Charity shops and soul food...

I was in Preston last week. A town about an hour and a half south of here. Turns out it's the charity shop capital of the United Kingdom. Or at least I assume it is. It must be. It's like an elderly person's (or my) dreamland. Second hand shops as far as the eye can see! Stores full of second hand clothes and music and books! What's better than that? In all seriousness few things excite me more when I'm out shopping or roaming around a new town than stumbling upon an Oxfam shop.

 In Preston it seems like every street has a charity shop on it. And yes, they have an Oxfam. I found a sweet copy of Waylon Jennings greatest hits in there. And books! Oh the books. I'd even discovered whilst researching Preston charity shops online before my trip(yes, I do that) that Preston had an Oxfam Vintage shop. For anyone unfamiliar with Oxfam that's where they send all the really sweet second hand clothes. Manchester has a great Oxfam Vintage shop in the Northern Quarter.

Anyway, so it was that I walked off the train in Preston excited about a rare visit to an Oxfam Vintage shop, and so after completing my business I walked to the street where the shop was supposed to be, and walked up it and down it, back and forth for an hour. I could not find it. I could only assume it had closed at some point. Or it was somehow invisible to my Canadian eyes. I was disappointed but the variety and quantity of other charity shops helped dull the pain. During my searching I found a copy of Grinderman 2 in a British Heart Foundation. A copy of Rounds by Fourtet in a small local charity shop.

I also stumbled on a great record shop called Action Records and bought a copy of Dr John's Gumbo for a fiver. For high quality second hand music it was a good day. Oh and I also passed my Life in the UK test. I guess that's of some consequence, too. Shortly after passing my test, I was walking around trying to find Preston's fabled Oxfam Vintage and stumbled accidentally on Coco's Soul Food. I knew immediately it would be wonderful because when it comes to food I'm good like that. I got a Smokey Barbecue Caribbean Chicken Burger and Fries, and yes, it was a majestic celebration meal. I took some picture's to remember it by:

I also found a copy of It Might As Well Be Swing by Frank Sinatra and Count Basie at the Scope charity shop here in town. 

Oh and I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying the newest series of Treme. I don't think a better show has been made about community and music. It's uplifting and heartbreaking and just a whole lotta fun to watch. David Simon's importance to American television and American culture in general cannot be overestimated. No one else is as obsessed with showing you the absolute truth as he is. Treme is an incredible celebration of the great city of New Orleans and a scathing critique of how badly it has been mistreated during and post Katrina.

On a final note I'm going to see Paranormal Activity 3 tonight with my wife, and my brother in law and his wife. So, yeah, there goes sleeping peacefully for the next two or three days. It's gonna be great.