From the Online U.K. Publication Guardian Unlimited:

Concern over rise of 'happy slapping' craze

I usually copy and paste the article as well since the links rarely stay current and available, treating curious browsers of this blog's archives to a plethora of dead URLs, however this article is quite long and I will give a brief synopsis of this fad that confirms Western Civilzation's steady decline into the quagmire of grey-area absurdity.

Happy Slapping is when you approach a fellow human and wallop them upside the head whilst capturing the event with your cellphone video camera. I quote from the article;

Welcome to the disturbing world of the "happy slappers" - a youth craze in which groups of teenagers armed with camera phones slap or mug unsuspecting children or passersby while capturing the attacks on 3g technology.

According to police and anti-bullying organisations, the fad, which began as a craze on the UK garage music scene before catching on in school playgrounds across the capital last autumn, is now a nationwide phenomenon.

And as the craze has spread from London to the home counties to the north of England, so the attacks have become more menacing, with increasing numbers of violent assaults and adult victims.

There you have it. Those wacky Brits.

Here are my fundamental problems with the situation.

1. Why is it called Happy Slapping? I would be far from happy about being the receiver of this. My Happy Slapper would quickly become a Bleeding Emergency Room Visitor.

2. It supposedly originates from the U.K. Garage Scene. Now this scene, mind you, has nothing in common with our "garage" scene, consisting of bands that purposely play like teenagers in a garage and try to suck on purpose, or at least make us think it is intentional, i.e. The White Stripes. The U.K. Garage Scene is an insane offshoot of the "jungle" scene, which is an offshoot of "Drum n' Bass", which is wigged-out disco at insanely inappropriate breakbeat tempos, best enjoyed under the influence of ecstacy and cocaine. Do these good folks slap each other around in lieu of dancing? I am puzzled and wish for clarifications.

3. Why do they record it via cell phone? Do they distribute it? is it akin to the "Bum Fight" phenomena here in the U.S.? What is the intrinsic gain?

4. Will we be privy to witness this new form of entertainment on Da Ali G Show? That is the first thing i thought of when I read the article. I love that show...

Anyway, I am floundering aimlessly halfway through this post with no real commentary to add other than my inquiries. I sound like a cranky old fart complaining about the youth of today when that is truly not the intent.
I would like to take the time to state that I do plan on Happy Slapping Jimmy 3000 if he writes anymore plays or rants that contain the terms "pinko", "commie", "lefty", or "smelly".