The only links better than those you’ll find at Kowalski

Keep your website up to date by providing a link from it to mine. If you want a banner, I finally made one you’re free to use. Let me know about your website, and I’ll reciprocate with a link to yours. Let’s make it our mission to keep the world informed!

I have quite a few links myself. Scroll down to read them all or click on a heading below to get right to the one you want.

Movie Links

I have mostly links to movies, which shouldn’t surprise you a bit. I love movies and these are how I keep up with what’s in the theaters, the classic films of the past, and what’s going to come out in the near future.

The Internet Movie Database — The ultimate source of every film of TV show ever made. Bookmark this immediately. If you read any user comments reviews, I’m Ivan-28 and Ivan-40. I’m especially proud of my comments for The Ten Commandments.

Roger Ebert — His TV show sucks now because of his awful co-host. But he’s still a terrific writer with weekly reviews, essays, and Movie-Answer Man columns, plus a terrific section on the greatest films of all time. The Chicago Sun-Times revised his site so it has even more information.

Greatest Films — Speaking of the greatest of all time, this site has many best-films lists from many sources (including the famous ones from the American Film Institute that keep making the paper). Another must-see if you want ideas for great films to rent.

Ain’t It Cool News — This is the site to check out if you want to know the latest news of a film that’s yet to come out (or in some cases, yet to be announced). This controversial site is said to responsible for the horrible box office for the film Batman and Robin and the terrific box office for Titanic.

The Criterion Collection — These guys release high-quality DVDs of the best films with lots of great features. I own over a half dozen of theirs and recommend them highly. If you’re already a fan of them, check out the discussion forum dealing with them.

The DVD Journal — Speaking of DVDs, here’s a great website to find out what the latest DVDs being released are and if they’re worth buying.

The Ländler — Despite the graphic on the upper left of this page, I am not a fan of The Sound Of Music whatsoever. The people that made this website are. And they created one of the funniest websites I’ve ever checked out. They’ve overanalyzed the film and share their bizarre and hilarious insights with you. You’ve got to check this out, despite any opinion you have of the movie. Of course, you have to have seen the movie to understand the jokes.

The Easter Egg Archive — Easter eggs are hidden features you can find within DVDs, computer games, software, even websites that you can’t find out about in the manuals. If you own DVDs, make sure you check out this website or you may not be getting the most out of them.

Walking the Shark: A Peter Lorre Page — Peter Lorre is one of my favorite actors of all time. His performance in the movie M made him famous. Unfortunately, it also caused him a lot of typecasting. Most people think of him as a creepy villain, but he was a very versatile actor. Learn about him and his films at this extremely informative site.

Movie-List — A terrific site to check out the latest trailers. They also have release dates of the movies they have trailers of.

The Alloy Orchestra — The Alloy Orchestra is three extremely talented guys who compose and perform original, exciting new scores to silent film classics. Go out of your way to see them live if they’re ever in your area. If you haven’t seen their version of Metropolis, you’ve never really seen Metropolis!

Not coming to a theater near you — Articles and reviews of movies definitely out of the realm of mainstream. If you want to see a different kind of movie, get some rental ideas from this fun to peruse website.

The Ultimate Guide To Anamorphic Widescreen DVD (For Dummies!) — With the popularity of DVDs and the upcoming revolution of high-definition TVs, a lot of people (me included) are confused with the different labels you see on DVD packages like pan & scan, fullscreen, letterbox, anamorphic and what not. This is an excellent guide to learn what those terms mean and to determine which version of DVD you may prefer.

The Godfather Trilogy.com — If I have a link about a bad movie like The Sound of Music then surely I should have one about great films like The Godfather Trilogy. This site is packed with photos, trivia, sounds, scripts, and other fun facts about the Coppola classic epic gangster series.

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Art Links

I have a great list of links related to art on the Links page on my gallery site. They vary from different artists, subject matter, and media.

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Music Links

The Chenille Sisters — One of my favorite local bands, they are a joy to listen to on CD and a blast to see live! If you’re in the mood for 3 gorgeous voices that blend a folk sound with Andrews Sisters style harmony, go out of your way to attend one of their performances.

