WE START with an incredibly odd but undeniably novel use of YouTube. Instead of the usual ancient pop video/rant/ hilarious falling over clips, this person has done the equivalent of those 1980s "If you want to take the left path, go to page 21" fant
asy books. Now, OK, all this guy wants you to help him do is find his cat Spartacus, which I grant you is not that exciting, but at least he's trying.
FROG FOR GALLOWS HUMOUR www.newyorker.com/ humor/2008/06/30/080630sh_ shouts_richWE'RE deep in Frasier territory here. The New Yorker, America's foremost intellectuals' monthly, does its best to remain wryly witty, and when it gets it right, it really gets it right, as it does with its conversations between animals. The one of two frogs discussing high-school dissection classes is pure genius.
OH JAMES, YOU TEASEwww.007.comI WANTED to put the new James Bond trailer into the column last week, but it turns out the 007 film-makers are just a big bunch of teases and took it off their website moments after posting it, which is enough to drive a hard-pressed column writer to distraction. Anyway, it's now back on permanently and looks ace. Basically, the film's a follow-on from Casino Royale.
NATURAL DESELECTIONwww.darwinawards.comFOR the uninitiated, The Darwin Awards are a posthumous recognition of people who, by inadvertently removing themselves from the gene pool via a hilariously stupid method, without having bred, do the human species a favour. Their website is laugh-out-loud stuff.
FEEL THAT LITTLE FREESONGwww.deezer.com/#music/album/99591DEEZER is a free music site, with plenty of features to keep it interesting. For some reason the fact that it's registered in France – whose download laws seem to be, erm, laissez faire – means you can build up a stock of tracks to listen to at a later date. Not sure if you can transfer them on to an MP3 player, but at least you'll have a neat way to create an online personal jukebox.
The full article contains 369 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
