Holiday Season in Dayton, Ohio (Hours & Events)

BONNETT'S BOOK STORE will be closed on Thanksgiving but right back at it on Friday, as usual, from Noon-8p (or later, call if you're nearby 937-228-1222). We'll be closing at 5p on Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve, Closed Christmas Day and New Year's Day, and return to our regular hours of Mon-Sat, Noon-8p on other days during and after the Holidays.

Naturally, I can't know EVERYTHING that's going on, but here's a heads-up on the things that have recently piqued my interest, including special holiday hours and events around downtown and in the Oregon District.

DERAILED HAIR SALON is taking appointments on Wednesday 11/24, so you can get your last minute 'do done in time to show off your hotness at your Thanksgiving gatherings. 937-222-3910 for appointments and more info.

WILEY'S COMEDY CLUB  - Wednesday 11/24 @ 8p "Comics Come Home" show features 10 national performers home for the holiday, all for the low low price of $5.00! You do the math. What a DEAL! Check with them for New Year's Eve Party info.

THE DUBLIN PUB features Spungeworthy on Wednesday night and will open at 6p on Thanksgiving with live acoustic music in the evening from Nick Mitchell.

BLIND BOB'S will open at 8p on Thanksgiving and Christmas Day. Closed Christmas Eve. Check with them if you want to know more about their New Year's Eve plans.

Happy Birthday BOULEVARD HAUS! Open Christmas Eve until 8p. Closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's Days.


GRANDE ILLUMINATION & CHILDREN'S PARADE take place Friday 11/26 4-9p Musical acts will perform on the main stage on Courthouse Square and Dayton's tree goes live at 7:45p. Be there by 7:30p to get your "magic glasses" to enhance the tree lighting ceremony. The Children's Parade takes place immediately following the tree lighting.

LAS AMERICAS, a Puerto Rican/South American eatery near the Trolley Stop has extended it's hours. Check them out to add some spice to your holiday dining. Tue-Fri 11a-8p; Sat 8a-8p, Sun 9a-1p

FIRST FRIDAY is Dec 3, 5-10p at creative venues all around downtown Dayton. Check out some truly special and unique gift selections, and be inspired by the creativity of a wide variety of new art and artists.
5th Street Clayworx will be taking non-perishable food donations for the Food Bank during First Friday.

SANTA PUB CRAWL Benefiting USMC TOYS FOR TOTS is Sat, Dec 11, 6p-2a as follows:
Oregon Express, 336 E. Fifth St.: 5:30 to 7 p.m.
Blind Bob’s, 430 E. Fifth St.: 7 to 8:30 p.m.
Tumbleweed Connection, 454 E. Fifth St.: 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Trolley Stop, 530 E. Fifth St.: 9:30 to 10:30 p.m.
Dublin Pub, 300 Wayne Ave.:  10:30 to 11:30 p.m.
Bar Tiki, 261 Wayne Ave.: 11:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m.
Newcom’s, 418 E. Fifth St.: 12:30 a.m. to closing

LET THE HOLIDAY FESTIVITIES BEGIN!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We'll be closed for the holiday, but back to normal on Friday, that is; Monday-Saturday, Noon-8pm, closed Sundays.

If you have time on Friday, be sure to partake of the Dayton Holiday Festival from 4-9pm on Courthouse Square. The tree is set to light up at 7:45pm. It's a great opportunity for holiday fun photos! Stop and say hello on your way down.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving weekend! :-)

First Friday Full Moon - keep your pants on

This is a link to my personal blog.

First Friday (9-4-09) is a Full Moon. I'm fond of Lunar photography and I thought it might be fun to try and photograph busy urban scenes including the full moon. Come on down and give it a try. Feel free to stop in here at Bonnett's and say Hi. I'll probably be trapped inside all night, but I'd love to see what you come up with.

I've created a flickr group for anyone who wants to share their work afterwards.

Keep Your Pants On! First Friday Full Moon, Dayton, OH
http://www.flickr.com/groups/kypo/

Have fun!

FIRST FRIDAY Tomorrow Night 5p-10p

With all the Scrabble excitement I nearly forgot about First Friday. Come downtown and enjoy what promises to be a beautiful evening in the Oregon District. :-)

Julia Child finds & more

We've always got a great selection of cookbooks featuring styles and recipes from all over the world. Since the new movie "Julie & Julia" is coming out soon I thought I'd mention a few of the related items you can find on our shelves right now.


"In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs" by Julia Child

[from the cover] "She invites 26 great cooks from across the country into her own kitchen, cooks with them, and unearths their secrets. And for the home cook she details 150 superb recipes, full of the exciting new flavors of American cooking today."






"Julia's Kitchen Wisdom" by Julia Child

[from the cover] "Essential techniques and recipes from a lifetime of cooking."








