The Spin

Author Archive

Like a rickroll, only better

Lauren Friedman

2381019708_759ba12a09_m.jpg

Apparently, our generation is lazy. Or at least too serious to expend precious brain cells making ha-has anymore.

A columnist at LSU, Caitlyn Scott, bemoans our growing laziness, but not because of decreased productivity or initiative. No, instead — in “Rickrolling shows laziness of generation” — she writes that the laziness problem is actually most easily illustrated by this no-longer-new internet meme:

The rickrolling phenomenon leaves me with one burning question: Is this the direction practical jokes are headed?… Will dipping a sleeping friend’s hand into lukewarm water no longer be the established way to prank?

Heaven forbid we put the old hand-in-warm-water prank to rest. Nothing funnier than a dampened bed sheet!

(For the uninitiated: rickrolling involves misleading people to the YouTube video of the 1987 Rick Astley hit, “Never Gonna Give You Up,” by disguising the link as something relevant. How’d I do?)

Granted, rickrolling takes much of the creativity and effort out of pranks, but good old-fashioned pranking is still alive and well — especially among students.

(more…)

Vote grubbers

Lauren Friedman

“A man never trifles with gals who carry rifles.”

Lauren Friedman

How not to treat your political guests

Lauren Friedman

Five vodka tonics, please. Hold the vodka.

Lauren Friedman

The lives of others

Lauren Friedman

Are you smarter than a fifth grader?

Lauren Friedman

Face off: the Big Apple vs. the Giant Cheesesteak

Lauren Friedman

Oh, rats! Or: How not to impress your V-Day date

Lauren Friedman

“I know the world isn’t fair, but why isn’t it ever unfair in my favor?”

Lauren Friedman