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A couple of weeks ago, we had a contest to win copies of Niki Lee's book Seize The Green Day.

The question was:

Which classic film inspired the cover art for 'Seize The Green Day?'

We had lots of entries with various answers. Many of you guessed 'The Red Balloon' as the film and we even had a couple of shouts for 'Grease' in there. It was in fact inspired by a scene from It's A Wonderful Life

[img=041911_seize.jpg] [img=080911_Xk4Kwc..jpeg]Well done to the 15 or so people that got it right. Niki is kindly giving 3 copies away, so congratulations to the following people, who will be getting a signed copy sent to them from Niki Lee herself!

- Mary O'Connor
- Tom Cooke
- Meaghan Turner

We'll be in touch so Niki can send you your book! If you didn't win and want to buy a copy, you can purchase the book here


Seize the Green Day's cover is based on a drawing from the movie It's a Wonderful Life. I saw it one Christmas time in the late 1960s; I was eight. Changing channels, I stopped when I saw two stars, literally stars in the sky, talking to each other. It was love at first sight.

The movie was directed by the great Frank Capra. And here, Capra and the cast perfectly deliver the message of kindness toward your fellow human. The next Christmas, I went looking for it on the tube and realized it wasn't so easy to find. I lived near D.C. and had to search for it as far off as the snowy channel of 13 in Baltimore!

(Note to my younger compadres: in the late 60s, black and white TV was the norm, you had to get up to change the channel if you wanted it changed, there was no cable and there were no videos or DVDs. If you wanted to see a movie, you had one chance to see it, otherwise, you'd have to wait another 52 weeks.)

It's a Wonderful Life follows the lives of George Bailey and his family as a financial crisis pushes him to the brink of suicide. Saved by his guardian angel Clarence, George gets to see what his life would have been like if he'd never been born and decides he wants to live.

Early in the film, George falls in love with the sweet Mary Hatch. He gushes to her:

"What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary."



Later, in return, Mary draws a picture of George's offer entitling it, "George Lassoes the Moon." That's passion. I love passion. And I'm passionate about Green Day. Seize the Green Day is the lassoing of my memories of an amazing band and their amazing fans.
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