Dior’s Shanghai Lady
The third episode of the online Lady Dior handbag saga, Lady Blue Shanghai a mini movie directed by David Lynch and featuring Marion Cotillard will be unveiled in Shanghai on Saturday in tandem with the showing of Christian Dior's cruise collection. The film will then go up on the Tiffany Charm bracelet Web site.
It's about memory, Lynch said of the 12-minute movie, following a screening in Paris last month. And then, when you remember, it's different.
The love story is enigmatic, rich in mystery and flashbacks. The action centers around Shanghai's iconic Pearl Tower and Cotillard fretting about a Lady Dior handbag (which emits light and fog) that appears in her hotel room. The director of Blue Velvet also interjected a blue flower as a prop.
For both Cotillard and Lynch, the two-day shoot for Lady Blue Shanghai in December marked their first visit to the Chinese city. Lynch liked its people.
The surprise, I think, was traffic jams and the fact that the city never ended, he said. You could drive for an hour and a half and never be out of Shanghai. And the amount of construction that was going on 4,000 construction sites during the time we were there. So it's an incredible, fast-changing [city].
Meantime, Cotillard was struck by the Pearl Tower.
It is pretty amazing because, when you are on top of it Tiffany Cushion Drop earrings you walk on this glass floor, you see the whole city under your feet, she said.
Cotillard described her character in the Dior spots as someone connected to her time and also connected to all the history of many things the history of women, the history of fashion and of life. She's also someone who has a vision of this time we live in and a global vision of our world and the way a woman lives in it. I think she's someone who travels travels in time, travels many places.
One memorable moment during the filming came in a dance scene, which doesn't appear in the movie but is in an accompanying clip. The floor was uneven and [Marion] was in high heels, so she fell over, recalled Lynch. It was scary and funny, both.
To him, short-format work differs entirely from full-length films.
I always learn something on every commercial, said Lynch, who has lensed another advertisement for Dior for the Fahrenheit men's fragrance. One of the reasons is that technology is moving fast. Sometimes commercials have more money, so you are using the latest and greatest technology. You learn things. You learn about more and more possibilities, and you meet new people and [go to] new places, so it's great. These short films are interesting to do.
On the longer-format front, Lynch is working on a documentary about Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. The story is really about knowledge, and it is very abstract, and so I don't know exactly how I am going to tell [it], he explained.
Cotillard remembered her first encounter with Lynch, one of her filmmaking icons. It was in Los Angeles, and I went to his studio. He arrived and I could see myself as a kid watching all his movies when I was not allowed to because they were sometimes too weird or violent. And we started Tiffany Cushion Hoop earrings, she related. I tried to behave myself like a normal person and not jump all over the place. At a certain point I told him, You know, I have to tell you something. I can't believe I am here, I can't believe I am talking to you.
Before I met David Lynch, I knew that he's a director you can trust, because when you watch his movies, he respects people, life, everything movies, music, lights, sound, continued Cotillard. He has this energy of respect. And so it was two unforgettable days.
Gambrills jewelry store closes abruptly: Customers’ repairs not returned for months
Bonnie Richards just wanted her husband's watch fixed.
Richards, a Crofton resident, had taken the specially engraved timepiece to Parisi's Diamond Trust to be repaired in March after a previous cleaning hadn't fixed clockwork problems.
When she didn't receive any phone calls about the watch, Richards stopped by the store several Valentine's Day gift in May. Each time she was greeted by a locked door and large 'Closed' sign.
"I wasn't that concerned about it because I've dealt with them for years," she said.
Earlier this month, Richards went to the Gambrills jeweler again, but this time it wasn't just closed -- the store was empty.
"There was nothing in there," she said. "They just kind of disappeared."
Kenneth Parisi and his wife Amy owned and operated the jewelry store in the Crofton Shopping Center on Route 3 for the last 25 years.
But Amy Parisi just started contacting customers last week, -- months after some had dropped off silver rings -- to pick up their belongings.
"I was so frustrated I didn't even ask her any questions," said Christine Cheesman, who was finally able to pick up her belongings on Friday.
