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by Mathew
Ingram
BERT IS EVIL
It's true. Bert, the one with the big head and the goofy voice on Sesame Street, is the embodiment of evil. Check out the reasons why on this informative page, which includes the Michael Jackson link and the connection between Bert and the KKK.
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CRIME IS US
Looking for a handy catalogue of serial killers and cannibals? Check out the Internet Crime Archives, which ranks them based on their "confirmed number of hits." Has informative sub-headings like "Killer Cults" and "Cannibals." Don't read this one before or shortly after eating.
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FERTNEL CHEESE
Visit the site of Fertnel Cheese, a cheeze snack company. Or is it? It says "Some of you know about our famous products because you eat them every day; others know us because of those unfortunate lawsuits..." and has handy links to sections such as "Industrial Accident Korner" and "Glow Cheeze Info."
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SNOW ART
Got some time on your hands? Visit the Calvin and Hobbes Snow Art Gallery, which is just what it says, and has all the best ones for your perusal.
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Using this handy all-in-one index of Weirdness/Coolness, you can check out all the bizarre sites I've surfed by. I'm not claiming that these sites are the newest or even the weirdest and/or coolest, just that I thought they were worth taking note of.
Weird One | Weird Too | Weird Three | Weird Four |
| Weird Feature | The Stupidfun Page |
Smithsonian Without Walls
-- The Smithsonian Institution, the one that has everything from the bullet that killed Lincoln
to Fonzie's jacket and Archie Bunker's chair, has an experimental site that uses some pretty cool
technology to navigate the site -- a kind of 3-D text navigation device that changes based on how
the term you choose relates to the rest of the menu.
Babel
-- This interesting 'zine uses image maps that contain links to all sorts of weird places.
The site says the idea "is to rebuild the tower of babel, one room at a time. Like the builders
of the original tower of babel, this site is likely to cause an uproar... turn back now, before
you're forced to rethink your world views." Check out the "Potty Room".
Virtual Idols
-- Japanese record companies and other media and entertainment conglomerates have created a whole
series of what are called "idoru," or virtual pop stars. The first really sophisticated one is
known as Kyoko Date, and she has several CDs and even a video in which she interacts with live
people (virtually, that is). There's a bio and interview too.
Anthony's most annoying
-- A nice collection of annoying sites, and features a background image that
is easily as annoying as any of the sites he profiles.
BizarreMag
-- A picture of the week, a fact of the day... some weird links. Simple as that. Bizarre: "one
step to the side," it says. It's the online companion to the new British mag, which is also well
worth a look. Links to Viz (another weird British rag) and fortean times, which chronicle
weirdness around the world.
William Burroughs
-- A very well-done site with various links having to do with the famous anti-establishment writer,
who was a key figure in the Beat generation of Jack Kerouac, a notorious heroin addict who shot and
killed his wife during a drinking game, and the heir to the Burroughs adding machine fortune.
The Museum of Bad Art
-- It's bad. Really bad. But is it art? It doesn't matter, really -- it's fun to look at. There's
now a MOBA feature CD-ROM, a MOBA calendar and a MOBA book. Not bad for something that started in
some guy's basement.
S.B.E.R.M. Productions
-- This is hard to describe. A page featuring the program for a late-night cable-access show called
Cross and Skull, another dedicated to a band known as Young Unwed Mothers, and a third to a band
(but is it a real band?) called Pirates in Your Pants.
Spumco
-- Spumco is the Web site belonging to John Kricfalusi, the awe-inspiring creator of Ren and
Stimpy, as well as other lovable comic characters, such as Jimmy the Idiot Boy and George Liquor...
not to mention Jimmy's attractive little friend Sody Pop.
Ackxhpaez
-- Ackxhpaez is difficult to explain, but it's mostly a site devoted to the comic doodlings and
bizarre ramblings of Michael Wartella. The McRuff the Security Dog strip, a parody of all those
goofy public-service announcements using cartoons, is worth a look. Other features include the
Junkyard, and the amazing Two-Headed Baby.
Squashed Bug Zoo
-- Has to be seen to be appreciated. One of the best tributes to the uselessness of the Web. Glossy
and full-colour photos of squished bugs.
Technomads
-- This is a page dedicated to Steven K. Roberts, a techno-nomad for the past 13 years, who spent a
couple of those years riding across North America on a recumbent "bicycle" carrying a trailer with
a portable computer and wireless satellite connection for updating his Web diary. He's now working
on a pedal-powered mini-trimaran sailboat.
Trike around the world
-- You'd think there wouldn't be that many people who want to spend years riding around the country
on a recumbent bicycle, but here's another one. Blase Bova set off last fall from Oregon and plans
to spend 10 years at it. Oh, and there's a difference between him and Steve Roberts: his is a
trike.
Discordia/Illuminati
Sub-Page
-- A central list of links to sites having to do with the Discordia and Illuminati, and all sorts
of other secret societies that are supposed to control the world, etc., etc.
Media History
-- A semi-scholarly study of "dead media," the vanished media such as the phenakistoscope, the
teleharmonium, the Edison wax cylinder, the stereopticon, early 20th century electric searchlight
spectacles, Morton Heilig's early virtual reality, Telefon Hirmondo, the various species of
magic lantern and the pneumatic transfer tubes that once riddled the underground of Chicago.
The Crash Site
-- What is it? It might be a 'zine, or it might not. It calls itself "Chaos, horsepower and
madness" and has features such as a Shockwave deal called "Frog Death" and "Homemade Firearms."
All Men Must Die
-- A page devoted to the proposition that gives the page its name. The author notes in the long
disclaimer that "If you're about to send me an email and think you're really cool and original, you
might want to have a look at the Frequently Mailed Bullshit and realise how lame you really are."
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