How could we reject such a submeeshon!?!

by Meg on April 11, 2008

Apparentleh, this submeeshon was not accepted at C.O. and was posted over at ICHC. How could thees haf happened!?!?

Cuteoverlodere128520919992343750

Carrie L. and Teho, we’re befuddled…

{ 77 comments }

1 FrankS 04.11.08 at 6:12 am
2 Meg 04.11.08 at 6:12 am

VICTORY IS YOURS!

3 Chelsea 04.11.08 at 6:12 am

I have a hotlink for ICHC right next to CO and I totally thought I had hit the wrong button for about 5 seconds. Awesome.

4 aesthetica 04.11.08 at 6:17 am

chelsea, i have the two buttons on my firefox menu bar too. same effect, i also thought i had hit the wrong one. has happened before.

i can haz confuzion?

5 poniboy 04.11.08 at 6:27 am

my submishes of my kat with 27 toes are NEVAR! selected here!!

6 Hon Glad 04.11.08 at 6:29 am

My god their standards are rigorous, look at the state of me, I just about escaped with my dignity intact.

7 Subhangi 04.11.08 at 6:43 am

LMAO!!!

8 berthaslave 04.11.08 at 7:14 am

Well, no wonder. Electrocuted cat is not cute.

[What the hell, B'Slave? Bad day?? - Ed.]

9 sari 04.11.08 at 7:48 am

Haha!

Although yesterday I saw this in the voting queue and thought it was the best use for this pic, like, ever: http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/4/8/smeagolknowst128521138520744702.jpg

10 Fransouah 04.11.08 at 7:52 am

The Gringaloo, it is the Gringaloo!! *scampers away*

11 bookmonstercats 04.11.08 at 8:39 am

@sar, loves the Smeagol-cat.

12 Gail 04.11.08 at 9:28 am

CONGRATS on making it to the big time (CO), wet little kitteh!!!

13 metsakins 04.11.08 at 11:31 am

wow, usually first the pic is on CO, then 2 days later its capped and on ICHC. Is there a warp in the time space continumum?

14 Annie 04.11.08 at 12:10 pm

Metsakins Perhaps there has been a glitch in the Matrix.

This can only mean one thing..Kitty is the one!

15 M. 04.11.08 at 12:14 pm

LOL!

16 Theo 04.11.08 at 12:33 pm

oh man…

OK, just to be clear: ICHC has this “LOL Builder” tool (at http://mine.icanhascheezburger.com/ ) which allows anybody to upload any photo(s) — which automatically get stamped with the ICHC watermark. Anybody can add any caption(s) to these sample photos that they like. Then, anybody can *vote* on these user-generated LOLs, which can also be submitted for consideration to the folks that run ICanHasCheezburger, which means they have a chance of getting posted on the site proper.

This photo/caption combo is one of THOUSANDS of these user submissions, and NOT an actual ICHC post — at least, not yet. Though (and this is my opinion) it’s definitely one of the better ones. And the fact that it *is* now posted on CO is, well, very meta.

17 mom2boys 04.11.08 at 12:40 pm

Looks like a tortured kitteh to me.. nice.

18 Theo 04.11.08 at 12:42 pm

Mom2boys — I don’t envy you your perspective on life.

19 Raeantics 04.11.08 at 12:50 pm

I have had at least a dozen of my OWN cat (Sir Booey) pictures rejected. I’m starting to feel a little desperate. I might go over to ICHC so I don’t lose my entire ego.

20 Pachiz 04.11.08 at 12:50 pm

That cat ain’t right…

21 bethy 04.11.08 at 12:55 pm

it’s shaking it’s head cos it’s wet, not being tortured or electricuted or whatever…
calm down.

22 Barbara 04.11.08 at 12:55 pm

I submitted a baby lubber grasshopper and my freaky looking shih tzu in a bee costume and no go so far – but I remain optimistic! I miss those baby lubber grasshoppers (I moved out of FL and no longer see them)

23 Carrie 04.11.08 at 1:03 pm

Well – let me tell you – it took me well over a year to get my first thing posted here and to get this one posted I had to get up at 5:00 a.m.!!! And then I didn’t submit it cause I thought it was going to get posted – just cause I thought it was purty damned funny – cause it summed up my feelings for a long-long time!

