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General Resources
 Websites presented in alphabetical order 1040-DOG 
 A humorous take on the familiar IRS 1040 tax form, presented as an "Individual Canine Income Tax Return." This page links to a commercial site, dogware.com, but the form may be viewed and enjoyed online for free. http://www.dogware.com/1040-DOG.htm Topics: Humor, Tax Filing Season Last updated Apr 14, 2005 The Advanced Rutabaga Studies Institute (ARSI)
Live Rutacam, photographs of ARSI operations, a brief history of the rutabaga (Brassica napus), recipes and marketing information, and other products of the research performed by this Forest Grove, Oregon, institute. "Any similarity between the information or claims presented by this site and social, scientific, culinary, literary, cultural, historical, botanical, artistic and technological reality is purely coincidental." http://rutabagas.tripod.com/ Topics: Fruits & Vegetables, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Photograph Collections: Nature & Wildlife, Photograph Collections: Regional: United States, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Jul 29, 2009 All Your Base Are Belong To Us
If your life is over-imbued with meaning, turn to this popular and refreshingly silly Flash video for relief. The dreadful language on the site is patterned after Zero Wing, a computer game notorious for poor English (hence the repetition of phrases such as "somebody set us up the bomb"). Caution: includes several mildly salacious images. http://allyourbase.planettribes.gamespy.com/ Topics: Computers, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Apr 18, 2006 American Humor: A Study of the American Character
Electronic version of this book by Constance Rourke (originally published in 1931) tracing the regional development of American humor. Topics include Southern humor, Yankee humor, comic poets, strolling actors, and humor of the West and California. From American Studies at the University of Virginia. http://xroads.virginia.edu/~HYPER/rourke/cover.html Topics: Humor Last updated Mar 9, 2006 Angry Alien Productions
This site presents several well-known movies re-enacted by animated bunnies. Features the bunny versions of "The Shining," "The Exorcist," "Jaws," "Titanic," and "Alien." Includes a FAQ and other animations. Some of the animations have appeared on TV shows and at film festivals. http://www.angryalien.com Topics: Film: Genres & Themes, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Recreation, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Sep 8, 2004 April Fools' Day On the Web
A big collection "of April Fools' Day Jokes that Web Sites have run each year from 2004 all the way up to today," listed by site in no particular order and with a brief description of the joke. http://aprilfoolsdayontheweb.com/ Topics: Holidays and Observances Individually, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Mar 26, 2009 Card Trick Central
Instructions for many easy, intermediate, and hard card tricks of all kinds. Includes sleight-of-hand terminology. http://www.cardtricksite.com/ Topics: Hobbies, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Jul 25, 2007 Computer Songs and Poems (Song and Poem Parodies with Computer Related Subjects)
Featuring such lines as "Bye, bye to my Apple II pie" and "When I was a lad I served a term, As office boy in a computer firm," this site has hundreds of parodies. Nothing is sacred--among the original sources are Christmas, Beatles, and Monty Python songs, and the works of Chaucer, Milne, and Seuss. Indexed by parody title and author and by original performer or author. http://www.poppyfields.net/filks/ Topics: Computers, Humor, Music, Nonfiction by Genre, Poetry, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Mar 23, 2004 Computer Stupidities
"A large collection of stories and anecdotes about clueless computer users. It's a baffling phenomenon that in today's society an individual, who might in other circumstances be considered smart and wise, can sit down in front of a computer screen and instantly lose every last shred of common sense he ever possessed. ... And yet, amidst the vast, surging quantities of stupidity are perfectly excusable technological mishaps — but that are amusing nonetheless." http://www.rinkworks.com/stupid/ Topics: Computers, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Mar 10, 2005 The Dead Grandmother/Exam Syndrome and the Potential Downfall of American Society
A tongue-in-cheek "academic" paper, complete with graphs and charts, based on the observation that "a student's grandmother is far more likely to die suddenly just before the student takes an exam, than at any other time of year." By a genetics professor, who reports his observations and offers some possible remedies for the problem. http://www.easternct.edu/personal/faculty/adams/Resources/Grannies.pdf Topics: Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Apr 18, 2005 Dihydrogen Monoxide--DHMO Homepage
