everbrite mercantile co.

heather and friend

2012-01-31T07:28:00.000-08:00

We're closing our Red Hook location

2011-12-28T23:40:00.000-08:00

STORE CLOSING

UPDATE:

I'm pulling down wall units from the store and returning it to 'white box' condition. Merchandise still strewn about, marked down further. come by and git some.

~~Sunday, January 15th 2012 will be our last day open at the Everbrite Mercantile Red Hook store.~~

We are extremely thankful for the many fine people we've had the pleasure of meeting along with the strange and interesting things we've experienced while running this odd retail experiment here on the Brooklyn waterfront.

THE WEB STORE
Our store on the Web is still active and will continue uninterrupted.

We're actually taking some time early in the new year to rebuild and re-launch it in an amusing and tricky new expanded HTML5 version that is more fitting of our playful sensibilities... that should be a lot of fun. (Yes, I AM proud of that long ass sentence.)

THE RED HOOK SPACE
Starting this New Years weekend we will be selling off various furniture/displays, tools, and many items on markdown.

You know where we're at:
351 Van Brunt Street... between Wolcott and Dikeman.

THE FUTURE
Clearing out the old... how about the new?
Will we re-launch a new space sometime in the future?
If so, will it be a retail space or something different?
An event space perhaps? A series of pop-ups? In Brooklyn? Elsewhere?

Elsewhere??!?!!! Where? when? how? why?
Stay tuned. It will be Maximum wonderful.

origamitron 2

2011-12-08T18:57:00.000-08:00

All throughout December at our Red Hook location.

et/per/se/and ... amuse-bouche

2011-10-31T22:40:00.000-07:00

UPDATE!!! - PARTY to close the show this Saturday. December 3rd at 8:00pm til whenever.

all month:
Et/per/se/and is the chairman of the alchemical media department of New Human Dreamtime International, (N.H.D.I.) a global conglomerate of high frequency media corporations located within the lush peaks and valleys of Sir Wilhelm's wild grey coif. As chair of the board, his goal is to transmute the abundance of low frequency old media trash into a visceral and golden melange of high frequency eduascenciontainment.

plus amuse-bouche performance on Saturday the 19th, 8:00pm
am assemblage of art/performance/film Curated by Kay n' Gorgas

Neighborhood Beat

2011-10-25T08:29:00.000-07:00

From Brooklyn Independent Television's Neighborhood Beat show.

Producer: Kecia Élan
BRIC Arts Media.

Yoga Thursday Nights 8pm

2011-10-05T18:47:00.000-07:00

Thursday nights in October - Yoga
8:00pm to 9:00pm

A Woman Grows in Brooklyn

2011-09-30T21:06:00.000-07:00

FELECIA MARIA:
A WOMAN GROWS IN BROOKLYN
OCT 3 - 30, 2011

Join FeleciaMaria on her journey from college grad dropped in NYC from the West with two suitcases and a yearning to dance; to choreographer, clothing designer, yoga teacher, wife and mother of two, living with her new family in a multi-generational Brooklyn home.

OPENING RECEPTION
FRI. OCT. 7, 5:00 - 10:00 PM

LOOKING FOR LOVE AND GROWING UP
SOLO DANCE PERFORMANCE
SAT. OCT. 22, 8:00 - 9:00 PM
part of ebmerc’s fourth saturdays performance series: $5 suggested donation

OPEN LEVEL YOGA BY DONATION
THURSDAYS, OCT. 6, 13, 20, 27
8:00 - 9:00 PM

IMME DESIGNS IN THE EBMERC GALLERY
Felecia will create a line of fall clothing for Everbrite Mercantile as she is surrounded by paintings created by her 2 1/2 year old daughter, and is inspired by the growth of a new artist.
dates and times TBA: see ebmerc's events calender at ebmerc.com

i only had one

2011-09-08T12:25:00.000-07:00

Saturday evening September 24th, Diane Tomasi curates the event "i only had one"
Colleen Culley, Gorgas, Susan Quinn, Becky Radway, Sara Roer, Suiso Ogawa and others join Diane in this night of art and performance.

starts at 8:00 pm

There will likely be much drinking, random improv and noise making following the performance. (There always is)

Not Out Of The Woods Yet

2011-08-30T16:35:00.001-07:00

Can you believe it? Another art show is opening at Everbrite Mercantile Co. this Saturday.

Not Out Of The Woods Yet reflects Alejandro Teichberg's semi-urban perspective of nature from which he is inseparable, yet alienated. Teichberg weaves natural themes together with personal memory, and allegory into landscapes that represent his psychic environment.

Just like our bodies react to exposure, so do our minds, well- marinated in processed foods and sensory overload. As every minute is layered with contradiction- tinged truths, the definition of nature expands while the very edges of the woods shrink. Despite these discords the mind ties the loose ends into a relatively uniform whole.

Alé, a old friend from my Richmond days, will be showing his collection of richly painted canvases. The opening will include intermittent sounds by ambient-experimental project Muilch.

Alejandro Teichberg
Not Out Of The Woods Yet
September 3 - October 2

Opening Reception 5-10 pm
Everbrite Mercantile Co.
351 Van Brunt St.
Brooklyn, NY 11231

John Stein - Recent works and The Adventures of Grampa

2011-08-04T20:11:00.000-07:00

Meet John Stein.

In his mind lives an alternate world that spans three major epochs of power struggles and change.

Join us Saturday, August 6th, for his opening reception. 3pm til closing.

click on image for larger view

this is yer brain on drugs

2011-07-21T17:51:00.000-07:00

Finery, frippery, gee-gaws, gadgets and ephemera.
Quite a few things you've never seen in your life up to now.
Uncommon fanciful things.
Obscure objects of desire.

There is a critical mass of such stuff at our Red Hook store at the moment.

Behollllld:

Things from rural Pennsylvania farm country strewn about the front.

A rifle case. It probably had a .22 bolt action in it at one time. I made a rubberband assault rifle that fits perfectly inside.

Look. He's smiling.

All sorts o' stuff - jewelry, Pop Chart Lab posters, vintage shoes...

Ye Olde cardiac monitor.

A 52-year-old painted bamboo calendar. We have a selection of these with various artwork screened on them.

Decades old lighters. They all light on the first strike.

Jao in the house, sharing space with Patent medicine bottles from the 1800s

Kreepy Dolls. Always unique: Never the same doll twice.

Mmmmm, this death is cool and refreshing. It has the "Thinking man's filter and the Smoking man's taste"
No wait that's Viceroys, sorry.

Who doesn't like mugs? No one doesn't like mugs.

I got yer mudra right here, buddy!

Kegan Fisher's Cusp of Conflux in the gallery.

shapes

2011-07-03T03:01:00.000-07:00

circles, squares, rectangles

surrender the fixation on words.
replace with fascination for shapes and horrible Photoshop filters

Celebrating Our Nation's Independence

2011-07-02T14:37:00.000-07:00

In-store purchases this weekend in Red Hook get an extra bonus.

These vintage magazines are actually lightweight compared to the stuff your 10-year-old regularly views on the interwebs here. They also contain some hard-nosed political criticism - you know: to balance out the sleaziness. Much of the same issues we face today are echoed in the pages of these 70s thru 90s "smut" publications.

delicious retro fragments of the Historical Record.

