Issue Date: July 13, 2003
Laughing all the way to the Cartoonbank
That's just one of the excellent sites out there that can bring a smile to your day.
It's no wonder Botox's rise in popularity follows the Internet revolution. Error messages, spam, disappearing data -- it's enough to produce permanent wrinkles across your brow. But injecting bits of deadly bacteria into your forehead may not be the solution. Instead, inject some humor into your day. Warning: Wrinkle lines may occur around your mouth!
Cartoonbank.com is rich with brilliant caricatures and drawings. In one, a couple stands at the altar on their wedding day. The minister says, "And do you, Rebecca, promise to make love only to Richard, month after month, year after year, and decade after decade, until one of you is dead?" Indexes by topic and artist turn up gems like one of a presidential candidate addressing his opponent in a debate: "That's an excellent prescreened question, but before I give you my stock answer I'd like to try to disarm everyone with a carefully rehearsed joke." A look through cartoonist Roz Chast's archive turns up a drawing of a tombstone engraved, "Here Lies Frederick Jones. Verbal: 680, Math: 720." Click on any of nine channels, such as the Business, Animal or Top 100, to open a small window that updates with a new cartoon on the selected theme every 30 seconds.
If it's news that's furrowing your brow, check out TheOnion.com, a weekly faux newspaper. "New Fox Reality Show to Determine Ruler of Iraq," says the headline for a story about a show called "Appointed by America". One executive says, "Fox did such huge numbers with its war coverage, we figured, 'Why not find a way to keep this good thing going?' " Not all the articles concern current affairs, such as the opinion piece titled, "Are All Women Nutso, Or Just the Ones I Cheat on My Wife With?" The writer says he doesn't understand why, on the fifth date with every new flame, "no matter how sweetly I say, 'You are so much sexier than my wife,' they just flip out."
Modernhumorist.com creates hilarious cultural artifacts, such as the new Bush tax form, called the 1040W. At the top, the form asks, "Do you want $3 to go to a fund supporting Vice Presidential Cardiac Research?"
Readers of Slate.com's Cartoon Index (Cagle.slate.msn.com) know what's got people around the world laughing. The site hosts the best editorial cartoons from Tennessee to Turkey. But if these humor sites fail you, take the advice one father on Cartoonbank offers his young son: "Go ask your search engine."
-- Laura Shin
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