But – yay me for being posted twice now! Yay!

24 chanpon 04.11.08 at 1:10 pm

@FrankS – I saw that last night on ICHC, and I like that one better (stupid horror movie fan that I am).

This cat does look like it walked out of “Night of the Living Dead”. This may be one of the few times I ever question if a cat is really cute.

25 Cliff 04.11.08 at 1:14 pm

It was rejected because this picture is crap. CuteOverload is not the place for piss-poor photographs of animals.

26 Macey 04.11.08 at 1:18 pm

I’m going to have to go with…it was rejected because it’s creepy, not cute.

27 Christine 04.11.08 at 1:22 pm

It’s not electrocuted, guys. It’s a cat that just got out of the bath. Gawsh.

28 Shersher 04.11.08 at 1:25 pm

I love when CO does a lolcat :) :)

29 Kari 04.11.08 at 1:35 pm

OK, so it’s funny, in a way. It’s just not CUTE! I know the poor cat isn’t being tortured or electrocuted, he JUST AIN’T CUTE in this pic. IMHO, of course, but I think it’s shared by at least a few.

[Well yeah, that's why it's funny - Ed.]

[...and there I go, *explaining* humor - Fail.]

30 A thinker 04.11.08 at 1:41 pm

Genius. This may be CO and not ICHC, but I’m lol’ing anyway. Dat poor cat looks like something is deeply wrong with him (although he’s probably just peeved about being wet).

31 Mrs. Always Rejected 04.11.08 at 2:17 pm

well humfff, not near as cute as a wrinkle-face bebbeh Mastiff…all big-eared…with a smile…and over-sized paws crossed. Dang! Oh the head tilt, and good lord the Baroo…with tongue-tip out I tell you!!!

32 Golden 04.11.08 at 2:24 pm

People just don’t ‘get’ it do they? This is called humor people.. tongue in cheek, witty HUMOR. Okay.. I won’t nuff on the nuffs..

This is freakin hilarious.. I laughed out loud and it echoed across the floor in my office.

Great SHTUFF CO!

33 Aoide 04.11.08 at 2:26 pm

Hmm…I know this pose. It’s the getting-ready-to-scratch-behind-the-ear pose. My cat looked very similar to this when she got caught out in the rain earlier this week. She made a similar facial expression to this cat’s too.

34 reject 04.11.08 at 2:37 pm

I shall put a pancake on my puppeh’s head and send her over to StuffOnMyMutt…how disgraceful!

35 cath 04.11.08 at 2:41 pm

awww… it’s cute AND funny. cats are adorable when their dignity is compromised. if this guy was in my house, i’d rofl right over to him and give him a giant, roffling snorgle.

then i’d probably lose an eye. but that’s just ‘cos cats have no sense of humour.

36 jen 04.11.08 at 2:43 pm

oh dear, poor kitty! what happened! a bath gone bad?

37 warrior rabbit 04.11.08 at 2:59 pm

@Cliff. Eye of the beholder mean anything to you? And only the owner can say what CO is the place for, and I think she just did.

@Carrie — congrats! I’ve submitted so many cute and funny things (and they weren’t my pets, either, so I’m not a peeved pet parent) that have never been taken. For the first year-and-a-half I was rather patient and understanding, because I know she’s deluged, but that changed when the posts started being from the same people, over and over again. I can see from other people’s comments (on this and other posts) that I’m hardly the only one frustrated by the development. As far as submissions go, it used to be that CO was overwhelmed but mostly egalitarian; now it just seems elitist.

I still visit (obviously), but I find lately that more of my timewasting quota is spent at places like ICHC than in the past, when it was heavily devoted to CO.

38 ThreeCatNight 04.11.08 at 3:09 pm

Kitteh is all: “Ooh, ooh. Gotta scratch! Gotta scratch! And while you’re up – gimme a towel!”

39 metsakins 04.11.08 at 3:10 pm

Yes peeps …its a joke! I thought it was funny. My comment was meant as a joke too.

congrats Carrie!

40 brinnann 04.11.08 at 4:10 pm

Well, Metsie, I got it. Isn’t that all that matters? ;)

Aoide, I’m glad you pointed out the getting-ready-to-scratch-behind-the-ear pose. I thought this was more than just the disgruntled post-bath look, and as soon as I read your comment I realized I’ve seen this face too on my kittehs!