...and a session of intuitive bodywork broke out

2011-06-29T17:30:00.000-07:00

We've had Gay Charleston dance parties manifest themselves, so really nothing is unexpected at what some locals refer to as "that crazy place".

so, yeah, anything is possible.

This evening: the gallery of Kegan Fisher paintings somehow became a sacred space for Felecia's own version of muscle-release bodywork which seemed to help Mollie immensely (and me too: while sprawled on the floor taking these pictures, some pain/cluster thing in my shoulder gave way.)

That's how things happen here in Mollie and B's Happy fun land: flow, recognize, re-flow... always spotting the magic.

So if you are interested in private yoga and/or bodywork sessions, Felecia is available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays here at the Everbrite space, $85 per session.

contact her here:
immeindustries@gmail.com

Kegan Fisher's CUSP OF CONFLUX

2011-06-22T11:25:00.000-07:00

CUSP OF CONFLUX
Kegan Fisher
paintings & drawings
June 25 - July 31

CUSP OF CONFLUX explores the moment before everything ends. It seeks to capture time as so incomparably quiet, so impossibly still, that we are unaware if movement persists.

Kegan Fisher's new collection of paintings and drawings is composed of works constructed around horizon lines, tight as skin stretched around sockets, full of memory and yesterday. Worlds are full of elemental structures that have long outlived their architects. Skies droop like wet cotton, with clouds hung up to dry.

Fisher's artwork encapsulates the point at which development has ceased, cities are empty, and we stand as voyeurs, witness to a silent future.

OPENING RECEPTION
sat. june 25 1-7pm

Everbrite Mercantile Co.
351 Van Brunt St.
Brooklyn, NY 11231
ebmerc.com

Mister Kamado the donabe

2011-05-31T12:40:00.000-07:00

Yeah, that's my own lame "engrish" translation.

Dig: After bringing the donabe to a boil on a medium-high flame, and letting it cook for about 4 minutes, you shut the flame off.

Let it stand for 20 minutes, then it's eatin' time.

Yummy rice. fruffy n' delicious. The burned crunchy part at the bottom - that's my favorite part.

ARMAGEDDON APPROACHES!

2011-05-20T12:00:00.000-07:00

...and it's all yer fault f*ckin greg.

with yer big gay penis art and it's grotesque depictions of giant rock hard throbbing members spewing stuff. Nice job, asshole.

you and yer cock art. YOU AND YER COCK ART. Now it's the End of the World and it's ALL YOUR FAULT.

you see what happens? You SEE What Happens!? It's all fun n' Games, Rainbows n' Unicorns, cocks n' jizz --- a big faggoty barrel of goddamm butt-luvvin laffs --- til someone gets hurt.

And in this case that "someone" is every-last-one-of-us purged from the craggy face of this sick sad world by the almighty Gawwd. May 21st, Judgement Day, is upon us thanks to WHORACLE.

you HAD to do it: honestly express your "feelings" and communicate yer "homo-love" lifestyle, making Yahweh angry.

Mo: "Oooooo, what are ya gonna do Saturday?"

Shmo: "I'm going to take a nice stroll around the park. Get some Sno Cones for the kids. Ride bikes maybe."

Mo: "Ohhhhh Sorrr-eee. That sounds pleasant, but you can't do that CUZ WE'RE ALL GONNA F*CKIN DIE!!!"

Thanks a lot, Greg.

dick.

the most badass gallery in South Brooklyn

2011-05-15T12:04:00.000-07:00

Yeah I said it. I make that declaration only for the turf of South Bk, because the most badass space in all of Brooklyn is Brooklynite Gallery in Bed Stuy. I won't deny them their well-earned props.

Back to us: we have a whole string of artists lined up from now through Winter. Mollie now extends her touch from the store into the gallery space as well.

Currently we're (still) featuring the work of greggycrisco until the end of the May.

greggycrisco's WHORACLE!

yesssss, His Gayness still permeates our back ~~door~~ room gallery (and almost universally ignored by local art mavens who would rather expound the virtues of the latest churn of Home Decorating Store purdyness and investment/speculation-worthy Art-With-a-Capital-"A").

Those who have been here have shown their appreciation and for that we give thanks.

So come see his work before everyone else discovers how "cool" it is and diminishes your hard-won cred by having to tell you about it first.

and by "cool" I mean "retarded-genius-retarded"

there are some who think he ranks as merely retarded-retarded.
We know his normal might be challenging to your normal, and we're okay with that.

remember: everyone's a winner, and you can bring a friend.

Polarities

2011-04-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

So I'm thinking that there might be a possible unknown outside narrative to our presence here in Red Hook.

Being that the negative feedback usually flows in a roundabout way, whispered in the shadows, I must therefore use my imagination.

I suppose it went something like this:

"ooo, a new store is opening. Great! What a cute cartoon character... awesome."

"Wait a GODDAMN minute! That's not appropriate for a Family neighborhood."

"Toys!?!! Unicorns! yay!"

"Sexual innuendo??? I have kids, ass-clown! DON'T MAKE ME BEAT YOU!"

"Whoah. A Fire Truck."

"YOU RACIST PRICK!!"

"Yoga? I luvvvv yoga. That's great!"

"ohhh, now you hate white people. I swear on my dead mother that I hope your dead mother drops dead!!!"

"Snow mountain dioramas! kewl"

"What's with all this cuss words on trees, and faggoty penis porn?!! I HAVE KIDS WHO CAN READ! I'm gonna kick yer ass!"

dicken around saturday night

2011-04-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

the performance saturday night was just a warmup for over 4 hours of assing around.

with greggycrisco, Gorgas, Diane, Mollie, Derrick & Pamela

http://twitvid.com/1BZGO

Rock Steady with Greggycrisco's WHORACLE!!!

2011-02-26T18:47:00.000-08:00

That's right, I said "Rock Steady" and also used triple exclamation points. And What?

We got a treat for you, New York effin' City.

In 2 weeks (mark your calendar) our good friend and L.A. artist Gregory Barnett brings his "normal" to our space with WHORACLE, a crystallization of the current phase of his process. i.e.- stuff he drew/painted/made

RECEPTION - HANG OUT, GAZE, DRINK
Opening reception for WHORACLE is Friday, April 15 at 8pm. stop by, meet the man. Seriously, I've known him for years - the dude is always exploding with ass-clowney Greg-ness. Ya needs ta come. FREE

PERFORMANCE
He's also blessing us with a performance on Saturday night (April 16 at 9pm) and will be joined by various local artists (Kim Almquist, FeleciaMaria, Stan Apps, Diane Tomasi and Gorgas.) Now THAT is gonna freekin rock.
Greg's Dance Company, DANCEGOOD.DAMNIT!!!, has previously brought notorious shows to L.A.'s Highways theater. He will be performing a few solo pieces for us right here in Red Hook at Everbrite Mercantile Co. FREE

MOVEMENT CLASS
And to top it off: Monday he will be teaching an all level interdisciplinary performance workshop, KINK STRETCH. So iffin you're the type who needs to move, you won't want to miss this. Monday, April 18... 2pm to 5pm. $10 suggested donation

I would be remiss in my duties as Media Flack if I didn't present you with Greg's own (intentionally pretentious and unapolagetic) words:

WHORACLE

A pantheon of jovial hermaphrodites, transcendental pornography and vulnerability propaganda secure a sex-positive sanctuary asking and allowing us to reconnect with the all-but-forgotten Sacred Whore. Los Angeles- based interdisciplinary artist Gregory Barnett premieres WHORACLE, a collection of arts & crafts and drawings addressing and reversing our society's unnecessary shame towards sex culture and it's ignorance regarding screwing as a conduit for enlightenment and ascension. Countering a culture obsessed with homogenized and airbrushed titillation but horrified by a gaping blood-letting cunt, Barnett's decidedly affirming collection of newfound deities and impromptu, scrawled mantras attempt to balance our skewed misunderstanding of f*cking and loving.

