Thanks to everyone who came out for our special Cult Classics screening of THE DARK KNIGHT on Saturday night at The Loft Cinema. The first 50 folks to arrive received a FREE pass to the movie and we gave away t-shirts, magnets, and other Bookmans' goodies galore!! Right before the start of the show we raffled off three amazing $100 Bookmans' gift baskets that were a huge hit with everyone - especially the three winners! If you missed this celebration of movie madness, don't despair! We have two fabulous Fight Censorship screenings of NAKED LUNCH and A CLOCKWORK ORANGE planned for September at The Loft. We'll be back with more free passes, great giveaways, and several of those lovely $100 gift baskets!

Hello Bookmans universe! Last Friday, August 27th, Southern Arizona Beagle Rescue (SoAZBR) brought a few special guests to Bookmans on Speedway for a meet and greet. SoAZBR is a charitable, non-profit, 501(c)(3), all-volunteer organization dedicated to Beagle and Beagle-mix dog rescue. They provide education on the breed and general animal welfare. Additionally, they actively promote spay and neuter programs and the "No Kill" philosophy. They also provide education, training, and referral services for families hoping to find a new home for their beagle.

Wow, I can’t believe that Movie Madness has almost come and gone. Not without a bang though. We finish out this weekend with [REC] 2, the sequel to the Spanish horror flick [REC].

Now you may not have heard of these films, but you most likely have heard of its American remake Quarentine. [REC] 2 picks up in the same infested apartment with the signature hand-held camera techniques and indie gore and splatter. It’s a true delight for genre fans who revel in blood and mayhem!

The Konamis is a webcomic by Jack Crawford and Bookmans own Tavis Maiden (@tavismaiden). Updated each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, follow the adventures of The Konamis, a real comic tale about the real comic adventure of The Konamis (meaning "little waves"), the little ol' rock band that makes a big splash!

The Konamis: Level Up!

We ain’t afraid of no ghosts, at least not with the Arizona Ghostbusters around! The local costume fan club drew a huge crowd at Bookmans Phoenix as part of our annual Movie Madness Month. The club impressively makes their own outfits, weapons and accessories and trot around the valley volunteering their time and efforts in order to raise money for various charities. Every year, the AZ Ghostbusters team with the Step Out to Fight Diabetes Walk and join the thousands of other supporters across the country who participates in this sponsored walk to promote diabetes awareness, prevention and cure. The team came out promoting their walk as well as to hang for a few hours with our anxious customers.

Hey everyone! Steve McCine, the creator of DDMAU, was in our store with another DDMAU workshop. Prizes and giveaways, fun and instruction on how to play this  fast paced, family fun card game. Like UNO on steriods, you get rid of your cards by playing on suits or numbers. Skip and hit players across the table. Lay down runs. Go out with big points. Don't get caught with the DeckMaster or you could be the dealer for a while! Hours and hours of fun for families and friends! One more workshop will be held here on Saturday September 4th from 11am - 3pm. Steve is getting ready for the big DDMAU tournament on September 18th, 2010. Check out the DDMAU website for more details on that.

The Konamis is a webcomic by Jack Crawford and Bookmans own Tavis Maiden (@tavismaiden). Updated each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, follow the adventures of The Konamis, a real comic tale about the real comic adventure of The Konamis (meaning "little waves"), the little ol' rock band that makes a big splash!

The Konamis: Dungeon Crawl

One of our favorite children's book authors, Erin Saelens, creator of Bot Tots, has a great new YouTube video out of her book Cog Corner Goes Green! Join the Botbergs and the O’Gearys on their first adventure of many as they rally their Tiny Bot friends to join a recycling crew. Can Tiny Bots motivate Big Bots to go green? Will Cog Corner ever be sparkling clean? Check out the video:

The Konamis is a webcomic by Jack Crawford and Bookmans own Tavis Maiden (@tavismaiden). Updated each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, follow the adventures of The Konamis, a real comic tale about the real comic adventure of The Konamis (meaning "little waves"), the little ol' rock band that makes a big splash!

