27 March 2008

Rick Astley is never gonna:

a) give you up
b) let you down
c) run around and desert you
d) make you cry
e) say goodbye
f) tell a lie and hurt you
g) all of the above


No, I promise you're not being rickrolled, guys. But I had to give a nod to Mister Astley, because I wanted to talk about viral videos.

You know the ones - prisoners dancing to MJ's Thriller, Chris Crocker and leprechauns being crackheads and getting hold to the wrong stuff - those videos forwarded to you by coworkers or friends, the ones passed from blog to internet magazine to the local news. Some are funny, some are just wrong, and some involve tigers hugging people!

I love viral videos, folks. They're the best kind of email forward, because they rarely involve anyone telling me they'll pray for me or little .gifs of an American flag. And as I was saving everything on my work computer today as the computer will be taken away from me tomorrow, I came across three viral videos I'd saved and totally forgotten about! (Um, please don't tell on me, people at work. I know I'm not supposed to have non-work stuff saved on my computer.)

My very favorite viral video is the Aicha boy, partly because he reminds me of my cousin Thomas, and partly because I really respect the conviction that must come from shooting a video next to your Minnie Mouse bedsheets. Also, I find the popup text to be extremely helpful in narrating the story of Aicha, because I, too, find myself asking, "she move how?" when people are singing about movement. You should hear me when I'm listening to Patrick Swayze's "She's Like The Wind" (get better soon, Patrick!) - there is a lot of moving of smybolic stuff through the metaphorical trees in that song. And don't even get me started on The Kooks' "She Moves in Her Own Way." Actually, just don't get me started on The Kooks, period.

And if you think I do not know every second of this choreography, and do not perform it along with Gelliman everytime I watch the video, then you don't know me very well, do you?



The second video I found on my hard drive was the Kosovo video! I love the Kosovo video. I know this makes me patently unhip, but "Kokomo" is actually my very favorite Beach Boys song. I know, I know. And yes, I own Pet Sounds. I just can't help it! I always immediately want to run off to vacay on a tropical isle when I hear it. With Kermit as my faithful companion.

The Kosovo video stars a bunch of Norwegian (I believe) soldiers who walk around without shirts on, which is always a plus in my book. And they sing about Milosevic. Plus, it teaches you about current events. Um, current ca. 1998, that is. So it's totally educational as well! Also, I believe this video marks the only time anyone affiliated with the UN ever apologized to Rwanda at all. So how can you not love it? Fact: you can't. You must love it, because it is awesome.

The only thing that would make this video better is if these lads had spent more time working on their choroeography and less time gay-bashing (although I do appreciate the water, boys. I am only human.).



And then, of course, there's the video I always watch when I'm having a bad day: C4's Celeb Swear Words advert. I dunno; there's just something about hearing the word "fuck" 40 times which really soothes me. Of course, I must add that my future-husband-when-he-stops-liking-men, Derren Brown, has the exact same favorite swear word as me. It's FATE, y'all.




Watching these videos, I remembered why I kept them on my hard drive for four years in blatant disregard for my company's IT policy: they really cheer me up. That's the power of a funny minute-long video, that it can completely lift your spirits and put a smile on your face.

So, internets, what's your favorite viral video? Link away in the comments!

11 comments:

poshdeluxe said...

first of all, erin, i have never seen any of these videos. where have i BEEN? i swear, i've had the internet open on my computer for the past 10 years. i don't know how i missed these gems.

ok my favorite favorite favorite is the laughing baby. come on, what did you expect? I LOVE BABIES! AND I LOVE LAUGHTER!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cXXm696UbKY

speaking of adorable, i find myself quoting the monster one all of the time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCOPNuuGeKA

and then there are the horrifying HORRIFYING canadian workplace safety ads, this one being the one that continues to surface in the form of my WORST NIGHTMARE:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noFCekWiUGE

honestly, how did people work before the internet? and by that i mean, not work.

Anonymous said...

Seeing as how my work computer has no speakers and I never take the time to look at videos on my home computer (sorry, Sarah), I'm going to have to go with the hugging tiger, b/c it made me cry and also requires no sound.

I am so lame!

Also, HAH! The word verification for today is "millf."

Erin said...

OH MY GOD, Sarah! That last one! Holy crap! That's just frightening!

It is basically the main goal in my life that someday I'll be so carefree as to go into falling-down laughter over something like torn paper.

Erin said...

mere, I really think it's ridiculous how the museum expects you to work at work. What is that ABOUT?

ha. word verification thinks I'm a hottie.

Anonymous said...

BIRTHDAY BLOG! BIRTHDAY BLOG! I demand a birthday blog.

Anonymous said...

But have you seen the Rickroll phenom in pie chart form??

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q115/ihatewheat/ihatewheat/2282655473_4565b351fb.jpg

(I clicked over here from Posh's blog.)

Anonymous said...

Oh no! That link totally does not work.

Okay, let's try this one:
flickr.com/photos/boyshapedbox/2282655473/

Anonymous said...

Yay! Hiwawy is here! It's like all of my worlds are colliding awesomely.

Erin said...

Hilary, that's amazing. And amazingly useful to know exactly the percentage of time that Rick Astley will never give me up!

Also, I hear about you from Sarah and Mere all the time, so hi!

Anonymous said...

I know it's a bit late to comment but I had to share with you my absolute favorite viral video. It is both weird and funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Xhjz2GiBvo

Erin said...

WOW, Moody. Holy Shit, that was amazing.

Not as amazing as Donald Duck in Mathland, but pretty damn close.