The picture presented for you is the now legendary Rick Astley. Rick was part of the incredibly awesome music industry of the 1980's. His video for "Never Gonna to Give You Up" has since risen to the level of epic status. This rise can be attributed to the vast numbers of nerds and internetphiles (yes, it's a made up word). You may or may not have heard of the Rick Roll, many of you may have even experienced one firsthand. I subject myself to the Rick Roll several times a week. If you have not, click on this awesome link to see the trailer for Grand Theft Auto: Tokyo.
If you clicked the link like you should have you will have been disappointed. There is no GTA: Tokyo, instead you are linked to the Rick Astley video. You have effectively experienced the feeling of being Rick Roll'd (albeit a poor attempt, I fail).
The truly interesting thing about the Rick Roll is that it has spread wide and far beyond the digital realm of the internet. Entire crowds at a Mets game have been Rick Roll'd as well as bosses at work. The concept that started on a simple internet picture message board, 4chan.org, has spread to encompass the world. On April 1st Youtube played an epic prank on everyone of it's viewers for April Fools Day. For the entire day clicking on any video on the homepage would send you to the Rick Astley video. Youtube itself has played an important role in the rising popularity of the Rick Roll. Without the ability to upload and share video content such things as a Rick Roll would have failed to gain much popularity.
The effects of the Rick Roll can be seen even today in the face of the current presidential election. The current democratic nominee Barack Obama has even received the honor of becoming his own Barack Roll. I failed to embed the Rick Astley video (Something about RickAstley not wanting it embeddable) so instead I will treat you with the Barack Roll video and it's awesomeness. Enjoy.
First of all I'd like to apologize to anyone who may end up reading this, it is a bit lengthy. Before I realized what I had done I had 251 words in just the first 19 seconds of the song...ooops. I do however cut back on some of the detail later on just for space sake.
As the video opens up the camera pans over a cracked white-face pressure gauge with the needle resting calmly at 0. Next we see water pipes with a small amount of water seeping out. Then the camera slides over the first characters of the video, the band. A white door opens, in walks a young white guy with brown hair in white. Camera pans to his boss, also in white complete with one of those little white dinner cook hats. The boss is holding a metal spatula in one hand. He checks his watch to see what time it is and gives the young guy a displeasing look. Obviously scolding the kid because he was late. Back to the band and a close up on the fiery red headed female lead singer of an otherwise all male band, Hayley (she is effin' gorgeous). A white photography studio. A photographer is kneeling down looking through his camera like a sniper. The target is an attractive blond girl sitting in a bright red chair the color of Hayley's hair. Camera flash. The blond is now standing posing in a corner in a pink one piece dress with a little frilly bottom. She has one leg up forcing itself against the wall behind her. One arm is rested on a pay phone. The blond is now standing with her back to a wooden wall with the planks running vertically. Camera flash. Close up on the face of the blond beauty, her hair framing her face. Hayley and the band again singing. The fiery red head center stage. Back to the brown haired boy, putting on his little dinner hat. The boy reluctantly begins working. Another close up of Hayley and then a pan of the whole band. The blond is now sitting in one of those brownish metal folding chairs with her legs crossed and her arms wrapped around her knees. She has her hair straight now and it falls down the front of her black and white dress. Next to her in the bright red chair we saw in a previous scene. Close up of blond. She has dark eyeshadow and bright pink lipstick. Close up on Hayley again. Then the drummer with his blue polo with horizontal white lines banging furiously on the drums. Then a shot of the whole band. Blond is still sitting in the metal folding chair. She is holding a little silver foil wrapper to a candy bar. She wants to eat it, but before she can taste it a hand pulls it away from her. A brunette is bent over at the waist shaking her head at the blond. The purple shit wearing guitarist is airborne. This shot of the band only has the 3 male members with the guitarists/bassists up front and the drummer in back. Close up of Hayley. Next is a shot of the same pressure gauge as at the beginning of the video, the needle now rests at 50. Another close up of Hayley singing and the band playing. The water is seeping out of the pipes a little faster now. The blond is still in her chair, now looking disappointed. Hayley again and the band again. The brown haired boy is operating a shake machine and filling a cup full of chocolate. Hayley. The brown hair boy turns away from the machine and bumps into his boss, spilling the chocolate shake all over him. Paramore playing again. The pressure gauge is now reading two marks above 75. Water is dripping. The boy and the boss look at the mess caused. The boy is pulling fries out of the grease, obviously they have been in there too long because they are burnt and smoke is rolling from the machine. His boss walks by and looks upset. Hayley. Boy. Hayley. Boy. Paramore playing. The guitarists up front just finishing the final turn of an aerial acrobatic move. The gauge is climbing past 100 steadily now, the water is dripping faster. The blond is picking out a brown one piece dress from a metal rack filled with dresses. She holds it up in front of her body clad in pink in front of the mirror looking at herself. Hayley. Brunette in a blue top walks behind the blond and takes the dress away and hands her a slinky little silver number. She gives a heavy sigh, obviously not pleased with what is chosen for her to wear. The band is playing furiously. Long blond haired boy slams food tray down in front of the order window and the brown haired boy. Boss talks to the blond boy. Boy takes off his apron and hat and walks out. Close up of Hayley singing with the mic less than an inch from her mouth. The pressure gauge reads two marks above 100 and climbs til its dangerously close to the red zone. Water continues to hasten its flow from the pipes. Brown haired boy is walking across a small patch of richly green grass in his white tee and blue jeans. Hayley and the band are playing. The boy shows up at a window and pounds on it. The window is framed by a green cement block wall. The blond is sitting in a chair surrounded by a swarm of makeup artists. She is wearing a blue jacket or shirt. The boy motions for her to come to him, she puts her hands up like she is helpless and does not know what to do. He runs off. The pressure gauge is now deep into the read zone. Pipes begin to show signs of bursting. The boy is at a fire sprinkler control, he pulls it. The pipes break spewing copious amounts of water onto Hayley and the band as they continue to play. The sprinklers go off in the studio with the blond. The guitarist in the purple shirt does a badass roll over the other guitarist while still clutching his cherry red instrument (it's so badass I just had to mention it). The blond escapes with the brown haired boy. The gauge drops back down to 0 and the video fades with the band standing there soaked with water.
