 | ben Franklin store time fun |
 | Dollar Store Night @ The Hideout 050506 What Does Benjamin Franklin Mean To Me? By Jeremy Sosenko |
 | Ben Shepherd - Franklin Classon Mile Ben Shepherd's performance of Franklin Classon Mile on Lach's last night at the Sidewalk Cafe, starting place of Regina Spektor, the Moldy Peaches, and more! Welcome back, kid. You've been gone awhile. They came and made a bid on the franklin-classon mile. The cranes come in and then the tenants face as white as snow. Now it's all divided up in mason dixon style And august is as hot as it's been since Himmler got the chair. No one's said much and there was something hangin in the air. Well, you know where I been and it ain't much to speak of. But I could rant for days about the way the warden treats ya It's good to see the neighborhood ain't trampled in retreat. But what's these shiftin eyes in windows on my mama's street? Well, isn't home a sense of feelin free in your own skin? I'm not talking colors, though that's where it seems to land. My name is McVeigh and I just bought a house here. They say the value's rising every fiscal year. And while the enterprise is good, this place is awful rough for an urban pioneer. I'm lyin wide awake in the infomercial dim the baby's cryin hungry, it's 3:15 am the store is only down a couple blocks so do this for me and walk-a with me while I walk Well, i've seen many marks in my day. But take a look at that one speed-walkin' our way. Actin like he's never seen someone with kinky hair. But I don't aim to harm him i'm only gonna scare'm. Shake him for his greenbacks, a residential tax Shake him for his greenbacks, a residential tax I told myself I'd never go back on lock. That's why I'm leaving not returning to the block. Nobody calls me nigger and gets away with it. I sent him to the ground with a blow so swift. I'm lyin wide awake in the hospital bed. Wondering how that word crept up inside my head. Knowin' so many folks are full of just the same. But you'll never see them shoulder any blame. They say 'Tomorrow's a bright new day, how can I raise a child in a world that acts this way?' Well it's hard to say and it's hard to tell, Some things acted upon are safer only felt. No law in the land will lock you up for evil thoughts, But what about the poor misunderstood for whom it boils and rises to the top? |
 | Lionel Electric Train Commercial The first Christmas I remember was 1959. Ouf family piled in the car to visit my Grandma's house, and while we waited in the car, dad was in the house doing "something." My sister and I kept asking, "what is dad doing that's taking so long?" Mom didn't answer. While we shivered and grew colder by the minute, dad finally showed up. I asked him what took him so long, and he said some nonsense. It was a family tradition in our household to visit my Grandma every week. It wasn't just our family, but all of mom's brothers and sisters showed up too. Between the adults and kids, there were probably 25 of us in Grandma's small house. The grownups sat in the kitchen drinking coffee and laughing and us kids watched tv or played games. Memories of all of us at Grandma's will always stay with me. When he got home that night, the house was dark. Dad opened the door (no one locked their houses back then), and we walked in. When he flipped on the living room light, my sister and I looked under the Christmas tree and there were Christmas presents. I got a Tonka dump truck and a Marx Service Station that year. I was 6 years old. In this day of superstores like WalMart and Target, much of the actual fun of Christmas shopping has been cast by the wayside for progress. In the days when I was young, there were no malls, supercenters, or any of the like. Shopping in most cities was done downtown. Most of the shopping downtown was done at specialty stores or chains like G. C. Murphy's 5 & 10, Penneys, Ben Franklin stores, and Sears. All of these business, plus many others were scattered along Washington Street. We parked the car and walked from store to store in search of Christmas presents, or if nothing else, to admire the store front windows. They were all decorated out with Christmas decorations. The first time I ventured into Sears Toyland, I saw my very first electric train and immediately fell in love with it. This was 1959. Sears had set up this most elaborate train layout and I stood my the transformer, watching two trains running along the tracks. From then on, I was hooked on trains. There was only one problem: Lionel electric trains were very expensive. To put things in perspective for the year 1959, I asked my dad one time how much he made a week. He told me 96 cents an hour. Well, when an electric train costs $19.95 (and that was at the very cheap end), that was over 1/2 of my dad's pay check for one week. Lionel Train Sets were similar to bicycles back then. Almost every boy wanted one, but the question of being able to actually purchase one was anothe matter entirely. The particular train I saw that afternoon standing in Sears was a complete layout with buildings and accessories like trees and people. I wanted that so bad and when mom and dad showed up and I told them that's what I wanted for Christmas, dad said he'd have to see if he could afford it. He knew by the look in my eyes how bad I wanted that train layout, and he checked with someone in charge. As it turned out, the only one they had left was this display sample I was watching, and it was promised to someone else. I was brokenhearted. Once again, we went to Grandma's house on Christmas Eve. On the car ride back home, I wondered what presents would be under the tree when I walked through the door. Once we got in, there was none. Dad said, "well, I guess Santa hasn't shown up yet." So my sister and I went to bed. We awoke early that morning and ran out into the living room. There under the tree wasn't the train set I saw at Sears, but in my book, it was just as good, and I was excited to see one. We yelled and screamed for mom and dad to get up, which they did, and ever since that Christma morning, I have had a love affair with Lionel trains. I still have a few pieces and I watch EBAY for any deals I can afford, plus I go to the train auctions these day. I set up my train about 2 weeks before Christmas and still lie on the floor and watch them pass by... Every kid at some time in their lives should own a Lionel train set. |
