By Chris Bell

By Chris Bell

Welcome to another day of safe surfing on the worldwide web no sharks here. The story of Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz is more than 100 years old, but we still can't get enough of it. In this excellent Guardian article Gregory Maguire, author of the novel Wicked, which morphed into a hit musical, explains why there's no place like Oz.

Eminem was once the best rapper in the world, says the Guardian 's Dorian Lynskey, but "not any more". The critic awards his new release, Eminem Presents the Re-Up, on Shady/Interscope just two stars €” and so cross is he that he paraphrases the Brit poet Philip Larkin talking about the Beatles: "When you get to the top, there is nowhere to go but down. The Beatles could not get down." According to Lynskey, neither can Eminem.

Still at the Guardian, Jackie Ashley has a bee in her bonnet about Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Pizza Hut, the new Pink Panther film, Adidas, TGI Friday and Virgin: they're the brands that have turned Britain into a nation of addicts. Courtney Love, on the other hand, claims she owes her life to Johnny Depp and has spent quite a bit of time in New Zealand. Good that she remembers.

Closer to home, the Sunday Star-Times notes some Wellington residents have been complaining about the funny goings on at the Santa Fe, and has this expose of backstage shenanigans involving millions of dollars missing from the Auckland U2 concerts at Mount Smart stadium.

The Herald has good news for sports fans.

As always, Leaf Salon has some intelligent insight and comment on the Landfall essay competition.

There's an enthralling discussion in amongst all the contention, vitriol and light entertainment at Public Address's great new discussion forum, System, all about the Copyright (New Technologies and Performers' Rights) Amendment Bill and, meanwhile, Boing Boing complains about all the undead musicians petitioning the UK government for an extension of the copyright period from 50 to 95 years. The petition was signed by 4000, but "many of these musicians were long dead," the Boing Boingers jest.

Also from the US, Forrester Research has a compelling study (registration required) based on more than 2700 US iTunes debit and credit card transactions, showing only 3 percent of online households made an iTunes purchase in the last year. "Since the introduction of the iTunes Music Store," says Forrester, "Apple has been steadily selling just 20 iTunes tracks for each iPod sold, suggesting that even at $0.99, most consumers still aren't sold on the value of digital music."

Via Arts & Letters Daily Robert Frizell of the Times wants to know if poet and novelist Thomas Hardy infected his first wife, Emma, with syphilis. He looks at the evidence, including his poetry and her symptoms.

Slate's essential and ever-illuminating Explainer section explains why you shouldn't drink the water they've just found on Mars (in the unlikely event you're ever offered any) and why poisoned Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko still had his eyebrows when he died.

On Tuesday, Sky TV's relatively new Documentary Channel screened the eagerly awaited Jeroen Berkvens and Walter Stokman film Let Me Have It All, a fascinating (if outdated) doco from 1993 about reclusive multi-instrumentalist and troubled genius Sly Stone, notable for the fact that it contained not a frame of contemporary footage of the camera-shy man himself.

And finally, via the same Public Address forum, The Register says the BBC ain't what it used to be.

Wishing you a fast, "down the line" tube, and happy surfing.