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Chuck Norris Facts by Tyler Brandt
ABOUT:
The idea of facts first began with Vin Diesel from his role in the movie "The Pacifier" and the forum SomethingAwful. Ian Spector created a website about it and it took off, the website had 20,000 hits on the first day.
After the Vin Diesel effect had worn off Spector looked for a new target and the winner was Chuck Norris by a landslide.
"Chuck Norris facts are humourous examples about how much of a man Chuck Norris is. They cover everything from his strength, endurance, virility, attitude or anything else that would make him awesome."
"Chuck Norris himself was flattered by the facts but never took them too seriously. He even wrote a response. He said his favorite was “They once tried to carve Chuck Norris’ face into Mount Rushmore, but the granite wasn’t hard enough for his beard” on The Best Damn Sports Show Period.""
POPULARITY:
Basically, this meme was most popular during the summer of 2005 into early 2006. There was an initial explosion of popularity that has largely leveled off.
Even though the popularity never reached the initial height of when it first hit the internet, there were other small rises during over the years. Particularly there was another small peak in popularity at the end of 2007 when a book was published entitled: The Truth About Chuck Norris: 400 facts about the World's Greatest Human
OTHER MEMES:
- The Chuck Norris Facts have taken off in a wide variety of forms, in examples: In India actor Rajinikanth has taken on a similar form as Chuck Norris.
- Another example that I know well is a famous cyclist that is known for his strength and toughness and a site has been created with facts about him.
- Examples of these facts: "Jens doesn’t shiver unless it’s from a loss of blood. Even then, he keeps on riding"
http://www.cyclingtips.com.au/2010/06/what-would-jens-do/
- Chuck Norris has even been used by Politicians: most notably Mike Huckabee:
MY OPINION:
I think that this format became so popular because it was something new, funny and ironic.
Sources:
1) http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/chuck-norris-facts
2)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Norris#Chuck_Norris_facts
3) http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=Chuck%20Norris%20Facts&cmpt=q
Kim Jong-Un Looking at Things by Johan A. G. Kringlen
Kim Jong-un looking at things is a meme that emerged late December, 2011. Basically, Kim Jong-un looking at things is exactly that, pictures of North Korea's leader looking at things, without no given context.
Here’s an example:
Here’s an example:
Most of the pictures show Kim Jong-un with either some military personnel or as in the above picture, with his father. In most cases there is no apparent ‘event’, other than that he is looking at something. This ranges from a guitar, some dirt and weapons to armored vehicles.
When did it become popular?
Some historic background: North Korea's much riddled and loved leader, Kim Jong-il, died 17. th December 2011. To step up as new leader was his son, Kim Jong-un. Soon after, the meme appeared. It became fairly popular, and claimed to be the best new site by deathandtaxesmag.com. Even so it seems to be losing popularity, which is illustrated in the table below.
Why did it become popular?
To understand why the meme became popular, we have to look at how it originated. North Korea has a history of weirdness, chosen to be mostly isolated from the rest of the world, there has been little outreach to it's neighboring nations, or any else for that matter. This vow of silence has only been broken periodically when they've felt like shooting up a military missile.
Its former leader Kim Jon-il has been parodied on many occasions. Maybe most known is the Team America movie, a puppet-action-comedy movie by the creators of South Park. Here he is the main villain, and coordinator of a terrorist scheme. But perhaps more importantly, he also starred as a meme, called Kim Jong-il looking at things. As you might imagine, it looks a lot like the one discussed here.
Now there is a new leader, and everyone has their eyes on Kim Jong-un. Although there is a lot to be said about his father, Kim Jong-un is more unknown to the public. So popularizing a meme dedicated to him looking at random things is amusing and also lets us get to know him.
It seems as if the role of leader of North Korea brings several implications, having a meme with your name followed by the phrase ‘looking at things’ is one of them.
Lets face it, we need some comic relief when it comes to North Korea. And who better to fill that role than the new, heaven-born, Supreme Leader?
Kim Jong-Un Looking at Things by Jung Yong Kim
The video is North Korea's potential next leader made his debut at the largest military parade in the country's history, in front of reporters from 18 different countries including the U.S. this video is uploaded at the start of year 2010 by You Tube with user UBC. It
Kim Jong –Un
For other people named Kim Jung –Un, see Kim Jong-Un (disambiguation).This is a Korean name; the family name is Kim.Kim Jong-un also romanised as Kim Jong-eun or Kim Jung-eun, (born 8 January 1983
The meme Kim Jong –Un “Looking at Things” is very popular when Kim Jong-Un, 25, has been formally named as the hermit kingdom’s next reader. So who is Kim Jong-Un? Kim Jong-Un was born in 1983 as the third and youngest son of the current North Korea leader Kim Jong-Il. Over the past two years Kim Jung Il suffered from a stroke and had plans to put his Swiss –educated third son in place as eventual of North Korea. However, people didn’t know who he was because he used the name “Pak Chol” to hide his identify and he pretended to be the son of.
Memes:
- The meme represents Kim Jong-Un looking at broad of interests.
- The meme intrigued people since Kim Jong-Un is appointed the head of North Korea.