Cheesman of Millersville had been missing her pearls and son's watch since she took them to the jewelers in April. Like Richards, Cheesman said she had used the Parisi's services so many times, she never thought twice about trusting them with her valuables.
"We used them in past and they had always been very good," she said. "That's why we trusted them."
Amy Parisi said she didn't want to comment about the situation, because she said she was worried about talking during an active court case.
According to county civil court documents, she filed for voluntary separation from her husband in July 2007 and in November 2008 she was granted sole operation and ownership of Parisi's Diamond Trust pending resolution of the couple's divorce case. Since then, Kenneth has filed a motion to re-open the record and the case is still in progress.
Justin Mulcahy , a county Police Department spokesman, said customers are welcome to contact consumer protection agencies such as the Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division or the Better Business Bureau if they wish to make a complaint about the business.
No charges have been filed against the business or its owners.
"We're aware of complaints and we're looking into it," Mulcahy said.
Stuart Tamres , president of the Maryland-Delaware-Washington D.C. Jewelers Association, said when silver bracelets go out of business and still have customers' merchandise they normally make arrangements for people to reclaim their property.
"They owe an obligation to their customers to make their repairs available to them," he said. "In most instances people go out of their way to do that."
Over the past two and a half decades in the area, the Parisi's accepted jewelry donations on behalf of Partners In Care's Valentine's Jewelry Extravaganza and participated in Bowie Knights of Columbus Hall Kiwanis charity auctions. The Parisi's also donated items to the Crofton Ecumenical Choir Auction in 2001 to help the choir defray travel expenses to the International Musical Festival in Verona, Italy.
"It's sad since they were very much a part of the community as far as people using them as a local jeweler," Richards said. "You think if someone's been in business a long time they're trustworthy."
Parisi's Diamond Trust was one of eight area jewelers served with search warrants by county police in silver cufflinks for the alleged illegal purchases of second-hand gold and jewelry. Charges were never filed against the jeweler.
Cheesman said her experience has definitely shaken her confidence.
"I do appreciate they were helpful in getting it back," she said. "But now I have this thought in the back of my mind: Who should I trust with my jewelry?"
Bridge between what is fashion and what is fine
Earlier this year, nearly two-thirds of respondents to a Luxury Institute survey, agreed that pricing of exclusive brands is too high for the value they deliver.
Then last month, the institute released research confirming that jewellery is the category on which wealthy consumers are most likely to say they will reduce their spending, followed by home furnishings, watches and gifts.
Against this backdrop, many jewellers on both sides of the Atlantic have been quietly pricing down.
"Many luxury companies have increased their offer of less expensive products, made from less expensive materials, but which still generate attractive margins," says Andrea Gerst, luxury brands fund manager at Julius Baer in Zurich.
"Brands aren't saying items are on sale or making a to-do about it, but everybody is re-pricing now," says Milton Pedraza, chief executive of the New York-based Luxury Institute. "They are pricing down in a stealthy manner."
A prime example of a jeweller who had the foresight to appeal to a wider audience and increase profits by introducing silver jewellery is British designer Stephen Webster, who, with 22 stores worldwide says his sales are up 20 per cent this year. Mr Webster began creating silver jewellery in 2007. He partially attributes his aggressive expansion plans to the success of this diversification.
With slow store traffic and sales up to 50 per cent down, according to Mr Pedraza, many jewellers can only aspire to Mr Webster's growth rate.
Tiffany & Co recently brought out its Elsa Peretti Diamonds by the Yard jewellery in silver and is pleased with the response. Another big operator, Roberto Coin, has introduced the Capri Plus range incorporating wood, silver and precious stones.
Following calls for silver from her customers, Lara Bohinc introduced the silver Coco collection at her Sloane Street, London, store last November. It sold out within two days.
One customer from Geneva learnt about Coco from an e-mail newsletter, rang the next day and purchased the entire collection. Two weeks later, she phoned again ordering another five rings for her girlfriends. "Silver is a bridge between fashion jewellery and fine jewellery price points," says Ms Bohinc. "In the current economic climate, people want to be more discreet and may choose silver because it is less flashy than yellow gold, a colour that dominated the boom era."
Nathalie Kabiri, owner of London's edgiest jewellery gallery, Kabiri, stocks, among others, Gurhan, Sho and Nina Basharova. She has noticed increased interest in jewellery priced between 80 ($130) and 300.
She thinks people are "cheating the recession" by focusing on design-led jewellery that makes a statement, but which is often available at a lower price.
Paris-based Dominique Aurientis who has designed for Dior, Givenchy and Ferragamo, has taken to designing in recycled wood from Thailand's ancient railways, "in keeping with the economic landscape ... without losing the class and distinction of her infamous designs", says her spokesperson.
Meanwhile, Los Angeles-based Dara Dubinet, who usually targets celebrities with her gold and diamond designs, is increasingly appealing to fans of celebrities.
Her Dara Healing black onyx ring worn by Madonna costs $5,100. But Ms Dubinet has been negotiating hard with vendors and cutting margins. Earlier this year she revealed the tiger's eye and silver version for $275.
Mr Pedraza is quick to point out that there is a distinction between the highest end luxury jewellers and premium jewellers, which he refers to as "luxury for the middle and affluent masses".
He warns that anyone who wants to preserve their reputation for luxury in the long term "can't afford to cheapen their brand". But the success in the US of Rarities, started by former Harry Winston communications director, Carol Brodie, and a sell-out on the Home Shopping Network - perhaps suggests a positive future for premium brands.
Mr Pedraza says, however, that "many are lowering prices and it is killing margins ... The best companies are now managing cash flow as surgically as possible because the light at the end of the tunnel is a bit far away".
GOLD JEWELRY – ALL THAT GLITTER PRODUCES TOXINS
Marking the second anniversary of their "No Dirty Gold" campaign, EARTHWORKS and Oxfam America are reminding consumers that the production of a single 18-carat gold ring weighing less than one ounce generates on average at least 20 tonnes of mine waste that may prove very harmful for local communities and the environment.
"Gold loses its luster when it is produced at the expense of healthy communities, clean water and human rights," according to Payal Sampat, the international campaign director for EARTHWORKS, which is based here. "Retailers and consumers are saying this price is too high."
Valentine's day is the biggest holiday for gold jewelry sales in the U.S., and particularly for the three biggest sellers of gold jewelry, Wal-Mart, Zales and Sterling.
To mark the day, campaigners, including a giant puppet called "Ms. Goldzilla," will be distributing Valentine's cards with the message, "Don't tarnish your love with dirty gold," in front of major jewelry and watch stores along New York City's Fifth Avenue.
Consumers will be asked to sign a pledge calling on gold mining companies to use cleaner alternatives in mining, particularly in developing countries where regulations are generally more lax or less enforced than those in wealthy western countries where gold is still mined.
In a major scandal that surfaced last year, an independent study completed by Indonesia's Environment Ministry found that waste generated by Colorado-based Newmont Mining Corporation at its Minahasa Raya gold mine had contaminated Buyat Bay in Sulawesi province with mercury and arsenic at levels that pose a human health risk, particularly to young children.
Newmont has rejected the report's conclusions, but investigations by the New York Times, which consulted independent experts, backed up the Environment Ministry's findings.
In addition to the pollution, mining often creates serious social problems. Governments eager to attract foreign investment will often sell concessions to major companies without consulting local communities that are most affected by the mining operations..
"We want buyers and sellers of gold jewelry to hold mining companies accountable to the communities where they operate," said Carrie Dann of the Western Shoshone Defence Project in Nevada.
Worse, gold mining has become increasingly mechanised so that communities often don't receive many new employment opportunities despite the enormous capital costs involved in mining.
Metal mining currently employs less than one-tenth of one percent of the global workforce, but consumes seven to 10 percent of the world's energy.
But the major impact is environmental and the huge amount of waste generated by mining.
"Mining companies have polluted our water resources and violated our right to a healthy environment in their rush to riches," said Kalia Moldogazieva, a mining activist from Kyrgyzstan whose open- pit Kumtor mine, owned and operated by Canada's Cameco Corp.. and partially financed by the World Bank's International Finance Corporation and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, has suffered a number of toxic spills and a 1992 cave- in that killed one worker.
