The Bookmarks
Hey, what kind of home page would it be if we didn't give you access to some of our favorite bookmarks? Will you use them? Maybe... will they just point out what kind of wierd freaky taste we have in net surfing? Probably! Anyway... We'll add more links as we come across them, so the newer stuff is at the top. Knock yourselves out!!
I've been having a great time reading this web comic strip lately... I'm not sure
if it's the theatre references, the ongoing soap opera-type plots, or the complete
evil of the main characters, but it's got me hooked. I daer you to explore the
archive... go on, I dare ya!
The talent agency that represents Trish and I recently launched a new web site...
check 'er out!
Feel as sick about the Presidential election as I do? Feel like you have
to appologize to the world for having to endure another four years of Bush?
Do it here!
In preparation for our 2004 European trip, I started listening to this london
radio station online... it's a refreshing change!
Ok, you may remember a big flap about a political ad that MoveOn.org
had posted on its web site comparing George W. Bush to Hitler. Well... that's not
exactly what happened. MoveOn.org ran a contest called "Bush in 30 Seconds,"
asking people to create their own political ad. They held a contest and chose
the best one... and the hitler submission got rejected (but not before the right-wing
talking heads got ahold of it). Anyway, there's some fun stuff on this site...
click below to see the winner, and the top 150 submissions (hey,
if you watch 5 or six per day you'll see them all by election day!)
When Trish and I were planning our trip to Europe, we tried to find some
road maps on Mapquest or
MapsOnUs...
but they only do US maps. What are you to
do if you want a road map for a foreign country?
Ever since Reagan managed to get the hostages released during his inauguration,
there's been a tradition of carefully orchestrated "Surprises" in American politics
to help bolster public Opinion for those in power. What will 2004's "October
Surprise" (i.e. Bush's last-ditch attempt to try and keep the presidency) be?
There's a raging controversy on Portland Theatre's PDXBackstage listserv about
whether or not performers should be fined for "indecent acts" such as Janet
Jackson and Justin Timberlake's superbowl show. In looking into tv legislation
from the past I came across this site... doesn't shed any light on the controversy,
but it's fun!
I have a couple of friends who sell products on the internet... check out their
wares!
How many days is it until we can finally send George W. Bush packing? Find out!
You've heard of it... you've probably heard Bill O'Reilly
tell you bald-faced lies about it. How about you listen to it for yourself? If
you're in Portland, you can listen to Air America Radio on AM 620. If you're not,
Click the link below and then choose "listen live" from their home page. It'll
open your eyes to the lies, my friends...
Oh - Mah - Gawd!!! Have you read
The Da Vinci Code yet? It's stunning... and don't be dissuaded by the hype;
this isn't a hippy-dippy Celestine Prophecy treatise on new-age living (sorry Jesse).
This is a full-on thriller that delves deeply into the history of christianity and
the Catholic Church. A great read, and though a work of fiction entirely fact-based
and researched. Check out the author's web site:
Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child have written several books together, including The Relic and The Cabinet of Curiosities. They also have a nice, simple web site that they maintain themselves, with some really interesting content about their books and their process. Check it out!
One of our local tv stations,
KATU (an ABC affiliate) hosts a group of "weather cam's" on their web page,
allowing people to check various parts of Portland to see what the weather is like.
Pretty cool, huh?
I consider myself a pretty intellectual guy, hardly the type to get into AM "Talk" radio. When Oregon Public Broadcasting had its annual fund drive, however, I went in search of something else mentally stimulating while I was driving around.
What I found was Rick Emerson. This guy is hillarious, in a mid-to-late-30's sick yet smart iconoclastic sort of way. Team him up with news guy Tim Riley, and you get some VERY funny stuff mid-days on AM 1080. Don't take my word for it, though... you can listen for yourself on his web site. Check him out! (watch out for the photos on the web site, though... some of 'em are VERY adult)
When Trish was teaching Laboratory Science with the Army in San Antonio she
made the acquaintance of a lot of... er... "interesting people." I was
lucky enough to meet a couple of them a few years back. One, Christopher Wilson,
is a very talented singer/songwriter. He's launched his own record company and
has released a solo album. Check him out! He's a lovely guy and it's great music!
