Remember these? A list of memes and in-jokes.

Here's a list of the internet phenomenon covered thus far. How many of these memes do you remember? How many made you laugh, and how many drove you crazy?

1. LOLcats
2. AYBABTU
3. Stuff on my cat
4. The cake is a lie
5. Fail
6. The Hampster Dance
7. I love horses
8. Rickrolling
9. Demotivational Posters
10. Numa Numa
11. Chuck Norris
12. The Hoff
13. Post Secret
14. A Series of Tubes
15. Leeeroy Jeenkins
16. Tourist Guy
17. Dramatic Hamster
18. Techno Viking
19. The Dancing Baby
20. Badger Badger Badger
21. Chocolate Rain
22. Over 9000!
23. Pirates
24. Ninjas
25. Ninjas vs Pirates
26. McCain Old Jokes
27. Peanut Butter Jelly Time
28. Do not want!
29. The Star Wars kid
30. In Soviet Russia
31. Crazy Frog
32. L33t
33. I'm in your base...
34. Lolrus
35. The Internets

The Internets

‘Internets’ is a Bushism – a great quote straight from the mouth of George Dubya.

It’s now a general Internet in-joke (often used to joke about the ignorance of an Internet user, but often just for fun).

United States President George W. Bush first used the word publicly during the 2000 election campaign.

And as if once wasn’t enough, he repeated the term in the second 2004 presidential election debate on October 8, 2004.



Like similar memes, many image macros have appeared featuring the phrase.


Just for the record, here’s an extract from the 2000 debate:

JOYCE CLEAMER, AUDIENCE MEMBER:
“I'm very concerned about the morality of our country now. TV, movies, the music that our children are, you know, barraged with every day. And I want to know if there's anything that can be worked out with the—Hollywood, or whoever, to help get rid of some of this bad language and whatever, you know.”

BUSH:
“We can have filters on Internets where public money is spent. There ought to be filters in public libraries and filters in public schools so if kids get on the Internet, there is not going to be pornography or violence coming in.”

And here’s the second debate:

DANIEL FARLEY, AUDIENCE MEMBER:
“Mr. President, since we continue to police the world, how do you intend to maintain our military presence without reinstituting a draft?”

BUSH:
“Yes, that's a great question. Thanks. I hear there's rumors on the, uh, Internets [pause] that we're going to have a draft. We're not going to have a draft, period....”

The bucket saga continues

One of the most famous spin-offs of from the LOLcat meme is the LOLrus. The original LOLrus image showed a walrus who had his bucket forcibly taken from him. The ide of the LOLrus and his missing bucket has been adopted by the internet, and many have added new chapters to the ‘missing bucket’ saga. Someone has now compiled the pictures into a full story… see it here.

Three memes - one picture

I'm in ur base...

Loosely defined, “In your base, killing your d00ds” is a catchphrase that basically means “right now, I’m pwning you, and you don’t even know it."

The phrase originally came about when a ‘N00b’ player, playing multiplayer Starcraft online typed in a message asking his opponent “dude, where are you?” At the time, the more experienced player had managed to rush into the N00b’s base and had started destroying everything in sight. His response is now famous: “I’m in you’re your base, killing your d00dz.”

Screenshots of this famous exchange were posted on imageboards, and the meme spread from there.

Initially, people took the phrase and placed it on a number of different pictures. But as the meme grew, the phrase took on a life of it’s own.




The formula: take a picture and add any variation of "Im in ur (noun), (verb-ing) ur (noun)".





During the height of the LOLcat meme, it became very popular to put an “im in ur” phrase together with a cat picture.




















Political images were also very popular at one point. The meme is quite old now, but you still do see references to it popping up from time to time.

SETI finally gets a signal from somewhere in outerspace...

A little language called leet

I’m going to digress from talking about memes and take some time to explore the Internet ‘language’ known as Leet.

The Leet ‘language’ is actually an alternative alphabet system with uses a combination of numbers and other keyboard characters to replace normal letters. So for example, Leet is spelled 1337 (1=L, 3=E and 7=T).

It was originally developed on bulletin board systems way back in the 1980s. One theory is that Leet actually came about so that people chatting on the boards could get around the text filters which picked up ‘forbidden’ topics like hacking and cracking.

It developed from there and then became a way to show off your knowledge of the in-joke. Lately though, Leet has become a part of ‘mainstream’ Internet culture and slang, and is even considered cheesy by ‘those in the know’. It is now also used to mock newbies (N00BZ), or newcomers, on web sites, or in gaming communities.


Why did they call it ‘Leet’?

Leet comes from ‘Eleet’ – which originated from ‘Elite status’ on Bulletin Board systems. Initially, the word leet was used as an adjective, to primarily describe ‘elite’ accomplishments.


