| January 13, 2002 |
Condiment Packet Museum
Behold,  a site lean on words and heavy on the sauce. Who needs foodie prose when these nifty fingersized packets tell it all? Just one look at Burger King's Reconstituted Lemon Juice will have you salivating for a quick squirt. If honey mustard's your pleasure, pucker up to this cutesy Chinese panda bear. Gotta have some hot stuff? Choose your pre-packed poison wisely. Whatever your palate, this site's sure to have you digging into the back of your sofa for some buried treasures. (in Food & Drink) |
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| January 12, 2002 |
Broad Street Bully
Throw  down the gloves and make your way to this compelling fan site devoted to the seamier side of hockey. While it's ostensibly about the Philadelphia Flyers, the real treasure is found in the streaming clips of goons going mano-a-mano. With over 300 video clips of hockey fights, there's a tussle to suit any fan -- we suggest the vintage five-part, bench-clearing brawl between the Canucks and Flyers. Whatever your pleasure, you'll find this site packs a mean punch. (in Sports) |
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| January 11, 2002 |
Lichens of North America
Uniquely beautiful but easily overlooked composite life-forms, lichens partner with bacteria or algae in a symbiotic relationship to manufacture food by photosynthesis. Tiny, slow-growing lichens pioneer difficult ecological niches where they serve as sensitive monitors of ecosystem changes. Check out the extraordinary diversity of color, pattern, and form in photographs by Stephen and Sylvia Sharnoff. There's a lot to lichen here. (in Fungi) |
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| January 10, 2002 |
American Experience: Mount Rushmore
Why  were the faces of four American Presidents carved into a granite cliff in South Dakota's Black Hills? Whose idea was it to create the world's largest piece of sculpture on the side of a remote mountain? Would George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt be pleased with their 60-foot-high likenesses? This companion to the upcoming PBS special focuses on the strange story of Mount Rushmore's creation, its audacious visionary, and the laborers who risked their lives to create this "masterpiece." Rock on. (in Regional > United States) |
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| January 9, 2002 |
Motel Postcards from the Era of the Open Road
"Nostalgia  for old motels, like most forms of nostalgia, is selective and dishonest." So begins another snappy retro site from James Lileks. His collection of motel postcards from the '50s and '60s waxes nostalgic and pokes snarky holes in said nostalgia. These postcards take us back to a time before cellphones, when cars weighed 9 tons, and motel signs mixed fonts with abandon. But watch out -- if one of those huge neon signs falls, everyone in the pool will get electrocuted. Pity that the rooms of tomorrow are long gone. (in Design Arts) |
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| January 8, 2002 |
Chinese Propaganda Poster Pages
There's  more to Chinese propaganda posters than just Mao. Collector Stefan Landsberger enthusiastically endorses the illustrators and their work, not for the politics but for the culture they whimsically and vividly bring to life. Travel with him as he shares tales of obtaining government-issue posters before and after the Tiananmen Square uprising, how locals view his "quirky" hobby, and why he loves the Chinese aesthetic. (in Art History) |
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| January 7, 2002 |
Rocklopedia Fakebandica
Remember  when bands like The Larry Davis Experience, Leather and the Suedes, and Wyld Stallyns were ruling the pop charts? Well, probably not. These fictional bands and singers -- and hundreds more -- exist only in TV- and movie-land. The self-proclaimed "Ultimate Fake Band List" is more than just an inventory of pseudo-bands -- it also offers a brief history of each band's fake career. For instance, did you know that Captain Bart and the Tequila Mockingbirds, featured in the March 19th, 2000 episode of The Simpsons, broke up after their one and only gig at Nelson's Krab Shack? Keep on rocking in the fake world! (in Music Humor) |
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