Disaffected Prep

Lay Your Hands (On These Bags)

2011-12-13T22:47:00.001-05:00

Hudson Sutler, Quality Purveyors of Sensible Merchandise
Find Hudson Sutler on Facebook

Grant Hewit of Hudson Sutler

I spend a lot of time thinking about people and things that "get it." It's a hard concept to explain, but you can feel it when someone is picking up what you're putting down. Like that girl that sends you a package of beef jerky and beer from Thanks, Bro - she gets it. The person who sends a handwritten thank you note instead of an email. Yeah, they get it too.

Well, my buddy Grant Hewit gets it too.

I've known Grant since high school and I'm proud to say we went to Delbarton School together. Grant was always a solid dude in many ways and it's no surprise that he's found something special in the new company he's founded, Hudson Sutler.

Hudson Sutler specializes in high quality, American-made duffel bags in multiple sizes. All bags feature nickel hardware, rustproof resin zippers, plaid interiors and interior zippers.

I really dig the red white and blue combination here

I really can't overemphasize enough how just "perfect" these bags are. They're the right size, the right colors, the right amount of details. They're instant classics.

Grant and I met up last Friday at the Australian to catch up on old times and talk about his new venture. I took some photos of the gear in action and also posed some questions to Grant. We also made friends with Erin at the Australian and she was gracious enough to model some of the gear too. Thanks Erin!

In front of the bar or behind it - you look cool with a Hudson Sutler

Dan: Tell me about the inspiration behind Hudson Sutler.

Grant: Hudson Sutler was really born from an appreciation of well made, timeless American classic "staples". Think Brooks Brothers trailblazing the button down collar, Levi brothers putting denim jeans on the map, (I'd love to be able to speak to Budweiser here, but for some reason I just can't get over the InBev buyout....and yes I'm aware Claudio del Vecchio is as American as Snooki's tan is real) Even flip-flops are an American staple, I'm not sure who invented them, but I'm pretty certain Rainbows perfected them. Unfortunately many of these items are no longer actually made here, but to me they're still very much "American Inspired." So with Hudson Sutler, we wanted to take a bit of a counter approach, take an item that's derived from elsewhere (Duffel bags are named for a town in Belgium funny enough) that have had some American-ization and take it a step further by producing them here in the US of A. Our very early design concepts had the bags more similar both in look, and feel, as authentic US Military issue duffel bags, which probably helps explain our name a bit as well. In our eyes, the heavy cotton canvas, can take a beating and still look very classic commuter and weekender bag is one of the American "staples" that's really lost out in the wake of all these rolling bags and hard shell, 76 compartment rolling offices you can find in a SkyMall catalog. We really wanted to go back to the archives, when things were made with pride and care and frankly, it showed. We wanted to bring back that staple the every guy should have. A bag that fits what you need (not everything you own), and looks good doing it.

Grant and a Hudson Sutler bag: two great things made in America

Dan: Awesome. One of the details I really love is the plaid interior/lining; it brings the bag a step up. Where did that idea come from?

Grant: It's funny, early on in our design process it wasn't something we discussed really. Our aim was to make a very classic looking bag, but still make it distinctive. We toyed around with some other ideas, like waxed cotton interiors and eventually that conversation evolved into cotton shirting material. In some of our original designs we had them as contrast color, solid liners and it just didn't look as we wanted, so we made a prototype with an American flag style fabric liner. (I actually carry that prototype around pretty much daily.) At that point we had a number of fabric swatches that we really thought would work well paired with certain bag exterior/handle combos. If you could have seen my apartment at that time you would have thought I was a hoarder who had a thing for blackwatch plaid and gingham fabrics. I guess the plaid liners to us were about taking a classic staple and putting our touch of personality on it.

Here's a closeup shot of the plaid interior as well as the interior pocket

Dan: Wow - waxed cotton is interesting and I never thought about going that route. Perhaps something to think about for the exterior at some point... Anyway - before we hit our lightning round - why go with the oversized zippers... what's the story behind that?

Grant: Certainly for the exterior, the only issue being that the treatment of waxed cotton does rub off on other fabrics in certain situations...so we were concerned about using waxed cotton for the exterior of a bag that's intended for everyday use. Ahhh, I forgot to mention the resin zippers. We went with the thick resin zipper for three reasons. First and foremost, they're not brass or metal of any kind, and thus won't rust when you (expectantly) bring these bags everywhere you go. I've had bags in the past that did it all, and in the end succumbed to that nasty greenish staining that metal zippers cause when they get wet too many times. With using resin, we removed that problem and we expect these bags to last as long as you need them too without finding their way out of your daily use just because the zipper got rusty. Secondly, the thick style zipper is far more durable than its thinner counterpart whose teeth are more likely to break and/or get jammed. With the thick zipper those frustrating "stuck zipper" moments become something of the past, and good riddance. Lastly, but most certainly not least, the thick resin zippers to us just have a much better feel and look to them. We chose contrast colors to give the bag some more character and when you look closely, all the stitching on the bag is with contrast stitching. So while the choice is very practical, there is an element of just flat vanity included. It just looks good....which is pretty much how I feel about most classic American things.

White zippers are cool

Dan: Alright awesome. So let's move into something I call the lightning round I'm gonna toss you a question or a scenario and you hit me up with an answer and a quick explanation.

Imagine you live in a world where you must choose either to have croakies or mid calf socks - but NOT both. Which one do you choose?

Grant: Gotta go mid calf socks. I love croakies and all, but nothing is more amazing than old videos of guys in the 70s working out in short shorts, handle bar mustaches and mid calf socks with the 2 stripes up top. Nothing.

Dan: Can't argue with that, that would be my pick too. Alright, I know that you have one of the greatest 1980's movies, Rad, on DVD, even though technically it is only available as VHS. What's it like having like one of the two copies of Rad on DVD?

Grant: As a gift I can honestly say I've bragged more about getting Rad on DVD than I have anything in my life. Knowing Rad in general is pretty solid 80s street cred, but knowing its not on DVD makes you practically part of Cru's Crew.

Dan: If Hudson Sutler had a theme song, what would it be? Must be from the 70s or 80s.

Grant: Lay your Hands on me by Bon Jovi. Not sure it reflects our brand, but its just plain awesome. (Also in the running: Badlands by Bruce Springsteen)

Dan: It's been a dinger of a night out and you want to get something to eat at 3am. You have the option of IHop, Denny's, Friendly's or White Castle. (Imagine these restaurants all operate in NYC)

Grant: Being that I can't remember the last time I went to IHOP, Denny's or White Castle, I guess Friendly's takes this out of default. I'd prefer to just answer Cluck U Chicken though.

Dan: Ahhhh can't believe I left Cluck-U off the list! Good catch Grant. OK, lastly who's your pick for 2012 college lacrosse (Princeton excluded)

Grant: If the Tigers are out (which clearly is my pick) I'd gotta give a nod to my guy Bill Tierney at Denver. (Although part of me would like to see the boys at Maryland walk with some hardware. Its been a long time...)

Dan: That's it from my end - make sure you check out Hudson Sutler!

Ladies look great with a Hudson Sutler bag too

How to Sling Your Loved Ink

2011-12-05T21:08:00.001-05:00

I thought of writing about the different types (archetypes?) of literary tote bags out there on the interwebs but found I was already beaten to the punch by the likes of flavorpill and vol 1 brooklyn.

Vol 1 even did the whole, 'what this bag says about you' in the vein of Lauren Leto's cyno-reductionist Judging a Book By Its Lover mini-festo. (Note: read my pal Zack's profile of Lauren)

From Vol 1 Brooklyn:

The Paris Review tote: You really want to impress somebody by letting them know you read The Paris Review. (Don’t worry, we’ve all been there.)
The N+1 tote: You probably mention in conversation that when you receive a new issue of N+1, you skip straight to the Marco Roth piece.

Shit. I was going to namedrop n+1! (though I go straight to the 'Intellectual Situation,' personally). If Vol 1 scrubbed that corner of the literary universe, what else is out there for me to talk about? How can I get a seat at the literary tote bag table?

I find my ways.

Check it - the ingenious crafters over at Etsy always come through in the clutch.

Need to profess you love of Pride & Prejudice (& Flowers?)

Mr. Darcy to Lizzy Bennet! Love it! From Brookish's Etsy page.

Maybe you find that too sentimental and want to push your luv of modernism on the L train?

Well, 250Union's Etsy page has got you covered if you've got a jones for Joyce.

But what if Ulysses is a tad too heavy for you cause you're really just more into visceral experiences like getting drunk and writing over-hyped (whoooops) poems about chicks on your 'typer'?

Then buy this Bukowski tote at polymer's Etsy page.

Remember how Mel Gibson in Conspiracy Theory (1997) compulsively bought copies of Catcher in the Rye whenever he saw a copy for sale?

He'd probably OCD over the above bag, too. From imissyoualready

OK. So everything I mentioned is very author-specific. What if you just want to say you like books, but also enjoy a particular song from Sir-Mix-A-Lot's 1992 album, Mack Daddy?

Feel free to pack away War and Peace or William Vollmann's Imperial or something with this tote from PamelaFugateDesigns. Maybe just carry your groceries in it. Who cares? The bag is awesome.

Dave Kusworth is Cooler Than You

2011-09-05T14:21:00.000-04:00

Dave Kusworth

My friend and bandmate Mike has been instrumental in the development of my rock 'n roll knowledge. He was the first person to introduce me to Johnny Thunders, Jesse Malin and Paul Westerberg's solo stuff. Mike's kinda like that cooler older brother with that killer vinyl collection and who'll let you constantly bum his menthols and never give you shit about about it.

Another one of those bands he introduced me to was the Jacobites, led by Nikki Sudden and Dave Kusworth, who tragically wrote the best rock music in the vein of the Faces, the Stones and Neil Young ten years after those bands enjoyed the apex of their commercial success with a general audience.

Dave Kusworth (left) and Nikki Sudden (RIP Nikki)

I was immediately hooked on Kusworth's songs and especially his look. He just looked so fucking cool in that strange paradoxical melding of devil-may-care attitude with heart-on-the-sleeve romanticism. Here's AllMusic describing Kusworth's solo release, Wives, Weddings and Roses: A tear-stained meeting of Johnny Thunders' "You Can't Put Your Arms Around a Memory," the Rolling Stones' "Wild Horses," and Neil Young's "Down by the River" wrapped in scarves, bound up in leather pants, and shrouded by cigarette smoke.

Exactly.

Kusworth is influenced by Keith Richards in his looks as well as the music he creates, no doubt. In fact I've seen some pictures of Kusworth on the web mistakenly tagged as Keith Richards. That said, Kusworth lands more solidly on the "tragic Byronic romantic hero" end of the rock spectrum. How tragically under appreciated is Kusworth? Dude doesn't even have a Wikipedia page.

Can't remember where I got this - if it's your pic let me know

A major component to Kusworth's look are his myriad of scarves that he wraps around his head (Lord Byron rocked head scarves too). Here's an email conversation between Mike and I on the subject of Kusworth's scarves:

Dan: Where do you think Kusworth gets all his scarves from?
Mike: You can get that type of scarf from girls you've had meaningful but doomed relationships with, so that every time you wear it, you can still smell her perfume and remember the time you got stuck in a downpour walking with her by the old church yard.
Dan: Haha, the line is so thin between Romantics and Goths. If it were midnight at the church graveyard it would be Goth.
Mike: Yeah this happens definitely during the day. The streets at night are no place for a British dandy.
Dan: ...carrying a copy of Rimbauld's collected poems.
Mike: ...while mentally comparing love and flowers
Dan: ...while holding an umbrella to shield you from the sun so as not to alter your visage's deathly pallor
Mike: Haha, I bet he was terrible at sports
Dan: Exactly, in high school instead of playing sports he wrote poetry underneath the bleachers while smoking clove cigarettes, pining after the popular girls in English class he couldn't muster the courage to talk to.

Awesome photo of Kusworth (right) from this Flickr page

Of course though, image is nothing without good music to back it up. This is one of Kusworth's more recent tunes, "It Comes and it Goes." There's barely 100 views of this video. That's criminal! It's one of the best rock songs I've ever listened to!

It's acoustic and electric; heartfelt and cocky; loving and forlorn; new yet timeless. In other words, it's a great rock 'n roll song.

Here's another from the Jacobites era with Nikki Sudden:

"So she waits there on the stairs at four o'clock / I'll buy her some roses but I'm scared of what it costs / And then she promises she'll buy me everything / but all I want for her is to pin her heart to me"

Isn't that what the best songs and poems are about, whether it's Andrew Marvell or Keith Richards writing them? Wanting someone to pin their heart to you, to tether their dreams to your own?

I think so.

Lit Nerdery Round-Up

2011-06-12T14:46:00.000-04:00

Seen some good book related content floating around on the Internet recently:

Plausible-Seeming but Tonally Inappropriate Book Covers:

Kinda would have like to have seen Ed Banky's car perhaps, or the ducks in Central Park, but this cover is pretty good.

Part of the Seth Cohen Starter-Pack.

Would also make a pretty good Pink Floyd cover, if you ask me.

LOVE. THIS.
Would have kinda liked to have seen a group shot of Hal, John "N.R." Wayne, Pemulis and Mario, but really can't quibble.

Postertext

These guys make posters using the entire text of a classic book. Un. Real.

For example, Gatsby:

Super cool general-literary-news-website Vol 1 Brooklyn also has a cafe press site where they sell 11x17 literary trading card posters. Only one right now, but they went with DFW, so solid choice. I bought one of these a few months ago.

Speaking of Brooklyn and DFW, Neighborhoodies also sells a Wallace homage of sorts: Enfield Tennis Academy t-shirts. I also own one of these, and got a head nod from one of the librarians the other day when I wore it to the library. Those who know, know.

Lastly, a tumblr dedicated to images of Lisa Simpson reading books. Genius.

The Greatest Invention Since the High Five: Thanks, Bro Beef Jerky & Beer Delivery

2011-04-03T13:46:00.000-04:00

Thanks, Bro Beef Jerky & Beer Delivery
Find Thanks, Bro on Facebook and Twitter

There have a number of great inventions in the history of bros. The first pull-tab beer can (1962). STX manufactures the first urethane plastic lacrosse head (1970). Dave Matthews Band forms in Charlottesville, Virginia (1991).

Add one more to that list: Josh Folan founds Thanks, Bro Beef Jerky & Beer Delivery in New York City (March 2011).

(Josh Folan of Thanks, Bro)

Imagine a buddy just did you a solid. Helped you install that new 42" HD flatty. Took a grenade for you so you could talk up that Villanova chick at Dorrian's. The reasons for thanking are numerous, though the means are limited. Is an Edible Arrangement fruit basket really appropriate when your bro still crushes beer cans over his head when things get heated in college football?

Of course not. Enter Thanks, Bro.

T,B is a delivery service in Manhattan (below 96th street) that specializes in gifts for that important broseph if your life. Like a version of a dude's Occam's Razor, T,B keeps its gift packages pretty simple: namely, beef jerky and beer (though bro-erfic add-ons like Yankees hats are available).

After hearing about Thanks, Bro through UrbanDaddy (natch), I placed two orders for buddies of mine. I was so fascinated with the simplistic beauty of the business model that I approached Josh for an interview on Disaffected Prep.

We met up this weekend at a park on 29th and 2nd and I took some pictures with the CBO (Chief Bro Officer).

(Josh and I both realized that this little guy was a definite bro in training. Backwards baseball cap, hoodie, tennis racquet and warm up pants. The bro-force is strong with this one.)

Here is our interview.

Dan: Where did the inspiration for Thanks, Bro come from, and what was it like starting up the business?

Josh: The idea stemmed from a frustrating personal experience I encountered while trying to send a bro-ey surgeon I owed a thank you to some time ago after doing me the solid of fixing my face after a broken cheekbone. I couldn’t find anywhere that would deliver beef jerky and beer, the ultimate male gift combo, in a gift context. No one. In Manhattan. Which still blows my mind. You can get ANYthing delivered anywhere in less than an hour in this town, except beef jerky and beer…at least until now. Enter Thanks, Bro. As for getting started, it basically required just deciding to do it and then sitting down for a couple nights building the illustrious website, followed by another two days social media-ing the shit out of it. By Monday of the following week Urban Daddy picked the story up and we were off and running.

Dan: Awesome. Yeah I saw the UrbanDaddy email and immediately forwarded to a couple of buds saying THIS IS GENIUS. So what's the reception been like so far? Is it mostly bros sending it to other bros or are the brosephinas ordering as well?

