The Wedding Shoppe

By Blair Matthews

It’s been 23 long years since one of the most famous national soda brands in beverage history has last been enjoyed. And chances are at least some packrats out there still have a few old plastic cases of empty stubbies collecting dust in their basement with faded red and white logos that have seen better days. Well, the familiar logo is 00004000 back, the dust has been swept under the rug and The Pop Shoppe is back in business. And if new owner, Brian Alger has anything to say about it, the brand is back to stay.

When the chain last saw the light of day, Ronald Regan was president, plaid pants were still considered cool, and Pepsi was on the brink of winning the cola wars against Coke.

Venturetek International Ltd., the parent company of Pop Shoppe International Inc., had fallen on hard times. It had seen fame and fortune in the ’70s the likes of which the original Pop Shoppe entrepreneurs from London, Ontario (Canada) had never dreamed possible. It was considered by many to be a popular staple for soda pop lovers. Most loved it because of the more than 30 flavors of pop that you could mix and match in cases of 24 returnable stubby bottles – complete with plastic red cases. It was cheap pop and had a simple concept that quickly caught on famously across North America.

Rapid franchise expansion across Canada, a promising venture into the U.S., and a record setting year made 1977 an unforgettable time for Pop Shoppe drinkers. Nearly every town in Ontario had a Pop Shoppe depot as the chain stretched from one end of Canada to the other. But less than five years later, its storied journey was coming to an end.

Sales plummeted, trading of Pop Shoppes shares was halted on the Toronto Stock Exchange, and the red ink was quickly becoming embarassing.

To this day, marketing people still try to pinpoint the reason for the chain’s demise. It wasn’t a simple explanation.

The consumer’s love affair with convenience was dawning and with Coke and Pepsi selling their products at reduced prices in supermarkets where consumers could do their grocery shopping and pickup soda pop in cans for less money, popularity of the Pop Shoppe had seemingly run its course. Company mismanagement and misdirection has also been cited as a reason for Pop Shoppe’s downfall.

The company slowly slipped away and embossed itself into beverage history much like its discounted pop had done in a sometimes unpredictable marketplace.

Fast-forward to 2005, and enter Food and Beverage Entrepreneur, Brian Alger.
Alger knew the history of the Pop Shoppe chain well and for years had thought, in the back in his mind, about bringing back a little part of his ’70s childhood. Though his expertise wasn’t specifically rooted in marketing fizzy drinks, it was something he knew he wanted to do if the circumstances were right.

Alger started the trademark process of bringing back the Pop Shoppe brand in the spring of 2002, a process that took about 18 months. Up to that point the Pop Shoppe trademarks had been abandoned since the brand had folded up shop in the early 1980s and the registration expired in 1994, Alger says.

The logos and trademark names laid dormant for more than 10 years and when Alger discovered they were available, the wheels started turning.

So why try to bring back a popular 1970s soda from the proverbial recycling bin more than 20 years after its heyday? Alger says it’s all about nostalgia. “Like a lot of people my age, we kind of grew up on the Pop Shoppe and have a lot of fond memories of it. I was surprised that no one held the trademarks and I felt there was a tremendous amount of brand equity still with the brand,” he says. “I thought there might be an opportunity there to resurrect what I think is one of the best known Canadian trademarks.”

As a teenager growing up in Burlington, Ontario, Pop Shoppe soda was the pop of choice in the Alger household. “That’s what we had at our school dances,” Alger remembers. “When I was in school I was a person who was a bit disruptive in class so there was a period in time that they would give me my lessons in the morning and then they would send me up to what I call a storage room to do my work so I didn’t bother anybody else. The room was a storage room for the whole school and there was no light inside… so they had to have my desk face the back of the room and leave the door open so there could be some light,” he says. If the desk had faced towards the hallway, Alger would stop people and talk to them. At the back of the room the student council had stored all of their cases of Pop Shoppe pop. “I would just sit there for hours on end and of course I wouldn’t do my school work – I would just stare at Pop Shoppe all day long. Who knows how that affected me later on down the road,” Alger says.

“Unfortunately they were pop-off tops back then rather than twist-tops so even if I wanted a pop I didn’t have an opener with me so it was a bit like torture.”

Of the nearly 30 different varieties of Pop Shoppe soda available in the golden age of the company, Alger was partial to cream soda, and root beer. It’s just a coincidence, he says, that those were two of the first four flavors he brought back to the market in late 2004. “When we looked at the pop market, we looked at what was really selling. Orange and root beer are top flavor sellers and I wanted to look at flavors that were distintive to the Pop Shoppe and that’s where we came up with Black Cherry and Lime Rickey.”

The Pop Shoppe’s porfolio of four flavors will grow by three more this spring when Alger adds Grape, Orange and Pineapple. One flavor absent from the line-up is Cola, a flavor that Alger and his flavor consultants are still working on to recapture the exact recipe that the chain originally used in the 70′s. Since there was no recipe book handed down to him when he bought the rights to the brand, it was up to him to find original bottles of Pop Shoppe (which he primarily found on eBay), then dissect and analyse the contents of each flavor. It’s taken countless hours of research to come up with the tastes that do the original flavors justice.

And the lack of a cola flavor is by no means because of Coca-Cola and Pepsi’s dominance in that market. “When the Pop Shoppe was around the first time, it was born out of necessity… Coke and Pepsi really dominated the market and consumers were paying a high price for soft drinks at the time. When Pop Shoppe came around,” Alger says, “it really filled that void.” These days, every grocery store chain has their own brand but in the 1970s that wasn’t the case. “Pop Shoppe filled two areas – they gave you a great tasting soda and they gave you value for your money.”

