I am not a big fan of the mall concept. Malls have taken the magic both out of Main Streets and out of classic department stores. Malls require me to fight for parking in order to shop at chain stores. Malls are not my friend. I love the Old Town/3rd Street model – a mall/Main Street hybrid – but not so much a Grove or a Westside Pavilion.

However, I do frequent two malls in L.A. on a semi-regular basis: the Beverly Center and the 7th & Fig complex. The Beverly Center has an H&M, and I’ve been waiting for one of those to come to town for years (and telling my conscience, which is concerned about the manufacturing conditions of the clothes, to shut up). Plus, the BC is on my way home from work in Beverly Hills, which makes it almost convenient. And the 7th & Fig complex is where the Golds’ Gym is downtown, and since I’d been a member for years at the Muscle Beach Venice location, that’s where we went when it was time to get gym memberships.

Here’s my gripe: BOTH malls are under construction, and have exposed some design flaws as a result.
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These guys were all bunched up outside WACKO/Soap Plant today, taking pictures of people going in, but obviously waiting to get a shot of SOMEBODY coming out.

We went in, did our shopping, looked around for celebretrons, and found none. At this point I should add that I wouldn’t know many of them even if I were standing right beside them – they all just look like bums to me.

However, being of a curious nature (I like that about you Littlebrains!) I went out and asked one of them who they were waiting for. The guy told me Chris Rock.

I said I hadn’t seen him in there. He told me I wasn’t looking.

So I went back in and found the black guy who works there and came out with him to pose – and they took our picture.

(Shhhhh! He’s not actually Chris Rock!)

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I shit you not, I was at Neiman Marcus yesterday and I found at least one display featuring these Man Panties.

Dolce and Gabbana, Prada, and others designers, and I’m sorry to add that I failed to check the price tags so I have no idea how crazy expensive these are.

So tell me: What kind of man would wear such a thing?

As if the Neiman-Marcus Last Call Sale weren’t enough (Manolos in the low $200′s for gods’ sake!), today I got this postcard from Diavolina.

They’ve taken 50% off all fall and winter merchandise, which is not limited to just shoes.

Sale starts Thursday Jan 11th and they’re open M-Sat 11-7 and Sunday 12 -5.

DIAVOLINA SHOES
156 S. Robertson Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90048
310-550-1341

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Somebody’s looking out for you!

The Echo Park Ave merchants are staying open tonight until midnight tonight (Wednesday) to make sure you get your shopping done in time for the big You Know What.

In addition to some good shopping, you’re also looking at a sidewalk sale, drinks and snacks, and free gift wrapping.

Block of 1551 Echo Park Avenue
Tonight ’til midnight

I know everyone’s up to their eyeballs in holiday shenanigans right now, which may or may not include shopping, wrapping, tree acquisition/erecting/decoration, dealing with overexcited kids and probably the dreaded holiday travel. I travel pretty much constantly, so I am never home and therefore never have time to take care of personal stuff like gift purchasing and shipping, so I usually order online when I’m in between airports. But this year, I wanted to give something a little more personal, so I figured out a way to get everything done in a really short period of time, and still make it on time to the airport.

Stop #1: The Christmas tree auction in Chinatown. Tammara mentioned it last year, and after talking with most of my neighbors this year I realized that almost all of them got their trees at the auction. One of my neighbors got a 9-foot tree for under $40! Crazy!

Stop #2: San Antonio Winery. We stopped in for a bit of dinner at the restaurant, which was quite tasty, and then checked out the goods in the adjacent gift shop. They carry chocolates, trinkets, and of course, their wine, which makes a nice gift for parties – it’s a unique, locally produced gift for that finicky Angeleno oenophile on your list. And they have an abundance of sweets in case you want to treat yourself. After all, you’re hard at work!
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I have a mercifully small holiday shopping list, most of which is easily dispensed with via consumables (booze and flan for host gifts, lunch out for the non-partythrowers), but, well, you know–there’s always a few little something-somethings you always need, if only to bolster your own spirits for another round of holiday-fracking-cheer.

For these, I give both my design and cheapskate seals of approval to Kinokuniya Bookstore, in the little plaza that abuts (heh heh) the New Otani in Little Tokyo. It’s chock-a-block with cool books, of course, but it’s also home to at least two overflowing aisles of insanely great writing pads (of all sizes), containers, drawing & writing implements and several hundred other things I Absolutely Must Have, including tons of stuff in the $5 – 20 range.