Josh: Bro-ettes have been VERY active in ordering in the first few weeks of operation. Just finished processing one a few minutes ago between a sister and her brother (and his wife, amusingly), in fact. I recall making a delivery from a woman to a guy they just wanted to thank for dinner over the weekend – a first date Thanks, Bro, perhaps? Seems a pretty cool way to make a lasting impression on a bro you want to get involved with, bro-ettes…

Dan: Definitely. So what's been the most popular beer so far - I'm guessing Blue Moon and Bud Diesel?

Josh: A lot of Blue Moon, yes. Magic Hat moves. Certainly Bud and its lighter counterpart. Ideally none of these will be on the Thanks, Bro landscape down the road, though. I’m working to establish relationships with micro and local brews that will fill out the product selection, much like I’ve already began doing with the jerky, which I think will further separate Thanks, Bro from what you could get yourself from Duane Reade.

(Actual picture of the Thanks, Bro package I sent to my buddy Peter as a housewarming gift. You have the option of including a personalized message that Josh will handwrite for you)

Dan: Oh wow very cool. Yeah I guess you lead into my next question. What's next for Thanks, Bro? My friend Peter (the bud heavy package you delivered) suggested scotch and fillets. I was thinking maybe a Bro weekend pack with beer, jerky, a Top Gun DVD and maybe Yankees tix or something. So fill us in with your plan.

Josh: At the top of the order form, and reiterated in the FAQ, is a note about the openness we have towards the suggestion of custom made-to-order Thanks, Bro packages. So the more creative a thanker wants to get with their thankee, the better. If it’s feasible, we’ll do our damndest to make it happen. And just thinking about it now, maybe we’ll even name good ones after the thanking bro and feature them on the site under the name of their originator. Beyond client ideas, I’m always brewing up ideas with the marketing consultants I’m lucky enough to be working with one this on ways to bro-out Thanks, Bro in any way possible.

Dan: That's a great idea Josh. OK, I figured we could finish up the interview with something of a "Bro Lightning Round." What's more bro, North Face or Patagonia?

Josh: Northface. Frat-tastic bros everywhere agree.

Dan: High five or bro hug?

Josh: Bro hug. Don’t fear showing your bro love.

Dan: Top Gun or Braveheart?

Josh: Top Gun. Braveheart is too bad-ass, bro.

Dan: Del Frisco's or Peter Luger's?

Josh: Luger's, bro.

Dan: Who has the best flow in college lacrosse?

Josh: Billy Jackson. My freshman year college roommate (and lacrosse player) at OSU, circa `99. He was 5’7”, 150lbs on a good day and I watched him crack a half-full 40-ounce over some kid twice his size’s head.

Dan: Well that about does it for the interview Josh. Thanks, bro.

Josh: Thank you, bro.

Upon the impending release of the unfinished novel by one of the most celebrated writers of our generation, some thoughts, however scattered, on the upcoming bombardment of reviews to which we will be subjected come April 2011.

2011-03-26T12:59:00.001-04:00

If David Foster Wallace’s literary frenemy, Jonathan Franzen, had the “literary moment of the year” in 2010, then it is pretty clear that 2011 will be the literary year for the late DFW. Before eliminating his own map (1) in 2008, Wallace left behind an unfinished novel, The Pale King. A story of IRS tax collectors, it is set for release, suitably, on April 15.

With the date approaching, the tidal wave of hype is just starting crank up. Witness the touching 45-min BBC radio program Endnotes on D.F. Wallace, or the NYO piece of the rise of the DFW ‘industry’, among others. Pretty soon the reviews of TPK will come barreling in, too (2).

With that in mind, I’ve been thinking about all the upcoming reviews (3), and specifically, how the content will shape up in aggregate. There are probably some broad predictions that can be made as we eye the April 15 date in terms of what previous DFW stories/novels will be referenced by the reviewer in light of The Pale King. Consider this a form literary bracketology from someone who who cannot name a single team in the entire basketball tournament (4).

34% of reviews will reference his 2005 Kenyon commencement speech colloquially known as This is Water.

The highest likelihood of all oeuvre name-checking, I believe. In terms of recent works that concatenate his ideas into a palatable, brief form (read: hurried reviewer friendly) look no further. Specifically the “really important kind of freedom involves attention and awareness...” and the “awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight around us, all the time,” passages.

Based on excerpts published in The New Yorker and other publications, we know that TPK deals with the tedious work of IRS agents, whose job is so perineum-tightenly boring that the agents receive anti-boredom training upon arrival as new employees. While the soul killing work seems, well, soul killing, you can imagine that it does allow a person the type of introspection, or freedom, that is not available with the distractions of Facebook, Gchat, or the placations of capital-e Entertainment to numb us.

In other words, boredom as part of the endaemonic quest to self-actualization.

19% of reviews will reference The Ennet House Drug and Alcohol Recovery House (sic) fact-diarrhea passage from Infinite Jest.

Specifically the statements, “that boring activities become, perversely much less boring if you concentrate on them,” and “that concentrating intently on anything is very hard work.”

Seems to dovetail nicely with the loose plot-line referenced above, though given that the passage is relatively buried among such gems as “that there is a certain type of person who carries a picture of their therapist in their wallet,” (4) in the 1,000+ page novel it lowers the probability of appearing in reviews.

12% (equal chance) of reviews drilling into the work monotony passages from the stories The Soul is Not a Smithy or Mister Squishy.

For someone who never saw much action sliding down that firehouse pole to put out fires with the rest the paper pushers of Corporate America, DFW certainly had a knack for corporate-speak. From Mr. Squishy:

“Schmidt knew full well that Reesemeyer Shannon Belt Adv. had lost the US Brands/Ericson account to D.D.B. Needham’s spectacular pitch for a full-out Shadow strategy, and thus that the videotape of his remarks here would raise at least three eyebrows among R.S.B.’s MROP team...”

Now will this specific passage be referenced? Absolutely not. Though, I use it illustratively because I figure a number of reviewers (approx. 12%) will think to themselves all like, “Oh yeah, I totes remember in graduate school I read that story of his where he’s slinging around all kinds of acronyms and the main character gets so disgruntled he fantasizes about injecting poison into the company’s soft confection products just so he can be the one to lead the crisis communications effort in response to the poisonous confectionary cakes (ala 1982 Tylenol’s successful recall in 1982 that’s taught to like EVERY person who has darkened the door of a MBA classroom) and wouldn’t that be be a good tie up with how the organizations for which we work for can both change how we communicate in addition to perverting our overall motivations and sense of morality?”

From The Soul is Not a Smithy:

The narrator’s dream sequence.
“...tableau of a bright, utterly silent room full of men immersed in rote work. It was the type of nightmare whose terror is less about what you see than about the feeling you have in your lower chest about what you’re seeing.”

Pretty self explanatory.

2% chance of referencing the Narrator of “Good Old Neon” from Oblivion.

Like TPK, Good Old Neon features a character/narrator named David Foster Wallace that breaks the fourth wall. Seems like a small detail, so I doubt it will be referenced much.

0% chance of people referencing his “Fiction’s about what is is to be a fucking human being,” quote.

I just happen to like it and wanted a find a way to work it in here.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Now, of course that I’ve outlined various possible references in this article, will that increase the likelihood of them appearing in the subsequent reviews, completely messing up my predictions via some sort of literary Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle? Worth thinking about. At least I can point to that if my predictions don’t pan out.

ENDNOTES
(1) DFW’s own reference for suicide in Infinite Jest, qq.v James O. Incadenza and Kate Gompert. I don’t mean to use the the term facetiously for a human act that is grave in its implications and a burdensome to those the suicide left behind. It’s just that there is a 100% certainty that EVERY single review will somehow mention the s-word, the proliferation of which (the s-word) will geld the painful implications of the act itself. I’m also employing it, the eliminating your own map phrase, as a psuedo-homage to DFW too -- as his use of ten-spot words and quirky phrases in his prose, to me, was not an instance of gee-whiz vocabulary braggadocio but rather an attempt to connect genuinely with the reader by avoiding lazy cliches (1a). See, for instance, his use of the word ‘picayune’ instead of ‘petty’ on his essay re: David Lynch in Premiere.

(2) Personally, I’m pretty eager to see what Michiko Kakutani at the Times has to say, given her tepid review his last fiction work, Oblivion.

(3) This reflection is partly selfish, since I’m slated to review the book for a NY publication, and I’m starting to get my head around the structure of how the review will shape up.

(4) College Lacrosse is an entirely separate story. My tournament, best flow, and all-name-team bracket will beat yours any day, brah.

(5) Carrying a picture, now that I think about, of your therapist seems very, very reasonable. Logical, even.

(1a) I’ve also considered that the vocab thing was an attempt to rescue and preserve the full continuum of the English language, given his self-proclaimed status as a SNOOT (Sprachgefühl Necessitates Our Ongoing Tendance" or "Syntax Nudniks of Our Time")

Presented (Almost) Without Comment

2011-03-25T20:50:00.000-04:00

From a Gilt Groupe sale the other day:

Lauren Conrad ("LC") first pierced the pericardiums of America with her relationship dramas re: Stephen Colletti on MTV's Laguna Beach. Then she toiled in the salt mines of Teen Vogue under the iron fist of West Coast Editor, Lisa Love on The Hills.

Now, one of her four (!) books is placed in the same league as One Hundred Years of Solitude and To Kill a Mockingbird in a Gilt.com sale.

LC - what can't she do!

Ice Cold Six Packs to Go

2011-03-12T14:11:00.001-05:00

"Ice Cold Six Packs to go." Now that's a poem.

-Campbell McGrath

Growing up in a New Jersey suburb I’m highly attuned to what I call, “commuter culture,” the idiosyncrasies and mores of the men and women who flush themselves into the tunnels of New York City for each workday to conduct business in a metropolis that resembles nothing like the leafy town from which they left.

It’s the small details of this culture - like the preference of men to wear a Barbour Beaufort jacket over their suit instead of a trench coat, the hear-a-mouse-fart silence that’s observed on the morning train in to New York, or the purchase of one single brown-paper-bag-sheathed beer for the trip home that I find fascinating on a sociological level. These rituals are sacrosanct traditions that stir strong emotions in me, similar to incense at Catholic Mass. In other words, it’s what I’ve always known, and as such, becomes oddly comforting in its sameness and repeatability.

Philip Levine found the simple truth in the, “dollar and a half’s worth of small red potatoes,” the type of thing that is, “...so simple and true,” that it must be, “said without elegance, meter and rhyme.” I feel the same way about the single-beer-on-the-way-home phenomenon, even though I am not a drinker. Taking the above photo is my way of documenting that ritual. While Levine’s example is grounded in the personal - the experience of a single individual purchasing, cooking and consuming - the beer cart’s beauty - and I do see its beauty - is the universality of the pleasure it provides through quick transaction, the way it appeals to thousands of scurrying commuters, who, before dinnertime, want nothing more than to wash the day’s dust away by tipping can on the way home.

I like how certain rules get codified without ever being written down - the way you’re supposed to stand on the right hand side of an escalator so the people who want to walk up the escalator can pass on the left hand side. On the train, one brown bagged beer (12 oz. to 24 oz.) is OK, however two cans invokes dipsomania. It’s funny how the line is drawn.

Residing in a city has much to recommend it as a living cauldron of culture and diversity. I don’t disagree with this, and that’s why I’ve always been attracted to New York. However, I never much understood the arbitrary binary opposition that gets created (city:creativity::suburb:banality) in the myriad of send-ups in film and literature that critique suburban culture. To me, these recreations of the suburbs use straw-man characters (work-obsessed men, bored pill-poping housewives) and tired tropes, implementing a kind of lazy shorthand that belies any sort of nuanced understanding: the very same lack of intellectual depth that they - the cultured city folk - are trying to critique.

In these sendups, the suburbs become a symbol of insulation, though these critiques never seem to explore the fact that for many, moving to the suburbs involves a capital-s Sacrifice to create a better life for one’s children, rather than some innate desire to avoid the examined life via retreat to routines of pizza takeout and Saturday night Netflix.

As someone who has lived in both locations, I know there are unique advantages of each setting and many joys (restaurants, theater, &tc) that can be found in either locale. Though, there are some pleasures that cannot be communicated across the suburb/city divide, and oftentimes it is something elemental and pedestrian, like the simple truth of a beer on the way home to your family in the suburbs.

A Visit to bookbook in the West Village

2011-03-06T14:16:00.000-05:00

bookbook
266 Bleecker St. in the West Village
New York, NY

My first night in the West Village, back in 2005, was spent wandering around the streets of West 4th and Bleecker to get acquainted with the neighborhood. Unlike a lot of people who seem to be easy conductors for the city's electricity, allowing its stimulative current to pass through their bodies and become electrified by it, I was (and still am) equally repelled and attracted to the élan vital of New York. Feeling slightly overwhelmed even by the low-key nature of the West Village, I sought refuge that night in a quaint bookshop on the corner of West 11th and Bleecker that had a nice, welcoming glow. Its name was Biography.

Over a year ago I heard local rumblings that Marc Jacobs had outbought the Biography lease upon its renewal in Marc's continuing march towards, what I call, his colonization of the West Village. My fears that Biography would go the way of West Village institutions like Joe Jr's were quickly allayed when it was confirmed that Biography would be moving further south on Bleecker to a new location, with a new name: bookbook.

bookbook offers the best of both worlds - a local independent bookstore with simply phenomenal prices that often beat out Amazon's. The secret is that close to 100% of their books are publishers' overstock, enabling the owners to pass along the savings to their customers.

Though, this does not result in a lack of selection - in fact I've always been surprised by the well-curated depth of their books. In the above photo you can see a good catalogue of Franzen's, Foer's, Fitzgerald's, Denis Johnson's and Joyce's books.

That said, this is not an elitist bookshop. As you can see from the above, Stieg Larsson rubs shoulder's with Tom McCarthy's critically acclaimed 2010 novel, C.

bookbook features an incredibly friendly and knowledgeable staff. You can see Juan and Jenette here in the photo manning the store. Last time I went to the bookbook, I gave Juan a loose description of the type of book I was interested in reading next and he supplied me with some terrific suggestions including Saramago's Blindness, Howards End, the short stories of John Cheever, and Ragtime. The total cost of the haul was something like $25 - and his suggestions were dead on. Sometimes you forget in this age of algorithmic recommendations employed by Netflix that the best tips come from a fellow passionate reader.

Another shot of Jenette and Juan. Last time I was in the store I suggested coming by to take some photos for the blog and they were totally agreeable.

I'm a huge fan of the slightly messy arrangement of the books. It reminds me of what I'd imagine the library of erudite and slightly eccentric gentleman would look like.

So next time you're in the neighborhood, swing by bookbook to pick up that Pynchon novel you've been meaning to read along with a Moleskin notebook so you can fit right in with the rest of the crew at Cafe Doma. I'll be there too.

A Portrait of a College During the "Present Crisis" [Part I]

2011-02-27T22:28:00.000-05:00

Off eBay a few months ago I pulled a 1940's era Bowdoin College guidebook for prospective students, thinking I would find pictures of students, their activities and their clothing to be interesting. Certainly the case - but I forgot it was the era of the War as well, and was surprised to find pictures of ground and flight instruction, as well as a class on Aeronautics. Amazing how the effects of World War II can permeate an idyllic campus, as these scans show. (Part I of II)

Sentences of the Week

2011-02-19T09:08:00.000-05:00

Some bros collect pretty fashion pictures and put em on their tumblrs.

Not my wheelhouse. Instead, I nerd out and collect sentences.

My favorites from an admittedly scattered reading this past week:

"We had our mountain lion, Curtis, with us; we snuck him into the Four Seasons in his cage and locked him in our bathroom."

-Slash by Slash

First off, Slash has a mountain lion. Secondly he brought the mountain lion into a Four Seasons Hotel (was the Mandarin booked?), and lastly, said mountain lion is named Curtis. It's such a respectable, adorable name - who wouldn't name their mountain lion Curtis! Carlton works as a good mountain lion name too, I think.

"We do not admit by collisions of this trivial sort the doors of heaven may be shaken open."

-Howards End by E.M. Forster

Gorgeous language and beautiful sentences throughout H.E. - though thankfully it never skirts into the affected territory, which is a tough line to balance. The above is a perfect example of a powerful sentiment expressed concisely.