"La Cuisine de France" by Mapie, the Countess de Toulouse-Lautrec

(translated by Charlotte Turgeon) [from the cover] "The MODERN French Cookbook"









And, for those just getting started, or those who would like a refresher course, we have "The Beginner's Cookbook" with chapters on Nutrition, Preparation, Methods, Utensils, Pantry supplies, Herbs & Spices, and a wide range of recipes on which to try out your skills.

We've got a great selection of books about grilling, tailgating, picnics, and other outdoor eating fun. And don't forget parties! There are cocktails, appetizers, salads, soups, international foods, vegetarian dishes, and desserts to consider.



This list covers a lot of ground, but if you come take a look you'll find a lot of great cooking ideas for which I haven't room to mention in one blog post. Come on down and look around.

Mon - Sat, Noon - 8 PM

New Bar Smell? The Tumbleweed is OPEN

The Tumbleweed Connection bar re-opened it's doors today after a terrible fire in mid-February.
Stop in and welcome them back!

I stopped in for a PBR with my son. Crappy phonecam pic available here.

Fearsome First Friday

It was a big night for Horror, Thrillers, Hard-boiled fiction, and similar DVDs. But now, it's time to wrap up and head for home. We'll be open again tomorrow (July 4th, 2009) from Noon until 5pm... maybe later if there are enough people around.

Have a happy and SAFE Independence Day.

URBAN NIGHTS - Come on out, there's no rain in sight!

The weather's great, the time is right, come downtown for Urban Nights!

OK, it's a little cloudy out, but that would've ruined my rhyme, and it's not raining yet. I think it'll hold off.

Bonus! The Dolcessa Gelato cart has returned for the event. You have to try this stuff! It's outside the Ware Block Building near Bonnett's Books, Practice Yoga, Derailed Salon, and Gallery 510 Fine Art.

Art Galleries, Great Food, Live Performances, City Life Statues, Light Up Dayton Photo-contest Winners, and yes... there's even a Dayton Dragons game tonight! And of course, don't forget to stop in Bonnett's to see the latest arrivals!

Big Changes for Halloween Party!

The official name for the Oregon District's annual Halloween party, formerly known as "Boo-N-Brew", is now "Hauntfest on 5th" and has been so for a little while. Here's the scoop...

DATE/TIME: 2008 October 25, 7pm-1am
This year's event takes place, as always, on the last Saturday of the month of October with two live stages, Costume contests with CA$H prizes, street performances, all free with your paid admission!

The big changes this year are all about saving money $!

• TWO-for-ONE Admission Coupons available FREE at Bonnett's Book Store and other locations in and around the Oregon District . Get 'em while they're hot! That's right, this year you get TWO Admissions for just $10.00! Bring your dates, bring your friends, bring dates for your friends, etc.
  

• Most of the bars and restaurants will have NO COVER CHARGE this year. Check with your favorite establisment to see what they've got going on.

• Safe and easy $3.00 parking at the Convention Center parking garage, also known as the Transportation Center, above Greyhound & the Neon Movies, and right across from Smokin' BBQ.

• Roam the streets, or shamble your zombie feet to meet friends at your favorite watering hole and don't forget to see what's new on Fifth Street in the Oregon District.
  

Visit "Spooky Oregon" on OregonArtsDistrict.com for all the details!

The scariest thing this Halloween season might be the economy, so save some dough with a $10.00 2-for-1 Admission coupon, NO COVER CHARGE at most of the O.D.'s bars and restaurants, and car-pool with your friends to the Transportation Center!

Pick up your coupons at Bonnett's Book Store and other Oregon District businesses.

Downtown Dayton on a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon

FROM: Darrin R. Ballman Photography: Huge wedding blog and the "Thunderstorm Street Session"!

===[Begin Snippet]===

"So we went on our merry way down the street...I had to hit the good ol' Bonnett's Books and their cool little doorway...."

===[End Snippet]===

I must say I'm very impressed with Darrin's photography and I hope he won't mind me sharing his talent with you by re-posting the above photo here along with links to his blog and Web site.

Also, thanks to Misty and Jeremy for hiring and inspiring their photographer. Best wishes to you both.

See: DarrinBallman.com for more information on his photographic services.

Dayton "Street View" added to Google Maps!

I noticed yesterday afternoon, completely by accident, that Google Maps had added it's 'Street View' feature for some of downtown Dayton. I considered making a post about it, but as I haven't been to Google Maps for downtown views lately (I already know my way around, fairly well...) I ass-u-me'd that it had been so for a while and that I simply hadn't noticed.

Lo and behold! This evening I found this thread on Dayton Most Metro.

http://www.dayton.mostmetro.com/forum/index.php?topic=464.0

I was happy to learn that I'm not so out of touch after all.