In the United States, mines generate an amount of waste equivalent in weight to nearly nine times the garbage produced by all U.S. cities and towns combined, according to the two groups.
Based on gold-sales projections for the first two weeks of February, the two groups estimate that Valentine's Day sales of gold jewelry in the U.S. will have produced 34 million metric tonnes of waste worldwide.
The two groups say that their campaign has gained momentum since its launch on Valentine's Day 2004, with groups in Germany and three gold-producing nations -- Ghana, Kyrgyzstan, and Peru -- starting their own campaigns.
In response to the campaign, leading jewelry and electronics retailers, including Tiffany & Co, Cartier, Helzberg Diamonds and Harry Winston, have issued public statements in support of its goals.
"As consumers and retailers learn about the true cost of gold, they are calling for it to be produced in ways that do not harm people and the environment," said Keith Slack, a senior policy advisor with Oxfam America.
The "No Dirty Gold" activists are drawing heavily on the experience of other recent consumer efforts to end sweatshop labor in the apparel industry, combat the trade in so-called "blood diamonds", and promote Fair Trade coffee and cocoa products to press retailers of these products to press their suppliers -- mainly multinational corporations responsible for most of the world's gold production -- to ensure that they do more to reduce waste and protect the environment, health, and human rights of communities where they operate.
Most consumers, according to the groups, are unaware of the social and environmental impact of most gold-mining operations.
Like the other campaigns, the gold campaign also enlists students in their efforts. The two groups noted that students at about a dozen colleges in the United States and Canada have been organising to clean up "dirty gold" used in class rings.
In addition to Wal-Mart, Zales and Sterling, the top 10 U.S. jewelry retailers include QVC, JC Penney, Sears, Tiffany, Finlay Fine Jewelry, Fred Meyer Jewelers, and Friedman's.
The world's top six gold mines by production in 2003 included Freeport's Grasberg mine in Indonesia, Newmont's Yanacocha mine in Peru; Navoi's Muruntau mine in Uzbekistan; Barrick's Betze-Post mine in Nevada; and Gold Fields' Driefontein and Kloof mines in South Africa.
The next biggest include Newmont's Carlin Trend mine in Nevada; Placer Dome's Cortez mine also in Nevada; Barrick's Pierina mine in Peru; and Barrick's and Newmonth's Kalgoorlie mine in Australia.
Alcohol Bracelets Helping to Keep Veterans Sober and Accountable
The veterans program began using the technology, known as SCRAM (for Secure Continuous Remote Alcohol Monitor), in December of 2008 in order to help manage the epidemic rate of alcohol abuse and addiction among the combat veterans in their court. The system includes an ankle bracelet tiffany, worn 24/7, that actually samples an offender's perspiration every 30 minutes in order to measure for alcohol consumption and ensure compliance with court-ordered sobriety and treatment requirements.
The award-winning program was the first veteran-specific court in the country to deal with the unique needs of the ever-increasing number of combat veterans going through the criminal justice system. Under the direction of the Honorable Robert T. Russell, the court aims to link veterans coming through the city's criminal justice system with a full range of social services, including drug and alcohol treatment, mental health services, medical care, anger management, family counseling, vocation/educational services and housing. "Substance abuse, homelessness, unemployment, mental health problems--these issues are found in combination and in alarming numbers with our combat veterans," says Russell. "Ensuring the sobriety of these offenders while we address their issues is essential for long-term success and for helping these men and women get their lives back on track, as well as community safety," he adds.
The National Association of Drug Court Professionals (NADCP) has recently launched a Veterans silver cufflinks Treatment Court Clearing House in response to the overwhelming interest in creating a veterans program from courts across the U.S. According to NADCP, there are now 13 Veterans Treatment Courts across the country, and with funding from the Veterans Administration, the number of programs is expected to increase substantially in 2010.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), 1.8 million combat veterans meet the criteria for having substance abuse issues. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) reports that 35 percent of justice-involved veterans suffer from alcohol dependency, and the U.S. Department of Defense reports that the rate of veteran involvement in alcohol-related incidents, including DUI, reckless driving and drunk and disorderly conduct, more than tripled between 2005 and 2006 alone. "This isn't about criminality," says Mike Iiams, chairman and CEO of Denver-based Alcohol Monitoring Systems, which manufactures and markets SCRAM throughout the U.S. "This is about addiction. When these individuals drink, bad things happen, and this program silver bracelets is redefining the way our justice system can change the course of their lives," says Iiams.
