Other People's Problems
URL: http://opp.paramount.com
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
Paramount Digital Entertainment's Other People's Problems is a fun diversion, and a good way to feel really well-adjusted. What do you do if you're an exotic dancer and your fiancee (who you met "on the job") is insecure about it, in part because his first wife of twelve years left him for his brother? You can post your problem here, or give some other poor slob your sage advice. Check out the "problem of the day" or zip to the Problem Pit for past problems. This site changes daily, which keeps it fresh, and the graphics are appealing.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18
Baseline
URL: http://www.pkbaseline.com/
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
Baseline is an online media and entertainment industry magazine. Great freebies include "Match Wits with Nicky" for trivia buffs, Alt.Cinema, which features reviews of less mainstream movies, and articles on the ins-and outs of the movie biz. Check out Doris T. Daily Digest to get the latest dish, and Popcorn Palace, which covers new releases and previews of more highly publicized film offerings. For either per-minute or per-document charges, you
can access more detailed information, such as film revenue and cost estimates, celebrity and industry contacts, ratings, bios, and box office analysis. This site, like the industry itself, is big, brash, unapologetic and yes, fun.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18
The 80s Server
URL: http://www.80s.com/
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: Yes
Author: Wayne Cunningham
Decades have come to be so iconic, representative not only of a time, but a style. The phenomenon dates back at least a century, to the ³Gay 90s,² when it seems everyone partied a lot because it was the end of the century and the beginning of the Industrial Age, which they apparently thought was a good thing. The ³Roaring 20s² were another particularly noteworthy decade. More partying.
Now, it seems, recent decades are being recycled, with ³groovy² fashions from the 70s revived for the 90s, and a nostalgia for the 50s marking much of the 80s. Of course, there was a lot more to the 80s than a revival of 50s-style politics. Sure, the era was dominated by Ronald Reagan and his true blue ³Morning in America² crew, but, more significantly, the period ushered in the most extreme hair styles known to man.
While, for many of us, it was hellish to live through the 80s, a glance in the rear view mirror gives it all a different look, distant and comical. The 80s server delivers all the ingredients quintessential to 80s culture: bad music, awful television, horrible movies. Like the decade, the home page is garish ‹ think neon jogging suits or hot pink lip gloss. Hulk Hogan, the pro wrestler-turned-superstar, is prominently featured. So is Pee Wee Herman, kid¹s show host/onanist.
Navigation is a bit difficult from the slapdash page of enticements. And, unfortunately, a few of the sections are empty as of this writing--no small thing if your connection is slow. Then again, considering that the page is run by three ³children of the 80s² (read ³slackers²), that¹s not a huge surprise.
If you¹re a young veteran of the era (why else would you be here?), try out the trivia games that test your knowledge of 80s marginalia. A Shockwave file opens the section with the computer¹s voice from the movie ³War Games²: ³Shall we play a game?² And don¹t miss the game, ³Who can it be now?² where contestants try to match band names with their corresponding pictures. The crown jewel of the 80s Server, though, has to be the Jukebox, which features more than 150 songs from the 80s in RealAudio format. ³Too Shy,² by Kajagoogoo, ³Smalltown Boy,² by Bronski Beat, and ³Karma Chameleon,² by Culture Club, are just a few of the hits. And what hits!
Man, those were the days.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18
The East Village
URL: http://eastvillage.com
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
Here¹s a synopsis straight off the site: ³Best friends Eve and Mick have recently slept together, but right afterwards Mick hurried out of Eve's apartment. Both were very uncomfortable ... Mick especially, since he had also been sleeping with Eve's next door neighbor, Lila. But after the sex with Lila got too rough, ...² You get the idea. From there it¹s off to the races in this ³cybersoap.² Now, I don¹t know how many soap fans cruise the Web, nor how many will want to read episodes from a monitor, but ... well, if the story intrigues you and you have time to kill ... have a look-see. Personally, I think Mick and Lila make a lovely couple, even if she does play a little rough.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17
WBS
URL: http://wbs.net
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
WBS is a chat "hub site" for those who prefer communicating with their fellow humans via the Internet. Major topic headings, such as community, entertainment, business, and current events, allow chatters to congregate in rooms where they can, in theory, find people with similar interests. I entered a number of rooms, and it seemed like the conversation was pretty much the same in all of them: "Anyone here?" "Where are you from?" "What's your sign?" OK, I made up the last one, but there was a singles bar feel to the whole thing. Trappings aside, it's all about trying to connect with each other. Good luck.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17
Harry Shearer
URL: http://www.pobox.com/harry/
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
Visit the wacky home page of Harry Shearer, comedian and host of Le Show on NPR. Filled with character impersonations and sketches, political humor,
readings from bizarre magazines, and eclectic musical interludes, Le Show
is absolute ear candy. And for those of you who have given up on radio as a
dead media, you'll recognize Shearer as the hyper-talented voice behind The
Simpsons' Mr. Burns, Smithers, Principal Skinner, Reverend Lovejoy, Ned
Flanders... do I need to keep going? Even if you're not a fan of Le Show,
it's hard not to find something of comedic attraction on this site. (The
Simpsons sound samples are not to be missed.)
