Steve's Fun Links

Send me your suggestions and recommendations.
 

Amusing Places on the Web

The Classics:

Dancing Baby - Although personally I've never been a big fan of Dancing Baby, I've certainly gotten my share of email attachments over the years, and anything that makes it to prime time television, has to be considered classic. (psst...hey...yeah you...come on over to the dark side, it's better here, er, well it used to be. Can anybody tell me whatever happened to the "baby must die" page?)

Hampster Dance - Now this I did think was cute the first time I saw it. Then came the variations*--Fish Dance and Cow Dance, There was even a sacrilegious Jesus Dance which I'm sure will offend most Christians. I even found a combination Jesus AND Hampster dance page! Now we're starting to see pages of Dancing Smiley Faces, Eerie Eyeballs, and who knows what all will come next. As a matter of fact, the Animated Dancing Pages Web Ring, at last count included over 712 "Dancing" pages. But it all started with Hampster Dance, so, I'm awarding it "Classic" status. (Someone please correct me if I'm wrong about that!)  By the way, Hampster spelled with a "p" because it's actually named for a real hamster named "Hampton."

• Update on the Hampster Dance page- It's been upgraded and expanded considerably and now has other characters, other dances, CDs, a music video, and will probably sell T-shirts and mugs if they haven't already.

"I Kiss You!!!!!" -- The Incredible Mahir Cagri Story - In late 1999, what started as an innocent personal web page turned into a world wide phenomenon, the end of which we maybe haven't yet seen. It was reported on television and in news periodicals, here in the U.S. as well as abroad. My prediction is Mahir himself will someday soon appear on a national television show. Just you watch! Letterman? O'Brien?

In a nutshell, I first heard of Mahir on October 28, 1999 when the URL of his web site arrived in my email "in" box (thanks Amanda!). Then came the "Shockwave version." A few days later the original site disappeared, replaced by a disclaimer message. He turned up again (thanks Chuck!), only this time the real Mahir explained the bizarre turn of events that led to his cult celebrity status. His original page is also still intact, albeit with a different service provider (and URL). You can still see them all by following the hotlinks here:

The Page that Started It All - Start here to see Mahir's page as we came to love it. (A new URL, but the exact same page.)
The "Shocking" Mahir - It's taken to the next level with this Shockwave production. Must use the Shockwave Plug-in to view.
This is actually the second version of this, it now includes credit to the author at the end, and the words "To Have" have been removed after the words "I Like..." Methinks first version slightly better, but this is almost exactly the same. And the author DOES deserve credit for this.
Mahir's current Web Site - The Mahir sensation is alive, if not quite as sensational.
Mahir Is Gone - What you'll now see at the original location.
In His Own Words - Mahir himself tells his truly heartwarming story.
Salon Magazine Report - an article by Janelle Brown in this Internet Magazine offers a great synopsis of the Mahir Sensation.

A good question I've heard many times, "Is this for real?" The intriguing answer may be somewhere between "Yes" and "No," and the further questions, "Who cares?" and "Does it Matter Now Anyway?" Personally I believe the Real Mahir is genuine. Stay tuned, the saga continues...

And boy, continue it does!...

eTour sponsored an American tour for Mahir, he has been profiled in, among others, Time, USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, People, Salon.com, Forbes.com, as well as newspapers around the world. Naturally you would expect such a celebrity to have a fan club, and whaddaya know...so there is...a Mahir Fan Club where you can keep up with all the latest in the World of Mahir.

December 16, 1999, the San Francisco Chronicle had Mahir's picture on the front page and a lead feature in the Datebook Section.

December 21, 1999, Mahir appeared on Comedy Central's The Daily Show.

There are Mahir songs, a Mahir Portal (no longer active) with all kinds of Mahir links and resources, a Mahir Webring, and of course, a Dancing Mahir (see above section on "Dancing" pages). And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps the best summation of the Mahir phenomenon is this story from Mahir's own web site. Long live Mahir!!

Some of My Favorites:

Burp Me is a real "gas" of a site. Crude? You bet! You've been warned! I found Mark's (shown as "Homegrown tasty") and Enrico's especially funny.

Going Down - A wav file tune concerning memorable events in recent history. Not "G" rated but great to download and keep. Be advised this is a 1348K file and could take quite awhile to load, especially with slower connections (but worth it).

