The institute of Official Cheer's beautifully-designed site is dedicated to the prevention and removal of irony in all its forms.

The institute describes itself as a place where old pop culture "is subjected to our patented re-ironisation process, and converted into chipper, spiffy, feather-light postmodern commentary on commercial culture."

History buffs can learn more of the institute's origins, beginning with the birth of anti-ironist Lucius Richard Peter Strochwacker in Priapus, New York, in 1867.

The real fun can be found in the site's various links. Interior Desecrators is devoted to showing ghastly Seventies' interior design. It says: "Kids today think the Seventies' stuff looks hip. The Seventies were hell and this site sets out to prove it."

Not that the Fifties and Sixties emerge unscathed. The Dorcus Collection features men's fashion photography from those decades.

The Bad Publicity section shows celebrities from Hollywood's heyday in less-than-ideal poses, before their images were more carefully cultivated. Stars featured include Zsa Zsa Gabor, Marilyn Monroe and Orson Welles.

The site isn't Citizen Kane or Some Like It Hot but it's a pleasant way to spend some time.

www.lileks.com/institute/index.html