| BBC Online - Routes of English Online companion to the BBC radio show of the same name, the site offers an intriguing collection of sound bytes on the comings and goings of our ever-morphing mother tongue. Topics include the relationship of accent to social class, the evolution of Estuary English (a widely adapted non-localized British accent), and the age and origin of some of our favorite swear words. Relish John Betjeman's once risque recitation, Pass the fish knives, or a Derry teenager reading her poem, Up the Town on Me Own in a Northern Irish brogue that's music to our ears. |
| JFK - Dallas, November 22, 1963 (R.I.P.) Where were you? If you weren't born yet, this media-rich site may help provide a sense of what it was like to be there. The Dallas Morning News focuses on primary sources such as television and radio excerpts, eyewitness accounts, and full-page newspaper scans to examine the JFK assassination. Doris Nelson, the registered nurse on duty at Parkland Memorial Hospital recalls: "The operator told me the president had been shot. I thought she was joking and asked her what else was new. But then, from the tone of her voice, I knew she wasn't kidding." |
| Old Contemptible's Great War Website Paul Hinckley, an ex-serving member of the Royal Army Medical Corps, presents this personal tribute to the first World War: "The Great War (1914-18) was the one event of the twentieth century (and perhaps even the millennium) which brought about the greatest social and political change, unfortunately to the enduring cost of large numbers of ordinary people." Browse a dictionary of trench slang, read the poetry of Wilfred Owen, or read about life in the trenches: "At least one German dugout even had mirrored portholes installed to give the impression of being able to look outside." |
| Powys Digital History Project This homage to the Welsh heartland describes the history of six diverse communities in the rural county of Powys, isolated by mountains to the north and west, the Swansea River Valley to the south, and the English borderland to the east. Step through pictorial tours of ancient and enchanting small country towns like lovely Hay-on-Wye, explore old documents and ephemera from the Montgomeryshire village of Llanidloes, or learn about the 30-year excavation of the Norman castle at Hen Domen. |
| The Droplift Project The Droplift CD was released in stores nationwide over the weekend of July 28th, 2000. Actually, it wasn't so much released as inserted. "Droplifters" all over the country shoved the CDs in random bins, in hopes that folks would find them and purchase them as regular old CDs from befuddled cashiers. The CD features 30 audio collage artists -- folks who use "found sound" to create pieces of "parody, critical commentary, and new art." It's also available as a free download, naturally. |
| Van Gogh Museum Light Exhibition The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam and the Carnegie Museum of Art in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have collaborated on this luminous bilingual look at the evolution of lighting during the Industrial Age, from 1750-1900. A scrolling timeline explores the convergence of art, science, technology, and culture during the period. Colorful layers of images, activities, and anecdotes, as well as glowing pop-up windows about candles and lamps, kerosene and streetlights, will electrify the filaments of your imagination. |
| Anatomy of an Exhibition - Art Nouveau, 1890-1914 Take a look behind the scenes as the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., plans, designs, and constructs an ambitious, large-scale exhibit titled Art Nouveau, 1890-1914. Images, interviews, and flawlessly executed page design detail both concept and contents of the show. The site is a brilliant primer for an exuberant and influential period in modern art, and a stylish example of how to teach art history online. Don't miss the Time Lapse Movie of the three-month construction of the Paris Room, a curvilinear homage to Art Nouveau in the City of Light. |
| Monster Cards of the 1950's and 1960's If a Hank Aaron rookie card doesn't float your boat, then maybe a '63 Wolf Man or a '65 Deadly Mantis might. Monster cards, like their baseball card brethren, were sold in paper wrappers with requisite pieces of stale chewing gum to thousands of a eager kids. All your old favorites are here (Dracula, Frankenstein, Creature from the Black Lagoon), as well as some failed experiments (The Tingler, Hideous Sun Demon, Fiend Without a Face). You'll also find the classic Mars Attacks! series, which inspired the Tim Burton film. |
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