Appearances by Gary Smolker

Appearances

What do you think that “Hair Salon” (Nori’s Eco Salon, A Certified Green Hair Salon) does?

Do you think that Nori’s Eco Salon is a special hair salon for people with green hair?

Geographical/Sociological Coordinates

Nori’s Eco Salon is located on Ventura Blvd. in Encino, California.

Encino is an affluent section of the City of Los Angeles and is located in the San Fernando Valley.

Ventura Blvd. is a trendy boulevard that runs through trendy sections of the San Fernando Valley/Los Angeles: Studio City, Sherman Oaks, Encino and Tarzana in the San Fernando Valley.

The Power of Social Media

This morning (Thursday, June 29, 2017), I posted the above photograph on Instagram @garyspassion.

A female friend of mine, a major real estate developer based in Manhattan, immediately sent the following email to me and to an additional thirty-two additional other people.

“Amazing! A special salon for people with Green hair!”

I replied:

“You can’t stop progress!”

Another East Coast Real Estate Developer, on the green hair email distribution list, replied:

“Please take me off your green hair email mailing list.”

I then replied to the person who asked to be taken off the green hair email list.  I sent a copy of that reply to the person who voiced amazement that there is a special salon in Los Angeles for people with Green Hair:

“No more green hair email will be sent to you by me.

“By the way, the salon does NOT specialize in green hair, it specializes in conducting its business in an ecological and environmental protection mode.”

The female real estate developer who voiced amazement that there is a hair salon for people with Green Hair had for many years has been an international diplomat and has lived all over the world.

She replied:

“They should have worded their sign differently,  The photo you sent shows their sign clearly saying ‘Green Hair Salon.’  They meant it to be ECO friendly but unfortunately their wording is open to misinterpretation.  Hip young People with pink hair and blue hair might be afraid to go in…”

Words Are Important

Many people are confused by that sign.

A Los Angeles based female psychotherapist mentioned to me that she “too” thought the salon was for people with Green Hair.

She told me: “When I saw that photograph I wondered why the salon specialized in Green Hair instead of in Blue Hair, or Pink Hair or Purple Hair – which are more popular than Green Hair in Los Angeles.”

Later in the afternoon, I advised the female diplomat/real estate developer that I didn’t know if she was joking or not.

The former diplomate turned East Coast developer replied:

“Of course it was a joke — I understood what the Eco People meant, but wanted to point out the absurdity of how carelessly they had worded their green concerns when saying Green Hair Salon.”

Appearances Matter in Los Angeles

Below is a photograph I took of a man at a business meeting I had with him earlier this week.

The man in the above photo is a Los Angeles based movie producer.

He, like every successful person in the movie business in LA, knows that image matters, that appearance matters and that it is important to leave a lasting visual impression with everyone who sees you.

Los Angeles/Hollywood is the world capital of people who have enormous presence, celebrities.

It is a well know fact in the sophisticated Los Angeles business community that in the movie business when any actor or actress audition(s) for a role the only thing that matters is if that person LOOKS like the right person for the role.

The same holds true for other professionals and for everyone involved in business endeavors.

Hollywood

In Hollywood audition are always taped.

The people making the decision to book an act or actor or actress are rarely in the room where/when the actor or actress is auditioning for a role.

The people who make the hiring decision look at the tape later.

The only thing the people who make the hiring decision care about is whether the actor or actress looks right for the role.

New York

In contrast, in New York  actors and actress go to auditions in jeans.

Actors and actresses go to auditions without concern for how they look.

Their concern/goal, when they audition for a role, is to show emotion, to show acting craft, to show that they can act.

The Ethos/Logos of the City of Los Angeles

Los Angeles is the undisputed Celebrity Capital of the world.

In Los Angeles, we are working hard to make pleasure, art, spirituality and luxury complimentary experiences.

Gary Smolker

Copyright © 2017 Gary Smolker, All Rights Reserved

Follow me on Instagram @garyspassion

 

Gary Smolker, Blogger, Social Commentator, Movie Reviewer, Book Reviewer, Publisher
Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog
www.garysmolker.wordpress.com

Gary Smolker, Fashion Blogger
Dude's Guide to Women's Shoes
www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com

 

 

Shopping – by Gary Smolker

     

The Shopping Experience

All Women and some Men like to shop.

Many men who like to shop do not want to or like to shop with a woman.

Each of the photographs above were taken by me in June, 2017, while I was in different shopping venues.

The purses shown above were photographed by me while I was in the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California, USA.

The eatable chocolate shoes shown above were photographed by me while I was in an Alitalia terminal in the Leonardo da Vinci Airport in Rome, Italy.