Further down the page, I link to The Internet Movie Database, an encyclopedic resource for film and telivision. Did you know there's also an Internet Broadway database? Check it out!
Guys... do us all a favor. If you receive a "virus warning" in the email, or if someone forwards you a "petition" to save NPR... please check these two sites to be sure the warning is real and not an internet hoax before passing it on. Some of these have been going around the internet for years, and people pass them on because they have the best of intentions; they want to protect their friends and help to preserve their favorite institutions. Many of these emails, however, have no bearing in reality. PLEASE check these links before forwarding anything along:
TicketCentral is a booth run by the Portland, Oregon Visitors Association which offers half-price day-of-show tickets here in Portland. Nah, it's not as big as the half-price ticket booth in New York's Times Square, but it's yet another way to get cheap tickets here in stumptown
Trish and I aren't exactly TV junkies (unless you count our 1am binges when trying to get to sleep after coming home from a show). There are a few shows, however, that we NEVER miss; in fact, we've got our VCR set to tape them to be sure we never miss them.
Here's the layout:
Law and Order: Criminal Intent Sure, what's another Law and Order-branded show? Well... this one's got Vincent D'Onofrio on it, and I'd watch him read out the phone book! Watching this guy work is simply mesmerizing. Besides, it's a cool "gimmick:" it shows the story from the cops and the robber's persepctive.
Boomtown This show started out appearing to be nothing more than a "gimmick" show; the same crime (or event) shown from different people's persepctives - the cops, the district attorney, the press, etc. As the show has developed, though, it's surpassed the gimmick in so many ways! The ensemble cast (yes, even Donnie "New Kids On The Block" Wahlberg) is simply stellar; each character has taken on such depth that we really have no idea what's going to happen next. The individual stories that make up the episodes are almost inconsequential; we tune in to see what these great actors are going to do with their characters this week.
The Shield If we're holding our breaths by the end of 24, we're practically making doo-doo in our pants by the end of an episode of The Shield! No gimmicks on this show... just raw, terrible (in a good way) storytelling. The Shield follows a police precinct in Los Angeles with a group of cops strangely reminiscent of the "Rampart Division" that brought such scandal to the department a few years ago. Michael Chiklis (yes, that loveable, rolly-poly guy from "The Commish) is simply chilling as the main character: a cop who constantly crosses the line between the law and a life of crime. There are so many words I could use to describe this show... but the only one that comes to mind is INTENSE!!!!
Need to set your watch? Don't take the radio's word for it... get the correct time (to 0.2 seconds) from the US Naval Observitory!
If you don't know about The Internet Movie Database, you really should. This is one of the few, true "one-stop-shops" on the internet for any type of information about film and television. You'll find info on just about any actor, director, movie or film company you could ever want. Many the time's Trish and I have been watching TV and said, "I know that actor... what...is...his...name???"
One trip to IMDB will tell you. Check it out!
This is a decidedly anti-Bush, anti-Republican parody of the official White House web site. If the aforementioned stances describe your political ideology, you'll think it's hilarious. If they don't, you probably won't get the joke.
Currently one of Harold's favorite "Trip-Hoppy" smooth house/ electronica bands:
Have you been to EBay? If not, you're missing out on the world's biggest marketplace. You should really stop by just to browse... you'd be amazed at what you can find there. We've bought software, art, clothing, candles... all sorts of things.
And, if you're going to buy on EBay, you're probably going to want to use a credit card to pay. PayPal is one of the world's leading internet payment processing services; not only can use use it to pay for things on EBay, you can use it to send money to anyone who has an email address. It's free to use, and a lot of web sites accept PayPal.
Probably our most used search engines:
Great sites for Portland Theatre: