Big Box goes under: Goodbye Border's Monroeville

Border's Books and Music made a splash in the retail (and Zombie) mecha of Monroeville, PA in the mid 90's when it introduced it's all-in-one formula of media for sale, cafe, and live music/ gathering place. In it's time it was a solid enough concept to force the retreat of all local independent bookstores, and even the non-affiliated mall book stores.


Times have changed.

Border's stood out against the urban sprawl of big box retail by enlisting the aid of the local community in it's public outreach and programming efforts. Giving the knitting club a few tables in the cafe on one evening, and presenting a performance by the singer songwriter duo the next had a transformative effect on the stores environment. It became a center of activity whereby local intellectuals, weirdos, and average joes could meet and exchange ideas. Having a cafe didn't hurt either, and meeting someone new at Border's could turn into several hours of conversation over coffee before you knew it. Border's became so ingrained in the local culture that it's not uncommon to learn your friends were bumming around the store on the same weekends you were, years before you met them.



What happened? No doubt, electronic media happened, but that's not all. Barnes and Noble swayed some of the Border's crowd with it's newness, proximity to the mall (I guess,) and actual Starbucks Coffee. Half-Priced Books certainly flanked the aging juggernaut with stacks upon stacks of remainders and genuine rarities. Two opposing forces crushed the once retail giant in it's moment of vulnerability. Amusingly, a parade of former Border's employees can now be found working at either competitor.

As for the Border's employees who stuck around til the end? Screwed. Cast aside along with brick and morter and inventory, and under thralldom to the third party liquidator. Benefits stripped, salaries cut, seniority tossed out the window, not even the other local Border's locations acknowledged these poor souls. Helpful to the last, they cheerily waved on anyone setting off the sensor tag alarm. "That's okay! Don't worry!" You could sense the resentment.


Soul Boy, a store fixture, clears a store fixture

Border's Books and Music was also a personal experience, as I worked there part-time for two years. It was the end of an era, when a young(ish) bohemian with no clear intentions could work 18 hours an week and still afford a cheap apartment. There was an energy level, a camaraderie, and an ever present potential for romance that made the place worth being at, even during Christmas. Escaping to the break room my first holiday season was a revelation of microwavable meals and piles of printed materials. Filing books and cds was something I was born to do, or so I had thought.



The following year it became obvious that we had existed inside a bubble. New management brought new strategies, including smaller staff, disgruntled secret shoppers, and higher prices. Border's had a great selection of music, but it was always over-priced. After a frazzled friday night during the holiday rush I was advised that I should be able to roll a coin across the books as they were displayed on the table. That would be my last night, although several weeks later I did get called about coming in for a few extra hours. I've often wondered what would have happened if I showed up. Were they even aware that I hadn't been reporting to work? It seemed that the management was on auto pilot, and as with all big box stores, there wasn't enough help available to the customers. I quit, but I still popped in from time to time, just as I did before. Like I said, the place was a community focal point.

In the clearance sale's final days I could not bring myself to lift a bunch of stuff and set off the alarm. I did manage to snap of few shots of the sad, last gasp of what should have been a prouder legacy. Even in the weeks following the closing, while parked in the lot contemplating this eulogy, I witnessed the stores continuos impact by way of the several vehicles pulling up to a spot like nothing was wrong, each driver taking turns arriving at and walking dejectedly away from it's shuttered doors. It made me sad. The place was good, in an anachronistic sort of way; like, as the evil corporate entity that inadvertently did some good. For a while.

Yes, the SMALLVILLE series finale is an event

The great WB/CW series Smallville came to a close tonight in a two hour installment that actually did feel a little like saying goodbye to a friend. An old friend. I mean, almost ten years, right? The passage of time can be seen in the lines on the actors faces, as well as in the life changes it's audience members went through. The truth is we're all getting too old for this and it's time to move on. Thankfully the show goes out hitting most of the right notes.

I myself fondly recall a lonely night in my new, sparsely furnished apartment on the other side of town, sitting down (on the floor) to watch what turned out to be a decent pilot episode. That healthy dose of whimsy led to my watching the entire goofy first season and beyond. Over the course of the next three years Smallville would be regular geek water cooler talk, building on word of mouth with consistantly better episodes each week. I would guess that season four is where it jumps the shark, but a new revamped version with a new cast, and a willingness to exploit DC comics character archives eventually brought back the clientele. Here in the finale we get a smattering of the first few seasons, and some really terrific send-off moments from the current storyline, as well as some decent special effects and, last but not least, Tom Welling in the suit, flying.

