GIF Talk

Evan Roth (of G.R.L. and F.A.T.) has created a 10-minute ode to the asinine antics of animated Graphics Interchange Format files. What better way to celebrate than setting this massive mashup to Girl Talk and marvelling at how obsessed we are with babies and cats and science fiction and...

Gingercide

The gingerism on display in M.I.A.'s new video for "Born Free" feels like South Park meets Children of Men on steroids. And while satire and exploitation serve their purposes, I have to consider them little more than stepping stones to a sad truth: our capacity for arbitrary hate will never die.

Please, for the good of humanity, don't be an idiot.

Death of a Meme

I first saw Downfall (Der Untergang) a number of years ago... probably 2006 or 2007. Without the internet, the bunker scene is bereft of humor; it is simply an interpretation of Hitler taking bad news badly, albeit a powerful one thanks to the ranting skills of Bruno Ganz. But on YouTube, Hitler found the time to bitch about everybody's problems. And he was often funny, unless you actually speak German. Despite trying to blitzkrieg the world in the name of lebensraum, and that whole Holocaust thing, Hitler finally found a way to become the everyman he'd always wanted to be. I'll bet there are even some Jews out there who will miss him, or at least his internet incarnation. Time may well heal all wounds, but don't be surprised if your suture scars are making a funny face at you.

Head over to the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) if you're interested in reading more about copyright law and fair use.

Cheese-A-Thon

Some make you cringe, some make you laugh, some get repeated constantly, and others have turned into memes (speaking of which... where's "You're the man now, dog."?). There are a few inclusions that I don't find cheesy enough and a few that just aren't cheesy at all, especially in context. But with those caveats aside, this is a pretty accurate and pretty fun list. I was glad to see that special attention was paid to the Governator, Keanu, Batman & Robin, The Wicker Man, and the Star Wars prequels. Personally, I would have loved to see "Holey rusted metal, Batman!" And there has to be something from a Star Trek movie worth including. Come on, there's eleven of them; throw a rock.

A list of the films is in the info box on YouTube, but maybe you want to see how many you can name first. Oh, and please please please pleeeease check out The Other 100 Best Movie Quotes of All Time.

xkcd

Randall Munroe is proof that a simple idea, well loved, can become complicated as all hell.

What does xkcd mean? (44:33)

People act out xkcd strips (7:15): "Cory Doctorow wears a red cape and goggles when he blogs..."; "Richard Stallman... sleeps with a katana..."; "Janeane Garofolo jumping a motorcycle off of the international space station as it crashes over an island with a volcanic eruption and tyrannosaurs..."; "Do you expect me to fly?" (19:15)

Also: Programming while drinking (10:15), "Maybe that's how Cory Doctorow gets to the balloon..." (21:25), lisp book (29:52), "If a raptor were to attack me in this room, how would I escape?" (30:28), River Tam (32:49), "Science. It works, bitches." (33:22), EMP Cannon (38:03), Sudo make me a sandwich (49:01), Braille (49:47), live Google doodle (52:52), and elaborate fight scenes (55:10).

Internet Video Memes

Oh, is that what you call them...

All sarcasm aside, this is a little trip down Memory Meme Lane in this big bad Internet City.

1) "All your base are belong to us"
This was the first internet phenomenon that really impressed me. I think it had something to do with the 8-bit Engrish obsession combined with the lure of en masse photoshopping.

2) "Gonads and Strife"
Or "Weee!" with a lot of e's if you prefer. Sure, it doesn't make any sense at first, but the hyperactive squirrel touches on some classic themes: drugs, death, R2D2... who am I kidding... I just watch it to sing "gonads in the lightning!"

3) "G.I. Joe PSAs" - If you ever lost faith in the interweb's ability to completely dumbfound you with random bullshit, don't blame Eric Fensler. I can only hope that The Rise of Cobra inspires a whole new set of live action PSAs.

4) "Powerthirst" - Let's forget for a moment that someone actually made a real life version of Brawndo (the sports drink that causes famine in Idiocracy) and used the Powerthirst voice talent to market it. It's all about the turbopuns and the preposterone hyperbole for me. From Rawberry to the 'fighter plane made of biceps,' watching the Powerthirst videos almost makes me feel good about skipping the gym.

5) "Can't Tase This" - Regardless of your OMG thoughts on the UF tasing incident, nothing spices up the internews like a little old skool... STOP... Hammertime. The sound editing is priceless, but I think the funniest thing for me is the implied lyrical oxymoron. Yes, they can touch this. Not only can they touch it, they can also tase it. Just you wait and see.

6) "Muppets react to '2 girls one cup'" - 2 girls 1 cup was probably the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. Kinda like having both my eyes raped by a troop of silverback gorillas. But, like many things in life, the Muppets found a way to make me laugh at it. Probably not what Jim Henson had in mind. Rolf FTW.

7) "There Will Be Milkshakes" - When a murder scene from a hyper-serious movie and the chorus from a sassy R&B song have something in common, well... opposites attract. They go straight to 'parking' after sharing a milkshake at the drugstore. What they don't tell you in health class is that the internet gets the orphaned baby after the one night stand. If I weren't such a lazy man I'd probably mash up Daniel Day Lewis and Kelis on morphthing.com for you. But I am.

8) "Oprah OVER 9000 penises f/ PEDOBEAR remix" - If you're unfamiliar with trolls and Pedopals then you may want to watch the clip from Attack of the Show before you delve into the remix. On one hand you might feel sorry for Empress O in her sincere concern for children online. On the other, you can't help but marvel at her gullibility as she serves to educate only by example. "Now make that your power!"