Welcome to this week's selection of Picks, where we're pleased to tell you that no news is good news. No wait. Where we're pleased to tell you that it's sometimes good to get the news. Wait, that's still not right. We're pleased to tell you that no good news is bad. Ah, forget it: what we mean is, try Positive Press, which "was founded to counteract the tendency of the mainstream media to focus on the negative." Sponsored by The Athens Institute, the motto at Positive Press is "Good News Every Day" and that is exactly what you'll get here, culled from various online news sources. Also be sure to contemplate their thought of the day and send in your own good news.
Speaking of news, this just in from the animal kingdom: in a recent turn of non-Olympic related events, a certain tortoise was seen beating a hare in a road race. The hare had been touted as the hands-down favorite in said race and this, it seems, may have been the very cause of the upset. He was caught napping. When asked to comment, the triumphant tortoise had only this to say: "Plodding wins the race." Read all about the event, and more, at Aesop's Fables, thanks to the students in Art 271 (an Introduction to Computing in the Fine Arts) at UMass Amherst. The students illustrated Aesop's Terrific Tales in traditional and contemporary styles, you'll find an example of each at this fabulously fabled site.
We've seen the handwriting analysis on the wall, and boy does it reveal a lot about you. In fact, at Handwriting & You, the site that asks "Which babysitter would you hire?", you can find out just how much the way we cross our t's and dot our i's can tell about how we love, work and relate to others. Included is a selection of celebrity handwriting profiles (learn more about the likes of Bill Clinton, Nicole Brown Simpson and George Harrison) as well as tips and insights on the relationship between handwriting and personality and an online guessing game, titled Are You For Real?.
There are of course other ways to peer into the very soul that is humanity. See for example The Studly Advice Contest, which offers a collection of stories that might otherwise appear as handwriting on bathroom walls. The premise at work here is this: Pamela Anderson (no relation to you know who) is writing a book of advice for men. One of the chapters will focus on, uhm, well, on strategies, techniques, procedures, plain-and-simple lies "men sometimes use to garner the attention and approval of women they are trying to meet." This is where you fit in. The folks at Studly Advice want your stories. Peruse previous prize winning ploys and then submit your own. Each month the best stories earn cash awards. Not bad for a single night's work, don't ya think?
Makes you wonder where we all came from, doesn't it? Turns out you're not alone on that. At the recently redesigned Origins of Humankind web site you'll find a fairly comprehensive collection of internet resources for the human evolution community. From Australopithecus africanus to Ramapithecus and everything in-between, Origins of Humankind offers links and articles on all aspects of the subject. The site includes a Communications Center, where you can post your thoughts and responses on a message board or in a weekly chat room.
We've been trying to figure out where the Rhinestone Cowboy fits into human evolution and have arrived at this: Branson, Missouri. More specifically, Glen Campbell's Goodtime Show, which we're happy to report takes place at the Goodtime Theatre in Branson. At this site dedicated to the star-studded event, you can enjoy a retrospective of Glen through the years and learn more about the stars of the show. The only thing we missed was a collection of lyrics to Glen's all-time greats. But you know, it's not a perfect world. You can't have everything. We've come to terms with this.
At least you can have Friends. Moreover, thanks to the folks at Mr. Showbiz, you can also perform plastic surgery on five of the cast members of the hit television show of the same name. Similar to Cory Gilbert's ever-popular Faces web site, the idea at the Friends Plastic Surgery Lab is to combine the various facial features of Ross, Rachel, Chandler et al and... well, and create "new and improved Friends." Somewhere in there we managed to create an uncanny resemblance to Tammy Faye Baker, but we forgot the formula. You're going to have to try it for yourselves.
It's enough to make you want to sing the rap version of Lord of the Rings. This site needs no further explanation because that's pretty much what it is: a rap version of Lord of the Rings. Enough said.
Finally, we offer The Early America Review, "a journal of fact and opinion on the people, issues and events of 18th Century America." The first edition of this historical journal offers a wide range of reading material, including a look at artist John Trumbull's painting "The Surrender of Cornwallis", an academic piece "which examines the balance between personal conscience and religious orthodoxy in early 18th century America" and a letter from Thomas Jefferson to James Madison. The Review is part of the Archiving Early America site, which offers a large and impressive collection of primary source material (original newspapers, maps and writings) from 18th Century America. Take your pick(s).