Gladsome times here at YouTube Hunter HQ! And how could we be wearing anything but a frown turned upside down after the recent YouTube/Google merger worth $1.65 billion in stock? Think about it: before this column started about three months ago, YouTube was an abandoned internet backwater, barely more influential than this guy's little blog. And now (significant thanks to us) the company's founders could, if land were still worth the same as it was during the Louisiana Purchase, buy the world 893 times over. (Someone with more time on her hands should see if my math is right.) Anyway, point is: Chad Hurley, Steven Chen, other people who made ungodly sums on this deal... we expect our due. I think our readers will testify to our deservingness. Right, readers? Right?

Whatever then. To the Tubes!

This week, we're going with a hodgepodge of merriment from our international friends (the people we always claim to have if someone corners us in a conversation like this:

Idiot Accuser: Hey, why do you hate international people so much?
YouTube Hunter: I'm shocked you'd say that. My best friend is international.)

Well, now that that aside is done, we can carry on. The first video has become something of a phenomenon--the page views on this are incredible, and with good reason. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls...Little Superstar!

Also from the Subcontinent, we bring you TRAFFIC PATTERNS. No, really, it's much cooler than it sounds, and hypnotic in a "staring at a lava lamp because the cottonmouth is too much to bear" sort of way.

This contortionist, however, is a friend to no one. In fact, watching her wax her body elastic acts curiously like a laxative. But the random Santa Claus cameo at the end makes it worthwhile (hat tip to Reader NC):

We can't say enough about this video. Unlike the three above (and the one to follow), it truly is amazing. I won't push it anymore, just check it out:

Feel better about the human race again? Man's capacity for genius even in the most difficult circumstances? This should fix it:

PS: I realize the Orson Welles video isn't international and doesn't come even remotely close to our week's theme, but, c'mon, it's hilarious. And if there's anything I've learned from my share of the $1.65 billion, it's that people love to see a drunken movie star at the end of his rope.

Next week: Screech Engaged In An Ethically Dubious And Overtly Racist Sex Act!