In the morning I wake up to music on my clock radio. I'm not exactly sure what station it's tuned to; it used to be WFNX, but one morning it turned on to nothing but static, and for whatever reason I can't get 'FNX on it anymore, so I just fiddled with the dial until I found another station with a strong signal. I hear a fair bit of jabbering about sports, and when I do wake up to music, it's usually from the 1970s, so it's probably WZLX.
My brain has some pretty deeply ingrained memories of music, particularly stuff that I heard over and over on the radio while growing up in the '70s, so while I may hear only a tiny snippet of a song in the morning before shutting off the radio, by the time I get into the shower a couple of minutes later, my brain has filled in the blanks, so to speak, and is playing whatever song I caught a moment of. Today it was "Peace of Mind" by Boston.
The recall power of the brain is pretty amazing. So much stuff seeps in without our making a conscious effort to remember it. There are certain albums that I've listened to so many times that I can "play" them from beginning to end in my mind. So why, then, when I walk into the grocery store, can't I remember what I went there to buy without making a list? Why can I not recall the face of my grandfather, who died when I was six, but I can clearly hear his voice telling me not to go near the street when playing in his driveway?
Even stranger are the instances when a song clicks on in my brain completely unprovoked. In fact, it happened about 20 minutes ago: out of nowhere I suddenly had "You Took The Words Right Out Of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night)" by Meat Loaf playing in my head. Now, I admit to listening to Bat Out of Hell about half a squllion times... in 1977, before I'd had a musical awakening. But I haven't been anywhere near the album or the song in decades, so how does that happen?
Thing is, I don't necessarily want these songs in my head, but there's nothing I can do. (I was never much of a Boston fan, but I listened to the radio a lot, and I would usually just wait out the songs I didn't like instead of changing the station.) Occasionally I can "tune" my brain to a different song, but most of the time I'm stuck with whatever it is until I can start listening to something else. There have been times when it has lasted all day, but that's nothing: I have a coworker who claims she once had a song stuck in her head for a year. I never asked which song it was, because I was afraid it would trigger a relapse and she would then want to kill me.
29 March 2010
27 March 2010
This Week in Awesome (3/27/10)
Welcome back, it's time for the usual weekend foolishness. (In case I haven't pointed this out before, I post these things on Saturdays so you can feel like you'll have enough time to check them out at your leisure.)
So yesterday the interwebs were abuzz with a video of a dog chewing pieces off the bumper of a police car in Chattanooga, TN. I only mention it as a public service in case any of you missed it. (The Awl via BuzzFeed)
Are you old enough to remember when customized vans were cool? If not, you probably think of vans differently. (Hemmings Auto Blog)
A bunch of actors and comedians got together and did a benefit to raise money to rebuild schools in Haiti. Each participant read a favorite tweet onstage, and there were 140 participants (get it?). Ben Stiller filmed the event, and you can buy a download of it for a donation of only $3 at Amazon or iTunes, and you can watch the trailer here. Among the participants, Rich Sommer, who plays Harry on Mad Men, stands out. Even if you've never seen the show, you can probably figure out which one is him if you watch the trailer. (Put This On)
So yesterday the interwebs were abuzz with a video of a dog chewing pieces off the bumper of a police car in Chattanooga, TN. I only mention it as a public service in case any of you missed it. (The Awl via BuzzFeed)
Are you old enough to remember when customized vans were cool? If not, you probably think of vans differently. (Hemmings Auto Blog)
A bunch of actors and comedians got together and did a benefit to raise money to rebuild schools in Haiti. Each participant read a favorite tweet onstage, and there were 140 participants (get it?). Ben Stiller filmed the event, and you can buy a download of it for a donation of only $3 at Amazon or iTunes, and you can watch the trailer here. Among the participants, Rich Sommer, who plays Harry on Mad Men, stands out. Even if you've never seen the show, you can probably figure out which one is him if you watch the trailer. (Put This On)
26 March 2010
Overheard: Sooner Than You Think Edition
A young woman of 18 or possibly 20, looking up from reading the Metro and across the train to two other women she seems to be acquainted with: "Is 'over the hill' 40 or 50?"
25 March 2010
Domino Effect
Yesterday was one of those days when nothing went right on my morning commute, and a reminder that one seemingly insignificant thing can have significant repercussions.
See, the bus arrived couple of minutes later than it usually does. There's been a different driver this week; I don't know if it's the seasonal route shuffle, or if our recent driver is just on vacation. But anyway, we rolled into Wellington just a bit later than we've typically been arriving, just in time to see a train pulling into the station. If the bus had been on time, those of us on the bus would likely have made that train, and everything probably would have been fine.
But we didn't, and it wasn't. The next train took much longer to arrive than is normal. Meanwhile we were hearing PA announcements that the next northbound train would be coming out of service, so that would end up affecting the southbound trains eventually.
When the next Boston-bound train did arrive, it was totally packed, so I didn't even bother trying to get on. The one after that had a little room, but only about half of the people on the platform were able to squeeze on. The third train had enough room for the rest of us. By that point I had been on the platform for almost half an hour, and I was a little chilly.
I was already late, but I was mainly trying to get to work by 9:30, because that's when we have our weekly group breakfast. When I'm late like this, I usually switch over to the Green Line at North Station, because it stops right in front of our building. As the train rolled into North Station I saw a Green Line train that was probably an E close its doors and pull out. I waited, and after several minutes a C train showed up. I don't usually bother with these, because then I have to switch again at Copley, but I figured some forward motion was better than more standing around.
But when I got to Copley, I got to stand there and watch multiple B, C, and D trains come through for another 20 minutes or so. When I finally made it to work, it was ten minutes to ten (and miraculously, there was still one everything bagel remaining). There's no way I can know for certain if I would have made it on time, but I think I would have had a better chance if I had made that first Orange Line train.
See, the bus arrived couple of minutes later than it usually does. There's been a different driver this week; I don't know if it's the seasonal route shuffle, or if our recent driver is just on vacation. But anyway, we rolled into Wellington just a bit later than we've typically been arriving, just in time to see a train pulling into the station. If the bus had been on time, those of us on the bus would likely have made that train, and everything probably would have been fine.
But we didn't, and it wasn't. The next train took much longer to arrive than is normal. Meanwhile we were hearing PA announcements that the next northbound train would be coming out of service, so that would end up affecting the southbound trains eventually.
When the next Boston-bound train did arrive, it was totally packed, so I didn't even bother trying to get on. The one after that had a little room, but only about half of the people on the platform were able to squeeze on. The third train had enough room for the rest of us. By that point I had been on the platform for almost half an hour, and I was a little chilly.
I was already late, but I was mainly trying to get to work by 9:30, because that's when we have our weekly group breakfast. When I'm late like this, I usually switch over to the Green Line at North Station, because it stops right in front of our building. As the train rolled into North Station I saw a Green Line train that was probably an E close its doors and pull out. I waited, and after several minutes a C train showed up. I don't usually bother with these, because then I have to switch again at Copley, but I figured some forward motion was better than more standing around.
But when I got to Copley, I got to stand there and watch multiple B, C, and D trains come through for another 20 minutes or so. When I finally made it to work, it was ten minutes to ten (and miraculously, there was still one everything bagel remaining). There's no way I can know for certain if I would have made it on time, but I think I would have had a better chance if I had made that first Orange Line train.
24 March 2010
Afternoon Weirdness
This is real. And it's a hell of a lot more interesting to me than that boring basketball thing going on... (The Awl via MetaFilter)
23 March 2010
Mmmm...
Some days, all you really want for lunch is chocolate pudding. Today was one of those days...
22 March 2010
Weekend Eats
After last weekend's near-biblical rain, we were rewarded with several days of truly wonderful early spring weather. (Of course, it's back down in the 40s today and we're going to get another bucket of rain dumped on us tonight, but that's how it goes around here.) The pleasant weather encouraged us to get out and do stuff over the weekend, and by "stuff" I mean stuff ourselves.
On Friday night our friend Dave's band The Rationales played at Precinct in Union Square, Somerville, so we went over early to eat there first. It's a nice, cozy little place, oddly shaped because it's in a basement. It's a bit on the dark side, which might be good for a date, but there's enough light to see your food, and they have a very good beer selection. The menu runs toward simple food, but it's tasty, well prepared, and everything is very reasonably priced. And if you're just looking for a local to hang out in, you could do far worse.
Saturday found us doing our usual weekend runaround, which often includes a stop at Lyndell's in Ball Square for their famous moon cakes, fruit pastries, or turnovers (I've been on a raspberry turnover kick lately; the Mrs. always gets apple). And for you locals, Lyndell's is about to open their third location in Cambridge, on Prospect Street where Carberry's used to be.
On Saturday evening we had plans to meet a friend in the North End for dinner. We managed to find a parking space on Atlantic Avenue with very little effort, and walked over to Hanover Street, which was teeming with people as if it was a Saturday night in the middle of July, not March. (If you judged by how people were dressed, you would also have thought it was July: we saw plenty of shorts and flip-flops, so people are clearly ready to shake off the winter and dive right into their warm-weather wardrobes.) Everyone was out enjoying the evening, and it was another reminder of why we love living here so much.
Our dinner destination was Il Villaggio, a small place toward the Greenway end of Hanover. We had been there once before, a couple of years ago, and while we enjoyed it, I didn't recall much about my meal. I thought we should revisit it and see how things were. There are, by my rough count, about 30 seats in the place, and because it's small, it doesn't get too noisy. The staff were very pleasant and attentive, and made us feel like they genuinely appreciated our visit. All of our meals were excellent. Most of the entrees are in the $15 to $20 range, which is a nice sweet spot for dining out.
Il Villaggio does not serve dessert, but in the North End that isn't a problem. On a night like Saturday you can stand in line at Mike's for 20 or 30 minutes, or you can always wander over to Bova's on Salem Street for cannoli. There was also a line for Modern Pastry, but a short way up the block, diagonally across from Il Villaggio, is the second location of Lyndell's, which opened last year. There were a couple of people ahead of us at the counter, but no line. Prices are higher at this location, but that's not exactly a surprise. And we've now visited, and snacked at, two Lyndell's locations in one day, an "accomplishment" we are peculiarly proud of.
On Friday night our friend Dave's band The Rationales played at Precinct in Union Square, Somerville, so we went over early to eat there first. It's a nice, cozy little place, oddly shaped because it's in a basement. It's a bit on the dark side, which might be good for a date, but there's enough light to see your food, and they have a very good beer selection. The menu runs toward simple food, but it's tasty, well prepared, and everything is very reasonably priced. And if you're just looking for a local to hang out in, you could do far worse.
Saturday found us doing our usual weekend runaround, which often includes a stop at Lyndell's in Ball Square for their famous moon cakes, fruit pastries, or turnovers (I've been on a raspberry turnover kick lately; the Mrs. always gets apple). And for you locals, Lyndell's is about to open their third location in Cambridge, on Prospect Street where Carberry's used to be.
On Saturday evening we had plans to meet a friend in the North End for dinner. We managed to find a parking space on Atlantic Avenue with very little effort, and walked over to Hanover Street, which was teeming with people as if it was a Saturday night in the middle of July, not March. (If you judged by how people were dressed, you would also have thought it was July: we saw plenty of shorts and flip-flops, so people are clearly ready to shake off the winter and dive right into their warm-weather wardrobes.) Everyone was out enjoying the evening, and it was another reminder of why we love living here so much.
Our dinner destination was Il Villaggio, a small place toward the Greenway end of Hanover. We had been there once before, a couple of years ago, and while we enjoyed it, I didn't recall much about my meal. I thought we should revisit it and see how things were. There are, by my rough count, about 30 seats in the place, and because it's small, it doesn't get too noisy. The staff were very pleasant and attentive, and made us feel like they genuinely appreciated our visit. All of our meals were excellent. Most of the entrees are in the $15 to $20 range, which is a nice sweet spot for dining out.
Il Villaggio does not serve dessert, but in the North End that isn't a problem. On a night like Saturday you can stand in line at Mike's for 20 or 30 minutes, or you can always wander over to Bova's on Salem Street for cannoli. There was also a line for Modern Pastry, but a short way up the block, diagonally across from Il Villaggio, is the second location of Lyndell's, which opened last year. There were a couple of people ahead of us at the counter, but no line. Prices are higher at this location, but that's not exactly a surprise. And we've now visited, and snacked at, two Lyndell's locations in one day, an "accomplishment" we are peculiarly proud of.
