Anne Lamott, on books:

For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth.

What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world after world,

worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet or excite you.

Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave.

They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.

- Anne Lamott.

August 26 – National Dog Day:

On this day in the Star Trek universe:

Chaos on the Bridge

documentary directed and written by William Shatner,

was released in the United States on August 25, 2014.

Music by Catalin Marin.

Cast:

William Shatner, D.C. Fontana, David Gerrold, Maurice Hurley, Rick Berman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Richard Arnold, Jeffrey M. Hayes, John Pike, Susan Sackett, John de Lancie, Denise Crosby, Patrick Stewart, Ronald D. Moore, David Livingston, Herman F. Zimmerman, Michael Okuda, Brannon Braga, Jonathan Frakes, Tracy Tormé, Melinda M. Snodgrass, Lolita Fatjo, Gates McFadden, Diana Muldaur, Leslie Moonves, Ira Steven Behr, Michael Dorn.

On this day in music history - Verismo, by Renée Fleming and Marco Armiliato (2009):

Verismo

Album by Renée Fleming and Marco Armiliato,
released August 25, 2009.

Track list:

Puccini: La Bohème / Act 1 - “Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì”; Leoncavallo: La bohème / Act 1 - Musette svaria sulla bocca viva; Leoncavallo: La bohème / Act 4 - Mimi Pinson la biondinetta; Puccini: La Bohème / Act 3 - Addio! Che vai?...Donde lieta uscì; Leoncavallo: Zazà - Edited Renzo Bianchi (1947 Version) / Act 3 - Angioletto, il tuo nome?; Puccini: Manon Lescaut - Revised by Roger Parker / Act 4 - Sola, perduta, abbandonata; Zandonai: Conchita / Act 1 - Ier dalla fabbrica a Triana; Cilea: Gloria / Act 2 - O mia cuna fiorita; Giordano: Fedora / Act 3 - Tutto tramonta; Puccini: Turandot / Act 3 - “Tu che di gel sei cinta”; Giordano: Siberia - Nel so amore; Puccini: La Rondine / Act 2 - “Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso”.

On this day in movie history - Smog (1962):

Smog

directed by Franco Rossi,

written by Franco Brusati, Pasquale Festa Campanile, Massimo Franciosa and Ugo Guerra,

based on a story by Pier Maria Pasinetti, Franco Rossi and Gian Domenico Giagni,

was released at the Venice Film Festival in Italy, on August 25, 1962.
Music by Piero Umiliani.

Cast:

Enrico Maria Salerno, Annie Girardot, Renato Salvatori, Susan Spafford, Isabella Albonico, Joan Houseman, Len Lesser, Howard Koch, Fred Catania, Max Showalter, Peter Opp, Graziella Granata, Loredana Nusciak, M. Brigham, Billie Scheibner, R.E. Brigham, Helen Pallack, Bernard Judge, Dennis Diggin, Peggy Moffitt, Suzanne Reynolds, Jerry Ray, John Phillip Law.

On this day in movie history - Madame Bovary (1949):

Madame Bovary

directed by Vincente Minnelli,

written by Robert Ardrey,

based on the novel by Gustave Flaubert,

was released in the United States on August 25, 1949.
Music by Miklós Rózsa.

Cast:

Jennifer Jones, James Mason, Van Heflin, Louis Jourdan, Alf Kjellin, Gene Lockhart, Frank Allenby, Gladys Cooper, John Abbott, Harry Morgan, George Zucco, Ellen Corby, Eduard Franz, Henri Letondal, Esther Somers, Frederic Tozere, Paul Cavanagh, Vernon Steele, Dawn Kinney.

On this day in movie history - The Dragon Murder Case (1934):

The Dragon Murder Case

directed by H. Bruce Humberstone,

written by F. Hugh Herbert, Robert N. Lee and Rian James,

based on the novel by S. S. Van Dine,

was released in the United States on August 25, 1934.
Music by Bernhard Kaun.

Cast:

Warren William, Margaret Lindsay, Lyle Talbot, Eugene Pallette, Helen Lowell, Robert McWade, Robert Barrat, Dorothy Tree, George E. Stone, Etienne Girardot, George Meeker, Robert Warwick, William B. Davidson, Arthur Aylesworth, Charles C. Wilson.