This hoax trips up an amazing number of people every time it resurfaces. The ominous-sounding compound is actually H 2 O, or water. Read "many Special Reports, including the DHMO FAQ, a definitive primer on the subject, plus reports on the environment, cancer, current research, and an insider exposé about the use of DHMO in the dairy industry. ... Note: content veracity not implied." http://www.dhmo.org/ Topics: Fish, Meat, & Dairy, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Sep 3, 2005 Drawtoy vs. Byokal
Draw into a space and a sweeping pie-slice shape translates 45° of your work into 360° of kaleidoscopic art. You pick colors, lines, and shapes and draw with your mouse. As you draw, a kaleidoscope is created. Includes an undo button and the ability to stop, slow down, or speed up your kaleidoscopic creation. There is a link to an explanation of how it works. http://www.zefrank.com/dtoy_vs_byokal/ Topics: Games & Puzzles, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Mar 23, 2004 Dress the Chief
This virtual paper doll is a burly Scots chief you can dress in kilts (choose a tartan) and outfit with bagpipes, a dog, flowers, weapons, or golf clubs. Place your Scotsman in a cottage, in woods by a loch, or in a meadow near a stone with mysterious Celtic markings. Complete the picture with more people, mice, quail, mushrooms, and other extras. May be printed or e-mailed. http://www.electricscotland.com/kids/dress12-20.swf Topics: Crafts, Hobbies, Humor, Mysteries and More, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Mar 23, 2004 Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog
This humorous site is a blog as written by author Geoffrey Chaucer in which "Chaucer" comments on current affairs (such as "Britney Spearses" and "MynSpace") and other matters. Also includes links to sites with a glossary and about translating Middle English. From a group of four bloggers in England. http://houseoffame.blogspot.com Topics: Blogs & Podcasts by Subject, Humor Last updated Mar 20, 2007 The Gettysburg PowerPoint Presentation 11/19/1863
The Gettysburg Address, reinterpreted in Microsoft Powerpoint. This garish presentation is replete with meaningless graphs, mind-numbing bullet points, and a list of "Key Objectives." From a computer scientist with a sense of humor. http://www.norvig.com/Gettysburg/ Topics: Computers, Computers, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Presidents by Name, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Jul 8, 2004 Google (Klingon Version)/Google tlhIngan Hol
A version of the Google search engine in Klingon, a language originally developed for use in Star Trek movies. http://www.google.com/intl/xx-klingon/ Topics: Humor, Internet Guides & Search Tools, Languages, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Mar 23, 2004 The Hello World Collection
"'Hello World' is the first program one usually writes when learning a new programming language. This collection includes 181 Hello World programs in many more-or-less well known languages." From a computer programmer. http://www.roesler-ac.de/wolfram/hello.htm Topics: Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Jun 28, 2005 Ian's Shoelace Site
"How many possible ways are there to lace an average shoe?" The author presents nearly two dozen methods he considers "worthy of devoting the time required to create instructions." Includes illustrations, and information about shoelace knots, aiglet ("the plastic or metal sleeves at the ends of shoelaces") repair, and shoelace length formulas. http://www.fieggen.com/shoelace/ Topics: Crafts, Fashion, Games & Puzzles, Hobbies, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Jul 25, 2007 IFLANET Library Humour
Learn how many catalogers it takes to change a lightbulb from this light-hearted site featuring jokes, humor, and lists such as "Library Principles for Students, from the Old Testament" and "Index Liberis Prohibitorum (Index of Forbidden Books for Children)." From the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA). http://archive.ifla.org/I/humour/humour.htm Topics: Humor, Librarianship, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated May 1, 2009 The Ig® Nobel Prizes
Every October, Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded to "honor achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The prizes are intended to celebrate the unusual, honor the imaginative—and spur people's interest in science, medicine, and technology." Find award winners, video clips of the award ceremonies, "personal reminiscences of some participants," and more. Ig Nobel Prizes activities are organized by the Annals of Improbable Research (AIR). http://improbable.com/ig/ Topics: Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated May 1, 2009 Junk Food News
