©
   Phil Gardner 2003-5
You are the weakest link, goodbye.
Websites which have received the highly coveted Phil Seal of Approval. And some of them without paying me too.

Note: For more links of a self-indulgent nature, see my blog.
Writing

Jon Dorf's Young Playwright's Page

This is by far the best page I've come across for new playwrights. It's full of practical down to earth advice, and every single word is worth reading ten times over. If you're thinking of writing a play, this should be your first stop.

Ian Pegler's ScriptMaker

This is the scriptwriting software I use. It's designed primarily for screenplays, but you're able to adapt the formatting to some extent, enabling you to produce other types of script if need be. There are other scriptwriting software packages out there with more features, but Scriptmaker has one major advantage over them - it's free. It does everything I need it to, and does it well, so what more can you ask.

BBC Writers Room

You can download 'Script Smart' from here, which is a free Word template I use for formatting play scripts. I still like to write in ScriptMaker, but afterwards I transfer my plays into Script Smart, just to keep theatre literary departments happy.

The Dramatic Exchange

This is a site where amateur playwrights can post their scripts with a view to getting them produced. It's the whole philosophy of this site which I love. The service is entirely free, run on a purely voluntary basis (they won't even accept donations), and they exercise no editorial control over the scripts they display. This means of course that the quality can vary widely, but it's the whole concept of 'access for all' that is laudable. No matter what your level of experience or ability, you can have your work displayed to a potential audience of millions.

ProPlay

This is identical to the Dramatic Exchange, with the exception that they only accept scripts which have been professionally produced. This is a drawback for the small time playwright, but has the advantage that the general standard is higher, making it a useful place to download and read the work of others. There's some good stuff on there, but I have to say, there are also a few scripts which make you seriously question the judgement of some theatre producers.

Espresso Stories

A website which publishes 25-word stories. So if you don't have time to read my micro fiction, try this instead. You'll find a few of my stories published here.

Wasted Network

A cool site of satirical writing and humour. My article 'Jail Babes' is published in their Guest Writers section.



Music

Hopes and Bodies

Is it self indulgent to link to your own websites...? Oh well. This is a site I created in 2001 about The Senators. It was the first website I ever created, and I was learning as I went, so it's not the most polished professional site in the world and there's a lot I'd do differently if I were to start creating it now. But at the time it was a big achievement for me, and I'm very proud of it. To my knowledge it's also the only Senators site on the web, so with no competition I can get away with just about anything. As well as making contact with Mick and Jim Kitson themselves, the biggest satisfaction for me has been to find that I'm far from unique in being a Senators fan. More than ten years after the band split up, there are still numerous people playing their records and looking for information on them, which is very nice to know.




SoundClick is a site which hosts music by thousands of artists, mostly unsigned amateurs, which is available to download for free. It's a great place to unearth undiscovered talent. And I'm not just saying that because my music is on there. Well ok, I am.

Phil's Finest Hour

There are times when I'd give my right arm to be a record company A & R man. Phil's Finest Hour are a young Australian band, currently unsigned, which is as inexplicable as it is unjust. Their music bears more than a passing resemblence to Ben Folds Five, which is probably why I like them, but they're far from just a cheap BFF rip off. These guys are producing some great music. So click on the link, download the songs, but when you sign them to your record label I want 10% ok?


Depression

NetDoctor UK Depression Community

Message boards, chat, articles, and an innovative diary system for people suffering from depression. There are a lot of good people there, and whether you contribute or not, reading what others have to say makes you realise you're not so different after all. Within ten minutes of my first visit I felt less like a freak, and more like a normal member of society. It's a cool place.

InsteadLaugh

Described on the title page as "Suicide Prevention, Depression Support, and Anxiety Panic Attacks ... with a sense of humor", this is a site after my own heart. It's written by a guy who's survived depression, and is able to offer the benefit of his experience in an entertaining way. It's not a site which makes cheap jokes at the expense of depressed people, or makes light of the illness in any way. It simply demonstrates that just because you're depressed doesn't mean you have to lose your sense of humour. Something I agree with wholeheartedly. And behind the humour there's some seriously good advice on offer here. I know a few healthcare professionals who could learn a lot from this guy.


Horse Racing

The Racing Post

I sometimes wonder at the wisdom of newspapers having websites like this. It's so good, and covers such a wealth of information, that I rarely feel the need to part with any money and buy the actual paper itself. So I'm sure they're losing customers, but hey, I'm not complaining. It also offers searchable databases on horses, jockeys, trainers, courses, and previous articles stretching back years. For a free website, it's outstanding.

