Happy New Year in Charlie's London!

Chaplin Library Update coming

Dominique's Chaplin Library and Database collection will have some new Chaplin books added soon. Including Jane Chaplin's new book.

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January 2, 2009 - Chaplin Library and Database has been updated with the Latest books in Dominique's collection. It includes Jane Chaplin's new book, "17 Minutes Avec Mon Père" (17 Minutes with my Father).

Published in France by Florent Massot Editeur.

Charlie Chaplin in January

January will have two USA broadcasters showing Charlie Chaplin in January. First, TCM will have a few days of Chaplin films during the first days of the new year. Here is a link to the film listings.

And PBS will follow with Charlie Chaplin featured in their series 'Make 'Em Laugh' with Chaplin in part one called 'The Knockabouts'. Check your local schedules for times and dates.

Grand View Openings

Grand View will be open on Christmas day, as the cemetery plans to be open for 14 dates in the first half of 2009. Plus, all the rain has helped the park a great deal.

"The recent rainstorms turned the dry cemetery grounds into a lush, green park, Der-Parseghian said. “The weather has really helped out,” she said. “It looks better now.”

At a Sept. 18 hearing, Mohr granted several openings for this year, including Christmas Day, and next year, including Jan. 1 and 6.

Volunteers, including Ayers, Der-Parseghian, her family and staff, have manned the visitation hours during the limited openings." - Glendale News, December 22, 2008

More of the article from the Glendale News.

Richard Attenborough recovering from fall

Fame director, Richard Attenborough, is recovering from a fall in his home Thursday. Attenborough is the director of the movie "Chaplin".

Jacob Burns Film Center 'Chaplin Shorts'

December 30, 2008

Charlie Chaplin Mutual Short FilmsPleasantville, New York
The Jacob Burns Center

Charlie Chaplin Mutual film shorts will be shown with live piano music by Ben Model and silent film historian Bruce Lawton. Tickets available at this link. History about the theatre.

Special Charlie Chaplin painting to help Lucai Foundation

Attention to our fans in the Netherlands and the rest of the world
Dutch artist
Alex van den Heuvel
has donated this special painting called
"Charles Chaplin and the Kid
Expecting a Big Bang of Love"
for the Lucai Foundation in Uden, Netherlands

The Lucai Foundation, in Uden, Netherlands, is raising money to build a holiday resort near Uden, Netherlands for children with life threatening illnesses. The resort will be for children and families, during this trying time.

This one of a kind painting is 60cm x 90cm (24 inches by 36 inches).

So if you like to become the owner, you can contact Arnoud van Velzen, founder of the foundation, at this link for more information. (Note: The site is in Dutch. This link may help. Thanks to the Lucai Foundation for informing us on this.)

Star Trek's 'Nurse Chapel' Majel B. Roddenberry has died

While I wasn't a fan of Star Trek when it first came out in the 1960s, I became a fan while showing 'snowy over the air' reruns in the 1970s. And one of the ladies on the ship was Nurse Christine Chapel.

While she had an interest in Mr. Spock during her space adventures, she was Dr. McCoy's trusted nurse, as well as the voice of the Enterprise, during her long relationship with the show. She was in the very first pilot (test of the show).

She was also the wife of the creator of Star Trek, Gene Roddenberry.

Born in Columbus, Ohio in 1932, Majel has died at her home in Bel-Air, California at the age of 76. She was fighting leukemia. She has one surviving son.

She was working again as the computer voice for the new Star Trek movie. She will be missed by fans of the show. More from the LA Times >

Postage going up, again, in 2009

I was talking to the postmaster in town and the buzz is Postage will be going up, again, in 2009 on packages. (Don't know about stamps, yet.) The local postmaster didn't know by how much, so I will have to see what the increases are and adjust. Still have books at the current rate, for a little while longer.

The official post office website has this statement on shipping price changes coming January 18th, 2009.

Update: May 2009 increases. Starting May 11, first class stamps will increase to 44 cents.

Charlie Chaplin dolls

There always seems to be interest in collecting Charlie Chaplin dolls. I have seen some very nice ones that would be great in a collection. I only own one, myself. It is not a very expensive doll, as the prices range widely. It is a licensed doll by Bubbles.

I know I overpaid for my, after seeing the price ranges on it, but it was great fun getting at the time.