This tasty site features stories and newswires about the junk food industry. Beyond the entertainment value of the latest news about empty calories, this site shrewdly illustrates by example how the junk food industry promotes its product. A well-done hobby site by a professional writer. http://www.junkfoodnews.net/ Topics: Advertising & Marketing, Business, Humor, Industries, Nonfiction by Genre, Nutrition & Food Safety, Snacks and Baked Goods, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Oct 12, 2005 The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
Biographical material about prizewinners of this annual award for "comedians and writers of piercing wit who have left their mark on our ideas, attitudes, and language." Winners include Richard Pryor, Carl Reiner, Jonathan Winters, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Lily Tomlin, Lorne Michaels, and Steve Martin. From the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/specialevents/marktwain/ Topics: Humor, Literature & Books Last updated Mar 6, 2006 Late Show With David Letterman: Top Ten Archive
According to this official site, "the Smithsonian has asked us [The Late Show] to do our part to organize and preserve our nation's precious comedy heritage. So we're offering an annual archive of all Late Show Top Ten Lists." Includes these humorous lists back to 1993, covering topics such as "Top Ten Signs You're Not Going To Be Named Time Magazine's Person Of The Year," and "Top Ten Signs You're On A Bad Diet." http://www.cbs.com/late_night/late_show/top_ten/ Topics: Humor, Television Last updated Oct 6, 2009 Laughter Arts and Sciences Foundation
The Laughter Arts and Sciences Foundation sponsors World Laughter Day, the first Sunday in May. Its site provides a history of this day that was first commemorated in 1998, and a directory of events throughout the world. http://www.laughterfoundation.org Topics: Humor Last updated Apr 23, 2007 Librarian Action Figure
The Web site for the doll that caused a storm of controversy in librarianship. The doll, whose arm moves up in a "shushing" gesture, is based on real-life librarian and prolific book reviewer Nancy Pearl, the author of "Book Lust." Is she dowdy, or merely sensibly dressed? An insult to the profession, or amusing? And where did she get those comfy-looking shoes? http://www.mcphee.com/laf/ Topics: Arts and Humanities, Arts and Humanities, Crafts, Fashion, Hobbies, Humor, Librarianship, Media, Media, Nonfiction by Genre, Notable People, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Oct 4, 2004 Library Joke of the Month
Library humor for children, including many knock-knock and elephant jokes. Also find a few related links. From Multnomah County Library, Oregon. http://www.multcolib.org/kids/jokes.html Topics: Humor, Librarianship, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Mar 23, 2004 Mark Twain and American Humor
This lesson plan for high school students examines the "structure and characterization in the short story and consider the significance of humor through a study of Mark Twain's 'The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.'" Includes links to the short story and to related material on topics such as literary humor (and "Dr. Heidegger's Experiment," by Nathaniel Hawthorne). From EDSITEment, a joint project of the National Endowment for the Humanities and other organizations. http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=327 Topics: Humor, Literature: Fiction Last updated Mar 6, 2006 Marshmallow Peeps
The official site for this quintessential Easter confection features recipes and crafts, an animated history timeline, and a virtual factory tour. For fun and reference, follow the bouncing bunny to readers' stories and experiments and creations. http://www.marshmallowpeeps.com/ Topics: Holiday Foods, Beverages, and Recipes, Holidays and Observances Individually, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment, Sweets and Sweeteners Last updated Mar 28, 2007 Marshmallow Peeps: Those Resilient Little Birds
Humorous "educational tour" that characterizes Marshmallow Peeps by investigating their reactions to cold, heat, solubility testing, and low-pressure environments. Also analyzes the risk of "the effects of smoking and alcohol on Peep health," explains the daring surgery to separate conjoined Peep quintuplets, and investigates Peeps' fear response. Note: the literature review has a number of dead links. http://www.peepresearch.org/ Topics: Drugs & Medications by Type, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment, Sweets and Sweeteners Last updated May 10, 2005 Molvania
This companion site to the book "Molvania: A Land Untouched by Modern Dentistry" will have you reaching for your atlas. This spoof site is designed to poke fun at the way tourists have come to rely on travel guides. Like those resources, this site includes information on the history and culture of this non-existent country, as well as photos of tourist attractions. http://www.molvania.com/ Topics: Humor, Mysteries and More, Nonfiction by Genre, Photograph Collections, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Jul 8, 2004 Museum of Bad Art (MOBA)
