Occupy Lulz

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Everything becomes a meme, eventually: Occupy Lulz. Here's a direct link to the photo collection. More "greatest hits" below.

Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: xeni@boingboing.net.

MORE: comedy • lol • Lt. John Pike • LULZ • meme • occupy wall street • ows • pepper spray cop • pepperspray cop meme • photoshop

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phisrow

In before ‘I can haz right to peaceable assembly?’…
- Guest
  
  here is a PSD Pepperhead …
  http://www.polycount.com/forum/showthread.php?t=91347
TaymonBeal

Eventually? OWS was a meme to begin with.
jonlebkowsky

That first shot’s hilarious!
http://setheag.wordpress.com/ Seth Eag

When the history is written, this will be the first “Pop-Cultural Revolution”.
- Guest
  
  And we were there!
BarBarSeven

This one comes from the U.C. Davis Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2458701281215&set=o.13917075214&type=1&ref=nf
mahal0

http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/5440/39333226765493575321370.jpg
- MadSun
  
  Love it! (see attached)
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_VWQMQ2MKLMKIALKXEVM4KTXKIA Joseph

Preoccupy Wall Street!
- BarBarSeven
  
  No disrespect, but WTF does that even mean?
  - t3kna2007
    
    > No disrespect, but WTF does that even mean?
    
    It means YOU CAN HAZ MOAR FUNNIEZ! (much like your most-excellent Body Snatchers reference), thanks to Joseph and friends.
    - BarBarSeven
      
      Thank you for the compliment, but I still don’t get that specific joke. Everything else I get… But not that Rubik’s cube reference.
      - http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby
        
        Because a rubics cube would preoccupy someone?
        
        It’s really not that complicated a joke.
      - Colin Devinant
        
        it’s really not that funny a joke either…!
        btw JakeGould I too had a bit of trouble getting it before Nathan cleared it all up :(
      - BarBarSeven
        
        Oh. Now I get it. [3 beat pause] That’s a nice shirt you’re wearing! So where’s the bathroom? Oh I know… Over there! Bye!
davidasposted

Octopi Wall Street!
(insert image here)
teddanson

It’s a pun – make Wall Street preoccupied with solving a Rubik’s Cube.
Ipo

Target demographic is me. I guess.
scott_theotherone

believe in owning responsibility for my actions including paying student loans, reading contracts, etc.

Excellent—then you agree with the goals of OWS. This started largely—although not entirely—because there are now two sets of rules in society: one set for the 99%, and a far, far, far more lenient (almost entirely penalty-free, in fact) set for the 1%.

Good to have you aboard!
http://patriotboy.blogspot.com Gen. JC Christian, patriot

Here’s another
Claudio Bonifazi

I liked America
before it was fascist
antarchy

UC Davis PSA: Spray and Neuter your Kittens this Caterday!
Antinous / Moderator

Just sayin.
BarBarSeven

Since this comment is no longer apt, I will make it more apt… Nothing to see here. Move along!
http://twitter.com/tardiskitten thisbikeisatardis

These are pretty great except for the utterly tasteless one of the little girl running naked and on fire from napalm in Vietnam.
http://www.littlecirclesvt.com MikeB

well, maybe we won’t see joe the plumber around anymore…
piker, you’ve moved the debate. thanks.

here’s hoping that pepper spray is as bad as it gets, and we don’t have 4 dead in o-hi-o.
Guest

Another great place to not hear much about Occupy is NPR. But I did hear about the Koch wing at the local hospital, which underwrote this weeks WWDTM.

And before you say “This American Life”, that’s PRI.
Jas Strong

If you’re not interested in the Occupy movement, you haven’t been paying attention.
Finnagain

I sure wish these hippies would just shut up and go home so I can get back to my Dancing with the Washed Up.
PhosPhorious

“Is it really Boing Boing’s place and position to advocate for a political cause single-mindedly and endlessly?”

And what, pray tell, is Boing Boing’s “place?” Since you seem to know. . . .
aarline

And another:
http://oi44.tinypic.com/wcbzvq.jpg
Brady Hall

http://peppersprayingcop.tumblr.com/
http://www.itison.net/blog itison

9 x #postpike lulz
http://www.flickr.com/photos/itison/sets/72157628076386341/

;)
RioMcT

C’mon there’s a pointillism filter in Photoshop. Just spend the extra two minutes.

