My Photo

  • I'm a writer, journalist, and the editor of The Gambit, the alt-weekly newspaper in New Orleans.

    Journalism: My work has appeared in The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, The Globe & Mail (Canada), The Times- Picayune (New Orleans), The Oregonian, and Willamette Week, as well as in magazines including Details, Vogue, Publishers Weekly, and Portland Monthly.

    Publishing: Tight Shot, my first novel, was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. Its sequel, Hot Shot, was roundly ignored by everyone, but was a far better book. I'm also a member of the National Book Critics Circle.

    Stage: I was a member of the Groundlings and Circle Repertory West in Los Angeles, and am a playwright (see "Stage" in the right-hand rail).

CONTACT

  • View Kevin Allman's profile on LinkedIn

« MEDIA WAR! Are we all going to DIE in a snowstorm? | Main | Edible Portland and the income gap »

December 04, 2007

Are Swarovski crystals sustainable?

Az_top_content_main The Pearl Insider tipped me off to this...

Just in time for our holiday parties, the Pearl has a liquor store! But not just any liquor store - in fact, it's hardly a true liquor store, according to the owners.

Brothers Malik and Murad Pirani are the visionaries behind Pearl Specialty Market & Spirits, aiming to cater to "those seeking the finer things in life."...

According to co-owner Malik: "It's a liquor store that has been completely dressed up to meet the class and expectations of the Pearl District"....

It's obvious that the Pirani brothers have put an incredible amount of thought and energy into every specialty category. For example, their fine bottled water section will span at least 15 countries and offer some exclusive items such as Bling H20 (the bottle is exquisitely handcrafted with Swarovski Crystals!)

Because nothing says 'class' like a $40 bottle of bottled water balanced on the waxed ass of a woman in a thong....

01:27 PM in Funny, Oregon, This & that |

|

Comments

PearlInsider

Heh... apparently sex sells even water nowadays.

Before now, I never knew $40 bottled water existed, but I figured someone would get a kick out of it.

Posted by: PearlInsider | December 04, 2007 at 05:11 PM

Ranger Bob

Since when does opening an upscale booze emporium in a gentrified neighborhood qualify you as a "visionary?"

Posted by: Ranger Bob | December 04, 2007 at 06:45 PM

kimberly

It takes a dreamer or "visionary" to sell $40 bottles of water, duh.

Posted by: kimberly | December 04, 2007 at 07:30 PM

I remember my dad, with a thoughtful and satisfied look, saying "nothin' better than drinking water". It was the parsimonious/ bare necessities lesson.

Bling H20 -- that is too good.

Posted by: | December 05, 2007 at 11:55 PM

Skinny City Girl

Hell, I can get a $40 bottle of water at the movie theater!

Posted by: Skinny City Girl | December 06, 2007 at 02:15 PM

metroknow

This shop must be a House of Blues venue - $0.29 bottle of water was $6.00 at the last major concert I was at, and they would not allow you to take your own sealed, plastic bottle in -- even my then-pregnant wife got the complimentary HoB shakedown.

Posted by: metroknow | December 07, 2007 at 11:13 AM

The comments to this entry are closed.

RECENT ARTICLES

BOOKS


  • Booklist:
    "A worthy successor to Tight Shot, Allman's insider view of the seamier side of Hollywood is not only hip and entertaining but also has something serious to say about our insatiable hunger for tabloid thrills."

    Washington Post:
    "Barbed, breezy and often pretty funny...sharp and entertaining. Allman can be very funny, and Hot Shot complements nicely the less forgiving takes on Los Angeles as the future of us all. "

    ----------


  • EDGAR AWARD NOMINEE
    BEST FIRST NOVEL
    MYSTERY WRITERS OF AMERICA

    Booklist:
    "Allman turns a very sardonic pen loose on Hollywood's glitz-and-glamour crowd in this entertaining first novel... An impressive debut and an almost sure thing for a sequel."

    New Orleans Times-Picayune:
    "Allman clearly knows those of whom he writes. He's got L.A. nailed."

    Publishers Weekly:
    "Snappy debut... Readers will look for a sequel."

STAGE

  • BOO AND THE SHREVEPORT BABY
    A French Quarter convenience-store clerk has a hilariously traumatic encounter with a pair of Shreveport tourists. Part of Native Tongues 3 (Le Chat Noir, New Orleans; 2001; Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago; 2006).
  • BACKBONES
    An upper-class black caterer finds comeuppance and redemption. Part of Native Tongues 4 (Le Chat Noir, New Orleans; 2005).
  • MY-O-MY
    A recreation of an evening at the notorious New Orleans 1950s female-impersonator nightclub My-O-My (Le Chat Noir, New Orleans; 2005).
  • THE LOVE GIFT
    A lonely man discovers purpose when he intercepts a televangelist's letters from his neighbor's mailbox. Part of the Dramarama New Plays Festival (Contemporary Arts Center, New Orleans; 2004).
  • BABYDADDY
    A black father discovers that no good deed goes unpunished when he helps his white neighbor bail her son out of Orleans Parish Prison. (Le Chat Noir, New Orleans; 2004; Walker Percy Southern Playwrights Festival, Covington; 2007).
  • TWO IN THE BUSH
    An evening of comedies. In The Stud Mule, the world's richest woman arranges to be impregnated by a doltish escort; in Snatching Victory, an earnest college student runs afoul of her lecherous professor and the dour head of a women's-studies department (Le Chat Noir, New Orleans; 2003).

NEW ORLEANS READING

  • Patty Friedmann: <i>A Little Bit Ruined</i>

    Patty Friedmann: A Little Bit Ruined
    One of the first post-Katrina novels, and probably destined to be one of the best. Friedmann's sequel to Eleanor Rushing finds her crazy heroine still holding everything together after the storm (after a fashion), until she has to leave New Orleans and she falls apart physically as well as mentally. Mordantly, morbidly funny.

  • Tom Piazza: <i>Why New Orleans Matters</i>

    Tom Piazza: Why New Orleans Matters
    The best post-Katrina book I've read. In 150 small pages, Piazza explicates the New Orleans experience simply and beautifully. I'll be passing this one on to anyone who wonders "But why would anyone want to live there?".

Archives

More...

Categories

SUBSCRIBE

  • Add to Technorati Favorites
  • Add to Google
  • BlogBurst.com
  • View Kevin Allman's profile on LinkedIn
Blog powered by Typepad