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2009-09-25: Not a Sandwich (definition)
Interpretations of reality
This comic is the result of years of study. The succinct definition of sandwichness is something I've known for a while but all these examples and contrasts are good to have written down.
It used to be I couldn't figure out why dumplings WEREN'T sandwiches!
See also the Classic Name Removed about cakepie for more of the sort of things I think about... so that you don't have to! Except when you're reading the comic.
Voting at Top Web Comics will give you not only a sense of satisfaction but also a view of a very strange note I took in an old notebook. If you have any idea what inspired me to write that crazy junk down... keep it to yourself!
This comic is in the storyline:
- Variations
A long-running series, maybe the crux of the site. Reader submits a suggestion, and I draw three comics based on that suggestion. Originally all three had to start the same, but it evolved.
This comic includes the contribution:
- Amanda Irwin suggested: Dr Quickly eating at an outdoors bistro staring at his plate off panel and exclaiming "This isn't a sandwich"
Text transcript
Dr Quickly: That's not a sandwich. Rabot: Eh? Rabot: Sure it is, a soft tortilla tuna salad roll. Part of our "try our many sandwiches" promotion. Dr Quickly: BAH! Dr Quickly: Bring me a REAL sandwich! << SPLUT >> Rabot: A "pizza pocket"! Dr Quickly: NO!! Rabot: A crimped shut grilled cheese on white rye. Dr Quickly: That's great! Rabot: Open-face PB&J... Dr Quickly: Also excellent! Set it down! Rabot: Okay I give up! What's your heuristic for sandwichness?! Dr Quickly: A sandwich is "filling between"! Dr Quickly: It doesn't have to be between slices of bread, either! A Bar Harbor Bar is a perfectly good sandwich! Mmm, cookies and ice cream. What a treat! Dr Quickly: Calzone, panzerotti, stromboli, dumplings, pasties, and patties are all folded shut from a single sheet. They're all "filling inside", or stuffed, or rolled. Rolls and wraps are the same, just without being sealed shut. Dr Quickly: But you can make a great sandwich out of two slices of pizza! Dr Quickly: Sandwiches that become closed containers during the cooking process, like the crimped grilled cheese, still started out as proper sandwiches. A deep-fried Monte Cristo is still a sandwich, too. Dr Quickly: Open face and double-decker sandwiches are degenerate special cases that prove the rule of Filling Between. Open face sandwiches have an implied top layer. Double-decker (and larger) sandwiches have an atypical filling. Rabot: Something in the space separating two planes. From that... all sandwiches follow logically!