"In the middle of nowhere."

[AngryOldDem]

I offer this anecdote because I always like to hear how the City Slickers view us folk out here in Podunk. (Dayton DUers may most appreciate this.)

Went to the Fraze Pavilion in Kettering Friday night to see jazz trumpeter Chris Botti. When he came onstage he looked out at the crowd and said, "I remember this place." (He played at the Fraze in 2006.) Then in his banter, he said he's often asked what are some of his most favorite venues. He said that he has played in many famous places, such as Carnegie Hall, but that the Fraze, "in the middle of nowhere, Kettering, Ohio," is right up there, too.

Well, uh...thanks. (Kick-ass show, by the way.)

[ladym55]

1. Okay, Kettering is most definitely NOT the middle of nowhere

I've been in the middle of nowhere. Kettering doesn't qualify. Although I live up in the Akron area, my mom lived in Centerville for many years. I liked the area a lot ... and I do believe the really neat independent bookstore Books & Company is in Kettering, right?

Trust me, middle of nowhere is NOT you.

[AngryOldDem]

2. The flagship Books & Co. is there in Town and Country

But they have built a larger store in the new megamall The Greene, which is just over the county line in Beavercreek. Kettering is a nice town that is weathering Dayton's economic meltdown fairly well...and if it has a concert venue that can draw the likes of Ringo Starr and Willie Nelson, well, 'nuff said.

[gemdem]

3. Books & Co. is no longer independent

Sorry to report that they were bought out some years back by Books-A-Million. The changes at first were subtle, but of late (especially with the new location at The Greene) the old store at Town & Country isn't what it was. One has to wonder with all of the open store fronts there these days how long it will be before Books & Co. is only at The Greene.