 | Poor Richard Show Local show highlighting local businesses in Paulding County, Georigia. Included in this edition are The Next Chapter Bookstore, Scarlet Indulgence soaps, creams and sundries, The Ritzy Pixie and The UPS store at GA 61 and 278. |
 | DISCOTECA ARIANA'S Franklin Park Illinois Ariana's closed its doors recently and is no longer in business. Thank you to all that watched the video and visited the store. ----------------- Amigos - Welcome to Discoteca Ariana's in Franklin Park Illinois! Ariana's has the music you like! They have a large selection of Mexican music and videos. Ariana's is a comfortable and neat store. Plenty of room to find your musical selections. If you are from Mexico drop in and pick up and send a greeting card to your loved ones. You can also wire money to your family in Mexico and other countries. You may find a nice piece of jewelry or that special watch, perhaps a book. SE HABLA ESPANOL! ARIANA'S DISCOTECA 9759 Franklin Avenue Franklin Park Illinois 60131 Ariana's is located across from the US Post Office. You have it all in Franklin Park Illinois! Gracias! Video Produced by Ben Kotowicz |
 | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - Travel Video PostCard™ Our Philadelphia Travel Video PostCard™ trip takes you through the Old City of Philadelphia, ten or so blocks from Front to Fifth and Vine to Chestnut Streets. The Travel Video shows Philly's unique, exciting mix of boutique shops and dry goods stores. Ben Franklin was born here. The famous Reading Market is here. The Rodin Museum is here. This Travel Video PostCard trip introduces funky art galleries and rag time music. Listen to the music of Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Travel Video PostCard shows us hardware stores selling hand-operated meat grinders snuggling up to whimsical vintage clothing studios. Travel to Philadelphia with our Travel Video PostCard and see seemingly abandoned warehouse suddenly become a cafe with a couple of tables perched precariously on wooden pallets. The Travel Video takes us into Philadelphia's famous markets and the Travel Video lets us hear the deep, mournful Blues sung by a couple of shoe shine guys. You can hear them in the Travel Video and hear the famous cheese steaks sizzle on the grill. The rest of the Travel Video is full all the fascinating city has to offer, like Ben Franklin's home and museum and some terrific eateries. Come on our vacation trip, our travels with this special Philadelphia travel video vacation trip, and then contact us for personalized itinerary information to the City of Brotherly Love. For now enjoy the sights and sounds of our Travel Video PostCard. |
 | Too Short - Money In The Ghetto [Verse One] In the ghetto, you think life is hard Food stamps and to' up cars Wall to wall dirty orange carpet Sittin in a bucket, hopin you can start it And ride around to the liquor store Can't get a job get drunk some more You betta stop trippin on dem stereotypes Cause in the ghetto there's a good life We ain't starvin like Marvin, won't see no roach when ya chill wit the rich folks in the hood You're sittin on leather watchin big screens bought by the dope fiends Smokin, and what about the brother wit the good jobs Savin money, and workin hard Bought a house for his wife and kids Ya only got one life to live Another brother got some cocaine You know his face, but don't know his name You know he got the sack mayn And he's sittin on a fat bank Seven cars at his house in the driveway Benz so clean don't roll it just fly away Cause folks got money in the ghetto.. yeah you know [Chorus One] Hey hey hey.. whatcha got to say (There's money in the ghetto) Hollywoooooood! Havin money in the ghettooo [Verse Two] Money in the ghetto ain't nothin new It's been like that, way before you was even born, get up from the down stroke Chocolate City for the black folks Say it loud in ya hot pants Man child in the promised land I take you back to Iceberg Slim and all the players that came before him If you a everyday hustler, get your money Cause what they do to black man ain't funny All the time tryin to put us the pen You get paroled and then they send you again All the homies in the hood gettin paid You might have left but the money stayed In the ghetto, it ain't all about drugs Gettin paid doin all kinds of stuff Only rule on the streets is don't get caught unless your hustle ain't breakin the law And even though rich folks got it good We sittin on 'em fat in the hood I'm ridin on some gold ones Smokin dank and it's potent Ask them fools, cause they know There's money in the ghetto Chorus One [Verse Three] I got money baby, just tell me the price Cause Short Dawg ain't nuttin nice I always hit the town wit my boy Ben Franklin Spend fo', get an ounce of dank then rich nigga get high relaxin If I bust a Ben Frank' get some Andrew Jacksons Five twenties for a hundred dollar bill You know the math, let's make a deal On the one dollar bill if you look on the front You find the face of George Washington Make money baby, that's all I do That's how I know Thomas Jefferson is on the two Abraham Lincoln got shot and died Freed the slaves so they put him on the five And Hamilton, my old time friend They put his face on the front of the ten These are the