Happy Birthday Dad

Today is Walter Bonnett's 75th birthday. He found his way out of the material world just 11 months ago. Dad was responsible for helping us, and those around him, learn to appreciate literature, music, movies, art and other cultural aspects of life.

One of his favorite films was "The Wizard of Oz" and one of his favorite songs was "Somewhere Over the Rainbow". He shared his gracious appreciation of wonder with all those around him, all through his life, and throughout ours.

On the day of, and within the hour following his memorial service, while family gathered quietly, there was a small storm which produced a Rainbow. It was, in fact, a double rainbow for a time.

So, thanks, Dad. Thanks for All the Rainbows. And Happy Birthday. You are missed.

Something I didn't tell you...

Tuesday I wrote about popular things around the shop of late.

I mentioned a book seen in the movie "Apocalypse Now" that is said to have inspired T.S. Eliot to write "The Wasteland". The book in the movie was "From Ritual to Romance" and what I didn't tell you is that it's a study of Arthurian legend and religion. Today, in completely unrelated endeavors, I tripped over this article discussing some of the literary and historical aspects of one of the better known stories from the realm of King Arthur's Camelot, "Sir Gawain and The Green Knight."

IMPORTANT IDEAS AND CONCEPTS IN SIR GAWAIN AND THE GREEN KNIGHT
from the Masterworks of British Literature blog.

I was amazed to find this the day after making that other post. I couldn't help but share.

While I'm at it, I may as well mention that we've got a great selection of classic books about King Arthur, Merlin, Camelot, and the Knights of the Round Table, including expansions to those tales, and some wonderful re-imaginings. I'm not sure, but we might even have a movie or two... but, at the moment, not "Monty Python and the Holy Grail," so, I hope you'll enjoy this clip of the LEGO version. Good day.

Daytonology: Daytonology Two Year Anniversary

Daytonology: Daytonology Two Year Anniversary

Don't let the name fool you! Daytonology is about the region, not just the city. And don't waste time checking it out. The author, Jefferey, says he's gonna delete it. Not sure why it has to be deleted, but you best get over there and get yer knowledge on while you still can.

It's been one of my favorite sites during it's short life. I don't know why I haven't mentioned it here before now. Go. NOW! Before it's too late.

Popular items lately

Golden Globe Awards, NFL Playoffs, Winter Olympics and Academy Awards on deck. With all this competition in the air I'm in the mood to give out some awards of my own. No nominees, no runner-up, just callin' 'em like I see 'em.

• "The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald

'Gatsby' is on someone's assigned reading list, so, if you know someone who needs it, send them our way. There are plenty available. And remember, you can trade them in when you've finished! "The Great Gatsby" is our "Most Requested Title" book lately and our most requested title so far in 2010. Leave it to the classics to start the list.

• "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold

I knew it was popular, but I didn't know it had been made into a movie. I hear about it at home because my wife plans to read it, and I see it here at the store every day. Now the movie trailers are all over TV. Good thing though. I didn't know what the book was about until I saw the trailer. Looks like an interesting read. I love wordplay so the award for "Saturation Awareness" goes to "The Lovely Bones."

• T.S. Eliot gets the honor of "Most Requested Writer".

It all began with a request for a book seen behind Marlon Brando's character of Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now." We didn't know the title, but we knew it contained the word "Romance." After some searching we learned the book was "From Ritual to Romance" by Jessie L. Weston, and there, on IMDb, this book was said to have inspired T.S. Eliot to write "The Wasteland." Interesting. Shortly thereafter, and again today, customers came in looking specifically for T.S. Eliot.

Perhaps it's all this attention to T.S. Eliot that subliminally inspired me to pose Mr. T with our currently available copies of "The Great Gatsby." For what it's worth, there's a trailer out for a movie based on "The A-Team" which, even though I was never a huge fan of the show, looks like it's going to be really good. So, Honorable Mention goes to "The A-Team Move Trailer."

So many books become movies. So many TV shows spawn book series. I've touched on the subject in this blog before. Movies from comics and comics into books, and anime and manga. It's all connected and there's something of it all to be found at Bonnett's. Come take a look around and maybe you'll help give rise to the next set of "Bonnett's Awards." ;-)