According to the Boring Institute (http://www.boringinstitute.com) of Maplewood, NJ, July is Anti-Boredom Month. Predating the world wide web, the Boring Institute was created to "spoof the media and the way they cover celebrities, films, television, politics, and sports," subjects in perennial need of such treatment. Until an energetic and unsparing webmaster creates a site skewering Buffalo's celebrities, films (not that there are many to choose from), television, politics, and sports, we'll have to make do with more modest attempts to liven up the local online scene.

If you're tired of logging on to the same old weather-sports-news sites, all of which appear to be part of an evil plot to turn the internet into TV, try some of these non-boring Buffalo websites:

http://www.scarysquirrel.org/buffalo/buffalo2.html
Scary Squirrel World
Rampaging rodents in our fair city? Or, to quote the webmaster, is something more insidious going on in Delaware Park? If you, too, are concerned about the growing epidemic of aggressive, water-skiing "aqua-skwerls," log in to this site to post your suggested remedy. Next time you jog around Hoyt Lake or picnic with Shakespeare in the Park, be afraid. Be very afraid.

http://www.wzrd.com/home/falk/
Buffalo Guide: The Niagara Frontier on One Handy Page
A short page with familiar Buffalo landmarks sorted into an alphabetical list of cleverly-worded tongue-in-cheek topics, the insider humor here is best appreciated by the native or long-term Buffalonian. The webmaster gets extra credit for using "schwanz," a Yiddish term. When you see the context, you won't need that English-Yiddish dictionary. My three favorites, in alphabetical order, are:

• Knoll, Grassy: McKinley assassination site, Fordham Drive median, Buffalo
• Navy, How to Scare Your Teenager Out of Joining the: Buffalo Naval and Servicemen's Park
• Recreation Area, Sewage Treatment and: Squaw Island, Foot of West Ferry

http://www.new-birth.net/historic20.htm
President McKinley and Others in the Spirit World Are Trying to Bring an End to World War I
Speaking of McKinley, after he caught a bullet and entered the "Spirit World" here in Buffalo one hundred years ago, he supposedly communicated his intent to assist with international diplomacy from beyond the grave. Gosh, that McKinley was so clairvoyant, he knew to call it World War One way before anyone else knew there was going to be a World War Two. If anyone out there has a direct line, I think it's safe to send a message back to McKinley that his assistance ending World War I is no longer needed.