| Portraits of the Presidents, Presidential Haiku It's hard to imagine a time when elections were not televised and Americans voted for a chief executive without ever having seen a close-up photo or the colors of his tie. The National Portrait Gallery reminded us of this with their timely exhibition of presidential portraits and accompanying biographies. From Rembrandt Peale's iconic image of the Father of our Country to Elaine deKooning's dynamic, expressionistic take on JFK, it's a fascinating trip through American history. And once you're finished with the site, you'll be ready to appreciate the tender, funny, and often insightful collection of presidential haiku portraits from Bully TR to the short-lived William Henry Harrison. |
| Jump The Shark Q: What is jumping the shark? A: That particular moment when you realize your favorite television program is going downhill, and fast. Q: Okay, but why do they call it "jumping the shark"? A: The phrase refers to an episode of "Happy Days" when Fonzie actually jumps over a shark on his motorcycle. Q: How can I tell when a television program has jumped the shark? A: When the same character is played by a different actor. When a character "dies." When a child actor hits puberty. When someone gives birth. When someone gets married. When two love interests finally "do it." The list goes on. These are all desperate ploys, and they all augur imminent doom. No further questions, please. |
| Kelly Writers House Founded in 1995 by a group of University of Pennsylvania students, faculty, staff, and alumni, Kelly House is a gathering place and a resource for all kinds of writers. Now it also serves as a space for experiment and innovation on the Web, as well as on the streets of Philadelphia, by providing webcasts of readings and interviews with visiting writers and poets. This illustrious roster of archived streaming audio and video includes Robert Creeley, Grace Paley, John Edgar Wideman, John Updike, and other literary lectures and symposia. (Real Player is required.) |
| We Stand on Guard for Thee Mitchell Brown is on a mission: "...maybe it's because our quiet national character discourages us from acknowledging the larger-than-life heroes we've created for ourselves. Whatever the reason, the sad truth is that the history of Canada's comic-book legacy isn't that well known even within Canada's borders. With any luck, that's something I hope to change." Fact: Superman is half Canadian. Fact: Tarzan is full Canadian. Fact: The longest running Canadian comic strip is called Cerebus the Aardvark. All true, all cool, all Canadian. |
| North by South North by South studies three great waves of 20th century African-American migration. Part one compares the lifestyles of black people in Charleston, South Carolina, to the culture they created in New York's Harlem in the years after WWI. Photographs, documents, and ephemera illustrate the impact a major population shift had on music, arts, health, education, and individual lives. Part two of the site tracks the mid-century rural-to-urban migration of African-Americans, as exemplified by the movement of the blues from the Mississippi Delta to Chicago. The final phase of the study compares African-American communities in Birmingham, Alabama, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, industrial cities of the South and the North. |
| MSF-USA: Visit a Refugee Camp "Doctors Without Borders" presents this sobering look at daily life in a refugee camp, where shelter, food, water, and sanitation are in short supply. Over 14 million refugees and up to 25 million internally displaced persons currently live in "transit housing," which could range from host family homes to makeshift lean-tos. Their daily routine is a constant struggle to attend to basic necessities: finding protection from the elements, drinking clean water, using the restroom. Learn about various types of shelter, the basics of latrine building, or the ever-present threat of cholera. |
| UCLA Internet Project This long-term study designed by the UCLA Center for Communication Policy aims to explore the evolution of the Internet and its effect on ordinary people. Funded by a collection of deep-pocketed interested players (such as Microsoft and AOL), it's an ambitious effort to understand all aspects of the digital revolution, the information economy, and communication technologies that haven't been invented yet. The first Internet Report examines and analyzes user behavior, issues such as privacy and children's safety, and the whole gamut of online activities -- email and instant messaging, shopping, reading news, researching products and purchases, and browsing for entertainment and information. |
| The Fat Project In the proud tradition of the Stinky Meat project (and its follow-up Stinky Feet Project) comes the Fat Project. The goal? To turn the tables on the weight loss industry and gain 30 pounds in 30 days. Taking a lesson from the De Niro school of method acting, our brave test specimens Eric and Nicole put some serious chow down last month. The first one to make it to 30 pounds won three thousand dollars. Who made it to the magic number? See for yourself. And don't miss the before/after photographs. |
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