The bottom set of pictures are photographs I took near the Merry-Go-Round in the South Coast Plaza.

The set of photographs are of  a “carrel” full of “animal shaped balloons.”

Parents purchase those animal shaped balloons for their children to “walk” and/or play with while their parents are shopping.

Useful Practical Knowledge

If you need to buy something, a very important question is: “Where is the best place to buy it, where is the best place to shop for it.”

Of course, the answer to that question depends upon what you are shopping for.

Where Is The Best Place in the World to Shop?

MEN, TAKE NOTE: WOMEN LIKE TO SHOP!

Women have a larger variety – a multitude – of good reasons to shop and to go shopping then men do.

In the modern world we live in, sometimes shopping is not solely/exclusively about trading money for goods.

My goal in writing this article is to spread understanding of the multitude of factors that women and men consider before they decide where to “go shopping” when their sole goal is not to buy a “generic” something for the best price.

MEN:

• It is a good idea to get along with women.
• If you understand why women go shopping you will have a better chance of getting along with them.
• Women do things for a reason.
• Do not ignore something staring you right in the face.
• That women like shopping is staring you right in the face.
• If you make a noticeable effort to understand why women in your life like to go shopping those women will more strongly believe it is a pleasure to know you.

MY ADVICE TO MEN: Think of shopping with a woman at a gorgeous venue that has eye opening mind stimulating merchandise for sale as being equivalent to going with a date to a top rate museum full or magnificent works of art and stunning artifacts.

Best of all: You get to enter this museum and experience one or more hours of enjoyable mind expanding learning and mental stimulation without paying an admission charge.

THE BEST PLACE IN THE WORLD TO SHOP

The issue discussed in this article is, “Where is the best place in the world to shop?

My criteria/parameters for choosing the best place in the world to shop are:

• I ask myself: (1) Where will you see the most interesting things in a span of one or two hours?
• I assume you will not be spending more than one or two hours in the shopping venue that is the best place in the world to shop.
• I also ask myself: (2) Which shopping venue has the highest percentage of the highest quality top-tier shops/stores/departments to go into or window shop?

In my opinion the best place in the world to shop, under those criteria, is in the terminals at the Aeroporto Leonardo Da Vicini Fiumicino… the best place to shop is in the airline terminals located in Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome.

I flew on Alitalia Airlines from Los Angeles International (LAX) to Rome Fiumicino (FCO) on May 20, 2017; during a stopover – before flying on to Sicily – I stayed in the Alitalia terminal which I found myself in after my plane landed for an approximately one hour thirty minute during a stopover before catching my connecting Alitalia flight to Catania Fontanarossa (CTA).

There are no direct flights from Los Angeles to Sicily.  To get to Sicily by commercial plane, one must first fly to Rome then catch another flight to Sicily.  Catania is a city in Sicily which has the airport I landed in when I first got to Sicily.

I was dazzled by the stores I saw as I walked through the Alitalia terminal(s) from the gate I deplaned at when I arrived in Rome from Los Angeles to the gate in the terminal from which my connecting flight to Catania Sicily boarded.

On my way back home, I flew from Rome Fiumicino (FCO) to Los Angeles International (LAX) on June 4, 2017 after a two hour forty minute stopover stay in the Alitalia terminal after my flight from Catania landed before boarding my direct Alitalia flight from Rome to Los Angeles.

During my two hour four minute stopover on  June 4, 2017 I visited several of the stores/shops located in the Alitalia terminal.

Based on comparing my recent first hand (window) shopping experiences in the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport on May 20 and June 4, 2017 with my shopping experiences in other major airports throughout the world, with my shopping experiences in major shopping centers/malls, and in world famous shopping venues throughout the world, it is my conclusion that if you have one or two hours to spend shopping the Alitalia terminals in the Leonardo da Vinci International Airport in Rome are the place to be.

Rolling Through My Head

Rolling through my head are memories of recent outstandingly pleasant shopping experiences, including many I had during the two weeks I was in Sicily from May 20 through June 4, 2017, and many I had while visiting the South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, California a few days ago.