20 March 2010
This Week in Awesome (3/20/10)
Hi there. Fully into weekend mode, especially considering how amazingly nice it was today, especially for mid-March. Also I just spent an hour or so getting my replacement TiVo connected and set up, which went more smoothly than I'd expected.
This week, we begin with the heartwarming and inspirational story of a 23-year-old guy who never learned how to ride a bicycle. (YouTube via Unlikely Words)
Jalopnik says we must watch this, and who are we to argue? They rarely let us down. FYI, it's a rap video about cars. And Jesus. (via VWVortex)
In a slightly less savory vein, but still more or less safe for work, two things we can always use more of: Explosions and Boobs. (UrbanDaddy)
And finally, this new ad campaign appeared this week. Unconventional, to be sure, but also refreshingly honest. (The New York Times via The Awl)
This week, we begin with the heartwarming and inspirational story of a 23-year-old guy who never learned how to ride a bicycle. (YouTube via Unlikely Words)
Jalopnik says we must watch this, and who are we to argue? They rarely let us down. FYI, it's a rap video about cars. And Jesus. (via VWVortex)
In a slightly less savory vein, but still more or less safe for work, two things we can always use more of: Explosions and Boobs. (UrbanDaddy)
And finally, this new ad campaign appeared this week. Unconventional, to be sure, but also refreshingly honest. (The New York Times via The Awl)
19 March 2010
Friday Funnies: Daily Show Takedown
Jon Stewart does it again, from last night's installment of The Daily Show. (Note: this opening segment runs 13 minutes, substantially longer than TDS segments usually do.)
18 March 2010
Watch Wednesday Thursday (3/18/10)
The original might still be around here somewhere, but it was just too old and dirty to be viable. So some years later I started looking for one like it on eBay. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I found a similar, probably earlier version that lacked a second hand, and then I found several others that were not in working condition, but I couldn't see the point of buying another broken watch. I looked on and off, and found this one just last year.
Once again I am reminded that older watches were generally smaller than today's styles, though this watch is not quite as small in diameter as the pair of Caravelles I featured recently. One thing I do like about this watch, and what caught my eye back at that flea market, is how the numerals taper very slightly toward the center of the dial. The strap came with the watch, and it's not really my style, but I don't feel like replacing it is a priority.
24: What Happened?
We're at the halfway point of the eighth "day" of 24, so I thought it was time to check in and assess the damage, so to speak. Curiously, this week's episode was perhaps the best of this season so far, with more of the sort of action we expect from the show. But at the same time, there were still so many of the now-too-common moments of "Huh?" and "WTF?" that make me shake my head in disbelief. It pains me to say it, but 24 has become mostly a bore, even when the action cranks up.
The show has always suffered, even when it was at its best, from the need to fill out its real-time story lines by introducing subplots and secondary characters. This season this device has hit a new low with the story of CTU analyst Dana Walsh's sordid past coming back to haunt her, right in the middle of the pesky national terrorist crisis. Besides being groan-inducing week after week, this subplot wastes the actress Katee Sackhoff.
But I think it's been even worse to Freddie Prinze Jr., who plays her fiance Cole Ortiz, as he became an unwilling accomplice to Dana's misadventure. Prinze delivers his lines with all the enthusiasm of a fourth-grader giving an oral report in front of the class. He's like a talking piece of driftwood. I'm not familiar with the rest of his acting career, so I'm not sure if he's really this bad an actor, he just can't get a proper grip on this particular role, or if he's merely as bored as the rest of us.
There's more, but the more I think about it, the more depressing it becomes to contemplate writing about it. I don't even care anymore about the treaty negotiations going on between the presidents of the United States and the fictitious Middle Eastern country the terrorists are from. And the main plot, involving nuclear rods stolen by terrorists, feels like a retread of previous seasons' stories.
The one bright spot (for me, anyway) has been seeing the psychological unraveling of FBI agent Renee Walker after her involvement in last season's events and her eye-opening regarding the steps that sometimes have to be taken to protect the country from its enemies. But Renee has been out of the action for the past couple of weeks (another annoying habit that 24's writers have).
Jack Bauer, of course, is still Jack Bauer, and we are still treated to the occasional Jack moments that fans of the series love so much. But they seem fewer and farther between this season, which may just be caused by the overall sense of lassitude that now pervades the show. The rumors suggest that this season will indeed be the end of the line for Jack and his cohorts, and the show has wanted to establish itself on the big screen for a few years now anyway, which makes more sense to me at this point.
If you enjoy this type of show and would like to watch something more satisfying, I can't recommend the British series MI-5 highly enough. The show has aired in the UK (where it's called Spooks) since 2002, and series (the British term for seasons) one through four aired in the US on the A&E network before they were seized with reality-show fever. I would have thought that BBC America would show it, but we didn't have that channel until a couple of years ago, so perhaps they did at some point.
MI-5 is orders of magnitude more realistic than 24 (sometimes disturbingly so), and it's a lot less predictable. Our local PBS station started showing MI-5 weekly some time last year, but the way they schedule the airings is frustratingly inconsistent. For the month of March, they have replaced the Saturday night high-definition showings of MI-5 (perfect for DVR capture) with "viewers' favorites," presumably in conjunction with fundraising.
The better idea, then, is probably to go with Netflix. British shows tend to be produced in smaller batches of episodes; the first series of MI-5 was six episodes, and all subsequent series have been ten, so it won't take as long to watch as some American shows. And Netflix even has the first four series available to watch via their streaming feature, so you don't even have to wait for a DVD to arrive to sample the show and see if you like it.
The show has always suffered, even when it was at its best, from the need to fill out its real-time story lines by introducing subplots and secondary characters. This season this device has hit a new low with the story of CTU analyst Dana Walsh's sordid past coming back to haunt her, right in the middle of the pesky national terrorist crisis. Besides being groan-inducing week after week, this subplot wastes the actress Katee Sackhoff.
But I think it's been even worse to Freddie Prinze Jr., who plays her fiance Cole Ortiz, as he became an unwilling accomplice to Dana's misadventure. Prinze delivers his lines with all the enthusiasm of a fourth-grader giving an oral report in front of the class. He's like a talking piece of driftwood. I'm not familiar with the rest of his acting career, so I'm not sure if he's really this bad an actor, he just can't get a proper grip on this particular role, or if he's merely as bored as the rest of us.
There's more, but the more I think about it, the more depressing it becomes to contemplate writing about it. I don't even care anymore about the treaty negotiations going on between the presidents of the United States and the fictitious Middle Eastern country the terrorists are from. And the main plot, involving nuclear rods stolen by terrorists, feels like a retread of previous seasons' stories.
The one bright spot (for me, anyway) has been seeing the psychological unraveling of FBI agent Renee Walker after her involvement in last season's events and her eye-opening regarding the steps that sometimes have to be taken to protect the country from its enemies. But Renee has been out of the action for the past couple of weeks (another annoying habit that 24's writers have).
Jack Bauer, of course, is still Jack Bauer, and we are still treated to the occasional Jack moments that fans of the series love so much. But they seem fewer and farther between this season, which may just be caused by the overall sense of lassitude that now pervades the show. The rumors suggest that this season will indeed be the end of the line for Jack and his cohorts, and the show has wanted to establish itself on the big screen for a few years now anyway, which makes more sense to me at this point.
If you enjoy this type of show and would like to watch something more satisfying, I can't recommend the British series MI-5 highly enough. The show has aired in the UK (where it's called Spooks) since 2002, and series (the British term for seasons) one through four aired in the US on the A&E network before they were seized with reality-show fever. I would have thought that BBC America would show it, but we didn't have that channel until a couple of years ago, so perhaps they did at some point.
MI-5 is orders of magnitude more realistic than 24 (sometimes disturbingly so), and it's a lot less predictable. Our local PBS station started showing MI-5 weekly some time last year, but the way they schedule the airings is frustratingly inconsistent. For the month of March, they have replaced the Saturday night high-definition showings of MI-5 (perfect for DVR capture) with "viewers' favorites," presumably in conjunction with fundraising.
The better idea, then, is probably to go with Netflix. British shows tend to be produced in smaller batches of episodes; the first series of MI-5 was six episodes, and all subsequent series have been ten, so it won't take as long to watch as some American shows. And Netflix even has the first four series available to watch via their streaming feature, so you don't even have to wait for a DVD to arrive to sample the show and see if you like it.
17 March 2010
Back Soon...
I should have mentioned this earlier today, or even yesterday, but it's deadline week once again, so bear with me while the flood of posting slows down for a bit. Belated watch post will show up probably tomorrow night, and I have something else that I may be able to finish tomorrow during the day.
15 March 2010
TiVo Trauma
It's been raining like hell for two days here in our corner of the world. Several of my coworkers have water in their basements, but fortunately ours is dry. However, we do have a dog who dislikes getting wet, so convincing her it's in her interest (as well as ours) to attend to her needs has been a bit tricky.
But in fact I have more pressing issues to contend with. Some time on Thursday our power went out. I have no idea why it did, but when it came back on it killed our TiVo. It restarts itself after a power loss, but I guess there was a surge, even though I have it, the television, and all the other associated components plugged into a surge protector.
When I got home that evening I noticed the light on the front of the unit was on, and I jokingly asked the dog if she had been using the TiVo while we were at work. Then I saw the blinking clock in our bedroom, and I realized that the TiVo was stuck in its startup sequence (if it had completed that sequence normally, an additional light would have come on). I tried unplugging it and initiating the startup sequence again, something that has been successful in the past, but no luck this time.
Half an hour on the phone with TiVo's tech support confirmed that the patient was DOA. Basically, if your machine can't get past the initial welcome screen, there's nothing more they can do for you, except offer to sell you a replacement. I've had the thing too long to contemplate living without it, and I have no interest in whatever sort of device the cable company might supply me with, so the replacement is on its way. Because I purchased a "lifetime" subscription to the TiVo service, I'm apparently within some sort of window; it's no longer under warranty, but it isn't costing me as much as it might have. I wasn't about to question it.
Meanwhile, there was some stuff on the TiVo that we hadn't watched yet, though not too much, that is now gone. Most of it is available in various places online. (I was saving season three of Mad Men to rewatch, but the DVD set is coming out next week.) There are also a few shows on cable channels we won't be able to watch until I get the new unit up and running. That's because the TiVo uses two CableCards, which are credit card-sized versions of a cable box. No TiVo means no CableCards, so at the moment we're getting only the broadcast networks and a few other channels. The television has a CableCard slot, so I might be able to pull one card and switch it to the TV. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to do that on my own, or if I need to get a tech from the cable provider to come and do it (which will of course mean spending more money).
It's very strange, after almost six years of being a TiVo user, to suddenly have to shift back to thinking about what shows are on on a given night, at what time, and if there's anything else on at the same time that we care about, as opposed to thinking about what we want to watch tonight from the pool of what we've already recorded, and having to sit through commercials. Technology is great, until it fails you.
The other thing I'm trying to do is get my old (circa 2003) Powerbook laptop to work with the TV so we can watch online shows on the larger TV screen. I picked up a cable yesterday, but when I connect it to the computer, the computer's cursor disappears, making it a little difficult to do anything with it. This isn't crucial, but it's something I'd been thinking about doing anyway, and it would be nice if I could get it to work.
I need to look into the alleged guarantee provided by the surge protector company, which is the whole point of buying those things anyway. And I think maybe I need to consider getting a better one for the whole A/V setup.
But in fact I have more pressing issues to contend with. Some time on Thursday our power went out. I have no idea why it did, but when it came back on it killed our TiVo. It restarts itself after a power loss, but I guess there was a surge, even though I have it, the television, and all the other associated components plugged into a surge protector.
When I got home that evening I noticed the light on the front of the unit was on, and I jokingly asked the dog if she had been using the TiVo while we were at work. Then I saw the blinking clock in our bedroom, and I realized that the TiVo was stuck in its startup sequence (if it had completed that sequence normally, an additional light would have come on). I tried unplugging it and initiating the startup sequence again, something that has been successful in the past, but no luck this time.
