What is humor?

We could do the dictionary lookup, but that really doesn’t tell us what it is in a practical sense, if humor can be considered practical.

There is really no formula for making people laugh, funny is as intangible as morning mist and as solid as Mount Rushmore-shaped dog poop on the lawn. Or, to put it as Forrest Gump might have said: funny is as funny does.

For a while I was worried that American humor was taking a turn for the worse what with Jackass TV shows and movies seeming to define what we, and a group, find funny these days. I’ll admit I could never see the humor in watching someone ride a shopping cart into traffic. But then, today’s generation may scratch their collective noggins over Steve Martin’s rabbit ears.

Be that as it may, it comes as a breath of fresh, beer-ladened air to find the CHTV (CollegeHumor Original Videos) video podcast at the iTunes Store because watching these vids reaffirms my belief that Americans are funny people, and it doesn’t take a cynical foreigner to poke fun at our culture. We can do it just fine on our own, thank you very much.

Bohemian Rhapsody, CHTV style

CHTV is a series of extremely well done podcast that leaves no subject un-lampooned. There are tons of episodes too, ranging in length from barely a minute to nearly 10 minutes long.

My favorite thus far is "Bohemian Rhapsody" which takes square aim at the college frat-boy life style. Funny!

Warning: There is explicit material in just about every episode I’ve watched. If you are offended by adult language and humor then read on, I’ve got something for you, too.

CollegeHumor Original Videos is a must-have download.

If you are looking for something for a more general audience, one with kids in the mix for instance, then check out Yin, Yang, Yo!, a new cartoon from Disney.

Sibling rabbits, Yin and Yang, are masters of Woo-Hoo, an ancient magical martial art form and it is the training and wisdom of Master Yo that helps them hone their skillz. At least, that’s the theory. What really happens is that Yin and Yang get into all kinds of stuff. It actually a pretty funny show.

There’s only one episode available so far, but it has two sub-episodes, and it’s free at the iTunes Store.

OK, maybe you’re not looking for something funny, maybe you want to just chill a bit and watch some animals in the wild. There’s no better podcast to catch animal cavorting in the wild than National Geographic’s Atmosphere. Think of it as a picture window into some of the most exotic places in the world.

There’s not a lot of talking in these videos. What you get are straight up views of environments that may be just around the corner, but worlds apart.

For instance, in the Hawaiian Monk Seal Swim episode they put a camera on a Hawaiian Monk Seal and set it loose. The resulting video shows us what the seal sees while it’s out and about.

These are some first class videos. If you got an Apple TV for Christmas then you’ll definitely want to download all 30 episodes. Really good stuff.

OK. That’s a wrap for this week.

A reminder that starting next Monday, January 14, 2008, Macworld San Francisco kicks off. On Tuesday, January 15, 2008, Steve Jobs will give his customary keynote and everyone is all abuzz as to what Steve has up his sleeves this year. Apple has released previous keynotes for download at the iTunes Store and I see no reason why they wouldn’t do it again this year, so check the store Wednesday or this space next Friday for a link.

Also, if you haven’t seen it already, Apple and Pop Cap Games released a new game for the iPod called Peggle.

I took a peek and Bob LeVitus did an official review and we both agree that Peggle is well worth your $5. Go check it out.

More freebies at the iTunes Store:

Vern Seward is a writer who currently lives in Orlando, FL. He’s been a Mac fan since Atari Computers folded, but has worked with computers of nearly every type for 20 years.