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"Unless we change the direction we are heading, we might end up where we are going," runs a splash-page motto at the Horus Project. After you've managed to figure out the somewhat erratic navigation procedure, where you'll be heading with these guys is into a flat-spun world of science-fiction Flash landscapes, from the green crystal of "vastness", through the red wings of "death", and into the blue beyond of "dissolution and silence".
"Unless we change the direction we are heading, we might end up where we are going," runs a splash-page motto at the Horus Project. After you've managed to figure out the somewhat erratic navigation procedure, where you'll be heading with these guys is into a flat-spun world of science-fiction Flash landscapes, from the green crystal of "vastness", through the red wings of "death", and into the blue beyond of "dissolution and silence".
From the deep corners of crazy cartoonist Max Cannon's imagination comes Red Meat, an ever-growing litany of off-kilter observations on the strangeness of life, and how it is strangely lived by polite oddballs who talk to Easter Island statues, or by hip, weak-but-friendly folks bemoaning how they never made the gymnastics team. It will all make less sense once visited.
Kevin Newman's Chewing Gum for the Eyes is billed as "a collection of experiments, tests and happy accidents during my play with Flash". The site allows your pupil dilation keep pace with the slow and steady rhythm of these understated net-doodles, which range from a computer-human ribbon wave to a click-happy bouncing embryo, and a dismembered head that keeps regurgitating itself. Gobstopper eye-candy for the drifting generation.
The delicately formed microgarbage.org gives you tiny things to play with while you wait for the world to stop spinning on its axis. Primary colours tell you why they are brothers; four satellites show you how they are lattice-linked; fireflies buzz around, lighting up the darkest of screens; and beads let visitors join together in building a spotlight sutra of forever.
"Eccentris" – meaning something that deviates from established style-patterns – is the aptly named home of photographs by Sacha Dean Bïyan, whose fashion-inspired works would be of interest even without the site's unique navigation system. Images shimmer into view by means of fluid slats, which cloak the pictures in an ironic sheen. Proof, then, that even "cool" can still be cool once in a while.
Lots of award-winning, intrepid investigations into the heart of consumer culture are available at cockeyed.com. Its designers seek to provide the answers to such burning questions as, "How much is in a tube of lipstick?" by setting up ludicrous "experiments" and investigations, which they then record in loving detail for your amused perusal. There's plenty of pointless prankstering available here, for something not entirely like your personal edification.
"Everything you wanted to know about sleep but were too tired to ask" is sleepnet's trademarked motto. Their jam-packed site certainly does its best to live up to such a bold claim. With information on what sleep is, how to get a good night's kip, and the benefits of afternoon snoozes, plus a sleep test, it will, hopefully, prove to be a real eye-closer for any insomniacs out there.
"Who is everyone?" is a question on the lips of many people fortunate enough to spend some time on this pretty, but pretty overpopulated, planet. Although biography.com won't be able to put names to the faces of all the world's past and present, it does offer a database of more than 25,000 key players, which ought to be enough for most tastes.
You'll find a whole lotta "vectorial" fun and games at this Flashtastic site, with its cycling aliens rescued by 10-gallon hats, moustachioed madmen keeping an eye on a production line of little red men, and the funny world of Billy's friends and foes. Some great animation, combined with imaginative storytelling, makes for a memorable visit to a lopsided land of lunacy.
This site comes recommended by my legion of absurdism spies, dedicated to rooting out the lovely stupidity that gives the net its not-so-serious charm. They loved the reworking of Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song", where Viking Cats sing along to Robert Plant's refrain. There's similar cut-out-and-keep silliness all over this really rather good visiting place.
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