Actual address: 123 Astronaut Ellison S. Onizuka St., Suite 205, L.A., 90012
Actual hours: 7 days/week, 10am – 8pm.

I totally love the small-and-affordable-works shows that pop up everywhere come December. Outpost for Contemporary Art’s Post-Postcard 2006 event is just such a creature…continue reading.

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Looking for a good time this Saturday, but feeling pressured to do your holiday shopping instead?

Here’s a way to kill all the birds on your list with one stone!

The Mooneyes Xmas Party (formerly the Rat Fink Reunion) has been going on longer than most of you have been alive. Every year it gets bigger and bigger, and this year it’s trying out a new and awesome location: The Irwindale Speedway.

Bring or just come see some great cars (pre ’65 only), take in a little full-on racing (pre ’69 only), and then get your gift buying out of the way, courtesy of the many artists vending their wares directly to you for this event only.

Shameless Plug Department: Coop will be on hand to meet, greet, and sign stuff, and he’s bringing a lot of brand new merchandise to unveil at the show.

Coopstuff NEWS Page has more details (including a map and a link to get driving directions).

Yes, I went out into the craziness. It’s not waking before the dawn to stalk the wild beasts of the Serengetti, but it’ll do.

Outside Fry’s in Burbank, 7 minutes after the doors opened:

On a whim, and because I had insomnia, I ventured out earlier this morning on Black Friday to check out the local scene in the West Valley, particularly at the Porter Ranch Town Center (located just off the 118 Freeway) and the Northridge Fashion Center.

The fascinating thing is that in both cases, traffic in the surrounding communities was absent, so I had no idea of what was coming until I got to both locations.

The scene at Porter Ranch was an exercise in organized chaos, as there were huge lines (several shoppers deep) outside Best Buy and Wal-Mart (which are neighboring stores). But Best Buy’s was particularly noteworthy, as it actually surged eastward past Wal-Mart and the other storefronts. There were at least two LAPD patrol cars monitoring the activity, and loud cheering when doors at Best Buy finally opened at 5:00 AM.

I stuck around for a few more minutes, thinking that the scene was a candidate for The Consumerist‘s “Craziest Black Friday Place”, and from there, checked out the scene at the Northridge Fashion Center. The longest line was directly outside the Disney Store (which was already open) and Gamestop (probably due the news of more Playstation 3s and Nintendo Wiis being available). Meanwhile there were only a handful of people waiting outside Macy’s and just two people outside the Apple Store.

What’s the scene like in your neighborhood?

UPDATE: Mike @ Franklin Avenue was actually in that Best Buy line and wrote a report from the front lines.

Hoping to buy a PS3? There’s a line at the West Hollywood Gateway Best Buy. Tents! These pictures were taken just before noon today, more than 36 hours before the PS3 goes on sale. Best Buy said they wouldn’t allow lines to form until 24 hours ahead of time, but I guess they loosened up a little on that time frame.

I’m pretty happy with my PS2 for now, honestly.

Prior coverage here and here and here and also here.

Just in time for the Holidays! Metroblogging Merch! Sweet! Go spend lots of cash now!

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If you’re looking for something to do this weekend and are a fan of Bettie Page, why not hit the Glamourcon, meet Olivia, and have her sign her new Bettie book for you?

She’ll be there Saturday and Sunday
12 – 5pm
at the LA Radisson Hotel

Tickets are $25 a day, still cameras allowed (but no video).

Agoraphobics and those who wish to save the $25 admission fee can order the book (and the full array of Olivia goodies) right from Olivia’s website.

Anyone who has ever stepped into a Paul Frank store knows that some of the most sought after things they sell are the limited edition collaborations. In the past they have teamed up with The Andy Warhol Foundation, LA Artist Mark Ryden, The Elvis Presley Estate, and even Barbie and Hello Kitty. The results of those partnerships usually sold out in minutes and the only way to get your grubby mitts on them was to pay 4x retail price on ebay. Well, this weekend they are selling limited quantities of these products at the Paul Frank Store in LA (7964 Melrose Avenue – Friday and Saturday 11:00 am – 7:00 pm Sunday 12:00 pm – 6:00 pm). The sale begins Friday and ends Sunday but don’t even think about lining up earlier than 7:00am on Friday or they will kick you the hell out. And likewise if you try and buy more than one Barbie. Are you already doing backflips and checking your savings account at the thought of this? Here’s the details.