Riveting sites a Web surfer's delight
December 1, 2004
BY RICHARD ROEPER SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST
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In the span of about a decade, our reaction to e-mail has gone from utter wonder to general annoyance. E-mails are like cyber mosquitoes. It used to be, "Wow, an instant letter! I want more!" Now it's, "Why are there so many of you? Get off me. You're such pests!"
So what kind of masochist solicits e-mail -- and not just any kind of e-mail, but e-mail touting your favorite Web sites?
That would be me.
A few weeks ago, I told you I was in a bit of an Inter-rut, and I wanted to hear about your favorite Web sites, from the helpful to the wacky to the inspirational.
I'm still going through your nominations. In the meantime, I'm going to share my favorites thus far. We can always return to the pile at a later date. (That's right: keep 'em coming.)
Some of your picks are laugh-out-loud hilarious. Others are beyond freaky. A few made me blush. Almost.
Others were just heartbreaking, such as blogs by parents with sick children, and sites dedicated to finding a cure to various maladies.
Thanks to all who wrote in. Whether I thought your favorite sites were amazing, amusing or blah, I love your enthusiasm, and I appreciate your efforts.
http://www.overheardinnewyork.com
Conversational snippets overheard in New York City, e.g.:
*Avenue A & 3rd Street, into an intercom, a drunk girl yells: "I know you don't want to see me, but I'm downstairs!"
*Girl: "That's all she talks about. She watches 'Star Trek,' she talks about 'Star Trek,' she gets 'Star Trek' tattoos all over her body."
Guy: "At least my tattoo is cool."
*Girl: "Salma Hayek is part Mexican and part Syrian."
Guy: "She's cesarean? Ain't that a disease?"
*At a screening of "The Motorcycle Diaries":
Hipster #1: "I know that I should know this, but when did Castro die or get overthrown?"
Hipster #2: "Uh, he's still in power."
Hipster #1: "Oh, that explains why it's still illegal for us to travel to Cuba."
Hipster #2: "Yeah."
Says Jen Maravegias, who nominated the site: "I'm from New York, and I know you can't [make up] this stuff. I think someone should start one for Chicago!"
http://www.theircircularlife.it/
You can visit a railway station, a park and a busy intersection, among other locales, in Modena, a city of about 185,000 in northwest Italy. After you select a location, you are invited to "Become the observer. Drag the triangle around the circle of everyday life." As you navigate the circle, a 24-hour cycle unfolds, with the sky changing and people going about their daily routines. There's something exhilarating, and a little melancholy, about the whole process. You get a sense of how much can be packed into a day -- and how quickly it slips through our grasp.
If there's a scandalous, sensational or shocking piece of video in circulation, odds are you can find it here. The vid-library includes a snippet of President Bush playfully flipping the bird; Michelle Williams tripping and falling as Destiny's Child take the stage at BET; Anna Nicole's meltdown at the American Music Awards; and tons of amateur clips far too graphic for "America's Funniest Home Videos."
http://icasualties.org/oif/default.aspx
Perhaps the most comprehensive, informative -- and devastating -- collection of statistics and stories about the coalition troops wounded or killed in Iraq. The site includes a chart with the name, rank, hometown, cause of death and place of death of every U.S. soldier, and maps showing fatalities by state and by city. (As of this writing, 54 soldiers from Illinois have given their lives to the war.) You go through the page with a heavy heart, knowing the numbers are only going to grow and grow before we figure out a way to get the hell out of there.
As the kabillions of regular Google users know, the Google logo is often tricked up to reflect a holiday or milestone. This page includes all of Dennis Hwang's clever Google homepage art through the years, plus contributions from fans.
http://www.menwholooklikekenny rogers.com/
They're everywhere, they're everywhere: men who look like Kenny Rogers. This hugely funny site includes "Kenny Spotting Tips," "Look Like Kenny Tips," "Kenny of the Month," and galleries of regular folks, professional impersonators and celebrities who look like the white-beared legend. The photo gallery identifies "Argyle Kenny" (a lookalike in a bad sweater), "No Neck Kenny," "Staten Island Kenny," "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Kenny" (nice hat), etc., etc. A lot of these guys look more like Kenny Rogers than Kenny Rogers does.
Many more sites tomorrow.