The Buffalo Drug and DUI courts have utilized the SCRAM System since 2007, monitoring more than 330 offenders to-date, and the Veterans Treatment Court began using the anklets in December of 2008. AMS donated 10 units to the Buffalo Veterans program in 2008, acknowledging what Iiams calls the "critical importance" of the ground-breaking program. Today, veterans monitored by SCRAM in the Buffalo program pay $6 per day for the monitoring fee, making the program self-sustaining.
SCRAM currently monitors just over 10,000 offenders daily and has monitored more than 115,000 offenders in 48 states since it became available in 2003. SCRAM is used to manage and monitor drunk drivers, drug and domestic violence offenders and underage drinkers. It's also utilized as a tool in family court, where the determination of custody silver rings may be dependent on a participant's sobriety.
Keywords: Addiction Medicine, Epidemics, Mental Health, Alcohol Monitoring Systems Inc.
No, Virginia, Christmas Is Not Here Yet
The autumn leaves, red and yellow and brown, are tumbling from the trees, tiffany resigned to their fate. Weekends are full of football and the scritching of rakes. Lazy squirrels are still munching on moldering jack o' lanterns left over from Halloween. In other words, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.
Disney released a new version of the Dickens Scrooge story last week, timing it so that "A Christmas Carol" will be lucky to be in distribution past Thanksgiving Day.
Starbucks has already retired its white cups for the duration, replacing them with cranberry-colored, snowflake-flecked seasonal substitutes. Wal-Mart is just one of the retailers already Kringling away like crazy, running television ads with Andy Williams crooning "It's the most wonderful time of the year!" Who knew that the weeks between Halloween and Thanksgiving were the hap-happiest season of all?
The day after Thanksgiving used to be the official launch of the commercial rings Christmas season. Now Sears is running "Black Friday" specials all through November.
Given half a chance, retailers would probably try to get their plastic garlands hung just after Labor Day. (Ho-ho-ho, it's back to school!) But we've been spared that particular encroachment, thanks to a holiday that has proved capable of standing athwart the relentless forces of Christmas-creep -- Halloween. Once a quaint bit of Americana built around the simple pleasures of costumes, candy-grabbing and petty vandalism, Halloween has become a marketable and profitable holiday, putting many official holidays to shame. If only Presidents Day had some sort of free-candy angle.
In contrast to Halloween's stalwart ability to keep Christmas from jumping the queue, Thanksgiving has lost its cultural muscle. The early advent of the Santa season may have less to do with the red-and-green imperative than with the weakness of Turkey Day. What happened to this quintessential American holiday?
Lydia Maria Child's ode to going over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house is a good place to start in decoding Thanksgiving's decline. First, there is the anachronistic attention given to grandmother. Thanksgiving is one of the few occasions left, in our fanatically kinder-centric culture, to honor the elderly. Picture the famous Norman Rockwell illustration "Freedom From Want" -- at the Thanksgiving table grandpa and grandma have pride of place. No wonder the day gets short shrift.
And then there is all that over-the-river-and-through-the-woods business, which in our day means a choice between stripping for the nice TSA agent or creeping along I-95. Thanksgiving is the official holiday of planes, trains and automobiles. What the modern travel experience lacks in charm it makes up for with sheer bracelets ordeal. And what's the payoff for all this effort? A chance to make small talk with in-laws.
The Food Network may be the only institution in America unapologetically boosting the holiday. For weeks, the cable channel's programming is packed with turkey tutorials, stuffing suggestions and investigations into the mysteries of cranberry sauce. But Food Network's programming is less an indication of popular enthusiasm for Thanksgiving than a measure of the fear the holiday engenders. Hostesses know that they will be judged on the juiciness of their turkey, the cooking of which is an exotic undertaking chanced but once a year. And the result must be achieved while juggling a half-dozen side dishes, all the while making the above-mentioned small talk.