- gb xxx ooo penis

San Pedro Confidential

2011-02-16T17:16:00.000-08:00

on the prowl. searchin for shwag.

what time is it, Pedro?

come back. we still miss you

Obsess-a-mundo (plus OPEN early Valentines Day)

2011-02-13T19:22:00.001-08:00

OK. We open early Valentines Day... 8AM til whenever. (Normally we're closed Monday, but we're enabling your Love Holiday crackheadedness.)

In other news: Mollie reworked the layout of the checkout area. It's now an actual L-shaped desk/showcase arrangement - more of a standard setup

In fact, we ripped apart and reworked the entire store this past weekend. We freed up a lot of space in the middle and are heading to The Hinterlands to fill it back up with product (and new display cases and a few upright arcade games and... ???? stuff)

Here below, this classic old-ish showcase from Erin Weckerle hasn't seen active service since way back when her store was in Fort Greene on DeKalb. That was long before that street was flooded with stuff. Erin's a "pointer". I'm sure her current phase of exploration will be as interesting and ahead of the curve as her retail phase was.

Mollie filled the bitchen case with bitchen stuff. The display case proudly soldiers on.

She has also started to put stuff in my new big flat case. It is now oiled and stained and lined with gray velvet. I love it when a non-existent plan comes together... swiftly and out of the ether.

and now: far too much visual coverage of one damn thing

you don't understand. I been dickin the dog on this project for like FOUR MONTHS!

Closed every Wednesday to March 2nd

2011-02-12T20:41:00.000-08:00

Temporary schedule change.

Our normal store hours are Wednesday thru Sundays, 11am - 7pm. Closed Monday and Tuesday

But for the next 3 weeks we'll also be closed Wednesdays.

Even though the store is closed during the day, we'll still be having YOGA WEDNESDAY NIGHTS with Felecia Maria.

We're back to the normal Wednesday store hours the second week of March.

BEHOOOOOLLLLLLD!!!

2011-02-12T08:23:00.001-08:00

The LAST rolls of Kodachrome developed.

600 feet of (Double) Super 8 film - about a half hour of footage, mostly of Snowpocalypse 2010 in Red Hook Brooklyn.

Must do some film-to-digital transfer and upload soon.

got me some wood

2011-02-10T17:18:00.000-08:00

So, this flat showcase display has been sans-glass since we opened the store in October. Mollie had given up long ago grousing to me about finishing it - that is how slacky I've been about this particular task.

Some wild hair must have crawled up my ass yesterday because I walked around the corner to Coffey Street and finally ordered some plate glass from Buddy at B.C. Glass.

I also got a new top for the old Sodafine showcase that Erin Weckerle sold us. I had accidentally shattered it last week... I didn't mind because it was scratched up pretty badly. (not pictured here)

But this new showcase (with no glass) had been sitting around being used as a "table". Also it has these unsupported spindly log-like fence posts for legs... super crappy.

When we were initially building out the store, I decided to use "found" components from Lowes. We briefly floated the idea of sourcing reclaimed wood for some High Concept sustainable blah blah "green" blah eco-conscious blah.

But then I asked myself "What is sustainable?"

Does sustainable mean that trucking some former warehouse/barn/farm-house lumber in from upstate or Michigan or the South somehow magically makes us ethical and conscious... or just plain sanctimonious and pretentious.

I eventually concluded that sourcing whatever I could find at Lowes (via their highly-optimized supply chain) and muscling tons of it over to Red Hook on my handy convertible handcart/dolly was the easiest, cheapest method. It was also sort of interesting to see what could be created from such generic, average materials.

Anyway, this piece-o-crap fence-post legged showcase thing. FINALLY got some glass in it today and I rediscovered some backyard logs and twigs that Kim had used for our Desolate Winterland Christmas window display.

so I super-crappified the legs with somewhat structural triangulation in a rough cobby frontier-style that would look perfectly at home in a Baja California clapboard shack. My "concept" here is "How would a lazy, crazy drunken Indian with no skills or sense of pride build this?"

I'm sorry... I think it's spelled "Injun".

I suppose I'll oil this up tomorrow and line it with velvet.

This bad boy opens up on heavy duty drawer slides. Hopefully no one leans on it in full-open position or it might topple right over like the Flintstone's car fully loaded with Brontosaurus ribs.

I hate when that happens.

And on the other side of the store: Another log for the new children's clothing section, made to appear as if it is lashed together with rope. My concept for this display is "WHAT THE F*CK?!!?"

Now Mollie has gotta jam some stuff inside of all this new showcase real estate.

bitchen stuff.

new years all over again

2011-02-03T10:22:00.001-08:00

Welcoming in the Slant year with Style and Grace...

who's yer daddy?

2011-02-02T13:23:00.000-08:00

i like the sound of my own voice

2011-01-30T19:15:00.000-08:00

"At Everbrite Mercantile we are not interested in following trends. We also have no desire to be The Trendsetters. We are satisfied with the unfettered simplicity of forging our own path."

How's that for pretentious, douche-tastic copy?

highest score ever

2011-01-30T14:13:00.001-08:00

Why is this man such a Happy Camper?

He just scored 6609 in "Bonus Lane" rules on our United Coronado Bowling Alley

and won a vintage gold-tone Ronson butane lighter for his effort.

the girl with him got a 4225 score... which is a great score too - she also won something.

but 6609. That's an all time Store Best record.

iPods R for p*ssies

2011-01-29T16:17:00.000-08:00

In-store only, the coolest Buddhist songs EVER... in Chinese or something. I dunno.

someone stole my stretch limo

2011-01-28T08:10:00.000-08:00

The big open top bling-ey white limo...so I had to add another big cat to "Battle of Monkey Skull Mountain" making it a man v. beast riff.

Battle of Monkey Skull Mountain

2011-01-27T14:09:00.000-08:00

What are 7 feet tall and all kinds of awesome?

Everbrite Mountain

2011-01-27T08:22:00.000-08:00

I name you "Mount Everbrite" and claim you for the Kingdom of France.

Thank you, snow elves

Caretaker of Olde Machines

2011-01-24T10:05:00.001-08:00

I likes me them machines. New, old, re-mashed... as long as they "do stuff". Even if the stuff it does is pointless.