He got into nails, of course,
because He'd always loved
hands--
hands were some of the best things
He'd ever done
and this way He could just
hold one in His
and admire those delicate
bones just above the knuckles,
delicate as birds' wings,
and after He'd done that
awhile,
He could paint all the nails
any color He wanted,
then say,
"Beautiful,"
and mean it.

-"God Went to Beauty School" by Cynthia Rylant

Just do yourself a favor and read the whole poem, it's that good.

[On the Park Slope Coop being worse than Socialism:] “Because at least in a socialist country, if you know the right people, you can get out of it.”

New York Schadenfeude doesn't just extend to bankers; the Park Slope Food Coop is always a terrific target. The latest uproar? Allegations that some coop members are sending their nannies to fulfill the 2 hour and 45 minute monthly work requirement. Quelle Horreur!

Bowdoin Handbook: Class of 1944

2011-02-14T22:27:00.001-05:00

Spent a ten-spot on this little (seriously little - like 4"x 2.5") class of 1944 Bowdoin handbook I pulled off eBay.

Published by the Bowdoin Christian Association in 1940, it provided the in's and out's of the college such as traditions, clubs, frats, college regulations and the like for the incoming freshman class.

Everything in the guide is great - though one section stood out above all: the "advice" to Freshman. A fair amount of it was charming and instructive, similar to George Washington's Rules of Civility and Behavior.

From the handbook:

"Remember that business should come before pleasure and let concern for your courses supersede any other interests. Even though you may play a whale of a game at right tiddle and may be a star on the varsity handball squad you did not come to college to be an athlete."

N.B. I have no idea what a tiddle is.

The more, well, "practical" advice is fascinating.

Freshman must carry matches.
Freshman must not walk on the grass.
Freshman must not wear preparatory school insignia.
Freshman must not smoke on the campus or on the street.
Freshman must not wear bowties, nor wear loud clothing of any description.
Freshman must not sing Phi Chi.
Freshman must not drink in public.
Freshman must not date the local ladies.

Times have certainly changed.

I regularly violated that prohibition on bowties and loud clothing, circa 2002, as a freshman myself.

September Gurl with the Blue Plastic Radio

2011-02-09T21:35:00.000-05:00

A colleague of mine once suggested that I read W.B. Yeats' poem "Second Coming," while tracing an imaginary circle (or a Yeatsian gyre) in the air with my finger.

Sounds absurd yea, but dammit it works. It changes your concentration, forces you to focus purely on the text and your relationship to it while blocking out any sort of outside influence to interrupt your analysis and experience.

I have a simplified(1) version to share.

Read the following Campbell McGrath(2) poem while listening to Big Star. I'll explain why this works in a second.

SONG:

POEM:

Girl with Blue Plastic Radio
Campbell McGrath

The first song I ever heard was "The Ballad of Bonnie and Clyde."
There was a girl at the playground with a portable radio,
lying in the grass near the swing set, beyond the sung-lustred aluminum slide,

kicking her bare feet in the air, her painted toenails - toes
the color of blueberries, rug burns, yellow pencils, Grecian urns.
This would be when-1966? No, later, '67 or '68. And no,

it was not the very first song I ever heard,
but the first that invaded my consciousness in that elastically joyous
way music does, the first whose lyrics I tried to learn,

my first communication from the gigawatt voice
of the culture - popular culture, mass culture, our culture - kaboom! -
raw voltage embraced for the sheer thrill of getting juiced.

Who wrote that song? When was it recorded, and by whom?
Melody lost in the database of the decades
but still playing somewhere in the mainframe cerebellums

of its dandelion-chained, banana-bike-riding, Kool-Aid-
addled listeners, still echoing within the flesh and blood mausoleums
of us, me, we, them, the self-same blades

of wind-sown crabgrass spoken of and to by Whitman,
and who could believe it would still matter
decades or centuries later, in a new millennium,

matter what we listened to, what we ate and watched, matter
that it was "rock 'n' roll," for so we knew to call it,
matter that there were hit songs, girls, TVs, fallout shelters.

Who was she, her with embroidered blue jeans and bare feet,
toenails gilded with cryptic bursts of color?
She is archetypal, pure form, but no less believable for that.

Her chords still resonate, her artifacts have endured
so little changed as to need no archaeological translation.
She was older than me, wordly and self-assured.

She was already, a figure of erotic fascination.
She knew the words and sang the choruses
and I ran over from the sandbox to listen

to a world she cradled in one hand, transistorized oracle,
blue plastic embodiment of our neo-Space age ethos.
The hulls of our Apollonian rocket ships were as yet unbarnacled

and we still found box turtles in the tall weeds and mossy grass
by the little creek not yet become what it was all becoming
in the wake of the yellow earth-movers, that is:

suburbia. Alive, vibrant, unself-consciously evolving,
something new beneath the nuclear sun, something new in the acorn-scented dark.
Lived there until I was seven in a cinder block garden

apartment. My prefab haven, my little duplex ark.
And the name of our subdivision was
Americana Park.

LAME ANALYSIS
Not going to offer anything of C4-explosive insight here, but I found the tones, or the colors employed by Chilton and McGrath to be of the same palette and thought it would be a touching combination. Power-Pop is such an achingly beautiful aesthetic, one that combines the classic combination of joyously upbeat catchy music with lyrics tinged with longing and sometimes the specter of depression. I get the same feeling from McGrath here; the girl that struck him like a power chord that he can't shake.

I employ this reference a lot so I'm a little weary of introducing it here, but the themes of longing have such resonance with me that the MOST IMPORTANT line of poetry I've ever read is the following from Keats' Grecian Urn (which was namecheck'd in the above poem, natch).

Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal—yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

In other words, the figures depicted in the urn are locked in place, though to Keats this can be beautiful, for while their love will never be consummated there is some perverse solace to be found in the realization that "she cannot fade...(and)...for ever wilt thou love..."

I always think of this lyric when I listen to Power-Pop songs, since the songs seem to get wrapped around the axle(3) of the idea of "the weekend" or "Friday night" - this mythological moment in American experience where anything is possible and achievable. Though, I think when you examine the lyrics you'll see that the longing for the unconsummated moment (i.e. Friday Night) is greater than actual moment itself, since for most loner-romantics the actual event/moment is painfully anticlimactic and never lives up to the wild expectations you built it up to. Needless to say, I see the same thing in Keats, which just goes to show you that pasty, emaciated dudes pretty much have been talking the same themes for a really long time.

Doesn't stop it from being really, really good though.

(1) Simplified because I think there was some serious intellectual-maxillofacial-mechanical insight on the whole Yeats gyre thing, whereas my example is just a tune that seems to match nicely with a poem I dig.

(2) I love McGrath. He gives me hope for the red-headed stepchild of the arts (aka poetry) since 95% of the poetry I come across reminds me, as Kleinzahaler said, of "a middle-aged creative-writing instructor catching a whiff of mortality in the countryside." I really don't care too much for poetry that relies on references to obscure Greek gods like Epimetheus or something to make themselves look smart and stuff. I'd rather read a poem about Bob Hope or Charlie Sheen and what they mean to us.

McGrath already did the Hope one. I'm working on the Charlie poem.

Seriously.

(3) Thanks for the expression Stephen.

I Made You a Mixtape

2011-02-07T21:46:00.000-05:00

Hi Internet people,

It's been a long time. I haven't written much. Things have been crazy.

∴ (therefore) I have not felt like blogging(1) much.

To make it up to you, I made you a mixtape of some blues and soul tunes I've been bending an ear to recently. I know you can get irreverent and sporadically updated content from just about anywhere, but you came here, and I appreciate it.

So please don't go.

...I had to pull the shingle down from the door and close the shop for a bit from a cold, cold feeling in the winter (2).

The kind where you want to just fly away on a big bird.

As if you were a road runner...

But don't give up on me.

...Hold on, I'm coming (back)

I'll write more. I promise.

Because (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher.

(1) "Blog" is my absolute least favorite portmanteau in the English language and I worry that all the molar and canine gnashing it causes when I say it will leave me with teeth that resemble half-bitten chicklets, though we're all kinda stuck with the word since it's gained critical mass and is subject to what all those pointy-headed computer engineers call "lock-in" (a)

(2) Albert Collins' nicknames are Master of the Telecaster, the Ice Man, among others. He also walked off the stage while still playing his guitar (still plugged in), crossed over to a local pizza shop, ordered a pizza, returned to the stage (still playing) and had the pizza delivery guy come up on stage. If I achieve 9% of his coolness I will be satisfied in life.

(a) I picked up the concept of 'lock in' from Jaron Lanier's excellent book, You Are Not a Gadget. In it, he argues (among other things) that social media websites have a negative impact on our conception of ourselves as human beings and This Is Not A Good Thing. Essentially, you lower the bar/degrade your understanding of yourself in order to "fit in" to a software program, since it is invariably simpler than reality. This isn't a horribly -- though still unfortunate -- bad thing when it comes to the impact on our consciousness of technology and music (Lanier provides the example of MIDI, which was an imperfect software standard that became locked-in) but can be pretty disastrous when it comes to things like how we understand human connections, friendship and personhood (hello, facebook). As Lanier says, you have to be someone before you can share yourself.

Zadie Smith gave a nod to Lanier's book in her excellent article on Facebook/The Social Network in the New York Review of Books.

More Bowdoin Archive Photos

2011-01-20T21:58:00.000-05:00

Not sure when this occurred, but Bowdoin has placed their George J. Mitchell Department of Special Collections and Archives online. In the past I resorted to Flickr to find some historical gems from the college.

While I realize the whole Take Ivy thing and Life Archive photos are kinda played out, these are too cool (and too close to my heart) not to share. The first photo is so good too. Un. Real.

Eat your heart out, Ivies.

Some of my favorites from the photograph collection below.

New Original Song - Keats Had It Wrong

2010-12-01T21:56:00.000-05:00

I don't talk about it much (probably because I'm too self-critical) but I'm a guitar player (...and poet as well, but we'll get to that project later.)

Anyway, I recently invested in some hardware and software so I can record into my laptop (for the guitar - not the poetry). My first effort is below in the embedded mp3 file. Before anyone asks, the song is all original and the guitar parts are me as well.

Here is the direct link for download too.

The song is called "Keats Had It Wrong," and it's instrumental for now. The rhythm riff is in open G tuning, and when I was struggling with the lyrics I decided record over some solo ideas, and ended up with this version in one take. I liked it so much I decided to keep it instrumental, though eventually it may live on in a slightly different form with lyrics.

The rhythm riff is played with a Danelectro and the soloing is on my '61 Gibson SG. Percussion is pre-recorded audio.

I really like the rhythm riff at 2:44 as it's this blend of Rolling Stones sound with the chugging rhythm of the Strokes. The song name comes from some lyrics I was batting around for the 2:44 mark as well. Specifically, "And what if John Keats had it wrong / That beauty isn't truth but pain transformed?" There's a Greek term that I think applies here -- Pathei Mathos -- but that would be a horrible name for a rock song.

Anyway, I wanted to record something upbeat, something fast and loose and catchy in a fist-pumping way. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do. More stuff in the pipeline.

Marathon Met Sunday

2010-11-07T22:32:00.003-05:00

Today I decided to head over to the Met to get inspiration for a creative project I've broken ground on - and in the process catch a glimpse of the marathon runners meandering their way through the final turns of Central Park. This dude had the same idea, except he ran the marathon and then decided to check out some art. Exercise the body and mind, you know?

Love, love, love, love this photo. She was checking out the race from a knoll and had the space all to herself. She looks very content and at peace with herself, and that is something to which I aspire.

It was this very Whitmanian moment when you see random strangers cheering on other random strangers. Actually, very beautiful. Love how everyone is angling themselves here.

Sanitation trucks idling, blocking one of the roads for the marathon.

This is a closeup of the frame of Paul Cezanne's "Dish of Apples". The frame was so fantastically ornate I wasn't able to resist inspecting it closer.

Pleasant surprise of the day was this contemporary installation by Katrin Sigurdardottir. She recreates period rooms down to the last detail and gives you very close access, but the implication is still "look, but don't touch," which dovetails with the viewer's relationship with most artwork in museums. Her extensive use of mirrors within the installation is meant to further frustrate the viewer, who can see the room refracted into infinity, but still cannot see themselves placed within it.

An interior view of the installation through one of the windows.

Assouline Fall Preview

2010-08-26T21:22:00.001-04:00

The Plaza, New York City
August 24, 2010
Assouline Fall Preview

You are a fan of books of art, fashion, and design that are themselves a work of art, fashion and design. (1)

From Assouline

You are aware that Assouline operates a boutique inside the Plaza Hotel, and shop there on occasion...

From Assouline

...to outfit your handsome library that is filled with ecclectic art, fashion, and design titles such as the above (though without all the duplicate copies)

From Assouline

As a cultivated gentleman, you know Proust does not rhyme with Faust.

From Assouline

You are not the kind of guy who would normally spring $550 on a limited edition, hand bound 25th anniversary restrospective of Tommy Hilfiger's work, but then again, you know how to pronounce Proust correctly so clearly you have attained some level of cultural refinement and possibly material comfort. (2)

From Assouline

Surrounded by such lovely folios, you feel particularly Romantic and frame a scene resembling a Casper David Friedrich painting. (3)

(1) As you can tell I'm employing the second person narrative here. This was an event sponsored by Assouline and they invited me to attend, and I'm still wringing my hands over how to present this linguistically without resorting to introductory cliches like, "Well I swung by the Plaza on Tuesday night," or (my absolute least favorite) "The fine folks at XYZ Company invited me..." So after more time staring at my blank notepad than I care to admit, I found the second person narrative to be my least worst option.

My frustration with the aforementioned cliches stems from the two narrative paths that they lead you down. Either you you completely obscure the fact that it was a press/media event and appear to have stumbled upon it like the lost city of Atlantis, OR completely come out of the gate with your hands up and fess up to the reader that the story originated from the PR team of a given firm. Now it may seem that the latter option is more honest, though in some ways I think it is stylistically abhorant as seems to collapse the wall between the reader and the company that was formerly served by the writer.

I'm completely aware that I may lapse into one of these two cliches in the future.

(2) Jay MacInerney probably is not a fan of excessive footnoting (he gave an umimpressed review of DFW's Infinite Jest), so I'm finding the juxstaposition of his first eight lines from Bright Lights Big City and an explanatory footnote pretty amusing.

(3) The name checking continues. I blame it on the books; they put me in a haute culture mood.

Into the Wild

2010-08-22T21:49:00.000-04:00

Some advice, courtesy of the late David Foster Wallace, regarding possible encounters with wild hamsters:

It's a herd of feral hamsters, a major herd, thundering across the yellow plains of the southern reaches of the Great Concavity in what used to be Vermont, raising dust that forms a uremic-hued cloud with somatic shapes interpretable from as far away as Boston and Montreal. The herd is descended from two domestic hamsters set free by a Watertown NY boy at the beginning of the Experialist migration in the subsidized Year of the Whopper. The boy now attends college in Champaign IL and has forgotten that his hamsters were named Ward and June.

The noise of the herd is tornadic, locomotival. The expression on the hamsters' whiskered faces is businesslike and implacable — it's that implacable-herd expression. They thunder eastward across pedalferrous terrain that today is fallow, denuded. To the east, dimmed by the fulvous cloud the hamsters send up, is the vivid verdant ragged outline of the annularly overfertilized forests of what used to be central Maine.

All these territories are now property of Canada.

With respect to a herd of this size, please exercise the sort of common sense that come to think of it would keep your thinking man out of the southwest Concavity anyway. Feral hamsters are not pets. They mean business. Wide berth advised.

--Infinite Jest

Sometimes you find an author and he or she burrows into your heart and doesn't really leave. I've got a couple of those - F. Scott Fitzgerald (beautiful lyricism makes me weak in the knees) and the poet Mark Doty (whose poems are sensuous and sublime). This summer I added DFW to the list and I haven't been able to shake him.

Like when you find a good band and start rummaging through their back catalog in hopes of finding a couple of gems that inform their later work, I've been mining the internet the past couple weeks of anything DFW-related. Criticism, remembrances, interviews.

Parts of his interview with Charlie Rose are below.

In the third part of the video, David basically explains post modern lit in a devastatingly concise way over the course of 90 seconds. I wish I had his Cliffs Notes for all academic jargon - I'd feel a lot less adrift.

You can't help but to sit back oogle his written sentences, ones that are best characterized by the words "riff," "stratospheric," and "dexterous." It's both incredible and humbling to watch him spin.

Though, the real palm-applied-to-head disbelief comes when you realize that however post-modern and wunderkid-ish David's writing seemed, he had great big dollops of Big Heartedness that cut through the cynicism that marked a lot of his peers and influences.

Though its trips around the internet number somewhere between the Ally McBeal Dancing Baby and the Crank That dance by Soulja Boy, it's still worth pointing out DFW's commencement address to the 2005 graduating class of Kenyon College. I find myself reading it all the time, and I might just go to one of those teacher supply stores so I can use their giant lamination machine and turn it into a placemat for my breakfast so I can read it every morning. It's that good.

I wonder a lot if that speech, which he kept at a nice cruising altitude of comprehension, marked a shift or a "maturing"(1) of his voice that we'll see a bit more when his unfinished novel, The Pale King, gets published in Q1/Q2 2011. As much as I'm enamored with his work now, it's a change I'd be happy to see.

(1) I realize the word maturing seems inappropriate for someone who used his senior year of Amherst to write a well received novel AND a philosophical thesis that overturned a philosophical idea or whatever Major Important Things are called by philosophers, but it's the best I have to offer.

Wringing out your denim

2010-08-08T21:02:00.000-04:00

A lot of things occurred in the past ten months, but there is one thing that stands out like a immobile lodestar in the face of this flux and change (standing-athwart-history-yelling-stop!), and that is the simple fact that I have not washed my new APC jeans (purchased back in October 2009) in that period of time.

Now now, here come the caveats that are supposed to make this slightly less ridiculous to a non denim-head: the jeans are selvege denim and I usually go this long without washing the raw dark stuff, that by keeping the jeans dirty it imparts a better fade and thus more personalized-jeans-experience, and most importantly, once you hit 5 months w/o washing what’s really the point of holding out a few months more to make it to the double-digit month category?

This pattern of hitting some absurd mile-marker in time with denim and then out of nowhere getting fired up to wash the darn things is something that repeats itself over and over with me. After awhile though I just reach my own personal tipping point of dirtiness (real or perceived) and toss the things (and before you ask: woolite dark, inside-out, by itself, cold wash etc etc) in the wash.

Today was one of those days, don’t ask me why.

I felt like documenting the whole thing, and if it comes off like a wistful parent snapping 278 pictures for their child’s first haircut - well - I can’t get around that. It’s borderline obsessive, I know, but something (and that something has been written about already and available for dissemination if you want to e-mail me, though not posted here because it interrupts the narrative flow much like this epic parenthetical thought) compels me to record it.

SOME SELECTED PICTURES THE DENIM PRIOR TO ITS FIRST WASH

I love the structure, the undulations and the topography that raw denim obtains after months and months of use.

Denim with a faded pocket where your wallet usually rests is one of the coolest things a guy can have. There, I said it.

Blown out crotch. It happens, just patch it.

Reason #30,983 why raw denim is cool: the crinkly-cut design that occurs behind your knees that slightly resembles the cover of Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures album.

I cuff. Do you cuff?

After taking a couple of good-bye pictures (and perhaps a tearful hug) I dutifully turned the denim inside-out, placed a little Woolite Dark in the washing machine and turned the duties over to the cold water delicate cycle.

ASIDE REGARDING THE CHOSEN METHOD OF WASHING THE DENIM

Technically I'm aware that I have several cleaning options available to me, and that I basically selected one of the non-extremist ways of washing the jeans. APC, among others, recommend that you either a) Have it dry-cleaned for your first washing b) walk into the ocean with them on and have them dry out in the sand or c) just let them soak for an hour with cold water and Woolite Dark.

I realize the various benefits of these methods (namely that it enables you be an even bigger denim snob). However, I feel like going 10 months without washing my jeans is extreme enough for me.

CONTINUATION OF THE PICTURES AND THOUGHTS

Washing machine action shots!

Once the jeans dry out I'll post further pictures

FURTHER HAND-WRINGING ON THE MINUTAE OF DOCUMENTING THE WASHING OF A PAIR OF JEANS THAT YOU MAY OR MAY NOT WANT TO READ

As I mentioned, available upon request.

This post is about John Updike's clothing, and not much more

2010-06-22T21:06:00.000-04:00

With all my extra free time recently I've taken a deep dive into American fiction - ripping through some novels and essays. I've finished off books at a prodigious clip, and the whole recalibration of my mind feels eerily like the sensation of a tuning fork when hit.

There's been Philipp Meyer's American Rust - which is the story of a depressed Pittsburg area steel town and its inhabitants. Great American authors like Keruoac and Steinbeck are present in Meyer's work. I've also tackled (and that seems the most apt word to use) the essays of David Foster Wallace and have swam a few laps in the shallow end of his book Infinite Jest (not quite sure if I'm ready to commit to the 1,000+ page project, so just grazing for now).

As this recalibration is underway, I've been a lot more attuned to the news of American authors, living and deceased. So naturally when this article appeared in the New York Times this week on John Updike's archive, I paid attention.

Now, there are a few major American authors I just haven't read - like Pynchon, DeLillo, Roth, Mailer - and Updike is one of them as well. I know a fair amount of his history and loose outline of his books, but I won't add any value parroting it here.

However, I can bring you some photos of an amazingly well dressed author (reminder: I did the same for Robert Lowell a few months back). Which begs the question - why is the 'men's style blogosphere' so obsessed with pictures of writers like Ernest Hemingway, and shouldn't they pay a little more attention to John Updike instead? (Of course, you hope you've introduced someone to one of the Rabbit novels in the process...)

Seriously, Updike in the '60s looks like he just showed up from a modern day Band of Outsiders photoshoot. Incredible.

H-O-V and the Pastoral

2010-06-13T17:57:00.002-04:00

I've been plugging myself back into the pop culture currents, Matrix-style, after sixth months of hunkering down for a test that occurred on last Saturday. It's a weird feeling, realizing free time is available for you to explore things not in pre-determined curriculum so you can just absorb yourself in the flow of inconsequential and entertaining news again. And now that I'm back up to speed on all things Ke$ha and not residual income, I'm a lot cooler to talk to.

So instead of listening to Mozart's Requiem for studying purposes (surprisingly effective), I've gorged myself on a healthy diet of top 40 to bump up my pop culture IQ.

There's a lot of great stuff out there right now - but one standout song for me. Jay-Z & Mr. Hudson's "Young Forever."

Yeah, the sample is killer. Can't go wrong there. But the thing I keep coming back to is Hov's lyrics.

So we live a life like a video
When the sun is always out and you never get old
And the champagne’s always cold
And the music is always good
And the pretty girls just happen to stop by in the hood

My mind reeled the first time I heard it. This is pastoral rap. I love it. Let me borrow a second from Christopher Marlowe's A Passionate Shepard to His Love (published 1599).

Come live with me and be my Love,
And we will all the pleasures prove
That hills and valleys, dale and field,
And all the craggy mountains yield.
There will we sit upon the rocks
And see the shepherds feed their flocks,
By shallow rivers, to whose falls
Melodious birds sing madrigals.

Pretty girls, nice weather and good tunes. Am I talking Jay-Z, Christopher Marlowe, or both? Back to Shawn Carter:

And they hop their pretty ass up on the hood of that pretty ass car
Without a wrinkle in today
Cuz there is no tomorrow
Just some picture perfect day
To last a whole lifetime
And it never ends
Cause all we have to do is hit rewind

Both are talking about idealized places where we don't grow old - and despite the chasm of 400 years these themes endure. It's fascinating to see that this yearning can be connected across time and styles, and yet the core message stays the same.

Takeru Kobayashi: Competitive Eater, Sartorial Icon

2010-03-16T23:31:00.000-04:00

Takeru Kobayashi recently broke the world record for number of meatballs eaten in one minute (for those keeping track, the figure is 29 if you feel like challenging him) in DUMBO, NYC.

However, that is not what I found notable. While reading the story and watching the accompanying video, I was struck by just how well Kobayashi was dressed for the occassion. Shawl collar sweater, khaki pants, a hipster scarf (nod to Brooklyn?) and what appears to be a desert boot. Nice kit, as my friend Lawrence would say.

(Source)

Kobayashi burning some cals before taking 29 IKEA meaballs to the dome. Check the khaki, shawl collar sweater and boot combo. When you are at the top of your game in competitive eating, you might as well look good doing it.

All photos courtsey of DumboNYC Flickr

Bowdoin vs. Amherst, 1970

2010-03-03T19:48:00.000-05:00

I've been on a eBay tear the past few months, scooping up vintage Bowdoin College (my alma mater) related memorabilia. The quality of goods for sale has increased remarkably and I've picked up some amazing finds - including a college pamphlet/brochure from the 1940's that is filled with stunning photography.

I plan on posting/scanning all these finds, and first up is a football program versus fellow NESCAC college, Amherst, in 1970.

I find this program fascinating as it is only a few years after the hey day of the "Take Ivy" movement, but already you start to see guys growing out their hair and developing some sideburns. It is pretty cool to compare this to a program from 1966 that I also have scanned and will post soon - you can see the amount of upheaval the country was going in those four short years just based on people's haircuts.

Bowdoin staff. I believe they still make those Bowdoin Ath. Dept. sweatshirts. Legendary coach Sid Watson on the far right.

Amherst's coaching staff, looking no less dapper.

The Polar Bears in 1970!

Lastly, couldn't resist this vintage ad for L.L. Bean for all you heritage-heads out there. L.L.'s grandson and L.L. Bean Chairman of the Board, Leon Gorman, is Bowdoin class of 1956. I had no idea the store was 24 hours a day even back in 1970.

Study Session: ACE Hotel NYC

2010-02-21T11:05:00.000-05:00

As mentioned before, the CFA Level II exam has sucked up a lot of my free hours so I've tried to be efficient about my time. Studying on the train? Duh. Studying while eating? Yeah, done that. Studying while cooking? Sad to say, but yes.

This Saturday I decided to bring my Nikon with me to the ACE Hotel in New York to brush up on some fixed-income valuation while taking pretty pictures of the fashion blogs' unofficial hotel chain. This is the second time I've taken photos while studying (my shots of the NYPL are here), so I guess I've inadvertently kicked off a series called Study Sessions.

The photos are a nice antidote to the mind-numbing hours spent with my nose in a book, and I think the tension from studying and subsequent artistic release forms to create some interesting photographs.

The ACE hotel lobby is very dark so I used long exposures (2.5 sec+). I like the warmth of the photos that came out. I took most of the shots from level desks or bookcase shelves to steady the shot. I'm no expert and I'm still getting the handle on manual modes.

My main vantage point for most of the morning.

Sometimes after drinking some Stumptown coffee and eating a hot-cross bun from the Breslin, you just want to play Battleship. I understand that.

Can't remember now, but I believe these were Edison lightbulbs that illuminated the back of the bookcases.

Took this from one of their bookshelves that was about seven feet off the ground.

Studying at the ACE is like studying at the New York Public Library, except with better coffee, food, music, scenery, and people watching. Other than that it is pretty similar.

The "Foster" shot. APC NS and Bean bluchers.

Probably my favorite shot of the morning.

See all the photos: ACE Hotel on Picasa

New York Public Library Mystery Slides

2010-02-18T20:08:00.000-05:00

I found these images back in December while going through The New York Public Library's digital archive. They are fascinating and a bit mysterious. When I couldn't track down any more information about these online I spoke to the (very helpful) special collections archivists/researchers. They weren't able to find any substantial information on them either. The next step was for me to come into their research center and do a little digging - but my schedule caught up with me and I never made the trip. I'm posting these now to see if anyone else knows their history - or perhaps to prod myself in doing a bit more research in person.

See more photos from the History of the NYPL > Research Library photo set

Laudholm Farm

2010-02-04T00:11:00.000-05:00

"Making variations on a theme is really the crux of creativity"

-Douglas Hofstadter

No need for a play-by-play. The pictures I took tell the story better than I could.

The Wells Reserve is a 2,250-acre research, education, and recreation facility, a public-private partnership within the National Estuarine Research Reserve System. Wells Reserve facilities are located at historic Laudholm Farm in Wells, Maine.

Coming Soon

2010-01-31T23:51:00.000-05:00

Scans from a 1966 Bowdoin vs. Bates football program, and a 1970 Bowdoin vs. Amherst football program. Recently pulled off eBay.

It's not quite Take Ivy - but the pictures are great. The change in student style from 1966 to 1970 is nothing short of amazing.

Just need to scan and upload the 1970 program - but here is a teaser from the 1966 cover.

Study Session: NYPL

2010-01-20T01:29:00.000-05:00

I've tapered down the posts a bit for two reasons - my laptop is broken again, and I'm in the midst of studying for the Level II CFA exam in June. Yes for you non-finance people who don't understand my pain, it is January and I'm knee-deep in derivatives and other lovely things. I started studying in December.

Studying for the CFA is like a marathon, so I mix up my study spots a lot between my place of work, my apartment in the west village, cafes, and libraries. I like studying at the New York Public Library on 42nd street because there is a grandiose feeling every time you walk through the doors. Whatever you are doing, no matter how inconsequential, suddenly has weight.

This past Saturday I brought my camera to document the study session.

I usually camp out towards the back as it offers an expansive view of the whole room. Here is my view from the table.

Crouched down to take this picture. Sometimes it amazes me to see everyone so dilligently studying. Everything from the CFA (you'll see half the room with Schweser prep books come May..) to LSAT/Bar exam or Med school. It's equally impressive and sad to see so many bright young people spending their day off studying.

I liked how this shot lined with the dude below the clock.

My trusty HP 12-C. This is a big boy calculator. Don't try to push that TI-BA II junk on me. RPN all the way brah.

Outside of the main reading room. The woman with the shocking red hair at the desk has an only-in-new-york level of grandeur. She's usually there on Saturdays.

Another view. I liked the balance of this shot.

Thanks for sticking with me and thank you to everyone who has written me - it means a lot to hear from you.

Fit for the Weekend (Holiday) IV: Presented by SI x DP

2009-12-24T17:14:00.000-05:00

You know what's better than the Holidays? Trick question: nothing.

Home Alone. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Presents. Getting away with wearing ridiculous clothing for a night. Seriously, it's all pretty sweet.

For our fourth collaboration, Lawrence and I went with a holiday theme. Lawrence said it best so let me quote him: "There is a strong chance that you hate this outfit and that's alright. It never hurts to have a little bit of fun at someone else's expense, sartorial or otherwise."

For the uninitiated: Lawrence and I bounce back an item of clothing to each other over the course of the week until we have a complete outfit. Each person's descriptions are below.

[Note: Items presented in the order in which they were compiled]

Gucci Loafer ...$495

Me: The classic Gucci loafer you see most Wall Street Brosephs rocking has an enormous heel that looks like the risers Tom Cruise probably wears. Not Cool. Instead, try these loafers with a slimmer heel that befits the whole nonchalance attitude personified by the Gucci loaf. The blue is a subtle twist to the red you usually see as well.

Bonobos Legnogs...$195

Lawrence: If you want to be the good kind of obnoxious (the bad kind begins with an Ed and ends with a Hardy) you need a pair of pants like these. Even if you only wear your "holiday pants" once a year you need to come with something respectable. Pendleton wool is as respectable as it gets and Bonobos brings the goods.

Tucker Blair Frosty Needlepoint Belt...$80

Me: Sometimes awesomeness does not need explanation. This is one of those times. Tucker's price for needlepoint belts is excellent too.

Brooks Brothers Black Fleece Round Collar Shirt...$112.50

Lawrence: With every other part of your holiday ensemble getting awesomely out of hand, use this classic club collar shirt as a muted base. Just remember that ven a batshit Picasso painting started on a blank canvas.

Hermes Silk Tie...$170

Me: If you are some BSD Managing Director of a bank I guess you could buy and wear any tie you want. Us mortals still toiling away in the salt miles of cubeville (Equities in Dallas!) can only reach for luxury once in awhile. When you do, go Hermes. Beautifully classic and tasteful, and not nearly as nouveau as those ties Ferragamo slings. Now get back to making your pitchbook.

The Fun Shirt Doesn't Die

2009-12-23T20:36:00.000-05:00

Gilt.com had a sale today on Brooks Brothers Black Fleece, which is always interesting as it never fails to spotlight some of Mr. Browne's wilder creations. Of course I was interested in the most bonkers example - and found it here:

The Brooks Brothers "Fun Shirt" - as a suit! Love it!

Check the trou!

It made me realize - I've seen a lot of "Fun Shirt" inspired pieces floating around recently.

Because the fun shirt doesn't die - it just multiplies.

Here's a rundown of the fundown.

Mister Crew recently highlighted an engineered garments fun shirt (above). Because heritage sometimes needs to have fun, too.

Mark McNairy is also in on the fun shirt game, as chronicled by A Continuous Lean.

The first image is a thift store find ($2!) by The Trad, and the second is a Brooks Brothers version that he notes is uncannily similar.

I swear I've seen another fun shirt floating around by a pretty mainstream (i.e. J. Crew) outfit too, but I can't find it now. Anyone else see anything recently?

Fried laptop

2009-12-16T20:35:00.000-05:00

Typing this with my itouch at the moment. My laptop basically died on me tonight - so posts will probably be sporadic for the time being. On the upside I have a slew of story ideas that are more research intensive, so please stay tuned as I work on them. It involves essays, store visits, factory visits, travel photos, and unique library research. I am really excited just thinking about it all. I think it will bring the site to the next level soon.

But I can't do much posting until this thing gets fixed.
Thanks for your patience. -Dan

Welcome to the working week

2009-12-13T10:54:00.000-05:00

I recently had a conversation recently where I was asked about what I wanted to be when I was a kid. I tossed the question around in my head for a bit and realized that - well - I always wanted to be a businessman.

Maybe it was standing on the platform of the Summit train station at 7am with all the suits as I wanted with my fellow students for the train to take us to prep school. Maybe it was the BusinessWeek subscription at my house - it could be anything, really.

So for those reasons and perhaps others, I find elements of "work culture" endlessly fascinating. Pictures of mainframe computers, corporate letterhead, stories of barbarians at the gate, you name it - I'm interested.

As we move more and more to "open offices" and "flexible schedules" where you work from home (all with their merits), I've increasingly become interested in the aesthetics of desk spaces. Michael Williams of A Continuous Lean has covered this area pretty well.

Perhaps because of the new year around the corner, perpetual calendars keep popping up in my head as an item of aesthetic interest.

Here are a few perpetual calendars that have caught my eye recently on Etsy. Perfect stocking stuffer for that special corporate lackey on your Christmas list.

(From timelessNchic - $17.95)

(from vintageavacado - $22.00)

(from sweetshorn - SOLD)

(from luckylittledot - $30.00)

(from luckylittledot - $28.00)

(from everyeskimo - $32.00)

Kennebunkport Christmas

2009-12-07T21:12:00.000-05:00

Even after a long day witnessing the Kennebunkport Hat Parade and drinking white hot chocolate at the Port Bakery, the sight of the season's first snowfall energized me and my girlfriend as we took a drive out from the beach to the center of Kennebunkport to see the town lit up on the first Saturday night of Christmas Prelude. I love night photography too, so the evening gave me an opportunity to practice with the Nikon.

The holiday spirit didn't set in officially for me until I witnessed the town at night, so hopefully these pictures will do the same for you.

The sight as we hopped behind the wheel. Borrowed the wheels from my folks for the weekend - the all-wheel drive comes in handy in these situations.

The tree in the center of town. Note the lobster.

The window display of Port Canvas - a local Maine company I've written about before on this site.

Many of the shops are on a second floor deck of the port. I loved the lighting along the stairs and the fact that the only footprints visible were our own.

I'm not sure what they serve at the restaurant, but it looks incredibly warm.

Lilly Pulitzer MATCHES. They sell for $8.95. Her brand extension is worse than Ed Hardy's.

Lobster ornaments on the town's Christmas tree.

The lobster theme continues unabated: Cape Porpoise's Lobster Trap Christmas Tree

See all the pictures at my Picasa page (Kennebunkport Christmas 2009)

I'm hip about time

2009-12-06T23:16:00.000-05:00

I really enjoyed this song from the Fiery Furnaces new album when I heard it a few months ago as it got heavy play on WOXY.

Now they just released the video and it is killer take on Easy Rider. Great song, great movie.

Watch "Even in the Rain" below.

Fit for the Weekend III: Presented by SI x DP

2009-12-05T13:20:00.000-05:00

Apologies for the delay, but as this week's head-to-toe collaboration between Sartorially Inclined and myself suggest, traveling has been a recurring theme for me recently. The upside to the delay is that I'm in Maine for the weekend again, and should have another set of pictures to feature in the coming days on the site.

For the uninitiated to our "fit for the weekend" feature, Lawrence from Sartorially Inclined and myself bounce back an item of clothing to each via email other over the course of the week until we have a complete outfit. Each person's descriptions are below.

[Note: Items presented in the order in which they were compiled.]

Clarks Wallabees...$115.00

Lawrence: What can I say about Wallys that I haven't already? There's nothing like a shoe with some heft to anchor your kit. Neat roll your denim and let it casually fall over a pair of these, untied for some of that invaluable sprezzatura. If you're gonna go Wally, you've got to go low top and sand suede.

Naked & Famous Slim Guy Chino Selvedge Denim...$145.00

Me: Pairing khaki with Clarks is a look I picked up in college. Love the look - but I'm partial to the heavyweight feel of selvedge denim so I usually end up throwing on a pair of jeans. These N&F selvedge jeans bridge the gap, combining sweet looks with the feel and comfort you expect from Denim. Decent price for selvedge, too.

Land's End Canvas Shawl Collar Sweater...$69.50

Lawrence: The price is almost as great as the look...trim and grey, not to mention 100% cotton so you're not scratching away while your flight's delayed. Say what you want about Land's End taking a page out of J. Crew's recent success, but I think we have a case of one-upmanship on our hands here. Who can argue with classics priced this well?

Port Canvas Long Range Cruiser...$100.00

Me: It's the holiday season and naturally many people are traveling. That means tossing all the great clothes that you've picked up from Dan and Lawrence's suggestions and visiting some folks you haven't seen in awhile. I'm suggesting this sturdy bag from Port Canvas (Made in the USA) to haul your gear. It won't make you feel like a jock for using a branded gym bag or an blackberry-clutching consultant porting Tumi.

Thanksgiving Mix 2009

2009-12-02T20:53:00.000-05:00

Keith Richards and Gram Parsons - Photo from TSY

The only thing better than making mix tapes is giving them to someone who appreciates them.

I try to put together a mix tape every few months for my girlfriend and she does the same thing for me. A little bit precious, yes, but a great way to communicate new bands and sounds to someone you care about. (awww...)

Here are a couple of songs that I liked from the last mix I put together for Thanksgiving. I'm using players to stream the songs from LaLa so if you are reading this post in an RSS reader you probably need to come to the site since it relies on Flash. I'm also linking the legal downloads where appropriate.

This mix skews towards recently released indie. The old saw regarding writing about music (dancing about architecture) I think is pretty true, so I'll do my best to keep it to a one sentence description and a similar band so you can dip your toes into sound before you start streaming.

Freelance Whales - Generator First Floor (Download)

You know that Ronald Reagan television ad campaign "Morning in America" where everyone is happy and getting ready to work on the farm and raising American flags - well - this mines the same exact feeling except I call it "Morning in Williamsburg, Brooklyn." Good if you like Sufjan Stevens.

Generator ^ First Floor - Free...

The Dirtbombs - Sherlock Holmes

The Dirtbombs buzz-saw guitar attack manages to sound both sweet and menacing, aggressive and diplomatic. Good if you like the Black Keys.

Sherlock Holmes - The Dirtbomb...

Sleigh Bells - Crown on the Ground

Pop hooks and electro-guitar fuzz. Good if you like listening to RATATAT or The Yeah Yeah Yeah's through blown-out speakers.

Sleigh Bells "Crown on the Ground" LIVE at Le Poisson Rouge NYC from AbzPunkPhoto on Vimeo.

Girls - Lust for Life

This song is getting a lot of hype and you may have already heard it - but how can you not like a song that says, "I wish I had a Pizza and bottle of wine"? Listen if you like Pavement, but wish they were more coherent sometimes.

Lust For Life - Girls

The Medium is the Messenger

2009-11-30T20:55:00.000-05:00

I love taking pictures of the quirky things in my West Village neighborhood - especially the vehicles. Here's another for you.

This bicycle is usually parked out either in front of Cafe Cluny or Smorgas on West 12th and West 4th, though I remember seeing it on Perry Street last year. The decorations change with the seasons: right now we're in Autumnal mode.

At the moment, stripped down fixed-gear bikes are very popular in Manhattan. I see the appeal of these bicycles and at times I've considered getting one myself. However the parade of minimalist two-wheelers gets a little repetitive at times.

That's why I like the unapologetic-over-the-topness of this particular bicycle. Sometimes you need a little flair when traveling through Manhattan. Note the streamers.

If you are going to bicycle for peace, you can't just bop around in any old neighborhood beater. You do yourself a favor and you step up your decorating game. This isn't amateur hour - this is the West Village and you need to decorate hard or go home.

See all the photos at my Picasa page (Bicycling for Peace)

Have a Go-To-Hell Holiday

2009-11-26T14:18:00.000-05:00

Holidays - like Summers - are always a good excuse to break out the Go-To-Hell gear. More than a few have caught my eye recently.

Always good to find clothes with a sense of humor.

Rugby by Ralph Lauren Slippers

(via Kempt)

Ralph Lauren Embroidered Striped Shirt

(via Selectism)

Mister Mort's F-U Club Tie
Seen at the Pop Up Flea

(via The Trad)

Brooks Brothers Clark Fit Tartan Plaid Pants

Ralph Lauren Embroidered Corduroy Pant (On Sale)

A Second Pass on the Pop Up Flea

2009-11-24T20:42:00.002-05:00

As I mentioned in Sunday's post, I didn't quite touch upon everything from the Pop Up Flea the first time around.

So in the spirit of Thanksgiving consider this your second helping.

Billykirk isn't my thing - but I know some people enjoy their work - so here are some shots of their leather gear.

I had a good talk with the guys from Epaulet. To be honest, I wasn't that familiar with their store (had no idea it had a physical location in Brooklyn). Lawrence had referenced them a few times but it really didn't click until I checked out their goods in person.

I was impressed with their take on the Alden Indy boot. The original Alden Indy is a little rough around the edges for my tastes, but this version is a thoughtful take that adds some polish to a classic item.

Their ties were sweet looking and had a great price point of $60. I mentioned that the multi-colored tie (second from the right) reminded me of one of my favorites from J. Press and learned that it's basically an updated version of it from the same factory, except in a slimmer width. I don't gush over product often, but if there is one article of clothing there that hit the "disaffected prep" aesthetic it was this tie. Nice work guys.

Just wrapping up my thoughts on the weekend - I can see how some people would walk into the flea and be put off by $200 workshirt shirts and $350 work boots. You know what? That's not my bag either. However, I thought the place offered a pretty diverse selection of goods and an opportunity to meet and greet both the clothing in person and the folks behind it. As my friend Adam mentioned, they even had beer.

Personally I didn't spend any money, but I did get inspiration for new looks and was introduced to a new brand and a new store. I can understand some of the backlash on the workwear stuff, but having fun at the flea is pretty easy to do if you don't get grumpy on the gear that's not in your sartorial wheelhouse.

Pilgrimage to the Pop Up Flea - First Impressions

2009-11-22T11:01:00.000-05:00

In what can only be described as the Superbowl of the Americana fashion/blog community, the lady and I took a walk towards SoHo this past Saturday afternoon for the second ever Pop-Up Flea from Michael Williams and Randy Goldberg. Equal parts shopping experience and networking event (I was asked for a business card multiple times - what?) the shop was nonetheless very successful as I met some good people and was introduced to a few things I had not seen before.

The view from Mulberry Street. There was a guy at the door blocking access if you weren't wearing selvedge denim or Red Wing Boots.

Just kidding - there were three guys doing that.

In a testament to the growing popularity of the Flea and perhaps the improving economy (a rising tide lifts all boat shoes?) the Pop-Up was overflowing with goods this time around. On the near right you can see Schott and near left the guys from Rogue's Gallery.

Here is my iambic tetrameter contribution of the day: This coat from Schott I liked a lot.

Their PR person told me it was a unique color that was produced for the German market and the few jackets that didn't sell were brought to the Flea. So basically you can wear a piece of clothing produced by an American clothing firm for the German market based on the jackets originated by 19th century European navies and popularized by the US Navy. Wrap your head around that. The price was in the mid $200s - which I thought was quite reasonable for a unique item.

Jack Spade bringing the quirk. Learn it, know it, live it. Figured Skip would enjoy this photo.

One of the pleasant finds of the trip was the Portland, OR based Tanner Goods. They produce simple, high quality leather goods that I found really beautiful. The usual suspects are all there - wallets, belts, bags - you name it.

Tanner produces unfinished leather goods as well that patina over time. Here is an example of an unfinished leather wallet and the same type of wallet that's been worn in for a year just above it. As you know, part of the reason I like unfinished denim is its ability to wear, durably, over time to the nuances of your body. I never really thought about this as a feature of leather - but consider me converted.

This is a picture of Michael Williams' left hand. It is also a picture of the goods he brought to market under the ACL & Co. label.

One of his bags he did with the Billykirk guys. Kinda reminded me of the Orvis Battenkill bags - but a little more streamlined.

Overall it was an afternoon well spent as getting up close with the goods is way more worthwhile than looking at web images - case in point: Tanner Goods.

Congratulations to all those involved and it was a pleasure meeting some of the industry girls and guys. There are more pictures available at my Picasa page (Pop-Up Flea Fall 2009) and I'll be publishing a followup post shortly on some finds from the Epaulet table and others. Look for it Monday or so.

The best thing from the Pop-Up Flea not at the Pop-Up Flea

2009-11-21T16:58:00.000-05:00

So walking back to the West Village from the Pop-Up Flea this afternoon I spotted a terrific Bentley with an amusing vanity plate and had to take a few pictures.

The view from the street

Hamptons. Of course.

From a different angle.

It reminded me a lot of a Rolls Royce I found in the West Village back in August. What's with crazy license plates and the Rolls/Bentley crowd? Must be the eff you money talking.

Fit for the Weekend 2: Presented by SI x DP

2009-11-20T08:28:00.000-05:00

We had a great response to last week's Fit for the Weekend feature so we're rolling out a couple more to stretch our imaginations and our budgets.

This week Lawrence from Sartorially Inclined and I took the outfit in a different direction - whereas last week was all about outdoorsy comfort, this outfit is straight evening. Think taking out your significant other out to dinner - you don't want to show up in torn up boot cut jeans and a hoodie. Show some class, brah.

For the uninitiated, Lawrence and I bounce back an item of clothing to each other over the course of the week until we have a complete outfit. Each person's descriptions are below.

Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars in Charcoal...$45

Me: Some things you just feel cool doing. Listening to the Rolling Stones. Getting a high-five when you walk into a bar. And walking in low-top converse all-stars. You can't go wrong.

Hickey Denim Blue Trouser...$325

Lawrence: It's the weekend and there is a good chance you may be going somewhere nice. Time to man up. Lose the jeans, ditch the chinos and rock a pair of trousers. Not suit pants, or the pleated monstrosities you see on Joe Business Casual, but a cool pair like these from Hickey. The cut, fabric and color will keep you from feeling stuffy and odds are you'll at least look like the most confident guy in the restaurant.

Brooks Brothers White Button Down...$79.50

(note: pinpoint collar shown here)

Me: Forget the IBM image of robots in white shirts. Take a look at Tom Ford. He's always decked out in a crisp white shirt - and he does not program computers. There is a reason this shirt was named "Best Dress Shirt" by New York Magazine. Classic looks and reasonable price point.

Baracuta G9 Jacket...$220

Lawrence: You are not going to find a cleaner jacket. Period. The golf jacket is an iconic piece of outerwear that works in the fall and spring so it's definitely worth the cash. The khaki couples up real nice with the white shirt, ads some layering and the plaid liner looks good on top of all solids.

Paul Smith Umbrella...$195

Me: If you are out on the town you don't want to look like a chump with a pocket umbrella the size of a teacup. Drop some coin on a real umbrella. This Paul Smith umbrella features a chestnut wood handle and a tasteful trim along the edge of the umbrella.

Polo Navy Knit Tie...$54.99

Lawrence: This is a no brainer. A simple, classy knit tie is always a good call especially when it's navy and you've got on a white shirt. And it appears as if we have the exact situation going on. Planned? Yes. Killer? Obviously.