The Konamis: Break the Seal

Who you gonna call? We called the Arizona Ghostbusters to help us raise awareness for the American Diabetes Association! And that is exactly what they did. In between busting ghosts, these guys took some time to stop by and hang out with Ann from ADA here at Bookmans Speedway. With picture taking and book stacking contest, these guys were a ton of fun and we can't wait to have them back. Hey, seen a ghost? Call the Arizona Ghostbusters! Check out some sweet pictures from this event! 

We've got some great customers and fans. In fact, we have the best customers and fans. They're so awesome that one of them even recorded a song for (and about) us. So, for your listening enjoyment, we'd like to present: Bookmans Song from one of our loyal customers at Bookmans Speedway in Tucson. Mike Barnett turned in the song as part of his application to the Speedway store a week or so ago. He has a writing degree and an extensive music background, and has a great love of reading. He likes exploring new types of music and new groups, always adding to his repertoire. He really likes Bookmans and our efforts in the community and the environment. Thanks for the awesome song, Mike!

The Konamis is a webcomic by Jack Crawford and Bookmans own Tavis Maiden (@tavismaiden). Updated each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, follow the adventures of The Konamis, a real comic tale about the real comic adventure of The Konamis (meaning "little waves"), the little ol' rock band that makes a big splash!

The Konamis: Fi-ire!

Today at Bookmans Speedway, we had another great animal organization hang out for a couple of hours! Tucson Cold Wet Noses brought along some of their dogs that are available for adoption and they were super cute! They had information on adoption, animal education and information on becoming a volunteer. These guys were a huge hit and had a lot of visitors stop by and say hello to the beautiful pups. Follow this link to check out the pictures from this awesome event. Have a great day! PeaceLove

What do you get when you cross Fantasy with a Horror Film? In this particular case you get Hausu (House), a kaleidoscopic trip into a cinematic magical kingdom.

Made in 1977 by Japanese ad guru Nobuhiko Obayashi (director of the infamous Mandom commercials with Charles Bronson) Hausu is such a delight that after seeing it you will be left humming its catchy theme song.

A couple of months ago, a young woman who was working to complete her Girl Scout Gold Award (the highest honor a Girl Scout can receive) approached me about a book donation.  For her Gold Award project, she had been working for the last year to create an on-site library for the women and children staying with New Beginnings.  Since 1987, New Beginnings for Women & Children has provided homeless women in Tucson the support they need to become financially self-sufficient and to be able to keep their housing and their families secure.  The program offers a family shelter, as well as transitional housing, an aftercare program, and a special children’s program that addresses the emotional and educational needs of children who have lived through the stress of homelessness.

The Konamis is a webcomic by Jack Crawford and Bookmans own Tavis Maiden (@tavismaiden). Updated each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, follow the adventures of The Konamis, a real comic tale about the real comic adventure of The Konamis (meaning "little waves"), the little ol' rock band that makes a big splash!

The Konamis: I love it when a plan comes together

Well, we called and they came!

Bookmans Mesa welcomed the Arizona Ghostbusters on Saturday, who made a special appearance to help benefit diabetes. Armed with both their proton packs and ghost traps, the Ghostbusters enlisted the help of patrons to help find ecto plasm those pesky ghosts have hidden throughout the store. Scavengers who were able to find the slime canisters were rewarded with awesome Ghostbusters shwag.

If they weren't feeling a scavenger hunt, customers could also enter the paranormal book stacking contest. It was their chance to show up those ghosts in a book-stacking competition! Great fun was had by all. Thanks to the Arizona Ghostbusters for coming out and entertaining us all! Check out our pictures on Flickr, or the Ghostbusters' Flickr pics!.