dead, presidents From the hood and they represent The American dream for the average minority Make your money get some weed and a forty I'm on the Eastside livin like a king Kick back watchin fifty inch screens Bounce to the Westside, hit the studio and spend my money in the ghetto [Chorus Two] Hey hey hey.. whatcha got to say (They got money in the ghetto) Hollywoooooood! Havin money in the ghettooo [Verse Four] Nowadays if you can't say a rap, or play sports You might just come up short And they always say the same things Don't be a gangster or a dopefiend Get your high school diploma, go to college Get a degree and start makin dollars Only one thing wrong, and it's a trip Inner city schools don't teach us shit Got us stuck on stupid, straight S.O.S. Can't get nothin, but they payin the rest of them fools all around the world in the other countries They should be spendin that money right here in the state of California You graduate and can't spell diploma Dip to the hood and get rich Slangin rocks to a smoked out bitch No school'll come close to that A few transaction make my pockets fat I make a lot of money and it ain't no lie I'll probably ball til the day I die And if I didn't, so what? I bet you I'd still come up Cause there's a whole lot of money in the ghetto.. yeah you know |
 | City Hall Park, Part Two: Bargain Basement Bones From "Little Bytes of the Big Apple," video tours of NYC. Author and NYC guide, Robert Westfield, tells us a story about America's first department store and tours of City Hall Park, pointing out the banks, Starbucks and Duane Reade drugstores. |
 | Sam Walton: American Patriot Sam Walton:True American Patriot from Made in America Blasts American CEOs for their spendthrift ways. (9) Offers greatest insight into retailing and discounting with this story: Selling more panties by pricing them a bit lower than the usual price, and hence still managing to have greater overall profit. (25) Bought an 1800$ ice-cream machine as a prop for his first store (Ben Franklin franchise) (26). His brother Bud Walton says Sam gave him the job to clean the machine because Same knew that he hated milk. (27) Bought his first 'aircraft', a two-seater Air Coupe for $1850, whose engine once failed just after take-off from Fort Smith. (40) "First lesson we learned was that there was much, much more business out there in small-town America that anybody, including me, had ever dreamed of." (50) (Comment - Does it have any implications for India?) "Maybe its time for a Walton to .... become missionary for free enterprise in the Third World." (77) The IPO stock got very little support from folks right there in northwest Arkansas, home of WalMart. "I always thought people around here thought that.. we were doing it with mirrors. They couldn't help but think we were just lucky... I think it must be human nature that when somebody homegrown gets on to something, the folks around them sometimes are the last to recognize it." (100) He had semi-retired in 1974 when Ron Mayer became CEO. (150-151) But he was too much of a hands-on a guy to stay away and hence came back in June of 1976 as CEO. He had given Ron Mayer an option of becoming Vice Chairman and CFO but Ron chose to leave instead and that Saturday's meeting is known as "Saturday night massacre" in WalMart lore. (152) He's been accused of pitting people against each other, but he doesn't see it that way. He says he's always 'cross-pollinated folks'.(155) WalMart had (has?) a gospel group The Singing Truck Drivers and a management singing group called "Jimmy Walker and the Accountants". (157) Phil Green, who once made the world's largest Tide display at one of the oldest WalMart stores, promised a TV for 22 cents in a promotion to celebrate George Washington's birthday, which was on February 22nd. The only hitch was customers had to find the TV set. It was hidden in the store! The crowd brought the house down! He admitted that "playing hide-and-seek with merchandise was a terrible idea."! (161) Walmart's cheerleading squad Shrinkettes ("WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT SHRINKAGE? CRUSH IT! CRUSH IT!") stole the show at one of the annual meetings with "CALIFORNIA ORANGES, TEXAS CACTUS, WE THINK KMART COULD USE SOME PRACTICE!" (162) While talking about culture of the company, Sam Walton says that company thrives on the traditions of small-town America and especially because it is more fun when you're an adult who usually spends all your time working. (162) Sam says that the outcry by the towners that ensues at closing down a store because Walmart couldn't make it profitable is "something awful" and that "its a price you pay for success". (182) Negotiate hard with your vendors/suppliers 'cause if you pay higher than he deserves, you are buying someone else's inefficiency! (185) Whoever said 'Retail is Detail' is absolutely 100 percent right. (188) Even though WalMart is known for best and innovative applications of Information Technology, Sam never appreciated investment in computers much. His reason: " A computer can tell you down to the dime what you've sold. But it can never tell you how much you could have sold." ! Computer, he says, will never be a substitute for getting out in your stores and learning what's going on. (224) A lot of folks used to ask Sam Walton: "Could a Wal-Mart-type story still occur in this day and age? My answer is of course it could happen again. Somewhere out there right now there's someone - probably hundreds of thousands of someones - with good enough ideas to go it all the way. It will be done again, over and over, providing that someone wants it badly enough to do what it takes to get there. It's all a matter of attitude and the capacity to constantly study and question the management of the business." (256) |
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