VINTAGE PUNCH MAGAZINES FOR SALE
HOURS AND HOURS OF ENTERTAINING READING – PUNCH MAGAZINES FROM THE THATCHER ERA……..TAP ‘SEE OTHER ITEMS’ TO VIEW ALL
Archive | July, 2013
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VINTAGE ASHTRAYS
24 JulCHECK OUT THIS LINK TO FIND COLLECTIBLE ASHTRAYS FOR SALE. TAP ‘SEE OTHER ITEMS’ TO VIEW MORE.
Decorative Acupuncture!
23 JulI have found a small shop in Southampton where, at twice the price they cost in France, I can buy the ‘Meharis Ecuador’ small cigars I like to, occasionally, puff away at – they’re infinitely superior to the rubbish sold in most chain tobacconists and supermarkets.
They are a sideline in this shop (called ‘Lucid’) which is mainly concerned with exotic smoking materials (nothing illegal the man tells me – though I get the feeling same might well be available ‘under the counter’) and various bits and bobs that can be inserted in self or professionally created wounds as decoration or, in the case of those parts of the body that, so far at least, remain ‘private’, for stimulation.
There’s a whole industry out there devoted to rings, badges, knick-Knacks and Jewellery all especially designed for ears, lips, noses, cheeks, tongues and ?????.
In my dotage I find it very hard to comprehend why, in a relatively affluent and well-behaved city like Southampton, ordinary shops that sell ordinary goods to ordinary people, are closing almost on a daily basis (I realise that the internet must have had some influence on this) and yet ‘body piercing/Tattoo’ emporiums are booming – there are 15 (yes FIFTEEN!) in the centre of Southampton all within a few feet of each other and they all seem to be doing OK – always crowded.
To put matters into perspective there are only 3 shops in the same area from which you can buy a Newspaper – one is a W.H. Smith, one a mini-supermarket and the last one the ONLY genuine Newsagent Tobacconist there and even that’s one of a chain.
There’s no money about, we are told, and yet these emporiums of needles and lumps of plastic seem to be coining it from something so unnecessary that it has to be classed as a total luxury indulgence.
Is it not possible to be ‘individual’ these days without such enhancements?
In Southampton It’s very difficult to spot a female without a tattoo, nose ring, earhole (the fashion seems to be to cut a tunnel through the lobe and insert a ring to hold it open so what would you call it?) – especially in the crowd which assembles, daily, around the Job Centre (Ironic?).
The patrons aren’t just young, so called, trendies, either, there’s a fair sprinkling of middle aged Mums and even a few pensioners.
There’s obviously money to be made out of mutilation – how long before M & S or Tesco open ‘in house’ parlours when you can have a ring put on your appendage and get clubcard points?
Being divorced & retired
21 JulI have arrived in that moment in my life where I have become a prime target for holiday and travel firms.Saga, P & O, Cunard and Sundry other brochures stuff the small box alloted to me in the post room of this block of flats – un-solicited e-mails pour in (‘unsubscribing’ seems to be generally ignored) and even the Daily papers and TV exhort me to ‘get cruising’ by means of various ‘special offers’, ‘only 10% deposit needed’ etc., etc.
I can indulge in an invigorating game of deck tennis whilst sailing up the Rhine, photograph the Aurora Borealis from a Norwegian Fjord and, in the evenings, bop the night away to Charlie Teacup and the Teaspoons. I can go from Island to island in the exotic Carib, occasionally boarding a complimentary glass bottomed boat on which I will be able to sip Pina Coladas whilst observing the wild life that inhabits various reefs.
Despite the ‘offers’ none of this is cheap – we are targeted because, at my age, many ‘Seniors’ have taken the shilling from ‘equity release’ firms and realised the pot from the ridiculous figure to which their various marital homes have soared (sod the kids, if I don’t spend it now they sure as hell will when I am gone)
Most of the modern cruisers boast Casinos, cinemas, theatres, shopping malls, umpteen swimming pools, 3 or 4 restaurants, butler cabin service, many bars and pubs and some even have climbing walls, running tracks, ice rinks, golf courses, waterfalls and surfing beaches.
My best friend, a veteran sailor, refers to these palaces as ‘Floating Apartment Blocks’ and I agree, in my mind they’re NOT ‘ships’ in the true sense of the term.
I am going to change my name to Ishmael and wait patiently in one of Southampton’s dockside inns (or, more likely, Starbucks [that sounds a bit nautical] or Costa Coffee) and hope that Captain Ahab’s crew turn up to press me into service on the Pequod – then, if he finds him, I can make a video of Moby Dick with my new camera…..
griptypethynne 