None of which would be so daunting if the day meant more to us. Could it be we've lost our capacity for gratitude? A successful harvest occasioned thanks back when it was all that stood between us and a long, cold, hungry winter. But now we're divorced from the seasonal rhythms of the farm, where the harvest is celebrated as the payoff of all the year's labors. Even in the midst of this Great Repression we enjoy perpetual plenty. What resonance does a cornucopia have to people who have come to expect ripe blackberries in February? If anything, we should be more grateful, but that's not our nature. Anything we struggle for, we hold dear; anything that comes easy, we take for granted.
Not only don't we celebrate the astonishing abundance that is our good fortune, we whine and moan cufflinks about how it makes us fat. Lydia Maria Child's poem ends, appropriately enough, with dessert: "Is the pudding done? / Hurrah for the pumpkin pie!" A version for our time would read, "Is the pudding sugar-free?" And if that weren't enough to squeeze the pleasure from the day, no modern Thanksgiving is complete without a college student home from school, lecturing the family on the cruelty of meat. (To which the only appropriate response is: "Does that mean you don't want the drumstick?") That same sophomore is also likely to bemoan the grim fate of the Native Americans who made the strategic mistake of helping the Pilgrims avoid starvation. In some circles, Thanksgiving is second only to Columbus Day as an occasion for grieving.
There will be plenty of time next month for all the secular manifestations of Christmas: shopping, trimming the tree, shopping, mugs of frothing Tom & Jerry, shopping, and watching Ralphie get his Red Ryder BB-gun and Clarence get his wings. Oh, and yes, shopping. But before we break out the ornaments and dust off the Vince Guaraldi soundtrack, let's make the most of autumn and its particular pleasures. Jump in a pile of leaves. Savor the waning daylight. And go ahead. Week after next, eat that second slice of pumpkin pie -- just be thankful for it.
Vendors at the venerable Southern Christmas Show say shoppers seem a bit more willing than last year.
As the Southern Christmas Show kicked off its 42nd season this week, early returns tiffany jewellery are leaving merchants optimistic -- but still wary of the economy beyond the red, green and glitter-bedecked hub of holiday spirit.
"A lot of exhibitors came into this show a little apprehensive about what it was going to be like, and I think they're finding their sales are as good or better than last year," said David Zimmerman, president of Southern Shows, producers of the event, which opened Wednesday. "That's what we're hearing, at least."
Another good gauge of sales, Zimmerman said Friday evening, is looking to see how full the package check area in the lobby is, and what's being sold. "It's as full as ever," he said.
With its loyal, intent shoppers, the event at the former Charlotte Merchandise Mart is arguably more recession-resistant than much of the rest of the retail landscape. The show's 700 vendors tend to generate sales results above the general holiday retail trend because they draw a self-selected crowd from across a wide geographic area, said Southern Shows CEO Joan Zimmerman.
Nonetheless, the show also speaks to the power of offering a distinct shopping experience, with rings the power to lure buyers even amid economic uncertainty. It attracts about 100,000 visitors per year, and attendance so far this year is up compared with the same days last year, David Zimmerman said. This year, the show is running for 12 days -- ending Nov. 22 -- instead its usual 11.
At the booth for A Taste of West Virginia, which sells products from over 50 West Virginia agribusinesses, sales on Thursday were up 8 percent over the same day last year, and the trend was continuing Friday, said Cindy Martel, marketing specialist with the state's Department of Agriculture. The booth is not expecting a big increase for the year and would be happy to be on par with 2008, she said. "We're definitely holding our ground," she said.
The producers, she said, were concerned about what 2009 would bring. And the economic climate has forced them to plan and track their businesses more carefully, she said.
Shoppers are focusing on the fundamentals and stocking stuffers, Martel said, and the busiest categories so far have been specialty condiments and honey. People have also been redeeming about 10 percent more coupons this year, compared with 2008, she said. "They're still buying impulse treat items, but not as many," she said.
