Network: Websites

Caryn's Christmas Cheer

http://www.caryn.com/holiday/ holiday-xmas2.html

Watch for actress Caryn Shalita in the forthcoming movie Existential Surfers, playing the girlfriend of a surfer dude who may really be Jean- Paul Sartre without knowing it. Caryn can also read tarot cards and say all 50 states in alphabetical order. But move from her online CV to her personal Christmas and Chanukah site, which as well as sparkly cursor trails and the usual survey of seasonal traditions worldwide also offers a distinctly doggy emphasis arising from her animal welfare concerns. A Canine Christmas page links to species-specific carols such as Bark the Herald Angels Sing, and to uniquely shaped Christmas dog biscuits.

Simply Food - Hangovers

http://www.simplyfood.co.uk/

The hair of the dog also features heavily at this anti-hangover section of Carlton's comprehensive food site. Champagne or a Bloody Mary often really does have a beneficial effect, it seems, by rapidly replacing blood sugar lost through dehydration, albeit the risk of setting you up for another hangover. Other suggestions range from the unarguable but intolerable ("do not drink alcohol") to the highly suspect bacon, sausage, two fried eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms and black pudding. Elsewhere at the site, a foodie Advent calendar and lots of Christmassy grub.

Anti-Santa Liberation Army

http://home.sol.no/htoerrin/ ffnb/asla.html

Cybersantas are inescapable this year, and this bilingual site from Norway has had enough of them. ASLA doesn't mince words. "Spare and save us from all this Santa garbage! No to Santa! (Nei til nissen!) It is nausiating [sic], it make us want to puke! (Det er til a spy av!)." A membership card, featuring a jolly white-bearded skull, may be downloaded. Meanwhile a rival anti-Santa in the form of a sinister, bushy-tailed rodent (http://www. scarysquirrel.org/santani.html) reminds us that Santa is an anagram of you-know-who.

Wrap the World

http://www.wraptheworld.com/ html/index.htm

On Millennium Eve, the webcams here will display the progress of "the biggest work of art the world has ever seen" - the product of that antiquated technology, the fax machine. This bright idea from the organisers of Glasgow's Hogmanay involves artists in Johannesburg, Sydney, Delhi, New York and Porto, Portugal, who will collaborate in a 100 metre long drawing, starting in Scotland and then faxed to each country in turn for continuation. Just before the year 2000 arrives the Glaswegians will finish off the end bit and then "a child will step forward and pick up the departing and emerging fax to become the human link in a continuous piece of art that wraps the world". A satisfyingly lo-tech triumph, if the faxes don't get stuck.

Millennium Baby

http://2000-baby.com/eng/ index.html

Thanks to the miracle of the World Wide Web, there is still time to conceive a millennial baby for delivery on the big night. Select your offspring from options including rock baby, sport baby and nerd baby, then await the e-mailed result of your pregnancy test - invariably positive. A password enables instant scans: embryonic rock baby comes complete with guitar, others are endowed with footballs, violins and other accessories. The site offers useful pre- and postnatal tips: "If baby starts to cry, cradle the computer for at least 15 minutes."

websites@dircon.com.uk