As some of you may remember, Animated Meat first came to life in 2008 as a way to document some sights that managed to slip through the cracks of most popular travel websites. You may also remember that the original website was built on Apple's now defunct iWeb. From there, it migrated over to WordPress where it met an untimely demise at the hands of Russian hackers. Many of those old, pre-2012 entries have found a new home here in the Before the Now section. I would consider these posts as my starting place as a writer, probably comparable to a musician's first demo tapes. They are very rough, but I took them all seriously and wrote each one with passion. While I would like to believe that I have matured in my abilities as a writer, it is my hope that I carry this same blind passion into all of my new efforts.

La Bomba - Originally Published 2009

July 31, 2018

As near as I can tell, there are two big differences between a thrift store and a vintage clothing store. The first difference are the prices, but that goes without saying. The second difference is that vintage stores actually spend a little more time organizing.

Deep in the Pomona Arts Colony is La Bomba. This is a vintage clothing store. I’m not much of a fashionista, but it appears that they have stuff from all decades. It’s swimming in inventory and they use every available space to stock their wares. If you are looking for that perfect piece of vintage foppery, this is a great place to start off. Chances are if they don’t have it, no one will.

Aside from the clothes, this place just had a good vibe going for it. It seemed like a really relaxed atmosphere where a fellow can procure a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and a pork pie hat. Good attention to detail and design.