Crazy Monkey Studio

Screenshot from the Meme Proposal video

Internet memes aren't just for chuckles around the virtual water cooler — they can also be vital accessories in a moment that lasts a lifetime: the marriage proposal. Since everything that can be documented is documented, why not point cameras at this once intimate moment between two people, for others to have and to hold, for ever and always?

The "Meme Proposal" between two young people, Tim and Audrey, takes place just outside a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur on Nov. 30, shot and edited by professional film crew Crazy Monkey Studio. And reminiscent of "Love Actually" (nice call, Gizmodo!), young Tim stands outside a glass door, looking in at his girlfriend Audrey, who's sitting with her friends eating dinner.

And to the soundtrack of Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years" (which is itself on the soundtrack of the "Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1" soundtrack), Tim produces big flashcards that use memes to illustrate his point that though he may have been apprehensive about marriage for awhile, he is ready to take the plunge with his soulmate. (We like the old school cards, vs. using a tablet slideshow, by the way!) We won't spoil the surprise for you, but let's just say everyone grabs a Kleenex by the end:

On the Vimeo page, Crazy Monkey Studio gives a little background for what we just saw: 

For the first time, we got to shoot a proposal and it was real fun. It was a covert mission (ok la [sic] ... more like a paparazzi mission). We went to venue a day before to scout the place, discuss how to hide those cameras and look at how to be invisible.

On that day, we were all dressed in black. Talked using walkies. Used wine bottles, glasses, cutleries, vases and flowers as cover. We sat around the restaurant as guests but with our cameras on. And yes, we achieved total invisibility. Audrey walked into the restaurant, sat with her friends and never noticed us.

Not until the prime time when Tim revealed himself with meme place cards that was part of his proposal. That was when all the cameras (all four in total) started rolling. 

And, it turns out, Tim is some kind of big blogger type in Asia, judging from his blog and a post about attending the a recent blog awards event — the Oscar equivalent for Asia-Pacific bloggers — with his "Shorty" (Audrey). She also blogs, and recounts all the details of the proposal on her blog.

I've been to a lot of weddings. I mean a lot. Several a year, for about 15 years now. And for the most part, they're first marriages. But after so many friends have already tied the knot, it's easy to forget that first blush (and rush) of hope for rest-of-your-life happiness that comes with the marriage proposal.

I hope you're never so jaded that a video like this doesn't pull at your heartstrings at least a little.

More stories:

• UC Davis cop pepper sprays famous works of art
• Jim Carrey’s pathetic midlife crisis is a meme 
• Geeky marriage proposal filmed with light pens

Check out Technolog on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Athima Chansanchai, who is also trying to keep her head above water in the Google+ stream.

Google Chrome

Hurry! Search Google for this exact phrase: Do a barrel roll 

(You must use Google Chrome, Firefox or Safari. IE doesn't work.)

Then, once your mind is blown by this new Google gag (based on a relatively old Internet meme) that actually causes the text on your browser to "do a barrel roll," email everyone and demand that they do the same. In fact, you might just need to type in "do a" and Google will magically know what you're asking for and go into a tailspin before you hit "enter."

Most importantly however, be quick about it lest you suffer the obligatory response from your know-it-all friends: "Dude. That is so old. I saw it, like, an hour ago. Eastern Standard Time."

KnowYourMeme

If those are, indeed the sort of insipid jerks you hang out with, (for example, you hang out with me), they will no doubt blather that you "Do a barrel roll" was totally an old meme back when the crowd obediently did "a barrel roll" for Christopher "Moot" Poole at the very first ROFLCON in 2008.

Know Your Meme — the internationally recognized scholarly repository of awesome — records 'do a barrel roll' picking up major Internet traction around 2006, along with this description of origin:

Do A Barrel Roll is an catchphrase used to instruct someone to perform a 360 degree horizontal spin. It is sometimes used to caption image macros where the subject appears to be in mid-rotation, or in animated GIFs where the subject is performing a full rotation. It is often paired with the character Peppy from the Nintendo 64 console game Star Fox 64.

From that catchphrase, as with everything else that catches on with the Internet masses, a million image macros ensued.

Of course, this is just another in a history of Easter eggs offered to us by Google Chrome. For example, if you haven't seen this before, check out this link to Google Gravity. Similarly, searches for "askew," "slanted" slanted or "tilt" (using Google Chrome, Safari or other Webkit browsers) makes the results lean to the right. 

