Anyone visiting Deputy Dog’s website, Deputy-Dog.com could be forgiven for thinking that it’s the website of a passionate architect, since so many of his articles are devoted to the art of design and structure.

I certainly thought so and after interviewing him, was left thinking that he had missed his calling, or at least could be headed for a major career change one day.

Otherwise known as Shaun, Deputydog is a Brit with a love for his city Manchester and the culture and fun that it has to offer. He’s also fluent in French, Welsh and some German and is widely travelled. I got the sense that he would probably find himself at home across the Atlantic, when he had this to say about New York:

Persephone: So you're on holidays? Nice! Where's your favourite place in NY?

Deputydog: Every single part of it. The architecture blew me away. Driving from the airport into Manhattan is a moment you never forget, with buildings looming over you from every angle. Amazing people, New Yorkers.

Persephone: Do you like both modern and older architecture of NY?

Deputydog: I like the mixture. The older buildings tend to be more impressive aesthetically, much grander, but some of the modern skyscrapers are technologically incredible. Then there are the eyesores near Times Square. I honestly don't know how some of them got any kind of green light. It must give upcoming architects hope.

Shaun obviously has a strong sense of what constitutes beauty. He also likes to make lists, so I asked him about his ‘9 of the Most Repulsive Buildings in the World’ post.

Persephone: I saw your post about the ugliest buildings and I think I agreed with you on all of them, especially the one that looks like a pagoda.

Deputydog: Yeah, that's Taipei 101 in Taiwan. As if the shape wasn't bad enough they made it wear a belt. The amount of money they must've had available to design and build that monstrosity is horrifying. They could've done so much more.

Persephone: So, are you an architect?

Deputydog: God no. I wish I was. I went to university, started the world's most pointless degree (art, sociology & law) and then left in my 2nd year. Since then I've been in advertising sales, a job created by satan himself.

Deputy had just quit the sales job when I spoke to him and was thinking about what to do next. He loves working on his website, but hasn’t got it to the point of supporting himself yet.

Even so, it’s obvious that he puts a lot of himself into his site and this is what he had to say about it:

Persephone: Your website looks really promising. It gets a lot of traffic, doesn't it?

Deputydog: Ideally, I'd make a living through the Internet. I've just bought a dedicated server for my blog so I can put up some ads, but it's all pretty new to me. Apparently I'm getting the hits required to make half decent money from it but we'll have to wait and see. I certainly can't count on it to live on.

Persephone: Dag says he can vouch for the fact that success on the internet doesn't always translate into financial success.

Deputydog: Exactly, that's what I've been told by many people. Unless you're selling filth apparently. I've been eyeing up porn-dog.com for a while now.

Persephone: Sounds like something nasty to eat. Would you ever pursue your love of architecture with some study?

Deputydog: It's not something I've considered to be honest. I know it's a ridiculous mindset but I always talk myself out of further study due to my age (29). I've been brainwashed into believing that university should only be attended by school-leavers. It's something I definitely need to look at though. I know I'd love a job in that field. After the holiday I'm gonna make some changes.

Persephone: What sites do you view, to get the images/ideas for your articles?

Deputydog: Ideas for my site? I use loads of places. One of my favourites is skyscrapercity.com. It's a forum about all the things I find fascinating. The best ideas always come from forums. I did a post called 'Top 10 physically modified people' after entering the dark world of a tattoo forum. I'm now completely desensitised and have seen photos of things I never thought possible.

Persephone: I saw the fellow with the enormous biceps-is that the one you mean? That was gross!

Deputydog: No, that was another mentalist who thinks it's a good idea to pump liquid solution into his arms so he doesn't have to go to the gym and actually work out. I don't think he realises that his arms now look like enormous sausages.

Persephone: Did you see MLX's post on the ugly people's modeling agency? There was a guy there called Prince Albert, with studs over every inch of his face.

Deputydog: No I didn't. I'll find it and have a look. I can't begin to work out the thinking behind things like that. I started getting emails from some of the people I'd written about, complaining because I'd said their horn implants were made from silicon, when in fact they were made from some other substance. I never thought I'd get an email from someone called 'lizardman'. It doesn't get any better than that. You should see his tongue.

Deputydog first visited New York not long after 9/11. Here’s what he had to say about his experience there:

Persephone: Tell me more about your ground zero experience.

Deputydog: I was travelling with a friend and we were undecided about the whole ground zero visit. When we got there though, all the New Yorkers we spoke to were encouraging us to go, so we did.