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16
GoPlay
URL: http://www.goplay.com
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jose Alvear
GoPlay is a weekly guide to Bay Area entertainment presented in a slick magazine format. There are reviews, articles, groovy pictures, and lots more, all pertaining to the San Francisco area. Some of the topics include entertainment, dining, local events, movies, "hang outs", sports and concerts. Read reviews of restaurants and bars, then add your opinion--you can give a site a thumbs up or thumbs down. You can also place or read classified ads and personal ads. Overall, a nicely done regional site that doesn¹t try to be hip or kooky.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16
The Biz
URL: http://bizmag.com
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
From our global-domination seeking friends at Time Warner's Pathfinder, comes The Biz: The Entertainment CyberNetwork, a full-force entertainment rag for the Web. Offering hourly Variety and Reuters news, The Biz is worth checking out periodically for some Hollywood dirt. And once Entertainment Tonight is over, you can turn here for interviews with stars ("Anthony Hopkins
Survives Picasso", for example) and a series of music columns divided by genre. P.S.: Kudos to The Biz for naming their advertising industry section "Advertainment." That's a meme to spread!
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16
Buzz Online
URL: http://www.buzzmag.com/
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
Direct from the City of Angels is Buzz Online, the Web counterpart to Los Angeles' hipster city-mag Buzz. I never lived in L.A., but I still found myself paging through the print mag on more than a few occasions. In fact, according to the site, "Buzz Online views its remarkable home town as less a distinct geographical entity than a state of mind -- a metaphor, if you will, for the worlds of entertainment, media, popular culture, and millennial politics that fascinate and affect people everywhere." In real language, that means gossip, nightlife, movie and music tips, and other ephemera. Basically, the world drools over glam and the glitz, and Buzz knows how to package it. Stop here for a fix.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16
Warner Bros. Virtual Lot
URL: http://www.tv.warnerbros.com/virtual-lot/
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
This site features a ton of information on Warner Bros. shows, loads of downloadable JPEG files for obsessed fans, press releases, message boards, a chat lounge, and fitness center (this is LA after all). Can't get enough of your favorite shows once a week? You can read bios on all your favorite actors, watch QuickTime movies of selected scenes, and read detailed descriptions of plot lines and character development. (Actually, I found many of these descriptions a lot more interesting than the actual shows.)
Wondering what everyone is talking about around the water cooler the day after the latest Friends episode? Check out the WB Virtual Lot.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16
PythOnline
URL: http://www.pythonline.com/fakeopen
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Gary Barker
PythOnline is for the Python (Monty) acolyte with time to kill. Not surprisingly, it's very funny in places, but the troupers are so wrapped up in being witty and
self-referencial (not to mention self-reverential), they've
forgotten about bandwidth and ease-of-use. Whereas Python was
quick, Pythonline is plodding. Visitors can't even get from
point A to point B without taking as many as seven unwanted
steps between them. We're not all squawky-voiced pepper pots
with endless free time. Your patience will be rewarded, but
not enough. Nudge-nudge. Wink-wink. Say no more.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15
A & E
URL: http://www.aetv.com/
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
A & E is one of the most underrated cable channels. Where else can you catch a "Biography" of Amelia Earhart before enjoying a guilty chuckle courtesy of
Howard Stern? The A & E site is cleanly designed with deep background on
their programming -- from mysteries to classic movies to Quincy reruns.
