Let’s start off at the totally Absurd Inventions Web site where you can see America’s goofiest patented inventions.  From the wearable dog house to the tricycle lawnmower, you can see some unusual ideas and laugh a little as well. Just don’t laugh too hard, you never know when one of these off-beat ideas will hit the jackpot. Remember the Pet Rock and the Chia Pet pottery planters?

Don’t miss the Bad Fads Museum for a look at some of the worst fads, including leisure suits, pillbox hats, fad diets, mood rings, and goldfish swallowing. While we are talking about fads, a Web site called CrazyFads.com has all the fads grouped by decades. Do you remember dance marathons from the twenties, Betty Boop from the thirties, silly putty from the forties, or hula hoops from the fifties? (I was the hula hoop champion of my entire neighborhood!!)

Now that I’ve you’re feeling a little nostalgic, head over to the How Old Were You When Web site. Enter your birth date and the Web site returns your age as well as famous people and how much older or younger they are than you. It also tells you how old you were when certain events like the Kennedy assassination and the fall of the Berlin wall took place. You can even find out how old you were when a certain song or movie was popular. How old were you when Patti Page sang The Doggie in the Window or when Old Yeller hit the movie screen? If by chance, you don’t remember what day of the week you were born on, you can find that out at the Learn What Day You Were Born On Web site.

The Internet has its own crazy fads. Those of you who were online a few years ago may remember the original hamster dance. The Web site which featured rows of animated hamsters swaying to annoying music attracted more than 70 million people. The old Hamsterdance Web site is still in existance and it is as much fun as ever.

What would an article like this be without a few artistic Web sites? Visit MuralArt.com for a look at street murals from around the world or head over to the Museum of Bad Art where you can see works of art acquired from thrift stores and plunked from garbage cans.

No article about off-beat Web sites would be complete without a mention of The Onion. This newspaper satire site is sharp-witted and sometimes caustic, but certainly worth at least a quick click. And if you like political satire, be sure to visit the Web site of the Capitol Steps. This musical satire group lets you download or stream some of their latest songs like the Super California Recall and the Democratic Medley, a song about the 2004 election.

Next time you have some extra time for surfing why don’t you rummage around the Web and find a few more off-beat Web sites? You are sure to find plenty of unusual sites. Some will make you wince while others will make you smile, but all are sure to be entertaining.