TGIF! Ten years later, the hamsters dance on.
Happy Friday!
Long ago, in a cubicle far, far away...
My then-podmate Lona (whose young daughter's first pet had her smitten with all things hamster) e-mailed me something that came to be known as the Hamster Dance. Created and launched by a Canadian art student 10 years ago this month, this Internet meme was a very early (and very simple) version of what we now call a "viral video" -- an infectious bit of Internet nonsense that winds up circling the globe a few million times, delighting Friday cubicle-rat procrastinators around the world.
Nora is a teen-ager now and her pet hamster long gone. But the Hamster Dance is alive, well and in multiple versions on YouTube. Click here for a close copy of the original. Back in the day, it was known as the Hampster Dance -- for the creator's pet and muse, Hampton the Hamster.
Below is a massively upgraded model, sort of like what a Broadway musical might be to a high school play.
Happy anniversary Hamster Dance!
You changed my life, and my Fridays, forever.
Click here for Hamster Dance history from Wikipedia.
ANGIE BRENNAN, a Sun-Sentinel page designer,
lives with four dogs and one boyfriend. And has a lifetime of animal stories to share.
DIANE LADE, a reporter on the Sun-Sentinel's Help Team, has lived with cats, dogs, reptiles, fish, an iguana, and an armadillo.
CYNDI METZGER, editor of the Sun-Sentinel's Outlook section, is smitten with Bella, her poodle who regularly ignores requests to sit, stay and get off the ivory-colored sofa. 
JOHN TANASYCHUK, a Sun-Sentinel lifestyle writer, has lived with cats as long as he can remember. He and his partner currently share their home with three.