At first, Alger toyed with the idea of going back to the Pop Shoppe’s original concept of store front locations where consumers could drop in and mix and match their cases of 24 bottles for one price in returnable glass bottles. But after doing a lot of research and talking to people in the beverage industry he decided the stand-alone beverage store – using refillable containers – was an inconvenience for people; it was concept that had run its course years ago and just wasn’t economically feasible.

Alger is quick to point out though, that Pop Shoppe’s store-front concept wasn’t the reason that the chain self-destructed back in the early 1980s. It was mainly due to mismanagement within the company, he claims.

When the store-front idea fizzled out, he decided that he could market the soda through a distributor much the same way that other gourmet and specialty sodas are done. So with a working model started and the trademarks secured, plans began to take shape. While flavors and recipes were being researched, Alger considered the packaging that they should use. “I looked at doing 2 L bottles and 600mL plastic but that really doesn’t do justice to the Pop Shoppe heritage. I’m a big believer that soft drinks should be drank from a glass container – you’re getting the pure taste of the pop. If you drink pop that’s been sitting in a plastic 2 liter for six months, it’s not very good at all,” Alger says.

The problem he immediately found with going to a glass container was the cost involved. But, he figured with the power of the trademark behind it and the wave of nostalgia that people are currently feeling for the old brand, it was a worthy investment.

“The response has been tremendous,” Alger proudly declares. And to build on the nostalgic flavor he’s also currently working on bringing back the familiar design of the stubby glass bottle with the diamond embossing. “What my goal has been all along is to really make it as close to what it was as possible. We’ve certainly got that on the formula side of things and if we can work on getting the package back to that now, it would be great.”

Old Pop Shoppe In Your Neighborhood Might Not Be the ‘Real’ Stuff:
And for those soda connoisseurs out there who’ve been able to find old style Pop Shoppe soda for sale at their neighborhood corner store (in the old worn stubby bottles), Alger says you’re likely not getting original Pop Shoppe pop. When the Pop Shoppe declared bankruptcy back in the 1980s they liquidated all the assets of the company – including all the familiar old red cases and stubby glass bottles. Anyone who wanted to purchase the equipment or property was free to do so.

Some locations (at least one in British Columbia and a few scattered around the United States) bought the assets of the local bottler in their area and continued bottling soda pop using those same old Pop Shoppe glass stubbies. “They’re not able to market it under that name or say that it’s Pop Shoppe brand soda, but you still get it in those original bottles,” Alger explains.

And based on the analysis of the pop that was still being filled in those original bottles (Alger paid a company to analyse what was being put in them for him), it was most certainly not any soda pop that Alger would bottle. “It was absolutely horrible. The flavor profile was terrible – it was like someone made it in their bathtub and bottled it from there. I could not believe how bad it was.”

‘Bootleg’ pop in old Pop Shoppe bottles is an issue that Alger figures he’ll deal with somewhere down the road since he now owns the U.S. trademarks for Pop Shoppe as well. Though it’s within his rights as trademark holder to restrain bottlers from packaging their sodas in those old reuseable Pop Shoppe glass stubbies, it’s also a costly issue to try to curb. “My focus is getting the brand back out in the market and out into as many stores as possible and then we’ll look at doing something about that later on. For me, it’s an issue, but not a priority right now.”

A Pop Shoppe Collector is Born:
Before he began his venture into the beverage world, Alger admits he wasn’t much of a soda pop collector. Once he knew what his plans were for the old brand, his attitude about collecting changed drastically and a Pop Shoppe memorabilia collector was born. “I just wanted to secure as much memorabilia dedicated to the Pop Shoppe as I could.”

Alger has bought nostalgic items like bottles, openers, signs, and even a replica Eddie Shack Pop Shoppe jersey as seen in many of the old ads for the soda pop.

Which begs the question: will there be a new spokesperson named for Pop Shoppe and would Alger ever consider trying to bring Shack, the original spokesman for the brand, back into the fold?

“We’ve had some conversations with the design team and there’s no doubt about it – he was a huge part of that at the time. It may be something we do down the road but nothing immediate,” Alger confesses. “But it is a consideration.”

For the most part, Alger says he has more of an in-store marketing philosophy for the brand with most advertising and promotion done with point-of-sale materials and in-store specials. “Let’s face it, people are coming in ready to buy something – a lot of people don’t have their mind made up specific to a brand or a flavor so if we work hard on the inside of the store P.O.S. material than I think we can really grab the attention of people and let them know that the brand is available there.”

For Alger, the big kick-off for 2005 will be at this year’s Canadian International Food & Beverage Show in Toronto where Pop Shoppe will be well-represented.

Taking the brand into the electronic age:
The website for Pop Shoppe has created new buzz among soda drinkers and collectors alike who remember the brand with fond memories. “Lately I’ve been getting e-mails and calls from people who have memorabilia and photos of Pop Shoppe – it’s absolutely fantastic to see these things. Some of the e-mails I get from people that are so excited to see the brand back in the market are great. They see that trademark and they get a flood of memories and emotions. They’ll see that logo and it’ll take them right back to a summer at the cottage or whatever. I think that’s unbelieveable that a trademark and a brand can hold that kind of equity for somebody.”

Chatting With the Original Founder of Pop Shoppe:
Someone who can certainly relate to Alger’s situation of starting up a beverage company from scratch would be Gary Shaw, one of the original founders of Pop Shoppe when it was still a young fledging start-up company in London.