Looking at guitar:
Looking at a big cheese:
Looking at a target:
Looking at tomato plants:
Looking at a blue table cloth:
Looking at a big cheese:
Looking at a target:
Looking at tomato plants:
Looking at a blue table cloth:
This meme is influenced by Kim jung Il’s looking at things:
My Opinion
I came from South Korea. What with the announcement of Kim Jong Un as his father’s successor and this display of cooperation it seems that the yo-yo like relationship between the South Korea and North Korea. It is assumed that he was involved in the bombardment of Yeonpyeong and the Cheonan sinking to strengthen his military credentials and facilitate a successful transition of power from his father. We will have to keep an eye on this young man and prepare for his reckless acts.
I think North Korea spread out like these pitchers continually because they want to show us about Kim Jong Un’s power.
Google insight:
All Your Base Are Belong to Us by Ida Aasland Boyum
All your base are belong to us, often shortened as AYBABTU, was one of the first popular Internet memes. It emerged from a Japanese shoot-'em up arcade game called Zero Wing from 1989. In the English version of this game, “All your base are belong to us” appeared in the opening scene, as a bad translation for “all of your bases are under our control”. This kind of bad translation is popularly called engrish, which often can be found on east-Asian signs, known for their wrong grammar and spelling. There's even a website called engrish.com, where there are many examples of this. The meme probably became so popular because it was one of the first of its kind reaching media.
Since Google Insights only shows charts from 2004, I couldn't find a proper graph of the meme's popularity before that. The AYBABTU-phrase first became popular around 1998/1999 on the Rage Games forums. In 2000 a video response to this meme was posted on Overlock.org, as maybe the first video response on the Internet in history. In 2000 it spread widely on online discussion forums (as TribalWar forums and SomethingAwful), as animated pictures of street signs, banners, package labels, etc. “All your base are belong to us” really became mainstream in 2001, when it also got a lot of attention in the media, both on television and in newspapers:
There are great numbers of photos and video responses of this meme on YouTube and different photo- and discussion forums. Some examples:
A video combined with another meme; Chocolate Rain:
AYBABTU combined with the Philosoraptor, an advice animal meme:
Many of the animated All your base pictures were photoshopped. This was relatively new at the time, and it contributed to establish this tool as the main medium for memes.
Sources:
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=all%20your%20base%20are%20belong%20to%20us
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/all-your-base-are-belong-to-us
http://www.flixxy.com/internet-meme-all-your-base.htm
Kim Jong-Un Looking at Things by Jaeyoung Lee
The popularity of “Kim Jong Un looking at thing” meme originated from Kim Jong Il’s version of “Looking at things/stuff”. People’s interest and perception of dictatorship towards to North Korea were always strong that North Korea is the one and only existing communism country since the unification of Germany in 1990. Considering the recent death of Kim Jong Il and Kim Jong Un’s appearance as successor became important issue not only within the North Korean society but also as global world.
I was able to find many videos and photos of Kim Jong Un Looking at things on the internet. I have strong idea that this “meme” became so popular that not just because people’s general interests and overall curiosities about Kim Jong Un (North Korea) but also it represents the media maker’s intension to show off Kim Jong Un’s political engagement to every aspects (education, military, science and technology) in North Korea as former successor of Kim Jong Il. Last but not least, not to be offensive towards to North Korea, in my opinion, Kim Jong Un’s (including Kim Jong Il and general North Korean governors) funny physical appearance such as sunglasses, chubby figure, and double-chinned face may be one of the other sub-reasons why this had become a famous meme.
The photos are mostly Kim Jong Un looking at something (object or person). Unlike Kim Jong Il’s meme, we can easily find Kim Jong Un’s smiley face when staring the things. The location of photo varies, however in most of photos, Kim Jong Un is usually accompanied by few of his henchman. As mentioned previously, the series of image connotes (implies) his active political movement in North Korea. Moreover, in most cases, Kim Jong Un is Looking at things while he is listening to explanation from his man which also suggests his authority and power as a leader. The images often released by North Korea media maker and its goal is to emphasize Kim Jong Un’s humanistic characteristics and his suitability as a new leader of North Korea.
According to “Google Insight” interest research, starting with Kim Jong Il’s version of meme, Kim Jong Un’s Looking at things began to gain its media attention since the November 2011. Public interest on this particular meme peaks in December, the month that former leader, Kim Jong Il passed away. And its interest did not last very long but gradually faded out.