http://riomcthorne.com/2011/11/a-sunday-afternoon-with-pepper-spray/
nikkos

Anyone else concerned that turning this into a joke risks turning the OWS movement into a joke in the minds of the public? I know it’s hard to imagine, but not everyone swims in the sea of net memes. I had to explain the mustache meme to some of my co-workers the other day. HArd to believe, I know, but for this movement to be successful it will need to be able to speak to those outside the LULZ and meme-driven community.
- Guest
  
  for anyone to whom it MIGHT be a joke, you already are.
Robinalabama

Humor can be the best weapon of all…
mark zero

Someone suggested doing a treatment of the historic Kent State photo by Filo. ( http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2009/05/filo.html )
I originally found the idea to be tasteless, but, well… if the police had lost their sense of humanity enough to take pleasure in pepper spraying down throats at point blank range, how different was their mentality from that which led to the shootings?
http://twitter.com/aureliocity Michael Aurelio

not quite a meme in the same juxtaposed way…but this is one insight into Officer Pepper McSprays-a-Lot’s psyche:
http://aureliocity.tumblr.com/post/13124492995/another-day-at-the-office-the-2nd
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Is Monsanto breeding Roundup Ready Protesters yet?
Robert Giordano

Just wanted to add and image.
http://twitter.com/freemanmaudib Freeman M

I laughed. I cried. I peed a little.
Goodfinger

And yet another (Buddhist inspired):
http://www.sagegreco.com/sagereport/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/peace.jpg
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  Is that avout wearing a bolt and carrying a sphere? Where’s his cord?
Robert Giordano

How about this.
Robert Giordano

Changed the image a bit.
Robert Giordano

Oh had to rename the file.
David Prill

They died for this?
BoyThornSide

Here’s a nice one (not mine) reacting to Fox’s Megyn Kelly describing pepper spray as “a food product, essentially”.
http://twitter.com/MrVanToYou MrVanToYou

Take a shower…
http://twitter.com/MrVanToYou MrVanToYou

No… just plain ole brutality
MrHarley

Lt. John Pike makes don draper sad
MrHarley

don pepper
MrHarley

nyan cat must respect my authority
Dan Rayment

http://i.imgur.com/CuhPD.jpg
DCLies

…and then this happened.
someone anonymous

this sums it up…
someone anonymous

Lt Pike
someone anonymous

Lt Pike.
someone anonymous

Lt Pike
MarcVader

I heart this.
CurtisEichelberger

Pepper Spray Cop Shirts are here… http://www.pepperspraycopshirt.com
MarcVader

oh, and this.
Cowicide

Template so you can make your own, I put it in a png with transparency, the spray is lower opacity and the shadow under his front foot. Just put him where you want him in an image:
http://i.imgur.com/L8G8w.png
Cowicide

Here’s how I used the “png” mask. I only added a shadow to the picture and adjusted his shading a little bit for the picture.

Walk of Shame with a Pike Chaser:
http://i.imgur.com/Vi1aW.jpg
joeposts

Geez, he gets around!
Doug Castell

I love my… aghhhhh bleargh!
joeposts

Oh, if only…
jubjubbumby

Pass the pepper please
http://twitter.com/PoisonPopcorn Poison Popcorn

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=324936710856482&set=a.256564644360356.83882.132344430115712&type=3&theater
http://twitter.com/PoisonPopcorn Poison Popcorn

http://twitpic.com/7h9wng
http://twitter.com/PoisonPopcorn Poison Popcorn

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=325514507465369&set=a.256564644360356.83882.132344430115712&type=3&theater
http://twitter.com/PoisonPopcorn Poison Popcorn

http://twitpic.com/7hpvyl
http://pulse.yahoo.com/_MO7AKC6FZNKKTIYF5DZEYUWGE4 Moritz

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nolnet/6391564533
http://twitter.com/emirjame emirjame

Strange: they guy supposedly going to investigate this incident (Bill Bratton) is the former head of #PERF. How can HE be impartial?? http://americanpaki.wordpress.com/2011/11/23/what-i-think-of-perf/
See his CV. for evidence http://littlesis.org/person/87977/Chief_William_Bratton
&Please like this post if you feel that is not acceptable!!
- Antinous / Moderator
  
  But…but…he’s the SuperCop. To be fair, he’s the rare authority figure who says that society has to address the root causes of crime. The UK was bringing him in to analyze issues related to the recent riots and he DID NOT get a warm reception from local law enforcement.
Pat Nye

one more.
kevin henson

PEPPER SPRAYING COP Vs. ABRAHAM LINCOLN – “Emancipate this!”-“AUUUAHAGAHAGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH”
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/204752-pepper-spray-cop-casually-pepper-spray-everything-cop#.TsvKO6BNGD4.facebook
thepaze

pepper with your noodles sir?
http://www.marketmentat.com/ Kratoklastes

Lt John Pike is obviously gender misidentified… if that’s not an obese middle-aged woman in a police uniform I will eat my hat. And what’s lulzier: ‘he’ sports the type of moustache that is only worn by obese men and child molesters.

