My Winter 2006 Cool List

Yes, it is that time again...time for my seasonal Cool List!
(See also, my Fall and Summer 2005 Cool Lists)

(This is a post in progress...so check back soon!)

MUSIC: I've been watching/listening almost non-stop to the classic BBC concert (singer/songwriter) series featuring the likes of Neil Young, Graham Nash & David Crosby, Cat Stevens and Joni Mitchell. These live performances were recorded in the early 70s, but the quality is spectacular. The Ovation network has been airing these concerts over the past month or so. I had only previously seen snippets of these shows in the past (aside from the Cat Stevens concert, which I had recorded on a poor-quality videotape). Now I have all of the concerts safely burned onto DVD, and I'm loving them!

MOVIES:
Here's what's playing on my DVR--Impromptu; I loved this film when it was first released, and now I remember why. It's a very different sort of romantic comedy. And Hugh Grant was something of a nobody when this was released (unless you were a fan of Maurice or Lair of the White Worm).
A Little Romance; This was probably my very favorite movie when I was a teenager. I could relate to these characters so much. When I watch this movie as an adult, I still enjoy it a lot. It's just one of those little gems. (And I always, without fail, cry when I get to the end of this movie...always.)
On the theme of romantic movies and wintertime (the previous two I mentioned have nothing to do with wintertime, but they help with the dreary days), I also like the movie Chilly Scenes of Winter, although I wouldn't recommend that everyone run out and rent it. Supposedly this film has a cult following, but I'm not sure how it originated. I think the main reason why I like it is because the house of the protagonist lives looks spookily similar to my grandparents' former house.

In theaters--Woody Allen's latest, Match Point, probably isn't worth all of the buzz it's been getting, but it's the best I've seen from Woody in years (but that's not saying much). To compare it to other Woody films, it's most similar to "Crimes and Misdemeanors." I thought Jonathan Rhys-Meyers and Emily Mortimer were pretty good, but Scarlet Johansson seemed too young for her role. At first she was really over-acting too...I mean, I actually found myself laughing at her bad acting in the scene where she and Jonathan first meet. Thankfully, she toned down her attempts to be "sexy" in later scenes.

I saw the big buzz movie...Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's very much E.M. Forster meets the Marlboro Man...the Alberta scenery is fabulous (although the film supposedly takes place in Wyoming). My husband and I honeymooned in the Canadian Rockies a couple of years ago (although we weren't roughing it. We stayed at Chateau Lake Louise)...it really is the most breathtaking scenery in the Rocky Mountains.

Here's what I'm waiting to see:Steven Spielberg's Munich, and Jonathan Demme's Neil Young concert film Heart of Gold (this is getting great buzz at Sundance right now!)

Book(s): The Beatles: The Biography (I'll admit...I'm still trying to finish this. It's rather lengthy!)

Current Girly Bath & Body Faves: Burt's Bees Almond Milk Beeswax Hand Creme...this is extraordinarily creamy hand cream, and smells wonderful! Also...Les Couvent des Minimes Honey and Shea Body Balm--the hubby keeps saying he can't get over how sexy I smell when I wear this (...he says it tastes good too)

Clothing Trends: I'm into short trenchcoats (sort of that late 70s, early-new wave look), short pea coats, Cashmere, Fair Isle sweaters and brightly-colored corduroy jeans.

Restaurant(s): Vindalho: Spice Route Cuisine on 21st and Clinton Street (the latest "in" spot in my neighborhood. But please, people, walk or come by bus..we are really running out of street-parking in the Clinton Neighborhood).

TV: I am still very much hooked on The Daily Show spin-off The Colbert Report, and I also love that "controversial" sitcom that features yet another Daily Show alum (Steve Carell--congrats on the GG Award!): The Office (USA). Now I understand that some people are snobs, and can't get past the fact that this show is "ripping off" what is supposedly the much superior UK version of The Office. But I am here to say that (if you don't count the pilot episode) the US version of the Office is one of the funniest shows on TV. I have watched it from its humble beginnings (before Carell's smash hit, The 40 Year Old Virgin) and I am very much addicted to it. The show doesn't have all that much in common with the BBC version (which I absolutely loved, of course)...Carell and company are doing their own thing...and it works. (NBC moved it to Thursday nights, so I guess someone else agrees with me.)

ADDICTION WEBSITE(S): Speaking of The Office, I can't get enough of the website for Dunder Mifflin (check out "Schrute-Space")