Natalie Merchant — I like her music a lot, but she’s also an artist. Her well-designed website also highlights that aspect of the talented songwriter/singer with that beautiful voice.

XTC — A favorite band of mine since the 1980s, they broke away from their old record company. Now they have their lineup pared down to two members, along with a new recording company and a new official website.

The Darkside: Rachel’s Synchronicity Site — By now, I would think everyone’s familiar with the premise that the Pink Floyd album Dark Side Of The Moon synchronizes well with the movie The Wizard Of Oz. That’s not the only synch between movies and song as revealed by this fun website dedicated to other examples of coincidental (or not?) timing.

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Website Creation

I did this website mostly with Macromedia Dreamweaver, and Adobe Photoshop with Image Ready. But I’ve also done a little HTML from scratch. You can create a website that way real cheap by learning the lessons in the free online tutorials by Joe Burns, Ph.D.. There’s even lessons on Java and much more!

I’d also like to recommend some books: The Dreamweaver 4 Bible by Joseph W. Lowery and HTML For The World Wide Web by Elizabeth Castro. For those of you who really no nothing about starting a web site, including how to design one you must read The Non-Designer’s Web Book by Robin Williams (no, not the comedian), which will take you from the very beginnings all the way to posting your first site. (These 3 book links will take you to their pages at Amazon.com who has terrific prices on them).

The Web Page Design for Designers — Lots of excellent tips and essays on web page design.

Dynamic Drive — Lots of great free DHTML scripts you can use on your website. If you’re lazy like me, these are an easy way to make your creation a lot of fun!

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Comic Strip Links

Bungo and Rusti — An extremely well-designed site by James Anderson with hilarious cartoons with a Star Wars theme. Plus sections with sketches, 3-d renderings, and paintings. I’m proud to call this genius a friend. Feel free to harass him into adding more adventures to it.

For Better Or For Worse — Catch up with the archive of all the strips or get a look behind-the-scenes of this well-written, well-drawn, and award-winning strip from the talented Canadian cartoonist Lynn Johnston. It’s also one of the rare strips where the characters age with each year (as opposed to strips like Hi and Lois where the kids and adults have stayed the same age for decades). And despite her busy schedule, Lynn will answer every piece of fan mail she gets, whether it’s by e-mail or regular mail.

Ninjai — A terrific animated story exclusively on the web. Flash plug-in required.

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Fun Fun Fun

David Letterman — includes Top 10 Lists from last night to all the nights before, plus unused ones.

Peter Pan’s Home Page — Yikes! This is one twisted website! My jaw dropped as I perused it. This is not a website about the Disney cartoon or the books. It’s not dirty or anything, but let me know what you think of it when you check it out. Sheryl, where did you ever find this one???

Emo Phillips — My brother Mike introduced me to this brilliant, weird, and very funny comedian. Whip up some cole slaw and enjoy his site.

Astronomy Picture of the Day — An incredible new photo every day guaranteed to install awe.

Creepy Clyde — My very talented friend, Clyde Brown, has a revamped site highlighting his incredible voiceovers and his terrific illustrations, not to mention a special section on his alter ego, Creepy Clyde!

CidTalk.com — This jam-packed and well-designed site has it all — movie reviews, art, art interviews, photos, informative articles, and a ton of great links. This site will keep you busy for a long time!

Cortney’s Sun Spot — This site’s been “brightening the web since 1996.” Isn’t it about time you checked it out?

Lurid.com — I love the short movies you can view on this site that were created by filmmaker Wayne Allan Harold, who’s also in the process of filming a documentary of one of my favorite comic artists P. Craig Russell. There’s also photos and other merriment to be had, as well as discussion forums.

Spark! Communications — Award-winning design services, a fun-filled attitude, and cool links can be found here at my good friend Sherri’s site. Guaranteed to wipe out mediocrity in any projects she’ll create for you!

