1. Epic Beard Man began to become popular and famous in February of 2010 after an online video was released showing a white Oakland resident named Thomas Bruso beating up on a black man. I think there are a couple of reasons why this meme became so popular. The video that the meme is based on depicts a senior delivering a brutal physical assault on a younger man, something that appears to evoke enjoyment and laughter among many people with various backgrounds. Bruso's old age as well as the fact that he didn't initiate the fight made people want to root for him as he "delivered judgement." Also, the shirt that Bruso was wearing during the incident read "I AM A MOTHERFUCKER", which is humorous to a wide audience. Add the fact that the meme involves racism, and we see how it exploded within 24 hours of the video release.
2.Iyanna Washington, a college student from Oakland, uploaded a YouTube video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQJFv9SMSMQ) on February 16, 2010, that showed a 67-year-old white man (Thomas Bruso) getting into a verbal argument and physical confrontation with a 50-year-old black man (only identified as Michael) on an AC Transit bus. Thomas Bruso is also known as Tom Slick and Vietnam Tom, and has a reputation in Oakland for being hostile. He is where the meme's name "Epic Beard Man" comes from, which is actually a nickname that Anonymous gave him prior to this event. On this particular bus ride, Michael was angry because he believed that Bruso was being racist after asking him to spit-shine his shoes. The verbal exchanges they had escalated, until Michael attempted to hit EPM in the chest. This provoked Bruso to repeatedly punch his aggressor in the face for about nine times, and the confrontation ended with EPM exiting the bus and Michael heading to the back of the bus. Throughout the video, other people on the bus can also be seen trying to stop the fight or merely observing the confrontation.
3. The YouTube video had more than 1 million views in the first day of release. 4chan's random forum had hundreds of image macros created on Epic Beard Man, and various websites/social media profiles were made in honor of Bruso and what he did. Many video responses were also made about the incident, including the original uploader of the video, and many people noticed a definite change in her formality in later video responses compared to how she is egging Michael on to "beat his white ass" in the video. From Google Insight Search (http://www.google.com/insights/search/#cat=0&q=epic%20beard%20man%2Cac%20transit%2Camber%20lamps%2Cthomas%20bruso&geo=&gprop=&cmpt=q), we see that on February 17, searches for "epic beard man", "ac transit", "amber lamps", and "thomas bruso" spiked, greatest to least in this order. Searches for "epic beard man" were a massive number based on the fact that it is a normalized 100 on Google's scale.
4. The meme "Amber Lamps" arose from this event. When Michael is sitting in the back of the bus after getting violently punched in the face multiple times, he says "bring an ambulance", which viewers have mistaken for "bring M&M's" and "bring Amber Lamps" because of his broken nose and dialect. As a joke, people started giving the name "Amber Lamps" to the young woman sitting in the background and watching the brawl ensue. The reason that they did this was that they found it funny and intriguing how she was casually watching the confrontation and didn't seem to be affected by what was happening. The search for her true identity went on for about two months before she was linked to a girl named Allison Budzinski because of her Facebook wall post around the time of the incident. Although it is neither confirmed nor denied that Budzinski is indeed "Amber Lamps", they are still linked to one another.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
"Casually Spray Everything Cop" (Jason Vizmanos)
Jason Vizmanos
SOC 167 - Assignment #2: "PEPPER SPRAY ALL THE THINGS"
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="
http://www.youtube.com/embed/
allowfullscreen></iframe>
I love spicing up my food. I also love multi-function items. That's why I
carry around a can of Defense Technology's MK-9
Stream<http://www.amazon.com/
-
in addition to providing a convenient means of self-defense (associated
with over sixty deaths when used by police in
1990-1995<http://articles.
per The Los Angeles Times), it's *essentially* endorsed by Fox News as an
efficient way of flavoring all my favorite dishes!
For the uninitiated, Megyn Kelly's segment above is in reference to the
following November 2011 photo taken by UC Davis psychobiology student
Louise Macabitas and subsequently republished by
news<http://www.csmonitor.com/
outlets<http://www.rtl.nl/(/
all<http://www.npr.org/2011/
over<http://www.sueddeutsche.
the<http://translate.
world<http://gawker.com/
:
http://i.imgur.com/qMGg6.jpg
Having a picture you take become internationally recognized? Pretty
awesome. Having that be of your friends pepper-sprayed in the face for
*sitting
down in peaceful protest*? Not so much.
This incident is rooted in the widespread Occupy movement, of which the UCD
community has actively organized and rallied toward. Two months young at
the time, members of the community decided to form an encampment to protest
tuition hikes and stand in solidarity with OWS. The campus administration,
unsurprisingly, did not appreciate the move. A few days of back and forth
ensued where tents were taken down and erected again before John Pike
decided to take things into his own hands.