Hax0rs Pwn

Besides simply replacing letters with numbers, Leet also has it’s own vocabulary.

Haxors or Haxorz is a common term meaning ‘hacker’ (and often it’s actually used in a self deprecating way or to insult someone).

Pwn is derived from ‘own’ and means the domination or humiliation of a rival (in an argument or video game, for example), or the successful hacking of a website or computer.

A lot of Leet words contain deliberate misspellings – and pwn is a prime example. The letter P is right next to the letter O on the keyboard, and so it might have originally been a common misspelling, which became an in-joke, and then eventually a standard word that everyone used.

LOL teh N00b Suxorz!!!!111one11!

If you don’t know that LOL stands for ‘Laugh Out Loud’, you should really get out more. LOL is considered to be part of Leet, but really this term has become so mainstream its practically a part of the English language by now.

Again, teh is deliberate misspelling which originated from people typing ‘the’ fast and making the error. It has been adopted as a part of Leet speak, and people deliberately type it incorrectly.

Noob or N00b is derived from, newbie (as in new and inexperienced or uninformed). Apparently, there is a widely accepted separation of the definitions of newb and n00b: a newb is merely new to something (usually the person also wants to learn more), which is forgivable, while a n00b continues to engage in "newb" behaviours long after they should know better (and usually refuses to learn). Generally the term N00b is insulting!

Suxxors or suxorz means to suck. The opposite of Suxxor is roxxor (to rock, basically) and both can be used as a verb or a noun.

Over exclamation is another common feature of Leet. When chatting in chat rooms or playing games online, people would often overemphasise, ending their sentences with many exclamation marks (so for example “Pwnage!!!!!”). Of course, people would end typing ‘1’ instead of ‘!’ (because they haven’t pressed the shift key down). As this was such a common mistake, people started making it on purpose, as a joke. The joke has evolved, and now people actually type out the number (for example: “I pwn!!11one!1!” or in the case of extreme sarcasm: “OMG!!!!111!11shiftone1!11shift1!!1111capslock1!one12131”)

That Ugly Crazy Frog

Most memes I quite enjoy. Some can get a bit much. But there’s one meme that drives me absolutely crazy. It’s the sound of a man pretending to be a motorbike combined with a not-so-cute animation of a crazy frog.

The Crazy Frog is an incredibly annoying animated character which was actually created to market a ring tone.

In 1994, a young Swedish student Daniel Malmedahl recorded himself mimicking the sound of a two-stroke combustion engine and posted it on a website. It became an instant hit – and a meme in it’s own right. People added the sound to flash animations and spread them virally. Click here to see the famous ‘Insanity Test’ featuring the sound effect.

Daniel got to perform his sound effect live on Swedish TV, further spreading the popularity of the sound.

Then another Swede, Erik Wernquist, had a brain wave – he created a 3D frog animation, aptly named ‘The Annoying Thing’, to accompany the sound track.




But it was some genius at a German ringtone company called Jamba! who really ruined it for the rest of us. He saw the animation and just knew it would make him a lot of money as a downloadable ringtone. The ‘Crazy Frog’ ringtone was advertised on TV quickly earned approximately £14 million from download sales.

But it didn’t stop there – unfortunately, someone decided to turn it into a dance track.

The Crazy Frog spawned a worldwide hit single with a remix of ‘Axel F’, which reached the number one spot in the United Kingdom, Turkey, New Zealand, Australia and most of Europe. The subsequent album Crazy Frog Presents Crazy Hits and second single ‘Popcorn’ also enjoyed worldwide chart success, and a second album entitled Crazy Frog Presents More Crazy Hits was released in 2006. (Aagghh!)




Not surprisingly, you can also kit yourself out with Crazy Frog merchandise, including toys, and Playstation 2 video games.




Luckily, the Crazy Frog craze has died down for now. But you never know when that little frog may rear his ugly head again.

Of course, if you don't like the little guy as much as me, you'll enjoy this site!

In Soviet Russia…

Introducing a meme inspired by a comedian.

Yakov Smirnoff is a Ukrainian-born American comedian who became famous for contrasting life in ‘Soviet Russia’ with that of the USA. For example:

In America, you can always find a party.
In Soviet Russia, Party finds you!

In America, you watch television.
In Soviet Union, television watches you!

(all pronounced in a thick Russian accent, of course).

This simple comedic formula spawned a meme which started on technology website Slashdot.



Sometimes called ‘The Russian Reversal’, the basic idea is to take an accepted idea, and turn it on its head:

“In Soviet Russia, Waldo finds YOU!!”

“In Soviet Russia, remote controls YOU!”

Many of the ‘Russian Reversals’ are decidedly unfunny, but part of the humour of this meme is the simple stupidity of the phrases created.