"Shaken, not stirred" was the saying of the day as our customers enjoyed martinis and casino games in the store today. Like something straight out of a James Bond movie, we had a roulette table and a vivacious young woman serving mocktails (made to look like a martini, but actually just lemonade). To celebrate Movie Madness Month we decided to pay tribute to celluloid's favorite secret agent. In addition to drinks and games, we had a screening of James Bond's first film adventure, Dr. No. Rounding out the event was James Bond trivia, with the winner getting a trade credit and a Bookmans t-shirt! It was a ton of fun and it's still early in the month so be on the lookout for other Movie Madness events at all the Bookmans locations, including a screening of The Dark Knight at The Loft later this month.

For pictures of our Casino Royale check out our Flickr page!

The Konamis is a webcomic by Jack Crawford and Bookmans own Tavis Maiden (@tavismaiden). Updated each Monday, Wednesday and Friday, follow the adventures of The Konamis, a real comic tale about the real comic adventure of The Konamis (meaning "little waves"), the little ol' rock band that makes a big splash!

Hark Heroes

Today may have been the last summer kids event for the year but we went out with a bang! To get us ready for the upcoming school year, Bookmans Mesa hosted a back-to-school party. What better way to get us ready for the upcoming year than by decorating book covers made from recyclable material that you can use all year long? Little ones had the opportunity to color school related coloring pages, enter a raffle for awesome school supplies which ranged from Spiral notebooks, to colored pencils, pencil cases, Bookmans tote bags and much more!

Teacher, teacher! We had the greatest time today at Bookmans Grant Back-To-School Party! Mother Goose enthralled us with her fun stories, face painting and games! We all looked forward to a new school year and were well-equipped with some cool new supplies. We even had apples for the teacher! Thanks to everyone for coming out and check out the pics here!

What a party! The jams were jamming as we colored posters all about our summer and got our faces painted! We ate cookies and drank juice while we watched the amazing Silly Tassie make extraordinary balloon figures. From swords to puppies and everything in between, Silly Tassie was making it happen! The Girl Scouts were here also, making awesome first aid kits for the kids to take to school! Thanks to the Girl Scouts! Dance party at Bookmans! Whats a party without some dancing and boy did we dance! Check out the pics from our great party on Flickr.

This was the last of our Summer Kids Events, but we will have much to do during the school year, and don't forget about Music Hour every Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. and Story Time every Friday at 10:00 a.m.! Thanks to all who came out and played hard with us this summer. Keep an eye out for upcoming kids events! Have a great school year! See you next summer!

Today Bookmans in Flagstaff completed our final free summer kids event with our annual “Back to School Party” featuring Chuck Cheesman's kids' show, Wild West Entertainment's face painting and balloon sculpting, free massage with Raquel Rotnes and more. Check out the awesome pictures here. We are going to miss all the wonderful families and day camps that joined us each week at the Orpheum Theater. Today we hosted 150 people, and it was a blast! Please stay tuned for more details about our upcoming free kids events at the downtown public library, including Fandango puppet making at 10:30 a.m. August 30, and banned books story time to honor Banned Book Week at 10:30 a.m. on October 1! Also, please come see us at Pickin' in the Pines September 17, 18 and 19.

Thanks again for making our summer so much fun!

A group of local authors who go by the collective name, Gecko Gals Ink, came by the store last Saturday to do a signing and the response was quite favorable. The Gecko Gals Ink are local authors Mary Ann Hutchison, Jude Johnson, Ashleen O'Gaea, Carol Costa, and D.H. Palmer. Covering everything from adult historical fiction to spirituality, the gals are a very eclectic mix and were a lot of fun to have in the store. Be sure to check out their signing at the Speedway location on Saturday, August 28! We hope to see you there.

For some pictures of the gals check out our Flickr page

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I find that on a daily basis, I see more people plugged into things than not. Sometimes I am only vaguely aware of them and on days like today, I am severely annoyed. Are we truly this narcissistic and bored on a societal level that we cannot run errands (or pee) without updating, texting, or talking to someone else? I’ve observed a coworker walking from one side of the warehouse to the other texting--apparently they felt the need to text someone unknown about their journey. I have wasted many minutes talking to someone only to find that they had ear buds in and could not hear me. We have become part Borg. I look around and my coworkers are hunched at computer terminals with wires coming from their heads attached to many small devices.