Half an hour on the phone with TiVo's tech support confirmed that the patient was DOA. Basically, if your machine can't get past the initial welcome screen, there's nothing more they can do for you, except offer to sell you a replacement. I've had the thing too long to contemplate living without it, and I have no interest in whatever sort of device the cable company might supply me with, so the replacement is on its way. Because I purchased a "lifetime" subscription to the TiVo service, I'm apparently within some sort of window; it's no longer under warranty, but it isn't costing me as much as it might have. I wasn't about to question it.
Meanwhile, there was some stuff on the TiVo that we hadn't watched yet, though not too much, that is now gone. Most of it is available in various places online. (I was saving season three of Mad Men to rewatch, but the DVD set is coming out next week.) There are also a few shows on cable channels we won't be able to watch until I get the new unit up and running. That's because the TiVo uses two CableCards, which are credit card-sized versions of a cable box. No TiVo means no CableCards, so at the moment we're getting only the broadcast networks and a few other channels. The television has a CableCard slot, so I might be able to pull one card and switch it to the TV. I'm not sure if I'm supposed to do that on my own, or if I need to get a tech from the cable provider to come and do it (which will of course mean spending more money).
It's very strange, after almost six years of being a TiVo user, to suddenly have to shift back to thinking about what shows are on on a given night, at what time, and if there's anything else on at the same time that we care about, as opposed to thinking about what we want to watch tonight from the pool of what we've already recorded, and having to sit through commercials. Technology is great, until it fails you.
The other thing I'm trying to do is get my old (circa 2003) Powerbook laptop to work with the TV so we can watch online shows on the larger TV screen. I picked up a cable yesterday, but when I connect it to the computer, the computer's cursor disappears, making it a little difficult to do anything with it. This isn't crucial, but it's something I'd been thinking about doing anyway, and it would be nice if I could get it to work.
I need to look into the alleged guarantee provided by the surge protector company, which is the whole point of buying those things anyway. And I think maybe I need to consider getting a better one for the whole A/V setup.
13 March 2010
This Week in Awesome (3/13/10)
Once again, not the heftiest haul this week. Is the internet getting tired of itself?
This appeared at the beginning of the week, and when that happens there's a dilemma: post it separately, or hold until Saturday when may have already grown stale? I showed it to the Mrs., who immediately posted it on her facebook page, so apologies if you've already seen it, but a woman who gets into an accident while/because she's shaving her lady bits while driving is the very essence of what I try to do here each week. Bonus points to the Keys News for their appropriately edgy headline on this story. (Keys News via Jalopnik via Jezebel)
Jalopnik's sibling sports site Deadspin recently started a series featuring excerpts from a subcategory of romance writing set in the world of NASCAR. Be warned: lots of dangerous auto-eroticism cliches ahead. (Deadspin via Jalopnik)
This cute little video is rather mesmerizing, so I can only imagine what it might be like to watch it while under the influence of a controlled substance. Even sober, there is a slight risk that your brain could short-circuit from watching it. So what are you waiting for? (Daily What via Videogum)
This appeared at the beginning of the week, and when that happens there's a dilemma: post it separately, or hold until Saturday when may have already grown stale? I showed it to the Mrs., who immediately posted it on her facebook page, so apologies if you've already seen it, but a woman who gets into an accident while/because she's shaving her lady bits while driving is the very essence of what I try to do here each week. Bonus points to the Keys News for their appropriately edgy headline on this story. (Keys News via Jalopnik via Jezebel)
Jalopnik's sibling sports site Deadspin recently started a series featuring excerpts from a subcategory of romance writing set in the world of NASCAR. Be warned: lots of dangerous auto-eroticism cliches ahead. (Deadspin via Jalopnik)
This cute little video is rather mesmerizing, so I can only imagine what it might be like to watch it while under the influence of a controlled substance. Even sober, there is a slight risk that your brain could short-circuit from watching it. So what are you waiting for? (Daily What via Videogum)
11 March 2010
Gone Too Soon: A Shopping Eulogy
For a couple of years now I've been wearing (and praising) the clothes from Martin + Osa, a brand of American Eagle Outfitters. Think of M+O as AE's more worldly and sophisticated older sibling: the styles are a little more grown-up, intended for an older customer. The fits are a little sleeker, the fabrics and details a bit nicer, and the logos, if present at all, are small and subtle.
When I first encountered M+O's clothes, they were splitting the stylistic difference between Banana Republic and J. Crew, skewing perhaps a bit more toward the latter. But as subsequent seasons were released, M+O started to find its own path. They were a couple of years ahead of the Gap with regard to doing high-quality denim in a variety of fits. Their casual shirts don't have J. Crew's "secret wash," but they are plenty soft enough, and if, like me, you believe in ironing your shirt before you leave the house (at least on work days), the M+O shirts tend to look a bit more polished, and they come in more interesting colors and patterns. They also did very nice cashmere sweaters that were often on sale for excellent prices.
Unfortunately Martin + Osa has been losing money pretty much all along, and this week American Eagle announced that they are pulling the plug on the brand. The spring merchandise is already in stores, so it seems like the timing of the announcement, and the wind-down that will happen some time this summer, had to be done before production of fall items would have begun.
There are fewer than 30 M+O stores nationwide, and I'm sure they kept the store count low to keep costs down, but such a strategy may have inadvertently contributed to the label's demise, because not enough people knew about the brand. When I read other people's posts about the clothes, the comments always ran along the lines of "I'd never heard of them, but now that I have I'm very impressed with their stuff." Perhaps a little more effort on the part of marketing might have increased people's awareness of the brand. I don't know, maybe some ads in fashion magazines? It takes a lot to establish a new brand in the marketplace, and M+O never got the chance to gain traction with shoppers.
I'm very disappointed. Martin + Osa had quickly become one of my go-to sources for good-quality clothing at fair prices, and it's one less choice I'll have for where to shop come fall. And I wonder if American Eagle will offer the store employees jobs in their other stores? I placed an order today for a couple of spring items I'd been thinking about; no point in waiting any longer. I'm sure there will be some sort of liquidation sale, but at that point the size and color choices will probably be limited, and it will be depressing. I'd rather remember them as they were when things were better.
When I first encountered M+O's clothes, they were splitting the stylistic difference between Banana Republic and J. Crew, skewing perhaps a bit more toward the latter. But as subsequent seasons were released, M+O started to find its own path. They were a couple of years ahead of the Gap with regard to doing high-quality denim in a variety of fits. Their casual shirts don't have J. Crew's "secret wash," but they are plenty soft enough, and if, like me, you believe in ironing your shirt before you leave the house (at least on work days), the M+O shirts tend to look a bit more polished, and they come in more interesting colors and patterns. They also did very nice cashmere sweaters that were often on sale for excellent prices.
Unfortunately Martin + Osa has been losing money pretty much all along, and this week American Eagle announced that they are pulling the plug on the brand. The spring merchandise is already in stores, so it seems like the timing of the announcement, and the wind-down that will happen some time this summer, had to be done before production of fall items would have begun.
There are fewer than 30 M+O stores nationwide, and I'm sure they kept the store count low to keep costs down, but such a strategy may have inadvertently contributed to the label's demise, because not enough people knew about the brand. When I read other people's posts about the clothes, the comments always ran along the lines of "I'd never heard of them, but now that I have I'm very impressed with their stuff." Perhaps a little more effort on the part of marketing might have increased people's awareness of the brand. I don't know, maybe some ads in fashion magazines? It takes a lot to establish a new brand in the marketplace, and M+O never got the chance to gain traction with shoppers.
I'm very disappointed. Martin + Osa had quickly become one of my go-to sources for good-quality clothing at fair prices, and it's one less choice I'll have for where to shop come fall. And I wonder if American Eagle will offer the store employees jobs in their other stores? I placed an order today for a couple of spring items I'd been thinking about; no point in waiting any longer. I'm sure there will be some sort of liquidation sale, but at that point the size and color choices will probably be limited, and it will be depressing. I'd rather remember them as they were when things were better.
10 March 2010
Watch Wednesday Bonus Bit
I'm not posting a watch this week, but I thought I'd relate a bit of watch trivia. Several months back when I featured this Caravelle watch, I mentioned that I didn't know how to adjust the day of the week at the end of a month with less than 31 days.
These days it's fairly common for watches to have more than one "stop" or crown position: pulling the crown out to the first position lets you adjust the date or the day of the week (by turning the crown one way or the other), and pulling it out the rest of the way enables setting the time.
But back in the late 1960s when this watch was made, this sort of quick-set feature was typically found only on higher-end Swiss brands. If your watch had only the date function, then you turned the hands manually through the extra day (or three, in the case of the February-to-March transition) until the date changed to the 1st. (I once had an old Seiko that had an early variant of a quick-set function: to advance the date, you pushed in the crown, and the date changed with a heavy click. It was pretty cool.)
When a watch had day and date functions, it was a little trickier. By spending a little time fiddling around with this watch, I was able to figure out how it works. When you turn the hands past midnight both the day and date advance, but if you then turn the hands back a couple of hours there's a tiny click, and the day backs up but the date doesn't, so if you then turn the hands forward again, the date moves ahead an extra day. Simple and rather clever, but without an instruction booklet or a jewelry store employee to show you how it's done, it's not entirely obvious.
These days it's fairly common for watches to have more than one "stop" or crown position: pulling the crown out to the first position lets you adjust the date or the day of the week (by turning the crown one way or the other), and pulling it out the rest of the way enables setting the time.
But back in the late 1960s when this watch was made, this sort of quick-set feature was typically found only on higher-end Swiss brands. If your watch had only the date function, then you turned the hands manually through the extra day (or three, in the case of the February-to-March transition) until the date changed to the 1st. (I once had an old Seiko that had an early variant of a quick-set function: to advance the date, you pushed in the crown, and the date changed with a heavy click. It was pretty cool.)
When a watch had day and date functions, it was a little trickier. By spending a little time fiddling around with this watch, I was able to figure out how it works. When you turn the hands past midnight both the day and date advance, but if you then turn the hands back a couple of hours there's a tiny click, and the day backs up but the date doesn't, so if you then turn the hands forward again, the date moves ahead an extra day. Simple and rather clever, but without an instruction booklet or a jewelry store employee to show you how it's done, it's not entirely obvious.
Madly Overpriced
Hmm. Mad Men dolls? I guess I like the idea of it better than the execution. As with most things of this nature, the faces don't look right. They look too much like Barbie faces, really.
And $75 each? Ow. For that kind of money, the dolls should walk and talk and make drinks.
And $75 each? Ow. For that kind of money, the dolls should walk and talk and make drinks.
09 March 2010
TV Blues: Unmet Expectations
Time for some more NBC griping, though this time it's not the programming decisions (Olympics tape-delays notwithstanding) but the programs themselves that I'm taking issue with.
Law & Order: SVU used to be pretty reliably entertaining, if occasionally a bit over the top. But this season has been largely laughable. Last week's episode about a killer targeting lesbians dragged out every dusty stereotype in the book. It wasn't helped by the presence of Kathy Griffin as an in-your-face activist. I'm a fan of KG, but there were two problems with this casting: I couldn't buy her in a dramatic role because of her standup and her overall public persona; and I can only assume that she agreed to do the part before she'd read the script, because her dialogue was abysmal.
Last week's highly anticipated episode of The Office, in which Pam finally gave birth, was another serious letdown. This show rarely hits a wrong note, but this double-length episode managed to cram in almost six seasons' worth of them. Andy and Erin's tiptoeing around each other has none of the charm of Pam and Jim's earlier trajectory; it's gotten so tedious that now that they're finally going on a date, I'm not sure I care. Pam and Jim's wedding episode earlier this season was one of the series' best, but the interactions between them as parents-to-be this week felt mostly inconsistent with their characters. Could it be that the baby is causing them to lose their cute-couple mojo? And how in the world could they allow Dwight to enter their house, unaccompanied, under any circumstances? I sincerely hope The Office hasn't jumped the shark, but I'm worried.