Several merchants said that though they'd seen sales fall at other shows this year, the trend seems to be improving. Business at home shows was particularly off, said Ken March, the owner of Florida-based Helmut's Strudels, a 32-year presence at the Southern Christmas Show.
March said he was anxious given the N.C. banking climate, and that he knows business can flatten out anyway after years at the same show. But he expects to be up about 15 percent this year tend to be a reliable indicator.
"I think (shoppers) are realizing the hurricane has passed," he said. "I don't think people give up on Christmas bracelets."
"We're die-hard," joked Pam Thomas of Lenoir, who traveled to the show on Thursday with a group of friends, most of whom have been going to the show together for 20 years. Around dinnertime, they relaxed on a bench near the cafeteria, bags at their sides.
"This is to get us in the Christmas spirit. ... I brought my spending money today, and I'll worry about the rest later."
Thomas said she wasn't planning to cut back her Christmas Show spending. On Thursday, she bought two decorative wall signs, a variety of food and two "splat balls" for grandchildren -- toys designed to be thrown and go "splat," albeit neatly.
But, she said, the rest of her shopping season may be affected. Her husband recently found out that he won't receive a Christmas bonus this year at the trucking company where he works, after getting them for the last 38 years.
Sitting next to Thomas was Tracey Carriker of Morganton, who'd bought a cookie jar, jewelry and a UNC Chapel Hill snowman. Next up: A pimento cheese stop. Though the group's usual challenge is figuring out how best to pack the trunk, Carriker said, this year she isn't buying as much for herself, while still looking for family and friends.
At Rita's Special T's, which sells colorful shirts and jackets, sales dropped in 2008, but results at the Charlotte cufflinks show are up over the same days last year, owner Rita Beard said. Based in Florida, she hopes to be up 10 percent over last year.
Shows that she's attended elsewhere this year, including in recent weeks, she noted, have been down.
Still, where people used to buy two or three jackets, Beard said, they now buy just one. And she lowered the price on a popular set to $40 from $49.
"We had to adjust to what the economy is going to allow you to sell your products for," she said.
ST. CLAIR COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE TO PRESENT ‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’ ON STAGE
The St. Clair County Community College issued the following press silver jewelry release:
St. Clair County Community College's Theatre Discipline in December will present A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas in the college's Fine Arts Theatre.
Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 4; 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 5; and 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6.
The play is written by Charles Dickens and adapted by Michael Wilson. Tom Kephart is director.
The play tells the classic tale of Ebenezer Scrooge and his Christmas bangles Eve journey with three ghostly spirits.
Tickets are $5 for students and seniors age 60 and older and $7 for adults. Tickets are available at the door or by calling (810) 989-5513 between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. weekdays.
A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story of Christmas
SC4 student cast list Student rings Hometown
Joel Badley Marysville
Samantha Bogumil Kimball Township
Robert Croy Croswell
Cassie Farrugia Clyde Township
Kelsey Hernandez Marysville
Rachel Kearney Port Huron
Mallorie Krul Kimball Township
Erilee Lowe Marine City
Jeremiah Lukasak East bracelets China Township
Rae Ann McVeigh Kimball Township
Kami Misch Emmett
Donald Parker Port Huron
Zach Parkhurst St. Clair
Ryan Silver Yale
Angie Stoecklin Columbus Township
Dan Williams Kimball Township
Jordan Yeip Columbus Township cufflinks Children cast list Lillian Beckman Port Huron
Erin Blaylock Marysville
Owen Day Port Huron
Courtney Harris Kimball Township
Delany Lemke Marysville
Wesley Spain Marysville
Marisa Spain Marysville
Elizabeth Sturtridge Marysville For more information money clips please contact: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com.
HIGHLANDS UNIVERSITY MADRIGAL CHOIR PRESENTS ‘CHRISTMAS NOW!’ CONCERT NOV. 22 IN ILFELD
New Mexico Highlands' Madrigal Choir presents a "Christmas Now!" concert tiffany Nov. 22 at 3 p.m. in the university's Ilfeld Auditorium, 900 University Ave.
The concert will feature the university's women's choir performing English composer Benjamin Britten's Ceremony of Carols along with two Christmas songs by Santa Fe-based composer Linda Rice.
