Welcome to this week's selection of Picks where, by the way, you do smell so veee-ry good. Afterall, we're not aware of your "scent circle" until we're approximately an arm's length from your body. Silly of us to be so obvious, isn't it? And (but of course!) you've applied that most concentrated and long-lasting form of fragrance, perfume, to the pulse points where the heartbeat is apparent. Even behind your knees, it seems. If you don't know what we're talking about be sure to sniff around at The Fragrance Foundation. "Established in 1949 by six industry leaders affiliated with Elizabeth Arden, Coty, Guerlain, Helena Rubinstein, Chanel and Parfums Weil," nobody nose perfume like the folks at the foundation.
If your idea of good "eau de" is Recently Damp Puppy or Kitty Breath #5, or even perhaps Guinea Pig Evenings, you really oughta spend some time at Healthy Pets. Put together by the people at the American Animal Hospital Association, the site covers all things Pet. Find an animal hospital in the U.S. or Canada, peruse the Pet Care Library (tips and info categorized by behavior, health, nutrition, amongst others) and learn about the AAHA at this doggone good site. (Would it be fair to say that they've unleashed a litter of worthwhile information on the world?)
While on the subject: have your pets become the peeve of the neighborhood? Do you find yourself apologizing because Rocket ruined the rhododendrons? Daisy destroyed the dahlias? It's time to get zen about the whole thing. Better than a profuse apology, Zen Stories to Tell Your Neighbors (which is a collection of exactly what the title suggests) should do the trick. The next time the Joneses give you a hard time because Pablo played in the pool, give them Gutei's Finger to chew on. It'll enlighten the load, so to speak.
If you have a problem with any of the, you know, big words while establishing just exactly what the sound of one hand clapping is, do what we do: use One Look Dictionaries, otherwise known as the Faster Finder. An all-in-one dictionary search thing, One Look has indexed 120598 words in 34 dictionaries. In a word, one of many as a matter of fact, it's cool.
Some stories just aren't zen. In fact, they're a little more direct in the old lesson department. Case in point: Netscape announced this week the formation of a new affiliate company, Navio Communications, Inc., which will bring the power of the internet to millions by "delivering Netscape Navigator technology for a wide variety of consumer and non-PC products". Televisions, telephones, game players and the like. Clever, don't you think, this marriage of communications and appliances? Eh? Well, on the surface, yes. But alas (and a big alas it is) it's already been done. Introducing The Blenderphone, a combination blender and telephone that liquifies while you long distance, and then some. That should stir things up. Let the appliance wars begin.
For a more straightforward look at appliances and the things you put in 'em, visit Online Chef which, in its premier electronic issue, takes us to the David Bruce Winery in the Santa Cruz mountains of California. How lovely! Online Chef offers a tasty collection of recipes, as well as tips and techniques, a guide to equipping a kitchen and pointers for getting started, all in the context of a trip to a vineyard. We're just glad we learned how to chiffonade basil. You need to know this kind of thing if you're making Sliced Tomato, Basil and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad. It serves 4 to 6.
Don't like vineyard picnics? What? You want a Japanese Pizza instead? Fine. Go ahead. Dare you to replace the tomato sauce with squid ink. Yum.
The latest from the shameless plug department is My Yahoo! which, like the aforementioned Japanese Pizza, has a little bit of everything on it. Essentially not my Yahoo! but rather yours, you'll get custom news headlines, stock quotes, local weather and sports scores as well as the chance to list the Yahoo! categories that interest you and your favorite sites and searches. And then some. It's yours. You build it. It's free. It has also been known to put a little spark back into the dating game: you really can't go wrong with a line like, "My Yahoo! or yours?" Now can you?
Finally, as we all know, the 1996 Democratic National Convention is a-happenin' this week in Chicago. You can follow online coverage in any number of places, including the current events category we've created on the topic. We thought this as good a time as any to remind you: if you haven't yet registered to vote you can do it now and you can do it online, at NetVote '96. It's simple. Fill out a form and in 2-3 weeks your official completed application card will arrive in the mail. Check it. Sign it. Stick it in the mail. Weigh your options. Take your pick(s).