Im In Ur Yardz Huntin Ur Dukz

It almost pains me to write "I'm in your yards, hunting your ducks" that way, but such is the grammar and spelling of a humorous phenomenon known as lolcats. As I find the news around me (even sports news) to be rather grim much of the time, it is important to have something humorous in order to give one a bit of a chuckle, even a silly one, once in a while. First I will look at the structure of lolcat photos, some explanations for their appeal, and how they have spread into other areas besides cats (since I am not a particularly fan of cats).

An lolcat photo (or any other lol*insert noun here* photo) is made up of two elements. One is a photo, and the other is a rather goofy caption. The captions are generally silly, and say such things as "I Loves U" or "I Pronounce Every Day Iz Caturday" or "I Are Serious Cat. This Is Serious Thread" or "You're Adopted" or "Im In Ur Fridge Eatin Ur Foodz" or "I Made U A Cookie...But I Eated It" or "I Can Haz Cheezburger?". In other words, most of the pictures deal with cats in their normal (?) activities and focus on food, excitability, and affection (or the lack thereof).

What makes lolcats funny, besides the fact that people (including myself) are easily amused? For one, cats are pretty funny to watch. They often behave in humorous ways by lounging about, lunging at inanimate objects, steathily hunting like their wild ancestors, and so on. Some cats are cuddly and affectionate, and others are rather standoffish and unfriendly. Cats, for all their snobbery, have recognizable and occasionally charming personalities. What lolcats do is take these photos (some edited, some not) from the lives of cats and adds to them a sort of childish language that one could imagine cats thinking, putting an entirely new context onto the action of the cat and those around it.

It is surprising that no one thought of this idea before, but the creators of lolcats and memecats and so on deserve credit for an inventive way to have an honest and simple laugh. What is not surprising is that the idea behind lolcats has spread far beyond its original confines. A friend of mine from Wisconson sent me some rather humorous pictures he was submitting for an lolopera thread. These photos showed an opera singer (Jessye) with silly captions such as "Oh Noes, Drove Wif Da Top Down," "I C U," "Invisible Giant Cheezburger," "Mah Speeker Iz Too Loud," and so on. If opera fans are adapting something as silly as lolcats, one knows the phenonemon has spread far and wide.

I for one, do not see a problem in this. Perhaps some may find lolcats to be a bit silly, but I know I take this life way too seriously often, and generally need something simple and a bit quirky to laugh with/at sometimes. Lolcats generally lack irony or sarcasm or the other ways in which humor presents itself the most often. So, if you have a quirky and somewhat child-like sense of humor, may you go and seek out some lolcats for a laugh this most serious of Thursdays. It is, after all, a lot more entertaining (I promise) than reading a rant from me.