First Brian of 96
The Life of Brian. Yes. A song, or a play, or a movie laced with melodrama and creativity. The Life of Brian. The site is small, and it's not a glorious manifestation of HTML wizardry. Don't get me wrong, it's extremely nice to look at. Smooth. Clean and Fresh. But Brian isn't about barraging us with spectacle-like images of neon blisters, and radiant blasters. No blinks. No trash.

Brian's is a different sort of home page that loads up looking like one might expect an e-zine to look like. The dateline: Year 2/Version 1. And first on Brian's list is, in fact, Brian. He won't tell you what his favorite colors are, or why he's built a home page for the Web. He doesn't want to show you pictures of his pet poodle, either. Instead Brian captivates up with "Weekly Cycles, " a regularly updated story-essay-idea that spans a few pages of insightful and intelligent thought. He's a wonderful writer with wonderful tales to tell. There is an archive of past Weekly Cycles, and I recommend reading them.

There's also a fantastic interview with graphic artists-photocopy zine extraordinaire Michael Diana, who has been dealing with censorship issues of his work for the last few years. The most disturbing incident occurred when Michael was arrested as a suspect to a murder in Florida because his comics depict graphically violent themes. (He says they're "influenced by television and radio.") After the arrest, various political officials told him to "not publish [the] gross comic." The rest of the story is equally as, if not more, interesting, and definitely should be read. The interview comes with a few downloadable video clips of the meeting between Michael and Brian, and links to various freedom of speech organizations.

For the interactive "fun" component, Brian has a snazzy CGI script asking people to document why their lives are pathetic. Some of the posts are entertaining, and some have nothing to do with pathetic lives. But the concept is worth something, and it's not Brian's fault if not every cybersurfer is creative. Brian is also responsible for the infamous Piercing Mildred site. You get to pierce a cartoon Mildred (or bonus other characters), scar them with your own design, or heal infections. There are contests with outstanding prizes -- like the infamous Wicker Park Jumping Spider or a rubber fish, and so on and so on. Humor. Entertainment. A flurry of creativity.

Brain stole my heart.-SK

A

Bepler's Home on Whidbey

The Beplers are married graphic designers who live on an island somewhere, designing their little hearts away. And it shows. This site is nicely designed: colorful, easy to navigate, and just plain good-looking. From their homepage, you can learn all about them, their families, their island, and their work. The only problem is that the information is on the skimpy side. What do they like? What *are* they like? I want more. The site is more than just a homepage, it's an online family. Unfortunately, they come off as the boring kind of family that never goes home after the barbeque.-MP

B

Chris and Kori's

Chris and Kori are the drippiest couple in Sarasota, Florida, and perhaps do more damage to their town's fine reputation than a frisky Pee Wee Herman could ever hope to. They live with two "adorable" cats, drive a nifty Honda and a sporty Mercury Cougar, and like listening to bad stadium rock. Imagine all this information at your fingertips. The latest Chris-and-Kori news at press time is that they're getting married. Ugh. And to think Sarasota was such a nice town.-MP

B+

Countdown to Scott's Web Page of Funkiness

Scott's the funkiest 9th grader around, and he knows the Web well. His homepage comes in a variety of flavors, servicing browsers from the mightiest Netscape to the lowliest Lynx. This site mainly consists of links to other places, and is peppered with cute, but not very funky, cartoons. He's got a comprehensive list of martial arts sites, gaming sites, and sound sample sites. If one day, Scott launches into the shameless self-promotion common to vanity pages, I won't hold it against him. He knows taekwondoe, and could probably kick my ass.

-MP

B

Edge of CyberSpace

This is a big home page. There are some wonderful graphics, but they're heavy, and take a while to load. There are mounds of links, and while not organized, it's nice to see them woven into original content. And that is the key phrase that elevates this site -- original content. A lot of time has gone into making this home page different from the standard link list and resume online bit, and for that, it's worth a few peeks. It has a left-leaning, young perspective, with info on the state of Oregon, tons of Internet tips, and a few extra goodies that I'll keep secret.-LS

B

Jie's Homepage!



Jie is getting her doctorate in Chemistry at MIT. Previously, she attended Stanford, as well as schools in her native China. In spite of being a serious overachiever, Jie presents an attractive and friendly vanity page, with interesting links to sites on science, China, and *People* magazine -- which demonstrates Jie has *some* kind of life away from the academic grindstone.-RR

A

La Home Page de Mario Contreras

Mario Contreras' good design sense coupled with some amusing content makes for a pretty decent site. There's a picture of Mario posing with friends, a gallery of artsy photos, and a bit about Mario's work. The best part is the Babe of the Week page. Even though it's a bit derivative, Mario highlights chicks from the net, and profiles their sites complete with links and GIFs. The week I was there, Mario spotlighted this cute pop singer from the Philippines. Mmmm. It might be creepy, but it works for me.-MP