Let's step back for a moment. The United States (and UC campuses in
particular) have a rich history of civil disobedience. This isn't a recent
phenomenon that we've had to contend with. So on the afternoon of the 18th,
when the tents were once again removed by officers clad in riot gear, it
shouldn't have been surprising that the protesters opted for an impromptu
sit-in at the campus quad. That is, they decided to physically band
together (linking arms), sit down peacefully, and refuse to move.
Officer Pike then proceeds to stroll down aforementioned quad, nonchalantly
and "casually pepper spraying" the protesters.
http://i.imgur.com/TA5mB.jpg
It didn't take long for this to go viral. In less than seventy-two hours,
the San Jose Mercury News reports that the photo "has been photoshopped and
mashed-up more than 1,000 times." <http://www.webcitation.org/
has since grown dramatically, with KYM's database now listing 1,872
images<http://knowyourmeme.
for
the "Casually Pepper Spray Everything Cop." The meme became so popular that
it <http://gawker.com/5861431/uc-
became<http://www.
a <http://boingboing.net/2011/
major<http://bits.blogs.
story<http://www.
in<http://latimesblogs.
its<http://newsfeed.time.com/
own<http://www.
right<http://digitallife.
(It also went meta, spawning sardonic Amazon customer
reviews<http://www.amazon.com/
, fake Twitter accounts <https://twitter.com/
Kelly meme embedded at the top.)
With all that buzz, you might not have expected Google Insights to show its
popularity fall off a cliff:
<script type="text/javascript" src="
http://www.gmodules.com/ig/
"></script>
Here's the issue with Insights: It's a poor measure of popularity for
situational memes. By
definition<http://support.
"the numbers on the graph reflect how many searches have been done for a
particular term, relative to the total number of searches done on Google
over time." Unlike rage comics, Nyan Cat, or all the image macros out
there, memes such as the "Casually Pepper Spray Everything Cop" are born
from specific news incidents that lead to exponential growth and decline.
It measures relevancy over time, but not the overall impact it had.
Let's look at why this went viral at all. Occupy Wall Street (OWS) started
in September 2011 and blew up as their message resonated all over the
nation. From day one, protesters have claimed that authorities have been
using excessive force to counteract their demonstrations. A number of
"citizen journalists" captured such moments, but none of it gained the sort
of traction needed to draw attention to such abuses of power.
What the Davis incident does is elegantly capture their grievances in a
single photo. The reason "casually" is included in the meme's name is
because the nonchalant demeanor of the cop is what first drew people in.
This was oppression for oppression's sake, and the idea of this happening
in the United States was outrageous. The internet certainly loves its
outrage, so once the story got out and spread, they took the photo and
expressed their disdain as only they can: through Photoshop.
Memes, in and of themselves, have become a means of communication. The
macros are funny, but they also serves to reinforce the incident in the
public consciousness. Without them, the story might not have continued to
gain the attention that it did. So while Insights might reflect a large
drop-off (coming in at zero over the past few months), the fact of the
matter is that the university just settled the related legal case at the
end of last
week<http://newsfeed.time.com/
.
It might not have had the staying power of the Rickroll, but for one week
in November 2011, "Casually Pepper Spray Everything Cop" dominated news
cycles and social media platforms. For the victims that are finally
receiving well-deserved compensation, that one week was all that was needed
to show just how powerful memes can be.
TL;DR - If you think you can get away with casually pepper spraying
peaceful protesters, you're gonna have a bad time.
SOC 167 - Assignment #2: "PEPPER SPRAY ALL THE THINGS"
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="
http://www.youtube.com/embed/
allowfullscreen></iframe>
I love spicing up my food. I also love multi-function items. That's why I
carry around a can of Defense Technology's MK-9
Stream<http://www.amazon.com/
-
in addition to providing a convenient means of self-defense (associated
with over sixty deaths when used by police in
1990-1995<http://articles.
per The Los Angeles Times), it's *essentially* endorsed by Fox News as an
efficient way of flavoring all my favorite dishes!
For the uninitiated, Megyn Kelly's segment above is in reference to the
following November 2011 photo taken by UC Davis psychobiology student
Louise Macabitas and subsequently republished by
news<http://www.csmonitor.com/
outlets<http://www.rtl.nl/(/
all<http://www.npr.org/2011/
over<http://www.sueddeutsche.
the<http://translate.
world<http://gawker.com/
:
http://i.imgur.com/qMGg6.jpg
Having a picture you take become internationally recognized? Pretty
awesome. Having that be of your friends pepper-sprayed in the face for
*sitting
down in peaceful protest*? Not so much.
This incident is rooted in the widespread Occupy movement, of which the UCD
community has actively organized and rallied toward. Two months young at
the time, members of the community decided to form an encampment to protest
tuition hikes and stand in solidarity with OWS. The campus administration,
unsurprisingly, did not appreciate the move. A few days of back and forth
ensued where tents were taken down and erected again before John Pike
decided to take things into his own hands.
