On behalf of my cat Humphrey, I would like to thank members of the Academy....

Wait a minute, idiotstick: this isn't the Academy Awards, it's YouTube's First Annual (hey, we're optimists, cut us some slack) Video Awards.

YouTube yesterday announced that it would honor the best user-created videos of 2006 in seven categories:

• Most Creative

• Most Inspirational

• Best Series

• Best Comedy

• Musician of the Year

• Best Commentary

• "Most Adorable Video Ever"

Lawrence Van Gelder's "Arts, Briefly" feature in today's New York Times led off with the big news; the item follows.

For You, Too, Fame May Be Waiting at YouTube

YouTube, the video-sharing Web site, is rolling out the figurative red carpet for the creators of characters like Lonelygirl15 and Geriatric1927, The Associated Press reported. YouTube announced yesterday that it would honor the best user-created videos of 2006 with the first YouTube video awards. Honors will be bestowed in seven categories: most creative, most inspirational, best series, best comedy, musician of the year, best commentary and “most adorable video ever.” The nominees, chosen by YouTube, have been compiled in a gallery at youtube.com/YTAwards, where they can be voted on through Friday. The winners are to be announced on Sunday. Each of these vloggers, as they are known, will be featured on the site and receive a trophy, its design not disclosed. Jamie Byrne, director of product marketing at YouTube, said, “We wanted to call out some of the most popular videos and let the users choose which ones deserve some additional recognition.”

....................

I dunno — I'm thinking we've got a shot in at least four categories (Most Creative; Most Inspirational; Best Commentary; "Most Adorable Video Ever") but I'm gonna opt for Most Inspirational and ask you to put your collective bookofjoe WorldWideWood™ behind that arrow.

As they used to say back in the day when Mayor Richard J. Daley ran Chicago's Democratic machine, said by those in the know to have delivered the 1960 presidential election to John F. Kennedy — "vote early and often."