Miles Mendoza's Website of the Day ... and more!

The Surreal Gourmet

Website of the Day: Thursday 24th February 2005

>> The Surreal Gourmet
This is cookery for people who don’t much like cooking: “For those with a sense of culinary adventure The Surreal Gourmet serves up fresh attitude towards cooking and entertaining and shows you how dysfunctional kitchens, mismatched dinnerware and low budgets can be easily overcome by a little creativity and an armful of fresh ingredients!”
If you're wondering what the picture on the right of this text is all about, that would be the site's legendary recipe for Beer-Can chicken!

Book Crossing

Website of the Day: Tuesday 22nd February 2005

>> Book Crossing
I first mentioned this site nearly three years ago, and where Radio 2 leads, Australia’s leading soap follows; Book Crossing featured in a Neighbours storyline last week! Aimed at book lovers, the site invites you to “Set your books free and make the whole world a library” – The idea is that when you’re finished with a book, instead of letting it languish on a shelf, you pass it on by leaving it in a public place for a stranger to find and enjoy. Each book is allocated a unique ID number so you can track its progress and find reviews from other readers.

Senior Concessions

Website of the Day: Monday 21st February 2005

>> Senior Concessions
This new site aims "to offer the senior citizen the opportunity to live a more rewarding life, and to make more of their income” by providing detailed information about the full range of discounts and concessions available to over 55s. The site covers state benefits, entertainment, health, fitness, travel financial services and many other areas.

Create your own children's story

Website of the Day: Friday 18th February

>> Kratts Creatures: Create Your Own Adventure
This online story generator is part of a site for an American kids TV show called Kratts Creatures. You have a choice of five different story titles; once you have picked a title, you’ll reach a page which asks you to enter in the names of the main characters and choose some other key words. The just click “Create your adventure” and the site will instantly compile a customised story featuring the names and words you have chosen.

Chip Cartoon Characters

Yesterday in the course of our conversation about National Chip Week Steve asked if a chip or French fry has ever ever had a starring role in a film or TV series. So a resounding hats off to listener Paul Callow who emailed to to tip us off about the existence a crime fighting box of chips named Frylock. Frylock is one of the stars of an overnight show on Cartoon Network in the US called Aqua Teen Huger Force. More info on the Cartoon Network site.

Audiobooks For Free

Website of the Day: Thursday February 17th 2005

>> Audiobooks For Free
From the “does what it says on the tin” school of sites, here’s a handy source for novels, poetry or non fiction to listen to in the gym, on the move, at home or at work. Around 500 titles are available as free mp3 downloads, mainly (but not exclusively) classics that are out-of-copyright. The audio is optimised for small file sizes and quick download … which means that at best it sounds like an old recording from a short-wave radio, but you can elect to pay a small charge to download a higher-quality recording.

Britain’s favourite fast food?

Website of the Day: Wednesday February 16th 2005

>> Love Chips
We’re currently in the middle of National Chip Week 2005, so it seems a good time to draw your attention to this site celebrating the nation’s favourite fast food. Features include the strangely addictive online games Chip Ahoy and Chippy-Uppy, Russell Grant’s chip astrology, and a fascinating guide to chip eating styles which explains how the way we choose and consume our chips reflects our personality types.

How to contact your MP

Website of the Day: Tuesday February 15th 2005

>> Write to Them
This is an enhanced version of a site that was originally launched as FaxYourMP. It was put together by a bunch of volunteers to address the fact that many people don't know the name of their MP, let alone how to contact them: The site was designed to make the whole process of finding and contacting your elected representative as easy as possible. The new site expands the service to include local councillors, MEPs and members of the National Assemblies for Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland. To use the site, simply type in your postcode to find details of all your representatives, choose who to write to, type your letter into an online form, and click send!

Eastenders Valentines

Website of the Day: Monday February 14th 2005

>> Eastenders Valentines
Although life can get pretty bleak in Walford, there’s certainly a lot of lurve in the Square… This special Valentine’s site includes a Walford personality love quiz, the chance to vote for your dream Albert Square valentine, video clips of classic Eastenders kisses and weddings, a range of Valentines E-cards and a romantic Alfie Moon wallpaper download!

Half Term films

Website of the Day: Friday 11th February 2005

>> The Magic Roundabout: Official Film site
>> SpongeBob Squarepants: The Movie
>> Son of the Mask: Official Film Site
>> BBC Film reviews this February's half-term films
Grown-ups looking for cinematic excitement this week may be disappointed, but there are three blockbusters vying for family attention over the half-term weekend.  Best (and funniest) of the three sites is the SpongeBob movie site, which takes the form of an animated virtual tour of SpongeBob's marine hometown - Bikini Bottom