You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus: Mark Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court: US humorist, novelist, short story author, & wit (1835 - 1910).

Hooter’s Two for the Price of One — (A Funny Photo AND a Quote)

Gone Tamale

This is one of my other sites.  Do you think it unfair, somehow, that I’m reviewing it?  I think it’s a good site!  I don’t think you’ll mind my review:  There are things people need to know about this site that might not be obvious at first.

  1. The site is updated daily.
  2. It only has one post on the front page.
  3. A post consists of a photo AND a quote.
  4. The photo is from Flickr.
  5. The quote is from The Quotations Page.
  6. The Author’s (my) nickname is Hooter.

When a site has only one post on the front page, people can’t tell, at first glance, a) that the site has multiple posts; as such, b) that the site is updated regularly; or rather, c) the frequency with which the author posts.  This is to say, since there aren’t multiple posts on the page for the reader to compare such things as dates and / or number of posts per posting period:  The reader might get the impression that (simply put) “there are only a few posts on the site”.  And this is simply not true!  Rather, the reader should understand that the webmaster (myself) has THIS viewing experience in mind:

  • The layout is clean and uncluttered.
  • The initial impression is easy on the eyes.
  • The “overall” can be taken-in with a single glance.

I believe this is necessary to convey the “twofer” idea as a single unit (twofer suggests two for one).  There are a photo AND a quote.  And they are supposed to be understood “in one breath”.  Notwithstanding, the photo is from one place and the quote from another; as such, they don’t really go together (another misconception)!  However, I think the quote adds two elements of humor to the site that aren’t apparent in the photo alone:  Irony and Wit.

The quote shows in a more specific way what the photo strives to show in a more general way so that when the quote and the photo are contrasted with each other, the irony of the photo shines through; however, since humor isn’t meant to be understood this way, the wit (of the author) is allowed to show forth.

Irony

Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs (when something is out of place).

Wit

A message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter (like a pun, a play on words, even a rhyme).

In the example above, the irony is that tamales don’t have “eyes” (in the sense that Twain uses the term).  Nonetheless, the quote comes to suggest that the viewer must use his / her “imagination”.  Wittily, the words eyes and imagination take on a different meaning (with regard to the photo).  And it is through this juxtaposition that the photo gains its ability to surprise and delight the viewer.  Hopefully, then, this wit is carried through to the title of the post… which is often a pun.  And thus photo, quote, and title become unified into a new whole.

Still, I apologize (tongue in cheek) for the author’s nickname, Hooter.  Note the title of the site (shocking) is supposed to become less offensive that way (it is the possessive of Hooter, Hooter’s site, and does not refer to the female anatomy as one might otherwise guess).  But, this is also in line with the intent of the site:

To showcase CLEAN photos and thereby show humor as something other than sick, twisted, sexual, mocking, or otherwise offensive.

Finally, all photos are attributed to their source (they’re linked to flickr) and the photo owners have given their consent to display them on this site (they are listed as “creative commons”).