Music, comics, laughter

Each month, the Browser features some pop-culture places on the World Wide Web offering the coolest in free, interactive sounds and action.

Surfing with Sarah

Eclectic musical diva Sarah Brightman stops by the MCI Center Jan. 29 in support of her Middle Eastern-flavored album “Harem,” and first-time listeners as well as regulars can get a dose of her life and ethereal vocals at her slick-looking Web site (www.sarah-brightman.com).

Besides a fairly detailed biography of her early years, photo archive and selection of computer-helping downloadables (i.e., screen savers and wallpaper), a complete discography can be found under the section Sound + Vision. This online archive highlights her 25 years of professional recordings while offering cover art, lyrics and a smattering of video and audio snippets using the Windows Media Player from seven of her recent albums, including “Timeless,” “Classics,” “La Luna,” “Eden” and 1995’s “Fly.”

For longer multimedia moments, visitors can click on New Album to view a seven-minute documentary on the making of “Harem,” with the soft-spoken singer offering opinions on each song, or listen to the full tracks of the title tune and “Beautiful” from the album.

Those who register with the site, for free, can enter a Fan Area to find the latest pictures from Miss Brightman’s current concert tour and share memories of their Brightman experiences by participating in numerous forums.

Stripping on the Web

A quick comic-strip fix can be had when stopping by Comics.com (www.comics.com), the home of comics on the Web. Freely provided by the United Media syndication company, the site offers access to 86 daily strips and the weekly work of editorial cartoonists such as the Memphis Commercial Appeal’s Bill Day, the St. Petersburg Times’ Paul Szep and the Indianapolis Star’s Gary Varvel.

Visitors can use a handy drop-down menu to find their favorites quickly or peruse by categories. Each comes with a 30-day archive of shenanigans and includes color strips seen in Sunday papers around the country.

That translates into laughing with the 50-year-old pooch Marmaduke, chuckling over the antics of 71-year-old Alley Oop and being privy to the eye-popping facts of the longest-running comics panel in history, Ripley’s Belive It or Not.

Some of the strips also include biographies of the artists and histories on the characters. For example, readers are introduced to Tarzan’s first appearance in Edgar Rice Burroughs’ 1912 short story “Tarzan of the Apes,” as well as to his current illustrator, Eric Battle, who has done work for DC and Marvel comics.

Visitors also can choose to sign up to become a Comics Basic Member to receive one strip of their choice via e-mail six days a week.

Byting humor

The commencement of the fourth season of Larry David’s HBO series “Curb Your Enthusiasm” is celebrated with the DVD release of the show’s first season (Warner Home Video, $39.99). This affords new viewers the perfect excuse to indoctrinate themselves in the most uncomfortably funny show on cable television through its official Web site (www.hbo.com/larrydavid).

Among the program’s cyber-pages, two sections are critical for learning quickly the subtle differences between “enjoy” and “like” from the cynically sarcastic curmudgeon.

First, look to the episode guide for 60-second clips (using Quicktime or Real Player plug-ins) from every show, including eye-watering sequences involving Larry explaining the “shrimp incident” to Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Larry getting sentenced to humiliation for stealing restaurant utensils and Larry making amorous moves on his wife, Cheryl, while waiting for a mixture of club soda and salt, liberally applied to a carpet stain, to dry.

A Keywords section defines terms of Larry’s world, such as the “stop and chat” maneuver, the importance of the “show night jacket” and one of the requirements to be part of the bald community.

Second, take a 314-question, multiple-choice quiz about “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and find out how to waste an inordinate amount of time laughing and being educated about nothing.

• Have a cool site for the online multimedia masses? Write to Joseph Szadkowski at the Browser, The Washington Times, 3600 New York Ave. NE, Washington, DC 20002; call 202/636-3016; or send an e-mail message (jszadkowski@washingtontimes.com).