Functionally Pointless is perfect.

Most of the stuff at Everbrite Mercantile works. The few things that don't function are in the process of becoming something new.

You've seen this before: Our beloved late 60s Arcade Big Ball Bowler. Called a 'Big Ball' because it uses 4.5 inch diameter balls, not the smaller 3 inch Skee Ball size of earlier bowlers from the 1950s. It also has the cool arcade-style scoring options which gives inexperienced players a shot at winning.
This Beast requires regular maintenance to keep it going. Luckily I find the tracing of old schematics and cleaning of dirty relays and leaf switches a pleasant exercise in zen meditation.

mottttttorcyyyyycle. Of the 2 stroke variety.

I love these things and I don't even smoke. Bringing vintage lighters back to life is another one of my zen meditations.
It's a shame that they don't manufacture these classic designs anymore.
But we still have them - our collection of good old lighters is growing daily.

Harry Potter called. He wants his friggin camera back.

Okay, so we DON'T have a Scopitone machine in the store and we're not getting one. But I am so intensely fascinated by it that you will definitely find some Scopitone-themed thing in our store by Summer. Some sort of modern hardware mash-up to intrigue oldsters and confuse the young'ns.

We'll be heading out west in February to fetch more olde stuff.

5K Bowling Challenge

2011-01-17T14:34:00.000-08:00

Well, last weekend's head-to-head bowling challenge was successful and a friggin blast. But 3 days of bowling left me all tuckered out - I had to hand off the bowling duties to Mollie Sunday afternoon.

Starting Wednesday and on through Sunday another in-store bowling challenge is happening.

This time instead of me and Mollie defending the honor of the store, y'all get to play for a specified high score: 5000 points in a single game is the lofty goal.

Rack up 5000 or more points on the score-wheels and get yourself some fancy prize worthy of the effort.

As always, play is free.

limit 1 prize per person.
3 games per person per day (more if you ask nicely and if the place isn't that busy at the time).

bastard

2011-01-15T14:54:00.001-08:00

freekin "Chi-O-Kay" (not sure how to spell his name correctly)

Dude won by ONE point on "BONUS LANE" scoring.

Bonus Lane scoring is 800 points for a Strike on the side that's lit, 400 for the off side and 200 for all Spares.

You don't win by a single point on this game. You spank 'em hard or get spanked hard.

One point... closest game of the day. freekin awesome.

That is - the closest game until a half hour later:

GODAMIT. a tie.

tomorrow (Sunday) we continue the Bowling Challenge

The Dr. Zaius Alpha Ape Bowling Challenge

2011-01-13T12:58:00.000-08:00

Most of the time I like to make shit up at the last minute.

The Dr. Zaius Alpha Ape Bowling Challenge is the latest of my Lucy Ricardo/Ethel Mertz-style harebrained schemes.

See the way it works is: come into the store tomorrow (Friday Jan 14) and challenge me to a round of bowling * on the machine here. If you beat me, you'll win a prize. What prize? I don't know. I'll figure that out when the time comes.

Why are we doing this? Because I'm bored that's why.

Business hours are 11am to 7pm. Plus we're dicken around after hours - the Challenge continues until we leave for the night.

Perhaps one of these fine things will be yours:

a "Sweet Mama" calendar

A wooden choking hazard

a cute little vintage Pigeon lighter (fully functional)

a Bowling Dude keychain

An antique Ronson Whirlwind lighter

...or whatever the hell else I decide to give away

* - limit one round of bowling per customer (unless I get all riled up and want to play you more.)

my favorite of the 4 elements - flame

2011-01-08T21:42:00.001-08:00

I'm trying to put together a good sampling of vintage lighters in the Red Hook store.

I use the word "trying" because they're being sold almost as fast as my acquisition/refurbish cycle. I'm getting ahead slowly though.

In the process of refurbishing various kinds of old butane and petrol lighters I'm developing a growing affinity for the standard "T-bar" Ronson design.

Yesterday Mollie told me she had her Dad's lighter at home and that it was really nice. When we got home, she pulls out this thing here in the foreground:

I trim the wick, pop in a flint and some lighter fluid and find it to be my favorite of all Ronson designs I've seen thus far: a little beefier making it easier to hold and strike. The tortoise enamel detail is sweet too.

Best of all it has a wind shield that pulls up from the body when needed, making it both stylish and extremely functional.

Sorry. We won't be selling this one. It's a keeper. Sentimental value and all.

But I do have an identical model coming in about a week. That one will be rehabbed and added to the for sale collection of classic (and working) flame-makers.

big things

2011-01-03T17:17:00.000-08:00

We will have a new payment system up and running soon on our web site and at our Red Hook store.

A group based in Des Moines breaking out into a nation-wide cashless payments system with extremely low interchange fees, dwolla.com
That is what their logo "might" look like. They are so new, it's not quite hammered out yet.

These guys have a clean and simple model in place: do it simple, do it cheaper.

Once we get the system integrated, we'll be offering an initial 2% discount on all purchases made with Dwolla. Why bother with sketchy convoluted "Rewards" programs when you can enjoy the transparency and simplicity of taking your savings NOW.

We'll still have PayPal (Visa / MC /AmEx) as a normal payment option. Dwolla is for those who want to save a few percent.

Other news: We'll also be opening our web store to International customers soon by adding a "landed cost" shipping service.

What this means is customers in over 200 countries will, in a single click, be able to instantly see the Landed Cost (shipping / taxes / customs / duties) of items - right there inside our shopping cart.

Pay once. Wait for the items to arrive - usually within a week: Simple, no hassle international shipping.

Yes indeed. All coming soon.

Stay tuned for more tricky goodness.

golden hour in The Hook

2010-12-29T13:30:00.000-08:00

wherefore the fuzz?

2010-12-28T15:47:00.001-08:00

No love for the fuzz twins? They just sit there on the wall, hungering for pizza. Maybe some chips or an Ultimate cheeseburger from Jack in the Crack.

But their legs are too short and they don't drive, so when they scootch on over to the The Crack' drive-thru, the pimply teenaged night manager is all like, "Naw uh, We can't serve you. you needs to be in a car, Bro. Sorreeezz"

Hungry. Sitting on the shelf. People passing them by every day, but no play. They're starting to descend into a spiral of doubt and self-loathing.

Poor little Fuzzes, never did hurt no one.

You don't like the Fuzz. You pretend they don't exist - talking about them like they're not even in the room.

Look what you've done. They have an eating disorder now... Body Image Dysmorphic Disorder or something. Now they're gonna need Meds which they won't be able to afford and the Cold Turkey withdrawal might make them suicidal.

You HATE the Fuzz. You want them to DIE and go away!

That is so wrong.

Poor little Fuzz.

MANIMAL totem!

2010-12-27T17:11:00.000-08:00

6th largest snowstorm in 160 years...git some!

2010-12-27T07:02:00.000-08:00

What is this... Buffalo?

Perma snow-devil near Fairway

right-sized hardwood tables

2010-12-23T14:59:00.000-08:00

Whenever we go into furniture, antique or thrift stores, Mollie has come to expect from me Chimp-like behavior of pulling drawers out, crawling behind and under furniture, and shining flashlights at stuff - closely examining everything.

