A recent award winner at this year's South by Southwest Interactive Conference, Art and Culture is an impressive guide to great artists in every major artistic pursuit: painting, film, literature, music, and performing arts. Search on a favorite artist, browse by general discipline, or experience "The Cloud" -- an array of floating names that allows you to explore the historical context of a specific artist. The Picasso Cloud, for instance, features floating links to Cubism, Erik Satie, and Jorge Luis Borges.
Here's a new look at the intrinsically American story of immigration -- part of a project to foster understanding and correct misconceptions often held by native-born citizens. This site and companion television film tell the stories of ordinary 21st-century immigrants and refugees from countries as diverse as India, Nigeria, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. Teaching resources abound, including a timeline of U.S. immigration history that begins in 1492 and extends to the present.
In the early sixties, two San Francisco deejays dressed in conservative business suits conducted man-on-the-street interviews with harried downtown professionals. These interviews, recently released on a CD entitled "Audio Visionaries," are delightfully demented pranks. Coyle and Sharpe offered one young man a job in a virtual hellhole, replete with fire, snakes, maniacs, and a 98% mortality rate. He said he'd think about it. Read the latest critical praise, browse the seriously goofy photos, and listen in on some audio clips. A guaranteed giggle.
Can you say nephelococcygia? No, no, it's not what you think -- it's the simple, dreamy art of cloud-watching. Here's a gallery of photographs that celebrate sky-gazing as practiced in childhood. Think warm summer days, lying on your back on fresh-mown grass, looking up at a blue sky filled with puffy white clouds. There's one that looks like a tortoise! A rabbit! A winged horse! Lookitsa.com hopes to sell images from their cloud portfolio to local newspapers and photo collectors; the web experience is yours to click through.
Is it a cartoon, a comic strip, an online serial, or a very inventive multimedia marketing presentation? Meet Vivian, an appealing Silicon Alley avatar, who lives in a brownstone with a dog and a dot-com lifestyle. You'll need Flash to explore the colorful, bandwidth-intensive world of this fictitious twenty-something Manhattanite. Tune in to the vivcam and watch her at work; mouse through her apartment; meet her friends; and zoom in and out of her travel tips, career resources, and shopping recommendations.
"Duck Breast with Red Wine Sauce" is the fourth in a series of online cooking classes presented by the New York Times in collaboration with the French Culinary Institute. You'll need to register for free at the Times web site in order to access the series. There's a mouth-watering recipe for crispy, moist duck in a classic marinade, an illustrated step-by-step lesson in kitchen knife skills, and a streaming video demonstration. If you're salivating now, be sure to visit the archived lessons on roast chicken, stews, and omelets. It's like having an on-demand cooking show in your browser.
Jason Sentell, a senior at Texas Wesleyan University, has crafted a true labor of love -- an online shrine to the sideburn. Don't be put off by that Beverly Hills 90210 nonsense; the sideburn is here to stay. Beginning with the earliest civilizations (the pharaohs had "large, glorious burns"), moving through those incredible Civil War general photographs, and winding up with the King, Mr. Sentell explains it all for you. You're also invited to send in photos, swap burn stories, pick up shaving tips, and browse the celebrity page.
Billing itself as "the ultimate skate/music/lifestyle internet cheeseburger," Boredsports.com is a funky mix of loopy skater interviews, punk album reviews, and seriously entertaining video clips. Watch Danny Wainright crack the world's highest ollie! Check out the randy cover of the latest Dwarves album! Ask Mega Flaizer your skate-related questions! Even if you don't skate, this site's a great look at a cool subculture. And remember -- skateboarding is not a crime.