Bargain books, CDs and DVDs from Daedalus

Book, music, and movie lovers (along with those who buy gifts for book, music, and movie lovers) should know about Daedalus Books and Music. We've received catalogs from them for awhile and, with their amazing prices on some items, we just couldn't resist placing an order with them any longer. Our recent purchase included the classic The Women DVD for $6.98, a two-fer DVD of Holiday Inn and Going My Way for $6.98, a Billy Taylor Trio CD for $5.98, and a gorgeous big softcover book of The Posters of Mauzan for only $9.98 (which is a huge savings compared to Amazon). They might not have everything that you are looking for but, with these low prices, you feel free to be more adventurous in buying things that you're not as familiar with (we'd never heard of Mauzan and don't know much about Billy Taylor either) so you can enjoy the thrill of discovering something new. While they don't offer the free shipping like so many online retailers are this season, a flat fee of $5.95 for standard shipping isn't too bad, especially the more that you buy.

Nell Brinkley cartoons

Thanks to the USA Today Pop Candy blog, we just discovered cartoonist Nell Brinkley via the new book The Brinkley Girls: The Best of Nell Brinkley Cartoons 1913-1940. There's a nice slide show on the Fantagraphics Books website but a better price at Amazon.

We love it when a birthday celebration turns into a month-long event. Mrs. WYA!'s b-day isn't until late this month but the presents are already rolling in- yippee! Did you know that Schweppes (the folks who make, among other things, a great ginger ale) makes lip balm? We didn't either but Mrs. WYA! received this too cute glamorous gold tote with 3 Schweppes lip balms inside; tonic water, grape, and ginger ale lip balm. She would no doubt be carrying that in her purse as she shopped the oh-so-chic stores in the Shop America book she also received. The book is filled with photos of real mid-century stores and gorgeous renderings of what could have been- swoon.

Sunday morning combo...

...listening to Adele and reading a Pearls Before Swine book. (the Pearls link is to creator Stephan Pastis' blog which has a funny video on it- we love this guy and his work!)

We naturally have strong cases of wanderlust but, when we hear foodie authors Jane and Michael Stern (the folks behind the great website Roadfood.com) talk about their new book, 500 Things to Eat Before It's Too Late: and the Best Places To Eat Them, we really want to toss obligations aside and rent an RV for a few months to take an eating tour of America.

Regular readers know that we are fans of both Eckhart Tolle and the comic strip Mutts so we are thrilled to see that they have come together for a book coming out this fall.

Here's a little bit of our haul from the Easter Bunny. For Mr. WYA!, both the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus know that you just can't go wrong with zombie gifts. In his Easter basket were 2 books, Zombie Haiku and The Zen of Zombie. Mrs. WYA! got all kinds of goodies (representing the many facets of her personality) including some Marilyn Monroe lighters, a Hello Kitty notebook, and a really cool Jizo statue.

"Whatever you think the world is withholding from you, you are withholding from the world"

That is a sentence that one of Mrs. WYA!'s favorite yoga teachers, Gina at Invoke (who no longer teaches a regular class) said during her special New Year's class. It really struck a chord and Mrs. WYA! wondered if it was Gina's own brilliance, which was completely possible, or if it was a quote. A Google search answered that question by attributing it to Eckhart Tolle. What a reminder of how powerful words are. That sentence said in a yoga class then led to reading Mr. Tolle's The Power of Now and A New Earth, along with downloading (for free!) a 10 part webcast that Mr. Tolle did with Oprah on iTunes. These books will either really resonate with you or absolutely not all. They resonated with Mrs. WYA! in a big way. If you're a scholar of texts such as the Tao Te Ching there may be nothing new to you here but it's nice to get a contemporary author's point of view on the meaning of life.

Pathways to Joy by Swami Vivekananda

Pathways to Joy came to Mrs. WYA!'s attention through some yoga training but you don't have to be a practicing yogi to enjoy it. She simply found it to be one of the most inspiring and uplifting books that she's read. She is just now discovering Eckhart Tolle and there are a lot of overlapping themes between the two (even though Swami Vivekananda brought his teachings to the West around the turn of the last century).

