Cool Stuff We Love
April 2005
The Films of Charles Chaplin
Think Charlie Chaplin movies are all Keystone Cops cream pie fests? If so,
you're missing out, as Chaplin's early shorts are just a tiny piece of the
puzzle. Skip the arse-kicking and celebrate Charlie's 116th birthday with
these gems that combined comedy with drama, revolutionizing American
filmmaking in the process: The Kid (guaranteed to send you to the tissue
box), Modern Times (an excellent "satire of the mechanized world", as
described in the DVD package, it still holds up and is our Ed-in-Chief's
favorite comedy of all time), and City Lights, in which a blind flower girl
mistakes the Little Tramp for a millionaire after hearing the slam of an
expensive car door. (Get out the Kleenex for this one, too. The last scene
has been known to leave even the burliest guy an emotional wreck.)
Being silent films with occasional sound effects added, it takes some
adjustment to get used to paying attention to every scene. But give Chaplin
25 minutes, and you too, might agree that, to quote our Webmaster, "He's the
COOLEST of stuff." (The music connection ain't bad either: Chaplin
wrote what later became Nat King Cole's classic, "Smile," and Chaplin's
Hollywood studios later became the home of A&M Studios, birthplace of some
legendary albums.) Available at Amazon, or your favorite video store.
Remarks Dry Erase Sticky Notes
Going through Post-Its like they're going out of style? Stick one of these
by the phone and save a few trees. Remarks work like a somewhat thicker
Post-It note, but with one nifty difference: they're coated for use with the
included dry-erase marker, so you can erase and use them again and again. We
think it just might eliminate the perpetual stack of Sticky Notes on the
corner of our desks. Available at Amazon.
Dog Blog
Love dogs? So does
this guy,
who takes a picture of every dog he sees waiting patiently outside a shop or
cafe for its person. Fat dogs, skinny dogs, friendly dogs, tail waggers and
the nonchalant are all displayed here for "aw' 's and exclamation. Enjoy!
http://automatedredemption.com/flavorcountry/dogblog/
And because we love it so much, here's one we ran last month but bears
repeating:
Springtime in Los Angeles
You may think summer is prime time in L.A., but for the scenery and fabulous
weather our favorite time of year is just after rainy season, from late
March through mid-May. That's when the hillsides--hopefully finished
sliding--are at their greenest, and L.A.'s most fragrant flowers are in
bloom. We especially love the whacky variety of flora and fauna you can see
all in the same yard (daffodils, gladiolus, and other bulbs plus a pine
tree, a large cactus, and a gigantic rubber tree plant all on one
beautifully manicured corner lot in Beverly Hills), and at night, the
glorious scent of them all comes alive. We especially love an evening drive
through Benedict Canyon, and given the easy access to abundant art supplies
and the downtown workrooms just minutes away, we can't help wondering if
maybe, just maybe, this is where the Easter Bunny resides during his time
off.
March
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