We've made a trek to the wilds of British Columbia to visit with Webmistress Cathie Walker, Chief Schmoozing Executive for the Centre for the Easily Amused (C*E*A).

A corner stone for humorous web sites, C*E*A offers a super collection of links to some of the best humor sites around, along with great original features such as Cathablanca, the Amuse-o-Matic 2000, and Count Floyd's Movie News to name just a few. Pushing the page counter at about 20,000 hits a day, it recently just celebrated its 2 millionth visitor to the main page alone!!

Comedy Zone: A big thanks for taking the time to be with us Cathie. Do you mind me calling you Cathie?

Cathie Walker: Well, I prefer Your Majesty, but Cathie will do just fine as long as you curtsy when you say it. And Bill, could you please get your feet off the coffee table?

CZ: I'm sorry. This is such a comfy place and I love that shade of nail polish! ... Anyway, C*E*A might be considered the "Who's Who Listing" of comedy and humor sites. How did it all get started .. and why?

CW: Just over 2 years ago I was toying with the idea of making a home page. A friend offered to do the HTML, but I didn't want it to be one of those "this is me, this is my cat" homepages, so I made it a little directory of the silly sites I'd discovered. I told some on-line friends about it, registered with the search engines that existed back then, and was lucky enough to be picked up by Netscape's "What's New" listing. I blew up my provider's server with the huge traffic, and it took off from there.

CZ: I guess that was the driving force in establishing your own domain?

CW: Not really -- I'm just a virtual domain, still wearing out the Island Net servers under a different name. I've had the domain name for a year & a half now, since I wanted something easily recognizeable.

CZ: What do you contribute to C*E*A' s popularity?

CW: You mean other than my scintillating personality? People seem to like the "personal touch" at the C*E*A -- the personalized membership card, the chat room, the chatters' names in Cathablanca. I try to answer my fan mail and visit the chat room, and to make people feel like they're part of an on-line community. In these stress-filled days, we all need a little escape from reality. The C*E*A is the equivalent of sneaking into the bathroom with a comic book.

CZ: Well I guess with a laptop, never mind ... So are most of C*E*A' s visitors pretty much from North America?

CW: Yes, but I also have a lot of fans in the UK, and a lot of the chat room regulars are from Australia. The survey results are varied, showing visitors from all over the world.

CZ: With the title of "Chief Schmoozing Executive," does this mean there are others involved in producing C*E*A?

CW: Yes, it's not a one-woman show anymore. The lovely and talented Steve Callaway does graphics and cowrites the Cathablanca soap opera with me, in addition to new projects like the Amuse-o-Matic 2000. I have pre-surfing assistance by Pat Pierce, who also writes Count Floyd's Movie News for the site. I'm lucky to have talented on-line friends to ask for technical advice, & I'm amazed at how people are always willing to help out in any way they can as I stumble through with the big-ass HTML book. Hey Bill, quit hogging the Riesen Chocolate Chews!

CZ: These are really good! ... Running C*E*A must be time consuming. Is it a full-time job?

CW: Yes, but unfortunately it doesn't pay like one. I have a full-time job at the University of Victoria, and do this in my spare time. It takes 2-3 hours every evening, I've lost all semblance of a personal life, but the chocolates and marriage proposals make it all worthwhile.

CZ: I'd definitely give a thumbs up to the chocolates, but for the benefit of all the eligible bachelors on-line, is there a Mr. Cathie Walker?

CW: Well, I've got it down to the semi-finals after a nationwide search, and the swimsuit competition will be judged soon. Oh, and if Brad Pitt is reading this, I like the See's Nuts & Chews, the Red Miata, & my ring size is 8.

CZ: So I guess by working at the University, you might say that you're responsible for our future leaders?

CW: What a horrifying thought.

CZ: You've got a point there, but I'll bet a number of the University students frequent C*E*A. Any feedback from them?

CW: They love the site, and are always amazed that it's me (not that I'm serious & demure at work). Many of them come to me with site suggestions or asking for web advice.

CZ: Does this mean you might be moving to a faculty position?

CW: Only if there were a Department of Amuseology, which I imagine it would be hard to get funding for.

CZ: With all the traffic to the site, what are the most popular sections?

CW: About 1,000 people pass by the Chat Room and Card Shop on a given day. The most popular links page is Sites That Do Stuff, & I'm really happy with the response that the original features, Cathablanca & the Amuse-o-Matic 2000, are receiving.

CZ: Cathablanca ... how did that get started?