If you are thinking of getting a Chaplin doll for Christmas, or anytime for that matter, do check around. Some are well priced. But there are times, it is the fun of getting that counts and it can help a shop owner, as my purchase did, stay in business.

Bit and Pieces...

We hope the Christmas Season is going well for all our readers. Special thanks all the fans who have sent in cards and well wishes.

Well, I got the tree up tonight, ready to decorate Thursday, for our quiet little holiday at home. No plans on the schedule, just staying at home watching a few movies over the holidays. Oh, I may try to do some drawing, work on building an airplane model (something I wanted to try of my favorite airplane from the 1920s) and hoping all the snowstorms continue to hold up until Christmas day. A white Christmas would be nice.

Since it is a very quiet affair here, still thinking of doing a few hour event on Christmas eve and day. Only a few hours, and no announcements, just for our fans who happen by.

Other bits... enjoying Meridian FM, which ended it's live broadcast today. Because of work, I didn't hear much of the last day today, but unlike before, Meridian will be continuing to broadcast music 24 hours a day online well into 2009.

Live weekend and evening programs (London Time) return early next year, as they work toward being a full time station. If you live in their broadcast area, do support them. I do wish I had a station like it locally, but at least I have them online to enjoy.

Oh, yes, the Purviance book. With a load of business work to do over the Christmas holiday too, I hope to get back into the book early next year. Work slowed down on Purviance while I had to get new reading glasses (my old ones failed this summer). But getting new reading glasses turned into a five month ordeal and loads of money (poor lens being the main problem).

But last Friday, I finally received a new pair of reading glasses that will work. I am still not totally settled on the eyeglass issue (still stuck with my old computer reading glasses - they work, but not great).

This use to be so simple, but finding a good eye doctor is not as easy as it once was. But at least I have new reading glasses after five months that will work, so I can get back to more productive work on the book.

And speaking of books, we like to thank all the fans who purchased books this month. We still have just a few left at the old price, but not for much longer. While somethings are going down in price, printing a book has not. So only a few left, and up $10 per book, after the 1st (or sooner).

So, not much news, but hope the holiday season is going smoothly for you... Thanks for stopping by. And again, I may have a little something if you happen by Christmas eve and day...

Grand View Cemetery 2009 Opening Dates

The City of Glendale has just listed the dates Grand View Cemetery will be open in 2009. All openings are on Sunday (with some on holidays), from 12 noon to 4PM. Also, Grand View will be open over the Christmas holidays. Learn more at the Glendale City site. more>

Pola Negri Film has been found

A lost Pola Negri film has been found at the Centro Sperimentale Film Archives in Rome. This Italian copy of the film is said to be in good condition. There is a bit more about it at this link. More news on it will be released soon.

Fans will remember Negri relationship with Chaplin during the time of 'A Woman of Paris'. The couple made headlines as being engaged at one time.

Film Star Van Johnson has died

Film and television star, Van Johnson, has died at the age of 92. He is remembered for many works, including "Brigadoon" with Gene Kelly and "In the Good Old Summertime" with July Garland. Here is more information from the Los Angeles Times.

A Brief History of the Silent Screen, by Larry Telles

A Brief History of the Silent Screen:

And the World at that Time
by Larry Telles

Here is a new silent film book I stumbled upon on the web this week you maybe interested in. The foreword is by Diana Serra Cary and it comes with a DVD with nearly 2 hours worth of silent film clips.

More at this link as well as an interview.

Cineforum Closing

The Cineforum in Toronto, Canada, will be celebrating Christmas Day 2008, with a full day of Charlie Chaplin films. Christmas Day begins with a festival of Charlie Chaplin shorts, followed by: The Kid, The Gold Rush, The Circus and City Lights.

Collection of pictures of the theatre at this link.

The Cineforum has been part of the scene in Toronto since 1968, created by Reg Hartt. But it will not be part of the scene much longer, as the current theatre will be closing soon, as the home it is currently housed in is up for sale.

If you live in or near the Toronto area, and don't have big plans already for the Christmas Day holiday, certainly do visit and help say good-bye to a longtime tradition in Toronto.

There is more at this link. Also, they are selling some of their 16mm film collection. Check their schedule for other December showings.

