Me too. There’s something quite romantic about a young lass with a diamond obsession on dinosaurs, or indeed any other topic that stokes knowledge into the world.
It’s a panel grab from an old “It’s Walky!” strip and Historyman68 is correct, it’s one of the best things ever. I tried digging through the archive to find it so I could link it but sleep deprivation won out. Long story short it’s not Joyce but it’s hilarious.
“and then the T-rex was all like “rawr rawr rawr” and the brontisaurus was like “mmm these leaves are tasty” and then they walked their separate ways because it is believed that T-rexes rarely ate animals so close to their own size.
Unless of course they happened upon a relatively untouched carcass. They were like the Great White Landsharks of the Upper Cretaceous, eating anything and everything they could get their tiny little fingers on.
Stegosaurus: Yes. Yes. This is a fertile land and we will thrive. We will rule over all this land! And we will call it… this land!
T-Rex: I think we should call it your grave!
Stegosaurus: Ah! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
T-Rex: Ha ha ha! Mine is an evil laugh! Now die!
Stegosaurus: Oh no god! Oh, dear God in heaven!
But the failure to the T-Rex to evolve longer forelimbs with opposable thumbs proves their doom millions of years later when they become a star-faring species and then start a war with descendants of naked monkeys. 😀
Yep. Dina has a huge crush on Alan Tudyk because he once voice-acted dinosaurs from two completely different orders in the same scene, making him the world’s most versatile actor.
Actually, due to an error when naming, the dinosaur is Apatosaurus, having been named this earlier and therefore making Brontosaurus incorrect. However, due to an episode with post office stamps, it was agreed that ‘Brontosaurus’ is an acceptable Common Name for Apatosaurus since many people know it that way.
There. I think I’ve Dina’d enough for today.
Also, amusing trivia, if you type Apatosaurus into the comment box the text is labeled misspelled and the suggested spelling is Brontosaurus.
I’m with Terry Pratchett in that I believe that Brontosaurus should be the official name on the grounds that it sounds better than Apatosaurus. And apparently firefox agrees with me.
As an insufferable pedant i have to point out it is insufferably pedantic to refer to the species as apatosaurus. While that nomenclature was earlier in its assignation, brontosaurus was originally thought to be a separate species and by the time the apatosaurus specimen was recognized as being of that species brontosaurus had became the widely spread and recognized term for the species. Only obsessive five year old experts and the pedants they trained began to insist upon the apatosaurus appellation and, thankfully, paleontology as a field eventually recognize that such ‘expertise’ was relatively spurious and have accepted brontosaurus as the ‘more’ correct term.
No. You do not understand how biological nomenclature, or specifically, ICZN works. Apatosaurus ajax was named in 1877, the name Brontosaurus excelsus was created in 1879. Since they are the same animal, Apatosaurus has clear priority, and Brontosaurus will never be valid.
T. rex lived about 85 million years after Apatosaurus (likewise for Stegosaurus). Unless they had time machines, it seems doubtful that a T. rex ever ate an Apatosaurus.
…unless you’re in one of the various places that don’t provide it for anything less than a ridiculous amount of cash. Or one of the various groups that are historically underdiagnosed. Or stuck with doctors that know f-all about the condition.
(I suppose y’all can tell that the screwups inherent in the diagnosis process are one of my obsessions :P)
As someone who actually has been clinically diagnosed with Asperger’s, I think some self-diagnoses can be valid, SOMETIMES. For me, it took many years and several different doctors to get the diagnosis, because I’m a girl and a lot of doctors don’t think girls can be Aspies or just don’t know much about the condition. (Pretty much every doctor I saw agreed something was wrong with me, for the record; they just couldn’t agree on WHAT.) Also, it’s really expensive to get an Asperger’s diagnosis. It runs around $2,000 or more.
That said, though, for every correctly self-diagnosed person, there are tons of people who don’t have it and have just decided they did because they saw it on Wikipedia or whatever or because they think it’s the hip new disorder to have. So I can’t really blame anyone for being skeptical of self-diagnosis, and even my gut reaction is, “Ugh, really?” when I see someone talking about how they know they have Asperger’s despite not being diagnosed.
As a professionally diagnosed Aspie… I dunno. She certainly has some of the aspects. Focusing on one subject and being an introvert. She actually reminds me of me. When I was younger all I cared about was Dinosaurs. My dream was to become a paleontologist. Then I got sick and my body can’t handle temps over 80 degrees (dino digs occur in the hot deserts. Urgh). Now my main focus is genealogy but I still love dinos. I’ve been to some of the best Paleontology museums in the world (my fave being the museum in Frankfort, Germany).