And what of Saturday Night Live? Eighteen months ago the show was once again relevant and on target with the election business, but more importantly, it was funny. There are certainly other bright spots: Jon Hamm's second time hosting wasn't quite as good as his first, but his appearance as the saxophone-playing Sergio in the Digital Short "The Curse" was one of the funniest things the show has done in ages. Zach Galifianakis's oddball humor this past weekend elevated the monologue, usually one of the weaker parts of the show. And whenever Justin Timberlake hosts, the show is funny, period.
But these high points are getting increasingly scarce. The previous weekend's show was hosted by Jennifer Lopez. I've never had much of an opinion about her as a singer or an actor, but the show did her a huge disservice by saddling her (and the rest of the cast) with sketches that mostly leaned on tired Latino stereotypes, because, you know, Lopez is Puerto Rican. (The exception was the telenovela spoof "Besos y Lagrimas," which was pretty funny.) By contrast, Lopez happened to guest star on last night's episode of How I Met Your Mother and there wasn't a single Latina joke or reference. She was just a character, the author of a self-help book for women, and I thought she did a decent job.
I think SNL just doesn't put enough thought into how its guest hosts can best fit into the ensemble. Too often the fourth wall is dropped and the host plays himself or herself. That only works when that person totally upends their public persona, which doesn't happen often. And when a particular week's show does turn out to be really good, it always leaves me thinking, why aren't they all this funny?
P.S. I'm still not sold on Vampire Weekend after seeing them perform on this week's show, but "Giving Up the Gun" is the freshest and most interesting song of theirs that I've heard thus far.
Law & Order: SVU used to be pretty reliably entertaining, if occasionally a bit over the top. But this season has been largely laughable. Last week's episode about a killer targeting lesbians dragged out every dusty stereotype in the book. It wasn't helped by the presence of Kathy Griffin as an in-your-face activist. I'm a fan of KG, but there were two problems with this casting: I couldn't buy her in a dramatic role because of her standup and her overall public persona; and I can only assume that she agreed to do the part before she'd read the script, because her dialogue was abysmal.
Last week's highly anticipated episode of The Office, in which Pam finally gave birth, was another serious letdown. This show rarely hits a wrong note, but this double-length episode managed to cram in almost six seasons' worth of them. Andy and Erin's tiptoeing around each other has none of the charm of Pam and Jim's earlier trajectory; it's gotten so tedious that now that they're finally going on a date, I'm not sure I care. Pam and Jim's wedding episode earlier this season was one of the series' best, but the interactions between them as parents-to-be this week felt mostly inconsistent with their characters. Could it be that the baby is causing them to lose their cute-couple mojo? And how in the world could they allow Dwight to enter their house, unaccompanied, under any circumstances? I sincerely hope The Office hasn't jumped the shark, but I'm worried.
And what of Saturday Night Live? Eighteen months ago the show was once again relevant and on target with the election business, but more importantly, it was funny. There are certainly other bright spots: Jon Hamm's second time hosting wasn't quite as good as his first, but his appearance as the saxophone-playing Sergio in the Digital Short "The Curse" was one of the funniest things the show has done in ages. Zach Galifianakis's oddball humor this past weekend elevated the monologue, usually one of the weaker parts of the show. And whenever Justin Timberlake hosts, the show is funny, period.
But these high points are getting increasingly scarce. The previous weekend's show was hosted by Jennifer Lopez. I've never had much of an opinion about her as a singer or an actor, but the show did her a huge disservice by saddling her (and the rest of the cast) with sketches that mostly leaned on tired Latino stereotypes, because, you know, Lopez is Puerto Rican. (The exception was the telenovela spoof "Besos y Lagrimas," which was pretty funny.) By contrast, Lopez happened to guest star on last night's episode of How I Met Your Mother and there wasn't a single Latina joke or reference. She was just a character, the author of a self-help book for women, and I thought she did a decent job.
I think SNL just doesn't put enough thought into how its guest hosts can best fit into the ensemble. Too often the fourth wall is dropped and the host plays himself or herself. That only works when that person totally upends their public persona, which doesn't happen often. And when a particular week's show does turn out to be really good, it always leaves me thinking, why aren't they all this funny?
P.S. I'm still not sold on Vampire Weekend after seeing them perform on this week's show, but "Giving Up the Gun" is the freshest and most interesting song of theirs that I've heard thus far.
08 March 2010
Monday Morning Thoughts
Yeah, I know it's after noon. Shut it...
So, nice sunny day with 8 AM temperature in the low 40s means... someone had to show up at the bus stop wearing the flip-flops. I would have been kind of disappointed if it hadn't happened. But seriously, what's wrong with these people? If you still have to wear a fleece jacket outside, then arguably it isn't warm enough for flip-flops. It just isn't.
Then we got on the bus, and flip-flop person was in luck, because this particular driver likes to keep the heat on really, really high, even though it was totally unnecessary today. And of course, something was backing up traffic on the Fellsway, so the ride took much longer than usual.
In the middle of the crawl, the driver (who, incidentally, has a voice that could cut glass) started asking who was playing their iPod so loudly that she could hear the headphone spillover all the way up front. That would have been the woman sitting to my left, and thanks so much for that. But as another passenger sagely pointed out, if the music is that loud, there's no way the listener could hear the driver's question. Welcome to another week...
So, nice sunny day with 8 AM temperature in the low 40s means... someone had to show up at the bus stop wearing the flip-flops. I would have been kind of disappointed if it hadn't happened. But seriously, what's wrong with these people? If you still have to wear a fleece jacket outside, then arguably it isn't warm enough for flip-flops. It just isn't.
Then we got on the bus, and flip-flop person was in luck, because this particular driver likes to keep the heat on really, really high, even though it was totally unnecessary today. And of course, something was backing up traffic on the Fellsway, so the ride took much longer than usual.
In the middle of the crawl, the driver (who, incidentally, has a voice that could cut glass) started asking who was playing their iPod so loudly that she could hear the headphone spillover all the way up front. That would have been the woman sitting to my left, and thanks so much for that. But as another passenger sagely pointed out, if the music is that loud, there's no way the listener could hear the driver's question. Welcome to another week...
06 March 2010
This Week in Awesome (3/6/10)
Seems like it was kind of a slow week out there on the interwebs. I'm sure you've seen the new OK Go video by now, so I'm not going to bother with that. And there's a public-service announcement of sorts over on Funny or Die involving several actors who played the various presidents on Saturday Night Live over the years, but honestly I didn't find it especially funny, so I'm not going to bother with that either.
So where does that leave us? Well, if you happen to live in France and you're too busy to get to confession during Lent, you can still be redeemed. (Daily Mail UK via The Awl)
This dude was trying to show off by standing on the door sill of his car while spinning donuts, but it didn't quite work out that way. (YouTube via Jalopnik)
And in a similar vein, I wonder how people can consider doing stuff like this and not realize it's a terrible idea. Oh well... (Videogum)
So where does that leave us? Well, if you happen to live in France and you're too busy to get to confession during Lent, you can still be redeemed. (Daily Mail UK via The Awl)
This dude was trying to show off by standing on the door sill of his car while spinning donuts, but it didn't quite work out that way. (YouTube via Jalopnik)
And in a similar vein, I wonder how people can consider doing stuff like this and not realize it's a terrible idea. Oh well... (Videogum)
04 March 2010
Communication Breakdown
Over the years I've accumulated several email accounts. I suspect quite a few of you have as well. Some of them die when we switch jobs or internet providers; others hang around for a long time.
At the moment I have six that I use with any regularity: my primary personal account; a work account; one for blog-related correspondence (you guys can email me, you know); one from my internet provider; a secondary account on that domain that I created after the first became too spam-ridden (I use these two for miscellaneous online stuff); and an account that is associated with my eBay and PayPal profile.
I have the last one because it seemed like a good idea to keep those sorts of financial doings separate from the rest of my online life. This account is with Lycos (yes, they still exist, and I don't blame you for being surprised). Initially I set up my PayPal account with a mac.com address, but about a year after I'd established it, Apple took those away from people who didn't want to pay $100 a year to keep them, and I had to find something else.
The only reason I'm mentioning any of this is because I could not access my Lycos Mail account for about 36 hours. The browser would just sit there, trying to do its thing, with the little circle going around up in the corner. Finally today, around lunch time, I was able to get back in. I don't know if it was just me, but I couldn't find anything online about a service outage.
Fortunately I didn't have any items for sale on eBay this week, and I wasn't bidding on anything, so I didn't miss anything other than a couple of messages from Lord & Taylor and Omaha Steaks (apparently I overlooked a check box when I bought my dad that package from them for Christmas, because they had the nerve to CALL MY FUCKING HOUSE to tell me about a "special offer"). But I'm very glad I don't use the Lycos account for anything crucial.
I'm considering getting rid of it entirely, but it's a lot of trouble to change everything with PayPal and eBay. Say what you want about Google, but my Gmail account has never been inaccessible for more than a few minutes.
At the moment I have six that I use with any regularity: my primary personal account; a work account; one for blog-related correspondence (you guys can email me, you know); one from my internet provider; a secondary account on that domain that I created after the first became too spam-ridden (I use these two for miscellaneous online stuff); and an account that is associated with my eBay and PayPal profile.
I have the last one because it seemed like a good idea to keep those sorts of financial doings separate from the rest of my online life. This account is with Lycos (yes, they still exist, and I don't blame you for being surprised). Initially I set up my PayPal account with a mac.com address, but about a year after I'd established it, Apple took those away from people who didn't want to pay $100 a year to keep them, and I had to find something else.
The only reason I'm mentioning any of this is because I could not access my Lycos Mail account for about 36 hours. The browser would just sit there, trying to do its thing, with the little circle going around up in the corner. Finally today, around lunch time, I was able to get back in. I don't know if it was just me, but I couldn't find anything online about a service outage.
Fortunately I didn't have any items for sale on eBay this week, and I wasn't bidding on anything, so I didn't miss anything other than a couple of messages from Lord & Taylor and Omaha Steaks (apparently I overlooked a check box when I bought my dad that package from them for Christmas, because they had the nerve to CALL MY FUCKING HOUSE to tell me about a "special offer"). But I'm very glad I don't use the Lycos account for anything crucial.
I'm considering getting rid of it entirely, but it's a lot of trouble to change everything with PayPal and eBay. Say what you want about Google, but my Gmail account has never been inaccessible for more than a few minutes.
03 March 2010
Watch Wednesday (3/3/10)
So, another Timex, a contemporary one. In fact, this is a currently available model. I think it has a list price of $80 or so; I saw it last year at Target for around $60, but I was able to find one on eBay (of course) for $25. It's pretty rugged-looking, and fairly solidly built. I could also get this wet and not worry about it.
The picture comes fairly close to capturing the color of the dial, a very deep blue (this style is also available with a black or yellow dial). For a while you could get it on a sturdy metal bracelet (for more money), but this one came with a typically crappy resin strap, so I did my thing and replaced it.
This strap is made of a synthetic called Lorica that manages a fairly decent approximation of leather's texture and feel. From a couple of feet away it even looks kind of like leather. Synthetic straps like this are more comfortable for me to wear in warm weather. About the only thing I don't like about Lorica is that it costs as much as leather; this strap was $30. Still, it looks good and feels good, it seems durable so far, and like the watch it's water resistant.
We'll now resume our original biweekly schedule for this feature.
Tailored
Recently I found myself in need of the services of a tailor. I acquired an interesting pair of wool cargo pants on eBay that were the correct waist size but were a couple of inches longer than my usual inseam. I also have a wonderful pair of Banana Republic wool dress pants in a hefty and luxurious covert twill fabric that I found on sale many years back that hat gotten a bit too snug in the waist. Fortunately they were made with a split back so they could be altered, and there was at least an extra inch of fabric on each side (though I only needed about half of that).
Now, you've heard me talk about the Mrs.' sewing skills, so why should I need a tailor when I have an in-house artisan? Simple: the Mrs. hates doing alterations. I'm not entirely sure why. I have two pairs of corduroy jeans that are too long; I asked her to hem them in the fall of 2008, and they are still sitting in her work area. I've tried gentle nagging, I've tried subtle cajoling, I've tried outright bribery. Will I get to wear them before it gets to be shorts weather? Who knows?