Maine Nor'easter - Part 1

2009-11-18T21:24:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend the girlfriend and I went up to Maine to her family’s beachhouse around Kennebunk as we wanted to get in a weekend of relaxation before the holiday crazies set in. The weather, though, was a totally different story – as we endured a (smallish) Nor’easter.

It was as pleasant as Nor’easters come – enough to whip up the waves and toss a few rocks on the road, but nothing to make you fear for your safety. Feeling the need to explore a bit we took the car down Ocean Ave and captured a number of good photos of the storm.

The view off Ocean Ave on the side closer to Kennebunkport. I liked how the stillness of the surroudings constrasted with the waves crashing hard.

Surfers taking advantage of the killer waves. The Colony out in the distance in the first two photos from the set.

I don’t surf (the gf does) but even with my limited knowledge I could appreciate the good waves. It was pretty cool to think all these guys hopped in their cars and trucks during a Nor’easter with the same thing on their mind.

Out near Walker's Point. The waves were epic, brah.

Funny how in the midst of all the gray these colors totally popped out. I've seen this before a few times but it seemed like the right time to document it. Came right at the end of the car right too.

More photos at the Picasa page.

Fit for the Weekend: Presented by SI x DP

2009-11-13T10:03:00.000-05:00

When I first found Lawrence's blog, Sartorially Inclined, it felt like I found a long lost style brother. Minor differences aside (he wears a size 30 APC New Standard jean, I'm a 31), we have in commmon a love of finding great clothes and sharing our finds and thoughts with others.

Lawrence is a lot like James Brown - the hardest working man in the business. He consistently puts out great posts day in and day out and seems to have an unflaggable energy about him that comes through his writing. Sart Inc has also developed a great sense of community in the past few months, as Lawrence provides thoughtful responses to each comment on his posts.

So when I thought about doing a collaborative project, Lawrence popped into my head immediately. We batted around a few ideas over email, and came up with a collaborative head to toe post that as Lawrence described it, would be "fit for the weekend." Over email, Lawrence went first and selected the boots, and then I would respond with pants that I liked that went well with the boots. You'll see how this works below. It felt a lot like a clothing chess game, and we had a lot of fun putting it together and hope to do this a few times for you all.

[Note: Items presented in the order in which they were compiled.]

Polo Ranger Boots...$153.00

Lawrence: You should have a pair of boots for F/W and you shouldn't have to pay upwards of $300 to get them. I mean, they are going to get beat to shit anyway. Polo's Ranger boot comes equipped with classic park ranger styling and look damn good. A Moc toe, lug sole and buckle strap make this one of the best and affordable boots on the market.

LL Bean Double-Knee Katahdin Iron Works Pant...$49.00

Me: Whether or not you were knocking tin all morning or just hanging out on the weekend, a reinforced double-knee workpant is a useful addition to your wardrobe. In addition to durability (triple stitching, bar-tacks), these pants give another choice for guys who too often are forced to make a boring choice between denim or khaki for their pants and feature a great price point of $50. These pants by LL Bean will stay in style as long as they will last - which is to say - forever.

Martin + Osa Washed Flannel York Plaid Shirt...$69.50

Lawrence: Martin + Osa is American Eagle's answer to J. Crew, except it's 10 bucks cheaper. This flannel features some cool detailing (button-flap pockets, tabbed collar, seam gussets), a trim fit, and a real easy price-point. Wear it while doing yard work or throw it on before you head out for the night. It'll look good either way.

Patagonia Synchilla Vest...$75.00

Me: Both functional and effortlessly cool, this classic by Patagonia kicks up your outfit a notch and is perfect for fall or spring days. When it gets really cold, layer up and wear it underneath your jacket. Though the "Patagucci" moniker is earned for its pricey gear, if you pony up $75 for this vest you'll get yourself a quality garment that will be used year in and year out.

Orient Quartz Alarm Chronograph Red...$150.00

Lawrence: This Japanese watch maker has been producing watches since 1950, though they just recently entered the US market. Good thing they did because you are not going to find a cooler looking watch for under $200. Everyone, including myself, has been telling you to grab a black face watch, but try this instead. Simple yet classy, this watch (and black leather band) will dress up any rugged weekend gear. And most importantly, it looks 3 times more expensive than it actually is.

e-readers - a door closes...

2009-11-11T20:51:00.000-05:00

A fundamental aspect of my reality will change soon.

What I mean is, I'm going to buy an e-reader within the next month. And whether I go for the Amazon Kindle or the Barnes & Noble Nook, the way I consume the written word -- and trust me I'm a big consumer -- will be changed

Now, many people bemoan the loss of the tactile sensation of holding a book in your hand when you change to an e-reader - the heft, the weight of the book is a very viceral experience for them. I get that.

What I'll miss most though, is the jacket cover. Please tell me, how will something as beautiful as the Gatsby cover be replicated? In other words, what will happen to jacket cover art? Also - how will people know how smart if they can't tell what book you are reading? (Don't over look this point - it's very important on New York City subways!)

(from bioinfo.mbb.yale.edu)

So while e-readers lack the proper jacket covers of the hardcovers they replace, Barnes & Noble has commissioned a few "designer" covers for their new Nook e-reader. And some of them are pretty cool.

My favorite are from Jack Spade.

From Nook

Don't get me wrong - there is no way to compare the beauty of a classic jacket cover with a simple protective slip cover. And I don't think jacket covers will die off completely as I think we'll still be reading on paper for decades and decades to come.

However, I think it is interesting that where one door is closed in terms of design, another opens in an unexpected fashion.

Teamwork

2009-11-11T19:58:00.000-05:00

I love it when a plan comes together.

From DP

Took this as I was walking to work. The truck got into trouble making a maneuver to back into a service loading dock, messing up traffic on West 54th Street. The group above went to work to get the truck off the ledge that was giving it trouble. After few college tries the truck was off safely and peace was restored to the busy streets of Midtown.

Never know what you'll run into in this city.

Style of the Poets: Robert Lowell

2009-11-09T20:51:00.000-05:00

The nexus between clothing and literature is an endless source of fascination for me. While it may dilutive to compare literature (the "sacred") and fashion (the "profane") to each other, I think it is a rich well of inspiration that, for the most part, lies untapped.

For example, despite all of Tom Wolfe’s contributions to literature (introduction of New Journalism, endless neologisms and coined phrases, creative use of punctuation), he may be equally as well known for his double breasted white suits and spats.

From Lowell

(image from Paste Magazine)

This line of thinking could be applied to Gay Talese, Oscar Wilde, Mark Twain, and Truman Capote, and many others.

If you think about it though, writing and clothing need not be at opposition. If one has a strong, distinctive writing style, then it is natural that some sort of unique clothing style carries over. (Or is it the other way around, that a fashion aesthetic dictates a writing style?)

The inspiration for my site’s name, Disaffected Prep, comes from one of my favorite descriptions of Holden Caulfield as a “disaffected prep-schooler.” The Disaffected Prep look, in my mind, is a worn out Brooks Brother button down, repp tie slightly askew, untied laces, a messy mop of hair, a duffel coat, and a scathingly cynical attitude. As modern examples go, Igby Goes Down nails this pretty well. (“Where do you think you are going to go now, young man?” Igby’s archetypical prescription-popping Manhattan-mother asks after he’s been kicked out of his latest prep school. Igby deadpans: “I don’t know, Choate?”)

From Lowell

(Image from Blogspot - Igby on far right)

In terms of stylish writers, recently I’ve had the look of Robert Lowell kicking around in my head. Now, I don’t think many people would list the poet Robert Lowell as a “style icon,” but I think his look merits examination.

From Lowell

(from Google/Life)

Most are familiar with the rough biography of Lowell – his birth into the prominent Boston family as well as his introduction of the ‘confessional’ style of poetry. In the recently released Words in Air complete correspondence of letters between Elizabeth Bishop and Lowell, Bishop touched on both subjects and gave a fascinating backhanded compliment to Lowell that underscores just why his ‘confessional’ poems had so much weight:

“I feel as if I could write in as much detail about my Uncle Artie, say – but what would be the significance? Nothing at all. He became a drunkard, fought with his wife, and spent most of his time fishing . . . and was ignorant as sin . . . Whereas all you have to do is put down the names! And the fact that it seems significant, illustrative, American etc gives you, I think, the confidence you display about tackling any idea or theme, seriously, in both writing and conversation.”

From Lowell

(image from Amazon)

Sometimes I wonder – did Lowell feel some sort of noblesse oblige when he dressed? Upholding on the Lowell name & tradition? Needing to appear properly patrician in the public eye?

From Lowell

This photo is from the Google/Life image archive. I find it interesting as Lowell wears the nerdy, slightly patrician aesthete look quite well. Now, if you look closely at the full size image, Lowell holds a book by John Crowe Ransom, his mentor at Kenyon College. (Lowell decamped from Harvard and its rich history of graduating Lowell family members for the Midwestern liberal arts college Kenyon so he could study under Ransom.) Ransom’s formalist poetry isn’t really popular anymore, but here is one of his best poems, “Blue Girls.”

Twirling your blue skirts, travelling the sward
Under the towers of your seminary,
Go listen to your teachers old and contrary
Without believing a word.

Tie the white fillets then about your hair
And think no more of what will come to pass
Than bluebirds that go walking on the grass
And chattering on the air.

Practice your beauty, blue girls, before it fail;
And I will cry with my loud lips and publish
Beauty which all our power shall never establish,
It is so frail.

For I could tell you a story which is true;
I know a woman with a terrible tongue,
Blear eyes fallen from blue,
All her perfections tarnished -- yet it is not long
Since she was lovelier than any of you.

I’ve hardly seen a photo of Lowell not wearing a tie or a button down shirt - which made me think about this post, however irreverent it may be.

Even if Lowell was rumpled and slightly batty – he was still well dressed. While we often have an image of poets as disheveled and sloppy, these pictures of Lowell refute this common wisdom.

From Lowell

Recommended poems:
Skunk Hour
For the Union Dead

So a guy walks into a (Presbyterian) Bazaar...

2009-11-07T13:19:00.000-05:00

...and long story short, walks out with a Ralph Lauren Polo glenplaid suit for $40.

But let's rewind.

I took a stroll around Fifth Avenue in the 50's, looking for inspiration - and as usual in New York - it dropped into my lap.

From Bazaar

5th Avenue Presbyterian Bazaar? Sign me up. Even if I walked away with some baked goods I knew I would find something cool. (Only had my cell phone with me, so all the pics are from the cell).

From Bazaar

The scene outside. Balloons = Presbyterian Party inside

From Bazaar

The scene inside. This was just a fraction of the overall goods available.

Naturally, I made my way towards the men's clothing. Given area uptown, I sort of expected to bump into The Trad or something.

It's no secret that you can find high quality clothing at thrift shops and goodwill stores in affluent areas. I figured I had a high probability of hitting paydirt.

From Bazaar

Bingo. This was a Brioni double-breasted suit. The price you ask? $50. Had I not found a Ralph Lauren glenplaid suit (photos forthcoming in a later post), I would have snagged the Brioni.

From Bazaar

Those guys knew what they were doing when they put Bob in charge of the men's fashion boutique. Dude knew how to dress. The message the Presbyterians wanted to send? Buy some of our stuff and you might look as good as Bob. Maybe.

Tough to tell, but his shoes were phenomenal. Also - totally cool with having his picture taken for the blog. Awesome.

From Bazaar

Dug this vintage EMS sweater. $15.

From Bazaar

Christian Dior for about $10.

In the end, I gladly parted with $40 and gave it to Bob and the Presbyterian Church. So it's a win-win: Bob & Team replenish their coffers, and I build up my wardrobe. Good deal.

Suit in the process of being altered by my tailor (LNC Custom Tailor in Chinatown). Will post pictures later on.

Bowdoin Style: Past and Present

2009-11-04T20:56:00.000-05:00

From Bowdoin full color

As an alumnus and fan of style in general I was very happy to find a huge collection of Bowdoin College images in the Google/Life image archive. In the early days of this site I even featured one of my favorite photos, thinking that it would become a recurring theme. It was cool to think about my old college in such stylish terms.

Last Friday I was reading the student newspaper online and learned there is a new student fashion blog in the style of the Sartorialist, called Bowdoin Style. The images are terrific, and I love the idea of promoting style on campus.

When I went to Bowdoin I loved dressing up for class and of course parties. Maybe it was a bit out of place at the time, but I had as much fun thinking about the different blazer and loafer combinations I would wear as I did at the party itself. Even during the day it bothered me somewhat that people would show up to an English class in sweatpants. Now, I realize the importance of comfort and the allure of sweats when you go to school in Maine, but college is an opportunity to try many things and it was frustrating that experimenting with personal style wasn't one of them for many students.

So it's comforting to see that not only that the students still care about style, but someone is there to document it and share it with others.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from Bowdoin Style

For good measure, here are a few more full color pictures of Bowdoin students from the Google/Life archive. Can some of my southern correspondents like Trip or L.A.S. comment on the hunting gear? Guns are totally out of my wheelhouse.

From Bowdoin full color

Also - if anyone has that vintage "B" sweater floating around I would give my left arm for it.

Porter Street Bags - New Gear Available

2009-11-02T20:33:00.000-05:00

From my previous coverage, it is no surprise that I am a fan of Dan's work at Porter Street Bags. They are simple, stylish, well made and easy on the wallet.

I checked in with Dan over the weekend to inquire about the status of any new bags, and he let me know he had just made two new bags available for sale.

These things don't last quickly - so consider this your head's up to get in on some high quality, made in the USA gear before anyone else.

From the looks of it, Dan's honed his craft a bit more these past months and included some cool linings into his already well designed bags.

Chubby Briefcase
LxWxH: 17x8x12 (inches)
$75

I like the option to use the nylon handles to carry or toss over your shoulder with the strap. My Lehman Brothers bag has this feature and it's pretty helpful.

Rucksack
LxWxH: 13x13x24 (inches)

$100

Waxed cotton and leather base. Classic camper look. Pretty much a steal at $100.

Head over to Porter Street Bags for more pics. Like I said, these things sell out pretty quickly so it's worth pulling the trigger on the purchase before anyone else grabs one.

You can also checkout a review of the Slim Briefcase I own from Porter Street Bags. I highly recommend this stuff.

Charles Sheeler & the Ford River Rouge Plant

2009-11-01T10:52:00.000-05:00

As part of an marketing campaign for the new Model A, an advertising agency contracted the American artist and photographer Charles Sheeler to take photographs of Ford Motor Company's newly constructed River Rouge plant in 1927. Enamored with the plant and the technological progress it foretold, Sheeler created a number of iconic images that survive today as as exemplars of the precisionist movement as well as genuine Americana.

I first found these photographs as part of Aesthetics seminar I took in college, and I've been fascinated by them ever since. It can be hard tracking down images of the Sheeler's River Rouge plant on the Internet, but quite a few are housed at the Detroit Institute of Arts website.

From Sheeler

"Criss Crossed Conveyors" recalls a Crucifix. That is not an accident.

Sheeler saw the River Rouge plant as a new industrial cathedral, America's version of Notre Dame. He said, "Our factories are our substitute for religious expression."

From Sheeler

His "Stamping Press" with a solitary worker dwarfed by machinery always reminded me of a priest at a magnificent altar.

From Sheeler

"Power House" has smokestacks like organ pipes.

From Sheeler

Within "Ladle Hooks" we have a lofting ceiling that recalls the soaring interior of a cathedral.

From Sheeler

"Stream Hydraulic Shear"

Beyond the beauty and awesome power of the images, they also highlight a moment in the American experience that imbued industrial machinery with an almost blind quixotic faith to improve our lives. Shortly after these photos were commissioned, the economy took a swan dive into the Great Depression and we would never view factories with the same sort of hope as Sheeler did.

But as they stand, Sheeler's photographs offer a unique and distinctly American view into the power of industrial machinery to transform our consciousness that are still relevant today.

From Sheeler

"Slag Buggy"

From Sheeler

"Ingot Molds"

From Sheeler

"Blast Furnace Interior"

More images at my Picasa page
and the Detroit Institute of Arts

West Village Halloween

2009-10-29T20:51:00.000-04:00

One of the great things about living in the West Village is the inspiration you find everyday when you walk out your front door.

This was clearly apparent this Sunday when I decided to check out some of the storefront Halloween displays in the neighborhood. I even bumped into noted men's fashion blogger (and Kayne West approved!) Richard Haines of What I Saw Today. Richard created the lovely profile picture I use on this site from a J. Crew event earlier this Summer.