Pike’s life changed irrevocably the day he sprayed those kids. You might say that this photo represents Pike’s Peak: it’s the most powerful he will ever feel from that moment forward.

Let’s hope he becomes an hero, and soon.

And let’s hope that obesity-induced impotence has helped prevent his DNA from continuing to infect humanity.
dj zhao international sounds

how do these memes really function though? i think one of the things it does is NORMALIZE. Violence becomes funny, and thus more tolerable. just the same as the “Don’t tase me bro” meme — it is used with insensitivity, and make something gravely serious into a joke.
PhosPhorious

In fifty years, you’ll be telling your grandkids about the historic times in which you lived.

Only in that version you’ll have been deeply involved in OWS, instead of jaded and dismissive.
Pope Ratzo

I vote to offset the above opinion.

Please Boing Boing. I may not fit into your target demographic either, but there’s no such thing as “too much OWS coverage”.

There will always be time for more dachshunds in steampunk costumes and indie sci-fi. Right now, we need OWS/all the time, please. There is nothing more important.
taintofevil

Interestingly, a great place to avoid OWS coverage is nytimes.com.
http://bhtooefr.org/ Eric Rucker

Do it like Engadget does it.

Configurable RSS feeds, where you can have a feed of ONLY articles that have certain tags, or a feed that lists articles that do NOT have certain tags.

Then, if someone doesn’t want to see OWS content, they don’t have to see it.

If someone wants to ONLY see OWS content, they can get that.
http://setheag.wordpress.com/ Seth Eag

Yes, all this fantastic OWS coverage allows me to keep reading Boing Boing, see things like this: http://boingboing.net/2011/11/16/piece-of-chicken-thinks-its.html, and still tell my friends that I’m ‘highbrow’.
http://www.ikaink.net Itsumishi

I too believe in owning responsibility for my actions, including paying my (absurdly expensive) student loans and mortgages, reading contracts and not standing idly by whilst the greedy and corrupt make the world a worse place to live for the majority of people.
PhosPhorious

“I didn’t attack OWS, I just said I can’t wait till there is less of it, however you decided to attack me. . . ”

I didn’t attack you. I pointed out how you are dismissive of OWS. It is, in your opinion, not worth posting about.

I stand by my prediction: you will one day be glad OWS existed, and that it was posted about.
Isentropic

I don’t read/watch corporate-run news entities for the same reason OWS doesn’t like Wall St.
http://www.nathanhornby.com/ Nathan Hornby

Occupying is symbolic, they’re occupying Wall Street because Wall Street needs to change – whether that be at the hand of the government or otherwise – it;s representative of extreme corporatism. It’s about combining imagery, highlighting the problem. Combining protest with government would only desaturate the message.

Unless you think that by occupying they think they’re some how inconveniencing someone? Or that people are hanging out of the windows listening to their chants? That’s not really the point, and not what they’re trying to archive. It’s about media coverage and perpetuating the message.

Besides, people are actually occupying several locations around the world, not just wall street.
http://twitter.com/Milerama Milena Benini

It’s not an attack, it’s just human nature. JFK got his presidency with the smallest margin ever recorded; after his death, 75% of Americans claimed to have voted for him. And everybody’s grandpa was a hero in WW2.
Antinous / Moderator

And everybody’s grandpa was a hero in WW2.

In my reality, everyone’s father was a hero in WW2. Except for my two classmates whose fathers were in WW1.
Moriarty

“I don’t read/watch corporate-run news entities”

You shouldn’t rely solely on the mainstream media. But once you actively shut out the mainstream media, aren’t you pretty much the same as a Sarah Palin fan?
http://twitter.com/Milerama Milena Benini

I believe that is known as a generation gap, sir.
Ipo

One of my grandfathers was a highly decorated WWII hero too.
But luckily your dad, Woody Guthrie, his guitar, and everybody else’s granddad kicked his ass.
Guest

The ice cream is free, go to Baskin Robbins to complain about ice cream you’ve paid for.
jimh

What up hatter? /Sarcasm? Cough.

EDIT: Apologies for my earlier comment, now removed. It was a sarcastic reply that I believe was taken as serious by a few readers. I have the utmost respect for both BB’s editors and also the OWS movement, as evinced by every other comment I have logged in these threads.
Guest

I’m with ya. It’s just hard to tell the real haters from the playful. It does help to close that sarcasm tag, also too, someone just above you was not joking.
Mark Sandrock

When asked what part of America he liked, the Native American shaman, Rolling Thunder, replied, “The part they stole from us.”

Little did anyone suspect that one day young Americans would be echoing this same sentiment!

Sunny Guy