Forever cool

Forever cool
Knight Ridder
This summer, as the sweat trickles down your temples, your shirt sticks to your back and your damp feet keep slipping out of your flip-flops, just remember:
Cool is a state of mind.
Cool is indefinable. It just is.
OK, so that's a little vague. Want some examples? Here's a few we came up with. We hope they'll help cool your body temperature a few degrees--or at least give you something more fun to think about than how blasted hot it is outside.
CHUCK D
When musical artists do something so different as to be inventive, they run the risk of getting so big they burn out like a meteor and become irrelevant. Yet Chuck D's influence still rings true in every hip-hop band that fearlessly rhymes about social change. His band Public Enemy broke ground with serious subject matter and hard and heavy beats in the 1980s age of rap lite, a la Will Smith. Public Enemy might not headline arenas anymore, but the heavy and thoughtful voice of Chuck D will always inspire respect and represent innovation in the world of hip-hop.
PIZZA
Whether it's an all-cheese (served with a mug of root beer) or a prosciutto and pear (with a goblet of pinot grigio), pizza is one cool food. It has weathered every generation, culinary trend and economic swing. And a slice the next morning makes for the best breakfast in town. Even geometry geeks get into it. It's round and eaten in triangles. How cool is that?
MILES DAVIS
It's not because he essentially invented something like 15 different kinds of jazz or made the music safe for the latter years of the 20th century. It's not because he looked simmering and elusive, or because he had razor-sharp musical instincts. Miles Davis is impenetrably cool because of one indispensable album, "Kind of Blue" (1959) that invites you into a world where it's always midnight, the temperature is a calm 65 degrees, and your senses are second-cup-of-coffee sharp. Even the title is cool.
COCO CHANEL
She invented the "little black dress." Her audacious, militaristic suits will never go out of style. And then there's that fragrance: No. 5, in its sleek art deco bottle. It's easy to forget that Coco Chanel was just as much a fashion icon 75 years ago as she is today. And no one was more aware of her influence on the way we dress than Mademoiselle Coco herself. "I was the one who changed, it wasn't fashion," she once declared. "I was the one who was in fashion."
FRANK SINATRA
What can we say? He was The Voice--even "do-be-do-be-dooo" sounds good when he sings it. Men wanted to be his pal; women wanted to be his dame. He really did live life his way. If he's the chairman, who wouldn't want to sit on his board?
JAMES DEAN
He's been dead for almost 48 years, twice as long as he was alive. Generations of teenagers have come and gone through more angst than he could ever imagine. And yet no one has come along to replace James Dean as the epitome of cool. The dangling cigarette, the black leather jacket, those soulful eyes behind wire-rimmed glasses that were hip then and hipper now. Mention his name and people who weren't even alive when he ruled Hollywood on his Harley grow nostalgic.
SUPERMAN AND BATMAN
There's no doubt that Harry Potter is the rage among young and old, but his coolness quotient is smaller than newt eyes when compared with superheroes of our past. Despite the wear and tear on their capes and tights and their many incarnations--good, evil, or just conflicted--Superman and Batman haven't lost a smidgen of supercool-itude. We admit that Hogwarts is a happening place, but Superman's icy Fortress of Solitude and the Caped Crusader's Bat Cave have it all over magical mortar.
NOGUCHI COFFEE TABLE
Can a coffee table be cool? Ikea thinks so, but the pop-cult retailer has nothing on sculptor Isamu Noguchi, whose table has been a classic ever since it was introduced in 1947. A curved triangle of plate glass seems to float on smooth, sculpted walnut legs that form a tripod. It's an organic whole, blending and flowing in harmony.
'THE SIMPSONS'
After 300 episodes, this animated gem is on course to become television's longest-running sitcom, and yet it still seems as fresh as ever. Brimming with sharp satire and a subversive irreverence that other shows don't or can't match, it continues to paint a hilarious--and highly insightful--picture of American life. When it comes to TV cool, Homer, Bart and Co. are undeniable hall-of-famers.
'CATCHER IN THE RYE'
Is there a teenager alive who hasn't, at some point, related to Holden Caulfield, the alienated, 16-year-old protagonist of "The Catcher in the Rye?" Even five decades after it was written, the book continues to rank No. 1 (among classic titles) on Amazon.com. Even though author J.D. Salinger has never allowed his book to be filmed, it has influenced such worthy movies as "The Graduate," "Diner" and "American Beauty." (Not to mention popping up in such hip spots as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer.") And finally, even though it constantly appears on lists of books that some would like to see banned from public schools and libraries, it continues to be read and read and read.
PAUL NEWMAN
When he was young, it was the sensual curl of his lips, those naughty, knowing blue eyes and the way he looked in a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up. The characters he played--Fast Eddie, or bad boy Hud or Cool Hand Luke himself--always seemed cool, dashing ne'er-do-wells you just knew were secretly tender and noble inside. As he got older, he revealed himself to be personally cool as well, the dedicated husband who never left Joanne Woodward's side, and the guy who, in his spare time, whipped up a nice salad dressing and some spaghetti sauce that ended up funding camps for children with cancer and numerous other charities. And don't even get us started on how good he looks in a race car.
LUCINDA WILLIAMS
Because when Lucinda Williams gets dumped, she goes and writes a song about it that speaks to all of us who have shared that misfortune. Because she refused to censor herself for the "Today Show," which found the lyrics to her song "Right in Time" a bit too risque for the a.m. Because she's so unfailingly honest that sometimes she gets herself in trouble. Because she still sends her lyrics home to her father, Miller Williams, to make sure they sound right to his poet's ear. Because she looks tough, but we know from her songs how hard and fast her tears can fall. Because you can tell the guys in her band are in awe of her talent. Because she's 50 and she rocks.
