Random Thoughts XIV: Pizza, Pomegranate Juice, and Shreddies

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I think the issue may be that you've not been exposed to these sort of memes, so can't relate to this sort of humour?

Anyhow I stumbled on this web page. If you translate the page to English via Google you get a lot of John F. Kennedy's and Juan Carlos Aragon's in the list of names towards the end, though they're not there in the original Spanish
 
I think the issue may be that you've not been exposed to these sort of memes, so can't relate to this sort of humour?
That's absolutely the issue! Tell me about this type of meme. Explain it to me like I'm a toddler!
 
That's absolutely the issue! Tell me about this type of meme. Explain it to me like I'm a toddler!
Well, you first start with an image. The image can either be very odd, like a photo of a person expressing some extreme (or alternatively, ambiguous) emotion. Or like a photo of a person or a group of persons in a very weird pose, like a dancer caught midst-performance. Or the image can be pretty banal and uninteresting, in of itself, in which case the text has to do the heavy lifting. Bonus points if the image is going viral, or is something from pop culture which everyone knows and/or is talking about.

Now it may seem as if I'm just covering all bases without saying anything, but understand that the type of image affects the attendant text, if you want to make a good proper meme.

So the point of the meme is to use text to relate the image to a different situation than the one portrayed in the image. This is usually done by evoking a familiar, relatable scenario, like "when the car behind beeps immediately after the green light", "when you stub your toe", etc. See examples below:

Spoiler :

1a083e07d03d5a088f4571e0fb45d6ea.jpg

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These were the first-person POV "when you"/"me when" memes. Alternatively a character or figure in the image is used to represent something else besides "you" or the audience:

Spoiler :

eb5e3dc3b39f7d80cc6b28a6f6be5dc0.jpg



The humour comes from one or more of several factors. One is the contrast between the text scenario and the image. Another is the relatability of the situation to the audience. "Yeah, this happens to me too", "This perfectly captures the experience". Alternatively, another could be the hyper-specificity of the situation, which would have the audience go "whom does that even happen to", "how do you even think of this". Another could just be how viral and well-known the image is; the humour comes from the recontextualisation of the image.

In the meme I shared, the humour comes from the relatability of the situation; anyone who has had to take care of toddlers knows how they actively go around trying to kill themselves and have to be dragged away from danger. There is also the image-situation contrast I referred to earlier, where the deliberately posing man becomes the representation of a clueless toddler just moments before disaster.
 
Thank you so much. I understand perfectly. Somebody initially took that odd shot for some reason, and somebody else thought to themselves, "you know what that looks like (given its weird angle)? It looks like how a toddler would look if a photo were taken from the top of a bookcase that was in the process of toppling down on him."

Now I know how to laugh at such a thing instead of just be befuddled.
 
Thank you so much. I understand perfectly. Somebody initially took that odd shot for some reason, and somebody else thought to themselves, "you know what that looks like (given its weird angle)? It looks like how a toddler would look if a photo were taken from the top of a bookcase that was in the process of toppling down on him."

Now I know how to laugh at such a thing instead of just be befuddled.
In your defense *... I assumed that this was the meaning, but wasn't completely sure... but I wasn't inclined to just ask as you did.

*also ironically, given my immediately above post :blush: :lol:
 
In your defense *... I assumed that this was the meaning, but wasn't completely sure... but I wasn't inclined to just ask as you did.
To your credit (the Sommal you), you're just plain smarter than me in the first place.

Must be all those extra years on the site. :p

All 1.25 of them :p:p
 
So lately I've become sorta obsessed with Bigfoot. Which is somewhat unusual because I don't believe in Bigfoot.

It can't be natural. Somebody woulda got one by now. I don't think it's a spiritual manifestation of anything. Is it an alien tourist? Honestly, I find that the most likely of the three commonly cited explanations. I don't believe it either.

I do like the idea that some mystery remains in the world. Particularly when Bigfoot gets angry and attacks. That's thrilling. It's not mundane. It's nature in a life about bills.

If it were discovered, it'd actually become useless, probably. About 3 months after, it'd become mundane.
 
