Arts Entertainment Shopping list AND
An Arkansas-themed gift guide.
BY LINDSEY MILLAR, LESLIE NEWELL PEACOCK, DAVID KOON, STEPHANIE SMITTLE AND JACOB ROSENBERG
W
e, the staff, may not be experts, but we are opinionated, readers of the Arkansas Times will agree. And we like to think that everyone thinks like us. So here we suggest our gift ideas for your near and dear. We aren’t afraid to say, “Happy Holidays!” And “Happy Kwanzaa!” And “Happy Hannukah!” And “Merry Christmas” And “Blessed Solstice!” And “Happy Yule!” Whatever!
for those who want to go traditional, plus a vast array of cigars, humidors and fancy tobacco pipes. There’s also a tattoo shop in the back. If there’s a smoking enthusiast in your life, get on down there. Chances are you’ll find something to fit their desires and your budget. — David Koon
Wonderland, 5917 Central Ave., Hot Springs. Medical cannabis isn’t on the market in Arkansas yet and recreational weed may never be, but that has absolutely nothing to do, whatsoever — wink, wink DrunkTrunk Fabric Art — with Wonderland in Hot Springs, the The cross-stitched creations of Little biggest head shop this writer has ever Rock needlework artist Katy Griffin, up been in, bar none, in my whole life. The on her Etsy shop DrunkTrunk, range selection there is stunning: rows upon from the sublime to the profane, with rows of glassware, pipes, lighters and boatloads of kitsch and sass in between. stashboxes, in prices and quality ranging Slogans like “Don’t Let The Bastards from Kia to Benz. I’d wager it has 60,000 Grind You Down,” “Stay Sexy, Don’t Get pipes there, and that’s no exaggeration: Murdered” and my personal favorite, bongs shaped like cartoon characters “You’re In a Cult, Call Your Dad,” adorn (Spongebong Squarepants was a favorite), fabric stretched across wooden hoops, bongs designed by Snoop Dogg, bongs as do delicate renderings of flowers, shaped like couples making The Beast pinky swear silhouettes and an intricate With Two Backs, and bongs that look portrait of Michelle Obama. Got a friend like something from Walt’s diabolical getting married during the holidays? blue supermeth laboratory on “Breaking Griffin’s “Princess Bride” cross-stitch of Bad.” If air and smoke from burning ... Peter Cook’s “wove, twue wove” speech vegetable matter ... can be drawn through is perfect. Check ’em out at etsy.com/ a thing, it probably has it. Wonderland shop/DrunkTrunk or the Cox Creative also has programmable vaporizers for Center gift shop. those who want to go high-tech, and a — Stephanie Smittle great selection of good ol’ rolling papers 16
NOVEMBER 23, 2017
ARKANSAS TIMES
LR gear potter’s trademark tree-branch handle? For the Little Rock-proud on your gift Joy Price of Rogers, an art teacher at list, Rock City Kicks has you covered, no the Arkansas Arts Academy there, is the matter the age or fashion preference of creator of Joy Elizabeth mugs and dishes the person you’re shopping for. Those and bowls, and if they remind you a bit of LR baseball caps you see all over town? the English countryside, that’s because Most everyone got them at Rock City Price was born in Great Britain. She Kicks, which now has more than a dozen sells her work through Etsy and you can varieties of the classic NewEra snapback request custom orders. See more work varieties as well as several different on her Facebook page, Joy Elizabeth options (including camo!) in dad hat Ceramics, or if you are in Bentonville style, which means a lower profile and Dec. 16, head to The Little Craft Show a curvier bill. New this year, you can also in The Record, 104 SW A St., a couple of get that classic LR logo on sweatshirts, blocks off the square, where she’ll have baseball shirts and a polo in a new collab her series of sleeping woodland creatures between RCK and ’47. You can also find pieces. LR toboggans (with little poms on top), a — Leslie Newell Peacock throwback cotton LR windbreaker and, perfect for any stocking, Arkansocks — RCK’s Arkansas-themed line of socks. Shop online at rockcitykicks.com or in Little Rock (200 N. Bowman Road, Suite 13) or in Fayetteville (121 W. Township St., Suite 12). —Lindsey Millar
“True Soul: Deep Sounds From The Left Of Stax, Vol. 1 & 2” (4 LP box set) Stax Records lorded over the world from its perch in Memphis. Here in Little Rock, True Soul Records, created by Lee Anthony, just tried to survive. Captured across multiple discs that took NowAgain Records 13 years to create, this 2011 anthology captures the desperation and experimentation of the legendary Joyful mugs local label. The set comes with tons of Jane Austin fans, hearken! Here’s background information in a massive the perfect gift for the people you booklet. (There are also really cool know who love “Pride and Prejudice.” photos of ’70s Lee Anthony looking It’s not the 1895 edition with a gilded incredible.) It can be hard to find the peacock on the cover ($1,300), nor the set, so your best places to look are on Penguin Classics Hardcover ($19.20), nor Amazon and eBay — a little online crateBarnes and Noble’s Collectible Edition digging awaits you — where prices range ($16.99): People who love “Pride and between $7.99 and $35. Prejudice” already have several copies — Jacob Rosenberg in their library. No, the perfect gift is Joy Elizabeth Ceramics’ hand-painted Sibling Rivalry Press: 2018 Mr. Darcy mug, a 19th century primitive subscription bundle image of Elizabeth Bennet’s beloved, with The vanguard of Sibling Rivalry a ship in the background and the handle Press’ website bears two words in bold painted like a tree branch ($38). There’s red print: “DISTURB/ENRAPTURE.” one for Elizabeth, too! So you didn’t The Alexander-based independent read “Pride and Prejudice,” but you love publishing house, run by Bryan Borland whimsical hand-built pottery painted and editor Seth Pennington, curates its with scenes of nesting birds and sleeping titles incisively and provocatively, with foxes and country houses, all with the those two words from poet Adrienne CONTINUED ON PAGE 23