THE RAMONES
Too cool to crack a smile and way too cool for guitar solos, Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee and Tommy defined what musicians do when they were simply too cool to care. The Ramones uniform--black mops over black leather over blue jeans--was such a perfect fit for rock 'n' roll rebellion that it didn't need changing in 20 years. While the whole "band members sharing the same last name" shtick has been aped to death, legions of punks and head-bangers will always wish they were cool enough to be a Ramone.
BEETHOVEN'S NINTH
Schroeder had it dead to rights: Beethoven was one cool dude. Asked why he was always getting colds in the summertime, the piano-bangin' prodigy from "Peanuts" explained that listening to the "Ode to Joy" from Beethoven's Ninth gave him the chills. And there is no frisson more delicious than the hair-raising moment when the orchestra skids to a screeching halt and a growling bass intones, with gravitas: "O, Freunde!" Moments later, the massed chorale roars back in one voice with a mightily thumping "Freude, schoner Gotterfunken," and you're practically levitating off your seat. Oh, the joy!
RED LIPSTICK
Sassy women such as Cleopatra wore it, but it didn't become popular in this country until the jazz age, when it became a red flag worn by women proudly proclaiming their newfound emancipation. Now red lipstick is more than a fashion statement. Those crimson tubes of wax are applied thickly by sophisticated women who not only don't mind if they're noticed, they like to be noticed. Red lipstick goes as well with tattoos as it does with pearls. And there's just something about a gal who'll confidently glide on the red, then delicately pull an index finger between her lips so the excess doesn't get on her teeth. The only teeth red lipstick should go on are not your own.
1965-66 FORD MUSTANG CONVERTIBLE
Prince's little red Corvette may be more sultry and the '55 T-birds may be more exotic, but there is nothing cooler than a vintage Mustang convertible. The drop-top, galloping at full speed, infuses you with more endorphins than your first parachute jump, and those who watch you pass by can't miss the devil-may-care attitude that oozes from your every pore. A vintage Mustang ragtop is a pack of Marlboros on wheels when it roars, and a soft summer night atop a hill with someone special when it's parked.
THE WORD 'COOL'
Universally known, this term has been kicked around since the '30s and '40s, when jazz musicians made it popular. Sure, other slang has had its moments. We've tried hip, hep, chic, sweet, cherry, choice, phat, far-out, bitchin', awesome, of-the-moment, hella, and the latest accolade, "tight," to name a few. None of these expressions ever really sticks, because nothing will ever be as cool as "cool" itself.
BLACK COFFEE
Drop the Frappuccinos. Leave tea to the English. Unleaded? Not a chance. Give us a thick cuppa mud, straight up, every time. Other beverages try to compete but coffee, and the culture it's produced, remain forever cool. Sure, java's a favorite beatnik beverage, but even cowboys ain't ashamed to sing about it. Such is the mysterious power of the dark and steamy brew that unites us all.
CONVERSE CHUCK TAYLOR ALL-STARS
Lace up these classic canvas sneakers for instant credibility in all sorts of subcultures. Doesn't matter if they're high- or low-top or what color you choose--and remember, you get double points for wearing them to any sort of formal event.
NINA SIMONE
She was the "High Priestess of Soul," and her regal bearing and commanding stage presence never let you forget it. Another thing you'll never forget: her smoky voice, once you've heard it--a combination of anguish and pride that teaches lessons you can't learn anywhere else. Simone was often classified as a jazz singer, but jazz-soul-pop-rock-folk-blues-gospel-protest singer is more accurate. A diva before the term became ubiquitous, she feuded with audience and promoters alike; when she got fed up with racism in America, she renounced her homeland and became a citizen of the world. Fans worship her with almost cultlike devotion--and she would accept nothing less.
BOB DYLAN
When we were young, our parents thought he sounded awful. Now that we've grown up and become parents ourselves, our kids think he sounds awful. That ability to speak so directly to so many people while putting off so many more is the essence of cool and Bob Dylan's got it. Not only that, but now that he's well into his 60s and worth more millions than he can count, Dylan still crashes on his friends' couches, he's still shy about who his girlfriends are, and when those little lips tighten up and his brow creases even more, you can imagine he's probably thinking, "Yeah, that's right, I'm playing Konocti Harbor. You got a problem with that?" He's Mister Tambourine Man, Einstein disguised as Robin Hood, the writer of a thousand impossibly well-crafted songs and he's going to do what he hopes we're all going to do: stay forever young.
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
If Frank Sinatra is The Chairman, then Bruce is truly The Boss. In concert, we do what he says. And when the country's aching, as it did after Sept. 11, it's his music we turn to. He's proud to be born in the U.S.A., and he loves his country passionately enough to question leaders when they're forgetting the little guy. A blue-collar kid from Jersey, he's also one of our most articulate contemporary poets. And when he and Clarence Clemons and little Stevie are in a groove onstage, there's no way you're not going to be on your feet dancing. Put on any of his old albums, turn it up loud, and you'll feel the same way.
MICHAEL JORDAN
Two rather inglorious retirements from pro basketball and an ill-fated stab at pro baseball haven't tarnished Michael Jordan's legacy of last-second, game-winning baskets. Face it--everyone wants to be thought of as the person you have to turn to when the stakes are high, the outcome is in doubt and the whole world is watching and screaming. Michael Jordan is that person. That's not cool. That's ice.