LAUGHTER

When was the last time you had a really good laugh? Do you enjoy hearing a joke or watching a funny video or a circus clown? If you think this is silly or I'm wasting your time, please read on. Research has shown that laughter is not only good for you, it may have healing powers over your physical health, not just a quick pick-me-up for your mental health. What do you do when you laugh? Well, you use an awful lot of muscles and that's exercise my friends. Exercise, as we also know, causes the body to begin releasing powerful substances that enhance mood and bring on a feeling of happiness, wellness, you name it. It's a good feeling. It also seems to give your immune system a jolt and that's good, too. So, laughter is something we should all take to prescribing for ourselves on a regular basis. It's the one time where an addiction is really a good thing.

I had to add this page because I've been talking about the importance of laughter and including it in your everyday life and yet I didn't have anything about it on this website. No, no dull research here, just fun and places where you can find things to tickle your funny bone.

Today, I got one of those millions of catalogs that clog our mailboxes, but this one has true pearls in it. An artist, named Erin Smith, has a sign in her kitchen which reads: "Unattended children will be given espresso and a free kitten" and if that thought doesn't bring a smile to your face, you really need this page.

We're in the process of filling this page with laughter-enhancing things, so bear with us while we toil away for your amusement.

Moscow Cat Theater

Release Year: 2008

Duration: 3 min

A CINELAN Three Minute Story. You’ll be hard-pressed to find a more unusual circus, or father-daughter performing duo. The Moscow Cat Theatre is just that: a travelling show of cats that perform amazing tricks for the owners who love and train them. Everybody in Russia may be used to seeing cats perform tricks, as the theatre’s manager explains in this funny, charming film, but felines walking tightropes, crossing the stage on giant balls and walking upside down is not a common sight in most countries. As balalaika and accordion circus score plays in the background, Creative Director Vladimir and daughter Maria combine their love of cats and stage to create a captivating act and illustrate the tricks of the trade – giving new meaning to the expression ‘herding cats’.

100 Years Of Comedy

Release Year: 1997

Duration: 120 min

Availability:

Journey through 100 years of comedy with this survey of the funniest moments in entertainment history, from the slapstick of the silents to the screwball comedies of the 1930s and ‘40s to the red hot hijinks of Hollywood’s most recent comic offerings. Features footage of Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Lucille Ball, Jerry Lewis, Richard Pryor, and many other icons of comedy.

Confessions of a Superhero

Release Year: 2008

Duration: 92 min

Availability: Worldwide

CONFESSIONS OF A SUPERHERO is a feature length documentary that chronicles the lives of three mortal men and one mortal woman who make their living working as superhero characters on Hollywood Boulevard. The Hulk sold his Super Nintendo for a bus ticket to LA; Wonder Woman was a mid-western homecoming queen; Batman struggles with his anger, while Superman’s psyche is consumed by the Man of Steel. This deeply personal view into their daily routines reveals their hardships and triumphs as they pursue and achieve their own kind of fame.

Love has its place in our lives because without it we would feel isolated and unattached to our world. Does that mean that those who prefer to be alone are somehow a problem? No, it's fine to have alone time, but we still need a sense of belonging. For some people that will mean someone special, for others a family and yet others will have their pets. We've provided a link to quotations from the famous and not-so-famous just as a way to begin some thinking about the many ways people see love.