Never quite right, this index page.

This is the second version I’ve put up this year. It’s the old problem of “too much information” – not in the oh-my-aching-urethra sense, but too many subsites. One of these days a hard rain is going to come down and wash them all away, as famous Human Interface Guidelines guru Travis Bickle once said. Until that day comes, though, I will continue to revise all the stuff that’s already done, and tweak this page until it’s perfect.

Yes, that will happen soon. The next version will be spot on. I should put up a gallery of index pages, really – in the old days I changed it monthly. It was rather basic – a graphic and some links – but that was the style in those times, along with wearing onions on our belts.

So: what’s new under the hood? Well, as noted in the last redesign, the Matchbook section has a consistent interface, which makes me sleep a little better at night; I’m approaching Matchbook #300, which isn’t entirely unimpressive. Is it? (Googling around for competing matchbook pages . . . ugh. What a sorry lot.) The “Comics” site in the Institute of Official Cheer will be closing in soon on 100 pages; “Sears 1973,” a painful look at an old Sears catalog, is in the teens, but it’s new. Each of these sites is updated weekly.

The Minneapolis section is getting a big overhaul. Why? Because the old version was built for the 640-pixel-wide monitors of yore, and looks small on today’s monitors. Or tomorrow’s. Since I finished the site in 2001 or so, I’ve accumulated thirty-six tons of additional material. I’ll redo one building per week for the next few years. (Yes, there are that many sites buried in the Minneapolis section.)

At least I don’t have to worry about the Fargo and Motel sites; they’re done, aside from semi-annual updates to reflect new additions. (The Motel site is customarily updated in the summer, since that’s when families crammed into station wagons and set off across the land.) 

The Bleat chugs along as usual - updated Monday through Friday.

Also enroute this year: incremental upgrades of the old Microfiche newspaper ad site, and a page that collects all the Bleat Radio Theater old-time shows in one spot. A few other things here at there as well. In the meantime, enjoy the little movie at the top of the page: it’s an edited-down version of “American Look,” an industrial movie about 1958 style produced by Ford. It’s available at archive.org. (No direct link at the moment, because the site is timing out.) The music is an ancient scratchy record played over the speakers of Kresge stores in the late 50s, made available by the invaluable audio historians over at WFMU’s 365 project.

That's it for now - enjoy the site!

Lileks 03.10.08