Originally, a guy named Drew Curtis found a funny picture of a squirrel with really huge ... uuummm ... body parts that he wanted to share with his friends. Instead of emailing it to everybody and clogging their email inboxes with the pic, he created a website to post it on then just sent everybody the link. As you may have guessed, he just sort of made up the word "FARK" as a less offensive title than another word that starts and ends with the same letters.
In 1999, he started posting links to funny or interesting stories or pictures he found on the web so his friends could just check there when they wanted to see what he had to offer rather than getting bombarded with emails from him. It was a very thoughtful way to share stuff. I wish more people would do it that way.
Over time, the site started getting pretty popular and he opened it up to other people submitting stuff. The format was this: You'll see a bunch of descriptions of posts by the people who submitted them. To the far left of that, there's a link to the thing they're sharing, often the logo of the news agency or web site reporting it or simply the words "Some Guy". Click there to see the story or whatever they're sharing. Between those two things, you'll see a "tag" that sort of categorizes what sort of thing it is or what it relates to. Some tags include Video, Weird, Interesting, Amusing, Dumbass etc.
If you see "NSFW" in the description, that means "Not Safe For Work".
The "Boobies" tag means that the link will likely show .... well.... BOOBIES.
Personally, I don't do Photoshops with nudity or whatever so you're safe looking at this page.
These days, many employers monitor what you look at on the company computer even if you're on your lunch break. Some of the links posted on FARK may contain nudity or foul language. If you are the type that's offended by such things or have a boss or spouse that would make your life miserable for looking,
The folks on FARK are pretty good about issuing these warnings and the moderators will usually delete the ones that slip through but they can't get 'em all. FARK at your own risk! At a lot of jobs these days, one nekkid picture showing up on your screen can get you fired.
To the right of the description, is a number. That represents the number of people who have left comments about that particular post. If you click on that number, you can read the comments (and even post some of your own after opening a free FARK account).
Quite often, the comments are a lot more fun than the original story. Since some of the stories are about issues that people have stong opinions about, these strings of posts (or "threads") can sometimes degenerate quickly into name-calling or "Flame-Wars". Mostly though, you'll find some pretty funny stuff, even relevant twisted graphics that people use HTML commands to embed in the discussion.
Wikipedia.org has a more comprehensive description about FARK history and some of the tags, Farkisms and clichés that you can access by clicking HERE.
Photoshop Contests
One of the most popular themes on FARK are the Photoshop Contests. Photoshop is a popular graphics manipulation program that can be used by those with the right skills to turn a picture of just about anything into a picture of just about anything else. Playboy uses it to erase the cellulite from the butts of their bunnies. Republicans used it to turn a picture of John Kerry into a picture of John Kerry hanging out with Jane Fonda. If you want a completely realistic picture of your Aunt Betty hang-gliding with Jack Nicholson, just give a good Photoshopper 20 minutes and a decent pic of your Auntie.
Anyone can suggest a subject for a contest but they get so many idea submissions that "moderators" of the site have to wade through them and pick only a few to post on the main FARK page. It's all too common for people to suggest contests like "Do something funny with this adorable picture of my Grandson". Contest ideas are selected mostly for interesting visuals that will give people a lot of room to use their creativity. Of course, the main criteria is whether or not the moderator feels like posting it.
The link in a Photoshop contest often goes to a picture to be used as the starting point. The description will say something like "Photoshop this picture of a duck to illustrate a current news story". Sometimes, there will just be a theme or something to include. Sometimes, there will be a rule to make it more difficult or weed out the really obvious approaches. This will usually be something like "DIFFICULTY: No references to Dick Cheney". The comments section to the right of the description is where you'll find the entries.
While it's called a contest and the "entries" can be voted on, nobody really pays much attention to the results. They tend to reflect how early someone posts their entry or the popularity of a view their entry expresses on a current issue more than a persons actual skill or creativity. The real purpose is to have fun and generate some chuckles.
Now that I have that babbling out of the way, it's on to the real reason I created the page you're looking at. I've done quite a few entries in FARK Photoshop contests (although I actually use a program called "Paint Shop Pro" rather than Photoshop) and I figured I'd start archiving 'em just for grins. Many of the original pictures that the contests centered around are no longer available but I'll dig up the ones I can. Most of the ones I've done are just plain gone. Blah Blah Blah, etc. etc. etc.
Anything you see under the name "Zeppo Nightshade" would be mine.
(Lotsa big graphics so it WILL take a while to load)
"Theme: If Fark had been around in the 60s..."
"Photoshop smiley"
Mine
"Photoshop Farker's "tool" friend making dinner while camping"
Mine
"In anticipation of the FBI's new "Porn Squad," design a logo or poster promoting the change. (Difficulty: Safe For Work)"
"In celebration of $500,000 in taxpayer money going to paint a fish on a plane, photoshop some other ideas for the government to paint on aircraft"
"Photoshop theme: Heaven vs. Hell"
"Theme: Computer peripherals on everyday items"
"First place in the James Bond contest: Daniel Craig. Photoshop the actor in last place, taking on the role. Difficulty: Can't be this guy"
Mine
"Photoshop Lorenzo"
Mine
Did Another 'cause I was bored
"Photoshop this sky rat"
Mine
"Today's Iron Photoshop ingredient: Alpacas (a type of Llama)"
"Theme: How first contact with an alien race will really take place"
"Photoshop this bee"
Mine
"Photoshop this urinal flora"
Mine
"Theme: There's a suspicious lack of looters in Key West right now. Photoshop why"
Click HERE to go to Page two.