by Vera H-C Chan

August really began on 08-08-08, and made up for the doldrums of summer with political pomp and Olympian pageantry. Yet even as firsts were made on both fronts, the Search buzz was assaulted with the specter of Cold War, shocking passings, and natural disasters. Take a look back at what captivated the Web, over the past 31 rushed days of summer.

Olympian Records, Herculean Efforts, and Chinese Aesthetics
Environmentalists watched the skies and activists watched the streets, but Olympic fans were out in phenomenal force to watch the Beijing opening ceremony (+19,435% in searches) unroll with cinematic precision. The amateur contest engaged millions, many who wondered about rules and gamesmanship, and asked an awful lot of questions.

Of all the spectacular athletes, Michael Phelps dominated screentime, medals and searches. Paraguayan model Leryn Franco placed 51st in the javelin contest but second in Web searches, thanks to her pairing of beauty and sharp sticks. Gymnasts Shawn Johnson, Alicia Sacramone, and Nastia Liukin rounded up the top five. In sports queries, everything from the badminton to judo to marathon buzzed, but redemption vaulted "olympic basketball" to the top, followed by gymnastics and volleyball (beach, naturally). Ending after a mere two weeks, fans looked forward to the next fix, winter in 2010 and summers 2012 and 2016.

Unconventional Politics
The medal count had barely been tallied up before the Democrats started mugging for the cameras from sweltering Denver. Barack Obama secured the top politico spot in searches, as people researched his platforms ("obama tax plan," "obama gun control"), sought out jokes (yes, as in "So Barack Obama walks into a stadium..."), and to find his speech.

The royal families Kennedy and Clinton captured the buzz, but a Republican did manage to snare some Search light: Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin (+13,527%) gallivanted into history and into the top 100 search terms. Next up, RNC in the Twin Cities.

Gone Too Soon, Others Sticking Around
Comedian Bernie Mac and singer Isaac Hayes died within a day of one another. The shock of Hayes' passing made the influential singer the fastest moving search this month. People poured over the details of his life: music, his contribution to the film "Shaft," his wives, and his time with "South Park."

Yet it was the Mac's premature death from sarcoidosis that hit mourners much harder, almost seven times harder. His show had established him as a family man, and his death at 50 drew people to seek out his survivors and family photos, as well as his creative history.

Bad news also came with the death of Dr. Dre's son, Andre, and Dave Freeman, author of "100 Things to Do Before You Die." Fortunately, another Freeman—actor Morgan Freeman—survived his August 3 car crash, although people monitored his condition for days. And despite the odd swell of rumors claiming their demise, Dolly Parton and Lil Wayne's daughter are just fine.

Here below, a couple lists of what captivated searches this busy, busy month.

August 2008 Fastest Movers in Search
Searches with the Biggest Percentage Changes

1. Isaac Hayes (+96,545%)
2. Real Bigfoot (+86,563%. Georgians—of the state, not the invaded nation—presented "evidence" of the mythical creature.)
3. Alaska Governor Sarah Palin (+71,770%)
4. Michael Phelps Girlfriend (+71,481%. No, not as far as anyone knows.)
5. Luciana Barroso (+52,657%. Actor Matt Damon's wife gave birth to a second daughter)
6. Goblin Shark (+43,173%. Footage of the deep-sea crawler buoyed its buzz.)
7. Laurence Fishburne (+41,176%. Actor will head "CSI.")
8. Melissa Lawson (+33,116%. Won "Nasville Star.")
9. Tuatara (+27,607%. An 111-year-old dinosaur descendent successfully mates after decades of abstinence.
10. Tom Cruise Tropic Thunder (+27,596%. The actor's cameo held up in the comical film.)

August 2008 Top 10 Personalities
Sentient Beings with the Most Searches Overall

1. Miley Cyrus (-40%)
2. Bernie Mac (+2,943%)
3. Michael Phelps (+2,759%)
4. Britney Spears (-20%)
5. Sarah Palin (+13,527%)
6. Lindsay Lohan (-15%)
7. Bigfoot (+2,672%)
8. Leryn Franco (off the charts)
9. Shelley Malil (off the charts)
10. Paris Hilton (+15%)

by Vera H-C Chan

Gas-saving scooters! Backyard vacations! Celebrity twins!

