I did a quick search of the blog, and I can’t believe no one has mentioned Beers Books before. They’re at 915 S Street, right between 9th & 10th. This puts them across the street from tasty Chinese food at Gam Lei Sig and right by several bars. This was all a big part of me moving into the neighborhood, let me tell you.

In particular I’d like to talk about their “sidewalk sale”. One of the things I love about warmer months is biking past Beers on my way home from work and looking through new $1 hardcovers and 50 cent paperbacks. Just this week I picked up hardcovers, in decent shape, of The Confusion and Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell for $1 each.

If you’re in the neighborhood, I recommend checking the place out.

Last night I stopped at the Safeway on Del Paso Road to pick up a few items. I regularly frequent the newer R Street Safeway (the one with the horse), and figured this one on Del Paso Road would be similar.

The similarities were eerie. Every aisle was pretty much a twin of the R Street, although Del Paso had much more room to maneuver. The Del Paso site also had a teeny bit more product–particularly in the vitamin/weight loss aisle. (Hmmm?)

What interested me more were the differences. The Del Paso store was nearly empty at 9 PM, and there was beaucoup parking. Lighting was dim. Store patrons walked as if you should move out of the way in an empty aisle–synonymous with the gas guzzling behemothic vehicles that hog the road sprawling in a nearly empty parking lot. It was a Safeway for zombies…look out Frankenstein!!

I think the Horsy Safeway is much livelier, friendlier, and just more of a busy beehive. I’ll skip the Del Paso ghost town Safeway in the future, thank you, and support my midtown fave.

Records houses an extensive collection of LPs, and with a name like “Records,” you’d expect that. What you wouldn’t expect, or I didn’t at least, was there library of movies. Interested in Ki-duk Kim’s Bad Guy, Kinji Fukasaku’s Battle Royale, Chan-wook Park’s Lady Vengence, or Tetsuro Takeuchi’s Wild Zero? I wasn’t either, until I happened upon them in Records. If you want a movie that’s… well… odd, go to Records. They do odd. And, they’re all rentals! So if you hate the movie you’re only out three bucks.

Records offers those cinematic peculiarities Blockbuster and Hollywood don’t have the space to house. Peruse their shelves, and you’ll find some gems mixed in with some “what-the-hell-is-this-schlock.”

I’ve been out of town, so when I came back and opened my inbox, I found this passionate letter, waiting to be approved as a comment on my earlier blog about midtown tattoo shops. I guess there’s a hierarchy of shops…unbeknownst to moi, the tattoo-shop-critic amateur. And believe me, I’ll be the first to say I am no expert on these shops. I walk by, I read the sign, I make a judgment based on what I see…from the outside. I noted the seemingly excessive amount of tattoo parlors in midtown, and in passing singled out one of the newer, more visible shops. This elicited the following letter (copied verbatim from my inbox):
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It kinda snuck up on me last week.

I was strolling through the Target on Riverside, picking up some odds and ends, and found myself in the cosmetics department, pondering whether I wanted to waste more money on eye shadow I’ll never wear. The cosmetics section - as you may or may not know - is generally divded by brand: Revlon, Cover Girl, Neutrogena . . . Boots.

Wha?

Yep - there above the kiosk was this logo:

I didn’t realize it was out of place until I placed it in my mind: Boots is a British drugstore chain - or “chemist” as they call ‘em in old Blighty - that sells all manner of products, including its own brands. Now Target’s got ‘em, which has the British ex-pat community chattering with delight.

I’ve never really shopped at Boots when I’ve been in England, so I can’t imagine starting to go brand-crazy now. But if you’ve always wanted rosy English cheeks and perfectly British-moisterized skin (and didn’t feel like saving money on the discount Kate-Moss-hawked Rimmel brand), then you may be in luck!

Now, if only they’d stock products from Superdrug*:

Because their logo is cooler and I can’t say the name without saying like superfly or superstar - with all the inflection those superwords require.

It is with great regret that I noticed the Unicef store on P Street is closing, and the shop has a sign “For Rent” in the window. The regret I feel is that I have walked by that store a thousand or more times in the last 8 or 9 years, thought it looked interesting, but never went in. If you’re at all like me, then no wonder they’re closing.

