It's only November but Kris Kringle is already flexing Hulk Hogan-style biceps. Christmas rises to #8 on this week's Lycos 50, shoving the Blair Witch Project down to #9 and moving only two spots behind the World Wrestling Federation. Complain all you like about early holiday hoopla, but Web users seem to be trimming the tree already.
That's not all: Christmas is one of four holidays in this week's Lycos 50. Halloween drops out of the top spot but falls only to #4 -- remarkable staying power for a rather nutty holiday.
Thanksgiving debuts at #10, normally a handsome showing but this week good only for third place in the holiday parade. And Mexico's Day of the Dead slips onto the list at #49. (Just about half those searches were in Spanish, for Dia de los Muertos.)
Who's #1? Pokemon, reclaiming the throne after a two-week hiatus. Can the Japanese monsters hold off Santa for long? We wouldn't bet on it.
Other new terms this week:
DeCSS (#26) lets users crack the copy protection on digital video discs (DVDs) and record the contents directly to a computer hard drive. The sneaky new utility appeared online just a few weeks ago. (Normally we omit technology from the Lycos 50, but we make exceptions for breaking news items such as this one.)
MARTHA STEWART (#46) arrives on the Lycos 50 just as holiday season is getting underway -- probably no coincidence. The queen of graciousness also had a hit IPO last month.
Cart Racing driver GREG MOORE (#44) was killed October 31 in a horrific accident at the Marlboro 500.
WALTER PAYTON (#50): The former Chicago Bears star died of a liver ailment on November 1. He was 45.
Other notes on this week's Lycos 50:
DROPOUTS: Barbie, Howard Stern, Payne Stewart, Anna Kournikova, Shakespeare, the WCW. Shakespeare's visit turned out to be a short one; the Immortal Bard slipped from the top 50 after just one week. Howard Stern's marital woes proved no more compelling, as he fell from #19 all the way off the list.
BIGGEST RISE: Mariah Carey jumps 15 spots to #13, presumably on the continuing strength of her new album Rainbow.
BIGGEST DROP: Baseball falls 32 spots to #48.
THE BIBLE vs. STAR WARS: These two topics finished neck-and-neck again this week, with the Good Book (#30) retaining the upper hand on Star Wars (#31) once more.