Fans of Douglas Adams' "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series will enjoy a search for "answer to life, the universe and everything." (The top result is "42.") A search for "ascii art" turns the Google logo into ASCII art. Why the nerd fun goes on and on ... and on.

And if you really enjoy fun with JavaScript, head over to Google's Chrome Experiment site and waste the rest of your work day.

UPDATE: "I hate to break it to Google and you guys, but that actually isn't a barrel roll," Ted Rea Jr., this guy I know from Facebook, just pointed out. While one might counter that Google defines reality, thus making his an invalid argument, Ted did provide this illuminating graphic:

via The Paladin's Post

(Hat Tip to Will Femia, who also recorded our 2008 ROFLCON barrel roll video above.)

More on the annoying way we live now:

• OK Go bends to your will, thanks to Google Chrome 
• Failed Facebook party leads to unfriending, arson
• Is Google sharing your Facebook comments?
• 50 horror movies spoiled in four minutes

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook. Also, Google+.

Now that Nyan Cat is officially "mainstream" — having appeared on CollegeHumor, G4TV, the Tosh.0 blog, and even Sprint’s Nexus 4G "Cats" commercial" —  the 8-bit meme was due for a little re-nerding. Hence Schrödinger's Nyan Cat. Here we see — or rather, don't see ——  the Internet-famous half cat/half Pop-Tart (presumably in the box) zooming through space to something that sounds like a freakier version of the song "Nyanyanyanyanyanyanya," from which Nyan Cat gets its name.

Rather than trailing its customary rainbow, here Schrödinger's Nyan Cat leaves behind a never-ending quantum mechanics equation. Meanwhile, cat heads and cat skulls flicker in the background, referencing Erwin Schrödinger's 1935 thought experiment in which one meditates on whether the cat in the box is alive following some random event.

And before you start asking about whether it's a sound-proof box or what if the cat is sleeping —and cats rarely get in boxes against their will without howling their heads off (except maybe Maru) — rest assured Schrödinger's cat is about is about quantum mechanics and there's no need to worry your pretty little head.

But if, like most of the population, this leaves you feeling dumb, pep up by watching these kids try to wrap their heads around just Nyan Cat when its not even in a box!

More on the annoying way we live now:

• Muppets do 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'
• 50 animated movies spoiled in three minutes
• Kids on 'Sittin' on Tha Toilet': 'It's crime! It's horror!'

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook. Also, Google+.

Think the honey badger is sacrificing personal and artistic integrity by joining Keyboard Cat, Angry Birds, the Winklevii, Annoying Orange and Snookie to shill Wonderful® Pistachios? Well guess what?

Honey badger don't care.

The crazy nasty*** honey badger has been doing what he wants since he first hit YouTube in January via "nature documentary footage with voiceover narration provided by Randall, a self-proclaimed animal lover who has since launched a successful YouTube series based on the concept," notes Know Your Meme. It became instantly popular, thanks to the video's "sassy commentary and irreverent personification of the mammals." Also, birds (which are sassily personified by Randall in the video too, but are not mammals).

Anyway, Randall already "sold out," lending his attitude and voice to commercials for Discovery's Mythbusters and The Hub's "Jem and the Holograms" reruns. Why shouldn't honey badger get some of that action?

If you're some how unfamiliar with the crazy nasty*** honey badger — or just remembered you need to watch it for the ka-jillionth time — here's the original (NSFW-curse word infused) video below.

More on the annoying way we live now:

• Schrodinger's Nyan Cat -- no quantum mechanics required
• Muppets do 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'
• Kids on 'Sittin' on Tha Toilet': 'It's crime! It's horror!'

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook. Also, Google+.

AntiSec via Examiner

It's been three days since the potentially iconic image of alleged LulzSec leader "Topiary" — 18-year-old Jake Davis of the Shetland Islands — hit the news. Yet the Internet continues to suffer a dearth of image macros that this kid's face and sunglasses scream for!

Know Your Meme's Don Caldwell pointed me toward an anemic area on the Memes Research Forum in which one commentor suggested: " 'Deal with it' is written all over his sunglasses … It’s glorious." But at the time of this post, hardly any work's been done beyond a few generated by the "Free Topiary" community.  (C'mon, Interwebs! If that was Keanu Reeves, you'd be all over it!)

