Horseboy

I guess that all of us who use the Internet regularly are very familiar with Google Maps Streetview. It is an amazing facility. You can check out so many places and instead of thinking in terms of bird's eye map views of places, you can actually see what a particular street looks like.

A couple of years ago, a young man I know called Dan was walking up the back lane towards our house when a strange vehicle turned the corner. It had the word "Google" written on the side and above its roof a dome protruded with cameras inside. It was taking pictures/film for Streetview. Now Dan is captured for all time at the top of Murray Road in Sheffield. His face has been blurred to conceal his identity but he's there - one of Streetview's random cast.

In the peaceful suburbs of Aberdeen, Scotland the Streetview vehicle travelled up a street called Hardgate and probably unwittingly captured a very odd image. It's a young man in a purple sweater but he has a horse's head - undoubtedly a mask. He's just standing there. Does he always wear a horse's head mask or did he know the Streetview vehicle was coming?

Via tweeting and Facebook this "Horse-boy" has become a cause-celebre. Everybody wants to know who he is and how he came to be standing on that unremarkable street wearing a horse's head mask. It makes me think that if only we knew the Streetview vehicle's itinerary in advance we could be ready to appear in unusual guises - possibly in a few different places. Rather than donning a horse's head I'd be dressed as Hull City's mascot - Roary the Tiger.