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What's New - US Picks - Yahoo! Aust./NZ Picks - Yahoo! Canada Picks - Yahoo! France Picks - Yahoo! Germany Picks
Irish Picks - Scottish Picks - Picks of the Week
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What's New - US Picks - Yahoo! Aust./NZ Picks - Yahoo! Canada Picks - Yahoo! France Picks - Yahoo! Germany Picks
Irish Picks - Scottish Picks - Picks of the Week
We've had fun finding the sites that make Yahoo! UK & Ireland one of the best places to find UK or Irish sites, so we thought we'd share a few with you. If you have any suggestions, please send us a note about them. Also send any general thoughts or comments about Picks of the Week or even suggest sites you'd like us to consider for the next issue. Click here if you only want to view the list of sites.
Woody Allen once memorably opined that while many people achieved immortality through their work, he intended to get there simply by not dying. Others who wish to remain in the public eye after their allotted span come up with a variety of different methods. Some endow academic programmes at the top universities, others manage to get football stands named in their honour. The philosopher/economist Jeremy Bentham even had himself stuffed and mounted in a glass case (though when his head started going mouldy it was unceremoniously removed and replaced by a wax replica).
In the US they have this kind of thing down pat -- the nation is dotted with various Halls of Fame in which people are lauded in perpetuity for their efforts. And finally we are catching on over here. Next year The Premier League will open it’s own Hall of Fame in London’s old county hall building and, through the whizzy Hall of Fame website, you can influence which soccer stars get a place in the starting line-up. Browsing the site we see that six modern-day "famers" have already been selected -- although tellingly only two would qualify for England. The list includes former Manchester United Star Eric Cantona and Arsenal’s Dennis Bergkamp who will both be honoured with a full-size waxwork (in Bergkamp’s case the model would probably be more effective leading the line for the Gunners at the moment). You can vote for your own candidate, and there are plans for a exhibits devoted to former players, a look at how football will evolve, and a tribute to the fans who made the game what it is today.
Incidentally why is it that Manchester appears to have the top teams in many of the most popular sports in Britain today? Manchester United (yah, boo, sucks) are a by-word for excellence in football, while Lancashire County Cricket Club carried off one of the top Cricket titles this year. It must be because there is nothing better to do. Even in the minority sports they are tops. Take Ice Hockey, for example. Manchester Storm is both the best supported ice-hockey club in the UK, and one of the most successful We checked out the UK Ice Hockey Webring and found ourselves inundated with more than several pages devoted to the team known colloquially as The Storm. By far the best of these is Simon Sandford-Mitchell’s Into the Storm which takes the word "exhaustive" and adds new meaning to it. The current squad page alone would keep most casual surfers happy and, quite frankly, we are afraid that our browser will explode if we try and read in in-depth guide to the 1998/99 season..
Manchester also features in our next Pick -- Temptation, a New Year’s Eve happening organised by the Mean Fiddler , and set to unspool simultaneously in London’s Alexandra Palace and at the Manchester Evening News Arena. Topping the bill will be New Order, supported by dance specialists Underworld and The Chemical Brothers and France’s Laurent Garnier. The web site keeps you up to date with changes in the line-up and lets you book tickets on a secure server.
Moving along ... what do the following all have in common (aside from the obvious fact that they are cars): The Citroen DS, The 2CV, The Austin Princess and the Ford Ka. Give up? Well they are all thought to be as attractive as a slug filled croissant and therefore desrvintg of a place on Phil Stokes’ Ugliest Cars in Britain page. Such is the state of the UK automobile market that Phil recently felt compelled to add a Part 2. His description of the 3F Motor Company’s Kamala had us laughing aloud: "It's a sort of bizarre cross between a Lotus Elan and a duck billed platypus. The rear section is built in Birmingham and the front in Malta. Destined to sell in single numbers ... if they're lucky". You can also nominate your own selections and give reasons why they should be included.
Finally, the people who gave football a Beckham-style kick in the shins with their web/e-mail magazine Football365 have brought their irreverent mix of news and views to the music industry. Music365 offers a pretty varied menu -- there is regular news updates from the music press (which registered users will get e-mailed straight to their desktops) , reviews of the latest releases, chart updates, and live reports. There is also a community section where you can have your say.
Well, next week is Christmas week. We’ll be back as usual, hoping Santa has brought us an especially good selection of the best UK Picks. If you are not able to join us, have a jolly joyeux noel.