Top Picks: Robin Hood, 'Life' TV series, Memorial Day concert, and more recommendations
Lessons on 'Life'
Own the groundbreaking TV series, "Life," the eight-hour HD extravaganza narrated by Oprah Winfrey, on June 1. The four-disc set comes out on DVD and Blu-ray, and the latter includes additional footage as well as featurettes on the making of the show, full of remarkable images from a butterfly's-eye view of migrating monarchs in Mexico to a side-by-side view of elephants and reindeer on the march.
Get out of voice-mail jail
If phone menus are a huge time drain, fonolo.com can shorten the wait by what it terms "deep dialing." The Web-based service helps you skip the phone menu of large companies by showing you a phone tree and letting you pick your point of entry. When it reaches a real person, it calls you on your own phone and connects you. It can even make an MP3 of the conversation should you need it for future reference.
For troops past and present
Live from the West Lawn of the US Capitol, PBS will air its annual National Memorial Day Concert on Sunday, May 30, at 8 p.m. EDT. Cohosted by Gary Sinise ("CSI: New York") and Joe Mantegna ("Criminal Minds"), the show will include an appearance by Colin Powell and musical performances by Lionel Richie, country music artist Brad Paisley, and Yolanda Adams, along with the National Symphony Orchestra.
Be an expert webhead
Ever feel flummoxed by some new Internet trend or lingo? Knowyourmeme.com documents and researches phenomena such as the latest viral video sweeping the Web – remember Balloon Boy? The website offers an online database with minitutorials on the newest trends in Internet culture, what's hot and why.
Turn a new page
A "YouTube for publications," Issuu.com makes reading magazines online almost as pleasurable as the real thing, complete with that nostalgic feeling of turning the page. The high-quality digitized mags run the gamut from sports to the environment, fashion to fiction, and the site also includes reports, catalogs, and books.
More men in tights
If you've seen the Russell Crowe/Ridley Scott vision of England's iconic bandit/hero and missed, um, everything from the green tights and Robin Hood hat to the archery contest, then come on back to a quartet of the many versions in Hollywood history, out on DVD this month for the first time: "The Bandit of Sherwood Forest" (1946) stars Academy Award nominee Cornel Wilde as the son of Robin Hood following in his father's footsteps; "Prince of Thieves" (1948) has Jon Hall wearing the green Robin Hood hat and tights; "Rogues of Sherwood Forest" (1950) has John Derek ("Knock on Any Door") as Robin's son; and "Sword of Sherwood Forest" (1960) has Richard Greene reprising his long-running TV role for the silver screen.
