# '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:** 17\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a5b964/32.png) [@Sunshine\_and\_Smiles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine_and_Smiles)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/101 "2012-07-29T04:29:24Z")
What an odd flame war going on! Lemme add to the fire by asking if anyone remembers, I believe it was from _A Prehistory of the Far Side_ (aka the book where he explained the whole ‘cow tools’ thing) the whole gallery of shittily drawn panels? In one courtroom scene, there was a rug made up of concentric circles that he only drew half of. The defendant, a man with a genuine 🙂 Smiley Face as his face, didn’t even have legs. There was a caption, playing off of the obvious smiley face joke. But were we supposed to infer that Larson was making a subtle comment, by not drawing legs for this man, about a lack of mobility for people with strange faces? Was he making the hilarious visual suggestion vis-a-vis a lack of carpet that this poor smiling face had no ground to stand on? No, probably not. Larson was not a good artist (drawing artist - simply not where his talents were but a necessary medium to convey them) and it’s therefore wild to think that something like a missing or not missing head of a bird subtly placed in the corner of a busy panel, when the action of the scene is so vividly between the two ladies, one of whom (the owner of the room) has a speaking role. We can probably all agree that whatever he was going for regarding pet seances, or pet owners, or psychics, didn’t work and is simply not funny. But enough about the goddamn bird. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/102 "2012-07-29T07:42:32Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > Or maybe he just wasn’t very careful with the bird and birdcage because it was a small and unimportant part of the background and had nothing to do with the joke at all. Larsen presumably had deadlines to meet and may not always have had time to make everything perfect. As an artist I have to agree with this. The missing bars just help it read better. [Parakeets don’t really have necks](http://www.hscbemidji.org/images/budgie_parakeet.jpg) or beaks like mockingbirds, for example. It’s a small, unimportant background detail - as is drawn without much care. IMO, if it really was headless there wouldn’t be a bulge. The bulge is the head. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/103 "2012-07-29T08:11:07Z")
> [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](#): > > Cats don’t bite off birds’ heads and leave the rest. And elephants don’t wear trench coats. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/104 "2012-07-29T08:47:50Z")
To me it looks like a dead chicken with no head and a parakeet’s tail. How do we even know that Bootsy is supposed to be a cat? Regardless, the answer is obvious: it’s a [comment on contemporary mores](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1fSMUOzufI&t=0m38s). ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/105 "2012-07-29T08:58:12Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > As an artist I have to agree with this. The missing bars just help it read better. [Parakeets don’t really have necks](http://www.hscbemidji.org/images/budgie_parakeet.jpg) or beaks like mockingbirds, for example. It’s a small, unimportant background detail - as is drawn without much care. IMO, if it really was headless there wouldn’t be a bulge. The bulge is the head. Sorry, the gag is: Bootsy the ghost cat bit off the bird’s head, because the medium summoned it. Perhaps she saw the beheading and is sheepishly trying to maintain her composure. Also, the additional humor of the way she’s calling Bootsy like you would a cat, is to make it that much clearer she’s summoning a cat (on top of the name) What you’re interpreting as a very tiny head (with no eyes or a beak), is really an oval of foreshortened, circular crossection of the bird’s decapitated neck. Typical Larson birds: [Exhibit A](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xXVbcmGg_dg/SkYwpJy5xfI/AAAAAAAAEpA/ZyoF-NxPVJo/s1600-h/1_farside-1.jpg) [Exhibit B](http://phonographia.com/SourcePhonoToons/GL%20bird%20stuck%20500.jpg) [Exhibit C](http://phonographia.com/SourcePhonoToons/GL10-3-91%20400.jpg) Shoot, just google Gary Larson birds. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/106 "2012-07-29T09:12:50Z")
Shoot, it’s not even his only joke [along the same lines.](http://22.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kqp32uTxaM1qzixkuo1_400.jpg) And speaking of Far Side birds, [this is one of his best.](http://i674.photobucket.com/albums/vv101/Konradius5/Gary%20Larson%20Comics/BonelessChickenRanch.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/107 "2012-07-29T12:30:31Z")
[some pictureless descriptions](http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~insrisg/nature/nw95/farside03) Last time this topic came, I had the same trouble: finding “Boid watching” cartoon. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/108 "2012-07-29T17:32:01Z")
Two of my all time favs… [Front yard?](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OoDQXsKTk4s/T99Aa1xUeRI/AAAAAAAAAwk/vfsNB8jxolE/s1600/Far+Side+Monster+Yard.jpg) [Handshake.](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_0bWFoPo2o2c/SRSw_MDIUAI/AAAAAAAAAnQ/46Lj2JGBUqE/s1600-h/Handshake.jpg) ETA: I think Larson’s being too modest. Perhaps his skill in illustration lacks some technical skills, but his style is very original, perfect for his sense of humor, and IMHO, my favorite comic strip (pane?) artist. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/109 "2012-07-29T17:38:42Z")
Also, another [bird classic.](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_PrMTqBqF7SA/TAQlap-GEHI/AAAAAAAAB3k/pEGmsi4hrjU/s1600/Far+Side-Birds+of+Prey.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/110 "2012-07-30T05:34:39Z")
