Web Site Review -- ''The Straight Dope''

XXX "The Straight Dope" Cecil Adams http://www.straightdope.com/

Chicago transplants may recognize the byline Cecil Adams from "The Straight Dope," his amusing, longstanding column in the Chicago Reader.

The syndicated column appears in about 30, mostly alternative papers across the country, and spawned a short-lived cable-TV show on A&E.

Seattle-area newspapers don't carry the column, but luckily for Netizens of the world, "The Straight Dope" is available online. America Online subscribers can access an even more comprehensive site using the keyword "straight dope."

The column, based on usually weird questions sent in by readers, has also engendered a news group (alt.fan.cecil-adams) where a current thread discusses what to call the "period of time between the nineties of one century and the teens of the next? `The Naughties?' "

Before you write this off as yet another frivolous, waste-of-time Web site, stop and ask yourself:

Where else in the universe can you find the answers to questions on subjects such as whether aphids are born pregnant, the origin of leg shaving by women, and the advisability of sex before athletic competitions.

The Cecil Adams column has been around since 1973, and some suspect the true author is editor Ed Zotti. That is among the "misunderstandings" cleared up in the "faq or fiction" link off the home page.

Some might associate Adams' column with the type of advice available from the nutty Seattle Times Eastside column "Just Ask Johnston." or perhaps Ann Landers.

Adams sets himself apart as indispensable:

"I do not deal with trivia, as that term is usually understood. The difference between what I do and what the triviamongers peddle is that I tell people things they actually want and need to know as opposed to gobs of useless rubbish.

"In fact, I think it's safe to say that no person today could ever hope to achieve basic life competence without consulting my work on a regular basis."

Columns are in Q&A form. Here's a sample of Cecilic wisdom from a February 1997 column in response to whether people can predict the weather from their aching joints:

"Medical opinion is divided on this question. The most commonly expressed views may be summarized as follows:

"1.Yes, people can tell when the weather is changing because their joints ache.

"2. No, they can't.

"3. Some say yes, some say no. More research is needed.

"4. You talking to me?

"But don't be too critical. We've only had about 2,000 years to work on this (2,400 actually, Hippocrates having discussed the effect of weather on chronic diseases in 400 BC). One more big grant, and we'll have it for sure.

"Many, perhaps most, people with arthritis and other chronic joint ailments say their symptoms are affected by the weather. Their doctors tend to believe them, going so far as to advise the most intractable cases to move to a warm, dry climate.

"At the same time, you get various fonts of negativity saying this is all bunk. . ."

The site contains a year's worth of columns, and the capability of searching them by subject. There's also a search engine to scan the "motherlode of wisdom" dispensed by Cecil in his trilogy of "Straight Dope" books. However, those results are useless unless you own the books, because they list only the pages on which the searched-for subjects appear in the books.

By contrast, the AOL site has a more extensive archive containing full-text columns since June 1996, as well as many earlier columns. At a page called "Search Cecil's Brain" is a cartoon image listing 10 subject areas - language, strange beliefs, consumer bulletins, wild kingdom, science, origins, famous folks, random mysteries, the body, and sex - each of which occupies a separate browse-able lobe of Adams' brain.

Adams is sometimes long-winded, but more often breezy and irreverent. His columns are complemented by sketches by Slug Signorino, Straight Dope's irascible illustrator.