Cats, Cats, Cats

Caroline Derosiers:

It was interesting to think about clicking casual and fun descriptions, because they ended up being very different than how I would actually describe them.

Will Butler:

That's my friend Caroline, and she runs a company called Scribely. Scribely literally describes images. It helps with SEO, and accessibility, and I was complaining to her recently because as a blind person, I don't really get to participate in meme culture. Memes might not seem that important if you're blind but the truth of the matter is, they're the new water cooler talk. Instead of talking about what you saw in theaters this weekend, you're talking about which spicing memes tickled your fancy. So I asked Caroline, would she put her skills to use to describe some of the internet's best memes? It wouldn't be a conversation about the internet unless we talked about cats, so we kicked it off with five of the best cat memes. Here's what Caroline had to say about describing a meme, and how it's different than making an alt tag.

Caroline Derosiers:

For the quick fun casual descriptions, you do have to make some assumptions about whether you know about this particular popular meme already. Kind of getting right to the punchline.

Will Butler:

Memes are all about like infer to meaning, right?

Caroline Derosiers:

Exactly, and they get passed around and talked about. They're funny because you've already seen that same photo or it's a different version of that same photo. So they're kind of just by nature supposed to be repetitious. First of all, cat memes are wonderful and they may be like my favorite type of meme out there. I don't know if it's because I have a cat or because they're just particularly... Cats are particularly funny and weird, but I think that they're some of the funniest ones I've seen.

Will Butler:

There is this weird thing with cats, right? Where they don't have eyebrows or something. This is what I've heard.

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah.

Will Butler:

Correct me if I'm wrong here, so they can't express themselves?

Caroline Derosiers:

yeah. They're kind of neutral, but then they've got these wide eyes that can be very expressive depending on the cat breed, so I think they just look silly.

Will Butler:

So you brought me some cat memes today. What have we got?

Caroline Derosiers:

Okay, so I have five and I'm saving the best for last, because there's a really funny and timely one that I want to talk about at the very end. First I'll do like the quick and casual description, and then we can kind of like pause and talk about that, and then maybe we'll do like more of a technical description. That was what we were thinking for this week.

Will Butler:

Yeah, the casual and then the alt tag, I love it.

Caroline Derosiers:

Okay, so the first one is a closeup of a wide-eyed Grumpy Cat, if you're happy and you know it, I don't care.

Will Butler:

Classic cat attitude.

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah, so do you know Grumpy Cat?

Will Butler:

No.

Caroline Derosiers:

Okay, so Grumpy Cat is like an internet celebrity and if you didn't know Grumpy Cat, then that click and casual description wouldn't make sense.

Will Butler:

Oh, so you're saying, a wide-eyed Grumpy Cat was a capital G, capital C?

Caroline Derosiers:

Yes, yeah.

Will Butler:

Interesting. That totally went right over my head. So who is Grumpy Cat, and how do we drill down into the look and feel of Grumpy Cat?

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah, so some history on Grumpy Cat. Back in I think it was 2012 or something, the owner of Grumpy Cat also known as Tardar Sauce, posted a picture and this cat is just particularly funny-looking because the facial appearance of this cat, it has a naturally furrowed brow and an underbite. So it always looks like it's grumpy. Any photo of this cat looks grumpy. So the internet just went wild with pictures of this cat and it became a bit of a celebrity so much so that the owner actually quit her job at Red Lobster to manage Grumpy Cat full-time. And was just creating all these memes and videos, and it totally took off as a meme, and just all over the internet.

Will Butler:

Finally, a cat that has an expressive face.

Caroline Derosiers:

Yes, and it's because actually, and I didn't notice I was reading up on Grumpy Cat, Grumpy Cat actually has a form of dwarfism and is much smaller than a normal cat and I did not know that. And I think maybe that contributed, but I didn't realize that Grumpy Cat was born that way and not all cats in that breed have that look.

Will Butler:

And who knows if that's why he's grumpy.

Caroline Derosiers:

I don't know. But yeah, unfortunately-

Will Butler:

And maybe we may never know exactly why he is grumpy.