41 cath 04.11.08 at 4:39 pm

Oh, Mets… you clearly fail to understand the seriousness of the time-space continuum and rifts therein.

Really. I am making my most serious face right now.

42 brinnann 04.11.08 at 4:48 pm

cath, I hope that doesn’t hurt too much.

OMGWORMHOLES!!!!

43 Natalie 04.11.08 at 5:07 pm

This cat is not cute, it is scary and looks possessed. I would have rejected it too!

44 Carrie 04.11.08 at 5:17 pm

Jeesh – this could turn out to be the commentroversy instead!

I also wanted to state, that I didn’t make the ICHC – I just sent it in.

45 Courtney 04.11.08 at 5:25 pm

AHAHAHAHAHA!

awwwwwww. Poor kitty. To be caught making a particularly goofy face. Reminds me of when my college roommate took some pictures while I was dancing at a party. I looked awful. :P

46 Me 04.11.08 at 5:31 pm

CO rejex my submishes too. Boxers are not cute to thems.

47 metsakins 04.11.08 at 6:22 pm

if there is really a warp…can we make it April 16?

*turns back to pile of tax returns on desk*

48 Maria 04.11.08 at 6:59 pm

Definitely, as linked in the first comment, THAT is the best captioning of that photo — perhaps ANY LOLcat photo — EVAR.

49 wagthedogma 04.11.08 at 8:15 pm

Maybe this guy is just warming up for the local Bill the Cat look-alike contest. (ACK!!!)

50 luscher 04.11.08 at 8:31 pm

h’uh – maybe my C.O. rejected parrotlet needs a cheeseburger !

51 Sarah 04.11.08 at 8:38 pm

LOL!!

I’ve only ever made one submission and it was posted.

http://mfrost.typepad.com/cute_overload/2006/12/rule_of_cutenes.html

Yay

52 Gail 04.11.08 at 8:58 pm

When you send in submeeeeshes, would Meg make the connection between your email address and the name you use for commenting? Just thinking, maybe when she’s got like a Beeelion submeeshes in the CO Inbox, she might look first at messages whose email she recognizes….

None of mine have made it either, btw. (I blame poor pic quality rather than lack of QTE!)

53 Furbabies 04.11.08 at 11:32 pm

Me thinkth a pudding fight is inevitable. I too have submitted a few and, no, none of mine have been posted. But, this is Meg’s site and she can darn well post what she wants (even if mine are cute). Don’t forget, make mine chocolate or tapioca!

54 CoffeeCup 04.11.08 at 11:41 pm

Can you really imagine how many emails a day Meg gets? I’ve submitted my bun a few times, and while I think he’s adorable, I can understand if maybe his cuteness doesn’t make him stand out from the pack. After all, the buns posted here are adorable as well. So really, I’ve never been annoyed because I figure that Meg probably gets a few hundred billion emails per day, and there just isn’t enough time to sort through all of them and properly evaluate the rules for all facets of cuteness.

And the above photo? Hilarious. I laugh everytime I see it. It’s absolutely hilarious – and then I get to the comments and seeing people who think the cat was electrocuted? I guffawed all the way back up the page to the photo, then I laughed again. It’s a dangerous cycle.

55 warrior rabbit 04.12.08 at 1:04 am

Coffee Cup,

That was how I used to think about it, yes. I know she’s, as I said, deluged. But now she just plays favorites, and that’s no fun for anyone. Except the favorites, of course.

56 cath 04.12.08 at 1:58 am

brinnann: no, it doesn’t hurt all that much. but it’s also not very convincing.

57 kafleenthedonkey 04.12.08 at 2:27 am

A pudding fight!! Count me in!
Lemon! Pistachio! Butterscotch!

[wut u doin ovar heer, Kafleen?? - Ed.]

;)

58 Alexa 04.12.08 at 2:31 am

Wow!
Looks like my cat after she has been given a bath,
had her ears cleaned,
and given her heart worm
medicine. You’d think we
had just given her poison instead of medicine to keep her heart healthy.
She pointedly ignores us for several hours later.
Her whole attitude is all
” how could you, I thought you loved me, just you wait,
I’ve been soooo wronged,
and on an on an on she yowls and sulks.
Finally ( ! ) she falls asleep.
Our other cats don’t like it but don’t get all upset like she does.
Ahh, siamese kitty, you drive us crazy but we would go crazy without you!!

