Oink, oink! Oink,oink,oink! Oink,oink! Oink!

Dandy and Amusing Places to Go and Things to See!
Note: These links may be outdated in the archived or CD versions of Mr. Eha's Place.

Freddy Series and Book-Related Links

  • Why you would want horribly biased information on Walter R. Brooks and his Freddy the Pig book series is quite beyond me, but if you absolutely must, go right to the mother lode, the official Friends of Freddy Site. (But don't tell 'em I sent you.)

  • Of course there's a Wikipedia article about Freddy the Pig. Got anything to add to it?

  • To find out about the publisher of the entirely-reprinted Freddy series, go to the Overlook Press Home Page.

  • A nicely done Freddy tribute page that made its first appearance on August 20, 2006, may be found here: Freddy the Pig

  • You actually want to see what the old Knopf editions look like?! Well...all right, I guess.... That’s completely up to you. Check out Jill Morgan’s Freddy page.

  • On April 13, 1998, NPR’s All Things Considered ® presented a six-minute segment called The Return of Freddy the Pig.” You’ll need the RealAudio Player (which you can download from the NPR site) to listen to this six-minute presentation. Who knows how long it will be available in the archives, so better hurry! The file was still there the last time I checked on January 20, 2008.

  • Completely desperate for the old Knopf editions of the Freddy books? Recently won the lottery? Here are some book search engines you can employ to find used Knopf Freddies: Bookfinder, ABE, and Bibliofind. Be prepared for major heart palpitations and a rising gorge when you see the stupefyingly absurd prices some dealers are asking! In fact, to keep things in perspective, you ought to read A Tirade and an Ode at this site before venturing forth into dealer territory.

  • Now that the Overlook Freddies have been on the market for a while, they are showing up as remaindered stock here and there. One place you might check for Overlooks (and the old Knopf editions) is eBay. Here's one for a search on Freddy. Good luck! Another is Overstock.com. Or you could try a power search at Hamiltonbook.com.

  • You say your literary life involves more than just reading and re-reading the grubby Freddy books you've managed to find at the library book sales and the Salvation Army store over the last ten years? Perhaps you are interested in other juvenile series books? If so, this site may be of interest to you: The Children's Literature Web Guide.

  • Why not go to Wikipedia and browse the List of Children's Literature Authors? You'll find Walter R. Brooks listed right above the nice lady who wrote Puss in Boots.

  • You want new books? You don't want to pay an arm and/or a leg? Here's a service that helps you compare prices from a number of booksellers: Best Book Buys. Also, try the AddAll search on the Table of Contents

  • Some keen bookstores to visit in person or online: Books and Books, City Lights Books, Elliott Bay Book Co., Powell's Books, Prairie Lights Books, Strand Bookstore, Tattered Cover Bookstore, and That Bookstore in Blytheville.

Utilitarian Links

Let's be perfectly clear. I can't predict and don't guarantee that the software listed below is going to work okey-dokey on your machine. As with just about all software, there may be glitches and/or security risks associated with any of the programs listed below. It's up to you to investigate the products and take all the sensible precautions. If you don't know what "sensible precautions" means by now, you'd better stop downloading stuff off the Internet pronto and find out before you seriously mess your system up. Start by visiting the following sites before you resume your downloading activity.

 

Kills Some Martian Viruses Dead!

Mr. Eha's Interplanetary Hard Drive Cleaner (Free Home Version). Don't delay! Download today! Might work to help relieve symptoms of certain Martian computer viruses! Conditionally guaranteed! Works best when used as part of a conscientiously applied regimen of computer hygiene including, but not limited to, the following free real programs, all of which I myself use w/o problems on a fully patched XP machine: Microsoft Security Essentials, CCleaner, Malwarebytes, and SUPERAntiSpware. I also highly recommend the excellent and free LastPass Password Manager and Neo's SafeKeys. Note: There is no security program that will protect you 100% against your own stupidity or lack of good judgment.
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ZOHO Why would you fork over your hard-earned dollars for office software in a shrinkwapped box when you can use Zoho's completely free online office productivity suite? Do I use it myself? Yes, I do!
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Google Apps Quite a number of nifty freebies here, too, my current favorites being Google Earth and Picassa.
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Firefox Logo You're not stuck with Internet Explorer. Why not take a look at Firefox today? It has beaucoup useful extensions and substantial security features! If you'd like to check out the features of a number of freeware browsers like Firefox, Chrome, Opera, Maxthon, Flock, etc. go here.
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OO Logo You're not stuck with MS Office either. If you don't want to use Zoho, why not take a look at the OpenOffice.org alternative today? You will not believe all the features you get absolutely free!
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Kompozer Logo Kompozer, Nvu's "unofficial bug fix release," is an excellent open source web authoring program that, in my opinion, rivals the best commercial software...really. I wouldn't recommend it if I didn't use it myself. No knowledge of HTML is necessary to crank out your own site!
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Not So Utilitarian Links
Over 18,000 free ebooks are available at the Project Gutenberg site from which over two million ebooks are downloaded every month. What are you waiting for?
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South Bank University link