  The Dilbert Zone of course.

  Joe Cartoon, hilariously sick!
 

Music

There's so many "music" places on the web that I don't have a clue where to begin. Suggestions are welcome hint hint. Also, visit my special (so far tiny) Music Page. Here's a few to start with:

Peter White is an incredible guitarist. If you've never heard this guy's music, you really should give a listen if you get the chance. You've probably heard his guitar, since he was with the Al Stewart band during the "Year of the Cat" days. But you can find out more at his web site. By the way, at least one of our local Bay Area radio stations, KKSF, still plays lots of Peter White's music.

Jazziz Magazine - Started in 1983, Jazziz became the first magazine to offer a CD with each issue. For a limited time, you can get a free CD by registering at their web site.
 

San Francisco Bay Area Media

Television Stations:
 

KTVU	- Channel 2	FOX	Oakland
KRON	- Channel 4	IND	San Francisco
KPIX	- Channel 5	CBS	San Francisco
KGO	- Channel 7	ABC	San Francisco
KQED	- Channel 9	PBS	San Francisco
KNTV	- Channel 11	NBC	San Jose
KDTV	- Channel 14	UNI	San Francisco (no official web site as of 4/20/03))
KBWB	- Channel 20	WB	San Francisco
KTSF	- Channel 26	IND	San Francisco
KICU	- Channel 36	IND	San Jose
KBHK	- Channel 44	UPN	San Francisco

Radio Stations:

KDFC 102.1 FM - I start with this station because I actually used to work there for a time some years ago. In fact, that's where I was at exactly 5:04 P.M. October 17, 1989. Does anybody recognize that particular time and date? KDFC is still considered one of the premier classical radio stations in these here United States. I met a couple of good friends who worked there at the time, Tyler Phelps and Bill O'Connell. However, the station was bought and sold several times by various media conglomerates! and neither Tyler nor Bill still work there. KDFC is currently owned by Bonneville International Corporation. Tune in and listen if you're in the area.

KKSF 103.7 FM - This is one of my favorite local stations. They play what they call "smooth jazz" but I'm not sure how much "true jazz" is in the music they play. The format is similar to what is turning into a fairly common style throughout the country, a sort of blend of pop, new age, light jazz, and some world music, with a touch of old standards for flavor. My brother calls it "yuppie jazz" and I'm hard pressed to find a better description.

KFOG 104.5 FM (97.7 in San Jose) - continues to be the great classic rock station it has been since it changed from the "beautiful music" format in the early 80's. Their "10 at 10" show hosted by Dave Morey on weekday mornings is a work of art! And every Friday at 5:00p, even in these days and times, they religiously play "Smoke Two Joints" by The Toyes to start off the Weekend Salute and the Attitude Adjustment Hour, just as they've done for about 20 years.
*Listen to KFOG live over the Internet by clicking on the yellow button in the lower left of their home page.

KGO 810 AM is the most listened to radio station in Northern California, if not the entire state. It's a News-Talk format and they do it extremely well (albeit with tons of commercials!). One of my favorite talk show hosts, Ronn Owens, (weekdays 9:00a-12:00n) has his own web site. Another KGO personality you may be familiar with is Dr. Dean Edell. His show originates at the KGO studios in San Francisco, but it is syndicated and broadcast far and wide. His web site HealthCentral.com is extremely popular, and has lots of interesting and entertaining information. I recommend a visit to the good doctor.
*Listen to KGO live over the Internet by clicking on the broad red button in the upper right of their home page.

KCBS 740 AM - All news, all the time. The place to go for news when KGO's "talking."

KNBR 680 AM - The Sports Leader.
*Listen to KNBR live over the Internet by clicking on the white Sports Radio button in the upper right of their home page.
 

Radio Personalities

Dr. Demento - Simply one of my favorites. See fellow fan Josh Lehan's site for a list of radio stations that broadcast Dr. Demento on the Web. You can hear the Dr. Demento programs from the past several weeks over the Internet 24/7 by visiting fellow fan Jeff Shippen's broadcast on Live365.com.

Paul Harvey - Since I don't necessarily agree with so many of Paul's political and moral views, it's surprising that I listen to him daily. Yet I find the way he delivers his News and Comments irresistible. With all due respect, he is the master and towering giant in the industry as the most listened to man in radio. No matter what your opinions, his storytelling of The Rest of The Story is engaging and enlightening, as well as just plain entertaining.

