(Surf's Up, published in The Telegram on Friday, March 11, 2005. Click here to read Surf's Up columns as a group.)
Bored? Good. We have some goodies for you this week. (Don't we always?)
Boredom Relief
A site that identifies itself as Boredom Relief is setting a high standard for itself. Fortunately, this delivers. Not only that, it's a site decent enough to show your mother. Play some games (some of which can turn into time-suckers), fool your eyes in the optical illusions section, and even teach yourself a magic trick for those offline moments when you want to impress someone.
Stairways Backwards
www3.telus.net/jefmil/stairwaybackwards.htm
We all know that Satan's preferred method for recruiting children has been to embed message in popular rock recordings … messages that could only be deciphered when played backwards. Who knows how much vinyl got shredded back in the day. These days, thanks to digital trickery, flipping a bit of audio is too, too easy … and is it ever fun to listen to Stairway to Heaven (not to mention other tunes by John Lennon, Britney Spears and others) played backwards. The purported naughty lyrics are attached, so you can read them as you try really, really hard to match the garble to the message.
Podcasting World
Podcasting is still in its infancy, and it's still, I would wager, far from a mainstream application. However, if you'd like to follow this fast-moving phenomenon ― which connects web-based broadcasting with your MP3 player, iPod or not ― this is a site to check out.
Parents' Choice Foundation
My pop culture tastes are largely informed by our five-year-old son. No surprise, but he has a mind of his own … and an appetite for what's new and different. We've been finding plenty of guidance from friends, and from online resources like this one, which passes awards to quality books, music and other products.
This Is Daniel Cook
Carried on Treehouse, the Knowledge Network and TV Ontario, This Is Daniel Cook is currently the top TV show in our house. Featuring a six-year-old protagonist with insatiable curiosity (and a name that really is Daniel Cook), the show takes you all over: from a firehouse to a kitchen to a compost heap to an art easel. The companion site has fun for the kids, including a cool musical tool that allows you to drop and space notes on a score sheet, and play back the rudimentary composition.
Word of Mouth
Word is a magazine from the U.K. that takes music seriously, and is a lot of fun to read, too. A strong regular feature is Word of Mouth, where celebrities and regular folks rave about the books, music, movies and such they're loving right now. Here's an online companion.
Flat Stanley
http://flatstanley.enoreo.on.ca/
Perhaps you may have noticed Clint Eastwood at the Oscars, holding a paper cut-out of a human figure. That figure was Flat Stanley, and he's far more than a cartoon character. He's an international phenomenon, with a long-running pedigree. The idea is that children can mail Flat Stanley somewhere else, and learn something along the way. Find out all about it ― including how you can get involved ― here.
Oscar database
www.oscars.org/awardsdatabase/
Speaking of Eastwood … how many Oscars has he won now, exactly? (Five, if you include the Irving Thalberg award he won a decade ago.) The official Oscar site offers this database, which will keep movie buffs occupied for more than a passing moment.
American Idol
Watching American Idol? I (cough, cough) admit to keeping track … even though, in my defence, I tape the shows and then whip through pretty quickly indeed. At the moment, the season is at that boring stage, between the Gong Show thrills of the auditions and the "drama" and "tension" of the final contests.
John Gushue is a news writer for CBC.ca in St. John's. E-mail: surf@thetelegram.com. Web: johngushue.typepad.com.
Thanks for the nice review of Blifalo. My mother likes the site as well. :)
Posted by: Toni | Sunday, March 20, 2005 at 05:04