B+

NoLan W3

NoLan consists of a big image map that links to sites that I presume the author's interested in: law, education, art, Web stuff, computer shenanigans -- links o' plenty. Besides an M.C. Escher fetish, there's nothing here to distinguish this site from any other set of links. Sometimes I think one could spend days on the Web linking between link pages. Link after link after link. Try adding a little content.-MP

C+

Riot Page

Reviewed in the December issue of The Net, the riot page has undergone an evolution. It got an A before, and I guess it doesn't get much better than that. The site still rocks, with new features, some snazzy HTML tricks, and fresh new content. Her voice rings with grrrl flair, and her link lists are growing quickly and impressively. The best new service: Meet her friends and maybe get a date.-SK

A

Slade's WWWorld

Slade's a guy who likes to chat. On his homepage, you'll find links to all sorts of chatty lands in which to fritter away your time. He's also put together a mildly interesting Almanac page which links to a bunch of different, ever-changing resources, like the weather, news of the weird, and comics. This site isn't otherwise too remarkable. There are links to major rock bands, links to computing stuff, and a million bonus links presented in no particular order that may or may not interest Slade. Slade knows how to put together a good-looking page, but can't seem to decide what to put on it.-MP

B-

Spooky PEZ

WARNING! PEZ aren't the lovable li'l icons people make them out to be, but in fact are the most evil candy on the market today. The Spooky Pez Page was created to expose this child-damning conspiracy, and save millions of unsuspecting tykes. Can't you see the Evil Skull Dispenser laughing at YOU? Anyone with children should heed these warnings. Be sure to catch the letters section filled with the ignorant pleas of PEZ defenders. They're just minions of Satan. Now if people will only listen to my warnings about the Scary Snickers and Creepy Cracker Jacks. BEWARE!

-MP

A

The Crispen Family

Bob Crispen is an aerospace research guy who publishes a page on his nuclear family. Bob, along with Kelly, Patrick, Robert, and the lovable FoxyToo, post pages listing the stuff they do, and the things they like, along with links to their own pages if they got 'em. Then there is, of course, the huge, *huge* set of links. I wouldn't be surprised if a sizable chunk of the Internet is listed on here. The Crispens are a surprisingly wired family, except perhaps for FoxyToo, who I think is probably too busy fretting in the shadow of Foxy the First to hammer out a page of its own.-MP

B

The T.W.I.N.K.I.E.S Project

What could a bunch of college students do with an assortment of "scientific"equipment, and a batch of tasty polymer-based snack cakes during finals week? Answer: Subject them to a series of rigorous tests, and post the results on the Web for the scientific community to see. Who has time to study when the mysteries of the universe remain locked in a creamy Twinkie? Witness the rapid oxidation test (lighting it on fire); the soluability test (dunking it in water); the density test (whipping it up in a blender); and others. Locked inside each cake is an engineering marvel that could change the world as we know it!-MP

A

Toolman

If you like woodworking, power tools, or the men that use them, this site is worth a look. Like any good personal page, you get a sense of who Toolman is, what he likes and hates, and what he thinks about. In his Woodworking area, you can learn about how to put together shelves and things, and about the tools you'll need to do it. Did you know that there are IRC channels on which you can discuss beltsanding? Besides tools, he rants on why AOL sucks, lists a recipe for his fave meatloaf, posts a picture of his wife, and has a set of links relating to his ultimate power tool, the computer. I just wouldn't try to plane a board with it.-MP

A-

Virtuality's Webspace

Virtuality combines professional design, first-class artwork, and a dry sense of humor to create a personal page that looks like it's from a big organization. J. Robinson's bio is the right way to do a resume on the Web. It looks good, and has all the pertinent information. Entertaining, too. The requisite page of links is enhanced by a set of small photos of the linkees. Not everyone can produce pages like this, but you may get some good ideas during a quick visit.-MM

A-

">Welcome to Witsend

Scott Graham Parkerson is a 22-year-old computer science major -- no, really? -- at North Carolina State University. He likes anagrams and dislikes Bill Gates. By his photo, he appears to be an all-around fine fellow. Based on his page, if 20 or so years ago I'd gotten married and had a baby, and that baby was a girl who grew up and met Scott, and Scott asked her out for this Saturday night, and she wanted to go, I'd give my consent just as long as he promised to keep the anagrams clean, and get her home before midnight. Which I'm sure he would.-RR

B

You're touching The G Spot

I came. I saw. I left. I should have been clued in by the link to the "Friends"Mailing list. The Beavis and Butthead "Under Deconstruction" page should have been an obvious warning. I should have backed down at the "What's in the Keg" link. But I had to click, and guess what: more Beavis and Butthead. Most of the site is not working yet, but I'll give them credit. Their pictures are super big, and they load super fast. If you're of the sophomoric beer guzzling college variety, you might have fun here. If not, don't bother.-SK

B

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