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12 Apr 2011 00:46

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Politics: Oregon lawmakers pull off one of the best Rickrolls of all time

  • At first glance, this just looks like an editing trick: Someone spliced together a bunch of clips of Oregon lawmakers to make it look as if they’re singing Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Right? Wrong! In fact, the whole thing was an elaborate prank hatched by the lawmakers themselves; they schemed to surreptitiously insert the song’s lyrics, one by one, into their speeches on the House floor. After over a year of editing (!), Rep. Jefferson Smith, the brains behind the operation, released the finished product into the wild. It was a true bipartisan effort, involving Democrats and Republicans (the chamber is split 50/50). “Just having a little fun together helped develop some professional relationships,” Smith explained. Hopefully, this kind of fun will soon spread to the federal level (nudge nudge, Harry Reid). source

20 Jul 2009 08:52

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Music: Kurt Cobain pulls a Tupac, releases a new Nirvana album

  • This jerk doesn’t have anything on Girl Talk, but let’s just say that the combination of Rick Astley and Nirvana works far better than it should. And you’ve just been Rickrolled.source

30 Jun 2009 03:27

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Culture: Note to Twitter: Rick Astley didn’t die in a Berlin hotel room

  • Known for his 80’s pop hit “Never Gonna Give You Up,” the 43-year-old Rick Astley has been pronounced dead today. Astley’s body was found at the Angleterre Hotel in Berlin after an ambulance responded to an emergency call from his hotel room.
  • A CNN iReport submitted by John Manker • Saying that Rick Astley died. The attempted death pool Rickroll, perpetrated by image forum, 4Chan (whose members often go by “Anonymous” and are often involved in pranks), is an out and out lie. Just so you’re aware. • source

17 Apr 2009 14:44

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Music, Tech: Egad! “Rickroll” anthem co-writer got paid £11 by YouTube

  • Panorama did a documentary on the exploitation of foreign workers in Dubai. I feel like one of those workers, because I earned less for a year’s work off Google or YouTube than they did off the Bahrain government.
  • Pete Waterman • The guy who co-wrote Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up,” the song behind the Rickrolling phenomenon. Despite 154 million plays of the song on YouTube, Waterman claims to have only made £11 off of it. Waterman was worth £47 million as of 2004. We feel the £47 million should have been taken away from him for writing “Never Gonna Give You Up.” • source

03 Feb 2009 06:36

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Music: One of the greatest auteurs of our times is making a movie musical

HAHAHA, you’ve been Rickrolled! But Rick Astley is working on a musical. Really. source