# Today's (Friday April 15th) XKCD **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 15, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497 "2011-04-15T16:01:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/1 "2011-04-15T16:01:35Z")
Are the houses listed supposed to _be_ something? Or is he just putting in a bunch of one liners that make it funny? ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/2 "2011-04-15T16:04:37Z")
The $2100 one (5th from the bottom) is the house in the book **House of Leaves** , so I assume the others are similarly famous/infamous and probably fictional. ---
**Author:** ![Achren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/898d66/32.png) [@Achren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Achren)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/3 "2011-04-15T16:24:03Z")
I like the one that’s a five minute drive from [Pripyat](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pripyat_%28city%29). ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/4 "2011-04-15T16:45:08Z")
The only one I recognized was in the mouseover (the Death Star). ---
**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:** [April 15, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/5 "2011-04-15T16:54:23Z")
Some are fictional, others are just funny. Let’s see if we can get them all: **$1600/2 BR – Hardwood floors, utilities. Cats ok, limit one per square foot.** Just funny, I think. **$1100 / \*\*\*\* Great deal square house door in front!** Also just funny, making fun of spamming on CL of horribly vague listings. \*\*$2300/3BR Elegant apartment lit by strobe light! No floor. \*\* No idea. I think just funny. **$980/1BR New “Hammock” style dwelling. Water and heat free from same dispenser. Viking landlord.** Funny? **$1550/2B (one inside the other). Has running water in a sense. Free heat in short, intense bursts. Klein stairs.** Looks like a math joke. **$3200/1 BR w/trimmed carpet…** Looks like a sex posting trying to hide in the apt. listings. **$2100/3BR on scenic ash tree lane. Builder has always existed. Walls shift, center of house may contain minotaur.** Greek myth joke. **$600/5BR three floors…5-min drive to historic Pripyat.** Chernobyl joke. \*\*$7100/60BR sleek modern w/extreme running water. Previous tenants may resist entry. Contains all new wiring and is a submarine. **Not sure if this is a literary reference. \*\* $1616/3BR+2bath, tub full of blood. Closet full of board games which play themselves. Pets ok but won’t survive long.** Just a haunted house joke, or a lit. reference? **$1600 / 1386153BR 3 bath, modern sliding doors, guest rooms, garbage disposal. Free mandatory parking (enforced). Convenient to Alderaan.** The Death Star. ---
**Author:** ![markdash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@markdash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markdash)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/6 "2011-04-15T17:04:59Z")
More specifically, the Minotaur one is the Cretan Labyrinth. ---
**Author:** ![President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/President_Johnny_Gentle)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/7 "2011-04-15T19:10:58Z")
The Minotaur one is definitely [House of Leaves](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_of_Leaves) as mentioned above. The house is located on Ash Tree Lane in the story. The submarine joke most likely refers to [The Hunt for Red October](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunt_for_Red_October), with the “extreme running water” seeming to allude to the propulsion system. The “Klein stairs” joke might apply to either a [Heinlein short story](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%22%E2%80%94And_He_Built_a_Crooked_House%E2%80%94%22) or an [Infocom game](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinity_%28video_game%29), but neither seems to fit very well, so I’m not sure. “Free heat…” seems to rule out a mere math joke. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/8 "2011-04-15T19:32:25Z")
The “cats per square foot” thing made me think of the Hemingway House, but not sure it fits. Probably just a comment on the stupid pet requirements common on Craigslist. I also got a horror movie vibe from the “tub full of blood”/“pets won’t survive” one - didn’t one of the Freddy Kruger movies involve a bathtub of blood? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/9 "2011-04-15T19:38:48Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > I also got a horror movie vibe from the “tub full of blood”/“pets won’t survive” one - didn’t one of the Freddy Kruger movies involve a bathtub of blood? Or _The Shining_? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/10 "2011-04-15T19:44:18Z")
The closet full of games that play themselves suggests _Jumanji_ and _Zathura_, but I can’t square that with the bathtub full of blood and the cats, so I’m probably wrong. Why is the Square Door one repeated so often? Most of these seem so specific that I suspect they’re references to things I’m not familiar with – I’d have put in ones with a _round_ door in front, set underground, an ornate one overlooking Hollywood with a Vat of Acid in the basement, and a multi-Gabled one with Blood to Drink. My unfamiliarity with these suggests that they’re associated with webcomics, anime, manga, or computer games. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/11 "2011-04-15T19:48:50Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Or _The Shining_? That’s what I had thought, but there no pets or boardgames that ply themselves in The Shining. ---
