So did you hear? MLA for Fredericton-Nashwaaksis TJ Burke is officially a supah-staaah. He’s on TMZ. I mean if that’s the not the big-time, what is?

Here’s how a guy from Freddy-beach goes viral:

A week ago, American Idol broadcasted an audition by 62 year-old Larry Platt, who wowed audiences with his original ditty: Pants on the Ground. You can view it in all its glory on YouTube. The best part was Simon saying: “I have an ‘orrible feeling that song could be a hit.” Since then - millions of hits on YouTube.

Sun Jan 24, after making a comment in the Legislature about Opposition Leader David Alward’s CBC interview regarding NB Power, TJ hits YouTube and goes global. Since then he’s got almost 40,000 hits and 50 comments.

Mon Jan 25, TMZ posted the video on their site: “‘Pants on the Ground’ Used in Political Attack” As of today, there are 53 comments associated with their posting.

Tues Jan 26, CBC news posted the following article on their website: “Rapping MLA an Internet Sensation”

So how did TJ go viral? What did he do right?

1. He was topical - right now everyone is trying to put the words “Pants on the Ground” into a sentence to get big laughs. Don’t deny it, you know it’s true.

2. He was timely - stuff like this has a very short life cycle. You gotta get in and get out - fast.

3. He was unexpected - um, politicians just don’t do that sort of stuff.

4. He was gutsy - funny is hard.

The above points are four of the eight “Factors for Goin’ Viral”. The more factors you’ve got, the bigger you go.  Can you figure out what the remaining four are?

We’ve all seen the images and stories emerging from Haiti in the last couple of days. This is just a quick blog post to encourage you to donate to Red Cross Canada’s relief efforts.

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Even the most successful writers still come up with some real groaners. The Telegraph drew up a list of Dan Brown’s twenty worst sentences (he’s the author of The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons).

For a taste, here’s number 18:

“18. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: He could taste the familiar tang of museum air - an arid, deionized essence that carried a faint hint of carbon - the product of industrial, coal-filter dehumidifiers that ran around the clock to counteract the corrosive carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors. Ah, that familiar tang of deionised essence.”

It’s a total hoot. You should check it out.