Let's step back for a moment. The United States (and UC campuses in
particular) have a rich history of civil disobedience. This isn't a recent
phenomenon that we've had to contend with. So on the afternoon of the 18th,
when the tents were once again removed by officers clad in riot gear, it
shouldn't have been surprising that the protesters opted for an impromptu
sit-in at the campus quad. That is, they decided to physically band
together (linking arms), sit down peacefully, and refuse to move.
Officer Pike then proceeds to stroll down aforementioned quad, nonchalantly
and "casually pepper spraying" the protesters.
http://i.imgur.com/TA5mB.jpg
It didn't take long for this to go viral. In less than seventy-two hours,
the San Jose Mercury News reports that the photo "has been photoshopped and
mashed-up more than 1,000 times." <http://www.webcitation.org/
has since grown dramatically, with KYM's database now listing 1,872
images<http://knowyourmeme.
for
the "Casually Pepper Spray Everything Cop." The meme became so popular that
it <http://gawker.com/5861431/uc-
became<http://www.
a <http://boingboing.net/2011/
major<http://bits.blogs.
story<http://www.
in<http://latimesblogs.
its<http://newsfeed.time.com/
own<http://www.
right<http://digitallife.
(It also went meta, spawning sardonic Amazon customer
reviews<http://www.amazon.com/
, fake Twitter accounts <https://twitter.com/
Kelly meme embedded at the top.)
With all that buzz, you might not have expected Google Insights to show its
popularity fall off a cliff:
<script type="text/javascript" src="
http://www.gmodules.com/ig/
"></script>
Here's the issue with Insights: It's a poor measure of popularity for
situational memes. By
definition<http://support.
"the numbers on the graph reflect how many searches have been done for a
particular term, relative to the total number of searches done on Google
over time." Unlike rage comics, Nyan Cat, or all the image macros out
there, memes such as the "Casually Pepper Spray Everything Cop" are born
from specific news incidents that lead to exponential growth and decline.
It measures relevancy over time, but not the overall impact it had.
Let's look at why this went viral at all. Occupy Wall Street (OWS) started
in September 2011 and blew up as their message resonated all over the
nation. From day one, protesters have claimed that authorities have been
using excessive force to counteract their demonstrations. A number of
"citizen journalists" captured such moments, but none of it gained the sort
of traction needed to draw attention to such abuses of power.
What the Davis incident does is elegantly capture their grievances in a
single photo. The reason "casually" is included in the meme's name is
because the nonchalant demeanor of the cop is what first drew people in.
This was oppression for oppression's sake, and the idea of this happening
in the United States was outrageous. The internet certainly loves its
outrage, so once the story got out and spread, they took the photo and
expressed their disdain as only they can: through Photoshop.
Memes, in and of themselves, have become a means of communication. The
macros are funny, but they also serves to reinforce the incident in the
public consciousness. Without them, the story might not have continued to
gain the attention that it did. So while Insights might reflect a large
drop-off (coming in at zero over the past few months), the fact of the
matter is that the university just settled the related legal case at the
end of last
week<http://newsfeed.time.com/
.
It might not have had the staying power of the Rickroll, but for one week
in November 2011, "Casually Pepper Spray Everything Cop" dominated news
cycles and social media platforms. For the victims that are finally
receiving well-deserved compensation, that one week was all that was needed
to show just how powerful memes can be.
TL;DR - If you think you can get away with casually pepper spraying
peaceful protesters, you're gonna have a bad time.
Paula Deen Riding Things (Eileen Cheng)
"Paula Deen Riding Things" is a meme from the 2011 South Beach Wine & Food Festival in February. During the Whole Foods Market Grand Tasting Event, Chef Paula Deen sat on Chef Robert Irvine's back when he was on all fours. The meme began on the website http://pauladeenridingthings.com/ created by Nick and Robbie (who still run the website.) They provided photoshopped templates of the picture and photoshopped pictures of Paula Deen riding on various items. One of the more famous ones created from that day was the one of Paula Deen riding on butter (funny because of the ridiculous amount of butter she uses in her recipes.) The popularity of this meme probably stems from the hilarity of the picture. Paula Deen is a larger lady and the original picture itself is just a little ridiculous.
The meme was most popular during the middle of 2011, peaking in the month March) after it occurred and died down by the end of the year (June 2011). [Google Insights] It was a very popular meme, seen all over all the Social Media networks and very popular on the tumblr site that it originally began on. The most popular version of this meme may be the one of Paula Deen riding on butter. This meme was unlike other memes because a lot of the images are actually .gifs and not .jpegs-- so moving images.