**Author:** ![beartato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9d8465/32.png) [@beartato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beartato)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/12 "2011-04-15T19:51:47Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > **$980/1BR New “Hammock” style dwelling. Water and heat free from same dispenser. Viking landlord.** Funny? I figured it was referring to be an oarsman on a Viking ship. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/13 "2011-04-15T20:05:47Z")
link > **[Craigslist Apartments](https://xkcd.com/886/)** > > $1600 / 1386153BR 3BATH, MODERN SLIDING DOORS, GUEST ROOMS, GARBAGE DISPOSAL. FREE MANDATORY PARKING (ENFORCED). CONVENIENT TO ALDERAAN. I’m going to bet there’s more to each one than just “sounds funny”. He’s got something specific in mind. Could the “Square house” on be a monopoly joke? ---
**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:** [April 15, 2011, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/14 "2011-04-15T20:06:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Why is the Square Door one repeated so often? Go to Craigslist - there will be at least one listing that’s put up there about 18 times in a row. And the description won’t be all that more descriptive than “square, with a door”. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/15 "2011-04-15T20:29:06Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Some are fictional, others are just funny. Let’s see if we can get them all: > > **$1550/2B (one inside the other). Has running water in a sense. Free heat in short, intense bursts. Klein stairs.** Looks like a math joke. The Munster’s House? They had a Dragon under the Stairs. ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2011, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/16 "2011-04-15T20:31:12Z")
The Klein stairs thing is a mystery. I was thinking he meant the house in an MC Escher painting, which have both klein stairs and endless waterfalls, but I can’t really think of anything in such paintings that correspond to “brief intense heat”. ---
**Author:** ![Raj-a-Kiit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bc79bd/32.png) [@Raj-a-Kiit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raj-a-Kiit)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/17 "2011-04-16T04:29:50Z")
I have been trying to find references for the _Klein Stairs_ one as well, and all I have found (which doesn’t point right back to this forum, or the comic itself) is this Google search result… > [@](#): > > [NPG.nature.vol.437.Issue.7063.Oct](http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&sqi=2&ved=0CB4QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.scribd.com%2Fdoc%2F36146249%2FNPG-nature-vol-437-Issue-7063-Oct&rct=j&q=%22brief%20intense%20heat%22%20%22klein%20stairs&ei=qRipTc70JYrZgAfq-PnzBQ&usg=AFQjCNGDsWlSsaAQE_6peCyl1-FA7bjNDg&cad=rja) > … chalkboards and central spiral _ **staircase** _, lends an air of authenticity throughout. … by exposure to a _ **brief, intense heat** _ pulse, leading to melting. … _ **Klein** _, R. J. et al. Complement factor H polymorphism in age-related … 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/18 "2011-04-16T19:02:39Z")
I’ve found a lot of references to a house built as a klein bottle. > **[Klein Bottle House, Australia](https://www.home-designing.com/2009/07/klein-bottle-house-australia)** > > Amazingly shaped Klein Bottle House in Mornington Peninsula, Australia > **[Klein Bottle House Looks like a Crashed UFO](https://www.geeksaresexy.net/2009/03/19/klein-bottle-house-looks-like-a-crashed-ufo/)** > > Designed by McBride Charles Ryan, the Klein Bottle experimental house has first started as a sphere, but as shown in the picture above, was deconstructed to provide functional living space to its inhabitant. The green geeks among you will be pleased... ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/19 "2011-04-18T22:22:09Z")
I was just sure the “tub of blood” one was referring to a specific movie or book, but I haven’t found anything with google searches. And if there was a movie, I’m sure it would have some sort of fan base on imdb, that might have recognized it. Bob seems to recall a movie with blood coming out of the faucet into a bathtub but can’t remember the name. Also SK’s “It” has blood coming out of a faucet, but I don’t think there was a closet full games that played themselves. And the klein staircase ad sounds like it could be in a tessaract house, which has been in a few stories, but the sudden burst of heat is still puzzling. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497/20 "2011-04-18T23:05:17Z")
> [@Zyada](#): > > I was just sure the “tub of blood” one was referring to a specific movie or book, but I haven’t found anything with google searches. And if there was a movie, I’m sure it would have some sort of fan base on imdb, that might have recognized it. Bob seems to recall a movie with blood coming out of the faucet into a bathtub but can’t remember the name. Also SK’s “It” has blood coming out of a faucet, but I don’t think there was a closet full games that played themselves. I forget where I saw it, but elsewhere someone suggested Jumanji? I haven’t seen that film though. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/todays-friday-april-15th-xkcd/578497.md?page=2)