• On Monday, June 13, 2017, I spent four exceedingly pleasant hours window shopping, and also meeting with and talking to sales personnel in the South Coast Plaza (SCP) in Costa Mesa, California, and ultimately I purchased a gorgeous necklace for my daughter Judi.
• Just 11 days before that, on June 2, 2017, I was shopping in the Ortigia Sicilia shop in Noto Sicily.  I spent about 15 very pleasant minutes in that shop and purchased a puzzle depicting Noto [which I had the store send/ship to my daughter Terra in Massachusetts] and during that 15 minutes I also purchased oil perfume that I had shipped from the Ortigia Sicilia store to my office in Encino California to give to several women I work with.
• Below is a picture I took of the Noto Puzzle I sent to my daughter Terra.  Next to the picture of the Noto Puzzle I sent to my daughter are photographs of distinctive packaging used in that store – photographs of paper bags in which purchased merchandise is put in then carried out of the store. Next to the photographs of two paper bag packages are photographs of descriptive labels in the Ortigia Sicilia store which describe the perfumes displayed on shelves in that store. All the products purchased in that store can be directly taken out of the store by the purchaser or can be shipped worldwide.
•        
• I love chocolate.  Modica is known as the City of Chocolate in Sicily.  I spent several days in Modica.  I spent about 30 minutes in a Museum of Chocolate in Modica.  Below are photographs I took of posters posted in the Museum of Chocolate. Almost every other store on the main street in Modica sells a variety of chocolates. The most famous Chocolate manufacturer in Sicily is the Dolceria Bonajuto which is located on the main street in Modica Sicily at street address Corso Umberto I, N. 159, Modica.  I visited the Dolceria Bonajuto on May 29, 2017 and returned on May 30 and May 31.  Below are photographs I took of people outside the Dolceria Bonajuto taking samples of chocolate being served on a platter by the Bonajuto store.  While in the Dolceria Bonajuto I bought Chocolate Cardamom to give to women I work with in my office in Encino, California.  I spent about 10 minutes or less each time I visited the Dolceria Bonajuto. On May 29, 2017, just down the street from the Dolceria Bonajuto, at Corso Umberto I, 133, I discovered the most charming book store, Libreria Mondadori.  While in the Mondadori book store I purchased two books: “Le Ricette di ieri e di oggi” [“Recipes of yesterday and today”] and “Sweet Sicily.”  I love books and I love bookstores.  I spent about 30 or 45 minutes in the Libreria Mondadori book store the first time I was there and about 30 minutes each of the next two times I was in that book store. Below are photographs I took while I was inside the Libreria Mondadori.  The Libreria Mondadori is a great place to hang, a great place for browsing books written about many topics.  I find reading books “addictive” but don’t assume that people who read books are more tolerant or open minded than people who don’t.  The bottom photographs are a series of photographs I took in Libreria Mondadori.  The first photograph was taken by me after I had entered Libreria Mondadori while I was looking at a staircase leading up to the second floor. The second photograph was taken by me while looking up at one side of the second floor of Libreria Mondadori.  The third fourth fifth and sixth photographs were taken by me while I was on the second floor of Libreria Mondadori while looking towards the front door to Libreria Mondadori from the second floor.  On the second floor of Libreria Mondadori, in addition to books to browse or purchase, there are chairs and couches for one to sit on and tables for one to work on.
  
• 
  

The Best in the World

I am a firm believer in the value of personally seeing the best in the world of anything and of everything.

The pictures at the beginning of this article are the best in the world in different categories.

The Two Purses

Those purses are beautiful, but wrapping a stunning scarf around the handle of a purse is the work of genius.

The ladies working in the Sam Edelman store in South Coast Plaza on their own initiative chose scarves and wrapped the scarves they chose around the handles of those purses.

Eatable Chocolate Shoes

The eternal triangle is “women, chocolate and shoes.”

Whomever thought of making eatable chocolate shoes is a genius.

Animal Shaped Balloons

Children become impatient while shopping with their parents.

Whoever thought of “making” animals out of balloons that could be given to children while their parents are shopping is a genius.

Why Are the Alitalia Airline Terminals in the Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport in Rome the Best Place in the World to Shop?

Below is a photograph of a ceramic bowl and a series of photographs of a container of cookies I took while “window shopping” in an airline terminal waiting to catch a connecting flight from Rome to Los Angeles after having flown on Alitalia from Catania Sicily to Rome Italy.

Photos taken by me in the Alitalia Airline Terminal in the Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport Rome on June 4, 2017.

I rest my case.

 

Gary S. Smolker, Fashion Blogger, Social Commentator, Movie Reviewer, Book Reviewer and Idea Exchanger
Gary S. Smolker Idea Exchange Blog
www.garysmolker.wordpress.com

Gary Smolker, Fashion Blogger and Social Commentator
Dude's Guide to Women's Shoes
www.dudesguidetowomensshoes.com

 

Copyright © Gary Smolker, 2017 All Rights Reserved

Follow Me on Instagram @garyspassion