SquawkRadio

Fortunately for your eyes and my cellulite, this isn’t a story like Connie’s legendary water-skiing blog.  As you guys have probably noticed from the time I spend hanging out here in your charming company, I don’t really do that much internet surfing.  Oh, there’s the occasional Ebay binge and the ritualistic and masochistic reading of my Amazon reviews, but overall, there are probably only 5-6 sites I visit on a regular basis.  So I thought I’d share some of my favorites with you.  (And I’m sure you won’t be surprised to discover that most of them are entertainment-based.)

The Internet Movie Database
This is an amazing site that will put an end to so many heated arguments between you and your spouse.  Say you’re watching an episode of LAW AND ORDER and a familiar face pops up.  You insist that the actor is the red-shirted security guy who got the life sucked out of him by an alien entity from STAR TREK: Episode #12,517.  Your husband insists that he just happens to look like your second cousin Earl (last seen floating face down in a bathtub full of hooch at the family reunion) and that’s why he looks so familiar.  If you check the credits for his name, then rush to the computer and put him into the IMDB search engine, you’ll get a complete record of EVERY role the actor ever played on television or the big screen.  This can result in a great amount of gloating on your part.  (Or on your husband’s part if he has an incredible memory for faces and voices like my husband does.) You can also track backward by looking up a movie or TV show and getting a list of the cast.  (http://www.imdb.com)

Rotten Tomatoes
If you’ve spent any time at all on the internet, you know that it’s now impossible for you to form your own opinion about a movie/book/CD without someone else telling you what you’re supposed to think of it.  Once you get bored with reading my Amazon reviews, head over to Rotten Tomatoes.  It’s the place to go AFTER you’ve seen a movie, not before.  The site features reviews from major critics and minor ones, all gathered together on one convenient page.  (http://www.rottentomatoes.com)

Television Without Pity
And who wants to watch TV anymore without an accompanying dose of snark?  Television Without Pity features message boards and forums for all of your favorite shows, especially those firmly embedded in the current pop culture like 24, LOST, HEROES and SMALLVILLE (and your favorite soaps!) It’s pretty much a free for all but the posters tend to be smarter and funnier (and slightly more profane) than those on other message boards.  (A recent recap of a 24 episode made me spew Diet Coke out of my nose.) (http://www.televisionwithoutpity.com)

Despair, Inc
I’m sure many of you have heard of that inspiring mall and catalogue staple Successories, where motivational prints with pictures of sailboats at sunset assure you that if you’ll just buy this overpriced print of a sailboat at sunset and hang it on your office wall, you’ll somehow be motivated to succeed (or at least work hard enough to afford a sailboat you can sail at sunset.) Despair, Inc.’s slogans are: “Motivation.  The Futile Quest” and “Discover the Power to Be Your Worst.” At Despair, Inc., you can buy a print of a salmon swimming upstream...directly into the mouth of a bear with “The Journey of a Thousand Miles Sometimes Ends Very, Very Badly” as your new inspirational slogan.  And with graduation right around the corner, one of my personal favorites is a picture of a bag of French Fries with the logo: “Not Everyone Gets To Be An Astronaut When They Grow Up.” Could there be a better graduation gift for your deadbeat nephew or niece?  (http://www.despair.com)

Victorian Trading Company
I decided we should finish up today with a touch of class and this shop has it in spades.  If you write historicals, I highly suggest you go to this website and sign up for ALL of their free catalogues because just looking at their merchandise inspires me.  You can buy period furnishings, clothes, greeting cards and tons of gorgeous doodads.  My personal favorite--you can get your own tiara and sceptre for only $29/apiece.  So now when my husband and I are arguing about who appeared on episode #34,567 on LAW AND ORDER, I can just point my sceptre at him and command him to pretend I’m right.  (http://www.victoriantradingco.com)

So how about YOU?  We’d love for you to share some of your favorite and quirkiest websites on the net?  (Besides Squawk Radio, of course.) Where do you like to visit and why?