Rather than suspecting the crowd-sourced creativity that brought us LOLCats and Princess Beatrice's big dumb Cuthulu hat on pretty much everything, I choose to suspect it's the government stopping the meme flow. The ongoing international LulzSec and Anonymous-related arrests reveal the the government is obviously hanging out in cyberspace. Further, the Pentagon is offering $42 million in funding to researchers to help develop its Social Media in Strategic Communications program, the New York Times reports:

As social media play increasingly large roles in fomenting unrest in countries like Egypt and Iran, the military wants systems to be able to detect and track the spread of ideas both quickly and on a broad scale. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is soliciting innovative proposals to help build what would be, at its most basic level, an Internet meme tracker.

DARPA, y'all! That's the agency that invents new technology for the military. DARPA also gets most of the credit for inventing the Internet, so you'd think they'd have this Internet culture-thing covered, but no. As the document circulating among potential researchers points out:

Recent research has shown that traditional approaches to understanding social media through static network connectivity models often produce misleading results. It is, therefore, necessary to take into account the dynamics of behavior and SMISC is interested in a wide variety of techniques for doing so.

The Internet — it's a tricky place. And it's increasingly trickier to figure out who's doing the tricking.

via The New York Times

Related stories:

• US was chief target of cyber attacks: McAfee
• Cthulhu hat a bold choice for royal wedding
• Keanu Reeves is sad; Don Draper is sadder
• Hackers for hire: Criminals offer services online
• LulzSec spokesperson in custody, say UK police
• UK spies hack al-Qaida, replace bomb info with cupcake recipes

The rise of kitty videos, baby pictures and other cuteness on the Internet is now explained by our hardwired instinct to share when we care, Science recently claimed.

In its first foray into video advertising, travel search engine Hipmunk experimented with that assertion by substituting humans for animals in some of the Internet's most famous viral videos. Animals paid homage include Dramatic Chipmunk, Maru Loves Boxes, Keyboard Cat, Surprised Kitty, Cat Mom Hugs Baby Kitten, and Sneezing Baby Panda. (If you've missed those viral videos, just click their names.)

"Everything's  Better with Cute Animals (Including Travel Search!)" is Hipmunk's conclusion (as well as the title of the video), but we're not so sure. While this video couldn't exist without the adorable animals that came before — obviously — it's pretty super awesome on its own.

You be the judge.

via Laughing Squid

More adorable videos on the annoying way we live now:

• Why cute videos go viral -- the aww-nest truth
• Kitty hug video explained
• Monkey playing with iPhone heralds end of Man's reign
• Stone cold Frenchie jacks a sled

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook. Also, Google+.

RXQueenAlice/Reddit

While idly browsing the Web diligently scouring the Internet for important news this morning, I made the mistake of clicking a link which would make me quiver with dread. What could possibly be so frightening? Photo proof that Internet memes are taking over the real world.

The photo in question was uploaded to Imgur — the photo-hosting service of choice for Reddit users — and pointed out by a commenter on the popular link-sharing site.

In the image, we see a bored-looking bespectacled redhead who is holding up a sign proclaiming "I left the ocean. It's too current." Yes, that's right — it's a real-life version of "Hipster Ariel."

MemeGenerator

The "Hipster Ariel" meme has been making its way around the Internet since about the beginning of 2011, according to trend-tracking site KnowYourMeme. The basic idea is to poke fun of the contemporary hipster subculture by using macro images — photos with superimposed captions — of an altered version of Disney's Ariel.

Even though it's suggested that the photo of real-life "Hipster Ariel" was taken during ACen, an anime and manga convention, it is still slightly unnerving to see that this particular meme has crossed into the real world. After all, what other — far less innocent memes — might follow in its path?

Related stories:

• Hillary Clinton too sexy for Situation Room
• Royal wedding's 'Frowning Flower Girl' rules Internet
• Heartbroken girl gets revenge by turning ex-boyfriend into Internet meme

Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's obsessed with Twitter and loves to be liked on Facebook.

Note: See update at end of this post.

Sigh.

via Know Your Meme

We've had a lot of fun with Photoshop since the White House first uploaded the "Situation Room" image to its Flickr account on May 2, complete with this disclaimer: "The Photograph may not be manipulated in any way and may not be used in commercial or political materials, advertisements, emails, products, promotions that in any way suggests approval or endorsement of the President, the First Family, or the White House."

Yeah, good luck with that White House.