I’d like to hear more of Dina talking.
I had no idea dinosaurs had relatively few species for their niches compared to mammals. That would explain why they fared so poorly.
But, how do I know Willis’ information is accurate?
Unless you compare them to fish, or insects (or even to beetles), or even dinosaurs if you accept the biological evidence that birds are dinosaurs. Attempts at teleological explanations of evolution are narcissistic fantasy. Evolution happens, but there are no goals or guarantees.
Neither did I. However, it doesn’t matter since one can change all that in the game Dominant Species where you try to make your “species” the dominant one before the ice age ends the game. A strategically rich game, but not an easy one to learn.
Wait. Is this a game as in someone’s actually published it, or is this more of a metaphorical game? Because an actual game of it sounds like it could be fun.
Ah, Lieutenant Dan has handled the matter. Yes, Dominant Species is a board game and an excellent one. It’s my current favorite board game since the play is so varied and deep.
I’m kind of curious how anyone could possibly even know that.
It’s not like the fossil record we have so far contains all dinosaurs that ever existed, nor can we reasonably expect for at least one of every species that ever existed to have been preserved. The conditions that fossils form in are not so ubiquitous as to ensure that.
But that doesn’t mean that someone far smarter and more familiar with the subject matter than I hasn’t come up with a really good way to support that argument. I’m just some random jerk on the internet with no credentials.
You are quite right about the massive incompleteness issue. They use statistical models to estimate the total number of taxa. I do not not know haw much confidence is generally placed in those models.
More Dina and Sarah intercourse!
“I already miss the old you”
My favorite DoA ship is looking increasingly likely every new strip!
…or am I reading to much?
Discourse works better as people wont get confused, but intercourse has a primary platonic definition of “Communication or dealings between individuals or groups: “everyday social intercourse”.”
No need to be ashamed. Modern medicine has made remarkable progress, and new and better treatments are being developed. Soon, you will be able to lead a happy and productive life.
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Eyeless death-mannequin in the background! They’re probably at, like, an Old Navy or something! THOSE THINGS THIRST FOR OUR BLOOD.
Dina reminds me of one of those talking pedestals from the Natural Science Museum. You know, the ones that you push the button and it recites a blurb? I imagine Dina has that spiel memorized and can quote it verbatim whenever she wants.
I will not enjoy.
Willis is the joy-killer.
Willis is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my joy.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the joy has gone there will be nothing.
Only Willis will remain.
That awkward moment when everyone realizes that Macy’s, Sears, and Kohl’s look functionally identical inside and you’d need a sign or price tags to guess which is which.
So ecological diversity is key to survival during catastrophic events? That’s bad news for us humans; the last few thousand years have all been about us trying to shape the environment to suit our needs, rather than adapting to changing circumstances.
Bah! The notion that humans do not evolve is nonsense. We simply are not in a position to observe it. Evolutionary pressure never disappear. Of course, we are saddled with the nonsensical notion that we are a distinct species when the evidence is pretty clear that we are only one of the sub-species of homo rhodesiensis (if not of even earlier lineages such as ardipithecus kadabba, sahelanthropus tchadensis, or orrorin tugenensis). However, humanity has an extraordinary degree of genotypical and phenotypical homogenity and likely will not be equippied to survive a catastrophic transformation for some ten millennia at least.
Hang on – is this just a quick joke about any disparities between the Walkyverse and Dumbiverse Dinas, or did Sarah know her before some sort of traumatic event…?
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Aww, what a cute smile.
And what vacant eyes.
All the better to fill them with paleontology knowledge.
Dina, you can talk about dinosaurs to me any time you want.
She is so adorable.
Looks like it doesn’t take much to get her started.
Me too. There’s something quite romantic about a young lass with a diamond obsession on dinosaurs, or indeed any other topic that stokes knowledge into the world.
It kinda sounds like she’s reciting her last English essay…
Dina doesn’t need anyone to listen. She’ll talk about dinosaurs all day to herself if she pleases.
…and often does… off-screen.
She hides dinosaur books in her math books and reads them during class and giggles to herself
lmaaao! Most likely
That would make me instantly attracted to her haha
…behind doors…
Awesome avatar pic! That’s my favorite strip ever.