Charlie's London Bridge in Arizona -Part 2

Lake Havasu City and the London Bridge Special 1972
Location Photos by Linda Wada

Saturday I was cleaning in the attic where my office is, and going into the crawl space to sort out things. While doing so I found my photos I took in 1972 of London Bridge.

Unknown to us, a major network television crew was there filming on the bridge. (Reading more, appears the crew may have been from the UK, as it was apparently an UK production.)


We walked onto the bridge and saw Tom Jones and Jennifer O'Neill taping a segment for the program The London Bridge Special. I didn't have a great camera, only a Kodak Instantmatic, but here are the shots I have from that day on Feburary 18, 1972.
We just drove in from Las Vegas earlier that morning, after seeing a dinner show at the Sahara Hotel on the strip, so to walk into another performance for television being filmed was surprising. Being it was February (my parents took me out of school for a week to take the trip down) there were not a lot of tourist around.

All the photos above, taken by Linda Wada, February 18, 1972

And for those who may not believe it, I found some clips and information about the London Bridge Special on the web. The program apparently is available on DVD.

Image from the special

Now the web clip is just as fuzzy as my photos (so not a good example), but looking closely at Tom and Jennifer's clothes, they are exactly like they were wearing at the time I saw them on the bridge. You can see the double decker bus and a bit of the village in the clip too.

Now the Carpenters are the main feature in the clip, but I didn't see the Carpenters at the bridge.

I actually can't remember seeing this bridge special on TV when it was released that spring, but, interestingly, just over a month later, I was introduced to Charlie Chaplin, as he made his first trip back to America in 20 years, in April in 1972. Part of the Oscar special award.

Link to Charlie's London Bridge in Arizona Part One.

Note: Pictured is the original London Bridge, which was purchased by American businessman Robert McCulloch for about $2.5 million and shipped piece by piece to Arizona. It puts new meaning behind a famous children's nursery rhyme call "London Bridge is Falling Down".

The interesting note about the bridge purchase, it has been said, the buyer thought he was purchasing the fame Tower Bridge in London, confusing the two, since the Tower is the most famous of the two. A new London Bridge was built across the Thames River in London.

Charlie's London Bridge in Arizona

In the winter of 1972, I was with my parents on a trip to Arizona. We drove over to Lake Havasu City, Arizona (a man made lake and resort along the Colorado River). I will show the other picture I have later of the town they built around the fame London Bridge.

And yes, this is the real London Bridge that Charlie Chaplin once knew in the city of London. The bridge was bought by Robert P. McCulloch and hauled piece by piece to Arizona. It became the center piece for the town of Lake Havasu.

1970 - During the building. Picture - L.Wada Collection

Apparently London didn't want this bridge anymore (wanted to replace it with a new one), and put it up for sale. I really like to see things kept where they are originally. But the only thing I can say about the project, the bridge was saved and now visited as one of the top attractions in Arizona, just not London.

(I do recall Charlie making a comment about this at the time.)

Part two of the London Bridge visit soon!

Warning to Facebook Users

Facebook is being 'hit' by a virus that all users should be aware of. Here is the latest from Computerworld.
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Worm spreads on Facebook, hijacks users' clicks
Social network cleaning up mess, but worm still on the loose, says researcher Gregg Keizer

December 5, 2008 (Computerworld) Facebook is resetting some user passwords and scrubbing the service of malicious links in an attempt to eradicate a fast-spreading worm that redirects infected machines to a little-known search site, the company and security researchers said today.

The "Koobface" worm, which has been circulating through the popular social-networking service since at least Wednesday, continues to be a problem, said Craig Schmugar, a threat researcher with McAfee Inc.

"We're not seeing increases in propagation," he acknowledged today, but noted that cleanup was a tough chore for Facebook. "It's a bit of a cat and mouse game for them," he said. "There are certainly millions of links on Facebook. How do you know which are the bad ones, which are the good ones? That's not without problems."

Wednesday, Schmugar was one of the first security researchers to notice Koobface's spread and notify Facebook.

Earlier in the week, Facebook users began reporting receiving spam messages such as "You look just awesome in this new movie" or "You look so amazing funny on our new video" that tried to dupe them into clicking on a link. If they did, they were taken to one of several compromised sites, said Schmugar, that then displayed a fake error message claiming that Adobe System Inc.'s Flash was out of date, and prompted them to download an update.

