Take This Internet Phenomenon Lying Down

NEWCASTLE, United Kingdom, July 10, 2009 -- The settings in the 1,000 plus photos range from fields to living rooms, public libraries to public toilets, train tracks to mountain tops. One is set on a mail truck. Another is set on two fire hydrants.

Their subjects, however, are peculiarly uniform: a person (or people) lying rigidly face-down, arms stuck to the torso, legs stretching straight out behind, looking like narcoleptic mannequins. The pose is the only rule for the latest Internet phenomenon, called the Lying Down Game.

Players compete, essentially, to capture themselves lying down in the most-restricted settings ("the more public, the better," one Facebook page reads), and the most physically challenging of resting spots, resulting in a flood of law-bending feats of balance and legality, all in the name of attaining the elusive Internet crown of Best Lying Down Photo Ever.

The phenomenon spans several Facebook pages, as the group has more than 15,000 members, from places as far reaching as Australia and Bosnia, who all celebrate the "the globally recognized sport of lying down." The discussion boards are lively, the pictures keep coming and there are plans for mass Lying Down events in London and Newcastle.