These new items in our store have been a transcendent experience for me to pore over and obsess about. (Seriously... I'm not shittin around)

Little end tables and coffee tables from Mi Mesita. Manny Flaherty's furniture collection right-sized for average NYC living spaces.

Like myself, Manny comes from a family of builders. I appreciate his skill and extreme attention to detail. The clean uncluttered lines and spare use of joinery for both structural and aesthetic effect, the natural flow of the trees own growth lines - all these factors merge into a striking minimalist balance.

I really dig his work. Plus he builds the stuff at his studio just a few blocks from our store.

(there. i got through that without using the word "synergy")

Check it out... I got some Wood P0rn for ya right here

More pictures soon.

Manny is available for custom work. His contact info is at his website.

Last Minute Holiday Shopping??

2010-12-21T12:02:00.001-08:00

Santa on a budget this year? Belated Hanukkah Shopping? Searching for that perfect Kwanzaa gift?

In the words of Bob Barker himself, "Come on dowwwwwwwwwwwn!" ....to the Everbrite Mercantile store here in Red Hook, Brooklyn (totally improv'd that last bit)!

These one-of-a-kind Kreepy Dolls are great picks for the kids... Although Richard Balls (the little pink guy to the right with the... um... "chestnuts," if you will), might be a little more appropriate for the grown-ups with a great sense of humor.

Fish Mick Chicken here is a personal fav. Half chicken, half fish! Admired by many--snatch him up before he's gone!

The following items make great gifts and/or stocking-stuffers.

OutScent by Jao is a scented oil that both Buffalo Bill & the Brawny paper towel guy would sport while flexing for the ladies. It holds a natural, earthy scent reminiscent of the great outdoors. It also has the added bonus of repelling those pesky insects when outside in the summer. It's perfect for a special guy--boyfriend, Dad, bro, the boss (if you're working on that promotion... wink), and also works for the ladies!

The rabbit shot glass is one of our most popular items... these things have pretty much been flying off the shelves with their innovative inversive design that allows the glass to rest upside down. Other styles of the shot glass include a black moose, deer, and white rhino! C'mon... who wouldn't want a shot of Jack from a moose?

The Jao Lip Balm is made with 34% Shea butter and is petro-free. It's a great gift to soften up the lips!

The QUEUE Stick Lighter by Japan's Tsubota Pearl is a sleek piece roughly the size of a cigarette. It's available here in gold, silver, and black. You'll get a double take from the guy who just lit his cig with a zippo the size of a horse, while you look like you just made fire with your fingertips alone.

So stop on by! Check out the store, do a little shopping (or a butt-ton), and at the very least, shoot the breeze with a few hysterical crazies!

birds do it. bees do it...

2010-12-17T18:34:00.000-08:00

Even horny Santa's reindeers do it

okee doke... to be clear - I know that "Vixen" isn't an official Santa reindeer name. But it sounds close enough to Blitzen, and I got enough ethanol in my veins to kill an ox so my opinion counts.

We call this "artistic license", bee-yotches.

Reindeer paper clips 16 bucks a jar. Git Some!

note: post inspired by Kim White's ribald and far more artistic paper clip item photos. Most of which have not been released for public consumption.

SUPERGRID

2010-12-16T20:43:00.000-08:00

In honor of the universal obsessive need for web "feature creep"...

presenting a bit of completely unnecessary User Experience tomfoolery:

BEHOLD... the Mighty SUPERGRID !!!

to get to it on the site, there is a menu selection like hyaaaaaa:

I dunno. It's really not awesome or nuthin, but click me now to see SUPPERRRGRIDDDD

ode to Coco

2010-12-16T16:40:00.000-08:00

So Kim, our talented in-house uber-designer who we've mentioned here more than a few times regarding all her creative contributions to the store... she comes in yesterday with a picture she drew of Conan O'Brien and asked me to come up with a caption for it. (Because as a naturally offensive a-hole, I'm just the one for the job)

This is the result:

the flickr page it's on

That's how we roll in EB-Merc Fun Land.

Dicken Around Friday Night

2010-12-11T22:21:00.000-08:00

A new "Event" at our Red Hook store:

In which we hang out after normal store hours talking, drinking, listening to music, snacking, playing board games and video games, watch Popeye cartoons on the movie projector... burning away the time.

tomorrow and friday in Red Hook Brooklyn

2010-12-07T10:04:00.000-08:00

Back in the 17th century when the Dutch were knee-deep in goo feeling for clams and oysters with their toes in the Roode Hoek mud flats, I'm sure the last thing on their minds was Yoga and Art.

but that's what we got lined up for you monkeys this week, so there.

Felecia Maria is back for Wednesday Yoga by donation,
and an opening reception for Jenna Kole's interactive paper sculpture on friday.

WEDNESDAY (all Wednesdays in December)

FRIDAY... this Friday, the 10th of December

efforts to quell my obnoxiousness have had mixed results

2010-12-07T09:35:00.000-08:00

Christmas trees of the non-murdered variety

2010-12-05T13:20:00.000-08:00

Inspired by Bobby's tree I made another in a truss planter.

$63 with the tree. In-store only.

aside

2010-12-03T16:26:00.000-08:00

I really should be doing something constructive - like making a flashy and compelling blog post about Jenna Kole's Origamitron opening next Friday at the store. But no. Instead I'm dicking around with low-rez pix of a new toy waiting for me on the Left Coast.

What is it? It's a first generation Final Lap arcade game, that's what.

And come February/March, it will be at the Red Hook store having its cabinet refreshed and retro-fied into an Alternate History faux-1960's stencil treatment.

Tasty.

Bobby's little tree

2010-12-02T23:58:00.000-08:00

A dude came into the store a few weeks back. When he said he was the Executive Chef at Fort Defiance, I was pleased to finally meet the man responsible for what I'd been blabbing about for weeks as the "best hamburger on earth". (Plus all their other stuff rocks too.)

Anyway, he carted off his newly acquired merch but left behind a truss planter... I promised to stuff a plant into it.

Just before my Mom returned home a few days ago, she helped me pick out a suitable plant from Liberty Sunset Garden Center. Mom raised her first garden with her sister Paula when they were 3 and 4 years old during World War 2. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor the family was relocated from Navy housing that was too close to the coast and considered too dangerous. In the temporary housing tract they took it upon themselves to start a garden, and both Mom and auntie Paula have been tending to plants ever since then.

So naturally I consulted her while she was here in Brooklyn about the proper method of choosing and re-potting plants.

This is the result: little "Tree-ey".

Let's join Tree-ey now as he bids a solemn farewell to all his little friends at Everbrite Mercantile Company.

He'll forever remember the after hours drinking with the wood table crowd. Their rambunctious hijinks and semi-homoerotic roughhousing will be sorely missed. Squirrel patch and the playing card twins are the ones who usually get in trouble, but deer paper clips is the real instigator. He's a rascal, that one.

Although often cliquish and mean, the girly jewelry and tchotchke gang who hang out on the big dresser could sometimes surprise you with expressions of deep empathy and compassion. Tree-ey never did like to hang out with them too much - for some reason he found their loud gum-chewing to be a bit off-putting. Despite their differences, the farewell party was filled with many tears and some inappropriate groping.