By May 4, the now-iconic image showing President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and members of the national security team gathered inside the White House Situation Room as they received updates on the mission against bin Laden, was closing in on the most viewed photo on Flickr. It was also the victim of all manner of manipulation —  a game controller in the hands of the president, Princess Beatrice's Cthulhu hat on the head of everyone in the room, The Situation of "Jersey Shore" fame (shirtless, natch) — if it was ridiculous, someone 'shopped it.

via Jezebel

Jezebel had some fun, taking the ‘shopped image as it appeared in Der Tzitung, adding royal wedding meme “Frowning Flower Girl” to replace the missing Secretary of State.

The most notorious, and arguably most amateur Situation Room Photoshop however, came from Orthodox Hasidic  Jewish newspaper, Der Tzitung, in which Hillary Clinton is completely removed from the photo. Unlike the memes making the rounds, this 'shop wasn't done for lulz. The newspaper wasn't looking to visually change history either — just maintain its own. The highly religious newspaper never publishes pictures of women on account of it could be "sexually suggestive."

The Secretary of State wasn't the only temptress taken out of the photo. Counterterrorism analyst Audrey Thomason, seen standing way way in the back, was also obliterated from the photo.

Note: Not all Jews in journalism are cool with this fauxtograph, including the one writing this post. Seriously. My Bubbe could do a better Photoshop, and she's been dead for like, 20 years.

Jewish Week's Rabbi Jason is somewhat more articulate on the subject:

via Know Your Meme

Why remove someone from a historic photo when you can add everyone. Ever.

Der Tzitung edited Hillary Clinton out of the photo, thereby changing history. To my mind, this act of censorship is actually a violation of the Jewish legal principle of g'neivat da'at (deceit).

"Apparently, the concern was that this could lead to mixed dancing in the White House situation room," quipped Adam Dickter, also of Jewish Week. Then he said some really smart stuff:

If they think their readers can’t handle the image of powerful women, haredi or chasidic papers like Der Tzitung would do well to leave out future photos of mixed-sex gatherings instead of doctoring them again. Apart from being intellectually dishonest, it presents religious Judaism as ridiculous in the eyes of the world, a transgression far worse than casting eyes on a woman who has earned a position of authority.

Every other second in this country, a women is the victim of hideous Photoshopping. From a freakishly wasp-waisted Demi Moore to the bisected body of Christina Hendricks, the assault on our eyesight is never ending. At the very least, allow women their rightful place in history —or just don't use the picture.  

Update: In an email statement sent to the Washington Post, Der Tzitung writes an explanation, "Our photo editor realized the significance of this historic moment, and published the picture, but in his haste he did not read the 'fine print' that accompanied the picture, forbidding any changes."

That’s cool, neither did the rest of the Internet.

The statement goes on to read, "We should not have published the altered picture, and we have conveyed our regrets and apologies to the White House and to the State Department." It also does a bang-up job of explaining the religious beliefs that prevent it from publishing pictures of women, and is aggressive in its defense: "The allegations that religious Jews denigrate women or do not respect women in public office, is a malicious slander and libel."

But like that one friend who’s sorry — sorry that you’re mad at him but not for what he did — Der Tzitung never really takes responsibility for the big issue.

Nobody cares that Der Tzitung broke White House photo publishing rules. Do you see us hating on Reddit? Then again, nobody believes everybody in the Situation Room was wearing Princess Beatrice’s Cthulhu hat.

Unlike Reddit, Der Tzitung is a newspaper, aka "history’s first draft." Women are rightfully sensitive about not getting our props, and everyone should be sensitive about consciously manipulated journalism. If Der Tzitung couldn’t use the image as it appeared, it shouldn’t have published a lie.

Read the full statement here.

 More on the annoying way we live now:

• White House photo viewed as often as it is parodied
• Kids react to Osama bin Laden's death
• The Osama bin Laden Twitter explosion -- illustrated
• Bin Laden's death unites Internet town square
• Facebook: Cthulhu hat a bold choice for royal wedding

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Join her on Twitter and Facebook, won't you?

@darthvader/twitter

As Filmdrunk's Vince Mancini sagingly observed in an excellent piece containing sentences with which I couldn't agree more, Star Wars has "already been culturally validated.  So maybe we can put the whole 'I like Star Wars I’m a huge nerd!' thing to bed now."

Maybe someday. But not on May 4 aka Star Wars Day (as in "May the Fourth be with you") when on Twitter, we celebrate with the hashtag game #replaceawordinastarwarslinewithpants. Observe:

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet.  Join her on Twitter and Facebook, won't you?  