CW: It was Steve's idea to work on a project together, since he had already done An Evening With The Living Dead & The Del Pompadours Story. It sounded like fun and I've always loved writing, so I came up with the characters and some plotlines. Steve does most of the writing, and we make it up as we go along, bouncing ideas off each other. We share the same names as the netsoap stars, but we're thinner and much better looking.

CZ: You've made several radio and TV appearances regarding C*E*A. Did you ever expect to receive such a level of exposure?

CW: Not at all! Being a media personality in the field of time-wasting isn't what I wanted to be when I grew up, although there are those who say I was born to be Queen of the Differently Attentioned. Bill, are you listening to me?

CZ: : Huh? ... Yes ... of course ... So how did the appearances come about?

CW: In every case, people just came to me and asked! My "Miss Walker's Guide to Employee Internet Etiquette" was featured on the Discovery Channel's CyberLife show, and the C*E*A was featured on IceTV in New Zealand. I'm just waiting for the Fox Network to call & offer me an animated cartoon show (Cathna, WebWarriorMistress), since my life is often like a comic book.

CZ: I'm impressed. Any chance of a C*E*A book?

CW: Funny you should mention that. I'm working with Michael Ricci of Digiday, & we're hoping to get a book together with all the entries from the How to Avoid Work @ Work calendar. The submissions received from my visitors are just fantastic, & we have an outline together. Unfortunately working full-time gets in the way of my promoting "How to Avoid Work."

CZ: Any favorite sites you frequent on the Web?

CW: I try to visit Yahoo's What's New section regularly to scope out new sites. For fun, I frequent The Comedy Zone, of course (what's that sucking sound?), Planet Wallywood, Dr Daniel's Movie Emergency, and another one whose name escapes me at the moment. Sprinkle? Sparkle? Sputnik? Oh yeah, it's Sp@ckle, the humour zine formerly known as wwwvoice. And what would a day without a visit to www.richardsimmons.com be?

CZ: Those are great sites ... but afraid I'm not too familiar with that last one ... Anyway, what's next for C*E*A?

CW: I'd like to include more original work, but my ultimate goal is to be awarded the Cool Site of the Day. Although I wrote & designed the Ask Dr. Science site, which won Cool Site of the Year last year in the Scripts category, my own site (sob, sob) has never been recognized. They seem to hate me! Perhaps everybody reading this could send them an e-mail nominating me.

CZ: Is there a criteria or standard you look for in a web site that is listed on C*E*A?

CW: It has to be something original that grabs my attention within 3 seconds. I think the average web visitor always has one finger on the "stop" button to go elsewhere, so you have to get them interested by the time the page stops loading. I get a lot of submissions (over 100 a day), and love to see web sites that make me say "thank you for coming up with such an original idea" when I think I've seen it all.

CZ: What words of wisdom would pass on for someone who's developing a web site?

CW: Be original! There are so many out there that in order to stand out, you have to be original while still letting your personality shine through.

CZ: Great advice, and speaking of personality, how do you compare the "on-line" Cathie Walker to the "real" Cathie Walker? Is there a difference?

CW: There isn't a difference at all -- I'm not that good of an actress, and I've always been compared to a cartoon character. It must be all those Acme anvils that have fallen on my head.

CZ: The Whip ... what's the story behind it? Or is that a bit too personal?

CW: Ummmm... It's just a cat toy. Really. Here, try it. Ow! My eye! But seriously folks, my title at the C*E*A is that of Domainatrix, & the chatroom regulars chipped in to buy me a whip for my birthday in July, along with a watch that proclaims "the queen of everything". I love this job!

CZ: I understand you had a bit of an on-line birthday surprise that day?

CW: Yes, it was great fun. I travelled to meet one of the regulars (hi, Snee!) for the first time. I was surprised by the gifts, and some of them were waiting online for a chat-room surprise party. It was the first time that my online life had crossed over into my real life, and it was memorable.

CZ: Here's the big final question ... How has fame and fortune changed Cathie Walker?

CW: I'm tired! I could really use a vacation, and I'm looking forward to a trip to the L.A. area next Spring for some in-person schmoozing. Other than that, I'm thrilled and very amazed that my little project has turned into such a success, and it's given me great confidence in my talents -- whatever they are.

CZ: Thanks Cathie ... er ... I mean Your Majesty ... for taking the time and letting us stop by.

CW: It was my pleasure, Bill. It's not every day that I get interviewed by such a handsome man who comes with flowers, chocolates, AND a new Slinky for me. Now if you'll excuse me, I have sites to surf.

We've been with Cathie Walker of the Centre for the Easily Amused. Hope you enjoyed meeting the person, Behind the Page. We sure did!!

You can reach Cathie by email at cathie@amused.com