By now you may have seen the "Star Wars Kid" video. Posted online as a prank, it's a video of a kid trying his best to do Darth Maul lightsaber moves and failing embarassingly. The video was then reworked by other fans who put it lightsaber and sound effects. The final result lives in internet infamy. The New York Times has now picked up on the story:

Many of the comments on Web sites that showcased the video are simply nasty, making fun of Ghyslain, who is not identified in the video, for being overweight or, as one comment put it, "dweeby." But others applaud the un-self-conscious display of physical enthusiasm by someone who is not captain of the football team.

Wrote one fan: "Kid, who ever you are ? YOU ROCK!!!"

"I personally feel that he is like me and all of my friends," said Andy Baio, 26, a Web developer in Los Angeles. "This spread around the world partly because he's funny and awkward to watch, but also because there's a big part of him in a lot of us."

After Mr. Baio made the clip and one of the remixes available on his Web site, www.waxy.org, there was so much interest in the video that he posted a request for more information about its origins. Three high school students came forward to say that they had released the tape, originally recorded in a school studio last November, Mr. Baio said.

Using the information provided by the students, a French-speaking friend of Mr. Baio's, Jish Mukerji, contacted the boy, and posted a transcript of his conversation on his Web log, www.jish.nu. Last week, Mr. Baio suggested that the Internet audience try to compensate Ghyslain for having been subjected to such global scrutiny. So far, more than 135 people have donated a total of $1,085 to buy him an iPod music player and perhaps an Amazon.com gift certificate.

Reached by telephone at his home on Saturday, Ghyslain, whose mother asked that his last name and location be withheld, said the video was part of a school project that he had directed. One night, he had been acting out some of the moves he had in mind for the actors.

As nice as it might be to get an iPod, he said, he would have preferred that the video, which he had not intended anyone to see, had remained private.

"People were laughing at me," he wrote in a follow-up e-mail message. "And it was not funny at all."

Visit the link above for more. And admit it....if you're reading this site, you've probably played imaginary lightsaber, too, at some point. :)