# ­xkcd thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** comic-strips\ **Created:** [May 28, 2020, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574 "2020-05-28T00:57:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 187
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2024, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3723 "2024-11-29T22:42:39Z")
With the hidden pop-up being a side dig (that’s maybe more admiration than actual dig) at Musk and his amazing rocket landings: We’ll just land on an existing stack on a pad because it’s quicker. Making verrry interesting lemonade out of the lemons they have. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2024, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3724 "2024-11-29T23:15:55Z")
I doubt it’s the actual reference, but anyone that’s played Kerbal Space Program recognizes the problem. Many a time I’ve screwed up the staging and found that the second stage just… doesn’t work. On occasion I’ve had to diagnose and fix the problem as the stage tumbles uncontrollably. ---
**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 29, 2024, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3725 "2024-11-29T23:52:03Z")
The whole thing is probably also a dig against SpaceX’s philosophy of “go fast, break things”. With exaggeration for comic effect, of course. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3726 "2024-11-30T09:08:09Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Quick, hit Amazon; they can bring us anything in 2 hours flat! Oops, not today they can’t. We are soooo screwed. Maybe it’s a Blue Origin reference, not SpaceX. They have less of a move-fast-and-break-things reputation, but the same-day delivery thing _is_ Jeff Bezos’ deal. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2024, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3727 "2024-11-30T16:26:45Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I doubt it’s the actual reference, but anyone that’s played Kerbal Space Program recognizes the problem. Many a time I’ve screwed up the staging and found that the second stage just… doesn’t work. On occasion I’ve had to diagnose and fix the problem as the stage tumbles uncontrollably. Yeah, this was my first thought- just a “Yep, been there…” ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2024, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3728 "2024-12-01T09:39:32Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I doubt it’s the actual reference, but anyone that’s played Kerbal Space Program recognizes the problem. Many a time I’ve screwed up the staging and found that the second stage just… doesn’t work. On occasion I’ve had to diagnose and fix the problem as the stage tumbles uncontrollably. You know who else has played Kerbal Space Program? > **[Orbital Mechanics](https://xkcd.com/1356/)** > > To be fair, my job at NASA was working on robots and didn't actually involve any orbital mechanics. The small positive slope over that period is because it turns out that if you hang around at NASA, you get in a lot of conversations about space. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3729 "2024-12-03T13:22:25Z")
> **[Advent Calendar Advent Calendar](https://xkcd.com/3019/)** > > The growth rate of items per day may may seem absurd, but it's actually much less than the acceleration in the 12 Days of Christmas song. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3730 "2024-12-03T13:56:10Z")
Shouldn’t that be “Advent Advent Calendar Calendar”? ---
**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:** [December 3, 2024, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3731 "2024-12-03T15:35:23Z")
No, I think he’s got it right. I have a D&D advent calendar, a jelly advent calendar, and a tea advent calendar. I do not have a advent D&D calendar, a advent jelly calendar, nor a advent tea calendar. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3732 "2024-12-03T15:39:04Z")
What’s an advent calendar? ---
**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:** [December 3, 2024, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3733 "2024-12-03T15:48:31Z")
An advent calendar is a fun, little way to count down to Christmas. It’s usually a box with little doors in it labelled 1 - 24 (occasionally 25) for the days in December leading to Christmas. The idea is you open a door each day and you get a little gift, like a chocolate, or in my case, a minifig or a die, a little jar of jelly or jam, or a couple of tea bags. Sometimes it’s good, like peach preserves, sometimes you get that vile concoction known as green tea. This is last year’s Bonne Mamam jelly advent calendar: [![](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/WR0AAOSwiUNl67rM/s-l1200.jpg) ](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/WR0AAOSwiUNl67rM/s-l1200.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3734 "2024-12-03T16:15:39Z")
Growing up Jewish in America, my parents didn’t let us have a Christmas tree, but some years we got an Advent calendar. It was fun to open the little door and get a chocolate snowman or something each night after dinner. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3735 "2024-12-03T16:37:05Z")
Others have pointed out the function of an Advent calendar. Here’s the Wikipedia article about the Christian tradition of the Advent season. > **[Advent](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent)** > > Advent is a season observed in most Christian denominations as a time of waiting and preparation for both the celebration of Jesus's birth at Christmas and the return of Christ at the Second Coming. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, often referred to as Advent Sunday. Advent is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name comes from Latin adventus ('coming; arrival'), translating the Greek parousia from the New Testament, originally referring to the Sec... ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3736 "2024-12-03T17:14:26Z")
> [@Mollie\_Magill](#): > > The idea is you open a door each day and you get a little gift, like a chocolate, or in my case, a minifig or a die, a little jar of jelly or jam, or a couple of tea bags. Sometimes you just get pictures. I have a friend who makes them every year (and she’s quite a good artist); her pictures are usually various critters hidden around a farm scene, with a bit of Christmas touch to some of them. Sometimes the pictures are all religious ones. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3737 "2024-12-03T17:25:47Z")
Mine this year is full of wine. 'Tis the season to be jolly, after all! ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3738 "2024-12-03T18:20:28Z")
It occurs to me that Americans effectively now celebrate Advent rather than the Twelve Days of Christmas. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3739 "2024-12-03T18:42:07Z")
10th anniversary what if? > **[How powerful can a laser get?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgafb8G7i4o%2F)** > > Get a copy of the 10th Anniversary edition of What If? at: https://xkcd.com/what-if/More serious answers to absurd questions at: https://what-if.xkcd.com/Wha... Max power laser. Brian ---
**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:** [December 3, 2024, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3740 "2024-12-03T19:20:17Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Mine this year is full of wine. 'Tis the season to be jolly, after all! I used to get the beer one from Costco, but it was hard to keep up with. I would like to see a nice whiskey one for under $100. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3741 "2024-12-03T20:13:38Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Growing up Jewish in America, my parents didn’t let us have a Christmas tree, but some years we got an Advent calendar. It was fun to open the little door and get a chocolate snowman or something each night after dinner. So it’s not a new thing. Interesting. I don’t remember them at all from the last time I lived in the States (2000-2002). Sounds like a cute custom. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2024, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/3742 "2024-12-03T20:34:29Z")
I don’t think they used to be mainstream Protestant, but they’ve caught on more broadly in recent years. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=186) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=188)