Garrison Keillor - Speaking of storytelling, the host of A Prairie Home Companion is one of radio's great storytellers of all time.
 

Live Camera Sites

The Amazing Fish Cam - No list is complete without this link.

Tommy's List of Live Cam Worldwide is the King of Live Cam lists. If you find a more comprehensive list, by all means, let me know.

AfriCam - Nine cameras placed at various locations in the wilds of Africa. See animals as they should be seen - in their natural environment, on their terms. An amazing site! Alternatively, you may visit the International Site which has virtually the same images.

PIX Page - KPIX Television/Radio station live camera shots of San Francisco.

And finally, since I grew up in Nebraska, many moons ago:

Star City WebCam - Downtown Lincoln. Click to enlarge.

Lincoln Cam - Shot of the Lincoln skyline from Bryan Memorial Hospital.
 

Online Shopping

There's unlimited places on the 'Net to do shopping online. Below are just a few interesting places to get you started.

Steve's Web Stop Web Shops - Great bargains at my newly opened store, currently specializing in toys and computers (toys for the young at heart). Also, there are the holiday shops -- Thanksgiving and Christmas, and even a Halloween Shop that's open all year. Window shopping is strongly encouraged.

Books: Amazon.com is obviously the first place to start with any online shopping list. The world's largest book store and a smash success story.

CDs and Tapes: CDnow.com, for all your music. Everyone enjoys these kinds of gifts too.

Coffee: The Bad Ass Coffee Company offers fine Hawaiian and Kona coffee beans. Besides coffee, the site offers mugs, T-shirts, candy, and other assorted "Bad Ass" stuff.

Wine: Virtual Vineyards features wine (of course), fine food, and gourmet gifts.

Gourmet Roasted Soybeans: Super Soynuts offered by Lee Seed Company near Inwood, Iowa are some of the most interesting and tasty new food items I've tried in a long long time. I happened to get a sampler gift pack for Christmas and I can't stop munching on them. And they're HEALTHY!

Hot Sauce: HotHotHot claims to be the Net's original hot sauce shop. A "cool" place to visit! And if you like the "hot" concept, you'll want to try The Ring of Fire, a Web Ring list of online HOT sites.

Tipis: Don Strinz Tipi products include a broad range of primitive shelters, canvas goods, and other related items. You might be interested to know that Don Strinz Tipi provided the tents and other canvas goods for the set of the recreated Fort Hayes in the movie Dances With Wolves.

Space Suits: SpaceProps has just the thing if you have an extra $5,000 or $6,000 you don't know how to spend.

Robots (WHAT!? yes, robots!): Mondo-tronics, just down the road in San Rafael, boasts the World's Biggest Collection of Miniature Robots & Supplies! You must see it to believe it.

Doggie Poo Poo: DogDoo.com. Yup. Seriously. Somebody is actually selling it and somebody must be buying it. Disgusting, but, well, I offer strange variety here.

Other Services

The following are Web Sites that I would particularly like to promote, or just feel are interesting and worthwhile places to visit. I heartily encourage you to see what's at the other end of these links.

James Arthur Vineyards - Wines? In Nebraska?!! Surprise surprise. Yes, I would never have believed it had I not actually visited this winery in the middle of the breadbasket. But guess what. These wines are excellent! Hey, I live close to wine country in California, in fact with a vineyard right next door. I know good wine. Okay, I grew up in Nebraska, but I would never recommend these wines if they were no good. In fact they are starting to get some critical attention. If you are ever in the area or passing through, stop by and try these wines. And if you can't visit in person, they will ship to many states. You'll be as impressed as I was. And probably as surprised too.

Cuthills Vineyards - As long as we're talking Nebraska wines, Cuthills claims to be Nebraska's first winery. I have never visited this winery nor tasted the wines. Can anybody give me a review?

Wines Across America - If you thought California had a monopoly on wine in the U.S. or even if you include Oregon, Washington, and maybe New York, you'd better visit this Web Site. Here you will discover a world of wines all across the country. Find one in your state. You may be surprised to find a winery right in your own back yard!