Alger was thrilled to have the chance to chat with Shaw recently about Pop Shoppe’s early days.

“This was a man that started something and didn’t realize how big an impact it would have. He and his partners began with ,000 and it sky-rocketed from there. For them to have the vision to take it to where it was and to be able to identify the definite need in the marketplace for it was brilliant,” Alger says.

When Alger broke the news to him that he was about to bring the brand back from the dead, Shaw was excited.

“He’s a guy that says once he closes the chapter on something he moves on and from there he started up ‘Grandma Lee’s’ (another well-known Canadian company). He certainly speaks proudly of the accomplishments they made with the Pop Shoppe.”

If anything, Alger adds, Shaw was a little surprised that no one had attempted to take another run at the nostalgic favorite before now.

More Pop Shoppe Memorabilia Coming:
Alger urges Pop Shoppe fans to be on the lookout for some retro memorabilia that will soon be launched to coincide with the return of the brand. “We’re going to start working on some stuff – we’re going to look at some of the things that Pop Shoppe did in the past and look at doing some of those things. We’d kind of like to go retro like frisbees or yo-yos or things that fit in with that ’70s time,” he says.

Personal acquaintances of Alger and his fiancee got a special treat at their wedding back in November when they received a commemorative Pop Shoppe bottle produced especially for the wedding guests. It featured a wedding graphic on the corner of the label and came packaged in a giftbox.

Should the brand ever reach the levels of sales that it once did, Alger is mindful that some of the wedding guests may want to cash in on its success by putting their special wedding bottle up for bids on eBay. So he numbered each bottle and recorded who was given which bottle, just so he knows who to rib should he ever discover that someone is selling their special gift.

Currently there are about 70 bottles present and accounted for.

So what’s been the toughest part of bringing back a legendary soda pop? Alger says it’s the fact that he’s doing the entire project on his own – from distribution deals and financing to marketing and product development (which is rare in the cut-throat beverage industry these days). And dealing with a brand that most people remember means there are big shoes to fill with little room for error. “I take it quite seriously and I realize that there are a lot of people that have a fondness for that brand. I want to bring it back as original as it was and give people that 5 or 10 minutes in a day when they can think of a fond memory of Pop Shoppe and whatever else they were doing at the time,” he says.

But at the same time, he recognizes that his core audience 00004000 is still that 13 to 17-year-old group of consumers that will inevitably make or break the Pop Shoppe venture. So far, Alger says he’s amazed that the kids are buying up Pop Shoppe – perhaps because everything retro from the past seems to be cool again, including clothes and hair styles. “I think the kids get de-sensitized by all of these other marketing companies that put these hardcore graphics on their packaging… when they see something like Pop Shoppe, it’s simple, but it’s got that nostalgic look to it. It’s just simple soda. I don’t want to market this like ‘if you’re able to drink this you’re going to be able to snowboard better or you’re gonna be able to jump off cliffs’ or whatever. It represents a simpler time,” Alger stresses.

And what about all of those packrats who still harbor cases of 20-year-old Pop Shoppe bottles in their garage or basement?

They’ve already started coming out of the woodwork.

“We had somebody that called us saying she had a couple cases of those empties and wanted to know how she could get refunded for the deposit. What can I say… if I had a need for them I’d certainly take them back. I told her that her best bet was to try putting them up on eBay,” he says with a laugh.

For more information about The Pop Shoppe, visit their website at: www.thepopshoppe.com.

Frequently Asked Questions

QUESTION:
Does anyone have any ideas for where I should shop for a wedding dress in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area?
I was thinking of making an appointment at The Wedding Shoppe in Saint Paul. Does anyone know anything about their pricing, or other places that might be good to go to? Thanks!
- ANSWER:
  Here is some info about the The Wedding Shop. They have very accommodating hours as well.
  
  Wedding Shoppe Inc Main Store
  1196 Grand Ave
  Saint Paul, MN 55105-2633
  (651) 298-1144
QUESTION:
Has anyone used The Photography Shoppe for their wedding? (Texas- Austin)?
I’m just trying to find any reviews, good or otherwise, of your experiences with the Photography Shoppe in either Houston or Austin. If you could also share some of your pictures, that would be awesome!
- ANSWER:
  If you are not sure, don’t use them. Good Luck!
QUESTION:
Wedding Venue Advice?
I love Marvimon / Smog Shoppe as a wedding reception site. However, both are somewhat pricey when you start adding in all of the extras.

While I love those two places, I want to keep my options open and see other places of the same “nature”.

Does anyone know of other places in Los Angeles around SoCal that has a vibe sort of similar to Marvimon/Smog Shoppe?

The words I can use to describe these places are:
- rustic
- eclectic
- green
- earthy
- vintage modern

Their sites:

http://www.marvimon.com/

http://www.smogshoppe.com/

ANY help would be appreciated! I’m tired of looking at boring places!

Thanks so much!
Tamara
- ANSWER:
  here’s a few
  
  the rec center studio in echo park. contact http://www.reccenterstudio.com/flash/flash.html
  
  long beach museum of art. contact http://www.lbma.org/events.html
  
  a chair in the garden. contact http://achairinthegarden.com/Event_Garden.html
QUESTION:
need a rustic wedding venue?
I love Marvimon / Smog Shoppe as a wedding reception site. However, both are somewhat pricey when you start adding in all of the extras.

