Tail shaker

Here are five words internet-watchers have been looking forward to for a long time: "Forget about the dancing baby."

The latest soon-to-be international craze comes to you courtesy of "The Hampster Dance" (sic) at www.hamsterdance.com. Like the nauseatingly beloved dancing baby, it features swirling pixelated cartoon fun, this time courtesy of four animated rodents grooving to a catchy score.

The site-and the intentional misspelling in its title-were inspired by Hampton Hampster, the rodent companion of a person who calls himself only Hampton's Human.

"He's a hamster and he thinks he is always right," Human said, explaining the spelling. "I am just his human slave. I have to do what he wants and if he wants to call his page 'Hampsters' after his last name, who am I to argue?"

The site engages in more than just tomfoolery to the music of Roger Miller's "Whistlestop", featured in Walt Disney's Robin Hood. Visitors can also explore Hampton Hampster's Hamster House at www.geocities.com/Heartland/Bluffs/4157. Gems like a picture of a firefighter giving CPR to a hamster burn victim await.

But for people without the inclination to seek more information, the site is cryptic in its terseness. "Dance the Night Away," the site urges. And when you sample the beats n' beasts of The Hampster Dance, you will. And, mercifully, you will consign the Dancing Baby to the Recycle Bin. Because let's face it, there's really not that much good about a baby besides how you make it. Hamsters may be equally insipid at times, but at least when you get tired of one you can legally drown it.

-By Timothy Millington