The little girl in TheLastOutlaw’s grav looks like Joyce.
It’s a panel grab from an old “It’s Walky!” strip and Historyman68 is correct, it’s one of the best things ever. I tried digging through the archive to find it so I could link it but sleep deprivation won out. Long story short it’s not Joyce but it’s hilarious.
She looks so happy to be talking about dinosaurs. It’s like a five year old me.
“and then the T-rex was all like “rawr rawr rawr” and the brontisaurus was like “mmm these leaves are tasty” and then they walked their separate ways because it is believed that T-rexes rarely ate animals so close to their own size.
Unless of course they happened upon a relatively untouched carcass. They were like the Great White Landsharks of the Upper Cretaceous, eating anything and everything they could get their tiny little fingers on.
Stegosaurus: Yes. Yes. This is a fertile land and we will thrive. We will rule over all this land! And we will call it… this land!
T-Rex: I think we should call it your grave!
Stegosaurus: Ah! Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!
T-Rex: Ha ha ha! Mine is an evil laugh! Now die!
Stegosaurus: Oh no god! Oh, dear God in heaven!
Sweet Dinosaur Jesus!
But the failure to the T-Rex to evolve longer forelimbs with opposable thumbs proves their doom millions of years later when they become a star-faring species and then start a war with descendants of naked monkeys. 😀
:: cheers so happily at this thread ::
I can’t believe no one called this as Firefly!
Which only makes it more awesome to me.
Oh right, that’s where that’s from!
Yep. Dina has a huge crush on Alan Tudyk because he once voice-acted dinosaurs from two completely different orders in the same scene, making him the world’s most versatile actor.
Actually, due to an error when naming, the dinosaur is Apatosaurus, having been named this earlier and therefore making Brontosaurus incorrect. However, due to an episode with post office stamps, it was agreed that ‘Brontosaurus’ is an acceptable Common Name for Apatosaurus since many people know it that way.
There. I think I’ve Dina’d enough for today.
Also, amusing trivia, if you type Apatosaurus into the comment box the text is labeled misspelled and the suggested spelling is Brontosaurus.
I’m with Terry Pratchett in that I believe that Brontosaurus should be the official name on the grounds that it sounds better than Apatosaurus. And apparently firefox agrees with me.
As an insufferable pedant i have to point out it is insufferably pedantic to refer to the species as apatosaurus. While that nomenclature was earlier in its assignation, brontosaurus was originally thought to be a separate species and by the time the apatosaurus specimen was recognized as being of that species brontosaurus had became the widely spread and recognized term for the species. Only obsessive five year old experts and the pedants they trained began to insist upon the apatosaurus appellation and, thankfully, paleontology as a field eventually recognize that such ‘expertise’ was relatively spurious and have accepted brontosaurus as the ‘more’ correct term.
No. You do not understand how biological nomenclature, or specifically, ICZN works. Apatosaurus ajax was named in 1877, the name Brontosaurus excelsus was created in 1879. Since they are the same animal, Apatosaurus has clear priority, and Brontosaurus will never be valid.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature
T. rex lived about 85 million years after Apatosaurus (likewise for Stegosaurus). Unless they had time machines, it seems doubtful that a T. rex ever ate an Apatosaurus.
Joyce looks disturbed by the footwear.
I am too.
They look like hoof covers.
You mean they aren’t?!
Joyce isn’t a MLP fan by any chance is she?
If she is, Billie could convince Joyce to get a
tramp stamp“cutie mark”.Oh jeez
Dina’s the most adorable aspergers sufferer I’ve ever seen, myself excluded, of course.
How do you know she has Assburgers?
The proper term is Rump Roast.
One knows one’s own kind.
I may have some assburger-like traits but I’m fairly certain that I don’t have this condition.
Well, you have traits. As far as I know, I have the disorder. It’s kinda like gaydar… except less gay.
Here’s the easy way to figure out.
>Have you been clinically diagnosed? Y/N
And whether she does is probably up to Willis.
The diagnosis is extremely important. Self-diagnosis is a no.
…unless you’re in one of the various places that don’t provide it for anything less than a ridiculous amount of cash. Or one of the various groups that are historically underdiagnosed. Or stuck with doctors that know f-all about the condition.
(I suppose y’all can tell that the screwups inherent in the diagnosis process are one of my obsessions :P)
That is true for both aspergers and judging cuteness. Unless you’re Dot Warner, obviously.
