Well, I’m a bit surprised and bit not – ‘Selfie’ originates from Australia!
According to the Oxford dictionary, which has now put its definition onto their online website (“A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to social media website”), the first documented version of a selfie appeared in an online ABC forum.
A drunk (must be Australian clue #1) wrote
“Um, drunk at a mates 21st, I tripped ofer [sic] and landed lip first (with front teeth coming a very close second) on a set of steps. I had a hole about 1cm long right through my bottom lip. And sorry about the focus, it was a selfie.”
The fact that it ends in ‘ie’ rather than ‘y’ is a second clue lending towards an Australian origin. Apparently we like to end words in ‘ie’ to make things more endearing and in this case, turning a possible narcassitic action into something cute and fun.
And final supporting argument, even our former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd helped to promote the expression, by sharing selfie pictures of himself while shmoozing the public.
Sorry, more can cartoons
Hopefully Andy Warhol is not rolling over in his grave over this one.
Here are some not so well known facts about this amazing artist:
- His very first movie was aptly named ‘Sleep’. It filmed his friend sleeping for a whopping 6 hours. Nine people attended the opening night and within the first hour two left… and then there where seven (who amazingly stayed right up to the end).
- Andy nearly died when he was shot in the chest by Valerie Solanis. Valerie was a founder of club called SCUM (Society for Cutting Up Men) and as a staunch feminist saw it her duty to rid the world of people like Andy, who she considered to be abusive and controlling. As a side point, it is relieving to note that she was the only member of the club.
- The high school art club excluded Andy from becoming a member, as he was considered better than the other members.
Well, Campbell does!
Thanks must go to Harold, a regular visitor to the site, who inspired this cartoon with his ‘can do’ comment on my last post.
Well, no – not for me, but don’t worry – lucky for you!
This is a self indulgent trip down memory lane showing the three cartoons I submitted into the 40th Piracicaba International humor festival (but I posted them first here on this website for you all to enjoy!). You may recall, my first modest submission two years ago (if not, take a peak here).
Well, here are my 2013 entries (maybe Brazilians don’t get Aussie humour). And they all come with bonus Portuguese captions too!
If you want to see who the winners were, click on here. My favourite is the archery shooting one – What’s yours?
We all know that the pen is mightier than the sword, but did you know that the paper is mightier than the infamous writer’s block too!
A BIG ‘e’ shout out to Niranjana from A Wild Imagination blog. Thought a little pep up was needed.
I’m always after inspiration for a new cartoon. I loved this cartoon by Robert Black (another great Aussie cartoonist) depicting the ‘creative block’, so went for the obvious writer’s alternate.
But on the topic of ‘blocks’, what’s your tip for conquering the block?
I go for distraction and either start doodling or Google surf some of my favourite science news sites.