Rick Astley

In case you missed it while you were cooking the turkey (or recovering from a turkey-induced coma), the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade got Rick Rolled! By Rick Astley himself! (Lookin' pretty good, I might add. ) As Rick rollin' geeksugar pointed out, I wonder how many people were in on the joke and how many viewers just thought he was singing his hit song from the '80s

According to my BF, I'm a brave soul. Why? Cause I took my Rick Roll Halloween costume to the streets and into some of the offices around the Financial District to "roll" some innocent bystanders. What fun is making a Rick Roll Halloween costume if you can't use it?! After a few adjustments to the initial plan (no one wanted to rip the email off the face of the box . . . who knew?!), we were off and running. Check out the "rolling" action in this video. And I'll just say, "You're welcome," now for getting this song stuck in your head for the remainder of the day. Good times!

Remember Rickrolling, that devious Internet meme whereby someone pretends to link to something relevant to the topic at hand, but then when you click on the link, it's freaking Rick Astley singing "Never Gonna Give You Up"? (If you haven't heard of Rickrolling, where on earth have you been? Ahhh. Living your life offline. Carry on then!) Anyway, someone did a fine editing job by Barackrolling McCain at his own convention. Hilarious!

There are those of us who can sit back, enjoy a good joke, and pass it on to a few friends. And then there are those who think the only way to get in on a joke is to bludgeon it with synthesizers and overly produced teenybopper vocals. When everything's done and dandy, these folks look around, only to discover that no one's laughing anymore. I'll let you decide which of these camps Ashley Tisdale belongs to.

When two bizarre Internet sensations come together, it can be truly diabolical. To wit: The "Chocolate Rain" deluge meets the Rick-rollin' downpour in a perfect storm of music and viral videos. This recording of Tay Zonday covering "Never Gonna Give You Up" makes me think Tay should do an entire Rick Astley tribute album, stat.

Balki was an obnoxious doofball on Perfect Strangers, but that was merely a front. Little did we know, back in the boondocks of Mypos, he was a sheepherder by day and a practical joker by night. Apparently, the dude roll'd us before we even knew what getting Rick Roll'd was all about. Genius! (Thanks, eBaum's World!)

This past April Fools' Day, anyone and everyone with an Internet connection got Rick Roll'd. Websites roll'd their readers. The Techno Viking roll'd his Rocky Horror Techno Show. Even the muppets got in on the fun. If we're all going to use the vid as a weapon of mass annoyance then we should at least know a thing or two about it — such as the director's two-hour deliberation over whether Rick's sleeves should be rolled up or not. In the end, they got roll'd.

Poor Mr. Burns. He can't expect to roll into town in a tanker and not have his enemies fight back. And their weapon is much more offensive than any explosive he's hiding up in that vehicle. Prepare for the ultimate assault . . .

This only affirms my suspicion that Beaker was the unsung badass on The Muppet Show. Those looks, that voice, and a jokester to boot! Beaker is everything I want in a man — puppet and all — w00t! w00t! (I kid, I kid.) A gag can't officially wear out its welcome until the non-blinking, neurotic muppet sings, so here's my guy, ready to rick 'n roll . . .