I spent a good hour clicking around downtown. The 'Street View' images are at least a year old, and some have suggested that some images are even older, and even traverse the space time continuum... read the thread at Dayton Most Metro (DMM). It's interesting and funny.

One DMM participant suggested that all of downtown be modeled using Google Sketch-Up. Downtown's central business district has already been somewhat modeled, though it doesn't seem to fit quite right. I'd love to see the Oregon district modeled. I'm not skilled at the 3-D modeling process, but I've done the bare-bones of our location, The Ware Block Building (502-510 E. 5th St.), to scale. I tried to plug it into Google Earth, as a placeholder until I could detail and texture map the thing, but I couldn't figure out how to get it to sit right where it's supposed to be. I'll play around more later.

Again, I recommend this thread at Dayton Most Metro:
http://www.dayton.mostmetro.com/forum/index.php?topic=464.0

Flexible Neighbors / Open House / FREE Yoga Lessons!

We're happy to announce the arrival of our newest neighbors in the Ware Block Building, Practice Yoga, at 504 East Fifth Street, between Derailed Hair Salon and Bonnett's Book Store.

Kim and Kathi were present during Urban Nights, handing out information about their studio when an acquaintance of mine walked up as we chatted, me with my camera, and requested a photo with them.

Practice Yoga's OPEN HOUSE hours are Noon to 6pm on Saturday, May 31st. FREE Yoga Lessons will be given at 1pm, 3pm, and 5pm. There will be door prizes as well. See their site for more information about their wide variety of regularly scheduled classes, at PracticeYogaDayton.com

While you're in the area, stop in at Bonnett's Book Store to look over our selection of Yoga books. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

It's "Urban Nights" Time Again!

Bonnett's Book Store will keep extra hours the evening of Friday, May 16, 2008 as part of downtown Dayton's "Urban Nights" event. The following links are recommended:

• URBAN NIGHTS Preview - DATV-Dayton Digital Digest-Dan Suffoletto
• URBAN NIGHTS Organizers - Downtown Dayton Partnership
• URBAN NIGHTS Official MySpace
• URBAN NIGHTS post on For The Love Of Dayton
• URBAN NIGHTS post on DaytonOS
• Also, be sure to visit: Dayton MostMetro.com

Don't forget about "A World A'Fair" at the Dayton Convention Center AND be sure to bring your camera and look for the "City Life '08" sculptures to enter the Downtown Dayton Partnership City Life '08 PhotoContest (.pdf)

Finally, this video, created to promote last year's Urban Nights, still tickles my funny bone:

City Life in Dayton

Life in the City of Dayton, Ohio -- The City of Neighbors, The All-American City, The Birthplace of Aviation -- takes many forms. Here are some of the things I noticed in just 15 minutes on Monday afternoon while on my way to work.

As I crossed into downtown on the Riverside bridge I noticed some of the new batch of City Life statues waiting at Riverscape for their downtown diaspora. I quickly parked and grabbed my camera to get the first shot.



J. Seward Johnson's "City Life" sculptures arrived in Dayton this afternoon for "City Life '08." The statues will be placed in various locations all over downtown. I've already spotted one in the Oregon District - a first for the O.D.!



Workers continue construction of the new CareSource building on the southeast corner of Main and Monument. It was just chance that I spotted them on the way back to my car. Then, it was off to work again.



I arrived at the store to find these hungry avians feasting on whatever falls out of the tree above the parking lot. I don't know what kind of birds these are, but I've never noticed the little red-headed variety before.

As I've been making this post, the children's books of Richard Scarry came into my mind. I love Dayton. :-)

The "City Life" statues were big fun for me last year. I look forward to tracking them down again this year.
Here's a mini-slideshow, or click to visit the gallery of my "City Life '07" photos.

Now Playing @ THE NEON MOVIES

130 East Fifth Street, Dayton, OH 45402
Office Phone: (937) 222-8452
For Showtimes: (937) 222-7469(SHOW)
http://www.neonmovies.com
TheNeon on MySpace (http://www.myspace.com/neonmovies)


"ATONEMENT" Showtimes:
Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 11:40, 2:10, 4:40, 7:10, 9:40
Monday - Thursday: 2:10, 4:40, 7:10, 9:40

"THE KITE RUNNER" Showtimes:
Friday, Saturday, Sunday: 11:50, 2:20, 4:50, 7:20, 9:45
Monday - Thursday: 2:20, 4:50, 7:20, 9:45

Above times good through Thursday, January 17th, 2008

Urban Nights - Friday, Sept. 14, 5pm-10pm

Urban Nights is here again. Tour the Arcade (you may not get another chance) and check out what's happening in the Oregon District. Click the subject of this post for a link to more info.