Monday, May 31, 2010

nickandnessies Interview

We did an interview with the Scrivener's Retreat blog that was posted today.  We talked about one of our very favorite subjects - vintage 80s stuff!


Check it out here and leave some comments!  Also be sure to take a look at her super cute cat and ferret toys while you are there!

Friday, May 28, 2010

RIP Gary Coleman


Gary Coleman died today at age 42 after being hospitalized for a brain hemorrhage.  It is especially sad news for people like us who grew up in the 80s watching him as Arnold on Diff'rent Strokes.

 While we kept up with his misfortunes (his freakout on the Surreal Life, attacking fans, his job as a security guard, his run for governor in CA), it was always more sad than funny.  We were always rooting for him to find success again.


Besides the fame, he seemed to have a pretty rough life and will be missed as one of the iconic pop culture figures of our favorite decade.  First Michael Jackson, then Corey Haim, now Gary Coleman...Corey Feldman needs to be super careful...

Sad news.

Monday, May 24, 2010

Cabbage Patch Kids Baby Land


Last week, we took a day trip to the outskirts of Atlanta with our BFF Emily.  One of the stops was Baby Land General Hospital in Cleveland (middle of nowhere, seriously), Georgia.  What is Baby Land you might be wondering?  It is where all the Cabbage Patch Kids in the world are born!


Apparently, Xavier Roberts, he of Cabbage Patch Kids butt-signing fame, is from this sleepy mountain town and converted an old medical clinic into the birthplace of his famous dolls in the 1980s.  Fast forward to 2010 when Roberts and his friends built a brand new Baby Land General Hospital that includes a birthing center, medical staff ("nurses" who seriously walk around in scrubs), extensive gift shop, and nursery.


Baby Land is extremely cute and seems like a wonderful place to take kids.  However, I didn't see many children there...so it was extremely creepy.


A few unusual sights at Baby Land General included a room full of real medical incubators with Preemie dolls inside, speakers in the ceilings that pipe recorded baby sounds (like coos and such) into the nurseries, and last but not least, an actual birth in which a nurse pulled a doll out of a fake cabbage while saying things like "the cabbage is dilated ten leaves!"  Whaaaa?  Too much strange awesomeness for one building!

Video of piped-in baby noises in the nursery


To make matters weirder (and I guess better), there are hundreds of Cabbage Patch Kids everywhere.  In one plastic cabbage patch, little doll heads poke up out of the ground and move around like moles.

Cabbage Patch birth (not our video) - be warned, it is fairly graphic

Also cool was the entryway that had several walls of signed photographs from celebrities like Donald Trump (with his classic mean muggin' look), Fred Savage as a child, and 80s Michael Jackson with messages to Xavier Roberts and the Kids.


If you ever find yourself in Northern Georgia looking for something truly strange and wonderful (or if you have kids/collect cloth ones), Baby Land General Hospital is absolutely worth a visit.  It is like stepping back through a time warp to a special place where the good and ridiculous stuff of the 80s never ceased to exist.


Join Us...

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Pac Man Fever

If you have used Google in the last day or so, you may have had a blast from the digital past in the form of a playable Pac Man screen where the site logo usually is.  This is to commemorate the 30th anniversary of one of the greatest video games of all time (and also serves to make me feel old lol).  Here is the front page of Google if you haven't seen it:


To celebrate this momentous occasion and pay tribute to the many quarters we spent in vintage video arcade machines, we present a collection of some fun video game finds from Etsy:

















 Before we say "game over," take a look at the trailer for "King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters."  If you haven't seen it yet, it is a fantastic documentary that chronicles the rivalry between two gamers battling each other for the top score in Donkey Kong.  It is truly gripping, even if you aren't crazy about games like we are:








Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Snack Time!

We are all in favor of a healthy lifestyle.  Just like many of you, we like organic vegetables, farmer's markets, and are always on the lookout for a good recipe (if anyone has an easy bread recipe, please share!  My last loaf weighed about three pounds and I don't know why...).

That being said, we also loooove some junk food without (much) shame.  We crane our necks to read the new Taco Bell signs as we drive by (Doritos with the new value meals?  Puh-lease!) and dream of the day when we can install a soda fountain in our kitchen.  We are both trying to muster the courage and intestinal fortitude to tackle one of these monsters:
The text on the KFC site actually says, "The new KFC Double Down sandwich is real!" I assume this is written because this ridiculous breadless (the "buns" are fried chicken patties) sandwich comes across as a hoax at first glance.  lol

Anyway, we have found some of our favorite food-related clothing and accessory items from Etsy to share with you.  Dig in!

















Sunday, May 16, 2010

Vintage Bedding Preview

We are in the process of preparing some vintage bedding listings and wanted to offer a preview of what's in store for our store.  (update - now listed!)  We have had remarkable luck in finding 80s cartoon related sheets lately and often curse the fact that we don't have a twin bed.  Here are a few of our favorites:










These items and several more awesome 80s sheets will be listed in the next few days.  Until then, sweet dreams!