The meme was most popular during the middle of 2011, peaking in the month March) after it occurred and died down by the end of the year (June 2011). [Google Insights] It was a very popular meme, seen all over all the Social Media networks and very popular on the tumblr site that it originally began on. The most popular version of this meme may be the one of Paula Deen riding on butter. This meme was unlike other memes because a lot of the images are actually .gifs and not .jpegs-- so moving images.
The Original Image: http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/103/224/paula.jpg?1318992465 Paula Deen Riding on an Ostrich: http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/imagebuzz/web05/2011/3/5/4/anigif_paula-deen-riding-things-a-new-website-by-two-col-23226-1299315698-12_preview.gif<http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kqdpugbitl1qa3i8uo1_500.png> Paula Deen Riding on a Sea Otter: http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhct97HwBL1qhajmxo1_500.jpg Paula Deen Riding on Bacon-Wrapped Hot Dogs: http://excusememe.com/pics/images/1299522861_tumblr_lheqmf5rea1qhajmxo1_500.jpg<http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kq53bxlf8k1qa3i8uo1_500.jpg> Paula Deen Riding on Flying Butter: http://i2.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/311/328/83e.gif<http://cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/9599219.jpg>
This meme definitely spawned other memes. There was the meme-combo of Paula Deen Riding on Things and Kim Jong Il looking at things. There was also the gif meme hat came after of Chandler Dancing on Things that most likely also spawned from the Paula Deen meme.
Kim Jong Il/Paula Deen: http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lw09bkugIc1r5gkooo1_500.png Chandler Dancing on Things: http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9kox2LLei1rppi2wo1_500.gif
"Imma let you finish..." - Kanye West (Lauren Morowit)
“Imma let you finish…” Meme – Kanye West
Background
Quite possibly one of the
most horrifyingly stupid things that has ever been said during a live
television event:
Yo Taylor, I’m
really happy for you. Imma let you
finish, but Beyonce had one of the best videos of all time.
The 2009 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony was broadcasted live on
September 13th at the Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Taylor Swift had just won the Best Female
Video award for her song, You Belong With Me,” until Kanye West spontaneously
popped up on stage, grabbed the mic from Swift, and interjected his shocking
statement/opinion. After handing the mic
back to Swift, MTV cut to a commercial and purportedly West was asked to leave
the venue immediately.
Where it all began…
The Apology
After the incident, West
posted an all caps apology on his blogsite until it was later removed. After Beyonce ended up winning the Video of
the Year, she courteously responded to the incident by relinquishing her speech
opportunity and giving Swift the opportunity that West had bankrupted her from experiencing
the first time.
West made his official
apology on the Jay Leno Show where he claimed that he was ashamed of himself for what he did to Taylor, and he also expressed that he would like to
apologize to her in-person as well.
"Dealing with the fact that I hurt someone or took anything away, you know, from a talented artist—or from anyone—because I only wanted to help people," he said. "...My entire life, I've only wanted to do and give something that I felt was right and I immediately knew in this situation that it was wrong." He became emotional, seemingly tearing up, when questioned what his late mother would have thought of the incident.
"Dealing with the fact that I hurt someone or took anything away, you know, from a talented artist—or from anyone—because I only wanted to help people," he said. "...My entire life, I've only wanted to do and give something that I felt was right and I immediately knew in this situation that it was wrong." He became emotional, seemingly tearing up, when questioned what his late mother would have thought of the incident.
Popularity
Naturally, the incident became an online search hit because
so many people had witnessed the event unravel on television right in front of
their eyes. For those who had not
watched the event live, the incident became publicized via social media posts
on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, etc and the apology was eventually covered by
popular entertainment news sources like Huffington Post, Rolling Stones, and
MTV.
Many individuals found humor in the incident;
nonetheless, West was judged and characterized as a pompous fool… Even by the President of the United States:
On UrbanDictionary.com, the coined phrase, "Imma let you finish," is defined as:
Imma let you finish | 16997 up, 1487 down | |
September 17, 2009 Urban Word of the Day
Obnoxious way to interrupt someone and steal their moment, while wryly mocking that media train wreck that is Kanye West.
Based on West's instantly infamous interruption of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video with his insane microphone-stealing shout out to Beyonce.
Bob: Thank you Mr. Brown for having us in to give this sales presentation. We'd like to talk to you today about...
Alfred: Yo, Bob, I'm really happy for you, and Imma let you finish, but I just got to say our product is is one of the best products there is! | ||
Remixed Videos
Meme Examples
Even inspired a new LOLcat...
And it even inspired t-shirt designs...
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Assignment #1
241543903
.JPG)
Siyao Chen
.JPG)
Liya Zhang
Felix Chen
Yalin Zhao
Triman Nguyen
Ranny Do
Jason Vizmanos
LiAn Chen
.JPG)
Lauren Morowit
(Admin)
Zelin Xu
Sunday, September 2, 2012
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