Mimmo Plane and Eames Blocks were over by themselves as usual, people-watching and making ironic observations... obviously the youngest siblings in their respective families. They're always good for a laugh. In fact, that's all they're good for.

There was a little bit of awkwardness with Eclipse Bottle Opener who had brought her boyfriend cottage incense burner to the party. That damned drunken idiot Moose shot glass opened his big fat mouth about the "incident in the bathroom". Crow bottle opener tried to cover it up with a loud story about a bad case of inner thigh chafing while wearing corduroy shorts in summer camp, but the boyfriend could sense that there was something fishy.

soooo anyways... Tree-ey makes a new home tomorrow at Bobby D's place.

Good luck Tree-ey.

Yoga is Baaaaa-a-aaaaaack!

2010-12-01T09:12:00.000-08:00

Happy December!! Now that most of us are stuffed with goods from Turkey Day, join us once again here at Everbrite Mercantile Co. (351 Van Brunt Street, Brooklyn, NY) for yoga by donation with Felecia Maria! The class is from 7:30-8:30 pm.

The first night was a hit, so we'll be doing a one hour class every Wednesday in December starting tonight!

Come one! Come ALL! Don't forget to bring your yoga mat or equivalent! See you tonight!

when you let monkeys dress your window...

2010-11-24T11:41:00.000-08:00

...you get sh*t like this happening:

big black friday

2010-11-19T21:10:00.001-08:00

Yeah. We all sorta "phoned in" the design of this flyer.

Passed it around... everybody got their chance to ass it up a little.

If we were a highly leveraged VC-capitalized web startup, we would have high-fived one another, yelled "Great Job" and done some ritualized tribal chant that built Team Effin Integrity.

Instead, we just shuffled off back to our more important individual tasks - nose to the grindstone et al.

It makes the point: Black Friday a-comin'.

IMPORTANT NOTE: sale prices apply to in-store purchases only. So COME ON DOWN! WE'RE CRAZY! (you know the drill)

Events!! What's New!!

2010-11-11T09:05:00.000-08:00

It's that time of year again... when the temperature drops, the leaves change, and you gear up for a good old fashioned feast. But before you gather 'round the turkey to lay down a verse of Kumbaya, think of all the preparatory yoga you could be doing to make a little extra room (not to mention it's very therapeutic, increases flexibility, stamina, and grace)!

What a coincidence that you're thinking about yoga now... The incredibly talented Felecia Maria (doing the one-handed hand stand up there) will be hosting a class here at Everbrite Mercantile (351 Van Brunt street | Brooklyn, NY) on Wednesday November 17th from 7:30-8:30pm! Just when you thought it couldn't get any more awesome, there's no set fee--the class is by donation only!

It would be in your best interest to wear the most comfortable clothing, but if you can pull off a warrior pose in platforms and skinny jeans, that's just talent... and if you don't know what a warrior pose is, that's all the more reason for you to be here. The class is open level--beginners, amateurs, experts, come one, come all! Remember to bring a yoga mat or something equivalent because doing yoga directly on a hardwood floor for an hour might not be the most comfortable experience.

In case you were wondering (and if you weren't, you probably are now), Felecia has studied yoga since 2001 and received her certification in 2008 from Laughing Lotus Yoga Center in NYC. Before that she earned her BFA from the University of Montana in Dance and Choreography. She believes that yoga is a fantastic physical practice and a wonderful form of exercise, and has also found a spiritual outlet though the practice.

The Sack-Meister and the growing army of EBMERC mascots

2010-11-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

Everyone loves Loggy. Unlike that Rude Boy, yellow PacMan-looking bastard Thompkins, Loggy is universally appealing with his pathetic saccharin visage of permanent haplessness.

He has taken to guarding the store at night: posted at the front door, an ever vigilant shamanic warrior.

This guy - you've seen him here before. He was supposed to look like the John Cusack character Lloyd Dobler in "Say Anything" but ended up looking like Tom Cruise.

Eventually his name morphed to "Crusack". Then to "The Sack".

Now he's currently referred to as "The Sack-Meister". It changes day by day.

So I installed The Sack-Meister on the wall. Mollie immediately began merchandising him - Sack-Meister has been completely sold out to commercial interests.

new store hours... holiday hours for November

2010-11-03T20:46:00.000-07:00

Starting next week, we'll be switching our store schedule to:

Wednesday thru Sunday, 11am - 7pm

We are now closed on both Monday and Tuesday which frees up time for us to go out and hunt for more stuff to replace the other old stuff that people keep buying.

Everyone keeps buying the cool old stuff.

Also we'll be closed on Thanksgiving week (Monday thru Thursday) opening again on Friday with our "Shlomo and Malka's Big Long Black Friday Sale".

Follow the twitter feeds of @EBMERC and/or @andfriend for further info.

Hot Rod Drag Racing Asian Hasidic Gangsta Thugs

2010-11-01T13:13:00.000-07:00

They're invading Red Hook.

Call the Marines... or the National Guard.

I hear they call themselves the Red Hook Rippers

that's what I heard

land o' unicorns

2010-10-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

In the Magical Mystery land o' Everbrite Mercantile-ville, you can experience Hasidic Filipinos gifting you with chocolate and gumdrops...

and 3-foot-tall hot dogs bowl the night away.

No peyote required.

yellow cab

2010-10-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

root beer boy

2010-10-31T11:32:00.000-07:00

Yooooo got Moxie!

2010-10-31T10:01:00.000-07:00

a homemade Lego minifig ghost costume in Red Hook Brooklyn

vintage-ectomy

2010-10-29T15:48:00.000-07:00

Mollie brought back a LOAD of vintage clothes the other day.

She said it was for the store, but when she began to try EVERYTHING on I started wondering. She was all like "wow, most of these fit me REALLY well!"

mm hm.

Anyway. Most of the stuff is making its way into the growing clothing area of the store. I added an extra bar to rack up the new stuff.

click for larger pic

craptacular

2010-10-27T13:33:00.000-07:00

If my dad was around to see the craptastic stuff I build now, he would shake his head in mild confusion and disgust.

He never understood my attempts to elevate kludginess to art. Though he was the king of kludge who I inherited the trait from.

Here, a bag o' stuff mixed with glue is slow drying on the bowling game. Soon to become a crapulent sort of "architectural lighting" fixture.

Outdid myself on this crapalicous pegboard wall merchandiser. I've successfully lowered the bar once more. Next to it is a 10 cent dispenser of "Art" and Fortunes.

Bobbi and Carlos brought this cable spool to us a while back. Today it got turned into a craptabulous clothing rack with waterfall bar. It actually looks good, so I might have failed here. Its about to be filled with clothing stuff.

This is a beautiful, classic and well-built showcase. Obviously I had nothing to do with its construction. I'm not sure what Mollie, Emma and Kim will put inside.

i got yer freekin "META" right here, Chuckles

2010-10-22T17:42:00.001-07:00

A stack o' tracks: 8-track tapes

some good stuff in the bunch

Kim was tasked with fixing the dude.

soooo... the 70's 8-track player at the front of the store plays out the 80's boombox at the back of the space. You know you friggin like it.

she gave him a Tom Cruise-ish head and hair. Its Cruise-like and Cusack-esque

it's nice to have talent around

2010-10-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

cuz god knows I gots none.

Not only did Kim set the black/white theme inside with the big back-wall mural, she did the whole window display too.

and today she did up the sandwich board with some pastels.

We loves us the cheap paper sign thing here at Everbrite. I been scrawling hacky crap since day one with my craptastic "Thompkins" comics, but Jenna actually used care and attention to make a cool puffy lettered sign.

They're all... like... skilled and stuff.

- andfriend

8 days a week

2010-10-17T21:40:00.000-07:00

We're closed Monday, but not idle.

Much tweaking to do in the store - systems, software, duck sauce packet stringing.

You know: important business stuff.

The New face of crime

2010-10-16T12:55:00.000-07:00

Red Hook in the old days: it was drugs n' guns - the realm of ultraviolence.

Today it's a young mellow trustafarian-looking couple. They'll drink your wine. They'll kiss one another to cover their moves.

They'll ask you for a restaurant recommendation, then walk out with their prize.

Very young cute white couples are the new crime wave.

Okay, one couple doesn't make a crime wave.

But you see where I'm going.

Anyone want to see the security cam footage?

Bowling Prodigy

2010-10-14T13:23:00.001-07:00

So our neighbors come in today with their 2-year-old daughter, and we get the little girl to try the bowling game.

She would look around all distracted like most toddlers do, but when it came time to roll the ball she'd do a brief gaze down-lane, then lightly push the ball with both hands.

After about 2 or 3 tries she somehow got a hang of it, knocking more than a few pins down on each roll... bowling some spares and even a few strikes.

The most unbelievable moment is when she picked up a 7-10 split.

a 7-10 split !!!

I've been playing the game for a month and I have stoned a 7-10 only twice in that time.

Freekin amazing, the baby Tiger Woods of arcade bowling.

what a difference a word makes

2010-10-13T22:16:00.000-07:00

I've seen in a few stories this week a bit of accidental disinformation propagating through the media-space.

The word "only" was mistakenly inserted briefly into an online article and then re-echoed elsewhere about Mollie Dash jewelry being available previously only on Old Hollywood's website.

The actual facts: Mollie's jewelry has been available at Sodafine in Williamsburg. Sodafine, in fact, has carried Mollie's stuff longer than everyone else.

Also stocked at DEMA in San Francisco, and Path Lifestyle Store in Austin Texas.

Online-only availability at SupermarketHQ.com, Green Rainbow Shop and molliedash.com.

Old Hollywood also stocks Mollie's jewelry at both their Greenpoint store and their Manhattan shop in the Limelight Marketplace on 6th Avenue.

Of course she has a small selection in her own brick n' mortar store in Red Hook as of now (our grand opening week.)

All these stores have a personal unique vibe, each one well worth a visit.

srsly. i'm not just sayin' that.

of men and manly things... men doing Man Things

2010-10-13T06:13:00.000-07:00

in preparation for building out a "Man Stuff" section of the store, I have become obsessed with this awesome old magazine:

i love Google Books.

Store opens monday

2010-10-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

tomorrow... Columbus Day.

Y'know. In case you haven't heard yet.

morning to do list

2010-10-03T09:08:00.000-07:00

1. eat a package of little chocolate donuts.

2. say hi to Ben from Good Fork. Remark on the baby strapped to his chest.

3. check out neighborhood sidewalk sale. See the tiniest dog ever next to the tiniest cupcakes.

4. install window display.

adapt and overcome

2010-09-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

from the ratty to the mundane to the marginally tacky

things turned into other things. black paint seems to find its way everywhere.

garbage into something. jurassic technology preserved. stuff.

"Give me a lever long enough and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." - Archimedes

the worst ad EVER

2010-09-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

I pride myself on being one of the worst graphic designers on earth, and also a poor excuse for a copywriter. So when Mollie asked me to make an image to go in an email announcement for the store opening, this is what I submitted:

Of course it got a fail for poor taste. The Yellow Ennui Face (now known as "Thompkins") is my alter ego, so he has to be socially inept and uncouth... just like me.

Mollie cleaned up the copy for normal human consumption and released it:

A true hack is never appreciated in his time.

Huzzah

2010-09-23T08:08:00.001-07:00

on days like these...

2010-09-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

...basement apartments are good.

Seconds after walking into our apartment, the sky turned green and the rain arrived.

All sideways, tearing big branches off the tree in the back yard, taking them god-knows where.

Someone up the hill captured it all.

A half hour later I was back at the store installing ceiling fans, cuz that's how I roll.

textures

2010-09-14T13:44:00.000-07:00

Lazy B*stard 101

2010-09-14T06:18:00.000-07:00

...or "Man the Toolmaker"

I set out yesterday afternoon to lay down a coat of oil on the old weathered front door of the Red Hook storefront (allegedly 150 years old and in recent years reclaimed from some other Brooklyn building, but I don't really know.)

Then I notice that a big hunk of thick veneer was hanging off of the center part just above the kick plate, 3/4ths of it had come unglued.

But I didn't want to waste a few hours pulling the heavy beast off it's jamb - 3 hinges with 10 monster screws apiece. 30 screws, big door, by myself, hell no!

So, I shaved some of the bottom of the veneer off with a utility knife because it had been waterlogged and expanded... and using a zip tie repeatedly dipped in glue to snake that glue across the back of the veneer... plus some scrap wood made into wedges and flats on the chop saw...

I used the existing kick plate mounting holes and some longer drywall screws to create a makeshift "vice" until the glue dried, tapping the wedges in to get a good, tight seal.

Ta-Daaa! Though it rained last night, this morning the glue was dry.

Time to oil The Beast.

bk day

2010-09-11T21:29:00.000-07:00

store:

not store:

oh hell yes

2010-09-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

the build continues.

This week's palette comes from the wondrous magical color forest of Formica.

I SO wish they bring back some of their 60s and 70s colors and patterns. You gotta love the old ultra-glossy wood grains. As fake as you can get, but so damn cool.

Not sure what's sparking my current Formica fetish. Pure nostalgia maybe. My former fetish of making finely milled pieces from big-ass slabs of exotic hardwood combined with heavy chunks of melted and ground metal... that has passed.

Formica was my Dad's medium. For four decades he built a load of things, much of them covered with Formica. I had a general disdain and rejection of the material for many years, but now I've flipped.

In my view, everything is a style choice. This is not the year 1890. Nor is it 1970. But we have available to us all these material types, fabrication techniques and styles from previous eras. Exotic and reclaimed hardwoods, high pressure laminates (Formica), all sorts of plastic and metal and newer bamboo-based components. The only limitation is our imagination.

If using certain materials makes you feel ethical and helps you sleep at night, then more power to you. Being inspired by some thought or idea, that's a good thing.

Me... I just want to play. This week's toy is Formica.

wicked awesome

2010-09-05T09:49:00.001-07:00

stuff. things. space. What would you put in it?

My answer is: sh*t we like.

