Can you hear that? What is it? The sound of no hands clapping? Or perhaps it's the noise a tree makes when it falls in the forest and there are several dozen campers nearby? It's getting louder now--an insistent whoosha-glug-hunka-hunka sound. Look, it's coming into view. Yes! It's the second annual Yahoo! Summer Lifestyle Catalog. Join us as we kick back and relax to a mellow symphony of summer websites...
Paradise Glossed
Summer. It means adventure. It means fashion. It means adventuring forth fashionably and discovering Living Edens, places on Earth so aesthetically stunning that they often remind us of our wardrobe. Traverse the treacherous trout streams of Denali, Alaska's great wilderness. Run with the wild woolly yaks of Bhutan, Asia's spiritual Shangri-La. Hack your way through the lush Andean flora of Manu, Peru's hidden rainforest. Play with the Pantagruelian pongids of Palau, paradise of the Pacific. A world of fashion-conscious adventure awaits you. Just don't scratch your pith helmet.
Flannel Pajammers
For the cyberian who has everything, including an attitude, take two doses of Culture Jammers Encyclopedia and call us in the morning. You'll find a bevy of sassy skeptics who are ready, willing, and able to deconstruct society's hottest hucksters, hackers, and antiheroes. Got the millenium-bug blues? Luxuriate in a lukewarm bath of literary hoaxes. Stuck in an ill-fitting operating system? Witness the inaugural Bill Gates pie-throwing contest, then slip into something a little more uncomfortable...
Stop Making Census
This year's Yahoo Summer Lifestyle celebrates that spunky human attribute, individuality! You heard it here first--take the "me" out mediocre and pop it straight into mesmerizing! This season don't be just another face in the crowd, another number on a spreadsheet, another statistic on a "pretty cool" web site. It's time to stand up and be browsed. Just visit the U.S. Historical Census Data Browser and join the millions who have already claimed their unique place in the world. Make a name for yourself, John Q. Public. Thanks to the all-new YSL, in 1998 you've got a data with destiny.
Ceci N'est Pas une URL
On the canvas of life, may all your acrylic paints dry without cracking. And if the paint does crack, switch to watercolors! After all, even the smallest brushstroke of Yahoo Summer Lifestyle should be enough to get you a private exhibit in the Museum of Bad Art. Really! Remember: the phrases "crude," "incompetent," and "barely in control" didn't stop those brave artists who preceded you into the hallowed halls of MOBA. Indeed, this year's YSL might be all you need to complete the Self Portrait with Canned Goods #432 that you've been working on for months.
Work it, Girl!
While we support the concept of summer as a time of unbridled happiness and general frivolity, as well as the importance of maintaining a fashionable lifestyle throughout said season, we have a site we'd like to recommend that has absolutely nothing to do with any of that. It's called Child Labor in America 1908-1912, and it's a sobering portfolio of mill-workers, newspaper vendors, coal miners, seamstresses, and fruit-pickers, all of whom are far too young. You won't find any pastel fanny-packs or striped espadrilles here, yet we still wholeheartedly suggest you give it a look. Right. Now, on with the Summer Lifestyle!
A Question of Caricature
Having trouble illustrating a point? Wrap yourself in something affordable from the Yahoo! Summer Lifestyle collection and illustrate a book instead! And if you need help generating ideas, we recommend a quick tour through the Cruikshank Collection of Artwork. The Princeton University Library holds a vast collection of material relating to the master illustrator and caricaturist George Cruikshank. So, wade in and browse the database of images, which includes Cruikshank's famous illustrations of Oliver Twist. What the Dickens is stopping you?
Mules are Back!
What's this year's summer fashion statement? Jump into your mud-caked boots and grab your tin pan, the Miner-49er look is back! This year, SoHo's well-tailored waifs are trading in their teeny-weeny backpacks for overalls and rusty pick axes. The catwalks of Milan are ablaze in dirty denims and ripped longjohns. Catch the craze at Ghost Towns, a romp through the now-defunct boomtowns of the California Gold Rush. Lose those teeth! Grow that beard! 49er chic is comin' at cha, baby.
Busta Crime
Who's the famous supersleuth that can simultaneously solve a crime, drop some knowledge, and look totally fly in his eggshell-white seersucker suit and matching Panama hat? It's gotta be Charlie Chan, fictional detective from the first half of the century and cross-platform star of print, radio, television, and film. The folks at MysteryNet have done Charlie up right, with a profile, a trivia quiz, discussion forum, and the obligatory e-commerce links. Number-one son would be darn proud--CC's got the look, the moves, and the Mack-Daddy attitude. Matlock better not be frontin'. Peace out!
As the volume fades on this year's Yahoo! Summer Lifestyle Catalog, we'd like to take this opportunity to remind everyone: think bold, think big, keep upbeat, keep spare batteries for your flashlight, take chances, and, as always, take your pick(s).
If you know of any timely, informative, or wacky web sites, please drop us a note. Also, feel free to send any general thoughts or comments about Picks.