What good is THAT?

Occasionally XKCD hits the spot - we teachers feel rather unloved sometimes. I lost track of the number of people at these weddings who said things like 'you must enjoy your three month summer holiday' etc.

For the record: we don't get three months off. We mark all the essays and dissertations. Then we second-mark more of them. Then we mark the resits. Then we try to do some research, and write next year's lectures.

Attention, university authorities

The Hegemon has just fiddled with the website. XKCD could have been viewing it as he drew this. Larger version here.

Homeosexuals

XKCD nails it again. It's worth looking at this on his page for the excellent mouseover joke.

In case you're not sure why this is funny: homeopathy claims that the more diluted an ingredient is, the more powerful it becomes - homeopathic solutions often contain no more than one or two molecules of the original useless rubbish.

The Liberal Gentleman's Dilemma

Click here for the large version

I know this isn't Kansas, Toto

I've no idea what Sean Tevis is really like, but anyone who says good things about evolution and science, and steals ideas from XKCD for his campaign deserves your attention, Kansans.

The whole truth

(click on the strip for a larger version)

Teaching English and Cultural studies is all about destabilising fixed world views. I wish my lot would start political arguments though. Apart from the opportunity to foment revolution, there's nothing more validating to a thirty-something's sense of self-worth than destroying the beliefs of a teenager (that's a joke, see?).

Swine, women and song

xkcd has a beautiful take on swine flu and Twitter (which is also spreading like a disease).

Orion? At this time of year?

Dan got quite shirty with me a few months ago when I misidentified a constellation. Now, serendipitously, xkcd has immortalised the exchange:

Sorry Cynical Ben

He doesn't like it when I do this because he thinks blogs should feature the author's original thoughts. Isn't that sweet? I'm posting this strip because I've done exactly this, frequently.

I like science fiction

but this is a pretty good guide for any literature student

Geeks rock!

I'm a sucker for intertextuality and geeky cartoons, so I've added this maths one to my list. Here's a good example: