Pop-culture paradise: The Washington Post spotlights a quirky Alexandria, Va., shop called Card & Comic Collectorama and Exotic Planterium, which features everything from old comic books and used videos to Star Trek cards and, um, plants:

"The eyes glaze over before they can focus. Comics and comic book memorabilia -- posters, mobiles and cardboard stand-ups -- brighten the room, where the plants get natural light.

"The wall behind the sales counter is covered with vintage comics in clear plastic bags, including a $115 copy of Marvel's Strange Tales No. 115, published in 1963, in which Dr. Strange's origin is revealed; No. 3 of the first printing of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1984), from when they weren't yet a kid craze, for $25; and Bewitched No. 1 (1965), Dell's version of the fantasy sitcom, for $20.

"Just inside the door are such curiosities as a 25-cent plastic rosary, a half-dozen 'wheatback' pennies, dice bearing pictures of animals and an official photo of Peter Falk as Columbo."