Giant Cheese Draws Web Crowds

Nothing on Web TV? You can always join many others and watch a cheese mature.

You might think of it as a sport on a par with watching paint dry, but for some bizarre reason over one-and-a-half million people have logged onto a Web site to watch…cheese mature.   Thesite, Cheddarvision, will gain more viewers on Wednesday when the 44-pound handmade Cheddar cheese, named Wedginald, will go through its nine-month gradingtest, shown live online. A cheese taster will use a special device to remove a core which will be sniffed and tested for "depth and maturity."   Over 100,000 people watched live onlineback in March when Wedginald passed its first grading test.   Cheese taster Tom Calver, said,   "The continued interest in the cheese is incredible. We never thought for a moment thatthe website would become this popular."   According to rumors, a “director’s cut” of Wedginald’s year-long maturation will be released on YouTube in the coming months. The cheese itself will be auctioned for charity.