In the second half of the program, the men in the university's madrigal choir will join the women to perform Misa Criolla, a folk mass based on Latin American rhythms and traditions composed by Argentinean composer Ariel Ramirez.
The program ends with the madrigal choir singing two lively Christmas pieces by rings Welsh composer William Mathias.
The director for the concert is Andre Garcia-Nuthmann, the university's choral director and Department of Music.
Accompanying the madrigal choir will be music professors Linda King on piano and Edward Harrington on bass. Other accompanists include Roberto Capocchi on guitar, and Ralph Marquez and Michael Campbell on percussion.
The members of the Women's Choir also sing in the Madrigal Choir, including Karliz de Marco bracelets, Nicole Robinson, Christel Garcia, Betty Thompson, Margaret Loehr, Victoria Evans, Tiffany Neeley, Linda Castillo, Christine Jordan and Ardys Otterbacher.
The men in the Madrigal Choir include Devin Barad, Thomas J. Jefferson, Richard Lindeborg, Marcos Sedillo, Joseph Chavez, Michael Hatlee, Josh Lindsey and John Loehr. Tickets are $10 for the general public, and $5 for Highlands' faculty and staff, seniors 65 and older, and children under 10. All Highlands' students with ID are free, along with other students with school ID.
For more information, contact Jane Quintana at 505-454-3359 or Vick Evans at 505-454-3135.For more information please contact cufflinks: Sarabjit Jagirdar, Email:- htsyndication@hindustantimes.com.
Shop for Christmas, Help Fight Cancer
H1N1 Shots Available Saturday
By The Chronicle
A limited supply of H1N1 flu shots will be available from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday silver jewellery, Nov. 14, at the South Tower Pharmacy, 417 S. Tower Ave., Centralia. A $10 donation will be accepted but is not required.
Only the following priority groups will be able to receive the vaccine (subject to change depending on type of vaccine available -- injectable or nasal spray -- and quantity available):
--Pregnant women (vaccine may not be available at this site)
--Ages 2 through 24 years old (vaccine not available for those 6 months through 2 years old)
--Ages 25 through 64 years old with chronic medical conditions
--All health care and emergency medical workers
--All adults, children and teens who care for infants under 6 months old bangles.
Workshop Assists Seniors With Medicare Enrollment
By The Chronicle
Open enrollment time for Medicare will continue through Dec. 31. Two workshops will be held regarding changes to Medicare D prescription drug coverage to assist seniors with getting information to help make decisions about health care and prescription drug coverage.
The first workshop will be held Saturday, Nov. 21, at the Vernetta Smith Chehalis Timberland Library, and the second workshop will be held Saturday, Dec. 5, at the Centralia Timberland Library. Both days will have speakers from 10 a.m. to noon and a workshop for individual assistance from the Senior Health Insurance Benefits Assistance program from 1 to 3 p.m.
Speakers will include professionals from the Lewis County Health Department, SHIBA rings, Hall's Pharmacy, and Assured Home Health and Hospice.
For more information, call Valerie Mason at the Lewis-Mason-Thurston Area Agency on Aging at 748-2524 ext. 101 or 748-2288.
Evergreen Playhouse Seeking Volunteers and Holding Auditions
By The Chronicle
The Evergreen Playhouse in Centralia is looking for volunteers and potential board members to help choose and produce plays and other events presented year-round.
For more information visit http://evergreenplayhouse.wordpress.com or its Facebook page by searching "The Evergreen Playhouse."
Auditions will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday for "Over the River and Through the bracelets Woods" at the Evergreen Playhouse, 226 W. Center St. For more information call director Norma Rogers at 262-0712.
Shop for Christmas, Help Fight Cancer
By The Chronicle
Team Remembrance is hosting a "Guilt-free Shopping Day" from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday at 18139 Sunshine Lane S.W., Rochester.
There will be Pampered Chef, Cookie Lee, Tupperware, Mary Kay, Stampin Up and more in one convenient location.
A portion of the proceeds, with some vendors giving half or all, will be donated to the American cufflinks Cancer Society.