Designer Cynthia Rowley, inspired by the trendy taco truck movement and prompted by DHL’s exit from express domestic shipping, bought a DHL truck on eBay and transformed it into a moveable boutique. Other fashion and retail brands are taking to the streets, bringing their goods, and more importantly their marketing right to the people who may not live in a location with a dedicated store. Sanrio and Skechers are also mentioned as brands with stores on wheels.  Perhaps a yoga and Pilates truck will be next.

Everything was going wonderfully at the Retro Arcade Museum in Beacon, New York.  Tourists came to see the vintage pinball machines and classic arcade games. Locals booked private parties to relive the old days in front of Atari’s Pong and Breakout. Then the local city council took notice and shut the place down, citing an ordinance that bans arcades. Owner Fred Bobrow has decided to liquidate the place instead of waiting to be licensed under a new law that allows arcades under certain circumstances.

There are only 119 known copies of John James Audubon’s “Birds of America” and one of them is coming up for auction (Sotheby’s PDF brochure). You have until December to pull together the estimated $6.2-$9.2 million to get a chance at owning this significant volume which contains hand-colored, life sized illustrations of about 500 birds. A copy auctioned in 2000 still holds the record for highest price paid for a book at $8,802,500. The University of Pittsburgh has digitized their copy  and placed it online with a handy search feature.  Audubon worked with engraver Robert Havell, Jr to create the illustrations; Wikipedia states that he engraved all but the first 10 plates.

Usually my typewriter repairman posts are about a shop closing up, but this one is not!  The Yale Daily News reports that Mr. Manson H. Whitlock is still going strong at age 93, servicing typewriters at his New Haven shop. The N.Y. Times wrote of his “longevity, lore and collection of irony” last year, noting that he has outlived some of the newspapers that chronicled his “dying field.”  He’s aware that some people are willing to pay over $400 to buy a typewriter “on the computer” (the same typewriter he may sell in his shop for only $25) but he doesn’t own a computer himself.  An earlier Yale Daily article notes that one of Whitlock’s former assistants now repairs computers, leading me to wonder when we’ll be profiling the dying breed of computer repair shop owners.

Companies are making sure that women get enough mentoring to help them up the career ladder, however a study reveals that some women may actually be getting too much mentoring but still are not getting paid or promoted as much as their male counterparts. The difference is sponsorship.  Mentors offer advice and feedback, but men more often have the added benefit of a mentor who also acts as a sponsor, influencing others and advocating on behalf of their mentee.  That endorsement makes a critical difference in their advancement.  Mentors also need training in how to effectively coach those who have a different style than they are accustomed to.  Women often suffer from the double-bind and choice of whether to behave more like their aggressive peers who are perceived as better leaders, when that same behavior can get them labeled as being not easy to work more often than their male counterparts.

3-D capability, new digital projection, and a new sound system are in the works for Seattle Cinerama as it closes for a two month renovation.  New carpet, paint, and signage will greet theater-goers at a November grand-reopening.  Traditionalists fear not, the 70mm and 3-panel Cinerama formats will remain.  Owner Vulcan Inc (translation: Paul Allen) is also taking the Cinerama independent as the theater will no longer be part of the AMC chain.

Steve Sauer lives in an 182 square foot condo in Seattle.  In that tiny space (11-feet-3-inches wide, by 16-feet-2-inches deep, by 10-feet-4-inches tall) he has fit in “two beds, a full kitchen with a dishwasher, bathroom with a shower, a soaking tub set into the floor just inside the front door. On three living levels. There’s also closet space, a dining table and storage for two bikes.”  Sauer works in airplane interior engineering for Boeing but he says that boats have the most innovations for tiny spaces.

Vogue’s September 2010 issue weighs in at 532 ad pages, a 24%  increase, 726 pages total. Halle Berry is on the cover.  Glamour, another Condé Nast property, had a remarkable 57% ad page gain and they’re calling it their “biggest issue in 20 years.”  There will still be contenders in the inevitable move of magazine pages (I’m not talking about websites here) over to fully digital media, and they won’t have to worry about whether big totes are in style to contain their September issues.

The garden gnome
is a humble little being
Originally made of terra cotta
in the 19th century.

He spread across all of Europe
for lucky ornamentation
then conquered the United States
via clever public relations.

He deliberately ignores
any plastic flamingo associations
despite their both surviving
a pop culture initiation.

But out on the sunny lawn
When we’re all indoors
The two icons commiserate
About who has faded more.

Expensive spa treatments typically include exotic ingredients, but the local food movement has contributed to the new treatment trend of fruits and herbs from local farms. Guests at the Ojai Valley Inn in California can get scrubbed with Pixie tangerines.  Spa Hotel Healdsburg features the same wine, honey, and Meyer lemons found in its restaurant.  As often is the case, don’t expect local to equate to cheaper prices than the exotic stuff.