ON-LINE Internet Wine Sites
Much like food, there are two ways of buying wine: in small quantities, grabbing whatever you need, whenever you need it, or carefully planning ahead and buying in reasonable bulk. We've always known that the latter is the more sensible option in the long run, but that's all well and good if you've got the time to invest. With the advent of e-commerce this problem obviously becomes more dilute, if a little cloudy.
However, one of the obvious problems with blind wine buying is investing money in wine you may not have tried. This is where an on- line database of tasting notes excels, allowing you to browse the virtual shelves at your leisure.
Let's kick off with the site that claims to be the biggest on-line wine retailer in the world:
.WINEPLANET
www.wineplanet.co.uk This is the Amazon of the on-line wine world, and it also claims to supply you with any commercially available spirit or liqueur. Within a couple of minutes you can set up an account that keeps track of your wine tastes, gives you loyalty points a la
supermarkets, and lets you customise your web portal
en suitably.
Looking to the High Street
retailers' take on the web.
www.enjoyment.co.uk is the on-line presence of the mighty First Quench group (Victoria Wine, Bottoms Up, etc). It offers a refreshingly informal, yet informative site, featuring, it hopes, up to 1000 lines of the Bottoms Up range in the new year The launched www.0ddbins.co.uk
newly
offers its typically irreverent take on the wine buying world. High Street 'Wine Merchants of the Year' for the last six years, let’s see if it can perform on-line to the same degree. Whereas, in most cases, sites will have a virtual 'shopping trolley', it offers a ’damage so far cart'. You can check out details of your local shop and browse the substantial range of wines from all over
the world.
That boy Branson is at it again.
www.virginwines.co.uk offers, among an impressive array of wines, a 'Wine Wizard' that will attempt to fathom your wine tastes from a short questionnaire and recommend a case to suit your taste. While not alone in this respect, there is a certain humour value with some suggested pre- chosen cases. Check out the ‘Seduction Case’ for a guaranteed snog.
Supermarkets have long been keen on making us spend our on- line bucks with them on everyday groceries, but don't underestimate their wine selections.
Sainsbury’s
www.5ainsburys.co.uk has a wide range of special offers available, and it recommends a range of related wines depending on your
choice. Or try www.tesco.co.uk and resist the temptation to buy a new TV as well.
Buying wine has never been easier. The only problem now is learning not to drink it all at once. (Gordon l-laggarty)
Totally wired
The world of the web
Film Philosophy www.mailbaseac.uk/lists/film- philosophy/files/
'A Journal and discussion salon promoting a philosophical review of
‘cinema' is how this Site descrrbes itself.
That Just about sums it up — it's extremely chunky and very in-depth. There’s a notice board so you can join in highbrow conversations about deconstructionism and Freud. It's great to find an intelligent website about Cinema, that isn't just a Roger Ebert or Jonathan Woss copy.
Phoney Blair
www.phoneyblair.com
This site is qwte unnerving. Download one of the latest 30 plug-ins, and the Prime Minister IS at your beck and call. Make him Wink, grow big ears, moo, grow a Pinocchio nose, and generally all the things he normally does in the Commons. The animation is grotesquely real, and the ’Full Metal Jacket’ has got to be seen to be beheved.
Palestine & the UN
www.palestine-un.0rg/
PERMANENT OBSERVER MISSION OF PALESTINE
TO THE
UNITED NATIONS
This is the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine to the UN. It contains a full history of the land from 200,000 years ago, to the latest on the peace process. There are also full documents from various conferences over the years. Compulsive reading in the Current climate.
Mr Beller's Neighborhood
www.mrbellersneighborhood.com/ Mr Beller lives in New York. And he loves the place. This is his tribute to Manhattan Island. Based on an aerial
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INTERNET
internet@list.co.uk
photograph, you can highlight certain areas and zoom in on famous buildings. But it's more than just a map — a really nifty touch is the ability to draw upon celebrities' stories that happened in certain buildings or streets in the city. Just a well thought- out site.
Vintage Calculators www.vintagecalculators.com/
Was there ever a point in your life when you obsessed about calculators, and longed to be able to use them in class? For a brief few weeks, I did. Arguments with friends as to who had the best one, etc. Maybe it’s just a boy thing. Maybe it’s just a sad geek thing. Either way, check these out — some of them would be hard to smuggle into an exam. For a few brief moments, become a sad geek.
Scotland The Movie
wwwscotlandthemoviecoml
Here’s another map-based interactive database of movies made in Scotland. Search by film and find out where it was shot, or by area and see which films were shot there. Simple really.
Official Darwin Awards www.0fficial.darwinawards.com
. i, at
These are a bit of an online legend now. For those not aware of the awards, they are awarded posthumously to the people removing themselves from the human gene pool in the most spectacular fashion. The 2000 awards are the best for years — especially the guy who decided to show off to his mates and play Russian Roulette. Except he didn’t realise until after his death that a semi- automatic doesn’t have a revolving chamber. We are stronger for it.
(Steve Blair)
With Mr Beller's Neighborhood you can zoom in on famous buildings in Manhattan
2—l6 Nov 2000 THE “ST 119