Jesse Spears, whose job title runs something like “Draw-er of boxy cars, boobs, and sassy ladies/Vice-President of Development: Semi-Sarcastic Sentiment Division,” joined me and my fellow former child star/Mean magazine editor Mya Stark in “Little Osaka” (Sawtelle Blvd., between Olympic and Santa Monica) the other night for a delicious dinner at the Giant Robot restaurant, GR Eats. I’ve had a few different things there, and I think my favorite is the shrimp curry. Also, the veggie meatballs are like nothing else on Earth. Not to mention the mixed fries that have yams and dried banana slices in them (and I usually hate bananas!)– but I digress– I’m getting off track here.
After dinner we were wandering around Sawtelle, searching for a stationary store, when I looked up and noticed a big glowing sign on the second floor of a nondescript Japanese-style shopping center. “Pixel Memory Studio,” it read, and I couldn’t help hoping it was some sort of stealth marketing campaign/alternate reality game tie-in for a new Michel Gondry film. Actually, it was something almost as good: a Purikura shop.
But Pixel Memory Studio goes beyond the simple simulacrum of Purikura’s visual diabetes by offering a variety of Japanese video games and flashy accessories for girls to decorate themselves with: tiny dogs and shoes dangling from necklaces, lip plumper, snap-on eyelashes, cell phone charms, and creepy-snazzy artificial fingernails. Mya ended up going home with a pricey pair of bejeweled nails on her hands, with plastic bows portruding from their slick acrylic surfaces. “I’m gonna go for an evil queen look,” she gloated, before panicking at the loss of her motor skills. “Use your knuckles,” Jesse reccomended.
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