Caroline Derosiers:

I know. So for a more technical description, you would get more into actually describing Grumpy Cat who is a mixed breed, mostly white and dark brown fur, a short haired cat with light blue eyes, and she has a naturally furrowed brow and frown making her appear grumpy. And in this photo, she's laying in someone's lap, belly up and her head is cradled in the person's hand, and it looks like she's looking up at her owner like she's totally pissed, she's got this expression and then you've got the tagline overlaid there. So it's like looking up at your owner and saying, "If you're happy and you know it, I don't care."

Will Butler:

Okay, yeah. And with that whole backdrop on the Grumpy Cat story it means a lot more to me now, beautiful. So what's number two?

Caroline Derosiers:

Okay. All right. So, funny casual description, a chevy gray cat with a vacant yet cheery expression, me realizing I tuned out and I'm now lost in the conversation.

Will Butler:

Okay, so the cat for all of our Zoom meetings, yeah.

Caroline Derosiers:

And I think we could all relate to this, that's why it's funny. It's like when your mind kind of trails, but then the person you're talking to is very passionately trying to explain themselves, and you're like, "Oh my gosh, I'm so lost, I have absolutely no clue," you're saying, "So I need to overcompensate with this pleasant interested expression to make up for it."

Will Butler:

Yep. And I actually am finding with these, because I can't see these, it's helpful for me to try them on my own face, right? I'm sitting here and I'm like, "Okay, vacant, but cheery," and I'm kind of putting on this face and I'm like, "Oh yeah, I can imagine what that looks like."

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah, exactly, [inaudible 00:08:26] this face, again, this cat is achieving some sort of expression, which may be partially due to the way its hair is cut, and the fact that it is a bit overweight, and its mouth is open it kind of looks like a smile, but its mouth is just open, but they've achieved an expression in this cat's face.

Will Butler:

He's kind of look like, "Uh-huh."

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah, but like keep going, please.

Will Butler:

Yeah. You know, I wonder if sometimes just certain noises are helpful in describing memes. That's like the beauty of the podcast that you can't do at an alt tag is you can make the noise of someone who's making that face.

Caroline Derosiers:

Right. Yeah. That's true.

Will Butler:

So what would our alt tag look like for a very [inaudible 00:09:19] picture?

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah, so there are definitely more funny aspects about these photos. So the technical description would be a three quarter shot of a pleasantly plump, light gray cat. So large that its folds nearly conceal a harness attached to its chest and back. The cat is on a leash and fixed on a wood deck, mouth hanging open, pink tongue out, and eyes staring vacantly into the distance. Me Realizing I tuned out, and I'm now lost in the conversation.

Will Butler:

That is so much more information than I would get from just someone telling me about it.

Caroline Derosiers:

Right. So, I think it's quite unusual, but the cat's in a harness and on a leash which is just funny, and you'd barely even see it because this cat is so large, but you know it's there because you can see this leash attached to it. So it just kind of adds a fun little element that you'd pretty quickly notice, and would take that meme up a little bit.

Will Butler:

That's amazing. Okay, number three.

Caroline Derosiers:

Now this tagline, actually, to be honest took me a minute to understand, but then once I got it I was like, "Oh, that's funny." So you may have to take a minute with the tagline but the funny casual description is, a big orange fish swallows a little white screaming cat. My mom, sleep tight don't let the bedbugs bite, me after accidentally sleeping loose.

Will Butler:

Okay. So I immediately get the, me after sleeping loose thing, like sleep tight, that's funny. But what is it, orange fish is swallowing a cat?

Caroline Derosiers:

Yes. So this is what I feel like, you have to get into a little bit more detail because it's a crazy image. I don't even know how they got this, but the fish that we're talking about it's this large orange stuffed cartoonish fish, like a stuffed animal toy. And it's twice the size of this cat and the cat is mostly in the mouth of this fish with his arms out of the mouth and then screaming and shutting its eyes really tight. It looks like it's in absolute terror, and also the cat is a little bit blurry so it looks like it's kind of wrestling around with this fish or something. But it's a funny scene, it's like it's being swallowed whole or carried away.