Attention Tony Dungy fans

Want a chance to see Tony and thank him for his charitable work and coaching in Indiana over the years? He'll be doing book signings in Indianapolis, Carmel, Bloomington, and Fort Wayne over the next couple of weeks.

Just in time for a transformation in '09, Dr. Wayne Dyer's Change Your Thoughts- Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao just came out in paperback. We've previously blogged about how much we enjoyed the audiobook version of this but we've been waiting for the paperback because, as nice as it is having it read to us, sometimes we want to read, and re-read, the words for ourselves.

We just learned about the woman who wrote the book that one of our favorite Christmas specials is based on, The Year Without A Santa Claus. Phyllis McGinley was known for her glowing poetry about 1950s/60s suburbia. Here's an interesting article about her which explains how her poetry is a sharp contrast to the representations of the era given to us by Mad Men and the new movie Revolutionary Road (which is opening in Indy when????).

Word for Word, that great bookstore in Pendleton, has new arrivals for your winter reading including this devilish looking Krampus postcard book. Evidently, the Krampus accompanied St. Nikolaus and, while the saint left presents for the good, the Krampus switched the bad and even carried off the worst! That might be an even bigger motivator to be good during the year than getting presents.

Thanks to this NYMag.com post, we just found out that Wonder Woman and Diane Von Furstenberg have joined forces for what looks to be a very inspiring book.

Hyde Brothers- Fort Wayne, IN

Hyde Brothers used book store is so cool that we selfishly wish that it was in Indianapolis instead of Ft. Wayne. We love a good used book store and Hyde Brothers does a great job of organizing their books, which greatly adds to the enjoyment of browsing. The books are stacked high to the ceiling on the main floor and there is a jam packed lower level too. It's one of those great places where you just keep winding around and finding more nooks and crannies full of books. We were specifically looking for Dark Shadows books on our most recent trip and found that, not only did they have some, they had their own section. We love the funky little strip of Wells Street that it is on too. Book lovers who don't live in Fort Wayne would find it worth the trip to go there.

Do the Tao Now

Always mean to read the Tao Te Ching or, better yet, understand it? We just finished the audiobook of Dr. Wayne Dyer's Change Your Thoughts- Change Your Life: Living the Wisdom of the Tao. If hanging out in the self help department gives you the creeps, rest assured that this is based on Lao-tzu's verses that have lasted over 25 centuries- not some recent pop culture creation thought up to sell books. There are 81 verses and Dr. Dyer begins each chapter with the original verse and then an essay explaining it and putting it into context with everyday life. He ends the chapter with an exercise entitled "Do the Tao Now" where you can implement the lesson of the verse. Dr. Dyer has a rich, soothing voice that has made the audio version a pleasure to listen to on our iPod. However, we probably will pick up the book because there is something about holding a book and going back over favorite passages. He also occasionally has specials that air on PBS so be on the lookout for those. This book is not religion specific and, with more and more people describing themselves as "spiritual but not religious", this is a wonderful book to start improving their lives and the world.

Summer at Tiffany- sweet summer read

Already made your way through your summer reading list or just realized that we're more than halfway through July and you haven't read any good books yet? We highly recommend Summer at Tiffany. It came out last year but it is one of those books that you'll want to re-read every summer. It is by Marjorie Hart who spent the summer of 1945 working in New York City's Tiffany store. She was a college student from Iowa so this was quite an adventure for her and her girlfriend. It's an absolutely charming read about the big city complete with the sparkle of movie stars and the allure of servicemen on leave. The hardcover book itself is a treasure with pleasing tactile pages with rough edges adding to the sense of a time gone by. The first page asks the question, "do you remember the best summer of your life?" which will either conjure up good memories or sound like a challenge if nothing comes to mind.

