Manhattan Offender

Retail activism

In the manner that PETA activists throw blood on fur-wearing fashionistas, now is the time to throw twigs at noncanvas bag-bearing shoppers.

Soon there will be no more Virgins in New York

Virgin Mega-Store, in my mind, was an acceptable big-box store.  The $10 DVD collection of John Waters movies was something cheap and easy to buy there.  While my music is mostly bought on-line or at other music, Virgin was an acceptable shop.

Following HMV, Tower, and others, Virgin will soon be a thing of New York's past.

Link: Joe. My. God.: And Then There Were None.

Gonorrhea Awareness Week: Gonorrhe-ha-ha

 

If a friend or (briefly) loved one has contracted gonorrhea, after you've explained that you're not the one from which they contracted the disease, a gift is a great idea.  Or if you're the recently infected, why not treat yourself to something special.

• A cuddly gonorrhea plushie is a great to cuddle with through the night, giving the infected something to cuddle with that isn't cross-infecting them with a different strain of the disease.
• Get your very own humorous (not to be confused with funny) gonorrhea cocktail napkins!
• When left untreated, gonorrhea can lead to gonococcal arthritis which can be rather debilitating.  Make life easier for your infected friend with the appropriately named Clapper!
• To help the infected keep their infection in-house, condoms are the rule.  So why not design a custom condom with the word, phrase, or picture of your choice.  (Some of their recent clients include HBO's Entourage and Jon Bon Jovi.)

Does sex sell in the West Village anymore?

Probably a good indication of the retail strength of an area is the state of its storefronts.  Considering conditions of only the sex and fetish shops in the West Village (all except one along the retail corridor of Christopher Street) one would say the area is in downfall. 

Apparently Badlands has gone through a name change, but not all of the signs have been changed.     London has lost an "o".  The innovative and provocative windows of The Leatherman have mellowed.  (And in contrast, Harmony seems to have become a graffiti free zone.)

Downfall is not what is happening though.  It is more reflective of transitions occurring to the  area.  (Not pictured are the new teahouses and baby goods and clothing stores.)  Gentrification is not the only reason for these changes.  The Internet provides what many of these stores once did.  Soon Christopher Street will be indistinguisable to any other West Village shopping street.

MOre:  This just in ... CondoMania has closed!

Be more like Elmo

With the weekend (and happy hour) just a few hours away, my goal is to be like Elmo this weekend.  The ability to stand back up can become problematic though.

Gonna be so totally lit ...

My shopping crackpipe is now extinguished with the purchase of these two lamps.  All that is left is the cabinets and shelves that are being made by a friend with a shop and home will soon be home, suhweet home.

Let there be lighting

Among several new purchases to transform my old apartment to my new apartment have been some lighting purchases on eBay:

Another obsession is "television lamps".  Popular in the 1950's they were used to create background light in a room to contrast with the glare of the small black and white screens of early televisions.  The intention is to create a small wall full of these.  But the first purchase may actually be alone as a "Don't ride the white horse" homage:

 

Finally, another accent lamp in wood cutouts that looks awesome on the new sofa (much better than this picture) from Target:

Pride shopping list

It's not too late to buy your pride essentials.

• The Pride Coloring Book

 

• Pride popper inhaler

 

• Pride Air Freshener

 

 

• And of course your Rainbow Song.

Weekend ketchup

• Dan Renzi leaves Austin and starts out on a road trip to start a new life in Miami with all of his posessions in his car and no certain plans of where he is staying, just knowledge that he is starting a new life.  This is so very bad-ass, this freedom and confidence.
• Shopping is so difficult unless one really loves seeing the same products displayed over and over.  Chain stores are rot on the soul of someone that loves to shop; the patrons of chain stores are thus soulless monsters.  Finding out that this opinion is not unique is heartening.
• Turns out that most Americans do not trust me. 
• Off to the accountant and tax-time sadness ...

Friday Funnies: Trader Joe's edition