MOBA "is the world's only museum dedicated to the collection, preservation, exhibition, and celebration of bad art in all its forms." The site exhibits some of MOBA's portraits, landscapes, and portrayals of "unseen forces"; the collection is composed of works with "a special quality that sets them apart in one way or another from the merely incompetent." The commentary and staff interviews about these treasures (many from thrift stores and trash heaps) cleverly spoof gallery-speak. http://www.museumofbadart.org Topics: Arts and Humanities, Arts and Humanities, Humor, Museums, Museums by Place: United States, Nonfiction by Genre, Philosophy, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Nov 23, 2004 Oddball Indicators Run the Gamut From Hemlines to Picket Lines
This amusing 2006 newspaper column discusses various traditional and non-traditional indicators for predicting the economy. Non-traditional indicators include the hemline index that "portends that the more leg we see, the higher the stock market will be," a mass transit index, and projections for sales of golf balls. Includes links to related sites. From the North County Times (San Diego, California). http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/01/31/science/kleske/13006192955.txt Topics: Economics, Humor Last updated Feb 26, 2007 On This Day: The First of April, 1864
A lighthearted but accurate historical review of April Fools' Day, illustrated with a cartoon by artist Thomas Nast. From the New York Times Learning Network. http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0401.html Topics: Holidays & Observances, Holidays and Observances Individually, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Mar 26, 2009 Patently Absurd!: Weird Patents, Useless Inventions
A hobbyist's collection of weird and strange patents from the United Kingdom patent office, and beyond. Includes links to "Serious information about patents," such as patent offices, World Intellectual Property Organization, and more. http://www.patent.freeserve.co.uk/ Topics: Business & Consumer Law, Humor, Intellectual Property, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment, Technology Last updated Jun 16, 2004 Patently Silly
This site features odd and interesting patents that have been registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Descriptions of the patents are accompanied by comments and links to the actual patents. Updated weekly. Browse the patents by week or by subject. The site editor, who was an engineering major in college, is now a stand-up comedian. http://www.patentlysilly.com Topics: Business, Business & Consumer Law, Humor, Intellectual Property, Technology Last updated Feb 22, 2005 The Peter Schickele/P.D.Q. Bach Web Site
Find "crosspuzz wordles," concert and radio program schedules, and discography for Peter Schickele. This musician, musicologist, and parodist is best known for his radio program, "Schickele Mix," and his alter ego, the mythical eighteenth century composer P.D.Q. Bach, but his oeuvre is extensive and multi-faceted. The site features biographies for Mr. Schickele and Herr Bach. http://www.schickele.com/ Topics: Humor, Music, Musicians, Mysteries and More, Nonfiction by Genre, Notable People, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Mar 23, 2004 The Republic of Cascadia
This humorous, fictional site declares that "the former American states of Oregon and Washington and the former Canadian province of British Columbia must join together as a sovereign nation. Only then can we have self-determination and take our rightful place in the Global Community." Includes statistics, a fact sheet, pictures of the Cascadian flag and postage stamps, topics of interest, information about the liberation and annexation of Northern California, and links. http://zapatopi.net/cascadia/ Topics: Humor, Mysteries and More, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Aug 14, 2005 The Republic of Cascadia: Sasquatch Militia
(Note: This is a humorous entry.) This recruitment site for the fictional militia from the equally fictional Republic of Cascadia features a mission statement from the Bureau of Sasquatch Affairs (BSA), news stories and discussions of Sasquatch issues such as tree octopus protection versus Sasquatch traditions, media portrayals of Sasquatch, and tracing your Sasquatch heritage. Also learn about BSA services such as foraging assistance, human avoidance counseling, and lichen and fungus abuse prevention. http://zapatopi.net/bsa/militia/ Topics: Humor, Mysteries and More, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Aug 14, 2005 Sam-I-Am Does Potatoes
Gallery of sculpture pieces made from dried potatoes and other materials. Includes explanations of the sculptures and an overview of the artist's process. From a fine artist and designer. http://www.sam-i-am.com/play/potato/ Topics: Fruits & Vegetables, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Feb 9, 2005 Scatty.com