Leeroy Jenkins by Saleh Altayyar
Leeroy Jenkins is an internet phenomenon named from World of Warcraft character played by Ben Schultz. The name became popular based on a video that was spread virally on the Internet. The video was first uploaded to Warcraft Movies on May 11, 2005 by the guild PalsForLife. The video started by the team huddling outside the entrance of a battle strategizing on how to beat the mission. While finalizing the strategy Ben Schultz yells out, “Alright time’s up! Let’s do this!” then uses his name as battle cry screaming, “Leeroy Jenkins!” as he charges into the battle ignoring the strategy the team just carefully planned. The team was puzzled and chased in after him resulting in the team failing the mission miserably while voicing out their disappointment of Leeroy. Some of the phrases that were said by members of the team during the chaotic battle include, “God damn it Leeroy!” “Leeroy you moron!” And, “Oh my god!” While Schultz replied sarcastically, “It’s not my fault,” and, “At least I have chicken,” until all the characters eventually died (video below)
The video was posted in a gamer’s forum and grew virally because of its humorous nature of the team’s agony in the chaos along with the help of internet memes created and spread throughout the internet. A video posted a year after the incident on YouTube has accumulated over 29 million views. Due to the popularity of the video, Ben Shultz was invited to Blizzcon 2007 and gave the keynote speech at ROFLCon 2008. The popularity of the video grew so much that Toyota imitated the scene to advertise the Tacoma. (Google insights, videos, and memes below)
Google Insights:
http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=leeroy%20jenkins&cmpt=q
Blizzconn 2007:
Popular Memes:
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/169087-leeroy-jenkins
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1738-leeroy-jenkins
http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/8531-leeroy-jenkins
"Imma Let You Finish" (Kanye West) by Bill Stewart
On September 13th 2009, rapper Kanye West jumped on stage during the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards (VMAs) and interrupted country singer Taylor Swift's acceptance speech for "Best Female Video of the Year." This incident became an instant attraction, appearing on YouTube the same evening for the world to see; and triggering online Kanye West Hate Clubs (many formed the same evening)
Link to original Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3K21rLBEfeM&feature=related
It's popularity was heightened by email and blog posts, and Twitter comments from "common folk" lending their opinion. This also included input from celebrities, with an exclamation point added by the 44th president of the United States, Barack Obama, who called the rapper a "jack-ass" during a CNN interview on Sepember 17, 2009. (video below)
West stated his intention to apologize to Swift and her family, but as of September 15th, according to Swift in a conversation on The View, the rapper had not reached out. Swift's appearance on this daytime chat-box provided additional fodder to this event, which was being passed along via old media (TV and radio), new media (email & text), and new new media (Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube).
Naturally Beyonce was asked to provide her opinion, but Kanye's procrastination in getting an apology out may have prompted celebrities to provide their input as well (e.g. 50 Cent, Shakira, and Snoop Dog); a psychoanalysis was even offered by Dr. Phil during a Larry King Live interview, in which he called the rapper a narcissistic bully.
Link to Video with Dr. Phil: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wM64geVUhjA
Not only were the familiar avenues of dissemination, such as late-night talk and comedy shows, keeping this event alive, but conservative voices also got into the action by providing commentary from Fox News and a chime-in from Bill O'Reilly during the opening segment of his show, where he called the rapper a "Pinhead"
West also played a role in keeping this drama alive with his emotional appearance on the Jay Leno show the following night of the VMAs. And just when you it was over, the incident was still in the news a month later as Oprah praised Taylor Swift's handling of the matter on her talk show - October 15, 2009. Lastly, adding to the life of this theatre are the countless remixes, spoofs and YouTube commentaries that are here with us to stay.
Remix Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Bf6GOAE68c
Nyan Cat by Karina Kismul
The nyan cat, also called Pop Tart Cat, is orginally a illustration made by Christopher Torres. It was first posted on LOL-COMICS April 2nd 2011.
Original Youtube Video of Nyan Cat:
Greek Nyan Cat:
On April 5th 2011 Saraj00n uploaded a youtubefilm with Chris Torres illustration set to an japanese popsong. The youtubefilm contains a cat flying in space with an rainbow attached to his tail, a Japanese popsong is playing in the background. The japanese song is called Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya and is orginally performed by Daniwell-P. The song used in the youtubemovie however, is a cover sung by Utauloid Momo Momone.
The Nyan cat had more than one million views, two weeks after it were uploaded on youtube. The meme were spreading through social media, such as Facebook and Twitter. Also, xDaZJMx commented on the youtubemovie and told youtubers to watch the «Slipknot's Psychosocial Video» and play the Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya song. This made the nyan cat even more popular, as youtubers were commented nyananyanyanyan on Slipknot's music video page on Youtube.
Nyan cat became famous in April 2011, approximately at the same time as people were listening to Rebecca Blacks musicvideo, «Friday». The search for nyan cat on Google is most popular in Chile, Norway and Ungarn. Today it is a range of different nyan cats spinoffs on Youtube set do different songs. You can now find a greek, mexican and a british nyan cat on Youtube.
Youtube movie:
Game developers have even made variations of games based on the nyan cat. Are you boored? Here is a link to the most popular nyan cat game: http://www.silvergames.com/nyan-cat. You can also get your own «nyan cat theme» on your computer instead of the Windows progress bar.
Literature
Available from: http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/nyan-cat-pop-tart-cat Accessed 29.february 2012
Available from:http://www.google.com/insights/search/#q=nyan%20cat%20&cmpt=q Accessed 29.february 2012
Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyan_Cat Accessed 29.february 2012
Available from:http://www.cbc.ca/live/5-best-memes-of-2011.html Accessed 2.march 2012
Pictures:
Available from:http://www.cbc.ca/live/5-best-memes-of-2011.html Accessed 2.march 2012
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