Charlie and Lola Halloween DVD

Charlie and Lola are two of my favorite contemporary children's book characters. Way back in January, I posted about the Charlie and Lola Go Fish Game as a potential stocking stuffer, and just this weekend I picked up some more Charlie and Lola books at Half Price Books. Although I knew they had DVDs, I have never really paid attention to them, but the other day I came across the Charlie and Lola Halloween DVD on The Dirty T-shirt blog. How perfect at this time of year!

Whether your children already know Charlie and Lola or not, they're sure to love seeing their animated adventures. Lola is an exceedingly imaginative child, and she's always getting into little scrapes that her patient big brother Charlie helps her out of. This DVD is two hours long, with eight other parts unrelated to Halloween in addition to the "What Can I Wear For Halloween?" segment. Oh, and since these books are from a British author, I understand the characters have British accents!

What: Charlie and Lola Halloween DVD
Where: Charlie and Lola, Vol. 9: What Can I Wear for Halloween?
How much (as of today's post): $11.99

Animusic DVDs

It's kind of difficult to explain the Animusic DVDs to anyone who hasn't seen them. I first encountered them at a Christmas party a few years ago, held in a funky warehouse loft apartment. The host was a computer and techno whiz, and he had these DVDs set up to project on the wall, looping over and over for background ambiance. I've since also seen some Animusic on PBS, of all places!

So what is this all about? Basically, both DVDs contain several tracks of computer-generated animated instruments playing different types of music. For instance, a bouncing ball may land on the correct synthesizer keys to plunk out a melody, while in the background some robot percussion instruments keep the beat. Shoot, I knew it was going to be impossible to explain! There's no way a simple description can get across how fascinating and hypnotizing these animations are. They're visually fascinating, and the whole time you're watching them you can't help but think how incredibly clever they are!

There are two volumes for sale on Amazon, Animusic and Animusic, Vol. 2. Even the customer descriptions on Amazon don't really do these justice, but every single customer review as of today is a five-star rating. In any case, these would make terrific stocking stuffers for just about anyone. They're suitable for kids, great for teens or college students, and definitely perfect for computer and science fiction geeks. I can't think of anyone who wouldn't find this fascinating.

What: Animusic DVDs
Where: Amazon or elsewhere
How much (as of today's post): $19.99 (plus shipping)

Daily Extra: A Colbert Christmas

I really and truly wasn't planning on an extra post on any given day, but I just came across this on Amazon and I think it might be a lot of fun, but I wasn't willing to bump any of the posts I already have scheduled for the near future. (I better not make a habit of this, or I'll run out of ideas for sure!) Also, this is a very specific interest -- you'd only want to get it for a Stephen Colbert or Jon Stewart fan. I haven't seen it as it won't be released until November 25 but I have to imagine it's pretty funny.

What is it? A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All DVD. It runs only 43 minutes, and is filled with silly songs with a little framing "story." Guests include Toby Keith, Elvis Costello, John Legend, Willie Nelson, and Jon Stewart. The list price is $19.99 but Amazon is selling it for $12.99 right now (and remember, there's free shipping on Amazon for orders over $25, or if you have Amazon Prime).

I can't help it; I'm already laughing just thinking about it.

What: A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All
Where: Amazon or elsewhere
How much (as of today's post): $12.99 on Amazon