I have a link that I would like to share:
German video footage of the wombats Ralf and Roxie at the Duisburg Zoo (skip forward to 2:30). The commentary is mostly about how wombats are the moderator’s favorite animals in the zoo.
If we’ve already established that Helix is the ancestor of almost all wombats in the area (which is, at a rough guess, true for wombat populaitions smaller than 2^20), then surely this explains the (lack of) relationship between wombats and gods?
Heh; explains totally why Ganesh-statue said she was ‘opaque’ to gods too; she’s got on tailored genes. (Um, sorry; couldn’t resist. Will shut up now.)
Always have to watch out for those loopholes in contracts with gods! The divine have a nasty way of figuring out how to take advantage of even the tiniest one!
*the resulting perfected immunity contract would be longer than the US Federal tax code* 😛
*the resulting perfected immunity contract would be longer than the US Federal tax code*
Actually, the longest the contract, the more loopholes you can find. When you get into the “list specifics” game, you are somewhat suggesting that whatever isn’t specified is fair game, whereas a short broad statement is a lot harder to go around.
“No interference from gods, affiliates and related entities, as left to the appreciation of the beneficiary” would cover pretty much every case, including prophetic slugs
Ha! “immune to devine prying and prophesying,” so the gods could interpret that as
“a)immune to devine prying
b)and [a side order of] prophesying”
-or-
“immune to [a combination of] devine prying AND prophesying
[but succeptable to devine prying OR prophesying]”
Lucius, I don’t think you actually realize what Godel’ Incompletness Theorems are(as best as I can understand, they state that it is impossible to construct a set of axioms concerning the natrual numbers that is both internally consistent and entirely provable).
I could swear that I’ve seen Helix’s flabergasted expression in the fifth panel on Digger, somewhere. Which would make the resemblence justified, since they’re relatives. Distant relatives, but still.
I think it was when Ed told her about the warrior herbs? Dunno. Need to go back and investigate.
Ah, hmm…
Here’s what interests me. This agreement is not simply an agreement by the gods *not* to meddle or prophesize about Helix’s decedents, it’s actual /immunity/. Note that Ganesh wasn’t ‘forbidden’ to see Digger’s future, she was ‘unable’. Indeed, she seemed quite ignorant that the deal existed.
So… who’s enforcing this deal? Who has the power to prevent the gods from doing what they want to?
Worgen… the LAST thing i would want when dealing with a deity would be a lawyer. If I’m to be screwed around by fate or divine will, that fair enough, not much you can to about that. but that AND tort law? No thanks. Some Gods Forgive.
> Who has the power to prevent the gods from doing what they want to?
A collective. A group (or even all) of the gods working together could enforce something like this with a strength that no singular one of them could contravene. Strangely enough, they could probably even “agree to forget”, a la “The Sphere” (movie).
Of course, the reason the slugs fit nicely into a loophole is that their power was given by something totally non-divine, yet of near-equal power: really good beer!
Interesting, I’m not sure Helix could have managed imuminty from ocular slugs, as i think the slugs back story as he/she/it related the ocular slugs creation to Digger stated that a couple of hundred of years ago there was this druid…. a couple of hundred of years ago. A new form of prophesy, slug seers, was created between Helix making his deal and Digger birth.
What dos this show? Not only does destiny know where you live, but she’ll invent whole new breeds of ocular mollusks to trick you into opening your door to her. Much like my younger sister, but to be honest that was a honest mistake anyone could have made. To be fair if whoever ran her newspaper route had kept the papers dry and free from eggs that whole unpleasantness could easily have been avoided.
Oh, and by the way, I think you were wanting the term oracular slugs. Though the mental picture of an ocular slug (would that be a slug with lots of extra eyes, or a slug that resembles a single large eye?) is rather entertaining …
Gah! I am officially giving up reading or posting to comments until I have read through – too &^^%%$ distracting – I’ll get to them on my next run through 😉
I had always assumed that the mad monk had used divine magic to give the slugs foresight. It must have been arcane or druidic (no D&D reference intended), or the slugs’ prophecies connection to godly power is disconnected enough and hapoened after Helix’s agreement took place that it isn’t covered by Digger’s immunity. Now that I think of it, though, it makes sense that the slugs are using druidic magic (the power of nature, as oppose to the power of gods), since they are reading the leaves rather than simply knowing the future. /Very/ impressive, Ursula!
Heh, the pitfalls of legalese.
I have a link that I would like to share:
German video footage of the wombats Ralf and Roxie at the Duisburg Zoo (skip forward to 2:30). The commentary is mostly about how wombats are the moderator’s favorite animals in the zoo.
Sheesh! How could you forget to specify immunity against slugs?
Perhaps in those days, more people carried salt with them… I hear it’s rather good protection against those slimy buggers..
Wombats. So fair-minded, especially with each other– and with the reality of their mad, mad world 🙂 .
If we’ve already established that Helix is the ancestor of almost all wombats in the area (which is, at a rough guess, true for wombat populaitions smaller than 2^20), then surely this explains the (lack of) relationship between wombats and gods?
Helix–slugs wut?
Loving the wombat interaction.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHA *WEEP* Yes.
It’s always those contractual details that you don’t think of that come back to bite you.
Which explains why old Ganesh-statue couldn’t do much to her aside from appeal to her better nature.
‘It’s an easy mistake to make’….. ROFL!!!!!
Yes, yes, those horrible oracular slugs. Who would have thought?
Heh; explains totally why Ganesh-statue said she was ‘opaque’ to gods too; she’s got on tailored genes. (Um, sorry; couldn’t resist. Will shut up now.)
Inability to foresee oracular slugs… There’s a joke in there somewhere but I haven’t had enough coffee yet to be able to find it.
