$ $ $ $ $ $ $

 

Now that the DOLLAR is at its lowest in your generation of shopping,
the deals you can make in New York can almost pay for the cost of your
ticket. If you have any way of proving that you work in whole-sale,
you should stroll around the whole-sale area between 5th Avenue and
9th Avenue, from 25th to 39th. I would not set my foot on 5th Avenue
to shop, but for serious power shoppers with a platinum credit card,
this might be paradise. The below are places that either will give you
a good shopping experience or potential for a serious bargain for
stuff you never knew you needed. However, I also want to warn you about going through the customs once you are back (in for example Denmark), since if you have bought too many things, your government most likely wants you to pay 25% in taxes of any imported goods. If they pick you up while walking out of the terminal, you might get busted and not only do you pay the TAX fee, you pay twice as much of the TAX fee in penalty. Just so you know. I will not give you tips how to avoid it, just think about it...

Century 21

Best department store in the Manhattan, right next to Ground Zero.
Here you can get top designer brands cheaper than you expect.
22 Courtland Street
http://www.c21stores.com

Apple Store SoHo & Uptown

The SOHO store is housed inside an old post office, and is good if you
are in urgent need for an apple product when you are downtown.
However, the uptown 5th Avenue location that is open 24 hours is worth
the visit just for the experience, even if you are not a apple user.
The square glass box entrance that pops out of the street like a
window into the underground technological future of mankind, reminds
me of the pyramid at the Louvre Museum in Paris. But square. Get your
latest I-gadget or pimp your mac product with the latest on the
market, as it is here you will find it first. People stand in lines in
the morning to be able to pay for the latest "I" this or that.
103 Prince St or 767 Fifth Ave.

B&H - Photo and Video

Entering the B&H empire is another experience worth trying out. The
place is run by Orthodox Hasidic Jews living in south Williamsburg,
in full old school gear, great hats, curly sideburns and long black coats.
It is really worth going onto the website and check for any of your needs,
in both the new and second hand product catalogue. It is also an experience to chat with one of friendly the guys on the floor. Just ask them what you want, may it be the latest smallest and cheapest digital camera, or a video camera to make your next feature film. You will stand in lines and wonder why there is baskets floating above your head like some kind of Santa Claus workshop, but its good fun and when you walk out with a brand new toy, it is better than christmas.
420 9th Avenue
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/ 
read more about B&H on this blog, where the images are also from 

FAO Schwarz

You are greeted by a jolly man in red uniform, and as you walk let the
inner child in you pop out. If you are with a child, let them run wild
and don't hold them back from exploring the whole places three story
building.

 

The oversized piano featured in the Tom Hanks film "Big" is good fun,
even if you are not a kid, but it might be painful if you are a piano
teacher. There are strange live looking babies that are held out to
you by young women in nurses outfits, incouraging young girls to take
care of babies and if they are lucky, become nurses. There is story
telling time in the basement for the smaller kids by a real princess
and whole rooms dedicated to everything: Starwars, Princess, Barbie,
dolls, cars and fluffy animals. For some extra time in a line, you can
get your present wrapped in FAO gift wrapping paper, so the one who
recieving your gift can see where you actually got it.
This is important stuff in New York.
767 Fifth Avenue
www.fao.com

Strand Book Store

the above image of Strand by newyorkdailyphoto.blogspot.com

"18 Miles of Books!" for your book collecting pleasures. Back in the
70's many well known artists, writers and musicians worked and used
the store as the main meeting spot in the daytime, such as Patti Smith
and Tom Verlaine. In the 1970s, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist
George F. Will wrote, "the eight miles worth saving in this city are
at the corner of Broadway and 12th Street. They are the crammed
shelves of the Strand Book Store." Ask one the staff for any of your
book needs, and you will get a tour of the place that is organized in
ways that can seem hard for most to grasp.
Their used book selection is like going into a gold mine, the
accessories, T-shits, book bags are must have items, and the prices are not bad
828 Broadway, at 12th St.
http://www.strandbooks.com

Mondo Kim's

The PUNK staff take pride in treating you for what you are; may it be an annoying eurotrashie with no REAL understanding of film,
a phony looking adult, or wanna-be-New Yorker.

The wide selection of new and second hand vinyls, videos and dvd's are like
entering heaven. Most subgenres of film are neatly arranged, by what country they are from, directors or sexual orientation.