We queued up for hours just to get a ticket and then queued again to actually see it. It was one of the most surreal moments of my life. I felt scared, sad and guilt-ridden-loads of emotions. There were still bits of crooked iron poking out of the ground, with near silence apart from the machines moving all the rubble.

There were photos of missing people all down the stretch where you had to queue. It was absolutely unforgettable. I’m glad I went now. At the time I was just too shocked.

Persephone: Did you read any of the missing person's posters?

Deputydog: We had no choice but to read the posters while we queued, they were everywhere. I didn't really want to read them, but then felt guilty for not reading them. Then I thought people would think I was heartless if I didn't read them. The whole experience triggered so many internal arguments and paranoia with me.

My mate was the same though, so that helped in a way. We then went out drinking in Manhattan and chatted with the locals about it all. They were possibly the friendliest people I've ever met.

Persephone: Wow. Any missing stories that stood out, that you still remember?

Deputydog: Oh no, as for specific stories, I forgot them pretty much as soon as I saw ground zero. My mind just blanked. It's a shame that my brain just recoiled because my memory went down the plughole.

Being in the top 15 makes Deputy a dedicated sifter. Having a successful blog also means a lot of his time must be devoted to site management, so I asked him how he manages it all.

Persephone: Do you find it hard to juggle your time between your blog and videosift, not to mention your real life?

Deputydog: It's frustrating. I can't believe how I ever survived without the www. At one point, when I first discovered Videosift, I physically couldn't get away from the site. It was more addictive than cigarettes. I was obsessed with votes, new comments and finding the next big-hitter.

I loved it. Then I started blogging whilst at work because I couldn't watch videos - typing was quieter, so Videosift took a back seat. I still use it every day but to watch videos rather than submit. It's the only place to find decent video.

I find youtube nauseating and have been on it just once in the past few months to see if it had improved. It hadn't. It was still full of crap. Then there's my girlfriend. She puts up with my geeky side at the moment. We'll see how long that lasts.

Persephone: How did you discover Videosift?

Deputydog: In the early days of youtube I uploaded a video to my account of a lucky man walking away from a car crash. It then started getting loads of hits. I discovered it was coming from VS and was instantly hooked on the concept. I then pretty much stopped using youtube in the same way.

This was VS in the olden days when nothing was shiny. I miss the old layout and I miss westy.

Persephone: Does your girlfriend share your interest in VS or your blog? Does she get involved?

Deputydog: She's interested but doesn't get involved really. She reads my blog but has never really been sucked into the world of online video. She's a fan of facebook, ebay and cute overload.

I love the new layout btw. I’m just stuck in the past. There should be an option to use the old retro layout for shits and giggles and the ability to get a video on the front page with 5 votes. It was a doddle.

Persephone: Yes, it's hard work now.

Deputydog: Exactly. I'll leave it to the kids. I'm starting to talk like my dad.

Persephone: What's your favourite sift?

Deputydog:It's a clip from the t.v. sketch show Big Train. A guy gets approached by someone in a foreign country who asks 'do you speak English?'. He then says ‘no’ in perfect English. It was one of the most underrated t.v. shows ever broadcast. It was one of Simon Pegg's first t.v. shows before he went all Hollywood on us.

Persephone: How about from your own sifted videos?

Deputydog: My favourite of the ones I posted is the 2 roosters breaking up a rabbit fight.

Deputydog was born in Hertfordshire, then moved to north Wales for his primary school years. Then he moved to Chester and finally settled in Manchester. He knows all the best hang-outs there and it sounds like a night out with him would be memorable. Here’s a little about some of his favourite places:

Deputydog: Manchester is one of the best cities in the world, not that I've been to all the cities in the world, I'm guessing. I have a lot of faith in the place. The music that's come from Manchester has been incredible, with some of my favourite bands. We live in the centre of the northern quarter, which is where a lot of that started. It's great to be a part of the scene.

There are gigs on all the time just round the corner. Then there are the bars, which is a very important part of any city. We're bang in the middle of some brilliant pubs. There are places that you can go and just forget about your worries and the architecture's brilliant.

There's still a lot of industrial Manchester on show, with old red brickwork everywhere.

Persephone: Can you recommend any good bars there?

Deputydog: Specific bars? There’s: Common (very relaxed, Staropramen on tap), Cord bar (everything's made of cordurouy), Night & Day (great gigs and perfect cooked breakfast).

I’m thinking Deputydog would make a fantastic guide to any sifter visiting Manchester for the first time. I suggest you contact him if you intend to make the trip there and in the meantime check out his blog, for great articles about a diverse range of topics. You’ll no doubt catch a glimpse of some architecture in the Manchester region.