The Veggie Tales, nearing their 20th birthday, are still entertaining and enlightening children. Uploaded by mycelulardotorg

It’s a basic law of children’s entertainment that the best movies and videos appeal not just to kids, but to parents as well. Which is why the Toy Story movies have been such phenomenal successes, for example. All Pixar films, for that matter. And you can definitely add Veggie Tales to that list.

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Veggie Tales are different because they talk about Christian values – but in a way that’s catchy and funny. Phil Vischer and Mike Nawrocki created them way back in 1993, so they’re coming up on their twentieth birthday. (Veggie Tales, that is. Phil and Mike are a bit past that.) The guys and their company, Big Idea Productions, have now done 45 episodes and two movies: Jonah, a Veggie Tales Movie and The Pirates Who Don’t Do Anything: A Veggie Tales Movie.

The Veggie Tales characters are a lovable lot: Bob the Tomato, Larry the Cucumber, Junior Asparagus, Madame Blueberry, Petunia Rhubarb, The French Peas, and all the rest. Believe me, if you have to sit in front of the TV and watch a program over and over because your kids love it, you’d better make it Veggie Tales. You can watch that purple dinosaur, or those wobblies or whatever they are, but for your sanity, watch Veggie Tales.

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At the Parker House Hotel in Boston, along about 1875, you could have dinner across from Charles Dickens and enjoy the hotel's signature dishes - Parker House Rolls and Boston Cream Pie. Uploaded by lthforum.com.

If you’d been a visitor to Boston in the second half of the nineteenth century, chances are you might have desired a room at the new Parker House Hotel, one of the city’s finest. The rooms were delightful, the service, top-notch. You might have bumped into some of the literary lights who frequented the hotel – Charles Dickens, Longfellow, Holmes. But if you were honest with yourself, you’d admit the hotel had a competitive edge over any of its competition – those sumptuous rolls served with dinner. Parker House rolls.

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Stories differ on how the rolls came to be, but everyone acknowledges that they came into being sometime in the early 1870s. The first printed recipe for them showed up in the April, 1874 issue of the New Hampshire Sentinel. (The same hotel also created that decadent dessert Boston Cream Pie.)

Crisp on the outside, tender on the inside, buttery all around. They often make an appearance at Thanksgiving, but really, is there any day of the year when delicious bread isn’t welcome at your table?

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Here's the memorable sky hook, Abdul-Jabbar's signature shot. Uploaded by nba-jordan.com.

When he was known as Lew Alcindor, a high school phenom leading Power Memorial to multiple state championships, America knew this young man was destined for greatness. And of course, he didn’t disappoint. When he enrolled at UCLA, he had to play on a freshman team, so he could “only” lead the Bruins to three NCAA titles. Three-time player of the year, three-time first team All-American, three-time Most Outstanding Player in the Tournament.

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It’s hard to remember those times, but Abdul-Jabbar (the name he adopted early in his pro career) was so dominant, that the dunk was removed from the college game for a decade. As a pro, he was drafted by the Milwaukee Bucks, and led them to their first NBA title while winning the first three of his six MVP awards. He received a trade to the Lakers in 1975, and there he earned another five league championships.

I don’t have the space to list all of Abdul-Jabbar’s NBA records, but here are a few of the most impressive: All-time leading scorer…most MVP awards…and most All-Star selections (19). Of course, no column about this Renaissance man would be complete without mentioning his most important movie role – co-pilot Roger Murdock in Airplane! See it here:

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Poitier was the first black person to win a Best Acting Oscar. Uploaded by doctormacro.com.

Some people seem to happen to be in the right place at the right time, and fame or fortune finds them. Then there are others, like Sidney Poitier, who seem to take hold of the time in which they live and don’t let go until the world adapts to them, and embraces their values. Fame and fortune for these few may or may not follow, because they suddenly seem irrelevant.

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The word that leaps immediately to mind to describe Poitier is “dignity.” It’s his defining characteristic, as well as that of the roles he took on film. Among his most notable movies:

• Blackboard Jungle (1955)
• The Defiant Ones (1958 – Oscar Nomination)
• Porgy and Bess (1959)
• A Raisin in the Sun (1961)
• Lilies of the Field (1963 – Best Actor)
• To Sir with Love (1967)
• In the Heat of the Night (1967)
• Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner (1967)
• They Call Me MISTER Tibbs (1970)

In addition to acting, Poitier also directed several films, including Uptown Saturday Night (1974) and Stir Crazy (1980). A man whose life has been defined by firsts, Poitier was the first black person to win a best acting Oscar, and the first to be the number one box office star for a year (1977). He has received the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Film Institute. Born in Miami to Bahamian parents, Poitier is celebrating his dual citizenship by serving now as the ambassador of the Bahamas to Japan.

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Audrey Hepburn took the film role of Eliza Doolittle from Julie Andrews, who originated the role on Broadway. Uploaded by casarei.net.

George Bernard Shaw wrote Pygmalion in 1912, but refused to allow it to be converted into a musical during his lifetime. Curmudgeon. So shortly after he died in 1950, the creative team of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe acquired the rights and created My Fair Lady, a masterpiece of the musical theater.

