Have you seen "How to Have Safer Sex" on Howcast.com, the (fairly) new site for free how-to videos? (The site officially launched last week.) Not only is this vid educational, it's freakin' hilarious. It uses a civilized afternoon tea party between two blue-hairs as a metaphor for hot, safer sex: the tea cozy is the condom, the teapot spout is the penis, the teacup is the vagina, the Saran Wrap covering the baked goods is the dental dam, and yes, the crumb dropped in the lap is either a genital wart or herpes. Sheer genius!!! We could probably do without the video's recommendation to use spermicide (as that may lead to more problems than it's worth, e.g. irritation, lowered resistance to STDs), but that's nit-picking when you consider how hard it is to find decent, appealing, and watchable PSAs on sexual health. Priceless moment: when the young, studly tea party crasher takes a sip from grandma's cup o' love.

In addition to vids that cover platonic pursuits such as faking an appreciation of art and preparing for a road trip, Howcast.com has a bunch of sex- and relationship-related how-to's, some better than others (content is either produced in-house, outsourced to directors, assigned to up-and-coming directors, or culled from the community). "How to Get Laid" is another gem, with the number of steps necessary for women and gay men to take paling in comparison to the litany of steps necessary for straight dudes--so funny, so true. "How to Tell If Your Boyfriend Is a Psycho," on the other hand, misses the mark by recommending that a woman test the sanity of her boyfriend by pushing him to the edge, in effect by becoming a psycho herself--about as helpful as nail clippers to a one-armed man. We're not sure if this is supposed to be a sort of inside joke tied to the video, "How to Tell If Your Girlfriend Is a Psycho," which pretty much lists all the behavior recommended in the previous video as an indication of a woman's insanity (and vice versa). That's awfully meta, which is just another word for annoying.

But with a little perusing, you can find some truly helpful stuff. "How to Make a Gift Bouquet of Flowers" or "How to Make a Bellini" could be good for a last-minute Valentine's Day gift or treat with a handmade touch. In fact they've collated all relevant vids into a Valentine's Day Survival Guide featuring all Howcast-created content (i.e. higher production value). And in the Sex & Relationships category you'll find things like "How to Host a Sex Toy Party," a fun introduction to toys. However, of the things listed to throw the party, booze is considered "optional"--uh, we don't think so. 

For something on how to actually use the sex toys, there's this YouTube video we're partial to.