Welcome to our latest selection of Picks, where we find ourselves asking an increasingly important question: Is it better to give away old home appliances, or to shoot them to smithereens?
In the end, the choice is obviously all yours, but you could follow the lead of Daniel Benton, who has spent the last decade engaged in quite a bit of Home Appliance Shooting. Read all about Daniel's demolitions (is it a hobby? a sport? performance art? a quirk?) as he takes on televisions, confronts computers, makes a mess of microwaves in what has to be a thoroughly original way of spending time. The site includes images of his... his work.
There are of course other ways to spend time. For instance, in the historic town of Dedham, Massachusettes, just outside of Boston, this April 28th you can participate in the annual James Joyce Ramble, a road race through town. But if you do come to Dedham, don't forget your Joyce, because they won't be reading anyone else. Described as "ten kilometers of poetry on the run", the charity-driven event is a combination of art, literature, athletics and plain old good times. Each mile on the course is named for a literary work by James Joyce, and along the way actors interpret these works to the accompaniment of traditional music of the British Isles. Strap on your running shoes and practice those iambic pentameters!
You could also spend time worrying about the national debt. If you do, try a site that is quite literally a crying shame. Watch Ben Franklin's tears fall on the current outstanding public debt, updated automatically every five minutes. It's enough to bring tears to your own eyes and to make you wonder if going to college is worth it these days. You have to make that decision on your own, but we feel it our duty to remind you that as a student you have certain awesome privileges. Not the least of which is your own personal web page. If you don't believe us, try Student Homepages, a comprehensive collection of links to student homepage listings at many American colleges and universities. Need we say more?
College or not, you probably want to brush up on your writing skills for a good shot at The Napa Valley Home Essay Competition. As the title suggests, the contest asks you to write a 300 to 500 word essay (topic: "What In My Life Makes Me Feel Most Alive") with the chance of winning a home on 7+ acres of land in California's beautiful Napa Valley. There is an entrance fee, but maybe its worth the gamble.
Speaking of gambling, another great way to spend time and money, The Casino Network offers a large collection of links to gambling and gaming sites on the web. Beyond its focus on (worldwide) casinos, the network also points to many related entertainment, travel, dining and business sites. Let the good times roulette.
From here we go to Cassini, which sounds like the plural of casino but is actually a joint international venture to explore Saturn and its moon, Titan. Follow the mission at this informative site, where we learned that Saturn and its rings are as wide as the distance from the earth to the moon, and that Titan's environment may resemble the chemical factory of primordial Earth. The spacecraft is set to launch in October 1997. Lets hope it avoids a run-in with Comet Hyakutake, pictures of which you can view online, including a collection by Ray E. Danen. Ray's pictures were taken March 26th and 27th of this year, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, during Hyakutake's recent sprint past Earth. If you don't want to brave the bandwidth for these images, you can always wait for the comet's next visit, probably in about 10,000 years. Your choice.
Spend a lot of time looking for software? Try Benchin' Software Review, an exhaustive directory with over 70,000 listings, categorized for easy access. Navigate your way through "Personal & Home", "Business", "Industry Specific", "Internet", and more; or search for your favorite programs. In a word, it's totally Benchin'.
Finally, the New York Daily News gives us mostNEWYORK, with sneak peeks of the newspaper's famous front covers, juicy celebrity gossip and oh so much more, proving that "sometimes the truth hurts." Although already full of interesting tidbits, the site is growing. Let 'em know what kind of coverage you'd like to see down the road, and maybe you'll win two tickets to a Broadway show. It's either that, or shooting your refrigerator into oblivion.
When you make your way to the City of Angels, the much sung about, written about and visited entertainment capital of the world, you'll want to do it in style. First stop: Chris Richter's Cigar Smoking in Los Angeles, a complete guide to buying and smoking cigars in the city. Armed with your favorite stogie - and, of course, the latest scoop from the Los Angeles Traffic Report - you're ready for a tour of Tinsel Town.
If you're looking for stars in L.A., you could visit the Griffith Observatory, in historic, hundred year old Griffith Park, but we're sure you have something else in mind. Try Addresses and Maps to Homes of Famous Hollywood Celebrities, with lists alphabetical by name, street, or general area. Another option: stand on the corner of Hollywood & Vine amongst the stars on the sidewalk, just around the corner from 4616 Melrose Place.
For a historical look at L.A.'s music industry, try the L.A. Rock & Roll Map, where, amongst other things, we learned that the home of A&M Records was originally built by Charlie Chaplin, as the Chaplin Studios. In the 1920s the building was completely surrounded by orange groves.
No trip to L.A. would be complete without a visit to the Magic Kingdom, Disneyland. There's always something exciting happening in the land of Mickey, Donald and the gang. For a more subdued but equally interesting collection of characters, try the Hollywood Wax Museum, celebrating its 30th anniversary and host to an estimated 300,000 visitors each year.
For eating out, try RestaurantTourLA, a list of many of the notable restaurants in the city. Eateries are listed alphabetically, with pricing codes, and it looks like a collection of reviews is in the works.
Finally, for further exploration drop in at Fountainhead's Los Angeles Superstation. The site offers a collection of links to local weather, traffic and earthquake information, as well as an index of new L.A. web sites, and more. Take your pick(s).