The Star Wars Kid

Welcome to the Dark Side of the meme.

When Ghyslain Raza was just 15, he became world famous – but he probably could have lived without all the attention.

In 2002, Ghyslain took a video of himself clowning around, swinging a golf ball retriever around as if it were a weapon (presumably, a lightsaber). The video tape was forgotten about, until someone stumbled upon it and thought it would be funny to post the video online.

Initially, the video was shared on the Kazaa network (a peer-to-peer file sharing network). The original was then edited to include text, sound effects music and even a lightsaber effect on the golf ball retriever.

Gaming and Star Wars sites began posting the newly edited video, so that it spread quickly. Other people made their own remixes and edits until the Star Wars Kid was relatively famous. Here’s a selection of some of the best star wars videos.

But Ghyslain Raza wasn’t enjoying the attention. He was teased so badly at school, that he dropped out and finished the semester at a children's psychiatric ward.

Now his parents are suing the families of the four classmates who digitized and published the video. Ghyslain's parents say their son was so humiliated that he may be marked for life by the experience.

But not everyone was tormenting the poor kid: an internet petition to get Raza a cameo role in Star Wars Episode III received more than 140,000 "signatures." (However, although George Lucas sympathised with the young man's plight, he was not include in the movie.) And almost $5000 USD was raised to buy Ghyslain an iPod.

Do Not Want

You gotta love bad Engrish translations. ‘Engrish’ is loosely defined as the humorous mistakes that come from translating Chinese or Japanese into English.

Previously I blogged about the AYBABTU meme which developed because of the strange translation of Japanese text into English.

DO NOT WANT is also a meme that developed from a strange translation:

A pirated version of Star Wars Episode III appeared for sale in the US soon after the movie release. This version had subtitles that had been translated into Chinese and then back into English – with some strange results.

Even the opening credits, where the English words appear on the screen have been mistranslated.
(The backstroke of the West?)








But the scene that started the meme appears right at the end of the movie when Darth Vader screams “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Darth Vader’s cry appears in subtitles as “Do Not Want”.





And the rest is history.

The phrase has been used to create hundreds of Image Macros (many feature LOLcats, but the meme is certainly not limited to pictures of cats).

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

This Dancing Banana animated GIF started it’s life as an emoticon (an icon denoting an emotion, like a smiley face ☺) on message boards.

But the Banana made its real leap to internet stardom when Ryan Etrata had a brain wave. He created a flash animation featuring the Banana dancing to an incredibly catchy song called ‘Peanut Butter Jelly Time’ (written by The Buckwheat Boyz). Watch it here.


Fame!
The Dancing Banana soon made its way to television shows and began to appear as an icon in American Pop Culture. In an episode of the TV show, The Family Guy, Brian tries to cheer up Peter by performing "Peanut Butter Jelly Time" dressed as the Dancing Banana. The Banana and phrase ‘It's Peanut Butter Jelly Time’ also appears in a Weezer music video Pork and Beans.


As the popularity of the Dancing Banana grew, hundreds of variations of the image were created including dancing strawberries, carrots and video game characters. This site features an updated 2006 version of Peanut Butter Jelly Time.

He’s so old… he farts mummy dust

Here’s a new meme that’s just emerging in the US.

As the US elections draw nearer, a couple of Left Wing supporters have come up with a meme ripping off republican candidate, John McCain.

John McCain is 72 years old, and if elected he will be the oldest person ever inaugurated as president of the USA.

The new meme plays with this idea, listing things younger than John McCain. For example, Scrabble is younger than John McCain, so is the shopping cart... not to mention peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and duct tape.

Check out thingsyoungerthanmccain.com – a collection of - you guessed it - thigs younger than the presidential hopeful. The site is gaining popularity and was recently featured on the Jimmy Kimmel show. Also check out this site that features WORDS younger than McCain - like 'bicep' and 'addiction'.

Also see this page from RollingStone.com which features John McCain ‘old jokes’.

More Pirates vs Ninjas

And here's a Facebook app.

Pirates vs Ninjas

It’s a debate that has raged on for centuries (or at least since 2002)… If a ninja and a pirate fought a battle – who would win?

If you haven’t picked a side yet – you better hurry up.

This wide-spread internet meme has crossed over into many other forms of media including several short films (like Pirate-Ninja Battle and Pirates Vs. Ninjas: The Movie) and comic books. Xbox launched a game called Pirates vs. Ninjas Dodgeball

Hundreds of Pirate vs. Ninja themed websites have appeared, many allow you to join a side and compete for control of the site. Check out: piratevninja, piratesversusninjas.net, ninjapirate.com, and convinceme.net

Ninjas are everywhere.

Next up... Ninjas vs. Pirates - the age-old debate.

Ninjas are totally sweet...

