Borders

After years of struggling, the Borders book chain is finally going under. The liquidation sales at the last stores, including our local one, start today. Here is the quiet before the storm; the store a couple of hours before the sale starts. It's closed at this time of day (as it has been other times I tried to go there before the bankruptcy troubles), and I can't help but wonder if the limited store hours (which present a locked door to would-be customers for too much of the day) contributed to the problems. Does it really make sense to have a coffee place that only opens at 9 in the morning?


This bookstore, Horizon Books, survives. They open at 7 AM each day, willing to serve customers a full two hours earlier than Borders did.



The main thing I miss about Borders is the book clubs. Well, I miss them for a long time ago, actually. When they first opened, they had a lot of book clubs. As years went by, they shut them down. I read several great books in their science fiction reading club, and discovered some great new authors. First and foremost is Dan Simmons and his "Hyperion Cantos" , one of the two best science fiction series I have ever read.

Borders started in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I've always considered that place to be like a hole in the state. It's like a city from out east transplanted to the Detroit area.

Two of my favorite smaller (non-superstore) bookstores are Dog Ears Books in Northport, Michigan, and Book Cliffs in Wabasha, Minnesota. One is rather out of the way for me, and the other is extremely out of the way, so I haven't been to either for a while, unfortunately.

Here are a couple of fine Borders-related songs. First is "The Border" by Tony Banks, from Bankstatement, which is one of the best rock albums ever made. Both this and the Al Stewart song that follow are about war. The Stewart song is about the Spanish Civil War. The Banks song is a lot more vague:

...But now there is a border
A line of blood
Now men patrol the border
But they're dead...



And here "The Border" by Al Stewart. This is probably my favorite song by him:



It includes these lyrics:

"In the village where I grew up
Nothing seems the same
Still you never see the change from day to day
And no-one notices the customs slip away"

There are many other border-related songs, including "Borderline" by Madonna, and "On the Border" by The Eagles:

"...I’m out on the border, I’m walkin’ the line
Don’t you tell me ’bout your law and order
I’m try’n’ to change this water to wine..."

which is similar to the Billy Idol lyric "Hanging out by the state line Turning holy water into wine"

Which brings me to the subject of the fine but obscure novel Arcady by Michael Williams, in which the distant future area of Louisville, Kentucky is ravaged by magical anomalies called The Borders. There's an alcoholic character in the book who has a tiny city in the bottom of his bottle.... a reflection of the very interesting idea of the Bottle City of Kandor. Arcady is one of those books I would have never known about if not for the book club at the Borders bookstore.

Will, bookstores slip away? Well, not for the time being anyway. I think they will last the longest for high quality and locally produced books, but perhaps not for throwaway mass-produced books by authors such as James Patterson; which are bought in huge quantities but perhaps not really loved as other books are.

No Christine Baranski Friday today. She will be back next week.

Gas War!

Today I found out about a gas war, Meijer vs Walmart:

So I went and got pictures. I can't recall any gas wars in my area, but I did hear of one a while back where the two stations in the war had no limit, and eventually the price passed below zero, and the stations were paying people to take gasoline, until the cops stopped it.

Alas, I had just filled my gas tank before I heard of the gas war...

Mt Teidi

Nothing new in this post. But I will link to a spectacular photo and post I found in another blog.

Click here for Tom's post about Mt. Teidi.

I will have something new tomorrow.

Halloween in July (Christine Baranksi Friday)

Isn't it a little too early?

I saw these Halloween decorations yesterday. Odd time. In front of a church. Odd place. I've known churches to have Halloween parties in the past, but these seem to be getting phased out in favor of Judgement House-like efforts. It's Vacation Bible school season. Maybe someone is doing a Halloween-theme Vacation Bible School? Nahhhh.

I do have two friends who love Halloween. Maybe this might be the sort of thing they'd do. Just maybe

I've heard of Christmas in July before (mostly to do with shady appliance dealer sales?), but never Halloween in July. But it does exist: click here, and check out the cool Jack-o-Melon. How long before we get Judgment House in July also?

There's something to be said for Halloween in July, I guess. You get to make good use of those Halloween decorations. And we do have four major candy holidays (Christmas, Valentine's, Easter, and Halloween), but none in the summer. So why not? But costumes? Nah, probably not in 90-degree weather. And since it's Christine Baranski Friday, how about this photo of Christine Baranski all ready for Halloween in July by being a vampire (from the Celebrity Vampire page).