So I had this silly idea to isolate the backgrounds from famous Internet memes, removing all the subjects from every photo or video. I'm pretty happy with the results.

Like Jon Haddock's porn sans people, these photos are banal out of context. Only someone familiar with the original memes would sense something's amiss, like the set of a play waiting for the actors to stumble into history.

Can you name all 22 23? (Click any image for the answer.)

Update: Kind of Bloop is done!

Ever since Kickstarter launched, I've been trying to come up with a great project for it that plays to its strengths... I like to describe it as a site that lets other people pre-order your dreams — an easy way to get the people you know to fund your ideas into reality.

With that in mind, I just launched a project I've been dreaming about for years. The idea is Kind of Bloop, an 8-bit tribute to Miles Davis's Kind of Blue, one of my favorite albums of all-time. I've always wondered what chiptune jazz covers would sound like. What would the jazz masters sound like on a Nintendo Entertainment System? Coltrane on a C-64? Mingus on Amiga?

I've researched the topic quite a bit, and was only able to find four jazz covers ever released — ast0r's version of Coltrane's Giant Steps and Charlie Parker's Confirmation, Sergeeo's own Giant Steps cover, and Bun's version of Coltrane's My Favorite Things. (If you know more, please let me know!)

So I asked ast0r and sergeeo, along with three incredible chiptune artists (Virt, Shnabubula, and Disasterpeace), to collaborate on a track-by-track remake of the album. I'm raising the money to legally release the album, pay the royalties¹, print a very limited run of CDs for Kickstarter backers only, and pay the artists for their hard work on these very challenging songs.

Read more about the project, and back it if you want to make it real.²

Update: We hit our $2,000 goal in four hours, so this project's definitely on! That doesn't mean it's over, though... Anyone can still give money for the download or limited-edition CD. But I'm not planning on selling the album after the August 1 deadline, so pledge now if you want a copy.

Footnotes

1. This is my first time licensing music, and I'm frustrated that there's no free, legal way to release this album for free download when it's done. By law, you're legally required to pay royalties for every download, whether or not you charge for it. Wouldn't a percentage of revenue make more sense?

2. Some people seem to misunderstand what Kickstarter's for, expecting it to work like Kiva, where there's a pool of investors waiting for neat projects to throw their money into. In reality, I'd expect very, very few projects to be backed by random people stumbling on it from the Kickstarter website. It hinges on your own social network, your ability to promote your project, and the demand for what you're offering. So if your project fails, it's most likely because there wasn't enough interest from the people you know.

I just received a very unusual, and refreshingly candid, message from a known scammer in Senegal. It started with a standard introduction to a 419 scam early this morning.

From: jenifergoodluck (Your Big Fool) <cynthiawilliam5@yahoo.com>
Reply-to: jenifer.dagba@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, May 4, 2009 at 6:11 AM
Subject: Hello My Dear one

Hello My Dear one

How are you and how is your work? i hope that all is well with you, My name is miss Jenifer , i know that you may be suprise how i get your email, i got your email today when i was browsing looking for honest partner,then i feel to drop this few line to you , and i will like you to contact me through my email so that we can know each other and exchange our pictures, and we maybecome partner.

Remember the distance does not matter what matters is the love we share with each other. i am waiting to hear from you soon.

kiss regards Miss Jenifer

About an hour later, I received a very unusual followup.

From: jenifergoodluck (Your Big Fool) <cynthiawilliam5@yahoo.com>
Reply-to: jenifer.dagba@yahoo.com
Date: Mon, May 4, 2009 at 6:11 AM
Subject: You Owe Me

Since you haven't fallen for my stupid scam letter let me go ahead and be up front with you.

Because I am a Nigerian, you owe me something. The fact that my decadent forefathers sold their neighbors and relatives into slavery means that you owe me a lot of money, especially if you are white. I will accept $1000 USD from you per month for the next 12 months. That will settle your debt towards me that was created by our forefathers.

Moreover, it is imperative that you begin to acknowledge my inherited right to steal and be corrupt without oppression from anybody's legal system. I am entitled to instant riches at the expense of everyone outside West Africa.

This starts with you, my friend, so start paying up now by Western Union.

As much as I'd like to think Jenifer had a nervous breakdown within the hour, it's clear that it's a different author. The writing style is completely different and the scammer's from Senegal, not Nigeria.

I'm guessing an angry recipient hacked her Yahoo! Mail account and sent out the second message to discredit her. Any other theories? I replied to the email to get more details, but I don't expect a response.