SBU's truly huge resource for bibliophiles, this archive lists bookstore after bookstore from the world over. Find hundreds and hundreds of "preowned" Freddy books with ease--mostly USA listings, as you might expect, but I've seen Freddies listed by Australian and Swedish booksellers, too. It's not all about Freddy books, of course. I was able to easily locate and purchase an obscure text on trilobites (my favorite extinct arthropod) at a most reasonable price. 
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TVparty.com link

Lucy's lost theme songs? The infamous Dorothy Gray Cold Cream commercial of 1955? Satan as a product spokesman for Lays Potato Chips? Romper Room Confidential? Who killed TV's Superman? The amazing 1964 fall season? All this and much , much more at TVparty.com!
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Googie architecture link

"Googie" is my favorite architectural style. "What's Googie?" you ask. "Googie architecture was born of the post-WWII car-culture and thrived in the 1950s and 1960s. Bold angles, colorful signs, plate glass, sweeping cantilevered roofs and pop-culture imagery captured the attention of drivers on adjacent streets." Check it out for yourself at SpaceAgeCity.
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Marlys Magazine link

and

Click Go!
In Association with Amazon.com

 

Marlys Magazine is a tribute to the brilliant cartoonist and novelist Lynda Barry, who draws and writes compellingly of the real, the near-real, and the surreal experiences of life, among other things. Use the search link I have thoughtfully provided on the left to search for her titles at Amazon.com. I suppose you could order your Freddy books from there, too, but I'd recommend Lynda's most recent book, 100 Demons, instead. It is truly a work of art on several levels. (Is it too obvious that I am a great fan of Ms. Barry's work?)
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Zippy the Pinhead link

Meet Zippy the Pinhead, who advises, "If you can't say something nice, say something surrealistic." Read the "Zippyisms" first and then forge on! "Are we having fun yet?" You bet! Will you, too, accept provolone into your life? Who knows! I'd start with fried bologna first, myself.
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Archie McPhee link

Archie McPhee & Company, the self-styled "Outfitters of Popular Culture," offers completely vulgar, yet somehow strangely attractive merchandise. Find the perfect gift here!
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Darwin Awards llink

"The Darwin Awards salute the improvement of the human genome by honoring those who accidentally kill themselves in really stupid ways." This is one of the Martians' consistently favorite sites, or so I gather through their telepathic emanations.
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Conelrad link

Ah, the 1950s! I'll bet you think it was the best of the last 100 decades, don't you. But, don't forget that this was the Cold War era, when little schoolchildren practiced crouching under their school desks to protect themselves from the flying glass caused by thermonuclear explosions! Want to learn more? Go to the Conelrad site. 
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Martian Weather Report link

The Daily Martian Weather Report, courtesy of the Mars Global Surveyor Radio Science Team. This resource is invaluable if you're planning your vacation on the Red Planet...
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A link to FlyPower®, "the only site on the Internet totally devoted to the intricacies and pursuit of fly powered avionics." Pages here include information on the FlyPower Model Airplane Kit ($4.95), historical FlyPower through the ages, how to catch an "engine," fly facts and other goodies, fly cryogenics (the fundamentals of "eternal life" for your engine), and engine maintenance.

If you want free plans, check out these complete schematics on Boy Scout Troop 117's Web site.
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The Delphion Gallery of Obscure Patents. Would you believe a bird diaper? a braille slot machine? a human slingshot machine? a self-containing enclosure for protection from killer bees? a combination bird trap and cat feeder? These and more at the gallery!
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"...Dumb Warnings, where you may see the consequences of numerous pointless lawsuits. This site is dedicated to helping companies fight this menace which is plaguing society today. In addition to Dumb Warnings, this site will also feature Dumb Instructions, Rules, and other information frequently placed on packages." Really, visit this place! You will not believe your eyes!
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"Welcome to the Death Clock™, the Internet's friendly reminder that life is slipping away... second by second." Come on, now. You're curious, aren't you? All things being equal and you do not expire in some accidental fashion, wouldn't you like to know how long you've got? For the best accuracy, do not overestimate your "mode" of existence. If you don't like the answer you get at Death Clock, maybe you'll be happier with the results from Death Forecast. Or maybe not.
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Subtly-Askew Museum link

This is but one of the many curiosities on exhibit at the Subtly-Askew Museum. What's so curious about a dead fly, you ask? You'll have to go to the museum to find out! From the Museum's homepage: "Dr." Subtly-Askew (b. 1842) made his fortune in the hard-edged world of manufacturing, and remains world-famous even today as the "Hasp King" of Cobbledecook, New York. Self-educated, highly demonstrative, humble, remarkable in every way, gifted with nearly supernatural quantities of kindliness, benevolence, and trust, survivor of at least two industrial and one post-industrial revolutions, he is the oldest and perhaps the least sceptical human being who has ever lived on the face of the earth. During the course of his long career as a voracious collector and accumulator of precious objects, he has given those who venerate him ample cause for thanks, and in 1926, as a token of their undying esteem, his grateful purchasing agents and employees presented him with the title ("Doctor") which still appears on the letterhead of his well-known mobile stationary."
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Just A Few More!

 

Bonus: If you go back to the top of the page and click on each of the little piggies, you will be taken to five more swell sites!

 

Quick Link

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