Getting Rick-Rolled Muppet Style
For those of you that have never had the pleasure of getting “Rick Rolled,” I will briefly explain. In the original version, you would read a forum post, email, or article on a social network which had a link to something of extreme interest to you such as an adult-oriented video featuring Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton spanking each other with fully-marinated barbeque brushes.
However, when you clicked the link, you were fed a script which hijacked your browser, reduced it to YouTube Size, and had it jump around your screen playing this 1980’s video of Rick Astley performing “Never Gonna Give You Up” at full volume.
At one point the video would stop jumping around but you still couldn’t close it because when you tried it would launch a series of never-ending message boxes. Every time you closed one, a new one would open—and remember, to add to the frustration, the whole time all this is going on THE BLASTED SONG KEEPS PLAYING!
So, anyway, this morning I got Rick Rolled again (but no nasty script involved). Why it happened though requires a little bit of explanation: Earlier this month my brother Raymond and I took a week’s vacation in Orlando Florida. We visited Walt Disney World, Universal Theme Parks and a few other minor attractions. We took several gigabytes of photos and downloaded them all on to his notebook computer’s hard-drive.
When we returned to California and back to his apartment, I asked if he could quickly burn them onto a DVD so I could take them home with me and utilize them in some blog posts. Unfortunately, he was out of blank DVD’s so he promised to mail me one in a few days. So far, I haven’t seen it (which is why I haven’t written about our trip yet).
Back to this morning: I get up at about 5:00 a. m., put on coffee and check my email. Lo and behold there is an email from Raymond with a link to “all our Florida photos.”
The link led to this YouTube video:
Good one Raymond! Now send me the photos!
Comments
Comment from William McCamment
Time: April 16, 2008, 2:40 pm
@Diamond Digger,
LOL! No way would I lose my readers by posting an active Rick Roll! Believe me, I was Rick Rolled SEVERAL times and I know how much it sucks.
Comment from William McCamment
Time: April 16, 2008, 5:35 pm
@Carol,
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed it. 
Comment from don
Time: April 16, 2008, 9:22 pm
Righhhttt. You and Diamond Babe are both in this together. And Carol too, I’ll bet. I hit that button and boom! There’s a Backstreet boys virus tearing its way through the soft underbelly of my motherboard, and all my stolen mp3’s are now playing “Go away little girl.”
I’m so onto you.
Comment from William McCamment
Time: April 16, 2008, 10:37 pm
@don,
Trust me! Go ahead and click it!
Comment from Theresa
Time: April 17, 2008, 2:41 am
Never heard of that before, but after your story I was afraid to watch that video. I just had a Trojan, so I’m pretty wary about what I click on these days. Should I risk it, well okay….
Comment from William McCamment
Time: April 17, 2008, 4:40 am
@Theresa,
A Rick Roll is no where near as bad as a Trojan Virus. But, it’s pretty darned annoying.
Comment from Claire
Time: April 17, 2008, 2:08 pm
I am still not totally clear on what a rick roll thingie is, but I love Rick Astley
Has he handed over the photos yet?
Comment from William McCamment
Time: April 17, 2008, 2:49 pm
@Claire,
Rick Rolls, in their original incarnation, are scarce today since many up-to-date browsers block them now (I tried to inflict an original Rick Roll on myself before I wrote this post and Firefox blocked it).
My brother Raymond, which I talked to on the phone about 20-minutes ago, is hemming and hawing about not having any blank DVD’s. So, I’m tempted to send him some with a self-addressed stamped envelope.
I think part of the problem is that he’s afraid I’m going to post some incriminating evidence in the form of alcohol-induced photography.
Comment from Jillian
Time: April 18, 2008, 9:00 am
LOL. I think Beeker really did it for me. That was fun.
Comment from Claire
Time: April 20, 2008, 8:45 am
Oh how bad are the photographs?
Comment from William McCamment
Time: April 20, 2008, 9:20 am
@Claire,
I don’t remember most of it, but I do vaguely remember trying to get my clothes back from an orangutan.
Comment from Claire
Time: April 21, 2008, 4:45 pm
I cant wait to see them then!
Comment from Diamond Digger
Time: April 16, 2008, 2:23 pm
I don’t know why, but I was a little scared to start the video…lol But then I realized where I was at and knew that you would never do that to us. Very cute story, William. Your brother sounds like a jokester too! And the video was adorable…yes, I watched the whole thing for some reason. :0) Glad I’ve never been Rick Rolled.
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