Picks of the Week: 19th November 2001

Have you ever watched a footie match on TV and thought, "Wow, this is really insightful commentary! I could never hope to achieve such witty, pointed remarks and audience rapport"? Thought not. Danger Here! is a great Irish site highlighting the strange world of the soccer pundit, where the metaphors are mixed, the puns are baaaad, and the listener is just plain confused. Our favourite section is Ronglish, where you too can learn how to master the tricky English language like Ron Atkinson. You never know, if you can make sense of quotes like, "Woodcock would have scored, but his shot was too perfect," or "He dribbles a lot and the opposition don't like it - you can see it all over their faces," maybe you have a career move beckoning.

Walking with Beasts

The first episode of this "Walking with Dinosaurs" sequel has been and gone, so now you can discover how the BBC folks went about making the show. Using a combination of animatronics, computer graphics and models, as well as excellent sound effects, "Walking with Beasts" is certainly state-of-the-art television. The predictably good web site offers fact files for each of the featured creatures, fun with fossils, and, for those who are left wondering, "but how do they KNOW all this stuff?" a whole section covering the naturally-preserved evidence.

ScooterMan

Well, the festive season is almost on us, and the Christmas parties will be kicking off soon - hurrah! The fun-loving Picks folks are certainly partial to the odd tipple here and there, but wouldn't dream of driving under the influence. If you live in London, the M25 region or the Home Counties, you might want to call upon this service to ensure a safe journey home. Basically, you go out for the night as usual, have a drink and a laugh, then ScooterMan will come and meet you on a folding scooter, pack it in your boot, and drive you and your car home again. For such a simple service, it's worth remembering that despite the chilling TV ads and print campaigns, drunk driving still accounts for 14000 injuries and 500 deaths a year.

Children's ITV

Here's a cool site for kids of both the little and big variety. It's bright, bold and colourful, and has plenty of stuff to keep you entertained. There's info on the programme listings of course, competitions and polls, as well background stories on the shows and presenters. You can even download a CiTV ringtone for your mobile. We like the games though, because you don't have to be much good to progress to the later levels! But you know, that's probably just because we're far too busy to be practising online games...

1940's History

For those who fancy brushing up on their 20th Century British history, this site wouldn't be a bad place to start. While there is a lot of romanticism surrounding wartime Britain, '1940's History' takes a slightly more matter of fact approach, providing authentic soundclips, personal remembrances, and news articles of the day. You can even send virtual postcards which incorporate famous images of the era, such as the photo of the housewife in a gasmask and the Digging for Victory poster. The site already has a lot of great content, but is obviously going to become much bigger as the sections are filled out, so it's worth bookmarking to keep an eye on developments.