While I love those two places, I want to keep my options open and see other places of the same “nature”.

Does anyone know of other places in Los Angeles around SoCal that has a vibe sort of similar to Marvimon/Smog Shoppe?

The words I can use to describe these places are:
- rustic
- eclectic
- green
- earthy
- vintage modern

Their sites:

http://www.marvimon.com/

http://www.smogshoppe.com/

ANY help would be appreciated! I’m tired of looking at boring places!
- ANSWER:
  Pigeon Forge is the most beautiful place to get married. The smokies are so pretty in winter
  
  mypigeonforge.com
QUESTION:
Cake stores in downtown Toronto?
Does anyone know about any good bakery stores in downtown Toronto that make customized cakes? I know about She Takes The Cake and The Wedding Cake Shoppe. Are those any good at all? Any suggestion would help
- ANSWER:
  …personally I really like She Takes the Cake. Very good, especially for custom cakes.
  
  I’ve never been to the Wedding Cake Shoppe so I can’t say my opinion on that one.
  
  Another good one is The Cupcake Shoppe (they don’t do only cupcakes)
  here’s a link to their website:
  
  http://www.thecupcakeshoppe.ca/specialty_cakes.htm#12
  
  They are at 2417 yonge street
  2 blocks north of eglington avenue
  on the east side of yonge
  
  phone # is 416-322-6648
QUESTION:
Where’s a wedding reception venue in OC similar to Marvimon in LA?
We’re looking for a wedding rehearsal venue with character. We want something similar to the feel of Marvimon/Smog shoppe or a cool studio/warehouse or loft space. Exposed brick and ceilings are preferred. Here’s the catch…we need a venue to accommodate 160 people seated. Please send me your ideas and if we use your venue suggestion, drinks are on me (or maybe I’ll send you a BevMo gift card).
Thank you.
- ANSWER:
  coyote club
QUESTION:
I bought my wedding dress and love it but?
my fiance says he doesnt like the “skinny dresses” and my dress is skinny. He does like lacey dresses though, and my dress is lacey. here is a picture:

http://davidsbridal.com/bridal_gowns_detail.jsp?stid=1889&prodgroup=123

should I be worried, or what should I do? I love it, and was told by complete strangers (trying on other dresses) at the bridal shoppe that it was perfect on me, but I dont want to see the disapointment on my fiances face when I walk down the isle, I want him to love it. I know its just a dress, but still.
- ANSWER:
  Honey you are the bride and you are wearing the dress. As long as you think its the perfect dress dont worry about any negative comments! If you feel good in it why worry?
  
  Your fiance will completely forget about the dress when he see’s you walking down the aisle… so I wouldnt worry about him either…. he will be mesmerized by how beautiful you are.
  
  PS~ Men dont have that great of a fashion sense. Lolz
  
  CONGRATULATIONS and GOOD LUCK!
QUESTION:
Wedding bells, wedding PROBLEM?
So I was at my community college and everything was ok, we were in a lecture for biochemistry, and this girl, Tina smiled at me and then we both had lunch that afternoon in the cafeteria and she was eating two oranges for lunch and she said she forgot her sandwich she likes peanut butter with grape jelly and i gave her half of mine and we talked for a while and she said lets get some coffee later so we were at our local coffee shoppe later that night and i went to pay for our coffee and she said only get one, we’ll share, and that was cool, because i only had four dollars on me and we had it, she likes her coffee the same way i do too, black. so she said she had a great time and i dropped her off at home and when i did that she made the remark that since we were sharing so much, sandwiches, coffee, classes we were practically married and i was like WHOA! when did this happen?! I can’t figure it out, does anybody know how she married me without me knowing?
- ANSWER:
  She is the sneaky one, Kenny. Congratulations. Please let me know where you have registered so I can send the wedding gift.
QUESTION:
What Does “Off the Rack Mean”?
I was watching Friends the other night and it was the one where Monica learned that her parents spent her wedding fund on a beach house. Rachel made a comment like “oh no, that means you have to buy your dress off the rack.” What exactly does that mean? I bought my wedding dress at a bridal shoppe and they ordered me a new one in my size. Does this mean I bought my dress “off the rack?” Why do people think that is so bad anyway? As long as the dress looks beautiful who cares where you got it. We live in such a materialistic society.
- ANSWER:
  No you didn’t buy your dress “off the rack”. Off the rack means you go to a shop and find a dress that fits you decent and you buy it right there and then. You are buying the same dress everyone has tried on instead of the store ordering you one. Sometimes there is a discount for buying off the rack because you get the dress as is.There could be stains from other brides trying it on or bead work may have fallen off. Which is why a lot of people don’t like buying off the
QUESTION:
Does anyone have a full bridal slip that they want to get rid of?
My wedding is December 30th of this year and it really doesn’t make any sense to me to pay dollars at the bridal shoppe for a new slip when I’ll only wear it once. If you’re looking to sell yours and live in Pennsylvania email me at little_one_4_jc@yahoo.com.
- ANSWER:
  I have one, don’t know your size, but if you email me, I can talk about it with you.
QUESTION:
A Question for Ladies Who Spend Alot of Money Having Their Hair Done….?
You’re at the beauty shoppe getting your hair done for that special occasion, wedding, prom, date, etc… before you leave, it starts to pour outside, obviously, you don’t want
to ruin your “do”. the stylist comes up with a fold-up plastic rain bonnet… do you hesitate to use it, or, do you automatically take it and use it to protect your coif from the elements.. what would you do???
Would you keep it for future use??
- ANSWER:
  Well being that I am a hairstylist I keep those small clear trash bags on hand just in case of rainy days I know that trash bags are not all that great looking especially if you have to wear it on your head, but I have sent many of high dollar paying women out with them on their head, and believe you me they do not mind donning them either especially after they just paid 0 plus for their do. Good luck and don the bonnet.
QUESTION:
how hard would it be to make this skirt? can you use a regular skirt as the base?
my friend is having a wedding oct 10 (less than 2 weeks), her MOH fell off a horse and broke her leg and her shoulder, she is a size 6, so my friend asked one of her other friends to be in the wedding, the new friend is a size 16, and the dress shoppe can’t get a dress like this in before the wedding,

this dress but in lilac purple. now the dress is a 2 pc, and the bride could get a top for the new MOH, but not the skirt.