To broadcast laughter among kids of all ages, this site fills the bill with over 12,000 children's jokes and childish humor. There are browsable categories of jokes about animals, holidays, Internet, monsters, school, sports, riddles, and more. The knock-knock section is indexed by name, so you can find out if there's one of these popular jokes attached to your name. (Note: this site has many annoying pop-ups.) http://www.scatty.com/ Topics: Holidays & Observances, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Mar 23, 2004 SCIgen: An Automatic CS Paper Generator
"SCIgen is a program that generates random Computer Science [CS] research papers, including graphs, figures, and citations. It uses a hand-written context-free grammar to form all elements of the papers. Our aim here is to maximize amusement, rather than coherence." Includes a generated paper that was accepted at an international conference. From graduate students at MIT. http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/scigen/ Topics: Communications, Computers, English Language, Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment, Writing Last updated Apr 27, 2005 Silly Tasting Notes Generator
"Tasting a ton of wines" in the Sonoma, California, wine country inspired a Seattle couple to create this Perl script generator of "silly random tasting notes." Users may select between "normal-silly" and "extra-silly" options to produce such descriptive gems as a Barbera that "reminds one of fir, spiney, brackish plum and forceful mocha" (normal) or a Zinfandel with "aromas of skim milk, melancholy pulpy orange juice and bashful gasoline" (extra silly). http://gmon.com/tech/stng.shtml Topics: Humor, Wine Last updated Nov 3, 2004 St. Urho: Patron Saint of Finland
"The legend of St. Urho began in Northern Minnesota in the 1950s. ... However, there are differing opinions as to whether it began with ... fables ... or the tongue-in-cheek tales told by Richard Mattson of Virginia [Minnesota]." The site provides a history of this "mythical Finnish-American hero," links to information about celebrations in the United States of St. Urho's Day on March 16, images of St. Urho statues, and links to related information. http://www.sainturho.com Topics: Humor, Literature: Fiction, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Mar 9, 2005 Studies in American Humor
This site features a selection of essays that appeared in the journal Studies in American Humor from 1974 to 1994. Topics include Mark Twain, immigrant stereotypes 1880-1900, "Catch-22" and angry humor, Will Rogers, S. J. Perelman, and New Yorker cartoons. From a retired editor of the journal. http://www.compedit.com Topics: Humor Last updated Mar 6, 2006 Talk Like A Pirate Day, September 19
"Talking like a pirate is fun. It's really that simple. It adds a zest, a swagger, to your every day conversation." This humorous site celebrates a day of pirate talk with pirate lingo (such as "Arrr!" and "Ahoy!"), a pirate advice column, a newsletter, puzzles, a "pirate personality profile," Web links, and other silliness. (Caution: Some of the content is a tad risqué.) http://www.talklikeapirate.com/ Topics: Crime, Holidays and Observances Individually, Humor, Mysteries and More, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Sep 14, 2006 The Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time
This site presents the origin of April Fools' Day, pranks played, and a quiz challenging readers to sort the truth from the outrageously false stories reported by the media on April 1st. It also includes a chronological index of hoaxes from 1698 to 2005, and an essay on reasons to hate the observance. From the Museum of Hoaxes. http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/hoax/aprilfool/ Topics: Holidays & Observances, Holidays and Observances Individually, Humor, Media, Media, Nonfiction by Genre, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment Last updated Mar 26, 2009 Totally Absurd Inventions: America's Goofiest Patents
Enjoy the humorous and absurd inventions featured at this site, which is updated weekly with new material and offers an archive that contains dozens of illustrated inventions, each cited with its official patent number and year. Includes links to Golf's Goofiest Gadgets , inventor services, the Rothschild Petersen Patent Model Museum, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office with information on patents, trademarks, copyrights, and more. http://www.totallyabsurd.com/ Topics: Humor, Science, Technology Last updated Mar 19, 2003 The Twinkies Project
This humorous site presents a series of experiments that are "designed to determine the properties of that incredible food, the Twinkie." Results available in haiku. Conducted during finals week by students at Rice University. http://www.twinkiesproject.com/ Topics: Humor, Nonfiction by Genre, Poetry, Sports, Recreation, & Entertainment, Sweets and Sweeteners Last updated Jan 6, 2005 |
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