Meanwhile, the tattoo place next door to Unicef is still open. There is also a new tattoo shop open just down the street at 21st and P. It’s called…”The Royal Peacock”. Hmmm, decidedly fitting moniker.

But this prompts me to ask: how many tattoo shops can you have per square mile? Isn’t there a limit? (It’s one of those questions like ‘how many angels can you fit on the head of a pin?’) Don’t forget the body piercing/tattoo shop down here on 29th and S as well.

Here’s a novel idea (or not) for an all-in-one Midtown Shop Extravaganza: open a tattoo shop that sells gourmet coffee, hamburgers, and sushi. Massage and yoga available for extra. And maybe you can get a Britney (i.e. head shaving) while you wait.

It’s no secret that oranges got the short end of the cold stick during our unseasonably freezing weather here in the state. But how are retailers passing it down to us consumers?

Well, consider that before the freeze, a crate of oranges, say between 10-15 lbs, was going for 9.99 at Costco. Just last weekend, a much smaller bag of oranges–8 lbs to be exact–is going for 9.99. Same price, less fruit. I noticed this same trend at the local Raley’s as well.

Did anyone else notice this? I guess as long as we don’t have to “pay more” we can live with less. No one will be the wiser (except you and me).

I had a really amazing experience at Marshall’s in the Lake Crest Village Shopping Center a few days ago. Have you ever been to that Marshall’s? It’s a bit back from the other store fronts, and it seems like they always have a long line to the cash registers.

This weekend, my daughter and I were in line behind a couple of children. The two boys were probably 2 years old and 7 years old. One was in the cart; the other was climbing on the cart. They were African American, and the tall, striking woman just in front of them was also African American. But all the while these two boys were fussing, the tall woman had her back to them. I kept wondering why she wasn’t looking after her kids.

Turns out, they weren’t her kids. The mother of these kids had sent them to wait in line. She showed up a bit later. Then her sister and a very tall man jumped in line too. There are ways to let the line know someone’s saving your place. The way these folks shouldered into the line was extremely rude. My six year old thought they were cutting and said so. The café-latte-colored woman behind us was incensed.

Eventually she was loud enough in her complaint that the tall man turned around. He asked, “Who cut the line?” The woman behind us shouted, “You did!” And the fight was on.
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I was a bit surprised when I walked into the Sac Natural Foods Coop yesterday and the sign proclaimed: Elk Grove Coop closing. They’ll be closed by January 31. How’s that for a short lived adventure? Certainly it hasn’t been all over the news like the poor sad (ridiculously melodramatized) closing of Tower last month. Easy come, easy go, in this case. Oh yeah, 1240AM also reported on it last night–they’re going to “liquidate” stock per the radio report starting January 15th for you bargain hunters.

Meanwhile, there’s a January owner drive at the Sac store, and they’re giving away free stuff. Also, if you made a resolution to eat healthier this year…free class coming up…Monday January 8 from 630 to 730 PM at the Sacramento store, Dionisio Esperas will be giving you a “teaser” of how to cook International Vegetarian. Call to pre-register (916) 455-2667.

I’m a regular customer of the aforesaid Costco. Usually we get good service, usually we go home happy. Not this weekend. Seems like most of the cashiers were short-tempered, and we got Mister Nasty-A*s himself, in person. Here are a few tips and comments for Mister NA:

• Your line is either open or not. Don’t play verbal “Simon Says” games. We’re tired, we have a full cart.
• Don’t ever, ever comment on how large the purchase being made is–>maybe we won the lottery, maybe we have more than one person in our household, not just one self-serving rude NA like you. Maybe our purchases contribute towards your job security. It seems you would want to encourage people to buy more. If you really wanted to keep your job.
• I don’t care that you’re off in 30 minutes. Just get me through the cash register with a minimum of your NA remarks.
• If we don’t laugh, we don’t find you funny. Sarcasm and nasty comments only go so far. Just ask Michael Richards about that one. And he’s a “professional”–you’re not.

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