Andrew Meyer of Weston has already been awarded with the quote of the year (by the Yale Book of Quotations) with “Don’t Tase Me Bro.” In September, the 21-year-old University of Florida student was zapped and brought down before a rather passive John Kerry as he refused to leave a speech by the U.S. Senator.

The original video of his tasing is also the viral hit of the year, spawning hundred of versions using techno music and hits by Britney Spears and MC Hammer.

There’s even a video game trailer featuring Meyer dodging crazed campus cops with tasers.

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OK, she was only 18, and even beauty queens get stage fright. But in the age of viral videos, there are no do-overs for people like Miss Teen USA pageant contestant Lauren Caitlin Upton. Asked a softball question about the poor state of Americans’ knowledge of geography, she answered with rambling stream of unconsciousness broken only by tics involving the phrase “such as.”

Here's a great parody of what her parents must have been thinking:

Check out the Jimmy Kimmel analysis and the comic parody depicting her parents at the pageant.

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The Countdown of the year's best viral videos:

There have been inspiring prison movies about the power of art, religion and even pets to redeem the most hardcore felons. But none that we know of involving the rehabilitative properties of Broadway-style choreography. Enjoy the 1,500 dancers of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center doing Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

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Our year end countdown continues with the 4th best video of the year.....

She refused to wear underwear in public, shaved her head and lost her children to a husband named K-Fed. Still, some fans wouldn’t desert Britney Spears. Earlier this year, a young man named Chris Crocker posted this video on the web and it became on overnight phenomenon. Surely he had to know that he’d also become the most mocked fan of 2007. But comic actor Seth Green came to his defense with his "Leave Chris Crocker Alone!" masterpiece.

and Leave Chris Crocker Alone, by Seth Green:

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While the major media companies continued to grapple with the Internet in 2007, some pioneers emerged who seemed to figure it out. Will Ferrell may turn out to be the first major entrepreneur of web entertainment with his “Funny or Die” site. His series of videos featuring his partner’s daughter, Pearl McKay, became a huge hit, partly because of the allure of a nearly indecipherable two-year-old holding her own against one of the biggest comedy stars in the world.

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Some call him a chipmunk. Some call him a prairie dog. Whatever he is, he’s the most talked-about woodland creature of the year. A seven-second clip of him from a Japanese TV show combined with three musical notes has spawned a YouTube subculture. Now there is everything from the “Kill Bill” variation to clips of humans imitating him. But there is no imitating the master.

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The first Harold and Kumar movie was really the first comedy of what I'd call the post-diversity age. It was made for a generation of kids utterly at home crossing cultures, language divides and racial lines. This preview of the second looks like it's going to continue that trend with some healthy dollops of political humor. The movie has been in the can for about six months and had some initial bad buzz, but it looks like it's been re-edited a bit:

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Our countdown of the year's best viral videos continues...

What daytime talk show causes cable news networks to interrupt their regular programming with “breaking news?” The View provided more viral video clips this year than any other show on television.

The fight between Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck.

Sherri Shepherd’s confusion over whether the earth is flat.

Alicia Silverstone snubbing Hasselbeck. If only Danny DeVito had showed up again…

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The background music sounds like it’s lifted from an 80’s movie montage of a teen getting ready for the big race. His voice is Kermit the Frog meets Isaac Hayes. And Minnesota graduate student Adam Nyerere Bahner’s alter ego Tay Zonday has the Internet music hit of the year.

How big? He has his own soft drink commercial.

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Shot at South Africa’s largest game reserve, this incredible eight-minute nature video is not for the faint of heart. Lions attack a herd of water buffalo, picking off a baby. Crocodiles try to snatch the baby from the lions. Then the baby’s family comes to the rescue. And they are mad.

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A virus is an infectious agent unable to grow without a host cell. Viruses commandeer their host cells and use their machinery and metabolism to produce multiple copies of themselves. They even evolve over time. That’s why videos on the Internet are called “viral.”

Once the original is downloaded off a camera, computer or cellphone, it spreads and morphs through the global web to the extent that the original is often forgotten. It may be reedited, set to music or even reenacted. And it certainly can be just as dangerous as a virus to the reputations of those who appear on these videos.