the new maid of honor has several skirts that go to the floor, so how hard would it be to make this skirt? how would you go about this? is it something that can be done before the wedding?

i have a sewing machine, but i don’t know how to use it, but my mom can sew, she’s busy, but i know she’s willing to help if it isn’t hard. we looked for patterns for this skirt and couldn’t find any

thank you for any and all suggestions.
oh, there are no dressmakers in our area, and the only one we could find said she doesn’t have enough time to make it.
- ANSWER:
  if you already have a skirt (she does) then just go get netting to make it fuller, then get whatever tulle matches the other dresses, and then you just sew it on the skirt, works great, don’t need a slip, been there.
QUESTION:
Good manga/anime?
Hi, I’m looking for some amazing manga or anime.

I’ve already read/am reading this manga:
The Gentlemen’s Alliance
Kitchen Princess
Shugo Chara
Pixie Pop
Mermaid Melody
A little snow fairy sugar
Kilala Princess
ultra maniac
yume kira dream shoppe
yume yume you you
koukou debut
milk crown series
sailor moon
wedding peach
galaxy angel
pita-ten
zodiac p.i.

I like shoujo and magical girl and romance mangas/animes.

animes i’ve watched/am watching:
sailor moon
wedding peach
galaxy angel
ultra maniac
shugo chara
mermaid melody
saint tail
tokyo mew mew
clannad
h20: foot prints in the sand
ef: a tale of memoires
lucky star
the melancholy of haruhi suzumiya

i like shows with a plot and romance.
any suggestions?
please put links to where i can read any scanulations or where i can buy or download.
thanks =]
- ANSWER:
  MANGA
  
  Peach Girl-a cute, romantic, shojo, love-triangle manga. It’s the story of a girl with unnaturally tan skin and bleached hair who is labeled as easy by her classmates because of her appearance and her attempts to woe her jr high buddy, Toji, with the obstacles of her conniving “best friend” and perverted, energetic, and handsome Kiley.
  
  Hana Kimi-About a girl who transfers to an all-boys school in Japan so she can meet her idol, a high jumper named Sano. But she has to pose as a boy, causing lots of mayhem. Very funny and cute.
  
  Aishiteruze Baby-A womanizer suddenly finds himself in charge of his five year old cousin. It’s the story of him dealing with that along with his first serious relationship with a girl. Adorable manga and a quick read.
  
  Hana Yori Dango (Boys Over Flowers)-A cute romance anime. About a poor girl at a rich, elite school who finds herself tangled up with the school’s bad boys-the F 4. The leader of the group, the violent and rash Tsukasa, and the quiet, stioc Rui both become potential love interests as the story progresses.
  
  Kare Kano-A pretty straight-laced story of an overchieving girl who puts on a perfect facade at school who meets her match in the equally fake Arima. There’s lots of emphasis on the side characters and their stories, which is a nice touch in my opinion.
  
  Land of the Blindfolded-About a girl who can see the future when she touches people and her relationship with a boy who can see the past and another boy who can see the future. This manga is very cute and good-I really enjoyed it. What I liked about it was there wasn’t a lot of wishy-washy-do-I-like-him-or-him type stuff, which is refreshing in a shojo manga. The powers of the protagonists gives the story an interesting twist. I’d recommend this one
  
  Absolute Boyfriend-This manga is about a girl who’s determined to have a boyfriend. So determined that she mail-orders a customized robot-boyfriend-thing. Little does she know that her next-door-neighbor childhood friend has had a crush on her for a long time. So basically, it turns into a love triangle between her, the perfect boyfriend, and the friend. What I really enjoyed about this manga was that it really wasn’t predictable. I found myself frequently wondering who she was ultimately going to end up with, and the very ending even has a nice twist. Very very good.
  
  Kare First Love-About a bespectacled girl who meets a handsome boy on a bus. After he accidentally lifts up her skirt, she calls him a pervert and runs off. But they keep running into each other, and they soon start to fall for each other. This manga is absolutely adorable. The ending is one of the sweetest I’ve ever seen. This is a good rainy-day read.
  
  Fruits Basket-A very, very good manga. About an orphaned girl named Tohru who begins living under the same roof as her popular classmate, Yuki Sohma. Soon, Tohru finds out that certain members of the Sohma family have a curse on them-when hugged by members of the opposite sex, they turn into animals from the zodiac. Since Tohru is a girl living with three of these guys, comedic situations obviously occur. There’s pretty much everything in this-romance, comedy, some magic…this manga is very, very popular, and for a good reason. The anime is also very good.
  
