This week's selection of picks is brought to you by the letter M. M for Moms, Movies, Munchies, and More. Now that we've got that straight, let's begin.
This coming Sunday, May 12th, is Mother's Day. Family Planet Magazine has gathered old pictures and stories into a Mother's Day Scrapbook. Did Mom ever leave you on the roadside? Bandage your wounds after a nasty fall? Barge in on your first kiss? Here is your chance to contribute your best, funniest, and worst memories to the Scrapbook's growing collection of anecdotes. You can also test your ability to recognize family ties with their quiz: match photographs of famous mothers with their daughters. Or browse the round up of videos featuring "everyone's favorite leading lady - Mom".
If women on film is what you're looking for, Four Girls on Film by four NYU girls, Andrea, Clare, Lise, and Sibyl, is a valuable resource. "Chicks, flicks, and politicks" is their motto and they live up to it. Peruse their new movie reviews, look at the list of politically interesting movies that can fill the lull between now and the conventions, and, if you've ever wondered what happened to Vicky from Love Boat, don't miss the MIA section. You probably won't find Vicky in the French Riviera but the Cannes Film Festival is on from May 9-20th. Make Film Scouts on the Riviera your survival guide to the killer festival; providing tips on what to wear, how to negotiate the cliques, where to see and be seen, even how to submit your film. In addition, the site includes the official selection of films, the jury, and clips from last year's action.
What makes you angry? The Angry Organization wants to know. Is it a company, a person, an organization, or something else? Vent your frustrations and help this "most feared site on the net" grow. Our favorite is the piece on pesky allergies: dander, pollen, and the discomfort they cause. Hey, it's nothing to sneeze at. If you still have something to say, join the Internet Global Forecast. Share your ideas about the future, pose questions about what will transpire in the next fifty years, and the folks at Internet Global Forecast will compile your predictions into just that, a global forecast. For example: will global warming be halted? Will international drug cartels form their own government? Will there ever be a vending machine that dispenses fresh, piping hot pizzas?
This may not be your most pressing question but we think we know the answer. Hot Choice, the automated fast food restaurant, has engineered a vending machine which delivers hot, browned, and crisped food products to the consumer in seconds. Take a virtual tour of the machine and find out how it works its magic on deluxe pan pizzas, mini corn dogs, spicy pork egg rolls, or breakfast bites. If fast food doesn't tickle your tastebuds, try New England Cheesemaking. Read about the history of cheesemaking, get recipes, or participate in workshops: Cheesemaking 101 for soft varieties, or 202 if you like it hard. There's even a glossary of terms to guide you on your whey.
For less cheesy words, subscribe to Anu Garg's Word a Day mailing list. Get a new word, its definition, and a thought for the day, everyday. What more can we say? How about, never underestimate the power of words? And Bonfire of Liberties is case in point. This Texas Humanities Resource Center site is a look at banned ideas, books, plays, and images. Navigate by outline or image and see why Shakespeare is considered by some to be a dangerous writer, Sartre an offensive thinker, and Michelangelo too graphic an artist.
WWII Propoganda Posters, compiled by J.D. Ross, is a gallery of posters commissioned by the U.S. Government to moblize citizens to support the war movement. See the crisp images associated with such well known sayings as, "Loose Lips Might Sink Ships", "When you Ride Alone, you Ride with Hitler", and "Waste Helps the Enemy", to name only a few.
The Pacific Aircraft Carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV 63), in the water since 1962, is now online. Read about the history of this ship that has completed 17 deployments in support of operations including Vietnam, the Iranian hostage crisis, Operation Restore Hope in Somalia and airstrikes against Iraq, or take a virtual tour of the 1065 foot vessel. Weighing in at 86,000 tons, with a flight deck area of 4.1 acres, its fuel tanks can hold 4 million gallons of fuel, and each of its four elevators can lift 130,000 pounds each. That's quite a ship.
Finally, on this week is Net-A-Thon, a hybrid telethon, charity, and silent auction. It aims to place a networked computer in every U.S. school that wants one and will be held bi-anually until the job is done. Bid on hardware, software, and celebrity memorabilia to help raise funds for the program. Choose from modems, scanners, the shirt off country star Alan Johnson's back, or dinner at Spago Restaurant with 1996 Ms. California. Take your pick(s).