The Marin French Cheese Company - A local cheese factory a few miles out of town in a beautiful country setting with picnic grounds and a duck pond. Although the address is Petaluma, it's actually closer to Novato. The Rouge Et Noir label is familiar fare in supermarkets all over the Northern California area. You can order cheese at this web site and have it shipped anywhere in the USA. For the adventurous, I recommend the Schloss Cheese. With a dark bread and dark beer, you can't get any better.

PubCrawler - A list of Microbreweries, Brewpubs, and Beer Bars in the U.S. and Canada, and reviews supplied by the site's visitors. Hey, plan a tour. Just make sure you're not driving!

Eating San Francisco - Not quite the same as The Eggplant That Ate Chicago or The Cockroach That Ate Cincinnati, but if you're in the Northern California or Nevada area, do stop by this site before you go out to eat. Sacramento, the Lake Tahoe region, and Reno are also included. Hollywood and Las Vegas will be added soon. There is info on local wineries, breweries, coffee houses, lodging, and many other services. (By the way, I was referencing a couple novelty songs that most of you are probably too young to remember anyway.)
 

Information and Reference

United States Postal Service - The official US Postal Service site. Many useful features including the Zip Code Lookup and Address Information page that, not only lets you find the zip code for any address, but also gives you the official post office standardized address for it as well.

555-1212 is a great lookup service that helps you find telephone numbers, reverse telephone number searches, email addresses, and more. Valuable bookmark I use constantly!

Mapquest - One of the best "Map" sites on the Web.

The Real-Time Weather Network - Instant, Up-to-the-Second Weather Conditions 24 Hours a Day.
 

Personal Home Pages

Corey Kinnan - Not a personal site per se, it's my own site to honor my nephew, who won state wrestling championship.
Dave Israel - My bigger younger brother.
Chuck Strinz - One of my best friends for the longest time (since about 8th grade!).
Will Strinz - Chuck's son, age ten, has built a nice little web site all on his own.
Paul Madsen - My former brother-in-law and still good friend.
Lilet Quijano - A former co-worker at Red Sail, now we're both elsewhere.
Angela R. - A chance encounter when she helped out with a package delivery problem. She deserves a promotion!
Janie Lo - My UNIX instructor at LearniT!, Inc., the lovely Janie Lo (take a bow).
Jack Hurst - BigSound DJ out of Sacramento.
Mike Antonelli - Mike's Rest Area. Open 24 Hours. You deserve a break.

By the way, this brings up a good point. If you have a personal web site, let me know about it and I'll be happy to put up a link from this page. I think personal web sites are one of the most fun aspects about the World Wide Web.

Which brings up yet another good point. How about a list of Web Sites with lists of Personal Web Site LINKS!? The following is the beginning of that list, which I hope will grow. Please contribute any more you know about.

Sites of Personal Site Links

Marin Personal Web sites - Links to Marin County (CA) residents with personal home pages.
Mensa Personal Home Pages - American Mensa, Ltd., list of members' personal home pages.
Hotline Personal Home Pages - Hotline Online Services (Australian online service provider).
Digital Citizen Personal Web Pages - Digizen, Inc., an Eastern US Internet Service Provider.
Writch People's Home Pages - This one's pretty cool. Try Timothy Leary's. This link actually points to a frame in it's own window. Here's the link for the main Writch Page.
 

The Places I've Lived

IOWA
1953-1954 Oskaloosa
1954-1956 Waterloo
NEBRASKA
1956-1961 Palmer
1961-1964 Benkelman
1964-1971 Milford
1971-1973 Cozad (School Year 1971-72 at college in University Park, Iowa)
1973-1974 Hastings
1974-1979 Lincoln
CALIFORNIA
1979-1979 Daly City
1979-1988 San Francisco
1988-1994 San Bruno
1994-Present Novato

Equal time for my wife Nancy:
Elwood, Nebraska - Where she was born and raised. Also see the hometown newspaper at:
Elwood Bulletin Online.
 

A few other pages

The following are links to some of my other web pages. These are either pages that are still in development or deal with my business; some are basically the same page only on different servers. Each one has a slightly different look, subtle as they may be. As always, changes are in the works constantly.

Steve's Web Stop - Xoom Edition
Steve's Web Stop - NetTaxi Edition
Wealth & Freedom - Concentric
Wealth & Freedom - AOL
Wealth & Freedom - Conk!World
Wealth & Freedom - Tripod
TheGlobe
FreeYellow