Jerry Musich Used & Fine Books

We adore a used bookstore. We also adore an establishment with the name of the proprietor right in the name of the store. It takes us back to a simpler time (such as the time of Floyd's Barber Shop). So, this past weekend, we eagerly headed to Jerry Musich Used & Fine Books for the first time. This is a quaint little shop in the shopping center with Ace Hardware at W. 86th & Ditch (1319 W. 86th St). It doesn't have the size of a Half Price books (which is right across Ditch) but it has a lot of heart. Along with a varied selection of books, the store has old newspapers, maps, and a few posters. Also, if you are a fan of old illustrations, they have a really nice selection of those and they are beautifully matted. Many of them said "chromolithograph" on their tags and many were botanical type pictures, beautiful in their simplicity. While we were there, another customer came in inquiring about a specific author. The owner showed her what he had but, when none of those met her need, made sure that she knew where Half Price Books was. We thought that it was very cool that he was concerned that she found what she wanted and directed her to a competitor (kind of like in "Miracle on 34th Street" when Macy's starts sending customers to Gimbel's when they can't help them). We didn't find the particular book that we were looking for but we found another one worth purchasing and experienced another quaint touch- the hand-written receipt. So, drop by this bookstore and make a little afternoon of it on the corner of 86th and Ditch. Take your newly purchased book to Lulu's Electric Cafe across 86th St. to patronize a local coffeehouse that makes great drinks and punctuates its walls with local art that you can purchase. Afterwards, there's always good browsing at Global Gifts and New Age People, both in the same shopping center as Lulu's.

Great evening at the IMA

You've got to love the Indianapolis Museum of Art. We went there last night to hear the On the Road opening night concert with David Amram. Admission to the museum was, as always, free as was the concert, the On the Road exhibit, the Paris Posters exhibit, and the Simply Halston exhibit. Occasionally, there are special exhibits that have an admission fee but none of these that we checked out last night did. Be sure to donate in the boxes at the main entrance though to show this great museum some love. The Paris posters were beautiful and they are in the one of the European Art galleries on your immediate left as you enter the Pulliam Great Hall. The Halston dresses were gorgeous and take you back to a time when you needed "the perfect disco dress". The On the Road exhibit was fascinating and inspiring. As much as you hear about this scroll that Kerouac wrote on, nothing quite prepares you for the enormity of the thing. And it's only the first 84 feet of the 120 foot long scroll. Halfway through the exhibition, the rest of the text will be rolled out. All of the hard work for him to write it, and for everyone else thereafter to take care of it, is a bit breathtaking. Robert Frank's black and white photos hang around the scroll and they are fascinating. Something about old, candid photographs (a la Walker Evans) just pulls us in as we strive to see every detail that would have seemed mundane then, like what was on a diner menu or how much buttermilk cost. You can even try your hand at typing on an old typewriter that is set up in room off of the main exhibit room. It takes a lot of power to punch a key. Don't miss the TV set up just behind the partition by the typewriter. There are several choices of related programs that you can watch, such as Jack on the Steve Allen Show. The only problem is, if someone is banging away at the typewriter, it can be hard to hear.

Last night, David Amram played some amazing music and gave us some history of the time so hopefully you were there for that. It's not everyday that you get to hear Thelonious Monk at an art museum. There were readings of passages from On the Road and one of them was by Jim Walker, the executive director of Big Car Gallery. We just have to say that we think Jim should record an audiobook of On the Road- what a great voice!

Nuvo has a comprehensive article about all aspects of this exhibit including a list of upcoming related programs such as a screening of Pull My Daisy and the Midwest premiere of On the Road Now: Artists and Writers Respond to Kerouac in the 21st Century.

Thanks IMA, you are a treasure and we encourage everyone to support you. Thanks Mr. Irsay for not plopping this scroll in a vault for 20 years just to watch it increase in value. Speaking as members of the masses, we really appreciate being able to see it. Thank you Mr. Amram (pictured above) for a great concert last night. And thanks Jack Kerouac. Maybe when it took more power to punch a key, writers realized the power of the word more.

On the Road at the IMA

It seems like it has been a long wait for the On the Road scroll to go on display here (especially considering that it is owned by Jim Irsay) but, it is here and the Indianapolis Museum of Art is doing it up right. It is on display starting today through September 21st, 2008 with accompanying pictures by Robert Frank. Tonight, to kick the exhibit off, David Amram will be playing some music that the beats could groove to- which he would know since he collaborated with Jack Kerouac. It's free in the Pulliam Great Hall from 7PM-9PM. Sounds too cool, we are warming up our fingers for snapping.

(the above picture was taken in San Francisco last year- Mrs. WYA! has a soft spot for the Beats)