Okay, so you can't attribute all trends to a poor economy. Still, a recent run on "canning recipes" may indicate yet another resurgence of a frugal tradition. Summer interest in saving goodies for later has swelled 28% compared to last year. Even more startling, Web queries on anything canning-related is 16 times higher than in 2006.

An AP report credits the canning comeback to produce costs, baby boomers getting earthy, and the local foods movement. Likely, jitters over recalled foods and salmonella tainted peppers probably have also sent people fleeing to their own backyard to salvage safe grub.

As wholesome as the practice sounds, preserving fruits or vegetables can carry a downside if done incorrectly... or, as another AP story puts it, "what with that whole fear of death from a spoiled batch." Luckily, people have been doing the right things to avoid botulism, looking for "canning jars" of both the Mason and Ball variety. One Scranton, Penn., paper warns that there's "no substitute for adequate heat treatment"—either a boiling water bath or pressure canning.

Top canning ingredient? Tomatoes. That fruit disguised as a vegetable suffered a bruising blow after being falsely fingered for salmonella poisoning, but now cooks want to stock up on the plant, juice, sauce, and salsa variations. Author Barbara Kingsolver rapturously devoted a chapter to the time her family preserved 302 pounds of the red stuff in her newest book.

Whether or not home canners will save money in the long run is up for debate: A McClatchy Newspapers article says the savings usually comes from preserving your own garden bounty, not market-bought goods. Still, nothing wrong with learning a little natural chemistry through eating. Before we close the lid on this one, here are the top five canning searches.

• Canning Tomatoes. Green, cherry, tomatillo. Also searches on how to do oven canning
• Canning Salsa Variations include pineapple, black bean and corn, or zucchini.
• Canning Peppers Jalapeno, banana, cherry, green bell, wax, sweet.
• Canning Peaches. Usually saved in the form of pie filling, butter, syrup, jam.
• Canning Pickles. Cucumbers, okra, beets, tomatillos, squash.

by Molly McCall

From the Democratic National Convention to Sarah Palin's debut on the national stage, politics dominated the news—and the Buzz—this week. Yet, other stories still managed to rise up the Buzz ranks, drawing votes and readers over the past seven days. As a relief from the Obama-Biden-McCain-and-(now)-Palin drumbeat, we present some of the buzziest of those non-presidential tales. Enjoy.

The "True" Origins of Superman
On an early June day in 1932, armed robbers entered the used clothing store of Mitchell Siegel, a Lithuanian immigrant. In the resulting tussle, Siegel died. His son, Jerry, went on to co-create Superman, the muscle-bound hero who would plunge to the rescue of shopkeepers in distress. The revelation of this part of Jerry Siegel's family history has "exploded some of the longest-held beliefs about the origins of Superman"—and sent this USA Today article on the story soaring in Buzz.

The Emergence of "iPhone Girl"
Imagine the surprise of a proud owner of a new iPhone when he found images on his high-tech device of a young Asian factory worker, grinning and flashing a peace sign. Since that smart-phone user posted the photos on an Apple website, the mystery of the "iPhone girl" has pinged across the Web, sparking blog posts, searches, and news reports about her identity. Her name? We still don't know. But her job status? Reportedly secure.

Usain Bolt, Fast—But Not Fastest?
Usain Bolt's astonishing performance at the Beijing Olympics may have "reset how fast researchers believe humans ultimately can run," but it's unlikely he's established the last, unbeatable record. According to this popular blog post from Wired, "Bolt is freaky fast, but nowhere near human limits." Nowhere near? We'll soon need slow-mo instant replay to watch these guys on the track.

Finally, Two Mysterious Creatures Flapping or Swimming up Buzz...
• BoingBoing scored a hot blog post this week with a brief piece on the discovery of a "winged cat" in western China. Spoil-sport scientists have called it a genetic defect or, ouch, "the result of poor grooming," but Web readers were entranced by the feline freak. (We mean that in the nicest sense.)

• Welcome to the U.S., Nandi! The Georgia Aquarium added a nine foot manta ray to its marine family this week. Not only is this colossal beauty extremely rare, but she's the first manta ray to join an American aquarium. CNN footage of the creature promptly waded upwards in Buzz.