> [@cmyk](#): > > Sorry, the gag is: Bootsy the ghost cat bit off the bird’s head, because the medium summoned it. Perhaps she saw the beheading and is sheepishly trying to maintain her composure. Also, the additional humor of the way she’s calling Bootsy like you would a cat, is to make it that much clearer she’s summoning a cat (on top of the name) > > What you’re interpreting as a very tiny head (with no eyes or a beak), is really an oval of foreshortened, circular crossection of the bird’s decapitated neck. > > Typical Larson birds: > > [Exhibit A](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xXVbcmGg_dg/SkYwpJy5xfI/AAAAAAAAEpA/ZyoF-NxPVJo/s1600-h/1_farside-1.jpg) > > [Exhibit B](http://phonographia.com/SourcePhonoToons/GL%20bird%20stuck%20500.jpg) > > [Exhibit C](http://phonographia.com/SourcePhonoToons/GL10-3-91%20400.jpg) > > Shoot, just google Gary Larson birds. Sorry, that’s just your opinion. The joke is she’s calling a cat. Cats are generally unresponsive to being called so she starts coaxing. It makes no sense at all for the cat to be at the fortune tellers office. Also her expression is wrong if the client’s cat bit the mediums birds head off. She would be horrified not roll-eyed. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2012, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/111 "2012-07-30T08:00:00Z")
> [@PlainJain](#): > > Sorry, that’s just your opinion. The joke is she’s calling a cat. Cats are generally unresponsive to being called so she starts coaxing. It makes no sense at all for the cat to be at the fortune tellers office. > > Also her expression is wrong if the client’s cat bit the mediums birds head off. She would be horrified not roll-eyed. It’s a dead cat. Its incorporeal body summoned by the medium bit off the bird’s head. Its a joke on many levels, including the way she’s calling for the cat, but the core gag is the “sign” was not what was expected. Granted it is my (and others) opinion, but c’mon, the bird doesn’t have a head! ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/112 "2012-08-02T20:01:16Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > With no headphones or bird of prey beak, [these](http://crimsonobsession.envy.nu/Galleries/Miscellanea/BIRDPREY.jpg) are pretty similar. I contest that. Those birds clearly have a beak and eyes (under sunglasses), and the top of the head is rounded. The one in the “Bootsy” picture is a flat circle, no indications of a head at all. > [@](#): > > [This guy](http://vintage-coffee-mugs.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/-2411102710196317450.jpg) just has a neck for a head, very similar to the bird in question. I disagree. That one has a large round bump above the shoulders - exactly what a head is. The one in the Bootsy image does not have a round bump, it has a flat circle where the neck ends. > [@](#): > > Not a bird, but [Benny](http://www.howtogeek.com/geekers/up/sshot4cb6f86c2bdc7.png) here has the same no-head head. Benny has an obvious head - not only the round bump above the shoulders, but the chin and ears and nose and eyes. > [@](#): > > And if Larson had put a beak on it, that bird would look like any one of [these penguins](http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WFqGu_YnRq4/Tq6nB67V-pI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/_xggvQHTxJA/s1600/FAR+SIDE+i-gotta-be-me.jpg). Disagree. Those penguin heads are much longer and rounded, not flat circle right above the shoulders. And I find it telling that Larson did _not_ put a beak on it. > [@](#): > > A. Larson forgot to put a beak on a background bird in a cage, and the joke is “make fun of how we call our pets”. I would take the joke more about doing a seance for a dead cat, but that’s me. > [@](#): > > B. The bird is headless, and the joke is…? That the medium is doing a seance for a dead cat, and the cat has given a sign that she hasn’t noticed yet. Or the customer brought her dead bird to the seance. Or something. Just because it’s not a great joke doesn’t mean it isn’t what Larson intended. He’s had more than one that just didn’t turn out very funny. But there are several options for a headless bird. To me, it is obvious that the bird is headless, and that headless bird does not look like any other Larson birds that are drawn to have heads. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2012, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/113 "2012-08-02T23:55:17Z")
I called him and asked him. He said that he forgot, it was just a comic, and I should get a life. ---
**Author:** ![mostbizarrefarside](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f6c823/32.png) [@mostbizarrefarside](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mostbizarrefarside)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/114 "2016-11-21T07:51:47Z")
OK, the Beau Geste comment wins the day! Larson typically shows doofy characters being clueless. These soldiers are trying to imitate the French propping up dead soldiers at Fort Zinderneuf, but they comically overdo it. Exactly what material they are using for the head is perhaps a point Larson wants ignored, and I think it works better if the head is smaller, but still comically oversized rather than absurdly oversized, but nonetheless I get the point. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2016, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/115 "2016-11-21T09:46:39Z")
Why does everybody assume she’s calling a cat? She’s calling the parrot, who’s had his head lopped off one way or another. ---
**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:** [November 21, 2016, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/116 "2016-11-21T14:16:38Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Why does everybody assume she’s calling a cat? Why would anyone name a bird “Bootsy”? It’s a common name for a cat with a “boots” pattern. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223/117 "2016-11-21T14:45:41Z")
[Moderating] Since this thread was zombified multiple times, since the most recent reanimation adds nothing of substance to the discussion, and since the thread got rather heated the last time it was animate anyway, I’m just going to close this one. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/splain-this-far-side-cartoon-to-me/346223.md?page=5)