The "update" was nothing of the kind, but instead was an executable file that installed the Koobface worm, which in turn installed a background proxy server that redirected all Web traffic. According to Schmugar, the proxy servers listens on TCP port 9090, particularly for search requests to the major search engines, including Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft's Live Search.

"Search terms are directed to find-www.net," Schmugar said, "[which] enables ad hijacking and click fraud." The hackers are making money by redirecting users' searches to their own results, collecting cash from the ensuing clicks.

When Computerworld entered "thomas jefferson" as a search string at find-www.net, for example, the top result was a pitch for a free antivirus scanner. That scanner was, in fact, bogus and simply the first step in a so-called "scareware" scam that relies on sufficiently spooking users with phony warnings that they pay for fake security software.

Today, Facebook said it was dealing with the worm. "We're working quickly to update our security systems to minimize any further impact, including resetting passwords on infected accounts, removing the spam messages, and coordinating with third parties to remove redirects to malicious content elsewhere on the Web," said spokesman Barry Schnitt in an e-mail.

He urged users to avoid links that "seem strange," and suggested that they arm themselves with up-to-date antivirus software. "The messages for this issue all have a title that is poorly spelled about seeing a video of someone, the text of the message has 1-3 words in all caps and then a spammy link," said Schnitt.

Koobface is a variant of one that hit MySpace, another well-known social networking service, last August, said McAfee's Schmugar. The earlier version targeted both MySpace and Facebook, he added, but the newest ignores the former and focuses on the latter. There are more than two dozen variants of the worm in circulation.

Facebook has posted a short message on its security page acknowledging the worm's attack. The notice urged users whose accounts had already been compromised to scan their PCs for malware and then reset their passwords.
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Also, always remember to NEVER update your software (Flash, Video Players, etc.) except at the official site of that software. Above report from ComputerWorld.

'Aviators in Early Hollywood' special Web site

Aviators in Early Hollywood
AUTOGRAPHED by Shawna KellySpecial website with:
Reviews, Interview, Links and Events for the book!

LIFE Fine Art Framed Photograph Prints

Special gift for your Charlie and/or Edna fan?

Remember LIFE magazine? Life has created an online gallery called The LIFE Collection at Life.com. It contains photos all professionally printed, matted and framed for sale, all from their photo archive.

They have a large selection of over 10 million images, including Charlie Chaplin. A few are with Edna, but the range is wide, including a few with Lucille Ball dressed at Chaplin. (Remember that on the Lucy Show?) Link below to check it out.

Here is the link to the Charlie Chaplin Gallery.

Metropolis "LIVE MUSIC" by Stanford Lively Arts

December 6, 2008

Stanford Lively Arts presents
Fritz Lang's Metropolis
by the Santa Rosa Symphony
Score by Martin Matalon - more>

Slapstick 2009 - Bristol, England

Bristol, England

January 22-25, 2009

Slapstick 2009

"Slapstick returns for its fifth year bringing laughter to Bristol at the time of the year when we need it most. This year’s festival is packed with some of the world’s funniest silent comedies, brought to life by an unprecedented line-up of special guests.

Paul returns as the inimitable host of Slapstick’s Comedy Gala at Colston Hall, presenting Buster Keaton’s Our Hospitality accompanied live by the finest ensemble of silent film musicians in Europe, The Prima Vista Social Club.

This year, alongside long-standing Slapstick venues Watershed and Arnolfini, Bristol Old Vic hosts some of the festival’s highlights welcoming an array of very special guests including beloved national treasure Eric Sykes and The Goodies in conversation with Phill Jupitus." - from Slapstick 2009

Introducing some our readers to UK shows
As fans in the UK know, Paul Merton is seen or heard on several programs in the UK. Here is a link to the UK program 'Just a Minute' (UK quiz and entertainment show) which Paul Merton is one of the guest. (program 37 minutes - site is popular, so does stall at times).

Update: Hope some of our readers got to enjoy the program this year. Watch for more dates for Paul Merton on this Silent Clowns tour in the UK in 2009.