Like I said, I couldn't get past the fourth or fifth season, but I've always admired the X-Files meets 90210 take on the Super Man mythos, and dropping in on Smallville had become something I was willing to do more frequently in recent years. I never knew exactly what was going on, but it wasn't hard to imagine why the exact same scenario was playing out again for the twentieth time. It didn't matter. Maybe the time away allowed for it to seem like the kind of fun it once was. The program went as far as it could go, and then a few steps past that, and came out a winner.

With Wonder Woman getting axed, it's looking like a less colorful hero landscape on tv these days.

Charline Sheen takes back his kids

In breaking news, Charlie Sheen went and took back his kids, and in the following manner:

Dr. Dog @ Mr. Small's Theatre 2-17-11

The great Philly band Dr. Dog marks their return to Mr. Smalls as a headlining act at a sold out show, and during a rare Pittsburgh February Indian Summer. This is weather that hasn't happened in decades, so what better band to celebrate it to than one from the region where the phrase was coined?

Dr. Dog gets props for representing that part of Philadelphia that is classy. This would be the young gutsy art rock crowd that has nothing in coming with that which is going on in the 'Burgh. Here it's all darkness, but back east they get more sunshine or something, thereby allowing music by the likes of Dr. Dog to easily displace you from your current state of mind and more fully into the moment. They don't do this by doing anything "jam," they are merely a solid unit tracing it's evolutions to somebodies basement or porch.

Dr. Dog's appeal lies in the worn out cliches they continue to somehow be able to reinvigorate. Whereas locally we can claim a mash-up superstar in Girl Talk, back east Dr. Dog are operating more like accomplished collage artists. Beatles comparisons are, indeed, tired, since Dr. Dog continues to move farther from Enuf 'Znuf and closer to Badfinger or Big Star. If you are an audiophile, you will understand that Dr. Dog are audiophiles.

At some point in the future Dr. Dog will release a definitive live album, and it will achieve it's own Frampton-like status. It may be culled from multiple shows, but you won't care.

Here are some observations from tonight's show itself:

-Dr. Dog has to deal with the hippy element, whether they like it or not. Also, today's hippies dress and cut their hair like I did ten years ago, when I didn't know what I wanted to do with my image, except that I didn't want to be associated with anything "hippy." Dr. Dog are famous for a strong bearded presence.

-Their crowd is legit, in other words, unique and unto itself. Lot's of different types of folk are catching onto this band, obviously predominantly hipsters, but also including famous old weirdos and scenesters. Lot's of "Dad's Money" being spent. That said, the frat infusion is well under way, so watch out for beer muscles at future shows. On my way out I overheard many friendly exchanges from out of towners.

-Starting halfway through the set and then over the course of the evening the band played it's landmark album "easy beat" out of order, but in it's entirety."easy beat" is an instant classic, the likes of which buys it's creators years of creative stagnancy. That is not the case with this band, and they continue to explores the corners of one of the strongest recorded efforts of the decade. Live "easy beat" has a life of it's own.

-Bad posture is the best method for feeling up all the young breasts in your general vicinity, while not appearing as a total lech.

-Dr. Dog is a drinking man's rock band. When a person listens to Dr. Dog in the comfort of their own home, drinking is usually somehow involved. At the bar ordering drinks while this band is playing, it becomes difficult to resist ordering a round of shots just for the sake of it. Also, light weights get scared when you start to drink around them, even at a Dr. Dog show.

-The band rides around in a bus these days, and there were enough roadies to lay down that Philly b.o. stink deep into the heart of Millvale. Millvale can handle it. All that shit is necessary because the star is on the rise. Six years ago I got 80 people out to see these guys in Pittsburgh on a weekday, now they're selling out. In Pittsburgh, ya'all. They are the new "Black Keys"

-They added a new, sixth member who plays percussion and circuit bending (?) and who looks like one of the Geico Caveman, god bless him.

- Selling swag is the key to staying on tour. I finally picked up a copy of "Toothbrush" as well as a Dr. Dog beer kuzie for my Hartwood excursions (where I will probably listen to "easy beat".) My friend picked up "easy beat" on vinyl. They were selling a tempting Philly themed tossel cap for twenty bucks. It was probably worth it. I didn't get the details, but it appears that somebody is crocheting hats and mittens for the band. God only knows how much that would cost, but it's damn cool. I remember looking at these guy's merch table when it was all recycled Good Will findings. Ugh! Hipsters can suck so much ass! Yet, Dr. Dog had their signature style intact even way back then, and the product has always reflected it.

