Britney Spears is #1 on the Lycos 50 for a second straight week -- but only just barely.
The tube top-wearing teenybopper was almost overtaken by the Firestone tire recall. Firestone was the week's fastest climber, moving from #30 to #2 as nervous SUV drivers jumped on the Web to make sure their tires wouldn't melt down on their way to Wal-Mart.
The race was mighty close: Britney's lead over was less than one percent over Firestone's total.
Other key points from this week's Lycos 50:
LIEBERMAN A HOTTIE: Last week the GOP convention became the first general election-related term to make the Lycos 50. This week Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman (#46) becomes the second.
Al Gore chose Lieberman for his running mate last Monday, leading to a rush of Lieberman queries online. (On Sunday Lieberman even promised to let Gore be the boss.) Interest in Lieberman's Jewishness seems negligible; about 2% of all Lycos searchers mentioned it in their queries.
You can't help note Lieberman's ironic placement next to South Park (#45) on this week's Lycos 50. For more on Lieberman vs. Dick Cheney (and on Mrs. Lieberman vs. Mrs. Cheney), see our August 10 report.
HUNLEY WHO? The H.L. Hunley (#23) is a boat, not a person. The Hunley was a Civil War submarine, sunk in action off South Carolina in 1864. Amazingly, the old ship was hauled to the surface last week. The remains of nine crew members may be inside the ship, which perhaps is heightening public interest in the story.
POST-WEDDING WOES: It's like this: last week the Jennifer Aniston-Brad Pitt wedding was a gaudy #6 on our list. This week the wedding's gone, but Aniston alone hits #18. Why?
She's filed suit against an outfit called Celebrity Skin for publishing photos of her sunbathing topless. It must be legal scholars who are suddenly doing all that searching for Jennifer Aniston photos.
ASTHMA? Yes, asthma is #42 on this week's list. Why? We're stumped. But we've run spam checks and the searches seem to be legitimate. Could it be related to late summer pollen and air pollution? If you have any ideas, please drop a line on our boards message board.
SHORT SUBJECTS: Madonna's new baby Rocco was a hit, moving his mother up to #32 on our list. ("Rocco"?)... We don't normally include corporations on our list, but searches for Verizon (#27) seem mostly related to the ongoing strike. Or maybe it's just people looking to complain about those endless irritating "people got to be free" TV commercials... For a moment it looked like Tenchi Muyo would be the latest Japanese cartoon to race up our search logs, but after six short weeks the show has dropped off our list... Despite heavy news coverage, forest fires in the west didn't seem to grab much interest, finishing well out of our top 50... The WWF stands at #13 this week, its lowest ranking ever. Is pro wrassling finally fading?
NEW THIS WEEK: Jennifer Aniston, the H.L. Hunley, Verizon, Madonna, asthma, Joseph Lieberman, rapper Nelly, holiday Halloween.
DROPOUTS: The Pitt-Aniston wedding, video game The Sims, audio player Gnutella, Tenchi Muyo, gracious dame Martha Stewart, singin' dude Justin Timberlake, the GOP Convention, the Concorde crash.
BIGGEST RISE: Firestone tire recall, up 28 spots to #2.
BIGGEST DROP: Freaky fiancee Darva Conger, down 14 spots to #38.
AND FINALLY: Yep, you read it right: Halloween is actually on our list on August 15, a full 11 weeks before the holiday arrives.