UPDATE MARCH 27TH - List of date and links for Silent Clowns 2009 Spring Tour

Report on POD from Lightning Source

"...trade books that you think will sell thousands quickly, you are better off with offset. But the vast majority of books will sell only a couple hundred a year. You might also be a publisher who only uses print on demand to produce your books and it may not be worth it going to offset even for longer runs. (POD) As a result, many books will see the light of day that would otherwise never have seen the light of day in the old model." - David Taylor. Lightning Source

Earlier this year I was reporting on the changes at Amazon, with their BookSurge.

Here is an interview with David Taylor, president of Lightning Source about the future of the book industry. And some interesting changes that could make POD books even more like traditional books.

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Lightning Source President David Taylor Talks about the Book Industry
By: Cary Sherburne

December 1st, 2008 -- In June, the Ingram Content Companies announced a new organizational structure called Ingram Lightning Group to provide better coordination among the Ingram businesses that serve publishers, librarians, booksellers and other creators and consumers of printed content throughout the industry.

The new entity brings Lightning Source Inc. together with the companies now comprising the Ingram Book Group. As part of the move, David Taylor, who was Lightning's Senior Vice President of Global Sales and Managing Director of Lightning Source UK, became President of Lightning Source within the new Ingram Lightning Group structure. WhatTheyThink spoke with Taylor recently.


WTT: David, what were some of the reasons behind the organizational change that was announced in June? And what is your role in the new organization?


DT: There were a number of reasons. We took a good look at all of the various business models we had within the Ingram Book Group—book wholesaling, fee-based book distribution and library supply being the three primary business models. We also looked at the way in which the print-on-demand model can impact those business models going forward. Because we were running these companies separately, the decision-making process was not as seamless as it could be, so we brought them together as the Ingram Lightning Group with Skip Prichard as President and CEO. I am responsible for Lightning Source globally, both the UK and U.S. operations, three production facilities in all.


WTT: It has been some time since we have spoken with Lightning Source. Perhaps you could bring us up to date on the production composition of those three facilities.


DT: Among the three plants, we have 20 Oce 9200 printers for black & white printing of book blocks. We use a total of 14 HP Indigo digital color presses, for covers and the interiors of the color books,, including 3050's, 5500's and 3250's. We also have Lasermax Roll Systems pre/post unwinders and stackers, and use Duplo perfect binders and Horauf 3-knife trimmers. We have 15 manufacturing lines in Tennessee, five in Pennsylvania and four in the UK.


WTT: What kind of volumes do those lines produce?


DT: We print over 1.3 million books per month across the U.S. and the UK. Our average run length remains at about 1.8. Our whole business is geared up to do single-copy book production, and the vast majority of what we do is single-copy or small quantities.


WTT: What is your background, prior to joining Lightning Source?


DT: I have been in the book trade since 1983. My background is in book selling and library supply. I started in Blackwell's Book Shop in Oxford, England and worked on the shop floor, spending about a dozen years at Blackwell's in lots of different roles. When I left in 1999, I was running Blackwell's library supply business.

WTT: From the bookseller's perspective, then, what are the key benefits of the print-on-demand model to the supply chain?


DT: One thing that drives booksellers nuts is to have someone standing in a book shop requesting a specific book, and you can't get it because it is out of print, out of stock, in the reprinting process or needs to be shipped from another country and will take weeks. That amounts to a lost sale and a disappointed customer. The key thing that print-on-demand has done for the book trade is keeping books alive and making sure they can be ordered quickly. It holds out the promise that every book that has ever been published could be purchased. That is a particularly exciting prospect for anyone selling books. The potential is enormous. I first saw print-on-demand technology for books about ten years ago, and it was such an obvious thing for publishers to do. As the technology has gotten better and the quality of digitally manufactured books has improved, more books are brought within its potential grasp.


WTT: What are some of the drivers incenting publishers to get on board with this new model?


DT: One of the key trends we see with publishers is the desire to have less inventory sitting in warehouses. They have a lot of money tied up in physical books and the infrastructure required to house them and offer them to the market. Print-on-demand allows a publisher to completely reverse the way in which books are published and distributed. In the traditional model, publishers have to guess how many books to print, and they always get it wrong. They will either print too many and are left with a lot of inventory that might sit there for many years, which is expensive and a waste of resources. Or they will print too few and run out, being faced with the difficult decision about whether to reprint, let it go out of print, or give it an out-of-stock status and hope that half-life will build enough orders to justify reprinting the book.


