71 "2012-07-25T13:01:28Z")
Re: Bootsy. Many of the comments imply that the medium is calling to a cat, Bootsie, who evidently bit off the head of the bird in the panel. I don’t think this makes any sense. First, the medium is with a customer. The birdcage is on a stand, indicating that it’s part of the furniture of the room in which Madame Zoe conducts her business- it’s her own bird. We are looking into Madame Zoe’s own parlor. But since she’s with a customer, we are to assume that the customer came with a request to speak to a loved one, presumably Bootsie. Since Bootsie belongs to the customer and the bird belongs to Madame Zoe, it wouldn’t make any sense to jump to the conclusion that Bootsie bit off the bird’s head- there’s no indication that Bootsie and the bird had any previous reason to cross paths. I think the bird is just part of the mis en scene of the fortune teller’s parlor- wallpaper, basically, and has nothing to do with the gag. [re-reads own post] I think I need some coffee. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/72 "2012-07-25T13:43:07Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > My local paper left the caption off that one. They had to run a correction the next day. There were angry letters to the editor. Obligatory link to [notorious caption error](http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lnqrd6GlWi1qkt1eco1_500.jpg). Always cracks me up. ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/73 "2012-07-25T14:07:12Z")
> [@corkboard](#): > > Re: Bootsy. > > Many of the comments imply that the medium is calling to a cat, Bootsie, who evidently bit off the head of the bird in the panel. I don’t think this makes any sense. First, the medium is with a customer. The birdcage is on a stand, indicating that it’s part of the furniture of the room in which Madame Zoe conducts her business- it’s her own bird. We are looking into Madame Zoe’s own parlor. But since she’s with a customer, we are to assume that the customer came with a request to speak to a loved one, presumably Bootsie. Since Bootsie belongs to the customer and the bird belongs to Madame Zoe, it wouldn’t make any sense to jump to the conclusion that Bootsie bit off the bird’s head- there’s no indication that Bootsie and the bird had any previous reason to cross paths. I think the bird is just part of the mis en scene of the fortune teller’s parlor- wallpaper, basically, and has nothing to do with the gag. > > [re-reads own post] > > I think I need some coffee. Bootsie doesn’t care who’s bird that is. But that’s a sign that the medium is asking for. Bootsie is present. (And the two humans haven’t noticed the sign yet.) Why does the parakeet need to belong to the customer for Bootsie to want to eat it? ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/74 "2012-07-27T16:59:43Z")
> [@azraiel](#): > > For heaven’s sake, the parrot isn’t missing its head. There’s no reason to have a bird prominently featured if it isn’t part of the gag. Birds are not part of the usual process of contacting the dead, in fact they would normally be a major distraction during a seance. And as myself and others have mentioned, when you enlarge the picture the bird looks like it has a neck and no head. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/75 "2012-07-27T17:50:53Z")
> [@Baal\_Houtham](#): > > There’s no reason to have a bird prominently featured if it isn’t part of the gag. It’s a psychic that specializes in pets - why wouldn’t she have a pet bird? There’s simply no reason, backed by mountains of similarly-drawn birds in Larson’s past, to think that that bird’s head is missing. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/76 "2012-07-27T18:10:51Z")
> [@Vicullum](#): > > As for the “Bootsy” cartoon I think the humor is supposed to be the fortune teller is calling out to the spirit of the woman’s dead pet in much the same way you’d call out to your pet dog to, say, fetch a ball. Or it could just been the absurdity of a woman holding a séance for her dead pet. Look at the expression on Madame Zoe’s face. The whole thing is absurd and she knows it, but hey, she’s a pro and this is her job! Right offhand, yeah, I’d say Bootsy is a cat and wouldn’t respond even if he could. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/77 "2012-07-27T18:10:57Z")
That does not look to me like a bird with a tiny head; it’s a bird with its head bitten off. And that still makes no sense. Cats don’t bite off birds’ heads and leave the rest. (And dead birds don’t remain upright on their perches except in Monty Python skits.) A better way to present the joke would have been to show the cage empty with two or three feathers swirling around it. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/78 "2012-07-27T18:14:54Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > My guess is that the soldiers are trying to pull off a comically desperate bluff. They plan to scare the daylights out of the unsuspecting Indians with an enormous dummy soldier. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/79 "2012-07-27T18:16:55Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > That does not look to me like a bird with a tiny head; it’s a bird with its head bitten off. And that still makes no sense. Cats don’t bite off birds’ heads and leave the rest. (And dead birds don’t remain upright on their perches except in Monty Python skits.) A better way to present the joke would have been to show the cage empty with two or three feathers swirling around it. You gotta admit, though, that’d be one helluva good sign! (And very subtle, too.) ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/80 "2012-07-27T18:17:57Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Look at the expression on Madame Zoe’s face. The whole thing is absurd and she knows it, but hey, she’s a pro and this is her job! > > Right offhand, yeah, I’d say Bootsy is a cat and wouldn’t respond even if he could. Actually, I think he did, by biting off the bird’s head. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223.md?page=5)