Pop goes our culture
Back in October, we told you about downtown Oak Park merchants stocking Obama and McCain action figures. Not to be sexist about local shopping, we’ve since been watchful in neighborhood stores for female action figures. In the last week, we found two: Marie Antoinette and Crazy Cat Lady.
A petite plastic-resin likeness of Europe’s most misquoted queen – Marie reportedly never made that cake remark – surfaced at Careful Peach as shop owner Karen Morava and her staff were setting up for their annual pre-Bastille Day ode to France (Bastille Day was yesterday alas). A button just above the royal bustle results in what you may guess is the expected action.
“Whoa, there we go,” Morava demonstrated, both with and without mini-Marie’s mini-wig. This adult toy, packaging for which lists “Weapons of Choice: Cleavage” and a round-up of guillotine facts, sells for $9 at the boutique on Harrison Street.
Over on Oak Park Avenue at the Animal Care League’s 2nd Chance Shop, meanwhile, mini-accessories come in multiples for the Crazy Cat Lady action figure. Six teeny cat dolls accompany their keeper, who’s carrying even more. All in a mint package marked down to $4.50.
No local sightings yet of a Sarah Palin action figure. Priceless.
Che was here?
Graffiti takes many forms, and the level of artistry varies widely, but one smudge has flown beneath the radar for many years. Inkblots adorn the limestone near the entry at 165 S. Oak Park Ave., inspired by the outline of some long-removed exterior sconce. Some imaginative vandal used them to create a human face, in fact a very famous face.
The splotches bear an uncanny resemblance to old posters of Che Guevara. A call to revolution? If so, it seems to have gone ignored for quite some time.
Frankly, we would have preferred Kilroy.
No, not that Sears
Sears Pharmacy, Oak Park Avenue and Madison Street, is moving west to 1003 Madison St. in August, but they’re not letting up on their famous signage. In fact, the humor seems even sharper, though, as always, self-deprecating.
Consider the “latest Zogby Tracking Poll” which contends that 93 percent of respondents are uninterested in Sears’ move, with 2 percent ready to jump on board.
But we particularly like the 5 percent who want to know if they still sell washing machines. Maybe that’s the same 5 percent who think rain barrels on Oak Park Avenue are really trash cans or the same 5 percent who think Sarah Palin would make a great president.
In spite of all the distractions related to their impending move, however, Oak Park’s funniest pharmacists aren’t afraid to take a swipe at the proposal to cap the Ike (below, right).
We just hope these guys have plenty of window space in their new digs.
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