TIME FOR GRINCHES AND WEB RECORDS

For much of the country, the election has turned into high Hollywood drama. It doesn't seem real. Who will be the winner? Will there be a Grinch or Cruella?

One thing's for sure. The Internet played a major role in America's hunt for information during the crazy election last Tuesday and every day since then.

The Internet has certainly come a long way since it made its political debut about four years ago.

The Internet traffic last Tuesday was astounding. CNN.com won the Election Day battle for traffic. At least there's a clear winner here.

www.cnn.com

The site drew 3.5 million unique visitors to its site last Tuesday. That represents an incredible increase of nearly 270 percent from the same day a week before.

In second place was MSNBC.com.

www.msnbc.com

This site drew a not-too-shabby 2.6 million visitors on Election Day. That represented an increase of nearly 136 percent from the Tuesday before.

At least surfers could simply read the numbers and not have to listen to the constant repeat of information. Many of the news sites constantly updated what information there was.

Unbelievably, the numbers increased Wednesday as people scrambled to find out who would be the next president of the United States.

Last Wednesday's CNN.com traffic climbed to more than 4 million visitors, while MSNBC.com drew a respectable 3 million visitors.

But as you might suspect, the interest began to drop drastically on Thursday. People are still checking, but the longer it goes on, the more people may tune out, instead of tuning in.

In fact, the only Grinch that's catching my attention this week is Jim Carrey, who will bring the Dr. Seuss classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" to the big screen this week. It marks the official kickoff of the holiday blockbuster season -- one of my favorite times of the year.

It's been months since there have been good kid movies. But I have to wonder, is the Grinch a little too intense for the kids? Let's check out the official site at Meanone.com

www.meanone.com

His face is gigantic on the screen -- big and mean and green. I've always loved this Grinchy tale. We always watch the Grinch every holiday season.

But have they carried realism too far?

You'll hear the Christmas tune from the movie -- over and over. I quickly spied the "Sound Off" in the top right hand corner. As you enter the site, you have a choice whether to enter the Shockwave version or not.

You click and drag this odd contraption around to view the different parts of Whoville. Perhaps that's what the Grinch uses in the movie. It's rather cumbersome for humans surfing on slower connections.

You can view the trailer at the Whoville Theatre.

You can also visit the Lou Whos' house to see what's keeping Cindy Lou Who busy. Wonder if they have any visitors -- like the Mean One?

You can also send a post card from the Whoville Post Office.

There's a City Hall, where you can stop by and get your "Who name." A store of Grinch stuff also opens up this week -- big surprise there. I've already seen Grinch stuff on everything from breakfast cereal to fast food.

My new Who name is: (this is so embarrassing) Jumpy Joni Aboo-Who.

They also provided this warning: Fear the Grinch no matter who you are.

OK, I'm finishing this column at work and it does work MUCH BETTER on a fast connection.

In Cindy Lou Who's house, you can find Who tags, a Grinch screensaver and even Grinch recipes. I would hate to think about those dishes.

You can also read interesting facts about Dr. Seuss and the new production on the bottom portion of the screen, aptly entitled "Who Knew?" I never realized that this tale was the 38th best-selling children's hardcover book of all time. But Dr. Seuss has three other books in the top 10: "Cat in the Hat," "Green Eggs and Ham" and "One Fish Two Fish, Red Fish Blue Fish" -- all favorites of my children. I also learned that the animated version debuted in 1966 and has been televised every Christmas season since then.

If you'd like to learn more about Jim Carrey, you could go directly to his fan site. Really, could anyone else but Jim Carrey pull this off?

www.jimcarreyonline.com

My there are a lot of Jim Carrey fans. I am visitor 609,874 to this site.

One of the oddest portions of the site is "Jim Carrey sightings." Fans write about times they came across the star and what happened.

Of course, there's information here on the Grinch movie, but that's just the start.

I found it interesting that Carrey doesn't have a high school diploma. He left high school in the ninth grade because his family was in hard economic times.

On the Blooper page, you can look at all the slips and mistakes in his many movies. Now these are real fans if they watch the movies that closely.

Apparently, one of the big questions answered by the FAQ is "How tall is Jim Carrey?" Well, if you're dying to know, it's probably six feet two.

You can also find video clips, sound clips, pictures and links to other URLs.

While I'm planning to see the Grinch, the movie I'm really looking forward to is "102 Dalmatians." OK, I admit it. I'm a sucker for Disney movies.

You can type in the following address, and it will automatically take you to a Disney Web site that is much longer.

www.102dalmatians.com

Make sure your sound is turned down if you're checking it out at work. The opening sequence about how Cruella gets out of jail is pretty slick. Then it takes you to a London street, where you can explore the neighborhood.

You can play a game in Cruella's Boutique. Dress the models and send them out on the runway to see how your fashions stack up with the Canine Critic.

My creation got four barks out of five. As you might have figured, the top dog wanted less fur and more feathers.

You can also visit the Dog Shelter and try your hand at Spotted University Dalmatian Paint.

At the Dog Day Newsstand, you'll find a 102 Countdown Calendar, along with more information about the movie, cast and crew. You can also take a peak at the trailer.

At Cruella's Ride, you can check on the De Vil's Dinner Party or try your hand at the La Pelt's Bakery Game.

Don't forget to stop by the Post Box, where you'll find electronic post cards and a screensaver. It looks like great fun.

So if you tire of the election, and want to meet Hollywood's version of Cruella and the Grinch, these Web sites have just the ticket for you.

What's your favorite movie sites? E-mail your suggestions to jonia@sehosp.org.

See you in Cyberspace.

Joni Adams is the Webmaster at Southeast Missouri Hospital in Cape Girardeau, www.southeastmissourihospital.com