This is also the place to go and get underground mixtapes by local rappers. If you are all out of inspiration in your
local ghetto, buy some tapes from the cutting edge of New York and bring it back to your hood claiming it yours. We'll its been
done before, and a well used trick in the art world. They are so punk, they can't even be bothererd with a working website.
6 St. Marks P

Other Music

Greetings all music nerds. You ask for it; they got it, with a smile and no attitudes.
Check out their website for the latest stuff that might be cheaper to carry home with you, than ordering it online.
15 E 4th St.

THE WORLDS LARGEST MOOSE FROM THE LAND OF IKEA AND ABBA 

What do you do when an area is about to become depopulated and the few people living within thousand of square miles are old, with kids that moved out of the house about 40 years ago? We'll, Thorbjörn Holmlund from Arvidsjaur in northern part of Sweden came up with the idea to build a 47 meter (148-foot) tall moose. The idea has now become reality and Mr. Holmlund is selling shares to investors that are going like a smörgåsbord in Vegas.

It will be buildt in wood, and like a Trojan Horse be put into the great landscape of northern Sweden bringing tourists in from all over the world.
You can take a virtual tour throughout the Moose here.
The question we might ask is: Will the parts of the construction come in flat boxes, with a instruction sheet, screws and a Allen wrench?

The giant Moose will house a restaurant, conference halls, concert spaces, exhibitions spaces and a observatory with a view that might beat The Statue of Liberty's torch observatory. Another detail is that the visitors get up into the Moose through a elevator inside of giant pine three.

Other projects of this kind that truly have changed the remote areas of northern Sweden is The Ice Hotel.
Since the hotel opened, it has brought in tourists and jet setters from all over the world, enjoying having it on the rocks at all times.

In 1884, the "Colossal Elephant" was buildt in Coney Island, NY. The Coney Island elephant cost $250,000 to build and stood 125 feet high (7 stories) and had 31 hotel rooms. Her legs were 60 feet in circumference (one leg housed a cigar store, another had a diorama, and the 2 others had circular staircases). The elephant faced the sea and gave visitors to the observatory great ocean vistas through slits in the elephant's eyes. You could go to the top for a full 360 degree 50 mile view. At night, searchlights flashed erratically from her eyes. It was advertised as the 8th Wonder of the World. Unfortunately, it was destroyed by fire in 1896 after only 12 years of operation.

The Semiramis, Karim Rashid’s first hotel project, is a fusion of Rashid’s influence and owner Dakis Joannou’s vision and own dedication to the modern art world. Mr. Joannou, an eminent collector, patron of modern art and qualified architect, commissioned Karim Rashid to create a hotel that will offer more than extra bed space in Athens.

The Semiramis is an intimate hotel that focuses on positive energy, heightened experiences, culture, art, and design. It is a place for new contemporary experiences, to enjoy, work, and relax in a truly memorable way. The 52-room hotel, designed by Karim Rashid, will be Athens' design-inspired hotel, offering a new intimate alternative to modern travellers.

Condé Nast Traveller included it in THE 6O BEST NEW HOTELS IN THE WORLD and wrote: “This 52-room popsicle is as much a showcase for Joannou´s contemporary art collection as for Rashid´s curvaceous, colorful designs... The young staff, in pastel flares and sneakers, are eager to please.”
 

[Photo: *tathei*]

Egyptian born Karim Rashid creates concept hotels all around UK with the hotel chain myhotel. Such as myhotel Brighton,

Central Brighton boutique hotel, “where Freddie Mercury meets the Maharishi”, or myhotel Chelsea “where Sex and the City meets Brideshead Revisited”.

Rashid once said: "Now if I was Eminem and I said, 'I want to change the world', then nobody would have a problem, but, in actual fact, the artist's agenda is to change the world. A lot of the products I've designed have sold in millions, meaning that people like my work. So I don't really need to be judged by the design community."

Rashid is also a DJ, a DJ booth designer, teacher and preacher of Democratic Design. These days in Copenhagen, Rashid has also taken on the role as a curator of the annual Spring Exhibition. The director of the Exhibition Hall Charlottenborg Bo Nilsson, selected Rashid to be the artist to set the standards of the future of art in the 21st Century.


 
In the above image Karim Rashid arriving at Copenhagen's The Kings New Square in a red cab. He came to the opening to DJ for an hour and enjoy the local hospitality.