"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro." --Dr. Hunter S. Thompson
Dr. Thompson wasn't talking about the Internet at the time, but he might as well have been. Along with all of us nerds, the Weird have flocked to the 'Net in huge numbers. Now and then, I either stumble across a weird site, or someone sends me a pointer to one of those places you just have to see for yourself.
What follows is a compendium of some of the weirdest of the weird. What you do with it is entirely your own business.
<RANT>The increasing commercialization of the 'Net has driven many of the fine, classic, weird sites into oblivion. Many of my old favorites are no longer around. I appreciate that it takes work to keep a site up (and you have probably noted that this one is sorely lagging...), but it's just sad to see the World Wide Web turning into nothing but a bunch of yucky, boring commercials.</RANT> Thank you for letting me vent.
Now, for that list...
| Archie McPhee Online | Not just weird, they sell weird. Outfitters of popular culture for years, they're still the world's largest seller of rubber chickens, as far as I know. |
| The Bill Bixby Memorial Haiku Bake-Off | This is one of the all-time great sites, because it commemorates the results of one of the all-time weird Internet events. When the actor Bill Bixby passed away, someone had the brilliant idea of having a contest on the 'Net to see who could come up with the best haiku to memorialize the man. Weird idea. Weird results! It was posted, of course, in a newsgroup called alt.radio-shack.bill-bixby.dead.dead.dead. |
| Helly Jelly | This is a great parody of Jelly Belly stuff. Nightmarish flavors, combined in sick ways. If you like Jelly Bellies, check this out! |
| Foam Bath Fish Time | It's actually a fairly useful site, and somewhat educational. But then, it is displaying the time using little foam bath toys.... |
| The Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia | I kid you not. Not only is there such a museum, they have an extensive online presence. |
| Stick Figure Death Theatre | The name pretty much says it all. Stick-figure animation. Death. |
| Deb and Jen's Land O' Useless Facts | Trivia. That's it. Random trivia. Much of it weird. |
| The Centre for the Easily Amused | Hey, aren't we all? Well, maybe not. That URL no longer points to the old Centre, but to some lame site called "Uproar." I did locate a "sister site," the First Church of the Easily Amused, but it seems to be out-of-date, too. Alas. |
| Protect Every Vegetable Association | As a vegetable, I have to support their efforts to prevent cruelty to other vegetables. |
| People Eating Tasty Animals (formerly peta.com) | And while we're on the subject, eat animals, instead. Dating back to 1996, this was a great parody. |
| The Onion | Often tasteless, so if you're easily offended, don't bother. But they're nearly always hilarious, and generally right on the mark. It's like a tabloid newspaper takeoff, and it's very, very witty. |
| God Hates Shrimp | It's a parody of religious intolerance, but it's just...weird. |
| The Feathered-Back Hair Site | You probably had to come of age in the 70s to appreciate this. |
| The Weird Places on the Net | Yes, someone else had this idea, too. |