Rick and roller
Graeme writes: "I was looking for something I'd seen on the History Channel online but I am no good at finding things on the internet, so I asked my grandson Myles, by email, if he could help. He sent a link back of a song by Rick Astley . When I told him he had sent me the wrong link, he replied, 'bwahaha!'." Sideswipe answers: The internet meme known as "rickrolling" is a childish prank. When you click on a link expecting something amazing that you're mad keen on seeing, instead the URL goes to '80s crooner Rick Astley's music video of Never Gonna Give You Up. Before it was know as rickrolling, it was known as duckrolling, which is the same thing, but instead of going to the Astley video, you end up looking at a picture of a duck with wheels. At that point it is said that you have been "duckrolled". The first known instance of a rickroll occurred in May 2007 where a link to the Rick Astley video was claimed to be a mirror of the first trailer for the much anticipated Grand Theft Auto IV (which was unavailable due to heavy traffic).
Definitely NOT the drugs
Guitarist Eddie Van Halen talked about the tongue cancer scare a decade ago that claimed one-third of his tongue and says he knows what caused it. He tells NME.com: "I used metal picks - they're brass and copper - which I always held in my mouth, in the exact place where I got the tongue cancer. Plus, I basically live in a recording studio that's filled with electromagnetic energy. So that's one theory. I mean, I was smoking and doing a lot of drugs and a lot of everything. But at the same time, my lungs are totally clear. This is just my own theory, but the doctors say it's possible."