Print on demand reverses that model. With print on demand, you sell the book first and then print it. It is pretty fundamental. It reduces risk considerably. As a result, many books will see the light of day that would otherwise never have seen the light of day in the old model. I have been around more book warehouses than I care to remember. You often see piles of books with dust on them. The major trend is to change the business model from speculative, to selling first and then printing. The only way you can do that is with a print-on-demand model.


WTT: We have reported in the past that there is something like 40% waste in the traditional book supply chain.


DT: That's right, and it is crazy, from an environmental and business point of view. Wasting energy producing and moving books around the world, warehousing them, and then wasting even more by pulping them and putting them in the landfill. It is a crazy system. Print on demand offers solutions to negate a lot of that waste.


WTT: With today's technology, can you quantify a break point when it makes sense to move from offset to digital or vice versa?


DT: There is no simple answer. It really depends on a series of things, including the type of book, the value of the book in terms of its selling price, and whether the publisher already has an existing infrastructure in place. For trade books that you think will sell thousands quickly, you are better off with offset. But the vast majority of books will sell only a couple hundred a year. You might also be a publisher who only uses print on demand to produce your books and it may not be worth it going to offset even for longer runs. As a general rule, though, if a book will sell 2,000 copies in a year, and the book type fits the print-on-demand model, you would be better off putting it in an on-demand program, printing an initial digital short run to fulfill the initial burst of orders, and then afterwards move into the on-demand model instead of hoping you will sell all the books you printed offset. This allows you to manage the demand in a much less risky fashion. If you need 2,000 books all at once, you can get a better unit cost with offset. But I would probe to see whether you actually need all 2,000 at once. A low unit cost doesn't stay low if you throw away half the books you print.


WTT: Lightning Source is still using offline or near-line finishing rather than inline. Do you have any idea when that model might change? At drupa, we saw some pretty interesting inline finishing solutions for short runs of books.


DT: The main benefit of inline binding is productivity. Currently, hardback books are made by hand in a labor intensive process. The equipment that is being used is very basic binding equipment that hasn't changed that much in 50 years. Anything you can do to actually bring that inline is going to have significant benefits in productivity. It will also have the benefit of improving the specifications for hardback books. If you automate, you can get tighter on specifications and better quality. We have been scouring the world for equipment that can meet our requirements for moving inline, and there is some indication that some will be coming on the market soon. That will potentially raise the economic order quantity for digitally manufactured books.


WTT: It has been some time since Amazon announced BookSurge. What impact, if any, has that had on your business?


DT: In both the U.S. and the UK, we send many thousands of books to Amazon on a daily basis. We have a good relationship with them, and they continue to be a good customer for us. We have 650,000 titles in our print-on-demand library, and the vast majority is available to order from Amazon. They continue to work with us, because they want to be able to provide the largest number of titles they can.


WTT: Is Lightning Source looking to inkjet for the future?


DT: Inkjet does hold out significant attractions for publishers, people who want to buy books and book manufacturers like us. Eventually, inkjet will offer a better quality book, additional cost benefits, and the potential to take the on-demand model to a new level. We are keeping a very close watch on the timetables being presented to us by the major manufacturers.


WTT: Do you think this means there will be more color in the book blocks?


DT: I think there will be an increase in color, but by what percentage, I couldn't say. It will certainly give publishers more flexibility in terms of inserting color pages into digitally printed books, something that is not easy to do today. This will allow the print-on-demand model to cover more titles than it is currently able to.


WTT: What about e-books? What's the latest there?


DT: Our view is that e-books have a place in the publishing industry, and it is a segment that is growing. We have about 250,000 e-books in our library, managed by our sister company, Ingram Digital. They will never replace the physical book, but they offer the ability to make information available in a better, more functional way. The delicious irony about all of the digital technology entering the book market is that instead of reducing the number of physical books available, that number is increasing. More titles are available, and they can stay in print longer.


WTT: Any final thoughts you would like to share before we close?


DT: We see this as a bit of a perfect storm. Three things have come together to change the publishing industry. First is the print-on-demand model, the ability to manufacture a single copy of a book, only printing when you get an order; that is now a well-established model. The second is the Internet book selling model. People can find obscure books quickly, order and get them quickly. The third one is the Long Tail concept, increased demand for obscure titles. Those three together are fueling an explosion of books printed with this technology.