But it's not just that she hates doing alterations for me--she hates doing them for herself, too. Since she's very short, it's difficult for her to find pants that fit properly without hemming, and she often buys pants that end up just sitting in the pile of items to be hemmed. She has two wool coats from Filene's (which tells you how long ago she bought them; the regular Filene's stores closed three and a half years ago) that needed to have their sleeves shortened; she finally got around to fixing one of them this past fall.
I didn't even ask her about hemming the cargo pants, since she hasn't gotten to my other hemming requests. I showed her the other wool pants with the split waist, and she basically said she could do it, but it was more of a bother than she felt like dealing with. So I needed to find a professional.
There are no tailor shops in my immediate neighborhood. There isn't even a dry cleaner; there used to be one just a block away, but it closed a couple of years back, and it's been sitting empty since, with all the signage in place and equipment still inside. There is also no tailor in the vicinity of where I work. There was a place near where we used to live, but I was not thrilled with their output, and I thought they were overpriced.
Back in December, Giuseppe of An Affordable Wardrobe wrote about the tailor shop in Teele Square where he takes his thrift finds that need alterations. He had high praise their work, so I figured that was as good a recommendation as any. Teele is near enough to us that we can easily swing through there on our Saturday errand runs, and I can get there on my own if need be. Mr. Lee did excellent work, and the total for both pants was $27. Perhaps the Mrs. should take her own alteration needs to him; they would certainly be finished sooner.
Now, you've heard me talk about the Mrs.' sewing skills, so why should I need a tailor when I have an in-house artisan? Simple: the Mrs. hates doing alterations. I'm not entirely sure why. I have two pairs of corduroy jeans that are too long; I asked her to hem them in the fall of 2008, and they are still sitting in her work area. I've tried gentle nagging, I've tried subtle cajoling, I've tried outright bribery. Will I get to wear them before it gets to be shorts weather? Who knows?
But it's not just that she hates doing alterations for me--she hates doing them for herself, too. Since she's very short, it's difficult for her to find pants that fit properly without hemming, and she often buys pants that end up just sitting in the pile of items to be hemmed. She has two wool coats from Filene's (which tells you how long ago she bought them; the regular Filene's stores closed three and a half years ago) that needed to have their sleeves shortened; she finally got around to fixing one of them this past fall.
I didn't even ask her about hemming the cargo pants, since she hasn't gotten to my other hemming requests. I showed her the other wool pants with the split waist, and she basically said she could do it, but it was more of a bother than she felt like dealing with. So I needed to find a professional.
There are no tailor shops in my immediate neighborhood. There isn't even a dry cleaner; there used to be one just a block away, but it closed a couple of years back, and it's been sitting empty since, with all the signage in place and equipment still inside. There is also no tailor in the vicinity of where I work. There was a place near where we used to live, but I was not thrilled with their output, and I thought they were overpriced.
Back in December, Giuseppe of An Affordable Wardrobe wrote about the tailor shop in Teele Square where he takes his thrift finds that need alterations. He had high praise their work, so I figured that was as good a recommendation as any. Teele is near enough to us that we can easily swing through there on our Saturday errand runs, and I can get there on my own if need be. Mr. Lee did excellent work, and the total for both pants was $27. Perhaps the Mrs. should take her own alteration needs to him; they would certainly be finished sooner.
01 March 2010
Eyeglasses for Less
Do you need glasses? Not so much meaning "are you in need of corrective lenses?" (you should probably see a doctor if this is an issue), but more "are you in need of a new pair of glasses?" Because if you are, I have a site you should check out.
I bought a pair of glasses online a couple of years back (if you are thoroughly bored, or just new here, you can use the right-side navigation to go back to January 2008 and read the whole saga starting with the post called "Seeing Red"). It went okay, all things considered: the glasses cost half of what I would have paid in a local optometry shop, but Frames Direct did screw up the first time around, forgetting the anti-reflective coating and adding another couple of weeks to the whole process.
Some time later I came across a blog called Glassy Eyes (link over there on the right) dedicated to helping consumers avoid getting ripped off at places like Lenscrafters, a noble mission that I certainly support. Out of curiosity I visited all the sites that Glassy Eyes recommends and links to, and I could not find one pair of glasses, regardless of price, that met my needs in terms of shape, size, and style. Not a single one. Granted, I'm incredibly fussy, but still.
In December I was browsing Frames Direct after receiving an email from them, and I spotted a pair of frames I really liked. They were acetate, in a decidedly retro style. I hadn't had frames that were not metal in over twenty years, so I thought it might be time for a change. But I wanted to see if maybe I could find them for less somewhere else, so I spent some time searching online, and came across another online eyeglass site called CoolFrames.com.
Their total cost on the frames and lenses worked out to about half of what Frames Direct would have charged. It took longer for them to make the glasses (I suspect they order the frames from manufacturers only when a customer orders the glasses from them), but they were optically correct, which is what's most important. (As an added bonus, I now look more like my cartoon avatar up there in the top right corner.)
I'm happy with these glasses, but even so, I find myself wishing I'd had more options. There's the bottom end, represented by places like 39DollarGlasses or EyeBuyDirect; if you just want the cheapest possible glasses, and you aren't too fussy about shape or color, you can do well at sites like those. If you are looking for something more specific, you can take the routes I've used. But it would be great if there was a middle ground of sorts, a place that offered more stylish options at a lower price point.
There's a feature on eyeglasses in the March issue of GQ, and it mentions a new company called Warby Parker. They are taking a very customer-friendly approach to selling glasses online. All styles cost $95, including prescription lenses. If you are not sure what styles will look good on your face, they will send you up to five frames to try on, free of charge. You get a prepaid return label and seven days to send them back. If you decide to order glasses, those will also be free of shipping charges, and they will also include a return label in case anything is not to your liking. If you don't have the details of your prescription, they will contact your eye doctor.
This is all brilliantly simple, and I wish I'd known about them before I ordered my most recent glasses. There's no guarantee they would have what I wanted, but a couple of their styles are pretty close to what I ended up getting. At the moment their selection is a bit limited (currently 19 styles for men, 27 for women) and there's no way to get prescription sunglasses, but I imagine that as time goes by, they will add some new styles and colors.
By the way, I'm not shilling for Warby Parker or anything like that. I don't know them, and they don't know me. I just think this is a good idea that deserves some notice. Everyone likes getting a good deal, and I like sharing good deals with you. I may give them a try at some point anyway, to see if they are as good as they sound.
I bought a pair of glasses online a couple of years back (if you are thoroughly bored, or just new here, you can use the right-side navigation to go back to January 2008 and read the whole saga starting with the post called "Seeing Red"). It went okay, all things considered: the glasses cost half of what I would have paid in a local optometry shop, but Frames Direct did screw up the first time around, forgetting the anti-reflective coating and adding another couple of weeks to the whole process.
Some time later I came across a blog called Glassy Eyes (link over there on the right) dedicated to helping consumers avoid getting ripped off at places like Lenscrafters, a noble mission that I certainly support. Out of curiosity I visited all the sites that Glassy Eyes recommends and links to, and I could not find one pair of glasses, regardless of price, that met my needs in terms of shape, size, and style. Not a single one. Granted, I'm incredibly fussy, but still.
In December I was browsing Frames Direct after receiving an email from them, and I spotted a pair of frames I really liked. They were acetate, in a decidedly retro style. I hadn't had frames that were not metal in over twenty years, so I thought it might be time for a change. But I wanted to see if maybe I could find them for less somewhere else, so I spent some time searching online, and came across another online eyeglass site called CoolFrames.com.
Their total cost on the frames and lenses worked out to about half of what Frames Direct would have charged. It took longer for them to make the glasses (I suspect they order the frames from manufacturers only when a customer orders the glasses from them), but they were optically correct, which is what's most important. (As an added bonus, I now look more like my cartoon avatar up there in the top right corner.)
I'm happy with these glasses, but even so, I find myself wishing I'd had more options. There's the bottom end, represented by places like 39DollarGlasses or EyeBuyDirect; if you just want the cheapest possible glasses, and you aren't too fussy about shape or color, you can do well at sites like those. If you are looking for something more specific, you can take the routes I've used. But it would be great if there was a middle ground of sorts, a place that offered more stylish options at a lower price point.
There's a feature on eyeglasses in the March issue of GQ, and it mentions a new company called Warby Parker. They are taking a very customer-friendly approach to selling glasses online. All styles cost $95, including prescription lenses. If you are not sure what styles will look good on your face, they will send you up to five frames to try on, free of charge. You get a prepaid return label and seven days to send them back. If you decide to order glasses, those will also be free of shipping charges, and they will also include a return label in case anything is not to your liking. If you don't have the details of your prescription, they will contact your eye doctor.
This is all brilliantly simple, and I wish I'd known about them before I ordered my most recent glasses. There's no guarantee they would have what I wanted, but a couple of their styles are pretty close to what I ended up getting. At the moment their selection is a bit limited (currently 19 styles for men, 27 for women) and there's no way to get prescription sunglasses, but I imagine that as time goes by, they will add some new styles and colors.
By the way, I'm not shilling for Warby Parker or anything like that. I don't know them, and they don't know me. I just think this is a good idea that deserves some notice. Everyone likes getting a good deal, and I like sharing good deals with you. I may give them a try at some point anyway, to see if they are as good as they sound.
27 February 2010
This Week in Awesome (2/27/10)
I hope you enjoyed yesterday's afternoon goof-off posts, but don't worry--there's plenty more where those came from...
Have you ever been stuck in an airport for hours with nothing to do? All night, alone? I didn't think airports let people hang around the gate areas overnight anymore, but apparently this one did. (YouTube via Consumerist)
Have you ever watched The Office and thought about the colossal legal minefield that Michael Scott and the various other Dunder Mifflin minions tiptoe through week after week, with seemingly no consequences? You're not alone. That's What She Said is written by a group of employment lawyers who do writeups of each episode from their perspective. (Hat tip to SM)
Have you ever wished someone would change the music on the NBC commercial for Jay Leno's impending return to The Tonight Show, to more accurately reflect how most people feel about him now? You're in luck. (YouTube via Consumerist)
And finally, have you ever wondered what it would be like to watch an athletic young woman crush watermelons between her thighs? You haven't? What's wrong with you? (Videogum)
Have you ever been stuck in an airport for hours with nothing to do? All night, alone? I didn't think airports let people hang around the gate areas overnight anymore, but apparently this one did. (YouTube via Consumerist)
Have you ever watched The Office and thought about the colossal legal minefield that Michael Scott and the various other Dunder Mifflin minions tiptoe through week after week, with seemingly no consequences? You're not alone. That's What She Said is written by a group of employment lawyers who do writeups of each episode from their perspective. (Hat tip to SM)
Have you ever wished someone would change the music on the NBC commercial for Jay Leno's impending return to The Tonight Show, to more accurately reflect how most people feel about him now? You're in luck. (YouTube via Consumerist)
And finally, have you ever wondered what it would be like to watch an athletic young woman crush watermelons between her thighs? You haven't? What's wrong with you? (Videogum)
26 February 2010
More Friday Funnies?
Oh hell yes. (This is what I get for posting the other thing before looking at The Awl today.)
This is just so amazingly awesome, and it's not even the news story itself (a nudist church, big whoop), but the anchors' discussion of it afterward, that takes it to a whole 'nother level.
Now, those of you who live in the Boston area may be familiar with Scott Montminy, who gives rather colorful traffic reports in the morning on New England Cable News. (I was going to link to his facebook page, but since I'm not a member of facebook, apparently I can't do that. Fine, screw you, facebook. Whatevs.) Well, the traffic reporter in this clip, a young woman named Jennie Stencel, is certainly giving Scott a run in terms of colorfulness. Why isn't more news like this?
This is just so amazingly awesome, and it's not even the news story itself (a nudist church, big whoop), but the anchors' discussion of it afterward, that takes it to a whole 'nother level.
Now, those of you who live in the Boston area may be familiar with Scott Montminy, who gives rather colorful traffic reports in the morning on New England Cable News. (I was going to link to his facebook page, but since I'm not a member of facebook, apparently I can't do that. Fine, screw you, facebook. Whatevs.) Well, the traffic reporter in this clip, a young woman named Jennie Stencel, is certainly giving Scott a run in terms of colorfulness. Why isn't more news like this?
Friday Funnies: 'Sup, Bro?
I'm not sure if this is going to become a regular feature or not, but let's see how it goes...