Well, you first start with an image. The image can either be very odd, like a photo of a person expressing some extreme (or alternatively, ambiguous) emotion. Or like a photo of a person or a group of persons in a very weird pose, like a dancer caught midst-performance. Or the image can be pretty banal and uninteresting, in of itself, in which case the text has to do the heavy lifting. Bonus points if the image is going viral, or is something from pop culture which everyone knows and/or is talking about.

Now it may seem as if I'm just covering all bases without saying anything, but understand that the type of image affects the attendant text, if you want to make a good proper meme.

So the point of the meme is to use text to relate the image to a different situation than the one portrayed in the image. This is usually done by evoking a familiar, relatable scenario, like "when the car behind beeps immediately after the green light", "when you stub your toe", etc. See examples below:



These were the first-person POV "when you"/"me when" memes. Alternatively a character or figure in the image is used to represent something else besides "you" or the audience:


The humour comes from one or more of several factors. One is the contrast between the text scenario and the image. Another is the relatability of the situation to the audience. "Yeah, this happens to me too", "This perfectly captures the experience". Alternatively, another could be the hyper-specificity of the situation, which would have the audience go "whom does that even happen to", "how do you even think of this". Another could just be how viral and well-known the image is; the humour comes from the recontextualisation of the image.

In the meme I shared, the humour comes from the relatability of the situation; anyone who has had to take care of toddlers knows how they actively go around trying to kill themselves and have to be dragged away from danger. There is also the image-situation contrast I referred to earlier, where the deliberately posing man becomes the representation of a clueless toddler just moments before disaster.

I call BS on the one with the guy standing there on the narrow ledge. That's got to be photoshopped in some way. Yes, I know there are places in China where people go hiking on narrow ledges on the side of a mountain, but they're actually wearing at least minimal safety equipment.

Doesn't mean they're not stark-raving nuts for being there in the first place.

I miss the old days of the Cheezburger site where the builders let a person be really creative with fonts, colors, and effects. I had fun with this one:

bob-ross-paintings-not-very-happy.jpg


Of course you'd have to be familiar with Bob Ross to get the humor. I honestly don't understand how the three images posted here would prompt a humorous caption.

So lately I've become sorta obsessed with Bigfoot. Which is somewhat unusual because I don't believe in Bigfoot.

It can't be natural. Somebody woulda got one by now. I don't think it's a spiritual manifestation of anything. Is it an alien tourist? Honestly, I find that the most likely of the three commonly cited explanations. I don't believe it either.

I do like the idea that some mystery remains in the world. Particularly when Bigfoot gets angry and attacks. That's thrilling. It's not mundane. It's nature in a life about bills.

If it were discovered, it'd actually become useless, probably. About 3 months after, it'd become mundane.

I'm inclined to think that somebody saw a bear on its hind legs, freaked out, and the story got exaggerated and embellished and hasn't gone away.
 
Yikes. Hopefully they don't get run over if they keep going back. Can they be relocated further away?
 
Yikes. Hopefully they don't get run over if they keep going back. Can they be relocated further away?

No idea. I grew up near blue penguins and they ended up as road kill

They built a heap of colony boxes for them but they end up everywhere. They turn up in botanic gardens swimming up the creek, farms, under peoples houses.

We had the Penguin Club which was like a local bar in the 90s. They literally had penguins underneath as it was located 100-200m from the sea.

Still there huh.

 
No idea. I grew up near blue penguins and they ended up as road kill

They built a heap of colony boxes for them but they end up everywhere. They turn up in botanic gardens swimming up the creek, farms, under peoples houses.

We had the Penguin Club which was like a local bar in the 90s. They literally had penguins underneath as it was located 100-200m from the sea.

Still there huh.

This place? That looks really cool.
 
This is kind of a golden age of TV and literature. It’s amazing the nuance, subtlety, and complexity of what you can reach out and touch, all talk of exploitation notwithstanding. Truly we are blessed to experience the joy of discovery and creation.
 
They have very good players in the squad, the England squad is one of the best in the Euros, they're just playing so awfully
 
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