I still side with the doctor over the guy who thinks he has Asberger’s because he read about it on the Internet.
As someone who actually has been clinically diagnosed with Asperger’s, I think some self-diagnoses can be valid, SOMETIMES. For me, it took many years and several different doctors to get the diagnosis, because I’m a girl and a lot of doctors don’t think girls can be Aspies or just don’t know much about the condition. (Pretty much every doctor I saw agreed something was wrong with me, for the record; they just couldn’t agree on WHAT.) Also, it’s really expensive to get an Asperger’s diagnosis. It runs around $2,000 or more.
That said, though, for every correctly self-diagnosed person, there are tons of people who don’t have it and have just decided they did because they saw it on Wikipedia or whatever or because they think it’s the hip new disorder to have. So I can’t really blame anyone for being skeptical of self-diagnosis, and even my gut reaction is, “Ugh, really?” when I see someone talking about how they know they have Asperger’s despite not being diagnosed.
Yeah, tons of internet peeps read the description of Asperger’s, think “Oh, it’s a clever but socially inept guy! Just like me!” and self-diagnose.
I used to be like that, but then I met someone who really had it.
Indeed! I came to the comments to see what Willis had to say regarding whether Dina’s an Aspie.
As a professionally diagnosed Aspie… I dunno. She certainly has some of the aspects. Focusing on one subject and being an introvert. She actually reminds me of me. When I was younger all I cared about was Dinosaurs. My dream was to become a paleontologist. Then I got sick and my body can’t handle temps over 80 degrees (dino digs occur in the hot deserts. Urgh). Now my main focus is genealogy but I still love dinos. I’ve been to some of the best Paleontology museums in the world (my fave being the museum in Frankfort, Germany).
So do I, Sarah, so do I, but it’s been eight years. Time to move on.
Aww, she opened up! Dina’s making progress!
And one of these days, she will even talk about other subjects.
Perhaps she will cover the topic of her affinity to dress up and beat on evil dooers, a-holes, neardowells, and others of that ilk.
I’d like to hear more of Dina talking.
I had no idea dinosaurs had relatively few species for their niches compared to mammals. That would explain why they fared so poorly.
But, how do I know Willis’ information is accurate?
Maybe he checked with Wikipedia first.
Well…honestly that’s not surprising…there’s a fuckton of mammals…more so a variety than other animals.
Unless you compare them to fish, or insects (or even to beetles), or even dinosaurs if you accept the biological evidence that birds are dinosaurs. Attempts at teleological explanations of evolution are narcissistic fantasy. Evolution happens, but there are no goals or guarantees.
I didn’t either, but based on my understanding of evolution that’s not at all surprising.
Neither did I. However, it doesn’t matter since one can change all that in the game Dominant Species where you try to make your “species” the dominant one before the ice age ends the game. A strategically rich game, but not an easy one to learn.
Wait. Is this a game as in someone’s actually published it, or is this more of a metaphorical game? Because an actual game of it sounds like it could be fun.
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/62219/dominant-species
Ah, Lieutenant Dan has handled the matter. Yes, Dominant Species is a board game and an excellent one. It’s my current favorite board game since the play is so varied and deep.
I’m kind of curious how anyone could possibly even know that.
It’s not like the fossil record we have so far contains all dinosaurs that ever existed, nor can we reasonably expect for at least one of every species that ever existed to have been preserved. The conditions that fossils form in are not so ubiquitous as to ensure that.
But that doesn’t mean that someone far smarter and more familiar with the subject matter than I hasn’t come up with a really good way to support that argument. I’m just some random jerk on the internet with no credentials.
So, is there a paleontologist in the house?
You are quite right about the massive incompleteness issue. They use statistical models to estimate the total number of taxa. I do not not know haw much confidence is generally placed in those models.
Here is one full access paper I found: http://www.pnas.org/content/103/37/13601.full
That and the arbitrariness of lumping and splitting extinct species.
Scientists have fistfights about these things.
People have been missing the old Dina since July 19, 2003
Nine years, my mistake.
More Dina and Sarah intercourse!
“I already miss the old you”
My favorite DoA ship is looking increasingly likely every new strip!
…or am I reading to much?
I think I need to sit you down and explain how intercourse works…
(o3o I know what it means FYI)
I think the word you are looking for here is “Discourse”.
No, he picked the right word.
Bow, chicka bow wow.
