Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Words of the Day
I got these two words over the last week in my daily email from Urban Dictionary. The first one: typeractive, completely refers to me in my non-paying job, sort of summer break, workless state. But I also think I've always been this way. Definition: Someone who is overly talkative on emails or text messages. As in: Man, this Emily (Julia) should get a job. She's been messaging me every 2 minutes. And there are 10 emails in my inbox from her. She is way typeractive today.
Then there was BGP which made me laugh because I've had it happen to me twice. Definition: Short for background props. Placing oneself in the background of another person's picture, usually striking some strange pose or making some other gesture, unbeknownst to the subjects or the photographer. As in: Look at this random guy getting his BGPs in your picture!
The first time was around college with friends at The Getty in Malibu. A waiter at a cafe took our picture and this guy stuck his head in the back and made a funny face. It made us laugh so hard when we got the photos back. Then in 2004 there was this very subtle version:
Click for bigger and look at the girl inside the window.
The thing with BGP is that it is a selfless act of fun. You will never know how much the person who sees the photo will react. I suppose in the digital photo age, there is a chance for immediate notice of the person in the background, but generally, you don't expect it or notice it until much later.
When traveling to very touristy spots, I had an idea about creating a freaky photo situation. Find a family or couple or group of people who are clearly in a city like Rome or Paris for only a day or so. Walk around behind them all day and constantly get in their pictures in wacky, obvious ways. If you have a partner, you can make it less obvious by having them "take your photo" at the same time. Again, though, this is a bit of performance art that you can't ever really see the results of. But hey, somewhere, you know you got your BGPs.
Then there was BGP which made me laugh because I've had it happen to me twice. Definition: Short for background props. Placing oneself in the background of another person's picture, usually striking some strange pose or making some other gesture, unbeknownst to the subjects or the photographer. As in: Look at this random guy getting his BGPs in your picture!
The first time was around college with friends at The Getty in Malibu. A waiter at a cafe took our picture and this guy stuck his head in the back and made a funny face. It made us laugh so hard when we got the photos back. Then in 2004 there was this very subtle version:
Click for bigger and look at the girl inside the window.
The thing with BGP is that it is a selfless act of fun. You will never know how much the person who sees the photo will react. I suppose in the digital photo age, there is a chance for immediate notice of the person in the background, but generally, you don't expect it or notice it until much later.
When traveling to very touristy spots, I had an idea about creating a freaky photo situation. Find a family or couple or group of people who are clearly in a city like Rome or Paris for only a day or so. Walk around behind them all day and constantly get in their pictures in wacky, obvious ways. If you have a partner, you can make it less obvious by having them "take your photo" at the same time. Again, though, this is a bit of performance art that you can't ever really see the results of. But hey, somewhere, you know you got your BGPs.
Permalink posted by Julia @ 7/25/2007 11:17:00 AM 
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LOl...that was a funny pic with the gal in the window. We (my kids and I) do a fake nose pick for the tourist camera. On occassions we do a quick moon. Its all in good fun and certain adds to the travel stories for those folks from Iowa!
Did you watch Kathy Griffin on her last episode? She was totally do BGP to Hillary Clinton, trying to get in a photo with her!
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