Ninjas are also pretty awesome.

And they too have a huge internet phenomenon behind them.

The very popular ‘Ask A Ninja’ series describes what it is to be a ninja by answering questions posed to him by mere mortals.




Uncyclopedia lists a few of the weapons used by ninjas: “swords, kantanas, shuriken, sticks, knives, shuriken, kunai,a banana, ... a really sharp pencil, a really dull pencil, pudding, an easter egg, rolled up newspapers, bubble gum, ferrets, numbers, kunai, hp deskjet 970Cse color printers, a trombone, a travel size websters dictionary, a lamp shade, 1950's porno flicks, a wiimote, a Guitar Hero Guitar, a pikmin, your arm, a pokeball, a rabid rabbit, another ninja, tree trunks, chainsaws, pimp canes, pies, a soup spoon, your face (after they ripped it off), the guitar solo from Metallica's Seek and Destroy, laser vision bears, peoples social lives that Blizzard stole with World of Warcraft, a cereal box, and Axl Rose - pretty much anything except a gun (actually, a ninja could use a gun, but they find throwing the bullets to be more deadly and visually appealing; or they might just kill you by throwing the gun at you)."

The Ninja phenomenon may have started with the website ‘Real Ultimate Power’ – this humour site was created by Robert Hamburger (as a fictional, 13-year-old character with the same name)

According to Hamburger, there are three Ninja facts:

1. Ninjas are mammals.
2. Ninjas fight ALL the time.
3. The purpose of the ninja is to flip out and kill people.

Not to be outdone by the pirates, the ninjas have started an online movement to celebrate International Creep Like a Ninja Day on 5 December.

ARGH!

Pirates are cool.

They are so cool in fact that they have become an Internet phenomenon in their own right.

Q: Why are Pirates called Pirates?
A: Because they Arrrrrrr!

International Talk Like a Pirate Day (celebrated on the 19th of September) is the day to "let out their inner pirate". The day has been gaining popularity through the Internet since its founders set up a website, which instructs visitors in "pirate slang."

Check out this Flickr page to see some crazy people dressed up to celebrate the holiday.

According to Uncyclopedia, a pirate’s main priorities are:
1. Rum (but none of that Light, Clear Bacardi stuff)
2. Lots of booty (of both the "gold" and "female" varieties)
3. Whiskey
4. Poor Hygiene
5. Beer (etc.)

But if there’s one thing a pirate can’t stand… it’s a ninja.

Over 9000!

Dragonball Z is an animated Japanese TV show (an anime), which has been dubbed into many languages and has become popular in many countries around the world. The English translation of the show can be somewhat clumsy and comical.



The ‘Over 9000’ meme originally came from an episode of the Dragonball Z in which Vegeta (one of the show’s ‘bad guys’) is asked "Vegeta, what does the scouter say about his power level?" and Vegeta responds "It's over 9000!". This rather nonsensical statement gained internet fame when the clip was ‘remixed’ and placed on YouTube by a fan.

‘Over 9000’ has become a phrase used to describe impressive power or skill or something that’s really awesome (or 'made of win'). For example – “That game is over 9000” or “My level of awesomeness is over 9000!”

And of course, many YouTube Videos have sprung up featuring the catchphrase in different ways including a Southpark and Myst parody.

Interestingly, in the original Japanese version, Vegeta actually says "Over 8000" but the American dubbers chose 9000 because it worked better with the lip movement of the characters on screen.

A similar clip from Dragonball Z features the character Piccolo saying "The balls are inert".

Chocolate Rain

Hypnotic, catchy and memorizing are just some of the words used to describe ‘Chocolate Rain’, a song written and performed by 25 year old Tay Zonday.

Tay posted this song he wrote on YouTube in April 2007 – the song became very popular, and has been watched over 15 million times.



‘Chocolate Rain’ is perhaps so famous because of Tay Zonday’s surprisingly deep voice, or his strange mannerisms while singing. But like many other Internet Phenomenon, Chocolate Rain more than likely initially gained momentum because it spread as a joke on 4chan.org.

‘Chocolate Rain’ is the subject of numerous parodies, tributes, remixes and covers on the Internet. Major musical artists, such as singer John Mayer and Green Day drummer Tré Cool have spoofed the song, along with many others.

Some of my favorite spoofs include this one, by Chad Vader (that’s Darth Vader’s younger brother and grocery store manager) and of course, Dramatic Chipmunk.


And now – the remix!

Tay got together with the guys from Dr Pepper to make a remix version of his song – ‘Cherry Chocolate Rain’ to promote Cherry Chocolate Diet Dr Pepper. T-A-Y to the Z almost looks at home in the music video featuring bright lights and scantily clad girls. The video also guest stars rapper Mista Johnson.