Back at the end of October in TWiA, I linked to The Ed Hardy Boyz on Funny or Die. The second episode finally hit this week, and as you'd expect it's at least as outrageous as the first one, if not more so. Please to enjoy...
Back at the end of October in TWiA, I linked to The Ed Hardy Boyz on Funny or Die. The second episode finally hit this week, and as you'd expect it's at least as outrageous as the first one, if not more so. Please to enjoy...
25 February 2010
Gates and Passes
Back in the very early days of this blog, I wrote about my special MBTA pass and the limitations imposed on its use by the T when they installed their new fare collection system. Basically, I have an unlimited-use pass that could only be used at specific gates in stations, and I thought that was kind of a stupid way of doing things.
Apparently someone at the T also finally concluded that it was stupid. On a recent evening I was on my way home. As I entered the station, people exiting a train were coming through the gate I needed to use, so I stood to one side, waiting for them to pass through. There was a T employee standing on the other side of the gate. He saw me waiting and motioned for me to use one of the other gates.
I explained to him that I couldn't, and showed him my pass so he would understand what I meant. I said, "It won't work at any of the other gates." He said, "Yes it will." Obviously this was news to me. I asked, "When did this happen?" He said, "A while back."
Of course, this is the T, so as far as I know the change was never publicized. I don't remember seeing anything about it on the T's web site. And, you know, the T sent me the pass in the first place, so I know they have my name and address on file, but I guess it's asking too much to expect them to inform me (and other people with these passes) about something that's directly relevant to my use of the pass, something that would make my everyday life a bit easier.
And since behavior patterns tend to get pretty ingrained over time, I'm finding it difficult not to keep using the restricted fare gates in my daily commutes. I think on some level I just don't quite trust that the pass will work on the other gates. But I'm trying.
Apparently someone at the T also finally concluded that it was stupid. On a recent evening I was on my way home. As I entered the station, people exiting a train were coming through the gate I needed to use, so I stood to one side, waiting for them to pass through. There was a T employee standing on the other side of the gate. He saw me waiting and motioned for me to use one of the other gates.
I explained to him that I couldn't, and showed him my pass so he would understand what I meant. I said, "It won't work at any of the other gates." He said, "Yes it will." Obviously this was news to me. I asked, "When did this happen?" He said, "A while back."
Of course, this is the T, so as far as I know the change was never publicized. I don't remember seeing anything about it on the T's web site. And, you know, the T sent me the pass in the first place, so I know they have my name and address on file, but I guess it's asking too much to expect them to inform me (and other people with these passes) about something that's directly relevant to my use of the pass, something that would make my everyday life a bit easier.
And since behavior patterns tend to get pretty ingrained over time, I'm finding it difficult not to keep using the restricted fare gates in my daily commutes. I think on some level I just don't quite trust that the pass will work on the other gates. But I'm trying.
24 February 2010
Watch Wednesday (2/24/10)
This is a 1967 watch, with the second generation Accutron movement. One of the biggest shortcomings of the original movement was that it did not offer a date function. The Bulova people were kind of hoping that everyone would be so impressed by the scope of their technological achievement that they wouldn't notice the lack of a date, but after a while they had to offer it in order to remain competitive.
The dial on this watch is a champagne color that did not photograph especially well, but I think you can get the idea. I also like how the "Accutron" is applied to the left side of the dial. Some watch manufacturers were starting to experiment with asymmetrical dial elements at this point in time, opening the door for the increasingly outlandish designs of the 1970s. This watch is not currently running, but all it needs is a fresh battery. I need to take it in to get one installed.
As with the Accutron Deep Sea I featured back at the end of September, the crown is at the 4 position. I have no idea if this served some mechanical or technological purpose, but it looks cool, and quite a few Seikos of the same era also have the crown at 4 (though those have automatic movements and their crowns are more recessed into the side of the case). I've been after a Seiko Sportsmatic of this vintage for a while, but I haven't found the right one yet.
This watch also has a signed Accutron strap and buckle. It's not original to the watch; I found it on eBay shortly after purchasing the watch. Most Accutron straps from this period were lizard grain and had a very glossy finish. This style took a little more searching, but it's more subdued and more to my taste. It may not be exactly like the one it left the factory with, but at least it's close in terms of age, and it may add a little to the value if I ever decide to sell it.
23 February 2010
Extra Edition
I've been reading a daily newspaper since I was around ten years old. We always got the paper delivered; back then the Providence Journal published two editions each weekday, and we got the afternoon/evening one.
I remember that when I started college I used to buy the late edition of the Boston Globe out of habit, but eventually multiple daily editions disappeared and I got used to reading the paper in the morning, typically on the commute to work.
I remained a loyal Globe reader for a long time, until some time in the mid-90s. By that point the paper had declined so much that I could no longer tolerate the daily typos and grammatical errors, the stories that didn't provide the information I was looking for, and the complete lack of coverage of certain things. I switched to the New York Times, and it's been my paper of choice ever since.
You can call me a liberal, elitist snob if you want (I don't pretend not to be any of those things). And maybe the Times has lost a little luster too, but it's still an excellent paper. Their coverage of business, the arts, health and science, even their sports writing is top-notch.
But I really missed one thing about reading the Globe: the comics (though, before the Sidekick and "g" sections existed, they were never consistently in the same part of the paper, which was really aggravating). Because the Times Corporation owns the Globe, I soon learned that I was eligible to get the Globe in addition to the Times for a very low weekly rate, less than I'd been paying for just the Sunday Globe. I did it basically so I could read the daily comics again.
[Tangent: when I was about fourteen I got to go with my parents to a family wedding on Long Island. We stayed with my dad's cousin who lived on the outer edge of Queens, and I remember looking through her copy of the Times and asking why the paper didn't have any comics, and her awkwardly trying to explain to me why.]
So I've been getting both papers for over a decade, but I hardly ever look at anything in the Globe other than the comics, though the other sections do come in handy for cleaning up after the dog. But last week I got a letter telling me that my bargain rate on the Globe is going away as of next week. The new rate will be 50% off the cover price, but it would still be a significant monthly jump in cost, and I just don't think it's worth it to pay for a daily paper that I don't read. So I'll have to get used to reading the comics online, at least until those get put behind a paywall.
I remember that when I started college I used to buy the late edition of the Boston Globe out of habit, but eventually multiple daily editions disappeared and I got used to reading the paper in the morning, typically on the commute to work.
I remained a loyal Globe reader for a long time, until some time in the mid-90s. By that point the paper had declined so much that I could no longer tolerate the daily typos and grammatical errors, the stories that didn't provide the information I was looking for, and the complete lack of coverage of certain things. I switched to the New York Times, and it's been my paper of choice ever since.
You can call me a liberal, elitist snob if you want (I don't pretend not to be any of those things). And maybe the Times has lost a little luster too, but it's still an excellent paper. Their coverage of business, the arts, health and science, even their sports writing is top-notch.
But I really missed one thing about reading the Globe: the comics (though, before the Sidekick and "g" sections existed, they were never consistently in the same part of the paper, which was really aggravating). Because the Times Corporation owns the Globe, I soon learned that I was eligible to get the Globe in addition to the Times for a very low weekly rate, less than I'd been paying for just the Sunday Globe. I did it basically so I could read the daily comics again.
[Tangent: when I was about fourteen I got to go with my parents to a family wedding on Long Island. We stayed with my dad's cousin who lived on the outer edge of Queens, and I remember looking through her copy of the Times and asking why the paper didn't have any comics, and her awkwardly trying to explain to me why.]
So I've been getting both papers for over a decade, but I hardly ever look at anything in the Globe other than the comics, though the other sections do come in handy for cleaning up after the dog. But last week I got a letter telling me that my bargain rate on the Globe is going away as of next week. The new rate will be 50% off the cover price, but it would still be a significant monthly jump in cost, and I just don't think it's worth it to pay for a daily paper that I don't read. So I'll have to get used to reading the comics online, at least until those get put behind a paywall.
22 February 2010
A Different Kind of Curling
(Some of you may have already seen this picture on the Mrs.' facebook page, but it was my idea to take the shot and caption it this way, so I claim joint use rights.)
The Razor's Edge
From time to time here, I've talked about various aspects of my grooming regimen. I keep it occasional because I don't want to go overboard, but such things are indeed relevant to men (and women) of style.
A little over a year ago, I visited the topic of shaving, primarily focusing on which razor gave me the best results. I'm pretty consistent with the rest of my shaving habits, but I'm always interested in trying new products. However, I'm not interested in shelling out money to try new products that almost always end up being a letdown. So I approach such decisions carefully.
For quite a while I was a firm adherent of shaving cream applied with a brush. It feels great going on, and the ritual itself is pleasant and masculine. But when I switched to shaving in the shower, the brush thing didn't quite work. Not only was it cumbersome, but the high moisture content of the cream (regardless of which brand I was using) made it too runny to stay put on my face in the shower. I spent a lot of time searching for something thick enough to stay on my face, but still with enough moisture that it wouldn't dry out.
After a lot of trial and error I found Zirh. Their shaving cream is a thick, pale blue paste; a thin layer is all that's needed, and it stayed moist on my face. (They also make a shave gel, but it turns clear when applied to the face, which isn't helpful to someone like me with poor vision; it's meant more for guys who need to work around partial facial hair. I do, however, like their facial cleanser and moisturizer.)
I used Zirh for several years, but I noticed that it was taking a long time to rinse out of my razor, even under the pressure of the shower head, so when I finished my last container, I decided it was time to check out some other products.
I'm a big fan of most things that Kiehl's makes, so it was logical to try their shaving cream, which somehow I'd never done. It's suitably rich, but the shaves were a lot less comfortable than I was used to. With the Zirh cream, I almost never got any nicks or abrasions, but with the Kiehl's they were abundant (and I was using the version formulated for sensitive skin). Chalk it up to the ingredients, I guess.
Burt's Bees started selling a line of men's products a couple of years back. The shaving cream was a huge disappointment, but all the products have a very distinctive, unusual fragrance that I really like. The soap (bar or liquid) is very nice, and there's also a cologne that I will be wearing come spring. You can find the line at Whole Foods, among other places.
Another product I stumbled across on drugstore.com that gave me much better results is something called Cremo Cream. I'd never heard of it before, but a tube was only $8 and it came with a free mirror. It's not much more than a piece of coated cardboard, but that means it's light and I've made good use of it while traveling (it has a suction cup so I can stick it on a hotel bathroom's shower wall). Cremo initially has a cloyingly sweet scent, but it dissipates quickly, and it gave me good shaves.
I had read about a line called Billy Jealousy (a couple of years back Esquire named their Hydroplane shaving cream the best product of its kind), but never saw it for sale anywhere. After reading a couple of other endorsements, my curiosity got the better of me and I ordered some online. It comes in a hard plastic container with a flip cap on the bottom so you can stand it up and open it with one hand.
While not as pastelike as Zirh, it's still very thick and rich. As soon as I spread it on my face the first time, I knew I'd found what I'd been looking for. It's not the absolute closest shave I've ever had (that was courtesy of the old-school Italian brand Proraso, but it also made my face sting something awful), but it's definitely the smoothest.
The before and after phases of shaving are almost as important. I wash my face beforehand with an exfoliating cleanser (the Bigelow brand sold at Bath & Body Works is good, but you can get decent alternatives from Neutrogena or Nivea at the drugstore for less money), then I apply a pre-shave oil. This step isn't necessary for everyone, but I find that it helps keep the razor gliding smoothly. I recommend Em's Place in Oregon for a natural, reasonably-priced oil that can also be used as a massage oil (nudge nudge...). Emily also sells lots of other neat products for men and women.
After shaving, a post-shave soother is a must (for me, anyway). I've tried literally dozens of these, and have almost always been disappointed--too much stinging, not enough soothing. The one product that consistently gives me great results with minimal discomfort is Jack Black's (no connection to the actor) Post-Shave Cooling Gel, which contains aloe, sage, lavender, and other good stuff.
Hopefully my experimenting will be helpful to some of you. And as I've mentioned before, stores like Kiehl's and Sephora (which carries Zirh and Jack Black, among other lines) will provide samples so you can try before you buy. At other stores your mileage may vary, but it never hurts to ask. And if you've used something that you think is really good (or really bad), by all means, sound off in the comments.