59 Theo 04.12.08 at 3:12 am

Um, before we make any more wild guesses about what Meg picks out of the daily tens of thousands of submissions to be made into CO posts, let’s take a deep breath. Photo quality matters a great deal, probably 95% of the time… and I’m talking about clarity, composition, narrative, basic subject matter, etc.

Now, on occasion a photo submission will have such an overwhelming strength in one area that another is forgiven — say, humor, or just general uniqueness. Maybe she gets three grainy shots of a ferret that’s clearly learned how to blow milk bubbles? Or maybe she’s away from her computer for a couple of days and (ahem) somebody else gets to post a silly animation on a Friday afternoon.

Mostly, though, there’s some pretty stringent quality standards to live up to. Meg’s a departmental director at a highly-recognizable company whose worldwide successes are due in no small part to its design capabilities. It’s second nature to her. SO. If your submissions haven’t been accepted (yet), I’d say keep trying — and keep practicing.

It might help to browse through digital-photography blogs, maybe mostly just for fun, but you can also sponge up photography techniques; here’s one good solid collection of well-shot photos: http://www.digicamplus.com/

60 Tam 04.12.08 at 3:39 am

I’ll raise my hand at the back of the CO crowd and say that I’ve submitted before and not been posted but just recently my ’stoned out hamster’ (I believe that was the general consensus, smoking bamboo I believe – funny how as a parent you never pick up on the signs until someone points them out to you ;) finally found a spot in CO immortality. And I’m not a ‘regular name’ so there’s hope – trust an author who’s written more than her share of query letters before finding an agent for her book. Its persistence, timing, and quality.

61 Melora 04.12.08 at 5:22 am

I really agree with warrior rabbit. I always see the same kind of stuff and most of it seems to be by the same contributors. I’ve submitted some things I think are AT LEAST as cute as stuff that’s been on the site and they never get posted, (and it’s certainly not because of the photo quality: to people who say that’s the main reason.) I’m so sad ;_; I’ve just given up on sending things in, no matter how cute they seem- it’s like my ego on what is cute or not has been crushed. What does someone have to do to share cute around here? This is what I’m talking about… and OMG *dies* esp. the first one: http://www.melorasworld.com/photoalbum/albums/userpics/10002/baby_cute.jpg
http://www.melorasworld.com/photoalbum/albums/misc-places-events/home-nj-outside/DSCN3224.JPG
http://www.melorasworld.com/photoalbum/albums/random/mig-and-pig/mig-icky.jpg
http://www.melorasworld.com/photoalbum/albums/random/mig-and-pig/mig-teddy2.jpg
http://www.melorasworld.com/photoalbum/albums/random/mig-and-pig/baby1.jpg
http://www.melorasworld.com/photoalbum/albums/random/mig-and-pig/piglet-babycoat2.jpg
http://www.melorasworld.com/photoalbum/albums/random/mig-and-pig/carrot-thief2.jpg
http://www.melorasworld.com/photoalbum/albums/random/cute/wildlife/moth.jpg (last one isn’t that cute but I sent it a while back when there were a lot of bugs being posted and it is a PINK moth :o …pink=cute, right? ;)
And there were more. These were just the ones I had uploaded somewhere already.
I totally understand what it’s like to be busy as a webmaster, and have a life; but I do kind of wonder if the person who gets the emails looks at ones from people she doesn’t already know anymore (or if there’s just too much spam to do that) ;_;

62 Dava 04.12.08 at 4:56 pm

I don’t know why Meg is befuddled. I’m guessing she misses good submissions all the time. I know she’s never posted anything from me, including these photos, which make badgers smile:

http://newt-the-cute.livejournal.com/3219.html#cutid1

Not the even the background story, of having rescued this hamster from a trash bin, warmed her heart! So I just gave my hamster her own blog.

63 warrior rabbit 04.12.08 at 5:02 pm

Theo,
Again, I previously (and for a very long time) was very understanding about the volume of submissions, and how that might play a part. I know she is overwhelmed. However, we’ve seen poor quality pictures and videos here, so I really don’t find that to be a valid argument. And if she were operating by such criteria, which it seems obvious she isn’t despite your theories, then they should be posted so that all would have a chance to meet these stringent requirements.