Will Butler:

This sounds more like an acid trip than a meme.

Caroline Derosiers:

It's kind of disturbing but funny and also I was thinking bedbugs to a fish or to a cat, bedbugs to a cat would be like this giant fish.

Will Butler:

Well, and there's something funny too because it's like cats eat fish, right? Do they? Yeah.

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah.

Will Butler:

And so, it's the fish is eating a-

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah, like your food completely turning on you, and being larger than you, and swallowing you whole.

Will Butler:

... Wow. And it's obviously just like sleep tight, why do we even say sleep tight in the first place?

Caroline Derosiers:

Right.

Speaker 3:

And I guess, for most of these memes we are the cat, right? That's the idea behind these cat memes, it seems like.

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah. Like you're putting yourself in the cat shoes, or you felt exactly the way that cat it appears to feel, yeah.

Will Butler:

All right.The apathy, the grumpiness, the fear, whatever it is that the cat is experiencing we're experiencing along with it. I can get with that.

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah.

Will Butler:

Wow. Amazing. Okay. That was a psychedelic meme number three, thank you for challenging me. What do we [inaudible 00:13:40] for number four?

Caroline Derosiers:

Okay. I really like this meme. It was sent to me a few months ago, and I'm still laughing about it and I hope that the humor comes across because it's such a good one. But The fun and casual description is, a series of three photos, each with the same cat in a red cap at different levels of feeling nice. And the tagline is, when you have a nice hat and you feel nice.

Will Butler:

So this is just nice all around?

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah, and it's just so cute. It's just the most adorable cat, and it's just like a montage of three different photos of this cat wearing this red baseball cap. And they're all different pleasant expressions. The first one, the cat is smiling, walking towards you, an eye is squinting and it's like mid meow, very cute. And then the second, the cat is kind of sitting in repose on its dark fur blanket, and has this happy squinty eyes stoner face, and the brim of the hat is flipped up and back giving it kind of this dippy expression. And then the last one, the cat has this like, it's such an earnest expression and its mouth is slightly open and turned up in an easy smile, and the brim of the cap is off center, and it's just a very cute photo.

Will Butler:

Wow, beautiful. And tell me a little bit more about this hat.

Caroline Derosiers:

It looks like it's kind of like a vintage cat, actually. Like maybe the owners had it from, or it's like of sentimental value. It's actually like, even though it appears oversized, the brand is completely all the way across this cat's head, it actually somehow is fitting. Like they must have it tied in the back or something, but it fits the cat's head.

Will Butler:

Wow. I didn't realize that there were memes that were just purely positive vibes.

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah. I mean, that's why I love it. Sometimes memes are just uplifting where you're like, "Yeah."

Will Butler:

It's like current mood, happy, imagine that.

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah, everything's fine.

Will Butler:

Okay. And number five, is this the one where I have to play the audio?

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah, but we'll play it at the end.

Will Butler:

Okay.

Caroline Derosiers:

So this happened this week, actually, so it's very current. I don't know if you heard about it, and maybe I shouldn't even provide a backstory at all, maybe I'll do that later. I'll just do the quick and casual first, and then I'll kind of explain it. So the description is, the fluffy white kitten filter that took down Texas attorney Rod Ponton this week. The kitten is making a worried side long glance.

Will Butler:

I did hear about this. Okay, wait, this is beautiful because I was wondering about this all week long. I'm sorry, I don't mean to stop your flow, but it must've been on Tuesday, my friend played this video and I heard the video audio, I heard the content, but I didn't know what it looked like, and because we were in the middle of something I didn't have the heart to ask him to describe it to me. So this is my big chance.

Caroline Derosiers:

Yes. Awesome. Well, everybody here was so serendipitous and was like, "Yes, we're doing cat memes, and this is going around the internet just in the same week so it's perfect timing." Like that moment, that cat filter was turned into a meme, and the kitten is making this side long glance. And the tagline someone put with it is, after a poor showing by his legal team today, Trump introduces his new attorney.

Will Butler:

Yes. And you know what's it's funny? I thought that this was, because it came out roughly the same day that the Senate impeachment trial started, and so when I heard it I thought it was a clip from the Senate impeachment trial, but this isn't, right? This is just some random lawyer, right?

