Web Monitor
16:20 UK time, Thursday, 10 September 2009
A celebration of the riches of the web.
Web Monitor has become a junkie for hits. As such, we're mostly talking kittens, Hitler and asking who's the daddy as if we're trapped in an episode of The Jeremy Kyle Show.
• last night questioning the paternity of his child Leo. After that bombshell, which Web Monitor assumes is Mr Blair's version of a joke, he told the story of an enterprising Irish colleague who has Leo to thank for a windfall at the bookies. The Irishman said to Mr Blair:
"Remember when I asked you that question about what the name of the child would be and you told me you would name it after your father?...Well the next day I went and put Β£1,000 down at the bookmakers and I had the best holiday of my life."
Interestingly the Late Show website refers to Tony Blair as the ex-Prime Minister of England. One can only assume the Blair's reference to Northern Ireland was completely lost on them.
• After a fascinating conversation about flyovers near Monitor Towers, Web Monitor was pleased to receive a link to the gloriously incongruous:
"Hollywood actress Jayne Mansfield cuts a tape as she opens the Chiswick Flyover."
So a challenge is brewing again. Send in your favourite archive flyover, road or motorway links. Among the places to mine for internet gold are the which has recently gone online free of charge and of course the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ's archive.
• Web Monitor went shamelessly lowbrow yesterday and got an accusation of being "appallingly lightweight and feeble." But what a result! An appeal for your favourite cat websites yielded the most responses Web Monitor has ever had. So, some highlights... Anna from Bognor Regis recommends :
"How many household objects can you balance on your cat before it gets huffy and runs away?"
Mary Noyce in Melksham says her personal favourite is :
"It's photos of cats watching cats watching cats watching cats watching cats watching cats watching... well I think you get the idea!"
Si in Leeds says the most inspired cat website of the moment has to be :
"The perfect antithesis to all this lolcat madness."
Don't even get Web Monitor started on lolcat. No, seriously.
Lolcat is an idea which spread around the internet before Web Monitor's time. That doesn't normally stop WM from revisiting great stuff from around the internet - something not universally appreciated (sob). Mark in London, who says of yesterday's reference to the trend in subtitling a scene from Downfall - a drama about Hitler:
"Oh web monitor [er, initial capital letters Mark], I think you may have missed the boat on the downfall parody. So much so, that there is now a ."
Incidentally, the photo to the right is of Paper Monitor's cat, who until now was an undiscovered Hitler Cat / Kitler. Internet fame awaits.
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