It seems to me that Meg used to be very egalitarian in her choices. There was a lot of representation from lots of different people, and the ultimate goal was service to the cute. That’s why so many people were so understanding of how their stuff was not being chosen.

Now it’s just the same people, multiple times, with the occasional new person sneaking in. Knowing how many people have submitted so much and so frequently, it just seems like that much more of an insult to all when Johanna S. gets yet another post.

64 Doree 04.12.08 at 6:14 pm

Wow…really? Rejected? Because this is NOT a cute cat? I could never have guessed that!

65 Jim 04.13.08 at 12:50 am

Sigh…Since when is someone’s blog supposed to be fair to everyone else? If you want a perfectly egalitarian blog where everyone else in the internets is fairly represented, start it yourself.

66 redseaenglis 04.13.08 at 4:38 am

probably by helping called front yard as a sapling Years later, their names his to ramble then eventually huge tree

67 Theo 04.13.08 at 4:58 am

Warrior Rabbit –

OK, you got me. I guess I was hoping nobody would notice, but yes, it’s true, all of it. Meg only likes three people and posts their stuff exclusively. You’re right. Oh god I’m so ashamed.

Wait, no.

68 Theo 04.13.08 at 5:12 am

OK, less snarkily… the real, true truth is: Jim is right, along with everyone else who’s said “it’s Meg’s blog and she can do what she likes with it”. That really is the last word here.

My bad for trying to help, maybe, though I stand by what I wrote (i.e. the better stuff you send in, the more likely it’ll get posted). But ultimately, the material has to appeal to Meg’s personal tastes, or she won’t use it.

Now, obviously this is 2008 and you don’t have to just accept that reality if you don’t feel like it. This brings me back to all the folks who’ve said, more or less, “You can always make your own blog.” Seriously, it’s *so* easy these days. Just do it. I still recommend Vox, by the way: http://www.vox.com/

69 lurkingsmirk 04.13.08 at 3:35 pm

Just wait until the calendar comes out and your picture wasn’t picked, oh nos! All 365 days from the same 5 people hehehe. But srsly, CO is not for taking personally.

70 oudemia 04.13.08 at 6:49 pm

This was on the front page of icanhascheezburger on 7 April — before it ran here.

[Not exactly. Did you click the "this submeeshon" link in the post? - Ed.]

71 oudemia 04.13.08 at 7:51 pm

You’re right. I’ve lost my mind.

72 Sandi 04.14.08 at 4:36 pm

You know how many submishes I have made and not a one has EVAR been posted? I don’t blame that kitteh going over to the other site!

73 Theo 04.14.08 at 6:23 pm

Oudemia — then I’d say you’ve come to the right place

74 Babs 04.15.08 at 1:59 pm

Jim, how dare you suggest that Meg can do what she wants on her own blog! Why, I eyes ya…

I’ve never understood the whining over not getting submissions posted, just as I’ve never understood how having the bleen comment makes your life better. (FTR, I’ve made unposted submissions myself.) Heartbroken? Because you sent a photo to someone and she didn’t put it on her blog? Then clearly you have no real problems. Please come take mine.

Finally, I invite you to look up the definition of “submit.” It’s not a synonym for “demand,” even if you think it should be.

75 Sheila 04.16.08 at 1:19 pm

i just wanted to say that, I’m sure most people that visit this site think of their pets as their children. I’m sure everyone thinks their baby, pookie, shnookums is the cutest thing EVAR photographed (not as cute as mine though!). So how dare someone not agree! Anyway…I think that’s why so many people are butt-hurt about thier submishes not “making the cute cut”. **flicking two pennies atcha**

76 Jessie 04.17.08 at 12:33 pm

NNNOOOOOO! we cant deny a kitteh a place! people we need a post quick! cute transplant! now go go go!

77 Jessibird 04.21.08 at 1:34 am

The cat is wet. It is NOT a “piss poor animal” as someone stated. NO animal is piss poor. That makes me mad. This kitty is cute, and he’s not hurt. I saw it on ICHC and I LOVED it.
STOP being haters.

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