From West Village Halloween

I really admire people who put a lot of time and effort into their creative work - and in this residential display it shows. The funniest thing is that this townhouse basically straddles the Ralph Lauren and Marc Jacobs stores that ordinarily have quite elaborate Halloween displays. I liked the "DIY" ethic displayed by the townhouse owners in the midst of two commercial giants.

From West Village Halloween

A closeup of the residential display.

From West Village Halloween

It's tough to see because of the shadows, but you can make out how the townhouse is between the Marc Jacobs store on the left and the Ralph Lauren store on the right.

From West Village Halloween

Skulls. Lots and lots of skulls at Marc Jacobs.

From West Village Halloween

Ralph Lauren went with the creepy mannequin with lots of blush and haute couture aesthetic. I liked it!

From West Village Halloween

A look at the RL storefront. I liked how their display still fit in with the overall image of the store rather than some over-the-top Halloween decoration.

From West Village Halloween

As I mentioned I bumped into Richard Haines of What I Saw Today and had a chance to chat. Richard was perfectly dressed in a blue check shirt, repp tie and slim peacoat. Nice seeing you Richard!

From West Village Halloween

Not everyone went over the top with their Halloween displays. Sometimes a simple pumpkin will do. I liked the rich contrast of colors here.

From West Village Halloween

Twice as Nice.

From West Village Halloween

Tom Browne / Brooks Brothers Black Fleece went for the Eyes Wide Shut look.

From West Village Halloween

Not Halloween related, but a great police dog outside the Greenwich Village precinct.

From West Village Halloween

You know - for the the kids.

Full album: West Village Halloween

Chloë Sevigny x Opening Ceremony x Bass

2009-10-26T20:13:00.000-04:00

Got a surprise in the email box today from UrbanDaddy, promoting Ms. Sevigny's update of the Bass line for Opening Ceremony.

Normally I prefer the classics, rather than someone's wry take on them, but for whatever reason Chloë Sevigny's twist on the legendary (and Preppy Handbook approved) Bass Weejun caught my attention. While some designers go off the farm and others barely make an dent in the original form, this collaboration retains enough of the the original classic while addding thoughtful innovation to make the whole venture worthwhile.

Her contrasting panel Weejuns recall the spectator shoe - a classic item enjoying quite a resurgence recently.

From Loafer

These are the white contrast Weejuns. Definitely a bold statement - but if one can wear go-to-hell pants, why not go-to-hell Weejuns?

If the above are a little much, then the Burgundy contrast Weejun may be more your speed. As seen in the following images, the contrast is subtler.

From Loafer

At $170, these are pricier than the regular Weejuns which normally go for about $100 - but inexpensive enough to pick up without seriously breaking the bank. Personally, I'm a fan of both.

Love, Mick

2009-10-23T19:46:00.000-04:00

From Stones

Fascinating correspondence. "Please write back saying how much money you would like."

I'm guessing the letter refers to the Sticky Fingers album, although that was not released until 1971. I guess Andy really took Mick's advice to heart? Then again, he mentions a 'hits' album - so I'm still not sure. I thought Andy only did the artwork for one Stones album.

Source: http://www.swiss-miss.com/2009/10/the-perfect-brief.html

The closest I'll come to Mouton-Rothschild this year

2009-10-22T20:27:00.000-04:00

As one of the five First Growths of the Bordeaux 1855 classification of the Medoc district, Chateau Mouton-Rothschild can pretty much stand on its own. Even with this unique distinction, Mouton-Rothschild has commissioned an artist every year since 1946 to design the label for their bottle – elevating the Chateau even higher in my mind.

Considering that I don’t have many (read: any) bottles of the stuff in my studio apartment, I’ve never had a chance to check out the labels all at once. So I tracked down a collection of each year’s labels, and some of my favorites are below.

From Bordeaux

1998 - Rufino Tamayo

From Bordeaux

1985 - Paul Delvaux

From Bordeaux

1984 - Yaacov Agam

From Bordeaux

1983 - Saul Steinberg

From Bordeaux

1975 - Andy Warhol

From Bordeaux

1970 - Marc Chagall

From Bordeaux

1999 - Raymond Savignac

Thomas Jefferson and Richard Nixon were supposedly fans of Chateau Margaux, but I like Mouton-Rothschild based on their artist program.

Word is that for their efforts, artists receive five cases of that particular vintage as well as a selection of five additional cases selected from the Cheateau’s cellar.

Sign me up for that deal.

Information sources:
Mark Oldman’s Guide to Outsmarting Wine
Andrea Immer’s Great Wine Made Simple

Image source:
The Artist Labels

(Write it!) - Unique Notebooks

2009-10-21T21:01:00.001-04:00

My post on Black n’ Reds got me hooked on unique notebooks. While Moleskin has its fans, the ubiquity of the notebooks among the café-set turns me off from their products.

Here are a number of alternatives - all of them have character. Click on the images to go to the direct page.

Use them to write something great.

eeBoo is a children's company - but I like the irreverence of this notebook

The Italians produce many beautiful things - and this Ciak notebook is one of them

From Jack Spade. I've used this as my notebook since 2006. Great price too.

These Field Notes notebooks look like something from a Wes Anderson movie. I mean that as the highest compliment.

From AMH Designs. You can make your own needlepoint or have them do it.

Paul Smith for Rhodia

I choo-choo-choose this travel journal from Papercup Design

A Look Inside: Porter Street Bags

2009-10-18T14:58:00.000-04:00

My interest in Etsy.com is well documented. Above all, in terms of clothing and accessories, I look for unique items (clothing or otherwise) and Etsy is overstuffed with them.

In late Summer I stumbled upon a bag maker that offered handmade bags in the vein of Billykirk and Jack Spade. I figured I would save the link, and then write up the find on DP at some point.The shop was called Porter Street Bags.

But Paul over at Components of Enthusiasm beat me to the punch (and frankly, did a far better job than I would have with the feature) and did a great interview with the designer behind Porter Street Bags. I thought to myself, ‘maybe I should buy one of these bags before the word leaks out’, but even by this point, all six or so of the original bags were sold out. I was pretty disappointed.

So imagine my surprise in the middle of September when my girlfriend presented me with one of the original Porter Street bags (the “Slim Briefcase”) for my birthday! I was floored – it was an amazing present and probably one of the best things I’ve ever received.

I’ve spent a lot of time with the bag now, bringing it to work or the café, and really like how it looks. A lot of people go for the minimalist look, but often times that strips the personality away in an effort to keep things clean and sleek. Even though the Porter Street bags are simple in terms of the design and the colors, the personality shines through in the hand stitching and other personal details.

So here are a couple photos of my bag. Here’s hoping Dan at Porter Street cranks up the production soon – I think we’re all expecting big things from him.

From Porter Street

A Before and After: KMW vs. APC

2009-10-17T13:57:00.000-04:00

The thing I like about clothing – and not the only thing mind you – is its ability to tell a story through the ordinary process of wear and tear. As Mark Doty said in a poem once, mortality’s evidence is found best in a pair of discarded jeans.

So naturally I’m a fan of selvedge denim, the raw denim that gradually contours to your body and wears over time. Unlike most selvedge fanatics though, I don’t care much about how old the Japanese looms are, how many miles the makers trekked to find the perfect thread, or how many virgins it took to sew the back pockets on by hand. Whatever. That stuff, to me, is all marketing. I just like my denim dark, raw and stiff.

I’m also really picky about getting a new pair, and basically drive my jeans into the ground. So when my Kicking Mule Workshop 1980’s jeans (available at Odin) started getting holes in the patches that were sewed on to fix previous holes, well, I knew I needed a new pair.

The price of Kicking Mule Workshop has gone up significantly ($350 what?) so I picked up a pair of the standby APC New Standards that are more reasonably priced. I thought it would be interesting to see the two side by side before I break in the APCs. Note that the KMW jeans were once as dark as the new APCs. Pretty cool to see the distressing that is uniquely yours.

From Jeans

Willy Neutkens' Collection of Important BMW Motorcycles

2009-10-12T21:20:00.001-04:00

Willy Neutkens really loved BMW motorcycles. So much so, that he basically collected almost every single model BMW made since 1923. Unfortunately he passed away last year, and Bonhams is handling the dispersal sale of his collection.

I heard about the Bonhams sale through the FT Weekend edition and it seemed like something worth researching. I tracked down some images, and man, it's a beautiful collection.

I once had a thing for vintage Triumphs until a motorcycle aficionado steered me away because of the high maintenance. He said BMWs were a far better bet. Since then I've gone back and forth between Triumph and BMW, but these pictures now put me firmly in the BMW camp.

The source of these pics is http://users.telenet.be/tups/neutkens.htm. FYI, the Bonhams sale is set for the end of November.

From BMW

R17 Series 1

From BMW

R42

From BMW

R32

From BMW

R61

From BMW

R47

Ryan Adams likes Barneys, Doesn't Have a Problem With It Either

2009-10-11T11:08:00.000-04:00

(Note: I wrote this about a year ago in a Facebook post, but liked it enough to re-run it again on this blog. I can never get enough of Ryan Adams. I edited down the intro for brevity, and featured the video more prominently, as it is probably one of my favorite things on the internet)

Today I was walking through SoHo and came across Morrison Hotel, which is a gallery that sells overpriced photos of classic rock figures to bourgeois-bohemians with nothing better to spend their money on (in other words, me in 15 years). In this gallery were some terrific shots of Keith and Mick and the Stones, along with prints of Janis Joplin and Hendrix. Interestingly, there was a picture of a disheveled Ryan Adams, head resting against his palm, conveying to the audience the incredible weight of being so amazingly talented, which therefore manifests itself in physical pain (specifically migraines, apparently). Ryan cuts a pretty large swath, because even in the context of such rock heavyweights at the Morrison Hotel gallery, he held his own completely and naturally.

(Not the Image from Morrison Hotel, but pretty close. From his Easy Tiger album)

So I started thinking more about Ryan, and more specifically how he can be inducted into this pantheon so quickly, and paradoxically why rock critics and the intelligentsia are so hard on the guy.

Ultimately I think that if it were up to rock critics/fanboys to create their rock ‘n roll star of today, the end result would look a lot like Ryan. He has the right sound, a great sense of rock history (collaboration with Emmylou Harris connects him to Gram Parsons, however unintentionally), and antics and a personality off the stage that surrounds him almost as much as the music (substance abuse, dating Parker Posey, among others). Considering he mastered these tools so quickly and innately, it’s appropriate he’s placed on the same level as certain rock giants. As an erudite student of rock himself, I suppose Ryan is completely aware of rock journalists’ tendency to project their hopes onto someone with promising talent, which explains the joy he seems to find in messing with people via his website and blogs. If people want him to be the enfant terrible of rock music, then by God he’s gonna give what the people want. If Ryan wants to go shopping at Barney's, man, he's gonna shop at Barney's!

So if “Ryan Adams” is a composite of both an incredibly talented musician and the vessel into which we put our hopes and dreams, etc, it’s a lot easier to see how the criticism against him has developed. It’s as if we’ve forgotten that Ryan isn’t an archetype but rather a fallible human being – and therefore anytime he produces a piece of art that deviates from the expectations set by our blueprint he’ll be severely punished (witness Rock ‘N Roll – his third album.). It’s as if we treat Ryan like a child, because we’ve become invested like parents in his development. Criticism is lobbied on him like mortar fire because we’re mad he doesn’t live up to our unrealistic expectations, and also because we secretly hope this corrective measure will be the one that breaks his fragile genius and ultimately provokes him to channel something more beautiful then ever imagined (for our benefit, of course).

In that way, we become active participants in the rock ‘n roll drama, directing the tide of music we were never meant to play ourselves. And however unfair it may seem, we just can’t let Ryan go because of that.

And Ryan, if you read ever read this: It’s cool, I like Barney’s too.

Selecting the 100 Most Beautiful Words Is Not An Arbitrary Act

2009-10-09T19:43:00.000-04:00

Completely not subjective, or anything.

Despite this, "Dr. Goodword" is up to the task, apparently, and shares his list of the 100 Most Beautiful Words in English.

Overall, a pretty good attempt. As a check, it includes some of my favorite words, including Ephemeral, Epiphany, Halcyon, Panacea, and Serendipity.

Yet it lacks one of my absolute favorite words: Unfurl. A troubling omission! Also, is Beauty not beautiful enough a word to make the list?

So, did Dr. Goodword leave out any other words that deserve to be on this list? Let me know in the comments.

In Praise of Black n' Reds

2009-10-08T19:50:00.002-04:00

I used to think the ultimate style killer was wearing a backpack with your suit. It doesn’t make any sense (do you carry textbooks to work?) and simply clashes with the entire outfit. I mean, it practically telegraphs that your Mom also packs a lunch before you walk out the door to go to work with the big boys in the city.

But now I think the standard office supply notebook, the kind most people dutifully carry to meetings, is even worse.

I never noticed this until I started interacting with a number of my work colleagues from London. On a number of many style matters, those colleagues simply out-class their American counterparts (myself included).

Yet it doesn’t just come down to matters of dress or those great accents – even their notepads are stylish! They use Black n' Reds! Like dressing up for the theatre, they treat the customs of the standard office meeting with the respect it deserves by bringing a decent looking notebook to the table!

(Black n' Red hardback - much better!)

Meanwhile, most of us show up to a meeting with the same kind of notebook we used in high school to jot down notes about The Catcher in the Rye.

A couple of months ago I looked around the table at meeting with some London folks and had a coming-to-Jesus moment. Like Paul on the road to Demascus, I suddenly saw the error of my ways. A cheap cover, cheap paper – I could do a lot better.

Now I work in my Black n' Reds with a sense of pride, after procuring a number to last me a good couple of years from a helpful London colleague. The quality of the paper is much better, and they hold up their slick appearance even after months of constant use. It’s simply a classic, through and through.

After all, most of us put a little bit of effort into our appearance before we head to work each morning. Why should the selection of our notebooks be any different?

(I prefer the polypropylene covers, personally)

Things I Stole from my Old Man - Part I

2009-10-05T21:23:00.000-04:00

A few days ago I came to the startling realization that a number of my favorite clothing items in my wardrobe I outright stole from my father. As in, I raided his closet (or the attic) and laid claim to the assets - with or without his knowledge. He has kindly acquiesced to my brutal takeovers, I imagine both flattered by my interest and glad to see the items get some additional use.

Beyond the personal history attached to it, a lot of these items just are not available anymore, which adds to their allure. Here is a sampling.

Button Down from Roots Clothiers

From Dad stuff

I pulled this a few months back while digging for treasure items in my family's attic. It comes from an old clothing store in our hometown of Summit, NJ called Roots Clothiers. Back in the day the store contained items from Hickey Freeman & Alden, among others, and I imagine it was a lot like O'Connell's in Buffalo, New York. Unfortunately Roots closed up shop in the late 1980's or early 90's and there is very little record of its history on the web.

From Dad stuff

While the store is gone (and something tells me I really would have loved it as an adult) I have this smart shirt that lives on in my closet.

From Dad stuff

The shirt itself is as soft as silk from decades of washing and features a trim (but not too trim) fit on my frame. It's the perfect weekend shirt for a guy.

Harvard Business School Bag

I pulled this one from the same treasure hunting trip as the shirt above. Immediately I knew I hit paydirt when I saw a crimson & white contrast bag. The fact that it comes from his time at HBS makes it even cooler.

From Dad stuff

I feel like if I had to create a 1980's Master of the Universe starter kit it would include this bag, Oliver Stone's Wall Street (on VHS, natch), Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities, and a HP 12C calculator for figuring out the interest payments on the debt you issued to take RJR Nabisco Private with your buddies at KKR.

From Dad stuff

Wool Surcingle Belt

Now, this is a pretty common belt (you can get a similar one at O'Connell's), but I like the natural distressing of the leather on this one that's occurred over a good two decades.

From Dad stuff

It also comes from Roots Clothiers.

From Dad stuff

From my understanding there is a bit of a "Roots cult" near my hometown, according to Bob at John Hyatt, so I'm quite pleased to own at least two items from the store.

Duck print dopp kit and tie carrier

I have no idea where this one comes from, but I swiped the dopp kit when I was a freshman at Bowdoin. I took the matching tie carrier (holds three comfortably) the next year. No labels or anything, but the pattern is terrific.

From Dad stuff

Thanks Dad.