Yasmine Ryan

My friend, reporter Dorothy Parvaz, is one of the best journalists and one of the finest people I know ... and she is missing in Syria.

My friend Dorothy Parvaz has been missing for five days and ... I don't know what to do.

Dorothy is a journalist — no, not just a journalist, a great journalist — who I had the privilege of working with for years. She went to Syria to cover the turmoil there. And that’s where she vanished last Friday.

Those who know the situation best say the best hope for bringing Dorothy home alive is to bring as much attention to bear on her situation as possible so that her captors (likely the Syrian government) will know the world is paying attention. But how do you do get the world to pay attention when the world seems singularly focused on the death of Osama bin Laden?

In moments like these, many people pray. And I can understand that desire now better than I have ever before. When things go sideways, praying means doing something when doing nothing is too painful to consider.

But I'm not a believer in, well, much of anything. And prayer has never felt quite right to me. And yet, oh the irony ... here I am, in a moment of need, with a request for the universe. I want Dorothy back in her family’s arms, safe and sound. Please. Please. Please.

And so today I sent my request to the universe the only way I know how. Today I tweeted my request. And you know what ... the Twitterverse answered.

My good friend and reporter Dorothy Parvaz is missing in Syria. Please spread the word and help us demand her return: http://bit.ly/jfHCww

The response to that tweet was almost instantaneous ... and overwhelming — wonderfully, surprisingly overwhelming. People — all kinds of people, some I knew, many many I didn't — heard my request and carried it forth farther than I ever could have.

They retweeted and retweeted and retweeted all day long. These people, these wonderful people! Some tweeted because they knew Dorothy. So very many tweeted simply because they heard a cry for help and decided to answer. As a tech reporter, I have long known that this is the wonderful power of social media ... but today I know and understand this power like never before.

And today it's been these online places and digital networks that have been the lifeline for many of us who are waiting ... waiting ... waiting for news about Dorothy.

On Twitter, someone created the hashtag #FreeDorothy so that together we can raise our voices ... so that collectively we’re loud enough that someone with some power somewhere might hear our plea for her safety.

Meanwhile, seemingly from out of nowhere, a Free Dorothy Parvaz page has sprung up on Facebook. It started with 100 likes this morning and has now well passed 1000. And it’s there that those of us who know Dorothy as well as those who don’t, but care nonetheless, have been able to exchange the scraps of information that we have and share the few actions we might take. 

It’s here on Facebook (that place I often loathe but can not help but love today) that people have been able to send their love and support to Dorothy’s family — her father, her sisters, her brother, her mother, her fiancé. I know how much she adores them all. And I can only imagine how worried they must be.

Others have used personal blogs to spread the word about Dorothy and to remind the world just what a kick-ass person she is. She touched many in her various jobs, in Seattle at the Times and the Post-Intelligencer, at both Harvard and Cambridge University, and at Al Jazeera English, where she currently writes. 

As Curt Milton, who Dorothy and I worked with for years at the P-I, says in his blog: “She’s one of the strongest people I know.” I’d also add, she’s the smartest person I know. And one of the most thoughtful.

But still, Dorothy is missing. And I don’t know what to do.

Or maybe I do.

Tweet. Like. Share. Pray.

Do something. Do anything. Even if it feels like there’s nothing that can be done.

Let the Syrian government know, let God know, let the whole freakin’ World Wide Web know that Dorothy Parvaz is missing ... and we love her and we want her back.

If you read this and you want to help free Dorothy, please:

• Contact the Syrian Embassy in Washington D.C. at 202-232-6316 ext. 139 or by email at as1@syrembassy.net.
• Like and share the Free Dorothy Parvaz page here.
• Use the #FreeDorothy hashtag on Twitter and tweet about Dorothy so the world doesn't forget.

To read more about Dorothy, please see:

• Dorothy Parvaz, former P-I reporter, missing in Syria
• An expatriate rediscovers her homeland — Iran

Winda Benedetti writes about video games and technology for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter.

Matt Dunham / AP

Despite Princess Beatrice's Cthulhu hat (aka "the thing cannot be described") making a valiant effort and the cartwheeling priest of Westminster Abbey putting in a brave showing, 3-year-old bridesmaid Grace Van Cutsem is hands-down the royal wedding meme to rule the Internet.