A little over a year ago, I visited the topic of shaving, primarily focusing on which razor gave me the best results. I'm pretty consistent with the rest of my shaving habits, but I'm always interested in trying new products. However, I'm not interested in shelling out money to try new products that almost always end up being a letdown. So I approach such decisions carefully.
For quite a while I was a firm adherent of shaving cream applied with a brush. It feels great going on, and the ritual itself is pleasant and masculine. But when I switched to shaving in the shower, the brush thing didn't quite work. Not only was it cumbersome, but the high moisture content of the cream (regardless of which brand I was using) made it too runny to stay put on my face in the shower. I spent a lot of time searching for something thick enough to stay on my face, but still with enough moisture that it wouldn't dry out.
After a lot of trial and error I found Zirh. Their shaving cream is a thick, pale blue paste; a thin layer is all that's needed, and it stayed moist on my face. (They also make a shave gel, but it turns clear when applied to the face, which isn't helpful to someone like me with poor vision; it's meant more for guys who need to work around partial facial hair. I do, however, like their facial cleanser and moisturizer.)
I used Zirh for several years, but I noticed that it was taking a long time to rinse out of my razor, even under the pressure of the shower head, so when I finished my last container, I decided it was time to check out some other products.
I'm a big fan of most things that Kiehl's makes, so it was logical to try their shaving cream, which somehow I'd never done. It's suitably rich, but the shaves were a lot less comfortable than I was used to. With the Zirh cream, I almost never got any nicks or abrasions, but with the Kiehl's they were abundant (and I was using the version formulated for sensitive skin). Chalk it up to the ingredients, I guess.
Burt's Bees started selling a line of men's products a couple of years back. The shaving cream was a huge disappointment, but all the products have a very distinctive, unusual fragrance that I really like. The soap (bar or liquid) is very nice, and there's also a cologne that I will be wearing come spring. You can find the line at Whole Foods, among other places.
Another product I stumbled across on drugstore.com that gave me much better results is something called Cremo Cream. I'd never heard of it before, but a tube was only $8 and it came with a free mirror. It's not much more than a piece of coated cardboard, but that means it's light and I've made good use of it while traveling (it has a suction cup so I can stick it on a hotel bathroom's shower wall). Cremo initially has a cloyingly sweet scent, but it dissipates quickly, and it gave me good shaves.
I had read about a line called Billy Jealousy (a couple of years back Esquire named their Hydroplane shaving cream the best product of its kind), but never saw it for sale anywhere. After reading a couple of other endorsements, my curiosity got the better of me and I ordered some online. It comes in a hard plastic container with a flip cap on the bottom so you can stand it up and open it with one hand.
While not as pastelike as Zirh, it's still very thick and rich. As soon as I spread it on my face the first time, I knew I'd found what I'd been looking for. It's not the absolute closest shave I've ever had (that was courtesy of the old-school Italian brand Proraso, but it also made my face sting something awful), but it's definitely the smoothest.
The before and after phases of shaving are almost as important. I wash my face beforehand with an exfoliating cleanser (the Bigelow brand sold at Bath & Body Works is good, but you can get decent alternatives from Neutrogena or Nivea at the drugstore for less money), then I apply a pre-shave oil. This step isn't necessary for everyone, but I find that it helps keep the razor gliding smoothly. I recommend Em's Place in Oregon for a natural, reasonably-priced oil that can also be used as a massage oil (nudge nudge...). Emily also sells lots of other neat products for men and women.
After shaving, a post-shave soother is a must (for me, anyway). I've tried literally dozens of these, and have almost always been disappointed--too much stinging, not enough soothing. The one product that consistently gives me great results with minimal discomfort is Jack Black's (no connection to the actor) Post-Shave Cooling Gel, which contains aloe, sage, lavender, and other good stuff.
Hopefully my experimenting will be helpful to some of you. And as I've mentioned before, stores like Kiehl's and Sephora (which carries Zirh and Jack Black, among other lines) will provide samples so you can try before you buy. At other stores your mileage may vary, but it never hurts to ask. And if you've used something that you think is really good (or really bad), by all means, sound off in the comments.
20 February 2010
This Week in Awesome (2/20/10)
Hi there. You may have noticed that I was just kind of throwing links at you there for a bit. Well, into every life a little work must fall, and as in each month, this was my busy/deadline week at work. But now it's finished.
Lots of good stuff to keep you occupied and (hopefully) amused this weekend, but you know, the weather around here is pretty nice (for February), so why not get outside, and come back to look at this later?
I love the idea of these pet peeve cards, but I think you'd have to be very careful whom you choose to hand them to. Having said that, the "you walk too slow" card featured in the large photo is definitely one of my biggest pet peeves. (Collect3d via Kempt)
Do you know the IKEA song? It's pretty groovy. (Atom Films via Consumerist)
In the grand internet tradition of "you're doing it wrong," give it up for You Suck at Craigslist.
And finally this week, the more skeptical among you may think this isn't real, but I think most of us know better. First instance I've seen of the coined word "cramazing," meaning crazy and amazing. I don't always support this kind of word blending (I'm looking at you, "ginormous"), but I approve of this one. (Videogum)
Lots of good stuff to keep you occupied and (hopefully) amused this weekend, but you know, the weather around here is pretty nice (for February), so why not get outside, and come back to look at this later?
I love the idea of these pet peeve cards, but I think you'd have to be very careful whom you choose to hand them to. Having said that, the "you walk too slow" card featured in the large photo is definitely one of my biggest pet peeves. (Collect3d via Kempt)
Do you know the IKEA song? It's pretty groovy. (Atom Films via Consumerist)
In the grand internet tradition of "you're doing it wrong," give it up for You Suck at Craigslist.
And finally this week, the more skeptical among you may think this isn't real, but I think most of us know better. First instance I've seen of the coined word "cramazing," meaning crazy and amazing. I don't always support this kind of word blending (I'm looking at you, "ginormous"), but I approve of this one. (Videogum)
19 February 2010
Friday Funnies: Stupid Ash
Sometimes I come across things that are too good to save until Saturday's TWiA posts. (I know it's only one more day, but just go with it, okay?) This is one of those.
The morning show Good Day LA is often unintentionally hilarious. I know this because of the frequency of clips from it that show up on The Soup. I really kinda wish I lived out there so I could watch it every day, but this is precisely why we have an internet.
But this time the Good Day LA hosts are turning the tables and goofing on a British broadcaster who forgot what day Wednesday was in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. Please to enjoy...
The morning show Good Day LA is often unintentionally hilarious. I know this because of the frequency of clips from it that show up on The Soup. I really kinda wish I lived out there so I could watch it every day, but this is precisely why we have an internet.
But this time the Good Day LA hosts are turning the tables and goofing on a British broadcaster who forgot what day Wednesday was in the Roman Catholic liturgical calendar. Please to enjoy...
18 February 2010
An Appropriate Farewell
This is now about a week old, because when I first saw it I wasn't quite sure if or how I wanted to feature it. But, for lack of any other relevant thoughts at the moment, this will do nicely...
Dan Neil has been writing about cars for the Los Angeles Times for the past seven years or so. He recently accepted a position with The Wall Street Journal. This is the email he sent out to the Times newsroom staff on the eve of his departure. We should all hope to be so eloquent if/when the time comes.
Dan Neil has been writing about cars for the Los Angeles Times for the past seven years or so. He recently accepted a position with The Wall Street Journal. This is the email he sent out to the Times newsroom staff on the eve of his departure. We should all hope to be so eloquent if/when the time comes.
17 February 2010
Watch Wednesday (2/17/10)
But I do own this watch, or more accurately, one just like it. About seven months ago I got an email from my friend DC with this picture attached, and the title "wow, that's vivid." My response was that I liked it and would wear it. A few days went by, and I found myself thinking about the watch. It has one of those self-winding mechanical movements that I've mentioned in previous watch posts, and I'd been wanting to add a modern watch with a Swiss movement to my collection.
I went to the Hamilton web site, and was surprised to learn that the watch was supposedly not sold in the US. But a little more poking around on the interwebs revealed a few places that sold it. But a Swiss-made automatic watch is a little outside my normal price range, so if I was going to splurge on something like this, I wanted to be able to do it in person. The internet is great for many things, but sometimes you want to see a thing in front of you and hold it before buying it.
A short time later I happened to be in a jewelry store, and I saw a different but similar Hamilton. I tried it on, and felt it was close enough. I started looking on eBay and within a couple of weeks I had found one that was slightly used. As soon as it arrived, I knew I'd made the wrong choice. It just didn't have the zing of the orange accents and the huge 12, 3, 6, and 9. I was able to resell it for 80% of what I'd paid. I looked around a little more. I found a store downtown that claimed they could order it, but I couldn't get anyone to return my messages.
A few weeks later, around the end of August, the Mrs. and I went to the mall one night, and I wandered into Tourneau. Tourneau is a big-time watch palace: they carry all the fancy stuff, and if they don't have it, they can most likely get it. I have mixed feelings about the place; I love going in there and looking around, but it's also somewhat depressing to look at amazing stuff that I'll never be able to afford, and once or twice I've been given icy treatment by staff who felt it was their job to affirm that I was unsuited to shop there.
I had checked one of their other locations and they didn't have it, so I was surprised to spot this watch in the display case. It was right before my birthday, and I was feeling like I wanted to get myself a present. The clerk gave me their price. I knew from looking around and talking to people that other jewelry stores typically offered bigger discounts off list price on Hamilton watches. I'd also read an article on Consumerist about how stores were more willing to bargain or haggle due to the recession.
I used this knowledge and information and told the clerk the best price I had been quoted elsewhere. She wanted to know how serious I was about buying it. I told her it depended on the price. She stepped away for a moment to speak to a manager, and I thought, this is like what people go through when they're buying a car. She returned with a number that was within $20 of the one I'd given her, which was close enough. I guess they wanted to make the sale.
It's a heavy sucker, and it has three (?!) crowns. The one by 2 does the usual time-setting, the one by 4 turns that outer ring, and the one on the other side, by 9, turns the dial inside the outer dial, the one with the place names on it. (I keep it set to New York.) It's kind of silly, but it's also kind of cool. And the strip of numbers on the inside next to the 9 is for a second time zone, which is handy when you're traveling to the west coast.
16 February 2010
Mardi Gras Memories
Happy Mardi Gras! I had the good fortune to be able to attend the festivities back in 1989, but getting there wasn't so easy, so I thought it might make a good story for today...
A friend had been to New Orleans during the summer of 1988, and made some acquaintances who invited her to return for Mardi Gras. I got invited to go along, but because of my work schedule I could not travel with the others who were going, so I made arrangements to arrive a day or two later. It was suggested that I bring a sleeping bag, as the accommodations would be somewhat spartan.
My flight from Boston to New Orleans was on the Saturday before Mardi Gras, leaving around 6 PM and connecting through Dallas. For once, the weather here was not an issue; I went from work directly to the airport and got on my way easily. But just before I left, the southern part of the country was gripped by unseasonably cold temperatures. I had assumed it would be warm in New Orleans (compared to the weather at home), so I didn't really pack appropriate clothing.
When my flight landed in Dallas later that night, the temperature was 17 degrees. The one other time I'd passed through the DFW airport, during the previous summer on the way to attend a friend's wedding in Los Angeles, it was 107 degrees. Fortunately, I didn't have to venture outside either time, since I was changing planes within the same terminal. I passed by one of the doors leading outside and got a blast of the cold air, and that was more than enough.
The flight from Dallas to New Orleans left around 11 PM, and it was less than half full. (This was the time I was able to lie on my side across the three seats in the aisle and sleep, which I referenced in one of my recent posts). No one was able to pick me up at the airport, but I had been instructed to catch a shuttle van that ran to some of the downtown hotels (about a 30-minute ride, and the least expensive option) and catch a cab from a hotel to the house where we were staying. This was a good idea in theory, but getting dropped off alone, with heavy luggage (no wheels back then) and my silly sleeping bag, in the middle of the French Quarter, in the midst of teeming throngs of Mardi Gras celebrants, in the prime drunkness hours after midnight, was disorienting and a little unnerving.