Always have to watch out for those loopholes in contracts with gods! The divine have a nasty way of figuring out how to take advantage of even the tiniest one!
*the resulting perfected immunity contract would be longer than the US Federal tax code* 😛
*the resulting perfected immunity contract would be longer than the US Federal tax code*
Actually, the longest the contract, the more loopholes you can find. When you get into the “list specifics” game, you are somewhat suggesting that whatever isn’t specified is fair game, whereas a short broad statement is a lot harder to go around.
“No interference from gods, affiliates and related entities, as left to the appreciation of the beneficiary” would cover pretty much every case, including prophetic slugs
No-one expects the oracular slugs!
That’s what he gets for specifying immunity from “divine” intervention. Slugs are a lot of things, but divine is definitely not one of them.
I think I’m in love with all of Digger’s face expressions all over the whole comic. <3
Should’ve just said he wanted immunity from all non-mundane influences, such as prophecy and divine intervention.
Then again, the stress of taking on such a violently un-wombatic job probably messed with his foresight a bit.
EveryZig, well said! Their comfy chairs would be way too small for Digger tho…
Nobody can look shocked quite like a wombat.
Ha! “immune to devine prying and prophesying,” so the gods could interpret that as
“a)immune to devine prying
b)and [a side order of] prophesying”
-or-
“immune to [a combination of] devine prying AND prophesying
[but succeptable to devine prying OR prophesying]”
Love that weasely ambipholy. ^- – ^
Oh, Ursula, you’ve got me laughing loudly! Only a fellow wombat could react like that!
It’s nice that Digger finally has what looks like a true friend on this journey, too. I bet she misses Ed.
-=Kiyoshi
Gödel’s Theorem strikes again……. 7X=Q
This particular installment feels like I somehow clicked on Daisy Owl in Piperka instead of Digger. It’s a surreal feeling.
Wombat poo paper? Really –
Check out:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8006042.stm
Lucius, I don’t think you actually realize what Godel’ Incompletness Theorems are(as best as I can understand, they state that it is impossible to construct a set of axioms concerning the natrual numbers that is both internally consistent and entirely provable).
Yep, they’re related. Helix even has the same “buh?” face.
I could swear that I’ve seen Helix’s flabergasted expression in the fifth panel on Digger, somewhere. Which would make the resemblence justified, since they’re relatives. Distant relatives, but still.
I think it was when Ed told her about the warrior herbs? Dunno. Need to go back and investigate.
Forget prophetic slugs, did he?
Thanks for the reminder. If ever I find myself in a similar situation to the one Helix was in, I’ll remember to specify them along with the rest.
Ah, hmm…
Here’s what interests me. This agreement is not simply an agreement by the gods *not* to meddle or prophesize about Helix’s decedents, it’s actual /immunity/. Note that Ganesh wasn’t ‘forbidden’ to see Digger’s future, she was ‘unable’. Indeed, she seemed quite ignorant that the deal existed.
So… who’s enforcing this deal? Who has the power to prevent the gods from doing what they want to?
marmoe, many thanks for that link. Now I understand the references in the Wikipedia article to the hazards of wombat bites…
Elektron, you have a good point.
As does MacDjord.
Oh, so much love for Digger and Helix!
never deal with gods without a lawyer present
Worgen… the LAST thing i would want when dealing with a deity would be a lawyer. If I’m to be screwed around by fate or divine will, that fair enough, not much you can to about that. but that AND tort law? No thanks. Some Gods Forgive.
Who knows, maybe the snail’s chief weapon is surprise…
surprise and fear…
> tailored genes
omfg … *groan* 😉
> Who has the power to prevent the gods from doing what they want to?
A collective. A group (or even all) of the gods working together could enforce something like this with a strength that no singular one of them could contravene. Strangely enough, they could probably even “agree to forget”, a la “The Sphere” (movie).
Of course, the reason the slugs fit nicely into a loophole is that their power was given by something totally non-divine, yet of near-equal power: really good beer!
😉
Near-equal?
Yes, near-equal.
I am NOT one of those Guinness fans who believes that beer is better than gods.
Wait, let me rephrase that … beer is not MORE POWERFUL than gods. At least not in any quantity that a human (or slug, or wombat) could drink …
😉
Interesting, I’m not sure Helix could have managed imuminty from ocular slugs, as i think the slugs back story as he/she/it related the ocular slugs creation to Digger stated that a couple of hundred of years ago there was this druid…. a couple of hundred of years ago. A new form of prophesy, slug seers, was created between Helix making his deal and Digger birth.
What dos this show? Not only does destiny know where you live, but she’ll invent whole new breeds of ocular mollusks to trick you into opening your door to her. Much like my younger sister, but to be honest that was a honest mistake anyone could have made. To be fair if whoever ran her newspaper route had kept the papers dry and free from eggs that whole unpleasantness could easily have been avoided.
Eggs!? I probably don’t want to know …
Oh, and by the way, I think you were wanting the term oracular slugs. Though the mental picture of an ocular slug (would that be a slug with lots of extra eyes, or a slug that resembles a single large eye?) is rather entertaining …
Gah! I am officially giving up reading or posting to comments until I have read through – too &^^%%$ distracting – I’ll get to them on my next run through 😉
I had always assumed that the mad monk had used divine magic to give the slugs foresight. It must have been arcane or druidic (no D&D reference intended), or the slugs’ prophecies connection to godly power is disconnected enough and hapoened after Helix’s agreement took place that it isn’t covered by Digger’s immunity. Now that I think of it, though, it makes sense that the slugs are using druidic magic (the power of nature, as oppose to the power of gods), since they are reading the leaves rather than simply knowing the future. /Very/ impressive, Ursula!