reference
Original: reference on Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal
Transcript
Panel 1 (main comic):
A scientist in a white lab coat (a woman with dark hair and round glasses) gestures toward a viewing window, addressing another person whose back is to the viewer. Behind the window sits a glum-looking man.
Scientist: THIS IS OUR STANDARD REFERENCE BASTARD. BY PERFECTLY CONTROLLING ITS CLIMATE AND INTERNET ACCESS, THE BASTARD IS HELD AT PRECISELY ONE BASTARD.
Caption (below panel): Sometimes I wish the National Institute of Standards and Technology would help with social science.
Votey:
A simple sketch of the same standard reference bastard (a smug man, drawn loosely).
Caption: IF ONLY WE'D HAD HIM BEFORE THE FINANCIAL CRISIS WE COULD'VE PREDICTED IT ALL.
A scientist in a white lab coat (a woman with dark hair and round glasses) gestures toward a viewing window, addressing another person whose back is to the viewer. Behind the window sits a glum-looking man.
Scientist: THIS IS OUR STANDARD REFERENCE BASTARD. BY PERFECTLY CONTROLLING ITS CLIMATE AND INTERNET ACCESS, THE BASTARD IS HELD AT PRECISELY ONE BASTARD.
Caption (below panel): Sometimes I wish the National Institute of Standards and Technology would help with social science.
Votey:
A simple sketch of the same standard reference bastard (a smug man, drawn loosely).
Caption: IF ONLY WE'D HAD HIM BEFORE THE FINANCIAL CRISIS WE COULD'VE PREDICTED IT ALL.
Alt text
A scientist in a white lab coat (a woman with dark hair and round glasses) stands in a lab, gesturing toward a glass viewing window. Behind the window sits a glum, slightly smug-looking man in a gray sweater. Another person, seen from behind, listens. The scientist says: 'This is our standard reference bastard. By perfectly controlling its climate and internet access, the bastard is held at precisely one bastard.' A caption below reads: 'Sometimes I wish the National Institute of Standards and Technology would help with social science.' Votey aftercomic: a loose sketch of the same reference bastard with the caption 'If only we'd had him before the financial crisis we could've predicted it all.' The joke parodies NIST's physical reference standards (like the standard kilogram) by imagining a perfectly calibrated reference unit of human awfulness.
Transcribed by Claude Opus 4.8.