Site of the Week -- April 19, 1999
pace: 1999 might not have gotten its proper respect during its
two-year run on TV, but the Space: 1999 Cyber Museum dishes out props aplenty. This site isn't a beauty, but there's enough high-quality information here to please demanding fans. As a bonus, the accompanying prose is fairly good, not just the ramblings of an average Web-site hack.
The Museum is filled with images of props, links to vintage toys and even lists of Space: 1999 novels. And although they're not identified as such, curious facts abound. For example, fans visiting France can actually be the guests of Catherine "Maya" Schell at her converted farmhouse. Cost? About $50 a night.
-- Tamara I. Hladik
Site of the Week -- April 12, 1999
heForce.net is possibly the most extensive fan-run Star Wars site on the Web. This exhaustive resource, which is well known to the folks over at LucasFilm, carries daily news about all things Star Wars, from books and prequels to comics and games. The news is usually first-rate, and The Force is clearly with these fans: over the years they've had more than their fair share of scoops, thanks to a vast array of spies and tipsters.
But there's more to this site than just breaking news stories. In fact, most visitors will probably never have time to explore every nook and cranny of TheForce.net, which includes trivia questions, an address list of famous Star Wars personnel, fan fiction, an art museum, and even other Web sites. One of the more interesting sections is a page devoted to false rumors about the various prequels, while one of the most useful is an area that lists upcoming coverage of Star Wars on TV, in magazines and in other media.
All in all, this is a site that's a must-visit for any serious Star Wars watcher. And hopefully this is one force that will be with fans...ahem...always.
-- Craig E. Engler
Site of the Week -- April 5, 1999
ake the rudeness of South Park, mix in the high-brow science
fiction of Babylon 5, and the result is Babylon Park, a site that
lampoons both shows. Instead of Cartman and Kenny, Babylon Park has Fartass, the engineer of the Not-So-Great-Machine ("It has many guns, but we no use them--it make good snow cone though") and Koshi, the alien ambassador with a bad habit of dying.
Naturally this site will make the most sense to fans of South Park and Babylon 5. References to characters like Johnny "Nuke 'em" Sherman, who won "Best Use of a Nuclear Device" during the Minboring-Earth War, just won't work for those who have never watched B5.
Those who are familiar with both series will enjoy the Babylon Park episodes, which are animated shorts available for download in Real Media format. Each one is rendered digitally, but they retain the cardboard feel of South Park. References to other classics, like Star Wars and Tron, abound, so even complete B5 neophytes will get a few chuckles from this site.
-- Kenneth Newquist
