Lolrus

A "Lolrus" is an image macro with a picture of a whiskered sea mammal often referencing a wistful relationship with a bucket. [see slate.com [http://www.slate.com/id/2166338/slideshow/2166369/fs/0//entry/2166374/] ] Due to the popularity of the first lolrus, " I Has a Bucket", a number of other lolruses have been created that extend the saga of the sea creature and his lost bucket. These later lolruses generally assume prior knowledge on the reader's part of the ur-lolrus. Lolrus images are often posted to websites featuring lolcat image macros such as [http://icanhascheezburger.com/tag/lolrus I Can Has Cheezburger] .

Lolruses, like lolcats, tend to use Internet slang and poor grammar extensively, and the caption tends to be in white with a thin black border.

I Has a Bucket

The first lolrus, posted in January 2007 on the website [http://icanhascheezburger.com I Can Has Cheezburger] , consisted of two photographs of an elephant seal. [see icanhascheezburger.com for the first posting of "I Has A Bucket" [http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/01/14/i-has-a-bucket] ] In the first, the seal is gladly holding onto a blue bucket and above there is the caption "I Has a Bucket". In the next photograph, the seal is angry as the bucket has been taken away from him, and the caption reads "Noooo they be stealin' my Bucket".

"I Has a Bucket" quickly spread to become an Internet meme, largely due to the existing success of lolcats. [see Time Magazine 2007-07-12, "Creating a Cute Cat Frenzy" by Lev Grossman: "The I HAS A BUCKET lolrus, starring a tragic walrus deprived of its only possession, is threatening to spin off into a freestanding meme in its own right." Note also that Grossman misidentifies the elephant seal as a walrus. [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1642897,00.html] ] Because the elephant seal was mis-identified by many as a walrus, and referred to simply as the "Bucket Walrus", the new image macro type acquired the name lolrus. Further lolrus images continued the fictional saga of the bucket and lolrus. [A number of image macro sites have sections devoted to the meme. For example, The Complete Walrus Bucket Saga [http://hamsterinthewheel.com/fatalfury/walrus-bucket/] ] As is common for Internet memes such as this, "I Has a Bucket" soon inspired its own domain. [see ihasabucket.com [http://ihasabucket.com] ]

Origin of the Lolrus and Bucket Meme

The origin of the lolrus image can ultimately be traced to a southern elephant seal named Minazo (kanji: 美男象, and hiragana: みなぞう). [see images of Minazo being fed at Enoshima Aquarium. The "bucket walrus" is immediately identifiable as Minazo, the elephant seal [http://www.karlson.ru/lj/minazo.html] ]

Born in 1995, Minazo was captured in the wild when he was half a year old and transported from Uruguay to Japan. Until his death in 2005, he was held in captivity at [http://www.enosui.com/ Enoshima Aquarium] in Fujisawa, Kanagawa Prefecture where he became a very popular attraction, even appearing on Japanese television shows. ["Popular Enoshima Aquarium Seal Dies After 10 1/2-year Run" (Japan Times 2005-10-05) [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20051007b4.html] ] Despite his fame in Japan, Minazo remained obscure until June 27, 2006, when noise artist Merzbow (aka Masami Akita) released a two volume album (vol. 1, vol. 2) in tribute to Minazo. Cover art for the album by Jenny Akita showed Minazo holding his beloved bucket. [see Minazo vol. 1 album artwork [http://www.importantrecords.com/images/content/release_pages/imprec097_release.htm] ] By the time "I Has a Bucket" was posted in January 2007, the image of Minazo on Merzbow's album and t-shirt merchandise, and the story of Minazo's life and death had reached an international audience. A full four months passed before observant lolrus commenters at icanhascheezburger.com identified the elephant seal shown in the ur-lolrus image macro as none other than Minazo performing his signature bucket holding, tongue-lolling pose. [see "I Can Has Bucket" comments beginning April 2007, I Has A Bucket [http://icanhascheezburger.com/2007/01/14/i-has-a-bucket] ] [see above, Japan Times 2005-10-05. [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20051007b4.html] ] In the [http://media.urbandictionary.com/image/original/lolrus-50444.jpgoriginal uncropped image] , rather than angry over a lost bucket, Minazo appears to have opened his mouth to receive a fish as reward for this performance. [A source image for the unedited lolrus was posted with a definition of lolrus in April 2007 at urbandictionary.com [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=lolrus] ]

In his liner notes, Masami Akita suggests that Minazo's frequent and demanding performances left him exhausted, contributing ultimately to his death at the age of 11. Male elephant seals generally live till about 14 years of age. [For more information on southern (and northern) elephant seals including their lifespan, see Wikipedia's article on Elephant Seals.] Akita's intention in celebrating Minazo was to highlight the plight of captive animals used for public entertainment. [The liner notes to Merzbow's album Minazo makes clear his intention, see Merzbow's Minazo press release, Important Records 2006) [http://www.importantrecords.com/images/content/release_pages/imprec097_release.htm] ]

References

ee also

*image macro
*lolcat
*Elephant Seal
*Minazo
*Merzbow
*Minazo Vol. 1
*Minazo Vol. 2

External links

* [http://icanhascheezburger.com I Can Has Cheezburger]
* [http://ihasabucket.com ihasabucket.com]
* [http://www.karlson.ru/lj/minazo.html Images of Minazo, the elephant seal at Enoshima aquarium]
* [http://www.importantrecords.com/images/content/release_pages/imprec097_release.htm Important Records/Merzbow press release for Minazo album, 2006]
* [http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20051007b4.html Popular Enoshima aquarium seal dies after 10 1/2-year run (Japan Times 2005-10-05)]