# ­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:** 252
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5023 "2025-09-18T15:30:30Z")
Yeah not sure that counts as “normally” … my WAG is that pepperoni density varies widely and that starting off covered is a statistical outlier not the mean or median. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5024 "2025-09-18T16:16:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Where? The typical pepperoni pizza I’ve seen has maybe three pieces per slice, which isn’t even close to being edge-to-edge. It doesn’t shrink that much. Well, you can’t tile a flat surface with circles, so even if they start edge-to-edge there will be gaps. Do they use a hexagonal packing, or rectilinear? P. S. Godfather’s Pizza still exists? ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5025 "2025-09-18T19:53:11Z")
The Costco pizza machine reliably places 10 pepperoni per slice. The grandkids and I closely monitor this. Full scale war has erupted over someone getting the larger half of a single pepperoni. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2025, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5026 "2025-09-18T20:16:13Z")
> [@smithsb](#): > > Costco pizza machine Those are the most horrible three words I’ve read in my life. ---
**Author:** ![Civil\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d78d45/32.png) [@Civil\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Civil_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5027 "2025-09-18T20:17:44Z")
Easily disproven. Pres… no, I can’t go on. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5028 "2025-09-18T20:32:47Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Godfather’s Pizza still exists? They claim over 2,000 locations but are including their “Pizza Express” adjuncts in fuel stops. In the west here they seem to favor Love’s. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5029 "2025-09-18T20:51:23Z")
Before Godfather’s there was Shakey’s, to whom I owe my very existence. There were still a couple around last time I looked, but that was some time ago. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2025, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5030 "2025-09-18T22:30:33Z")
Shakey’s yet lives! > **[Find a Pizza Restaurant Near You - Shakey's Pizza Parlor](https://www.shakeys.com/restaurant-locations/)** > > Find all Shakey's Pizza Restaurants near you or see all locations, hours and directions. Order pizza near you, chicken wings, Mojos & more. They started as a SoCal chain and that’s nearly all they are today. 41 restaurants in SoCal, 1 in NorCal and 1 in Washington. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2025, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5031 "2025-09-18T22:35:40Z")
They did not start as a Southern California chain. The first one was in Sacramento. My parents met there. I really do owe my existence to Shakey’s Pizza. ---
**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:** [September 18, 2025, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5032 "2025-09-18T23:22:27Z")
Congrats on your shakey start! 😉 I didn’t know about Sacramento. Their current website has no history but **[Shakey's Pizza - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakey%E2%80%99s_Pizza)** is pretty good. A sad story really. I became aware of them ~1964 as a SoCal kid where they were near home and they grew to be ubiquitous in SoCal as I grew up & my horizons expanded. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2025, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5033 "2025-09-19T01:59:17Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > My parents met there. I really do owe my existence to Shakey’s Pizza. Whew, I was afraid you’d been conceived on the salad bar… ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2025, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5034 "2025-09-19T03:19:08Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > My parents met there. I really do owe my existence to Shakey’s Pizza. Gives their advertising catchphrase, _At Shakey’s we serve fun – also pizza_ a whole new meaning. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2025, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5035 "2025-09-19T12:10:17Z")
I recall they had rather stout, almost rough-hewn, tables that certainly could have stood up to a vigorous pounding. Or “pounding”. 😁 For course this being the xkcd thread, there’s an xkcd _almost_ on point for @Robot_Arm’s origin story: [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/anatomy_text.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/anatomy_text.png) from **[xkcd: Anatomy Text](https://xkcd.com/631/)** ---
**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:** [September 19, 2025, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5036 "2025-09-19T14:38:39Z")
> **[Phase Changes](https://xkcd.com/3144/)** [![](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/phase_changes.png) ](https://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/phase_changes.png) “People looking for the gaps in our understanding where the meaning of consciousness or free will might hide often turn to quantum uncertainty or infinite cosmologies, as if we don't have breathtakingly complex emergent phenomena right there in our freezers.” ---
**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:** [September 19, 2025, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5037 "2025-09-19T16:31:12Z")
Okay, I get the double-standards of depicting genitalia (I’m surprised they pictured that much) but why the heck were they doing this at TGI Friday’s? ---
**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:** [September 19, 2025, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5038 "2025-09-19T16:41:59Z")
Did you follow the link and read the subtext? His joke was that wiki’s anatomy pages is just a way for exhibitionists to get their kinks in public; both in the taking and in the later public display online. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2025, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5039 "2025-09-19T17:15:14Z")
Still not following it. Sometimes I laugh out loud at xkcd. Other times, it’s cow tools all the way down. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2025, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5040 "2025-09-19T17:25:28Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > wiki’s anatomy pages is just a way for exhibitionists to get their kinks in public; I’ve seen zero examples of that. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5041 "2025-09-19T17:30:18Z")
What’s weird to me is how realistically human a stick figure’s private parts look. ---
**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:** [September 19, 2025, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574/5042 "2025-09-19T17:35:53Z")
I’ve also seen zero such evidence. Like some of his comics, it’s sort of Far Side: What if there really was this weird subtext going on? The humor isn’t so much in what the subtext is; rather it’s in the idea there might be a subtext at all. I agree that was not one of his best, nor one near his stylistic wheelhouse. I cited it only for the connection to @DesertDog’s joke about @Robot_Arm’s story of his parents and parentage. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=251) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/xkcd-thread/854574.md?page=253)