My dad — a Bond movie fan and avid Ian Fleming reader — made 007 movies like Goldfinger our reward for the tough chores. After hours of housework, I’d see Sean Connery on The ABC Sunday Night Movie, edited for TV broadcast.

This Father’s Day, I gave Dad a trio of James Bond gifts.

• Carte Blanche: The New James Bond Novel in hardcover.
  Jeffery Deaver has rebooted Bond. Deaver updates 007 to an Afghanistan/Iraq veteran and a former smoker, while retaining Bond’s classic smooth spy persona.
• Volume 1 of the Sean Connery 007 Collection on DVD.
  For my dad, Sean Connery is Bond, James Bond. Volume 1 features Thunderball, You Only Live Twice and Diamonds Are Forever.
  
• Volume 2 of the Sean Connery 007 Collection on DVD.
  Volume 2 continues the iconic Bondfest: Dr. No, From Russia With Love, and Goldfinger.

I gave my dad an even more established gift: a few bags of Eight O’Clock Coffee (100% Colombian Ground). This coffee brand has been perking up fathers for more than 150 years, and I know he likes it. Taste matters most for my dad, and Eight O’Clock bested other ground coffees (like Folgers, Maxwell House, and Starbucks) in a blind taste test by Consumer Reports in March 2009.

Now I could pair the coffee with a “World’s Greatest Dad” mug. But his style is more understated. Six months ago, we had brunch at the Cheesecake Factory, which serves coffee in elegant glass mugs. He really liked the mugs, so I picked out a set of four Bodum Bistro Double-Wall Insulated 10-Ounce Glass Mugs.

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• Father’s Day 2009 (6/21/2009)
• The Gift of Calvin and Hobbes (6/7/2009)
• 7 Cool Tools for Dad from ThinkGeek (5/30/2009)
• 13 Father’s Day Gift Guides (5/27/2009)
• Better Than Tube Socks: 21 Last-minute Online Gifts for Guys (12/22/2008)
• The Gift of Omaha Steaks (7/13/2008)
• Father’s Day 2008 (6/15/2008)
• Guy Gift Guideline #6: Go with Manly Gifts (2/9/2008)
• Gifts for TV Show Fanatics (12/16/2007)
• Give the Gift of Charity (12/14/2007)
• Golden Tickets: Giving the Gift of a Concert (8/8/2007)
• Movie Night Gift (7/22/2007)
• Twenty-five “1,000-Plus” Book Gifts (7/20/2007)
• Giving the Gift of Food (5/19/2007)

• 18 assorted cookies
• crunchy chocolate chip cookies
• fudge brownie minis
• confection pretzel clusters
• four slices of cake

Check out Cheryl&Co.’s different bakery gift towers for your next delicious delivered gift.

My sister also loves the cartoon too, so I gave her The Complete Calvin and Hobbes for her birthday. This three-volume set features every Calvin and Hobbes strip (3,160 in total) plus extra content. Watterson stood firm on never merchandising his work, so this compilation is the ultimate gift for Calvin and Hobbes fans. And dads who grew up enjoying Calvin and his teasing father may appreciate this collection on Father’s Day. (Calvin: “How come you know so much?” Dad: “It’s all in the book you get when you become a father.”) Below are more of my favorite quotes from Calvin and Hobbes.

• Calvin: “Life is full of surprises, but never when you need one.”
• Calvin: “It seems like once people grow up, they have no idea what’s cool.”
• Calvin: “Dear Santa, How are you? Well, enough chit chat. Let’s get down to business. This year I want…”
• Hobbes: “Strange that Santa would go to the trouble to wrap a box of coal.”
• Calvin: “Everybody seeks happiness! Not me, though! That’s the difference between me and the rest of the world. Happiness isn’t good enough for me! I demand euphoria!”
• Calvin: “Yeah, I always write [Grandma] a thank-you note right away. Ever since she sent me that empty box with the sarcastic note saying she was just checking to see if the postal service was still working.”
• Calvin: “There’s never enough time to do all the nothing you want.”

I liked the easy-open packaging for each steak. The grilling instructions were also simple. Based on the steak’s 1.5 inch thickness, I grilled on high heat for nine minutes. Then I flipped the steak for another seven minutes. Finally, I took them off the grill and let the steaks “rest” a few minutes, so the juice flow to the center. Our first two steaks were juicy and delicious, served with a mustard sauce on the side.

These premium steaks make a great present to ship to your non-vegetarian giftees. To order online, visit OmahaSteaks.com or purchase from Amazon.com (not eligible for Amazon Prime shipping).

• The Red Green Show – 1999 Season DVD (released February 2008). This is guy comedy at its best. I watched this PBS show with my dad in the 1990s, enjoying the parodies of lodge life and do-it-yourself repair.

• Scott McClellan’s What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception. My dad is not a fan of “W” and he enjoys books that offer insider perspectives.

Did you know…

• …that in 2006, U.S. gift givers spent approximately $300 billion buying presents? That’s about 10 percent of the $3 trillion consumer market in the U.S.
• …that the National Retail Federation estimates that shoppers bought $24.8 billion in gift cards for 2006, a 34 percent increase over 2005?
• …that 189 million roses were produced for Valentine’s Day 2006?
• …that approximately 5 million Americans celebrate birthdays each week? An average of 700,000 birthdays take place daily.
• …that June is no longer the most popular month for weddings? August ranks first (10.2 percent), followed by June (9.9 percent).
• …that Mother’s Day is the number two American holiday for gift giving (after Christmas)? Nearly 68 percent give flowers. Also, Mother’s Day is the most popular day of the year to dine out.
• …that Father’s Day was not officially recognized until 1972, when President Richard Nixon signed the holiday into law? The Census Bureau estimates there are 64.3 million fathers in the U.S.