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My Fair Lady debuted on Broadway in 1956 with Rex Harrison starring as Henry Higgins and Julie Andrews in the part of Eliza Doolittle. The show was so popular that its original cast album was the number one album of the year. It set the record at the time for the longest running musical on Broadway.

Naturally, Hollywood wanted in on the action. Directed by George Cukor and with Audrey Hepburn now in the role of Eliza, the movie came out in 1964 and was just as popular as the play had been. It featured so many memorable songs: “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “The Rain in Spain,” “I Could Have Danced All Night,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “Get Me to the Church on Time,” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” It was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won eight, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor.

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The well-to-do of Philadelphia came to the shore at Cape May, making it one of the country's very first beach resorts. Uploaded by rzfimages.wordpress.com.

Cape May is one of those venerable beach resort towns that welcomes back its friends every year, because it’s a destination that families return to year after year. In fact, it’s said to be America’s oldest seaside resort. Because of its age, it has more interesting architecture – including lots of Victorian buildings – than you’d expect in a beach resort.

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Go to Cape May in, say, January, and you’ll be among only 3,600 year ’round residents. Visit in July, however, and the town swells to about 50,000 or more. I wasn’t sure exactly where it was located on New Jersey’s coast (“Cape” can mean many things), and I found that it’s right at the state’s southern tip. See the map below.

At Cape May, you won’t find a row of high-rise hotels and a congested strip lined with seafood buffets (I’m looking at you, Myrtle Beach). You’ll see some guest houses, some bed and breakfasts, and some historic hotels in addition to the expected beach motels. It has a history and feeling all its own, a great choice for families. Maybe that’s why the readers of TripAdvisor selected it as the number two U.S. beach destination (ahem, Myrtle Beach was number one), and number nine in the world. Pretty impressive company for this little town on the Jersey shore. Have you made your reservations for 2012 yet?

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Dick Clar, R.I.P.

We got the sad news today that Dick Clark has died. He was such a part of the baby boomer’s life, from American Bandstand through the Pyramid game shows to his New Year’s Eve appearances. More than many celebrities, we’ll miss Dick Clark. Here’s the post written about him a couple of years ago. Here’s a link to our original post on this much-admired man:

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Taking a shower has never been the same since Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Uploaded by fanpop.com.

Some people like this movie, and some people are…crazy…about it. Before Jaws made people afraid to go into the ocean, Psycho made people afraid to take a shower. I bet there isn’t a person in America who, standing helpless behind a shower curtain, hasn’t had a moment’s pause about what could be coming from the other side.

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Janet Leigh, Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles – not exactly a blockbuster cast. And now that we all know Norman Bates’s secret (no I’m not going to spoil it for the small percentage of people who haven’t seen Psycho), it doesn’t have the impact it once did. Then, violence was seen as shocking; now it’s altogether commonplace. What a tribute to what we’ve done with the last half century!

Psycho received four Academy Award nominations, including a Best Director nod to Alfred Hitchcock and a Best Supporting Actress nomination to Janet Leigh. The movie went winless, however, unless you count a Golden Globe for Leigh. Don’t worry, Psycho’s place in movie history is secure. It’s ranked number 18 in the American Film Institute’s 100 Years…100 Movies, and number 1 in 100 Years…100 Thrills. Also, in its 100 Years…100 Heroes and Villains, Norman Bates is ranked the number 2 villain.

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Top Chef is one of the best of all the reality shows - which, obviously, isn't the highest bar to top. Uploaded by premiumhollywood.com.

Whether you’re a fan of reality television or think it’s the medium’s all-time curse, there’s no reason not to like Top Chef. As the name implies, it’s a competition in which professional chefs execute a variety of cooking challenges to see who comes out on top. Each week, one of the competitors is told to “Pack your knives and go.”

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Typically, the first part of each show involves a “Quickfire Challenge,” in which the chefs have a limited time (an hour or less) to execute some specific task. Then everyone participates in a more complex assignment, say preparing food for a wedding reception, in the “Elimination Challenge.” A group of professional judges from the food and wine industry tastes the samples, and finally someone is sent home from the “Judges Table.”

Tom Colicchio (Craft Restaurant, New York) and Gail Simmons (Food & Wine magazine) have been judges throughout the show’s run. The other spots have been taken by celebrity chefs like Eric Ripert, Anthony Bourdain, and Emeril Lagasse. Padma Lakshmi has managed to tear herself away from Hardee’s long enough to host the show. It’s fun to pick favorites and watch them agonize over whether they’re going to get that poached salmon plated before time’s up. Okay, that may sound dumb, but watch it. You’ll get hooked.

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The Shirelles' recording of this Goffin-King song became the first by an all-girl group to reach number one. Uploaded by mygoldmusic.co.uk.

“Tonight you’re mine, completely. You give your love so sweetly. Tonight the light of love is in your eyes.” With these words, songwriters Gerry Goffin and Carole King connected with every teenager, not just in 1960 but ever since. Because the last line went right to the heart: “But will you love me tomorrow?”

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King and Goffin had a way of doing that, writing many of the top pop songs of the 1960s before Carole went on to a successful solo career. It was the Shirelles fourth single, but the first to reach the top 30. And it did it in a big way, becoming the first song every by an all-girl group to go number one on the pop chart.

Rolling Stone ranked “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” at number 126 in the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. “So tell me now, and I won’t ask again – Will you still love me tomorrow?”

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