At The Races

This is my other favourite source of racing information. You have to register and log in to access the full range of info, but that's free and painless. They also offer tips each day for every race run. On one Saturday a few weeks ago, if you'd put £10 on each of their tips, you'd have made a profit of over £900 for the day. And before you ask, no I didn't.




This is where I do most of my betting. It's a betting exchange as opposed to a traditional bookmaker, and has a few definite advantages. One is simply that you tend to get better odds, but another is that you can bet on a horse to place, rather than having to back it each way, which is something I like. I would have lost a fortune on Hawk Wing if I'd been forced to back him each way at short odds, but by betting on him to place, you can make a profit every time. Non-runners don't affect the place terms either, so in other words if a horse drops out of an 8 runner race, you still get paid on the first three. I don't know of any bookmaker which will do that. Quite simply, it's easier to make a profit at Betfair.



Shotley Gate
It's a sad and shocking fact that Shotley Gate has failed to become Britain's answer to Silicon Valley. Cows with laptops are less common than you might think. As a result I've had a hard time choosing my favourite local websites. But I'm not giving up yet...

ShotleyGate.com

Shotley Gate has arrived on the world wide web! Hurrah! Much kudos to Bert for setting up the site, which, amongst other things, finally proves my theory that the people of Shotley Gate need no excuse to dress up in ridiculous costumes and have their photo taken.

Shotley Peninsula Online

You have to admire these guys. It can't be easy trying to drag the Shotley Peninsula kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Especially with people like me living around the corner who'll take the piss at a moment's notice. But it's a good site, with a decent noticeboard system where the youth of today can put fat shouts out to fellow members of the Shotley Massive. I've no idea what any of that means, but it sounds like jolly good fun.

Note (9/4/04): Shotley Peninsula Online appears to have vanished into the ether.
I don't know if this is a permanent move, or if the site may reappear at some future date, but I had already heard that the webmasters weren't answering their e-mails any more, so I fear we may have seen the last of the Shotley Peninsula's brief flirtation with the worldwide web. So head on over to ShotleyGate.com and annoy Bert instead.




The all-new (well, at the time of writing) parish website for Shotley. The home page confidently declares "You can make things happen here", beneath which is a disclaimer just in case anyone actually believes that. But it's a very decent site for up-to-date local information and news, with details on how you (yes, you) can get involved in the Parish Plan. Although the photo of the village on the 'Shotley' page just manages to cut off my flat, which I'm not happy about.

The Shipwreck

I like The Shipwreck. And I'm not just saying that in the hope of wangling a free meal. Not at all. Well maybe just a little bit. But whether you're taking a girl out for lunch, or having a family meal with a 4 year old niece who decides to tell everyone she prefers Costa's coffee shop because they put marshmallows in the hot chocolate, The Shipwreck is a great place to eat. And I can personally recommend the Smuggler's Chicken.

Shotley Drama Group

Of course, the moment they read my play and tell me to get stuffed, this link is history. Although frankly, they've had a copy of 'Internet Cafe' since February 2003, and having totally blanked me ever since, they're already pushing their luck. I've heard of slow readers, but this is getting ridiculous. I tell you, another couple of years of blatant disregard for my talent, and I may decide I don't like them.

The Peter Marlin Story

An interesting website with a certain relevance to Shotley Gate. Albeit an undesirable one. If nothing else, it gives new meaning to the phrase "it's murder living here".

Miscellaneous Philsites

King Nicholas and the Copeman Empire

Official online residence of King Nicholas the First, England's other monarch. I was humbled and deeply honoured to be awarded an OCE in the King's 2005 New Year's Honours List, and named Blogger Laureate of the Copeman Empire, a position I've managed to retain to this day. But possibly only because Nick doesn't read any other blogs.

Kids Magic

We all have family members who are embarrassing, but there's definitely something wrong with the world when your Dad has his own website where he poses with a stuffed rabbit.

Millan Net

The homepage of Camilla Eriksson, cartoonist, illustrator and animator extraordinaire. I love her. In a non-threatening, platonic kind of way. A few bits of her artwork can be seen on this site. Her own site features thousands more. Visit it now. I insist.

Oxytocin Trust Spray

Now you can get people to trust you just by using a body spray. No, really, its true. Apparently.



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