  Ouran High School Host Club-This manga is about a very bright but poor girl, Haruhi, who enrolls in a prestigious school. Due to her frumpy apperance, she is mistaken for a boy on the first day and becomes indebted to the school’s all-male host club. In order to pay them back, she must pose as a boy and solicit girls as a member of the club. My personal favorite manga-there’s romance, tons of comedy…it seriously makes me laugh out loud. A lot. It’s the only one of the mangas I’ve listed that’s ongoing. I love the anime for this one as well.
  
  All of these can either be read at http://www.onemanga.com or downloaded at http://www.mangatemple.com
  
  ANIME
  
  Lovely Complex-A very, very cute and romantic anime about a tall girl and a short boy. This anime is hilarious and has moments that just make you want to cheer from happiness. The relationship between the two main characters is complex and interesting and realistic and enjoyable to watch.
  http://www.veoh.com/channels/Polly70535434?searchId=7227688269342296437&rank=0 (subbed)
  http://www.animecrunch.com/episodes/lovely-complex/ (subbed)
  
  Peach Girl-I have not seen the anime for this, but I read the manga and loved it. A typical love triangle story, but with the added bonus of a main character who’s self concious about her tan skin and light hair, an absolutely horrible best friend, and one of my personal favorite anime/manga guys (Kiley!).
  http://www.animecrunch.com/episodes/peach-girl/ (subbed)
  http://www.veoh.com/channels/peach123?searchId=7227688269342304994&rank=0 (subbed)
  
  Kare Kano-I did not see the anime, but I really enjoyed the manga. The story of an overachieving perfectionist who meets her match in her new classmate. He seems absolutely perfect on the outside, but soon, both their perfect facades begin to fade as they discover each other’s true selves. Very cute and romantic . Although I have heard that the anime ending is one of those stupid unfinished ones…
  http://anime6.org/?p=246 (subbed)
  http://www.veoh.com/channels/hisandher2468?searchId=7227688269342306043&rank=0 (subbed)
  
  Marmalade Boy-This anime is longer, but cute. The story of a girl who falls for her new step-brother. There are tons of characters side relationships so you’re never quite bored. I’d recommend this. It’s also really fun to see the absolutely horrendous outfits the main girl wears.
  http://www.veoh.com/channels/angelbeth?searchId=7332443590344146620&rank=0 (dubbed)
  
  Chobits-This anime has elements of sci-fi and magic, but the overall premise is romance and comedy. Hideki, your typical anime cram-school-pervert, finds a persecom (robot) named Chi on the side of the road one day and decides to keep her. It’s the story of Hideki and Chi’s relationship, as they struggle with the question of whether they can truly be together. Very good and cute.
  http://www.animecrunch.com/episodes/chobits/ (subbed)
  http://www.veoh.com/channels/IwaDaiku3?searchId=1964375718507043576&rank=0 (dubbed)
  
  Ai Yori Aoshi-The story of the romance between Kaoru and Aoi, two childhood friends who promised to marry. Aoi, a shy, quiet girl, seeks Kaoru, a surprisingly decent guy, out and they rekindle their romance. But soon, due to a bunch of circumstances that I can’t remember, they have to move into a giant house with lots of other girls lodging in it, turning the anime into a harem. What I like about this is how Kaoru isn’t the typical pervert loser you seen in harems.
  http://www.animecrunch.com/episodes/ai-yori-aoshi/ (subbed)
  http://www.veoh.com/channels/quensAiYoriAoshi?searchId=4102782833791355398&rank=0 (dubbed)
  
  D.N.Angel-This has elements of magic and fighting. The overall premise isn’t romance or comedy, but both are involved. It’s about a boy named Daisuke who, when thinking about his crush, turns into a phantom thief named Dark. The anime deals with his growing relationships between two girls and his fights as Dark. I really enjoyed this anime, and it’s not lacking in the romance department.
  
  http://www.animecrunch.com/episodes/dn-angel/
  
  http://www.veoh.com/channels/manga4ever?searchId=2379163990832152684&rank=0 (dubbed)
  
  Shakugan no Shana-This is about this girl named Shana who is a Flame Haze, ie she fights these monster things that take people’s life forces. When a monster kills someone, the monster steals their existance, so Torches come in and replace the lost existance for a while in a sort of transition period before disappearing altogether and having everyone forget that person existed. Yuji, a high school boy, one day discovers that he is a Torch and that he will be disappearing soon. But what he doesn’t know is that he is a special kind of Torch. There’s romance between Yuji and Shana and definitely action (Shana has a sword. A big one.) and magic and some comedy.
  http://www.veoh.com/channels/56575875?searchId=5394234106271286170&rank=0 (subbed)
  
  Pretear-A magical girl anime that’s a reverse harem. It’s about this girl who becomes the new Pretear. Basically, her job is to help all these guys who are fighting someone who takes the Leafe (life) out of everything. There’s definitely some romance involved too and quite a lot of drama towards the end.
  http://www.animecrunch.com/episodes/pretear/ (subbed)
  http://www.veoh.com/channels/whitelegendpretear?searchId=7549129406774736602&rank=0 (subbed)
  