Even the most innocent—a beauty queen, a stand-in interviewer, a proud parent showing off baby or pet photos—can find themselves the subjects of worldwide ridicule and infamy in a matter of days.

Our countdown to New Year's Eve begins today with the 10 best viral videos of 2007 selected by the staff of Watch This Now.

First, up is number 10:

Does a trenchcoat make you more anchor-womanly? Does Katie Couric look less lovely on a $200 TV? Does leaking a video onto YouTube of Couric dissing Dan Rather capture that elusive younger demographic? Who knows? At least Couric appears to have a sense of humor about Rather’s comment that CBS News had been “dumbing it down, tarting it up” since his departure from the anchor desk.

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This short film by Good Neighbor, a Los Angeles-based comedy group, is a hilarious parody of the all current TMZ/Spears drama.

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Maybe they'll just scrap the current "Sex and the City" movie in the works and use this instead? It could work. Plus, don't you love the idea of Charlotte played by Charlotte Rae in a long brunette wig? I like Kristin Davis and all, but you have to show love to Mrs. Garrett!

Props to YouTube junkie and fellow Sentinel blogger Gail Gedan for sending this one my way.

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When I was first introduced to The Oregon Trail computer game in elementary school, it was love at first sight. From the cool graphics to the graphic diseases, everyone in class enjoyed a trip along the Oregon trail.

Imagine my excitement when I found this online gem: The Thule Trail, an updated version of the classic computer game.

The Thule Trail is a game where you plan a road trip with you and 4 friends from Chicago to Santa Barbara for the Atlantis Music Festival (which is actually in Atlanta).

Similar to The Oregon Trail, you choose your profession, vehicle, pick up a few items for the trip and then you hit the road.

No downloads are needed to play this game, so it’s a perfect time filler at work. *

Situations you may encounter:

“A fellow motorist is riding your bumper and using what appears to be sign language.”

“Erica asks a weird question during ‘Would you rather?’ taking things too far again.”

“You pass some nasty road kill. Clark cries. Everyone feels awkward.”

Tips along the way:

Enter the snow boarding, kayaking and mountain biking competitions, where you can earn cash. Also, the view of the world’s largest pickle is amazing.

Purchase plenty of CDs and magazines on the trip, so your passengers' morale stays up.

Enjoy the game here: http://www.thuleroadtrip.com/thule_trail/thuleTrail.html

* By time filler at work, I mean after you’ve finished those reports. And by reports, I mean when your boss isn’t looking.

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Fortunately, my son is too young for Yo! Gabba Gabba. Those dancing kids make me dizzy, and I'm afraid the boy would get ideas. Though I may have to start watching now because of Biz Markie and his “Biz’s Beat of the Day” segment.

I don’t know if he’s doing these anymore, but I sure hope so. Otherwise, how else will my boy learn to beatbox? From Blake Lewis?

If you’ve got some time on your hands, make sure to check out this Biz clip. Beastie Boys fans will recognize this from the Beasties’ greatest hits compilation a few years back:

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One of my favorite YouTube bloggers is supricky06. Part of the reason I’m a subscriber of his is because he updates regularly (take note William Sledd, whose last update was a month ago).

In this video, he rants on receiving pat-downs by airport security, sitting on an airplane next to someone with big shoulders and describes how picking up your luggage at the carousel is like a game of double-dutch.

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A group of drunken Santa Clauses rampaged through the New Zealand city of Christchurch (I swear I'm not making this up) on Christmas Eve. Comprised of men and women, they shouted obscenities and ran through a movie theater, ripping posters, throwing beer bottles and disrupting screenings.

A Bloomberg news service account seriously informs us that none could be identified "because of their red hats and white curly beards."

It gets better. The Bloomberg reporter speculates that this could be part of the worldwide "Santarchy movement" (I thought that was only a tradition in my family!) in which Santas rampage through cities such as Los Angeles and Montreal during November and December.