The video has three characters. The band, the blond girl, and the brown haired boy. Because of this I chose to separate the different scenes paragraphically depending on the character. Only when the boy and the girl meet did I use one paragraph for both of them. The video cuts back and forth between the band and the two kids abruptly so that is what I did and why some lines are just one sentence or even one word. As the video progresses and the pressure builds (pun intended :P) the scenes change faster. This is why there are a larger amount of new lines started towards the end. The video ends with the band soaked after the water finally gives up. The pressure gauge is at 0 and the beginning and the end.
Here we have a video posted on YouTube by the infamous group Anonymous. The video is a message, a message to the Church of Scientology, or the Co$. If you can call them a church. Anonymous is a staunch opponent to the Co$. Scientology is a dangerous fraud and Anonymous is trying to out them by spreading the truth. At the very beginning of the video is a short clip taken from a speech by the current leader of Co$, David Miscavige. He states, "Because if world leaders learned anything through the social aftershocks since 9/11 is that they do not necessarily posses the tools to lead. And thats where determined individual Scientologists come into the picture." It is interesting to note that the video was posted September 11, 2008 on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Following this clip that has been remixed is a catchy upbeat song set to sole shadowy figure cloaked in a Guy Fawkes mask. Many of you will have seen the Guy Fawkes mask from the semi-recent movie V for Vendetta in which a man, V, wearing the mask intends to carry out the Gunpowder Plot. The Gunpower Plot was an actual historical event in which the royal family was to be assinated by blowing up Parliament. Guy Fawkes is generally given credit for leading the escapade but he was actually in charge of the explosives. So why wear the masks? Obviously it's to hide their identities. Speaking out against the Co$ can be quite dangerous as they believe that if you are not one of them you are fair game to be destroyed (Fair game policy). The Co$ is a fraud intended to brainwash people and steal their money. Anonymous has been linked to several seditious attacks against the Co$ and people in general. Just recently Oprah was the butt of one of their pranks. But their message has caught on and several large scale news agencies are working as well to discredit the Co$. If you don't believe the Co$ is evil then go out there and discover the abundance of information linking them to their lies and crimes. Or you can just watch the "Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard" and see how bat shit crazy their chief liar was.
The title for this blog post is a little misleading. It clearly states "Another Video," but what this really is is more of a collection of images, or a slide show if you will, with music in the background. The music is "Stand Up" by the Flobots. This is the same group that made the song about riding a bike with no handlebars (okay, its probably about more than that). The images used, as well as the song itself, are not just some random objects put together collectively to form a YouTube video. "Stand up, we shall not be moved, except by a child with no socks or shoes," is represented rather accurately by a child from a presumably third world nation who is wearing no socks or shoes. The images that follow that correlate with the different verses and lyrics of the song. Hurricane Katrina, the big one that took out New Orleans, is subtly mentioned in the song meanwhile startling images of the aftermath are displayed. Many current or semi-current events are poetically discussed throughout the course of the song. "And we won't fight a war for fossil fuel, it's time like this you want to plot a coup," is pretty obviously about the controversial war in Iraq, if you can even call it that. Several images are presented that are anti-war. These images relate directly to the strong anti-war sentiment that the song takes. "A threat for a threat leaves the whole world terrified, blow for blow never settles the score," is essentially the Golden Rule, you know the one that you learn in church. Violence begets violence which begets even more violence. Someone has to stop the cycle, turn the other cheek and end the war. Someone has to stand up and refuse to be moved.
Originally created and performed by the wonderfully talented John Lennon, the song Imagine as seen and heard in the video was performed by the band A Perfect Circle. The effect of the song, as sung with Maynard's unearthly vocals, is magnified by the stunning visuals presented in the video. At the start of the video you have an ominous feeling as the stealth bomber is flying through the night. Then the images begin to transform into more graphic images of warfare. Throughout the video there is a sort of comparison presented between life in America and life in the rest of the world. We see images of obese Americans gorging themselves on food in trivial events such as an eating competition juxtaposed with riveting images of people starving in the less fortunate places in the world. There is a staunch similarity between the image of the crowd performing the wave and that of the army marching through the street. The image of George W. Bush presented along side that of Hitler, Stalin, and Castro shows the opinion of the artist that Bush is just as evil (an opinion I agree with). We continue to see images of Americans living lavishly while the rest of the world suffers. The original version of the song as performed by Lennon has a separate feel from this version. The images presented in the video combined with the voice of Maynard and the sounds of A Perfect Circle give the message an almost tragic feel to it. The video itself has a liking to that of a newscast. While the video is playing there is a strip along the bottom displaying various messages. If you read what is displayed on the strip there is a mixture of news headlines and sports scores. Some of this information seems to be pointless when there is an image of a dead human being displayed on your screen. The names of the sports teams are slightly humorous in that each team has names such as; Atomix, Bombers, Deathrays, and Conquerors. The team names are in of themselves a part of the message trying to be conveyed. As the song goes, "Imagine all the people, living life in peace. You may say that I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one. I hope someday you'll join us, and the world will live as one." Peace.