  Kanon (2002 version)-This is the story of a boy who returns to the town he used to play in as a child. While there, he encounters all the girls he met back when he was a child. It relies heavily on arcs-meaning that it will focus all of its attention on one particular character for a few episodes before moving onto the next character, making you really love all the characters. It has some tearjerking parts and romance and mystery and quite a lot of drama. There’s also some action/magic/swordfighting with one particular arc. Overall, very good. There was a new series made of Kanon in 2006 that was 24 episodes instead of 13. I haven’t seen the new one, but it follows the same basic storyline so I’d imagine it’s just as good. Made by the same people as Air.
  http://www.animecrunch.com/episodes/kanon/ (2006 version-subbed)
  http://www.veoh.com/channels/kanonfirsttvanime?searchId=4582433955719674163&rank=0 (2002 version-subbed)
QUESTION:
Is this story a tall tale?
Read thru the story and I’m not sure if it’s a talle tale. The website I got it from had it under the talle tales lablel;so I’m not quite sure.
website:http://www.americanfolklore.net/index.html

here’s the story
Jane wore a yellow ribbon around her neck everyday. And I mean everyday, rain or shine, whether it matched her outfit or not. It annoyed her best friend Johnny after awhile. He was her next door neighbor and had known Jane since she was three. When he was young, he had barely noticed the yellow ribbon, but now they were in high school together, it bothered him.

“Why do you wear that yellow ribbon around your neck, Jane?” he’d ask her every day. But she wouldn’t tell him.

Still, in spite of this aggravation, Johnny thought she was cute. He asked her to the soda shoppe for an ice cream sundae. Then he asked her to watch him play in the football game. Then he started seeing her home. And come the spring, he asked her to the dance. Jane always said yes when he asked her out. And she always wore a yellow dress to match the ribbon around her neck.

It finally occurred to Johnny that he and Jane were going steady, and he still didn’t know why she wore the yellow ribbon around her neck. So he asked her about it yet again, and yet again she did not tell him. “Maybe someday I’ll tell you about it,” she’d reply. Someday! That answer annoyed Johnny, but he shrugged it off, because Jane was so cute and fun to be with.

Well, time flew past, as it has a habit of doing, and one day Johnny proposed to Jane and was accepted. They planned a big wedding, and Jane hinted that she might tell him about the yellow ribbon around her neck on their wedding day. But somehow, what with the preparations and his beautiful bride, and the lovely reception, Johnny never got around to asking Jane about it. And when he did remember, she got a bit teary-eyed, and said: “We are so happy together, what difference does it make?” And Johnny decided she was right.

Johnny and Jane raised a family of four, with the usual ups and downs, laughter and tears. When their golden anniversary rolled around, Johnny once again asked Jane about the yellow ribbon around her neck. It was the first time he’d brought it up since the week after their wedding. Whenever their children asked him about it, he’d always hushed them, and somehow none of the kids had dared ask their mother. Jane gave Johnny as sad look and said: “Johnny, you’ve waited this long. You can wait awhile longer.”

And Johnny agreed. It was not until Jane was on her death bed a year later that Johnny, seeing his last chance slip away, asked Jane one final time about the yellow ribbon she wore around her neck. She shook her head a bit at his persistence, and then said with a sad smile: “Okay Johnny, you can go ahead and untie it.”

With shaking hands, Johnny fumbled for the knot and untied the yellow ribbon around his wife’s neck.

And Jane’s head fell off.
- ANSWER:
  It was made up years ago as a ghost story. I remember kids telling me it when I was a kid and that was around 18 years ago so yeh, it’s been around a while…
QUESTION:
What would you do? If you were the bride? If you were the business owner?
Our local newspaper ran a story about a local bride and her maid of honor. This bride went into a local bridal shoppe and ordered her dress, her bridesmaids and maid of honor’s dresses and her mother and mother-in-law’s dresses. She paid for all of them upfront. She did this in September 2008. The dresses were to be ordered and then when received back in the store they were to be altered if needed. In October 2008 her maid of honor was killed. (the wedding was the first part of Jan. 2009). Since the dress had already been ordered (yet wasn’t back yet) she asked for a refund. The maid of honor’s parents didn’t want another reminder around of what their daughter was missing by dying. The owner of the bridal store was vacationing in France at the time and was not available to make a decision at that time. The store personnel offered to buy the dress back at cost, but only the wholesale cost, not the original retail cost. The dress cost 7.00. When the owner returned she told the bride that her policy was no refunds and she has had several people lie about deaths in the past. This time it was no lie. Even though, she would not refund the dress. Another part of the story also states that the mother-in-law’s dress was to be ordered in a size 1, they received it 2 weeks before the wedding in a size 10. Too late to be altered. They were not given a refund for this either. Do you sympathize with the store owner for following her no refunds policy or do you sympathize with the bride who not only is out several hundred dollars (for the maid of honor’s dress that was never worn and the mother in law’s dress that was the wrong size) but also feels slighted by the lack of compassion over the death of her friend? What is your opinion? The story is on the link below.

http://www.pjstar.com/news/x101110167/Luciano-Once-a-purchase-always-a-purchase

The dresses were ordered in Sept. 2008 for a January wedding. The mother-in-law’s dress was ordered the same time as everyone else’s yet arrived just 1 week before the event (not 2 weeks as i previously stated) in a size 10 and not a 1 as was ordered. There were also unauthorized alterations on the bridesmaids dresses that ended up not being right. (wrong colors, wrong sizes) yet the store owner still stood behind her *no refund* policy.
- ANSWER:
  The salon owner (or staff) could easily have cancelled the order for the one dress. As the order was cancelled several months before the dress would have arrived, it has probably not yet been started. Bridal gowns are normally ordered a minimum of three months in advance. The owner would have been rude, but had the right to expect that the death be confirmed by a death certificate or published obituary.
  
  The dress which was ordered in the wrong size should have been replaced by another dress in the correct size of equal or similar value. The store owner could easily have had the wrong sized dress resewn – it does not take a week to sew a dress. The store owner would have a number of qualified seamstresses available to do that as a rush order.
  