Pie Or Die! — How can I describe this site? First, seemingly random people (like me) get “pied” resulting in their pictures displayed for our entertainment. Then there’s the many cool links on it. See it anyway you like — just see it!

Sir Graves Ghastly.com — Just in time for Halloween, Keith Milford (who also created the Vintage Detroit TV & Movie Board) has created a new site dedicated to Detroit’s greatest horror movie host. Relive those years by immersing yourself in the fun had here. Happy Haunting!

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Manly Links

Restore your deck in one day! — The Glenn Haege Master Handyman website has these instructions on how to strip, brighten, and seal your outdoor deck in one day. I did it last year and was thrilled with it. The company that makes the products is Bio-Wash and they have been very helpful over the phone. I was so impressed, I had to have a link to all this.

The Man’s Garden — Go ahead, you pansies — get your gardening inspirations from Martha Stewart! But all you real he-men should check out this website to make yourself a very masculine garden and show the neighbors who rules your outdoors.

A Story Of One Banner — There’s more than skill require to endure the rigors of soccer — there’s the politics too! Martin B. Tatuch wrote this essay about a banner he made for a Ukrainian soccer game that didn’t sit well with everyone at the match.

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Discussion Forums

Vintage Detroit TV and Movie Board — Keith Milford set up this great discussion board that talks about the fun stuff of Detroit TV and movie lore like Sir Graves Ghastly, The Ghoul, Rita Bell, Faygo commercials, Bill Bonds, Michigan drive-in theaters, and a lot more. It’s not a place for debates, but more for sharing memories of watching TV & movies in Metro Detroit.

Criterion Collection Forum — I’ve raved about Criterion Collection DVDs many times. Now you can join me in your delight at these well-crafted DVDs on this new forum dealing exclusively with the Criterion Collection (DVD or laserdisc).

The Lurid.com Forum — Wayne Alan Harold, P. Craig Russell. Toby Radloff, Will Pfeifer, Jay Geldhof, Robery Ullman, and Mark Ricketts have a new home for their lively discussion board. If you were already a member of their old forum, you’ll have to re-register. But those talented nutcases are worth it.

The Martin-Scorsese.net Discussion Board — It’s back! Derek Soviak’s excellent forum dealing with news and discussion on Martin Scorsese and his films.

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What do you have to eat around here?

Bowers Harbor Winery — Located in that skinny peninsula between the Leelenau Peninsula and Petosky, they make their own wine from the grapes grown on their vineyards. If you ever find yourself in the area, make it a point to visit them and sample some of their delicious variety of wines.

Detroit’s Delicacies — A very subjective list of best food and drink you can find in the Metropolitan Detroit area. I like this site a lot, but I may be a tad prejudiced since I created it. I don’t update it enough, but I stand by the choices I’ve made on it so far. You don’t know Metro Detroit if you haven’t sampled the places and products featured here.

Ice Scream! — When I found out I was lactose-intolerant a few years ago, I found it was easy to rid myself of the symptoms. All I had to do was avoid dairy products. Unfortunately that included ice cream. Now I don’t think anyone can easily give that up, so over the years I discovered different solutions to still being able to eat it. I created this website with my discoveries to help anyone else out there with this condition.

Tony Packo’s — The restaurant whose coneys were made famous on the TV show M*AS*H. Every visit to Toledo should include a stop here, not just for their delicious coneys, but also for their terrific Hungarian food. Make a point to check out the autographed hot dog buns on the walls.

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How to thank John for such a terrific website

If you love this website so much that you feel you must shower me with constant gifts, don’t only shop at Saks. There’s plenty to be found for everyone you love to buy for at Archie McPhee’s.

Books are also a great idea, and you can use this link to search for any used book you may want.

Feel free to bring a six-pack (or two) of Spaten Optimator for us to share every time you visit.

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Miscellaneous Links

Management and Marketing Services — Noteworthy not only because they have a web page that features me, but also because their steady paychecks keep me out of street gangs.

These are just a few links, but I always seem to be adding more here and there. Let me know if you have any favorite links.

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