Can We Put All Memes to Orchestral Music From Now On Please?

It was the joyful cry of many a meme-loving Aussie—and indeed of meme connoisseurs worldwide: ‘Gentlemen, this is democracy manifest!’ The short news clip of an eloquent, outraged gentleman with a sonorous voice getting arrested outside of a Chinese restaurant in Brisbane for some crime unknown (‘What is the charge?! Eating a meal? A succulent Chinese meal?!’) was uploaded in 2009 and took the Internet by storm, never really fading in popularity like so many others of its kind and being rediscovered by new generations of meme fans.

The identity of the spectacular character resisting arrest so wonderfully remained shrouded in mystery and urban legend. Eventually, a documentary was made on the subject, in which it was revealed that its protagonist was one Jack Karlson, serial prison escapee and all-around eccentric and large personality—though even that now remains in some doubt, as he reportedly was a man of many aliases. Karlson (???) sadly passed away aged 82 earlier this week, a story that The Guardian covered while including this excellent vignette:

He walked a full and colourful path and, despite the troubles thrown at him, he lived by his motto - to keep on laughing,” his family said in statement.

Niece Kim Edwards said Karlson spent the last few weeks of his life in hospital, where he “had a few attempts to escape and pulled his cords out a couple of times and asked us many time to sneak in his pipe”.

Edwards said her uncle was “battling many ailments but what got him in the end was [systemic inflammatory response syndrome]”.

“As a final send off, we gave uncle a last taste of red wine through his drip just before it was removed,” she said.

A touching tribute. A similarly fitting tribute was also made four years ago, when YouTuber Michael Tan uploaded an absolutely inspired version of everyone’s favorite verbal self-defense:

Beautiful.