Has anybody heard of this? It's been running for 14 years and has its own website: santarchy.com

Props to Alan Cherry for sending this along:

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Former Dallas-Fort Worth news anchor Michael Scott has a close encounter with a reptile in this classic August 2002 clip:

In an interview with the Huntsville (Ala.) Times earlier this year, Scott described the encounter:

"I lost my mind and dropped an F-bomb on the air. I was shaking, and my wife thought I'd been electrocuted. I was just trying to get the thing off me, lost my balance and fell. I just kept saying, 'Get this thing off me!'

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Did you know there’s a whole book about SPAM? While the book isn’t on my shopping list, maybe you have a lover of SPAM on yours.

This 60-second ad for the book features 220 slices of bread.

The “Book of SPAM” Web site: http://thebookofspam.com/
The “Book of SPAM” Myspace page (listed as single): http://myspace.com/thebookofspam

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I don't particularly like this song, and I don't know much about this artist. He's apparently French, which may explain a lot after you watch the video.

What's intriguing is that there's a lot going on here that I don't fully understand. It's like that with great art.

For example: What do sheep have to do with Michael Jackson and Britney Spears? Is this a meta-commentary that we who follow pop stars are sheep? Or was it just that the local sheep farm was available for filming that day.

Oh, and don't miss the dancing David Lynchian Michael Jackson dwarf in the third act:

And if you just want to skip the song and gift the sheep dancing to a friend for the holidays:

Britney Sheep Thriller

Add to My Profile | More Videos

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The excessive body movement, the cheesy lighting effects-- this cello-inspired cover of Europe's Final Countdown is brilliant. I half-expect Gob from Arrested Development to pop out and shower pennies upon the audience.

Thought: This arrangement would be a great replacement for the procession song during weddings! Or this.

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He’s dresses like an orphan out of a Dickens novel, sings in a bizarre falsetto and hangs out at bus stations. And Little Lad has become a YouTube phenomenon with more than 5 million hits.

When I first saw the commercial I was vaguely disturbed, but it’s grown on me. Maybe it’s just the sheer randomness of the spot. Or maybe I’ve been won over by the actor’s manic intensity.

Since the Starburst commercial’s debut seven months ago, it has spawned a variety of music remixes, this one being the most popular with 1.5 million hits:

But I think the best user-generated video featuring Little Lad has to be this one posted last month.

I have no idea how Little Lad, Stars Wars and Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky” work so well together, but they do:

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Sure, you can synch your outdoor Christmas light display to that Trans-Siberian Orchestra song, like those people that were on the Today Show last year.

But is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra chillin’ and illin’ just like a snowman?

Do they rhyme Darryl with Christmas carol?

I think not.

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OK, that's not entirely true. But there are a whole lot of YouTubers posting clips of their cats in Christmas trees.

It's a simple lesson, really. If America’s Funniest Home Videos has taught us anything, it is that animals are comedic gold, and they are a surefire way to attract viewers.

Which explains our cat-related posts today – we need page views, people. There is also hard evidence of this cat fancying, though, in the 16 pages worth of videos I found when I did a YouTube search for “Christmas tree” and “cat.”

These clips are exactly as promised: Cats in and around Christmas trees. Some of them are set to Christmas music. And a bunch of them have been added in the past month. I guess no one ever bothered to check to see just how many cats-in-Christmas-tree videos already existed on YouTube before putting their clips on the Internet.

Trust me when I tell you I don’t need to post the whole lot of them. I think this sums it up nicely, the most-viewed cat-in-tree video that wasn’t a comedy post:

Now keep coming back to Watch This Now, or we will be forced to post more animal clips here to get repeat visitors. You have been warned!

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Full disclosure: I'm a dog person. But I'm not above shamelessly using singing cats to draw traffic to our blog.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Jingle Cats:

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What if one of Santa's reindeers snapped and went after him? What if Santa later went on a cheesy reality show to re-enact the mauling?

Watch the video until the end for the pay-off.

My favorite lines:

"All that changed the day Casper went bad."

"This is the most bizarre case I've ever been on involving a reindeer and man." (As opposed to the run-of-the-mill cases involving reindeer and men.)

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