Caroline Derosiers:

Oh, that's so funny that you thought about that because, yeah, I mean, the attorney is weak, it was an embarrassing show and this is very much the same and very awkward. So I'm not surprised that you thought that they were the same person.

Will Butler:

Yeah, wait. Okay, so when we play the audio, this is an audio meme basically, right? But there's a visual element to it too so what does this thing look like? Basically, if I remember correctly from the audio, the lawyer is in court appearing virtually, and there's something on his face, or on his head.

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah, so it's one of those filters that turns you into something. So he's been turned into this fluffy, white kitten and as his eyes and mouth are moving, the kittens eyes and mouth are moving. And it's funny because the eyes are darting from side to side, like very wide-eyed and nervous. And the mouth is moving as he's talking it's moving. And you have to picture it like, howdy kitten eyes too, it's a very small cute cat, and he's trying to figure out how to turn off this filter but he can't. So he's just kind of struggling with it, this poor man, so awkward and embarrassing, and then the internet gets hold of it and it's all over. So, I mean, we have to laugh at ourselves in moments like this I feel like, but it was really funny.

Will Butler:

Okay. And I'm going to pull it up here. Do you know the backstory of this at all, were you able to figure out who this guy is, I don't even know if that's possible?

Caroline Derosiers:

He's a Texas attorney that's just appearing for a hearing. It's a very professional call. It's like he's just logged on and then everyone's telling him, "Oh, you seem to have some sort of filter on." So he's trying to adjust his video settings. He got off his last Zoom call with his grandkids or something, and he's trying to make them laugh and he forgot to take it off, and then went into work like Monday, Tuesday, and it's still on.

Will Butler:

Okay. So I'm pulling it up on my screen and remember, I can't really see this. So we're just going off the audio here, but let's take a listen to the video meme of the week.

Speaker 3:

Mr. Ponton I believe you have a filter turned on in the video settings you might want to take a look...

Mr Ponton:

We're trying to...Can you hear me, judge?

Speaker 3:

I can hear you. I think it's a filter and-

Mr Ponton:

Yes, and we've been trying to remove it. I've got my assistant here she's trying to but I'm prepared to go forward with this. I'm here your honor, but I'm not a cat.

Speaker 5:

I'm not a cat.

Speaker 3:

... I can see that. I think if you click the up arrow next to this...

Will Butler:

Oh, that was the whole video?

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah. Oh my god, I've probably watched it five times in a row.

Will Butler:

Oh my god, I love how he says, "I'm not a cat," like don't worry. Let me ask you, is there someone else in the frame too?

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah, it looks like they're recording the session or something and so, the other people on the call have their video turned on, and they're appearing on the screen, like a Zoom recording.

Will Butler:

So there's a defendant in there or something?

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah. I mean, there must be. I mean, there's two other gentlemen I think on the video, and one doesn't say anything at all, and the other is trying to help the attorney figure it out.

Will Butler:

And now I've pulled up the visual and I'm zooming in on it so that I can read it and it says, recording of this hearing or live stream is prohibited, violation laws may constitute contempt of court and result in a fine of up to $500 and a jail term of up to 180 days, which really makes you realize that this is a real court hearing.

Caroline Derosiers:

Yes, it is. And I think probably my favorite line from that video is, "I'm prepared to move forward with it," I think that's so funny. He's prepared, if they can't figure out how to get this filter off, he's prepared to proceed as the fluffy white kitten [inaudible 00:23:30].

Will Butler:

Oh my God. Well, Caroline, you made my week and I am now prepared to proceed as the fluffy white kitten, and I hope that everyone else has a great week as well. Thank you so much for doing this, and if anyone has their alt tag needs, go check out Scribely, right?

Caroline Derosiers:

Yeah.

Will Butler:

Thanks again, and we'll see you all next week.

Caroline Derosiers:

Thanks everyone.

Will Butler:

Do you want to describe your favorite memes for our community? Send a voice memo to hello@saymymeme.com, that's hello@saymymeme.com.

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