  Hopefully, enough future brides read this so that they do not shop at this store. The treatment suffered by this bride in the loss of her friend and the resultant dress fiasco was unbelievable. Surely, a little compassion was to be expected
QUESTION:
Am I wrong?
My mother hasn’t talked to me since before Easter, because I won’t let her run the show for my bridal shower. I told her that the girls are going to do everything because they are the ones paying for it. At first she loved the idea because she can show up and relax & have a good time. Now she is mad because she doesn’t like what the girls picked out for the menu. I reminded her again that the girls are paying & that she really doesn’t have a say. She made a HUGE fit in the middle of the bridal shoppe when we were picking out bride’s maid dresses & said that if she doesn’t have it her way than she is not coming. It made me really upset nevermind it being very embarassing so, I told her if that is how she feels, than I am sorry she won’t be there. In the meantime, she is telling the whole family that I refuse to let her come to the bridal shower & that she’s not even invited to the wedding, which I never said. Now they are telling me I should appologize. I feel I did nothing wrong!
Oh yeah, I went to the house for Mother’s Day, she wasn’t there so I left her a card and present. She sent me an email instead of calling me to thank me. I feel I am going out of my way to try and make amends but she wants no part of it, even demanding my father not to talk to me!
- ANSWER:
  You did nothing wrong at all. Send her an invitation to all the showers and the wedding. Tell the people who ask you if she is not invited that you aren’t sure where she got that idea, but you would very hurt if she didn’t come. Then, let her make her own decisions.
QUESTION:
What would be a good weight loss regimen for a 5’3 woman with a bmi of 34?
I know about the exercises and stuff, and about portion control. But what supplements should I take? My thyroid is a little low so I was thinking about taking the vitamin shoppe brand thyroid sp-26, solgar’s herbal diuretic, and irwin naturals oolong and matcha tea capsules.

Any other recommendations? I know its not that healthy to take all of that at once, but I need to drop 60+ pounds by January next year for my wedding. I need something that will help me drop it fast and that I can taper off later. I don’t need to hear preaching about how bad it is, I already know. My mom is a nutritionist and is driving me up the wall. But I know my metabolism just doesn’t work that fast. But its not slow enough to get on prescribed medication. I already cut out most salt and sugars and I drink a gallon or more of water a day. I go for three walks a day about a mile each time in the stroller or on my bike with my daughter. And I’m eating fist sized portions. In two months I have lost three freakin pounds, and now because of water weight on my period I just gained it back. I’m very frustrated and discouraged. So please no preaching, I’m desperate…
- ANSWER:
QUESTION:
Black and white image.. HELP!?
I fell totally in love with an image i saw years ago. I committed it to memory, as it is something I wanted to re-create.. but now I have NO idea where I saw it.
It’s a black and white, of a man and woman in what LOOKS like a hotel room, or bedroom, the eiffel tower is visable outside the window, and the woman was leaning back (maybe with her feet up) from a vanity while the man was on the bed looking at her.
I really want to re-stage this picture for one of my wedding pic in Paris… but I am not sure if this is an old print that maybe I saw in a shoppe..? Or maybe I even saw it as an ad in W magazine.. I have literally NO clue.
Does anyone know what I am talking about, or where I could find out? It’s obviously impossible to google!
I found it! I had superimposed two images in my mind.. one.. ‘Bis’ by Pamela Hanson (in New York, not Paris) and.. actually, and Avedon picture I don’t know the name of.
I used photobucket and totally found a print I can study.
Thank you so much for your help and WONDERFUL tips!!
- ANSWER:
  It sounds like an Avedon photo. Try to google the photos taken by Richard Avedon and see if any that come up fit the bill. Hope that helps.
QUESTION:
Heir Quest for The Sims Medieval?
I’ve gotten up to the part where I need to marry my sim. So, I went to the Village Shoppe to get rings. They weren’t there. So I tried to marry them anyway and it said, “The wedding had to be canceled! What did you forget? The rings? The pulpit? The bride and groom?” So, I’m not sure what I should do. I restarted the game and the rings still weren’t there. Do I need to buy a pulpit?
Oh, and I joined the Jacobean faith and tried to do it that way, but it still didn’t work.
Thanks for your answers(:
I guess I’ll just keep trying…I’m just getting really far behind:/ What ale are you talking about?
- ANSWER:
QUESTION:
Wedding bells, wedding PROBLEM!?
So I was at my community college and everything was ok, we were in a lecture for biochemistry (MY FAVORITE SUBJECT), and this girl, Tina, who’s favorite subject is also biochem, smiled at me and then we both had lunch that afternoon in the cafeteria and she was eating two oranges for lunch and she said she forgot her sandwich she likes peanut butter with grape jelly and i gave her half of mine because that is what I was eating and she gave me some orange back, and we talked for a while and she said lets get some coffee later so we were at our local coffee shoppe later that night and i went to pay for our coffee and she said only get one, we’ll share, and that was cool, because i only had four dollars on me and we had it, she likes her coffee the same way i do too, black. so she said she had a great time and i dropped her off at home and when i did that she made the remark that since we were sharing so much, sandwiches, coffee, classes we were practically married and i was like WHOA! when did this happen?! I can’t figure it out, does anybody know how she married me without me knowing?
no i want to spend time with her i just didnt know we got married! how did she do that?!
- ANSWER:
  I can see how you got married – you must have some eye sight issues.