As required by Al Gore, creator of the Internet, here is my links page. Let me know if you have any links you would like to suggest, or if one of the links is dead. There’s nothing that I hate more than a list of dead links.

Since this is my list, here are the writers who you should read, simply to make you a better person. If these works don’t make you a better person, hey, at least you can sound good doing Jeopardy at home.

Nathanael West – Author of "Miss Lonelyhearts" and "The Day of the Locust." Very under-appreciated author, one that F. Scott Fitzgerald held in fairly high esteem.

Jack Kerouac – Jack has finally gained some literary acceptance. There are far too many individual websites for me to list, but the directory link here should be a good starting place. Barring that, go get a copy of "On the Road."

Richard Brautigan – A warning, if you think "Trout Fishing in America" is really about how to catch trout, you’re in for a bit of a surprise. Don’t pass up the short stories, especially "The Revenge of the Lawn." Also check out his poetry on this site

William Trowbridge – A poet you need to read. I’m biased, as he was a professor of mine at Northwest Missouri State University. One of the best poets I know for using humor effectively, and not in the "hey I know a limerick" fashion. Order "Enter Dark Stranger" at Amazon.com.

And for those of you who want a quick link to some other good stuff online, check out Bartelby Great Books Online. I recommend the F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sherwood Anderson and T.S. Eliot.

What would a link list on writing be without Strunk’s Elements of Style. Bone up on the way to actually write, then pretty much ignore it as I do.

There are quite a number of good newspapers available online. I’m listing the Des Moines Register first because it’s the newspaper I subscribe to in good old black-and-white (and occasional spot-color.) For a national perspective, you can’t go wrong with the New York Times. I also enjoy the Chicago Tribune, but for the best news around on the internet, you have to read The Onion. And I wouldn’t be a good Bearcat Alumni if I didn’t reference the Northwest Missouri State University Missourian. Always check out the Stroller.

Then there’s the biggies, the New York Public Library and the Library of Congress. I just realized that for somebody who hates the New York Yankees there are a lot of New York links here. Oh well.

Ah, my true love. As not everybody agrees with my team of choice, one of the best places to start is the official home of Major League Baseball. From here you can navigate to every team’s official homepage. My team of choice? The Atlanta Braves.

Even if you’re not a Braves fan (Attention: New York Yankee gloating email will be laughed at for misspellings and grammar, then tossed in the rubbish bin.) the site that you’ve got to go to is Ebbets Field Flannels. They’re probably the best place to purchase reproductions of some of the coolest uniforms, hats, and jackets ever made. Not a large major league selection as of yet, but the Negro Leagues, Minor Leagues, and international leagues are presented wonderfully. Order just so you can keep getting their catalog. I’m still waiting for my wife to let me order that great 1957 Braves hat…but you’ve probably seen their gear worn by people such as Spike Lee and other celebrities. It’s not cheap, but then again, is anything that’s actually made right ever cheap?

Looking for anything else baseball? Check out John Skilton’s Baseball Links. If it isn’t here, it probably doesn’t exist.

And probably my favorite baseball publication, Baseball Weekly. Good insights, interviews, and every box score for every game.

And here’s a smattering of everything else, in a quick format since I’ve already rambled on for quite a while.

Lum the Mad Want to know what's going on in the world of electronic games? Try here. Warning: The message boards are not for the faint of heart.

Monty Python Net Anything you'll ever want to know is here. Easier to use than Summarizing Proust.

LosersDotOrg You know that there are losers on the internet. Here's the easy way to find them.

Allmusic.com I like the UBL, listed below, but this is one of the greatest time sinks known to the internet. Info on just about every band, song and album every recorded. Also a nifty section on influences, followers and other cool things that you need to know about a band.

The REM Headquarters The official home of REM. It's only $10 to join the fanclub. After waiting approximately 15 years, I finally ponied up the bucks.

Ask Jeeves! – Pretty good natural language search engine.

Dogpile – Meta-search engine.

Hollywood Stock Exchange – Be a day-trader with free money on movies and movie stars. It’s free.

The Ultimate Band List – If your band doesn’t exist on here, they might not exist. Then again, I never have been able to locate any info on Let’s Active.

The Internet Movie Database – Good reference without having to sit through some moron on the local news.

Des Moines Radar Loop – Just in case you’re wondering what the weather is like in Iowa.

KCCI TV-8 – The best local TV station. They have a pretty good weather page with radar too.

Tom Waits Homepage – If you don’t know Tom’s stuff, you need to. One of the best songwriters alive. His voice is an acquired taste, though (one friend says that he sounds like he came out of the womb smoking unfiltered cigarettes.)

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