That's how Mollie described it a few months back. She said, "We should have named the store Shit We Like because that's what it's turning out to be."

Even the stuff we're putting in that is not for sale is in the "not typical" range.

a little taste of things to come...

the nameless one

2010-09-02T16:39:00.001-07:00

My laziness and fascination with cheesy imagery is causing the soulless yellow "ennui" face to propagate further in the Ebmerc universe.

I guess it (he?) has become a mascot.

and now an old clip from Mr. Show:

by the pricking of my thumbs

2010-08-30T20:20:00.000-07:00

somehing bitchen this way comes.

the BEST photostream ever.... EVARRRR!!!!!

2010-08-24T20:14:00.000-07:00

Formica, Armstrong linoleum... the building blocks of pure sweetness.

Watch the slideshow.

tabula rasa

2010-08-17T10:38:00.001-07:00

the blank canvas we're about to spill stuff all over

asphalt lot watermelon

2010-08-16T18:14:00.000-07:00

So, a couple days ago we went to the neighborhood Farmers Market, which is also an actual farm, and they sell stuff they grew on site plus stuff from other local farms (Hudson Valley and/or Jersey I believe.)

They piled up their soil right on top of an asphalt lot to avoid contact with any potential existing contamination in the dirt below.

It's a freekin' farm. Right across the street from Ikea.

- andfriend

generations

2010-08-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

posted by andfriend, aka "B"

It's been a whirlwind month. After a seemingly endless stretch of time looking for a proper retail space, things began to jell recently. On the same day that we finally decided on a space, my father passed away which initiated a flurry of activity that required immediate attention in three separate time zones from Brooklyn to Hawaii.

Our search for a space had led us briefly to Philadelphia. Philly is the city where Mollie's father, Marvin Dash, ran Everbrite Printing Company for many years. He grew up there. One of my grandfathers also spent his childhood in Philly - coincidentally only a few miles from where Marvin lived as a child. There are so many things I like about that city, a few things that I don't like. There's always something damned interesting to discover every time we go there. But for a store and possible relocation, it wasn't in the cards right now.

Ultimately it was a matter of taste - Mollie felt that Brooklyn was/is/continues to be the optimum place to be. After burning through the ideas of Philly, Williamsburg, Carroll Gardens, Gowanus and other places we finally came back to home: our home of 6 months that is.

Red Hook fits us. Far more than Bed Stuy ever did. There's an unquantifiable something about this neighborhood that is just right. With all the other possible iterations put to bed, Red Hook became the perfect choice.

So I got the call that my father had died and as we went through the motions of doing stuff that had to be done, I got to thinking about how almost everybody in my family line are strangers in strange lands. One grandfather growing up in Philly from English and Danish parents. Then he moves to Hawaii and marries a Hawaiian woman whose first language was Hawaiian and whose parents were once subjects of a Kingdom.

My father's parents: pulling up roots in the Philipines and taking the entire family to Hawaii, looking for a better life. Toughing it out in hard conditions and losing far too many children in the process. Life was brutish and short for them.

My own parents: island folk striking out on "the mainland" in search of opportunity. Making a life in Los Angeles. A life full of experiences that they could never have imagined back on the plantation house and dirt roads of Waipahu or in the birthright home in Papakolea.

We seem to be wanderers; always a different place to be, a new thing to try.

I think of this legacy - the sacrifices these people have made along the way, the many good times and the occasional horrific situations that they had to endure. It makes me humble and proud. Proud most of all of the personal dignity, grace and honor that they have shown in the new and unfamiliar spaces they have found themselves.

For that I am thankful.

traditions

2010-08-12T20:00:00.000-07:00

We attended one of the most inspiring talks at the tanker ship Mary Whalen PortSide event series. It's like a block away from our apartment, and (as we discovered this evening) it kicks ass. Hosted by Carolina and her magical bottle of Sangria. (I forgot my Bourbon at home.)

Robert LaValva was there and weaved through the complex narrative that led to his launching and nurturing of the New Amsterdam market.

The conversation was deep, meandering through slow food, the history of the Fulton Ferry (before it was known by the name "Fulton"), the parallels of city design between Amsterdam and New Amsterdam... too many tangential subjects to cover here. It was pretty damn cool - had me interested the whole time (and I don't have an attention span.) That market of his truly does have a direct spiritual lineage to the deep past.

Robert's commitment and passion to more ethical, healthful food choices fits in well with these more mindful times we live in. He is a great evangelist for the cause, full of passion and curiosity.

I look forward to visiting his New Amsterdam Market this Fall.

- andfriend

New Amsterdam Market meets on Sunday, August 22 and then weekly starting Sunday, September 12.
Location: South Street between Beekman St. and Peck Slip

da' hype machine

2010-08-12T09:17:00.000-07:00

351 van brunt street

2010-08-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

Cor! what's that now?

2010-07-26T21:58:00.000-07:00

Beneath the cool shade of a tree (that has found within itself the kindness and decency to provide such an amenity) somewhere along a pleasant and charming street in a sweet, but just shy of dandy, neighborhood in Brooklyn borough...

...there is a swath of glass and a wooden door.

Starting in the Fall (of this year: two-thousand-ten, yes) it will be the home of Everbrite Mercantile Company.

In that store will you will find an array of sundries and curiosities that will tickle your imagination, fill your heart with yearning, and hopefully precipitate a flurry of impulse-driven consumerism that would put a "Real" Housewife to shame.

Or sit a while and chat with Mollie Dash, whiling away the afternoon discussing the fascinating minutiae of the Brooklyn indie fashion/style/design scene whilst enjoying a cup of espresso, the both of you attempting your best ironic impression of those upper class Ladies Who Lunch.

Anyway. A store comin' at ya, in real bricks and mortar and wood.

I'll drink to that.

- andfriend

What's with the spinny head?

2010-07-06T19:24:00.000-07:00

Well. I'm glad you asked.

You see: a happy face makes everything better.

So I figured why not use it as a "wait cursor" for the site. You know, instead of a boring spinning orb.

HAPPY FACES RULE!

- andfriend

free? heck yes

2010-06-23T17:08:00.000-07:00

Free what? Free hand delivery to all Brooklyn addresses, that's what.

What's the catch? Well you gotta buy something... and it's for BROOKLYN ADDRESSES ONLY. Other than that - no catch.

When checking out in the Shopping Cart, you'll see this Special Courier / Hand Delivery option appear when you select NYC as your destination like so:

Make sure to give a valid phone number and/or email address during checkout so we can contact you to set up a good time to drop off your package.

Why am I doing this? Because I feel like it, that's why.

Plus I love Brooklyn, baby.

- andfriend

to simplify the process, here is this hotlink for Brooklyn NY folks: http://www.ebmerc.com/brooklyn

just in: tamika rivera

2010-05-12T15:13:00.000-07:00

wow, would you look at these bracelets. yeah, we like color around these parts. hand sewn (with love!) by brooklyn artist and reiki practitioner tamika rivera, each one is unique and super-soft comfy to wear. see tamika's cuyo intention bracelets here in the shop.

daily candy

2010-04-08T09:32:00.000-07:00

hey hey!
our great truss planter from pull+push was featured in daily candy's shoptalk section this week.