Teachers will appreciate the A & E Classroom materials, so they can help
make watching TV educational! (Seriously!) If you're into A & E, it's worth
stopping here to browse the daily and weekly schedules. Of course, that isn't
much use if you don't have cable. As if.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15
Gigaplex
URL: http://www.gigaplex.com/
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
Talk about information overload! Gigaplex is a 600+ page entertainment webzine! Divided into around a dozen sub-sections -- everything from Filmplex to Bookplex to Yogaplex to Golfplex -- this site shouts comprehensiveness. Recipes, celebrity interviews, athletic tips, book excerpts, and other entertainment tidbits are all free for the browsing. (Although the writing quality could certainly be improved.) There's also plenty of related
crapola to blow cash on. If I'm wrong and the successful Web publishing
model turns out to be "general interest" as opposed to "hyperspecific,"Gigaplex has it made.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15
Batman TAS Encyclopedia
URL: http://www.cmgnet.com/~ames
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
The series that inspired the "Dark Deco" genre of TV animation is
well-documented on this truly fanatical fan's site. This is *the* place to learn
the history of Gotham CIty's weirdest and wildest inhabitants, from
familiar faces like Catwoman and Penguin, to newer rogues like Joker's
female flack, Harley Quinn. An episode guide reprinted from Cinemafantastique has also been posted so you can keep track of your own "see and must-see" list. Alfred would be proud.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15
Channel Surfer Journal
URL: http://www.tiac.net/users/tvbobs/
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
Forget the Web as an entertainment medium, it's time to return to the mothership! Channel Surfer Journal is apparently a print publication and guide to television, and if the Web site is any indication, it's an irreverent alternative to TV Guide. (Example from the online listings: "This Friday, Everybody Loves Raymond, or at least CBS hopes so.") Not much to the Web site beyond a survey of the current week's offerings, but just wait until the Net and tube really converge. Yeah. Right. Keep sucking on that glass teat, people! (Now, where can I get the dead tree version of the Channel Surfer Journal?)
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15
The Andy Kaufman Home Page
URL: http://fly.hiwaay.net/~bkm/akhome.htm
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Gary Barker
The Andy Kaufman Home Page is friendly and
respectful. It's full of testimonials and trivia concerning one of
the strangest celebrities of the late 70s and early 80s.
Kaufman, best-known for his role as mechanic Latka Gravas on
the sitcom Taxi, was by turns a con artist, a performance
artist, an actor, a stand-up comic, an Elvis impersonator,
and wrestling champion. Single-minded in his pursuit of worldwide confusion, Kaufman died of cancer in 1984 at the age of 35. This site has none of his
energy.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14
DC Comics
URL: http://www.dccomics.com
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Gary Barker
DC Comics hasn't got much going for it. They've got a hilariously snotty legal proclamation of their "proprietary rights throughout the universe in
perpetuity" for a site that apparently hasn't been updated in
months. And the proclamation forgets alternate universes.
What about the scofflaws of Earth 2? (Yeah, I know, that was
destroyed during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.) What about
Vertigo and Paradox Press, DC's imprints for adults? The site
has streaming audio of old Superman radio serials, but only
one chapter is available at a time, so most visitors will
never hear the beginning of any story.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14
LateNet With Tim Conway, Jr.
URL: http://www.ifnet.com
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
LateNet is a RealAudio entertainment talk show hosted by Mr. Conway, Jr. himself. The night I logged in, Multiplicity's Kari Coleman was in the house, and other funny folks were poking around. The site looks hip, but navigation is a nightmare. Ever heard of frames, people? The show airs live nightly, but through the beauty of low-fi Netcasting, you can hear it anytime you're
time-shifting heart desires. Sort of like a public access radio talk show, if it weren¹t backed by Budweiser. But it is.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14
X-Files Home
URL: http://www.xfiles.com/
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
Not affiliated with the X-Files TV show (but congrats on getting the domain!), the X-Files Home Page is a fan club in its nascent stages, with a few links, some X-Philes humor, and links to the Virtual Merchant hawking fan gear online. As a matter of fact, the most interesting (and almost only) thing this site has to offer is the X-Files MegaChat room. With so many X-Phile pages on the Web, this Webmaster has a lot of work ahead of him to prove himself worthy of the domain name. The truth must be out there, because it certainly isn't here.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14
Homage to Rosie
URL: http://www.mindspring.com/~byrdhaus/
Category: Entertainment
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
I'm sure Rosie O'Donnell is a perfectly nice person. I'm sure Caryl, this page's author and Rosie's number one fan, is a perfectly nice person. That doesn't mean you'll want to spend a considerable amount at this homespun homage. Good intentions aside, even the most diehard fan might find this site - with lots of cute "spellisms" like Ohmygawd, da show, go figger, and puhlease - more than a little cloying. And, I mean, *Sleepless in Seattle* was a cute flick, but a great film? I think not.
C-1
A-1
T-1
Overall Rating (out of 18): 12