Discourse works better as people wont get confused, but intercourse has a primary platonic definition of “Communication or dealings between individuals or groups: “everyday social intercourse”.”
Don’t mind me, I’m a bit of a logophile.
No need to be ashamed. Modern medicine has made remarkable progress, and new and better treatments are being developed. Soon, you will be able to lead a happy and productive life.
Well, then…I stand corrected! Thank you for clearing that up.
I’ll have to remember this next time I need a good double entendre.
Wait, she has other facial expressions beyond “Blank Slate”?
Yep, “Dinosaur-induced euphoria”.
…crap, now I imagine with the design on her tee-shirt that she could just very well be going “Rawr~!” if I ignore the speech bubble.
better than “Dinosaur-induced labor”
Oh my god, I’m Dina except with rocks. Get me going and I will spout endless, random geology facts. Strangely, geology isn’t even my major in college.
Well that’s an ironic gravatar.
Well I think it Rocks!
But does it rock your jocks?
I prefer the new Dina. Tell me more.
Tell me more, tell me more
Did she put up a fight?
Uh-huh-uh-huh-uh-huh-uh-huh
Bad.
Like the Power Glove. 😀
I’m like Dina, except with almost anything I think of.
Same.
*Silence*
*Silence*
Did you know that the worst spree killings in recorded history…?
*sidles up to Regalli* Go on.
I’m like Dina except with languages and grammar.
Whoa- hey! My gravatar is all of a sudden of same gender as me. What just happened?!?
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Eyeless death-mannequin in the background! They’re probably at, like, an Old Navy or something! THOSE THINGS THIRST FOR OUR BLOOD.
I thought they were at Macy’s.
Don’t blink.
You’re thinking of Weeping Angels. The evil mannequins are Autons; they’re coming to kill you whether you’re looking at them or not.
Could be worse. Dina could have been quiet in the way that Marie from QUILTBAG is quiet. Which produces a very different result when she “opens up”.
A girl who’s massively into dinosaurs? Why is she still single?????
Dina reminds me of one of those talking pedestals from the Natural Science Museum. You know, the ones that you push the button and it recites a blurb? I imagine Dina has that spiel memorized and can quote it verbatim whenever she wants.
Actually, Dina is those pedestals and stands completely still and stiff like a board whilst reciting dinosaur facts.
I work at Sears, I recognized that they were shopping at Sears the second I saw this strip, WHY AM I ABLE TO RECOGNIZE SEARS!?! I feel Dirty
The name of the strip is “Macy’s” and also the photo references I used were taken at Macy’s. I am the joykiller.
I will not enjoy.
Willis is the joy-killer.
Willis is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my joy.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the joy has gone there will be nothing.
Only Willis will remain.
(Okay, it’s late. I’m going to bed now.)
That awkward moment when everyone realizes that Macy’s, Sears, and Kohl’s look functionally identical inside and you’d need a sign or price tags to guess which is which.
Walmart looks different from Target, though- for one thing, the color schemes of their signs is very Windows XP.
So ecological diversity is key to survival during catastrophic events? That’s bad news for us humans; the last few thousand years have all been about us trying to shape the environment to suit our needs, rather than adapting to changing circumstances.
Bah! The notion that humans do not evolve is nonsense. We simply are not in a position to observe it. Evolutionary pressure never disappear. Of course, we are saddled with the nonsensical notion that we are a distinct species when the evidence is pretty clear that we are only one of the sub-species of homo rhodesiensis (if not of even earlier lineages such as ardipithecus kadabba, sahelanthropus tchadensis, or orrorin tugenensis). However, humanity has an extraordinary degree of genotypical and phenotypical homogenity and likely will not be equippied to survive a catastrophic transformation for some ten millennia at least.
Dina is AWESOME Dina is WEIRD Dina is AWESOME and Dina is WEIRD and I’ll never forget the way it was GRRRL
Dina sounds like my 9 year old brother… He likes to quiz me on what animals lived during which time periods and stuff like that.
So Jason moonlights as a clothes model at Macy’s?
Jason is the source from which all the mannequins were cloned- like Jango Fett oh god why am I referencing that mediocre movie
nice speech there
well more like paragraph, it told me a lot. Dina’s walls of text are candy : )
AUTISTIC DINA
Hang on – is this just a quick joke about any disparities between the Walkyverse and Dumbiverse Dinas, or did Sarah know her before some sort of traumatic event…?