


----- GHOST SITES #6  [October 16, 1996]
----- by Steve Baldwin




To celebrate Halloween, this week's Ghost Sites takes aim at dead and dying entertainment sites. Sorry, celebrity necros, I'm not talking about web shrines to dead stars like Bing, Elvis, Janis, Jim, Kurt, Marilyn, or Veronica - our focus is on decaying entertainment sites whose dysfunctional bit rot is making certain stars' careers look like they've flat-lined. 


*---- MADONNA ON IUMA ----*
----- http://www.iuma.com/Warner/html/Madonna.html

Madonna's always been aggressive in cyberspace, and recently released an Evita track that's got the rubes waiting in line. But the M-Girl would have a cow if she could see the sparse gray web page she's been stuck with on IUMA. This crude page, dating from late 1994, lacks Real Audio, E-mail links, and quotable quotes from the star. Apparently, Madonna's record company forgot to turn off Madonna's old pages when the label moved from IUMA to its own megasite sometime in 1995. Fans seeking fresher Madonna info need go to http://www.wbr.com/madonna/, better yet, slouch back to Madonn-a-Ween for true bedtime horror. 

Related URLs:
   http://www.pathfinder.com/entertainment/doublefeature

[3 GHOSTIES]  Site is Dead, but Well-Preserved 


*---- JUDGE DREDD ----*
----- http://www.music.sony.com/Music/ArtistInfo/JudgeDredd/index.html

Remember Judge Dredd? This 1995 Stallone action picture was a critical and box-office snoozer, but Sony's promotional pages persist, and they're a gloomy techno-wasteland, with broken links to something called "Dreddspace" that was purged from Disney's servers a long time ago. Someday I'm sure web users -- like Judge Dredd, will unilaterally blast obsolete web sites like this out of existence -- until then, Hollywood relics like Dredd are doomed to live on like so much futuristic space junk. 

[5 GHOSTIES]  Site is Stuffed, Embalmed, and Ready for Internet Museum 


*---- MEGADETH ARIZONA ----*
----- http://www.hollywoodandvine.com/Megadeth/Gifs/megadeth.html

Capitol Records runs a fairly up-to-date music site called "Hollywood and Vine", but the portion of it devoted to Megadeth resembles a piece of rotting roadkill, with every graphic on the page smashed and broken. Recall that this very same content was one of the first really stimulating band sites to hit the web when it launched in early 1995 to promote the band's "Youthanasia" album. Leaving it to wither in the sun may be a form of frontier justice, but it's still Mega-Depressing. 

[4 GHOSTIES]  Site is Dead, shows Advanced Decay 


*---- JOHNNY MNEMONIC ----*
----- http://www.spe.sony.com/Pictures/SonyMovies/06jonmnu.html

If people wanted to see this tepid techo-thriller, wouldn't they have seen it 15 months ago? Perhaps this ill-fated site -- which has clearly outlived its usefulness -- represents a last-ditch effort by Sony to drum up interest in Mnemonic. Or could the all-powerful William Gibson be pulling strings to keep it alive? The more likely explanation is that Sony's new media staff simply forgot about the aging Mnemonic site, just as film audiences forgot the film when it was released last year. 

[4 GHOSTIES]  Site is Dead, shows Advanced Decay 


*---- JERRY GARCIA IS DEAD ----*
----- http://www.pathfinder.com/people/jerry/index.html

As Chevy Chase might say, "Jerry Garcia is still dead", and so is this special commerative site, put up by Pathfinder and People Magazine to serve as a virtual wailing wall for grieving deadheads back in August 1995. If you enjoy the feeling of being frozen in time, bookmark this page - not a byte has changed in 14 months. 

In the site's defense, the Dead scene has been so quiet in recent months that any updates would probably be gratuitous, but a year's worth of bit rot produces some disturbingly undignified artifacts. Click on "Captain Trip's Memorial Wall" and you'll be greeted by the bland message: "Sorry, Captain Trip's Memorial Wall Is No Longer In Service". For God's sake, it's a memorial wall to Jerry - not a subway car with brake trouble. 

Related URLs:
   http://www.pathfinder.com/people/jerry/nomore.html

[5 GHOSTIES]  Site is Stuffed, Embalmed and Ready for Internet Museum 


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