Garage Sale Treasures

We headed up to Atlanta last weekend for Nessies' birthday and spent Saturday morning finding treasure after treasure at many garage and estate sales.

In addition to finding some really fun stuff, we met some super nice and interesting people, were able to pet some outgoing kitties, and ate some delicious handmade popsicles from the King of Pops.  If you're in Atlanta, he sells from the intersection by Videodrome (a great local videostore).


One of our favorite finds was this painting of a man lounging in a dress that we picked up from a townhouse community sale.  The seller told us that it always reminded him of a friend named Lloyd, so we dubbed him Queen Lloyd and gave him dominion over our living room.  The seller (a really nice guy who was giving all his books away since he believes that knowledge should be shared) assumed that we were just buying the painting for the frame, and we were quick to tell him how amazing we thought the picture is.


Another great find of the day was a sweet collection of old Vice magazines along with two Vice-related books.  We live in a small town that does not have this free monthly guide to fashion, music, and trash.  Definitely exciting.  At the same sale, we also picked up some DVDs like a Mastodon (rock!) live disc and John Carpenter's "They Live," one of my very favorite movies from the 1980s for my brother in law (I already have a copy).


The most random thing that we wound up with was this record by Max Webster.  I don't know who/what Max Webster is, but I knew that I had to own a record that features a man wearing a shiny, gold unitard, skullet, and white leather boots.  I still haven't listened to it (and may not), but this cover causes my sickometer to rise!  The back cover shows the cover model leaping through the air with his guitar while flames emit from his hands!  Hot indeed!



Our next roadtrip will involve an unholy trinity of dubious taste in the form of Medieval Times (the historically questionable dinner and show experience that pairs sword fights with Pepsi products), the newly redone Cabbage Patch Kids nursery and hospital (a life-changing experience if you have never been), and the Alpine City of Helen, an "authentic" German village built on a Georgia mountainside in the 1960s that channels German culture into souvenir lederhosen shops and faux biergartens.  Stay tuned!

Monday, May 10, 2010

New Shoes!

We have been busy little bees lately!  In addition to some new purses and clothing items (including men's), we have listed several pairs of vintage shoes and boots.  Take a look:











Sunday, May 9, 2010

Happy Mother's Day!

I'm not sure why I find this video to be so amazing, but I do.  It shows a kid who has just had his World of Warcraft account deleted by his mom freeeeeaking the F out.  Probably NSFW:


Here are some rhetorical review questions to think about after viewing:

1.  Why the nudity?  Did it allow for greater aerodynamic rage?

2.  What was the purpose of the brief sojourn into the closet?

3.  Remote control?

4.  Why do his parents (who know this video is online and encourage the brother to film them) not step in and  help him out with his anger issues? 

5.  Remote control?

Have a happy Mother's Day and be glad you're not this kid's mom!




Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Nessies' Birthday!

Do you know what today is?  Yeah, it's May 5.  Oh wait, it's Cinco de Mayo, the day set aside for Mexican heritage and pride.  Something else...something even more exciting...IT'S NESSIES' BIRTHDAY!!


To commemorate, we are having a sale over at our Etsy shop: buy one item, get another item half off!  Check it out!  Eat some tacos for Nessies today and tell her about it!  She likes that kind of thing.  ♥Happy Birthday Ness!♥

The House of the Devil

We watched this a few nights ago, and it totally ruuuuuuled.  "The House of the Devil" is a horror film that has more in common in terms of pacing and tone with late 70s/early 80s pre-slasher movies than the MTV-style, jump-scare barrage of bikini models getting hacked up that is more common today.  Think more Roman Polanski or vintage Dario Argento than Saw or Hostel.


The plot centers around college student Samantha who is looking for an income source to fund her upcoming move from her dorm into a dream apartment.  She spots an ad on campus looking for babysitters and stumbles upon a group of people who live in the titular house and proceed to make things very scary for Sam and the audience.  This movie has a slow-burn suspenseful intensity that builds and builds until the very end.  I haven't read any reviews, but I would imagine some people might find the pacing a bit slow, but it is totally worth it unless you have ADD.
The look and feel of "The House of the Devil" is so early 80s in every detail from the sweet acid washed jeans and feathered hair to the rockin' tunes Sam listens to on her Walkman cassette player.  It really looks like a time capsule gem from the Reagan era, and it would probably be a household name if it had been released then.  Even better is the special edition set that comes with the movie on DVD and a clamshell cased VHS!  How awesome is that?  It actually looks like it came from the horror section of your circa 1983 local mom and pop video store.  That fact is a little sad and ironic considering we picked up this gem at the final sale of one of seven video stores that are closing in our town this month.  Sad.