Go to Hell Sportcoat: Band of Outsiders edition

2009-10-03T10:44:00.001-04:00

From a Gilt Groupe sale this summer. Forgot I had this floating around on the hard drive.

You would be wearing sunglasses too if you had such a cool sportcoat.

From GTH

A Test of Will

2009-10-01T21:14:00.000-04:00

For the past few months I've followed Will's photoblog, A Test of Will. I'm not sure how I found it; perhaps it was a Gothamist photo that I really liked and found out he was the source. Who knows? Regardless, while I follow many blogs, I don't really keep up with the world of photoblogs. A Test of Will is the exception.

The photo he published today really took me back:

I love, love, love this thing of beauty. The alternating lights create a feeling of instability, as if you are made to remember that peering so voyeuristically into someone else's life is, in fact, a dangerous act. And I love how the picture is framed; the warmth of the party giving off its radiant glow in the lower right corner. This is what fascinates me about the city as a concept, and it's one of its enduring paradoxes: the simultaneous feeling of closeness and distance you feel when look into an illuminated apartment building. This photo captures that perfectly.

Here are a few other favorites of mine, for good measure. I would encourage you to check out A Test of Will and Will's Flickr page.

The Odeon

2009-09-30T21:12:00.001-04:00

"You are not the kind of guy who would be at a place like this at this time of the morning."

--Jay McInerney, Bright Lights, Big City

Saturday night the girlfriend and I went to the Odeon, the brasserie in TriBeCa that used to be the place for the bold faced names of the 1980's literary brat pack (Jay McInerney, Bret Easton Ellis, Tama Janowitz, etc). I've always enjoyed the work of those writers, though I always thought there was something tragic in the way that McInerney and Ellis never really recovered from the heights of hype to which they were subjected for their first novels (Bright Lights, Big City and Less Than Zero, respectively), though both have gone on to write fine, respectable novels later in life.

So sitting in the Odeon where Ellis probably poured Ketel One on Corey Feldman, or whatever, I thought about New York in the 1980s, and how it's probably at the exact moment in the rearview mirror of pop culture history when we can start mythologizing it. I tried to track down a few shots of the Odeon in its heyday and failed, though I did turn up a number of great photos of New York(ers) in the '80s from the Google Life article that I thought was worth sharing.

Trump

NYSE

Madge

Tower Records - note the Gremlins ad

Streep

Sentence of the Day: A Sensible Sentence

2009-09-27T10:31:00.001-04:00

"The poor go under or go up or go wrong or even go on, somehow, in a way the poor have - but George O'Kelly was so new to poverty that had anyone denied the uniqueness of his case he would have been astonished."

-F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Sensible Thing," The Collected Short Stories of F. Scott Fitzgerald

When Fitz hits on all cylinders he has a musicality to his lyricism that cannot be beat. However, a lot of the short fiction he produced the steady-paying "slicks" like the Saturday Evening Post, Collier's and Red Book was a noticeable step down in quality.

While he explored a lot of complex Americana themes in the short stories that he would later flesh out in his novels (North vs. the South, Wealth, Pursuit of Gilded Women, etc), most of the short stories have a workman-like quality that detract a bit from their enjoyment.

However once in awhile he lets slip a beautiful sentence in the midst of an otherwise banal paragraph, as if to remind us that yes, we are still in the presence of a terribly gifted writer.

Etsy Finds: Vintage Typewriters

2009-09-26T12:44:00.001-04:00

"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."

-Hemingway

Bleed on these.

All of these come from Poetic Home's Etsy Shop.

I've been thinking about getting a vintage typewriter as a reaction to this whole netbook obsession everyone is into. So my thought is just to take it to the next level: strip it down to the absolute basics. I got two words for you. Word Processing. Whip one of these out at a cafe, and they'll know who's boss.

Some typewriters are better than others. Some of them have a beautiful symmetry. But frankly I don't know what is considered a "good" vintage typewriter over another. However, when I see a good curated collection I have reason to trust that the person organizing it knows what they're talking about. So as I browsed for vintage typewriters on Etsy I stumbled upon Poetic Home's Etsy collection. Definitely worth taking a look.

Channel your inner Charles Bukowski and get drunk at the typer. Or pop a bunch of benzo's and write an American travel essay on a single sheet like Kerouac. Whatever you do, just write it.

The West Village: We Brunch Hard

2009-09-21T20:47:00.001-04:00

"I stood / Among them, but not of them; in a shroud / Of thoughts which were not their thoughts.”

-Lord Byron

Over the past couple of weekends I noticed how the brunch crowd out Extra Virgin was literally spilling out into the streets. Walked around a bit more and found this was a recurring pattern. All photos taken September 20, 2009.

Outside Extra Virgin

Behind the line at Magnolia

The crowd outside August

Tartine

This guy was all plaidout.

Smorgas

Cluny - look for the guy in the beanie

Couldn't resist - saw the same guy from the Cluny picture a few blocks over

Full res of the set available here

To a Diner Dying Young: Joe Jr.'s

2009-09-20T12:23:00.001-04:00

I was at work – July 2nd – and a couple of New York City blogs buzzed with the word that Joe Jr’s, the iconic West Village diner, lost its lease and was in danger of closing. My girlfriend was picking me up early from work to head up to Maine for the July 4th weekend.   I had my bags packed, so the plan was to leave directly from Midtown and shoot straight up to Maine.

I got in the car and told her, “We have to go to Joe’s.” Once I explained the events, she understood.

She drove me down Seventh and took a left on West 12th. Halfway up the street traffic stopped so I just got out and started running towards Joe’s as if I heard a loved one was in the hospital.

I saw Greg manning the counter. “I came as soon as I heard,” I said. “I’m leaving for vacation but I had to stop here first. Is it true?” He nodded, and then in a spontaneous moment, we hugged. It was a moment of profound sadness but also one of appreciation – appreciation that I came by, and my own appreciation for the operation of a diner that meant so much to me. Photographers and newspaper reporters were there. Flashbulbs went off; I’m sure there’s a picture of me and Greg somewhere in the New York July 3rd newspapers.

(Image from jeremoss' flickr page) Joe Jr's shortly before the closing.

Let me take a step back. When I first moved into New York, I struggled to find myself here. Most of my friends landed in Boston after college, and despite the proximity to my hometown in NJ, NYC felt like an alien place. It wasn’t until I established routines and “places,” that I grew accustomed to New York, and eventually came to love it.

Joe’s was that first place for me.

If you wanted to dine solo like me, you had a couple of options – saddle up on the counter, or take the “little table” near the front door with a view of Sixth Avenue. I saw John Waters at the little table more times than I can count.

I was a “regular” on Saturday mornings. My plate of a western omelet, Canadian bacon, and whole wheat toast would arrive without any prompting. It’s an incredibly simple thing in hindsight, but the “regular” status had certain kind of currency for me. In a city in which I knew practically no one, I had a diner where at least I was recognized and taken care of. When you’re lonely and just out of college something that simple can take on magical status.

I even built the diner into poems as I started to construct my New York experience:
“ …ordering a western, wheat down at Joe Jr’s, Nicky behind the counter busting the chops of / regulars / stacked on the stools / like beer bottles with their bowls of red, staring into the depths of a coffee, black, / piecing together the night’s furtive impulses rehashing in my head,”

You could say I gave Joe Jr’s a sort of personal mythology. It had these quirks that I came to love, like the idiosyncrasies of a family member you grow a fondness for. When I asked for the paper, I got the Post. If you asked about the game, you heard about the Yankees or the Giants. The diner patois (“whisky down,” “delivery!”) interspersed with random Greek sayings and the clatter of pots of pans became a sort of music.

(Image from jeremoss' flickr page) How I remember it...

When I brought my girlfriend to Joe’s for the first time I felt like it was an introduction to a member of my family. The message was simple: this is a part of my life and I want to share it with you. Meet Mom, Dad, and Joe Jr.

I would grab breakfast there before all my important exams – the Series 7 when I just started out in my job, and more recently the CFA exams. It was the closest I had to home cooking – the kind of food you crave when the outside world threatens you and all you can think about is comfort. Just eat, eat, and eat and the worry goes away.

A few months after it shuttered, Joe’s storefront is still empty. The signs are gone and the windows boarded up. I wince a little bit every time I see it. It’s a constant reminder that the good things in this world are not permanent. It was the first thing I cared about in New York that was lost, and it won’t be the last.

More importantly, Joe’s was the livelihood for a number great people. Greg, Nicky, Raul, Eric, Ramon… there are many others. I don’t know how things shook out, but I think of them a lot and hope they all landed on their feet.

I know it’s strange to feel this way about a restaurant, but then again, not all restaurants go by a first name.

Joe Jr, I miss you.

Cars of the West Village: Land Cruisin'

2009-09-19T09:37:00.000-04:00

I've spotted this car before on West 10th Street last spring, but when I saw it on my street last weekend I just had to give it another photoshoot. Admittedly, I'm not a big fan of SUVs, but I can appreciate good design and a terrific color when I see it.

In a neighborhood of (beautiful) German automobiles like Audi, BMW, and Porsche, this one stands out against the crowd. Glad I took the pictures when I did - it was gone within a day.

More pictures are available on my Flickr page.

Sentence of the Day: Just like Candy

2009-09-16T20:19:00.001-04:00

“In my mind,” he responded, “candy, you know, depending on the candy, for example, Big League Chew or Nerds, could be tremendous, whereas candy I don’t like, like Bazooka Joe bubble gum, could be a problem.”

-Gary Vaynerchuk on describing wine like candy, NY Times Dining Section: The Pour, 09/09/09

Is there any hobby or industry whose language is more laughable than wine? Bouquet, nose - the terms employed are insanely mockable.

According to common winsdom, to understand wine you must first know how to speak wine among the cognoscenti, adopting an edifice of language that, like most snobbish pursuits, is really an exercise in obfuscation. In other words, manipulating language in order to keep hoi polloi at bay.

So that's why I find Gary Vanerchuk's descriptions of wine really liberating. He speaks without the formalized pretense that, rather than "objectively" describing something, in reality creates artificial borders as to what is canonical language or not.

On a side note, my first wine book, and still my favorite, is Mark Oldman's Guide to Outsmarting Wine. I would recommend it to anyone interested in getting down the basics of wine. It's very approachable, and I still go back to it time after time, even after graduating to the more refined books of Robinson, Immer, et al.

West Village Style: Gerard

2009-09-13T12:13:00.000-04:00

We often see items of unique beauty in our daily lives but lack the foresight to document it. And yet sometimes if we are fortunate and do in fact document the event, we generally fail to share the insight with others.

For that reason, I admire the street style photography of people like the Sartorialist and Mister Mort. Camera in tow, they find individuals whose individual style stand out in a sea of parity, or whose polished look cries out for proper documentation.

I often see things - especially in the West Village - that are clamor for attention too. But most times I'm too shy to snap a photo.

Two weeks ago, though, I saw something that jump-started my attention and compelled me to take action.

While on a photo-hunting trip through the West Village with my D60, I decided to walk west - around the Jane Hotel - and then loop back to the apartment. Rounding the corner near the west side highway, a flash of puple caught my eye and I quickly took this photo:

Purple Pants - a man after my own heart! I figured I would run up a little further to get a better look at the outfit.

OK - so someone's head got in the way. I'm still getting the hang of my camera. But from here I saw the guy's very rakish, upturned collar!

By Washington Street, I gathered enough courage to stop the guy and ask if I could take a photo (Well - A full picture of his outfit - obviously I already took two...) and he said sure!

I asked if his pants were linen and he said yes - from France, his homeland. We chatted for a bit and he said his name was Gerard, but then apologized as he had to get on his way as he was in a rush.

A few things - check out the full break on his pants. Recently I've been wearing my pants without a break, but he pulls it off with such a nonchalant air I may reconsider my style.

Take a look closer: collar popped just so, hair slightly disheveled. A loosely tied sweater. Scruffy beard stubble. I hope to be half as cool as this guy when I'm his age.

One final note - the great thing about his outfit, when put together, was something Castiglione in The Courtier called Sprezzatura, the studied art of appearing effortless. Is his style studied effortlessness, or is it naturally effortless? I can't tell - and for reason I think his style is masterful.

Domino Theory

2009-09-09T20:26:00.000-04:00

I heard this song on WOXY a few weeks ago and fell obsessively in love. Placed it on a mix for DP's GF and then turned her whole family into fans of the song.

So I figured, why not share it with everyone else?

The Big Pink plays Bowery Ballroom in NYC on December 3rd, and the new album comes out next week. You can currently stream the whole thing on their website.

Road Prepping in Maine

2009-09-08T21:10:00.000-04:00

I expect to find blueberry stands in Maine - or lobster shacks. That sort of thing.

However I'll take a random grosgrain ribbon stand, anyday of the week. Found this roadside stand while driving with the girlfriend in Cape Porpoise (Kennebunk) and just had to stop.

I hauled back the blue life preserver print on the bottom right.

The key fobs were nice too.

Lots of stuff for the ladies:

Best part - everything was on the honor system.

Cheap too:

But I suppose you can charge low prices - on the honor system no less - when your house sits on the water like this:

From Cape Porpoise (Kennebunk, ME)

Ebay Finds: Securitize your Assets

2009-09-07T15:45:00.001-04:00

As a fan of Wall Street history I have a real sweet spot for firms that are no longer with us. Call it irreverence, but to me there is nothing cooler than seeing an old Salomon Brothers tote on the subway, and if you had some Long-Term Capital Management notepads I'd gladly take it off your hands.

So I was really interested to hear a few months back that Lehman Brothers would be selling off all their corporate swag on eBay to liquidate their assets for the bankruptcy proceedings. The first thing that popped into my head was - Lehman banker bags!

Sure enough, I was able to pick up a brand new banker bag perfectly sized for the gym or overnight trips - or simply a reprieve from the Jack Spade messenger. I get a lot of compliments from strangers and they get a kick when I tell them I pulled it off eBay.

Unfortunately I haven't been able to find the bag re-listed on eBay - until now. At $20 (they have many in stock), it's really a great pickup for any fan of financial history, or someone just interested in getting a versatile - albeit irreverent - bag.

Sentence of the Day: Pirate-nomics

2009-09-02T20:57:00.000-04:00

"A brisk, clever new book, “The Invisible Hook” (Princeton; $24.95), by Peter T. Leeson, an economist who claims to have owned a pirate skull ring as a child and to have had supply-and-demand curves tattooed on his right biceps when he was seventeen, offers a different approach."

-A History of Pirates, The New Yorker

Supply and Demand: because that's probably what a teenager who reads Friedman and Keynes thinks is cool to name his biceps.

This sentence is beautiful, mostly because of its sheer improbability. "A nobel prize-winning economist," or "renowned economist" - we've all seen that. But to introduce an economist via an anecdote about his nerdy tattoos? That's hardly an inferior good.

Camp BoBo in the 1980's - Part III

2009-08-30T14:37:00.001-04:00

Beard, David (Bowdoin 1988), originally uploaded by BowdoinCollege.

Going wireless on the quad - circa 1988.

David Beard, whoever you are, rest assured you were awesome in college.

Camp BoBo in the 1980's - Part II

2009-08-30T14:33:00.002-04:00

Cheerleading 1985, originally uploaded by BowdoinCollege.

(Apologies for the multiple posts here - but I have quite figured out how to blog multiple photos from Flickr...)

Can we get the campus bookstore to bring back this classic sweater? Perhaps a DP and Bowdoin collaboration? The wheels are turning...

There is a "B" hat on the bookstore's website, but it says "Bowdoin" on the side, which I think hurts the purity of the look; the "B" shouldn't require an explanation.

As they say about the school, those that need to know, know.

Camp BoBo in the 1980's

2009-08-30T14:15:00.002-04:00

Croquet Club 1984, originally uploaded by BowdoinCollege.

I found what looks to be Bowdoin College's official Flickr account in my hunt for unique and interesting photos of the Bowdoin college experience. Now, as you can imagine a lot of these photographs are of recent official, sanctioned events - like graduation or athletic games - but there are some real gems from the archive that date back to the 1950's. I wonder if they are familiar with the Life Magazine archives I've posted previously?

Here is one of my favorites - Bowdoin's Croquet Club in 1984. Note the tennis sweater in the center row, as well as the variety of sportcoat combos featured by the men. Lacoste polo and blazer? Check. V-neck sweater and blazer combo? Double-check.

Also, one of the club members is a fellow by the name of Jeff Wicket - if that isn't a great Croquet name I don't know what is.