As newlyweds Wills and Kate shared an uncomfortable micro-kiss from the Buckingham Palace balcony, the roar of the adoring crowd proved to be a bit much for little Grace, who will no doubt live down her new meme moniker, the "Frowning Flower Girl" well into her senior years.

via Buzzfeed

Hoda and Kathy Lee are too loud for little Grace. Go figure!

via Buzzfeed

Frowning Flower Girl may be British, but she knows how it feels to be American!

The goddaughter of Prince William, and daughter of Lady Rose Astor and Hugh Van Cutsem, had a royal nap in her near future, surmised TODAY Moms editor Rebecca Dube — but not before her adorable grumpy image had been Photoshopped into countless volume-challenged situations. 

via Buzzfeed

Frowning Flower Girl is sick of Don Draper's sobbin'!

Buzzfeed's Matt Stopera led the charge, asking a question of the Internet and providing the tools to provide an answer:

3-year-old Grace Van Cutsem, the goddaughter of Prince William, was by far the best person at the Royal Wedding. Where else have you seen miserable little Grace?! Use our image overlay tool to photoshop her into various situations.

Grace may have already supassed Tina Fey's swaggering daughter Alice for top tot meme status. Here are some of our favorites so far ...

via Buzzfeed

Frowning Flower Girl doesn't have time for Sad Keanu's moping, either!

via Buzzfeed

Frowning Flower Girl does not find Charlie Sheen to be #winning!

via Buzzfeed

Oh, and in case you were wondering, she doesn't care for "Friday" either.

via Buzzfeed

More royal wedding ridiculousness:

• Nice wedding and all, but can you please keep it down?
• Facebook: Cthulhu hat a bold choice for royal wedding
• Royal wedding edges out World Cup for video viewing record
• Royal wedding rules Twitter
• Kate Middleton kicked off Facebook ... again!

Helen A.S. Popkin also needs a post-royal wedding nap. Afterwards, you are cordially invited to join her for tea on Twitter and Facebook.  

Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!*
*On the head of Princess Beatrice, dead Cthulhu waits dreaming.

Given that hats are no longer de rigueur in Western civilization, when the rare occasion for fancy headwear does present itself, why not go with a humanity-noshing sci-fi hat?

Princess Beatrice's apparent gambit, to wear a chapeau representing "a monster of vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind" really paid off.

Before Wills and Kate had even shared their reluctant micro-kiss, Beatrice's Cthulhu hat already had acquired its own Facebook page with more than 5,000 fans. By 8 p.m. ET, it was closing in on 44,000 devotees.

This is no great surprise, considering the cosmic entity Cthulhu, originally depicted in H.P. Lovecraft's "The Call of Cthulhu," is worshiped by a worldwide doomsday cult.

Not since Aretha Franklin's Inauguration hat, with its 94,000 fans, has a headpiece enjoyed such popularity on the world's largest social network.

Currently, there are at least 14 Facebook pages dedicated to Beatrice's hat, with Princess Beatrice's ridiculous Royal Wedding hat the most popular.

Others whimsically-titled Beatrice's Hat Fan pages include:

• Beatrice's Amazing Hat.
• Beatrice's Pretzel Hat
• Beatrice's Hat - What is it and what can it be used for?
• The reindeer at Will & Kate's wedding LOL JK it was just Beatrice's hat
• Princess Beatrice of York One Of A Kind Rocked Her Hat
• Princess Beatrice looks like an antelope in that hat
• Beatrice's Hat what the hell was that?

Arguably unflattering comments on the most popular fan page stated that the hat, paired with Taylor Momsen makeup, seems more appropriate for Lady Gaga, rather than the daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson. Other notable comments observed:

"Perfect example of why it is bad to always be surrounded by toadies who assure you 'oh, my you look fabulous!'"

 "She needs that hat to stay in contact with the mother ship."

 "...it looks like someone's tied a bit of ribbon around a giant anus."

Such commenters may pay for their insolence. Beatrice's hat does, after all, represent the priest of "the Great Old Ones who lived ages before there were any men, and who came to the young world out of the sky."

Cthulhu hat tip to Nerdier-than-thou Ree Hines of the Clicker

More royal wedding ridiculousness:

• The Windsor Knot: Live royal wedding updates
• Royal wedding rules Twitter
• Kate Middleton kicked off Facebook ... again!

Helen A.S. Popkin knows better than to mess with the Old Ones. Join her cult on Twitter and Facebook.