At the end of the night, this was a noteworthy production. The band is doing great, the venue is as chill as ever, and the warm February air in the region has a delightful strangeness to it. Despite seemingly every obstacle set up in the way to get to the place, it was worth the trip.
Dr. Dog can still be claimed as your own discovery, but not for much longer.

Johnny Storm returns?

Looks like it's The Human Torch's turn to get snuffed out in the pages of The Fantastic Four, all a part of Marvel's latest bid for market place supremacy. Nothing like a big event, and there is no event bigger than killing a signature character. The thing is, nobody ever really dies in superhero comics, especially when you're talking about a Marvel comic. They all come back. We saw Kraven The Hunter's body, but he still came back. So the only question is, how will Johnny make his return?

Since Marvel is in the midst of updating it's universe in the manner of the classic late silver/ bronze age mode, and considering that the FF hasn't seen the guy in a while, I predict that The Human Torch will make his return as Galactus' newest herald, Dark Phoenix-style. He will do battle with his comrades and disappear again, thus stringing readership along that much further. The Johnny Storm we know and love will return only after the necessary sales slump, and requisite third major tent pole event. This will also mark the end of paper comics and the beginning of the retelling of the entire FF mythos , in the broadest common denominator, on whatever contrived new media being peddled at that time.

This is your next ten years FF fans. Enjoy!

Patton Oswald pulls a Toshio Okada

...now he just needs to start losing weight. (sfx- cymbals crash)

Oswald's rant on the subject of being a Geek pushes all the right buttons this week. The internet nerd-sites are divided in discussing the merits of his argument, while fact checking the accuracy of his name dropping. I don't even want to go near Topless Robot after this one! Mostly he seems to be laying the smack down on a generation of fans while supporting my theory that the amazing internet is actually diluting pop culture. Or at least that's my take on a rambling tirade covering hundreds of 80's references. I don't suppose I'm actually quite sure of the message he is trying to impart, other than he himself has grown tired of pop culture, which translates to meaning you and I should be as well.

What can be said is that, in the grand scheme of things, Oswald's essay on geekdom is a similar cultural touchstone to Gainax founder Toshio Okada's second wind as a far sighted critic of the industry he helped to create. I don't see the comedian reinventing himself as a celebrity fitness guru any time soon, but you never know. At any rate, it's always going to be a big deal when one of the guys who cashed in big on their passion bails on it all just before the big down turn in quality.

I think it's safe to say that time is upon us here in the states, and the proof is that we live in a world were there is new TRON, the incoming year is supposed to be one of the biggest for genre film, ever, and it is an era where even a fellow like myself is busy cultivating an online presence. It's the halcyon days of late twentieth century geekdom, for sure, but it's already 2011.

The 80's is definitely were it's at, and anyone coming at this hobby from the Information Age has certainly been deprived of some part of the experience of discovery. I agree with him on that, and I like that Oswald is willing to cop to seeing The Dead Milkmen back in the day, or that he has never watched, but is aware that lots of people love "Dark Shadows," but the snob geek game of one-upmanship inadvertently makes the case for the the way things are now, where a person can become an expert over night, possibly as a form of geek self-defense. If discussing things geek must degenerate into a string of lame shout outs then I guess it's time has indeed come to pass.

Gawker Media hacked: All nerds on full alert

Great. What a crummy site.

I'm talking about i09, or at least the people in charge. Definitely not the content, which is actually quite good. No, from the beginning I found i09 to be a craggy mechanism with a laborious process of logging in over and over until the traffic died down enough to forget what you were going to say in the first place. It never mattered since the comments wouldn't even appear half of the time. I stopped commenting years ago (and really only ever for the bump this place would get,) and haven't really visited recently, so it's great when to get an email suggesting I change all of my passwords just to be safe.

Of course when this happens you immediately get all kinds of similar emails, including one very trash talky rant that you probably shouldn't have opened.

I've logged onto other sites and not had this problem, but for how much longer? Do I stop participating online? I guess I had a good run, and I still have my blogger account. Good ol' blogger. You can comment here all you want and not worry because these people have their act together.

oh man, when I get a warning from topless robot...