Welcome to this week's selection of Picks, where we find ourselves thinking about things a little differently. You might even say we've seen the light. See, Apple's new advertising campaign points out that it takes a remarkable person, an Einstein, an Edison, a Picasso, to appreciate a special computer. It now occurs to us that it also takes a remarkable person to appreciate a special web page. Indeed, it takes a Little Engine That Could, a Beaver Cleaver, a daring, forward-thinking individual to recognize online greatness. We salute these folks, and we dedicate this week's listings to them...
Here's to Stuart Sutcliffe, the brooding young artist who helped galvanize an unknown Liverpool skiffle band called `The Beatles,' and who crafted a critically acclaimed series of abstract paintings before being tragically felled by a brain hemorrhage. He would have really liked The Lindbergh Case. It's got loads of photographs, newspaper clips, character studies, and trial transcripts from the infamous 1932 kidnapping of Charles Lindbergh's infant son. Was Hauptmann the carpenter framed? Did Lindy pull a fast one? Is the nipper still alive? Scan the testimonies, gaze at the shell-shocked players, and decide for yourself. Tell 'em Stu sent ya.
To John Wayne: bold, brash, tall, hygienic. To those lonesome cowboy/actors who had the courage to strike out on their own; the pioneers who thought differently by portraying those who thought differently. To those who, if they had the time, would have really appreciated Gifts of Speech, a collection of women's speeches from around the world. Addresses by Maya Angelou, Hillary Clinton, Andrea Dworkin, Barbara Jordan, Courtney Love, Betty Shabazz, and Margaret Thatcher are among the 75 or so complete speeches archived here. From Angelou's inaugural poem, "On the Pulse of the Morning," to Barbara Jordan's statement on the Impeachment of Richard Nixon to Courtney Love's extemporaneous speech on the suicide of Kurt Cobain, these oratorical gems would be treasured by any individualistic, ten-gallon cowpoke running cattle across a Hollywood back lot. You go, Pilgrim.
To William Shakespeare, dramatist extraordinaire. Maintaining his busy schedule of staging masterpieces at the Globe Theatre required strong nourishment. It's obvious that Soup of the Evening would have easily enticed a figure of such genius as the Bard. What, after all, is more poetic, more dramatic, more lively than a web site all about soup. It's full of recipes for such taste treats as hearty mushroom, spicy clam, and beet cream soups. With his belly full of Manhattan oyster chowder, the author of Hamlet might brush up on soup basics or browse the food tales for histories of assorted foodstuffs. Could a broth-based comedy or tragedy have been long in the making? After all, it is Much Ado About Soup.
To individuals who are a little different, like that guy who played "Goober" on the Andy Griffith Show. Who perceive things in a unique way. Who are just a bit ahead of their time. Who think things slightly brash, askew, oblique, offbeat, peculiar, unusual, bizarre, rude, dangerous, sociopathic, horribly off-putting, or fundamentally evil. In this great tradition, we bring you Wide Angle/Closeup, a site devoted to the craft of filmmaking. Read interviews with Robert DeNiro, Harvey Keitel, Nick Nolte, Eric Idle, Abel Ferrara, and Martin Scorsese, among others. Or browse the Terry Gilliam Files, an index of conversations with the former Monty Pythonite who directed Time Bandits, Brazil, and The Fisher King. Finally, there's The Great Cinema Survey, in which we're asked to pick one film that we'd risk our lives to save from destruction. Check out this web site at a browser near you.
To Mary Ann Evans, who didn't play by the rules. She was a loose cannon, a wild card, and she knew it. These days a hip young woman with a knack for scribbling might make a name for herself, but 19th Century England was a different story. So Mary decided to beat the man at his own game, and as George Eliot she penned such world-renowned classics as Middlemarch, The Mill on the Floss, and Silas Marner. She would have loved E.R. Watch. Featuring a searchable database of real emergency room cases, it also offers first aid tips and monthly injury spotlights like lawnmower mishaps and amusement ride casualties. Browse the latest statistics on compound fractures, check out the most popular pain killers (acetaminophen tops the list), or learn how to treat a mild cranial abrasion. George would have been all over it.
To wildlife everywhere. Let's face it, it's not just humans who can recognize a good web site. It's our friends in the animal kingdom, too, and they would certainly give a big bark, meow, bleat, and whinny out to this next effort, Roadside America Pet Cemetery. It's a loving look at the many grand pet tributes that lie scattered across the American highways. So, here's to the animals. Here's to the noble dogs like Old Shep, the "patient pooch" who was perhaps a little too fond of trains. Here's to the horses like Comanche, "the only living thing that the U.S. cavalry got back from the Battle of Little Big Horn." And finally, here's to Old Rip, the Horned Toad, who lived for 31 years trapped under the cornerstone of the old courthouse in Eastland, Texas. His story best captures the spirit behind this site: our pets may croak, but their memories will forever remain.
Here's to ancient mariners. When we came across the Glossary of Mathematical Mistakes, we couldn't help but think that Noah would've gotten a real kick out of this site. Here's a guy who had to deal with numbers all the time: the 40 days and 40 nights of rain, the animals coming 2 by 2, the ark, 300 by 50 by 30 cubits. He would've, no doubt, chortled with soggy glee as he read about Ratiocinitis ("the tendency to forget the rules regarding the addition and subtraction of fractions, ratios, and percentages"), Dramadigits ("the reporting of a number with more significant digits than what can be reasonably expected"), and the Post-Occurrence Miracle ("an unexpected coincidental event realized after the fact"). Heck, Post-Occurence Miracles is all Noah ever talked about after the big flood.
To Brian Boitano, figure skater. The Peking to Paris Motor Challenge runs from September 6 to October 18, 1997. Ninety-four cars representing twenty-four nations started at the Great Wall of China and--well, they headed west. It's the first rally to cross Tibet, and the first to cross Iran in twenty years. Final destination: Central Paris. (You will remember that the original rally took place in 1907 and went down in the history books.) There are certainly great similarities between this and the first race, but one difference is that today you can follow its progress on the Web.
And finally, to you: intelligent, attractive, charismatic, wonderful. To you we offer the creative, interactive fun of the Java-based Multi-User Whiteboard. You'll enjoy expressing yourself as you draw on the board either alone or with distant others. It's your site, take your pick(s).
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