These days it's highly unlikely I would find myself in a completely unfamiliar place without any resources, but I wasn't yet a seasoned traveler. I didn't have any maps, I didn't have any sort of guidebooks, and I didn't have any sense of which direction I needed to be going. The few taxis that I saw already had passengers in them. I didn't panic, but I was at a bit of a loss. But I did have enough sense to figure out that I would be better off getting away from the crowds.
After going a couple of blocks away from the center of the revelry, I was finally able to wave down a taxi. I gave him the address, and before long I was being dropped off. The other part of the instructions from my friends was that when I arrived, they would most likely be out at one of the big balls given by the krewes (the social organizations that sponsor and organize the Mardi Gras parades), but that someone would be at home to let me in. So I'm sure it's no surprise to you that no one was home.
So, just to recap, it's now around 2 AM, I'm standing on the porch of this empty house (which, while locked, has lights on in every room that I can see), I have no idea what sort of neighborhood I'm in, I'm tired, it's cold (not as cold as in Dallas, but maybe 35 degrees), and I don't have a winter coat. Now I admit, that part was really stupid. For whatever reason, I'd decided to travel wearing a shirt, sweater, and denim jacket. It's a long time ago, so I don't remember all the details, but it's possible we'd caught a slightly warmer spell at home, or I just didn't want to be burdened with a heavy outer coat.
But I did have my stupid sleeping bag. I'd brought another light coat with me, so I put that on on top of my other layers, got inside the sleeping bag, assumed a sitting position on the porch with my back against the house, and eventually fell asleep. My friends and the people who lived in the house rolled in around 5 AM. They assured me that when they had left, there were other people still at the house so they thought I'd be able to get in.
The rest of the trip was great; by that evening I'd forgotten all about my unexpected, improvised camp-out.
A friend had been to New Orleans during the summer of 1988, and made some acquaintances who invited her to return for Mardi Gras. I got invited to go along, but because of my work schedule I could not travel with the others who were going, so I made arrangements to arrive a day or two later. It was suggested that I bring a sleeping bag, as the accommodations would be somewhat spartan.
My flight from Boston to New Orleans was on the Saturday before Mardi Gras, leaving around 6 PM and connecting through Dallas. For once, the weather here was not an issue; I went from work directly to the airport and got on my way easily. But just before I left, the southern part of the country was gripped by unseasonably cold temperatures. I had assumed it would be warm in New Orleans (compared to the weather at home), so I didn't really pack appropriate clothing.
When my flight landed in Dallas later that night, the temperature was 17 degrees. The one other time I'd passed through the DFW airport, during the previous summer on the way to attend a friend's wedding in Los Angeles, it was 107 degrees. Fortunately, I didn't have to venture outside either time, since I was changing planes within the same terminal. I passed by one of the doors leading outside and got a blast of the cold air, and that was more than enough.
The flight from Dallas to New Orleans left around 11 PM, and it was less than half full. (This was the time I was able to lie on my side across the three seats in the aisle and sleep, which I referenced in one of my recent posts). No one was able to pick me up at the airport, but I had been instructed to catch a shuttle van that ran to some of the downtown hotels (about a 30-minute ride, and the least expensive option) and catch a cab from a hotel to the house where we were staying. This was a good idea in theory, but getting dropped off alone, with heavy luggage (no wheels back then) and my silly sleeping bag, in the middle of the French Quarter, in the midst of teeming throngs of Mardi Gras celebrants, in the prime drunkness hours after midnight, was disorienting and a little unnerving.
These days it's highly unlikely I would find myself in a completely unfamiliar place without any resources, but I wasn't yet a seasoned traveler. I didn't have any maps, I didn't have any sort of guidebooks, and I didn't have any sense of which direction I needed to be going. The few taxis that I saw already had passengers in them. I didn't panic, but I was at a bit of a loss. But I did have enough sense to figure out that I would be better off getting away from the crowds.
After going a couple of blocks away from the center of the revelry, I was finally able to wave down a taxi. I gave him the address, and before long I was being dropped off. The other part of the instructions from my friends was that when I arrived, they would most likely be out at one of the big balls given by the krewes (the social organizations that sponsor and organize the Mardi Gras parades), but that someone would be at home to let me in. So I'm sure it's no surprise to you that no one was home.
So, just to recap, it's now around 2 AM, I'm standing on the porch of this empty house (which, while locked, has lights on in every room that I can see), I have no idea what sort of neighborhood I'm in, I'm tired, it's cold (not as cold as in Dallas, but maybe 35 degrees), and I don't have a winter coat. Now I admit, that part was really stupid. For whatever reason, I'd decided to travel wearing a shirt, sweater, and denim jacket. It's a long time ago, so I don't remember all the details, but it's possible we'd caught a slightly warmer spell at home, or I just didn't want to be burdened with a heavy outer coat.
But I did have my stupid sleeping bag. I'd brought another light coat with me, so I put that on on top of my other layers, got inside the sleeping bag, assumed a sitting position on the porch with my back against the house, and eventually fell asleep. My friends and the people who lived in the house rolled in around 5 AM. They assured me that when they had left, there were other people still at the house so they thought I'd be able to get in.
The rest of the trip was great; by that evening I'd forgotten all about my unexpected, improvised camp-out.
15 February 2010
Shopping Roulette
As someone who approaches shopping as part sport, I frequently have to "stalk" particular items that I'm interested in, by waiting for them to go on sale, or by locating them through an alternative source such as eBay or Style Forum. Sometimes, none of these options is successful.
Back in the fall J. Crew had some flannel workshirts. The fabric didn't really feel like traditional flannel to me, but it was still nice and soft, and I liked the patterns, particularly a light gray plaid accented with red. (Gray is pretty much my favorite color for clothing.) I figured I'd pick one up after Christmas when everything from the fall got marked down, but the shirt was sold out on the web site and in stores by around Thanksgiving.
I don't know if this is normal or not, but I suspect that maybe a buyer underestimated the shirt's popularity. I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago in another post, and I thought that was the end of it. But one day last week, while poking around the sale section on the J. Crew web site, the shirt was back, and the only available size was my size, so naturally I ordered one right away.
After I'd placed the order, I wondered if I would actually receive it, because it was sold out again a short time later, and I know that weird things can happen when inventory gets low. I've read stories about canceled orders on blogs like J. Crew Aficionada. (Yes, there are people who devote their time to blogging about one particular store's merchandise, and there are people like me who read such blogs. Deal with it.)
The next day I got the email saying my order had shipped, and I more or less stopped thinking about it. I mean, there's always a chance that the UPS truck could crash, but something like that's pretty remote. On Friday I checked the tracking and saw that that package would be delivered that day. Someone in my office brought it by my desk around 3 PM. I opened the package and... they had sent me a different shirt. Not just a different one, but one I'd never seen before on the web site, in a catalog, or in a store. It was a flannel shirt, but it wasn't gray, and it was a completely different style.
I called customer service, and sadly the shirt I wanted was not available anywhere, but since they had made a mistake they refunded my shipping cost, and I returned the wrong shirt to the Copley store on my way home from work. Guess I'll just have to keep looking.
Back in the fall J. Crew had some flannel workshirts. The fabric didn't really feel like traditional flannel to me, but it was still nice and soft, and I liked the patterns, particularly a light gray plaid accented with red. (Gray is pretty much my favorite color for clothing.) I figured I'd pick one up after Christmas when everything from the fall got marked down, but the shirt was sold out on the web site and in stores by around Thanksgiving.
I don't know if this is normal or not, but I suspect that maybe a buyer underestimated the shirt's popularity. I mentioned this a couple of weeks ago in another post, and I thought that was the end of it. But one day last week, while poking around the sale section on the J. Crew web site, the shirt was back, and the only available size was my size, so naturally I ordered one right away.
After I'd placed the order, I wondered if I would actually receive it, because it was sold out again a short time later, and I know that weird things can happen when inventory gets low. I've read stories about canceled orders on blogs like J. Crew Aficionada. (Yes, there are people who devote their time to blogging about one particular store's merchandise, and there are people like me who read such blogs. Deal with it.)
The next day I got the email saying my order had shipped, and I more or less stopped thinking about it. I mean, there's always a chance that the UPS truck could crash, but something like that's pretty remote. On Friday I checked the tracking and saw that that package would be delivered that day. Someone in my office brought it by my desk around 3 PM. I opened the package and... they had sent me a different shirt. Not just a different one, but one I'd never seen before on the web site, in a catalog, or in a store. It was a flannel shirt, but it wasn't gray, and it was a completely different style.
I called customer service, and sadly the shirt I wanted was not available anywhere, but since they had made a mistake they refunded my shipping cost, and I returned the wrong shirt to the Copley store on my way home from work. Guess I'll just have to keep looking.
13 February 2010
This Week in Awesome (2/13/10)
Whoops, had that feeling I was forgetting something... ah well, kind of a busy day.
So, you know how when you type something into the Google, it offers suggestions based on other people's searches? That's called auto-complete, and there's a site that collects them. (Consumerist)
I fear the day is coming when Auto-Tune will rule the world, but for now it's good for some fun. Someone with more free time than you or me has been auto-tuning news clips, with suitably amusing results. (YouTube via Cult of Mac)
In the UK, a web site renamed the country's most accident-prone street Accident Avenue, and shrouded everything on it in bubble wrap. (Confused via Autoblog)
Someone took an ad for a furniture store with merchandise of dubious taste, and dubbed in their own audio track. (Consumerist)
And finally (just in time for Valentine's Day, I suppose), a compilation of 10 exceedingly strange men's underwear commercials. (The Frisky via Racked)
So, you know how when you type something into the Google, it offers suggestions based on other people's searches? That's called auto-complete, and there's a site that collects them. (Consumerist)
I fear the day is coming when Auto-Tune will rule the world, but for now it's good for some fun. Someone with more free time than you or me has been auto-tuning news clips, with suitably amusing results. (YouTube via Cult of Mac)
In the UK, a web site renamed the country's most accident-prone street Accident Avenue, and shrouded everything on it in bubble wrap. (Confused via Autoblog)
Someone took an ad for a furniture store with merchandise of dubious taste, and dubbed in their own audio track. (Consumerist)
And finally (just in time for Valentine's Day, I suppose), a compilation of 10 exceedingly strange men's underwear commercials. (The Frisky via Racked)
12 February 2010
Progress Report: Braces
Today marks a year since I got my braces. I was scheduled to go into the dentist's office a week from Monday to get my wires changed, but as it happened, my upper wire shifted a few days ago and the right end was poking me, so I went in yesterday after work. He went ahead and changed the upper wire, and now I don't have to go back for another month.
The dentist is quite pleased with my progress; he said my teeth are 90 to 95 percent of the way to where they ought to be, and he expects that I'll be able to get the braces off in four or five more months. That's actually a little sooner than I'd expected, but I will be happy when they are finally removed. Eating is still more challenging than it used to be.
One byproduct of this process is that I am now much more attentive to how long and how thoroughly I brush my teeth, and I'll continue that after the braces come off.
The dentist is quite pleased with my progress; he said my teeth are 90 to 95 percent of the way to where they ought to be, and he expects that I'll be able to get the braces off in four or five more months. That's actually a little sooner than I'd expected, but I will be happy when they are finally removed. Eating is still more challenging than it used to be.
One byproduct of this process is that I am now much more attentive to how long and how thoroughly I brush my teeth, and I'll continue that after the braces come off.
11 February 2010
Peace, Love, and Soul
I don't bother with any of the pocket lint that's normally shown on VH1, but they did a very worthwhile documentary about Soul Train that premiered over the weekend. I should have clued you into it ahead of time, but I didn't know about it myself until after it had aired. I was able to record one of the subsequent showings and we watched it last night.
The first music I recall from my childhood is Motown--The Temptations, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Jackson 5. My dad loved R&B and soul, so we also had Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Marvin Gaye, and Sly & The Family Stone on regular rotation in our house. Naturally Soul Train was a show my dad would want to watch.
I can't say I remember us watching it every week, but that was probably because my father was a police officer, and often worked nights and weekends. So we were probably catching the show if it was on when he happened to be home. But I do remember being ten or twelve and getting an introduction to the idea of live performance and the visual aspects of music along with an appreciation of the artists and their work.
The VH1 show, Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America, did a nice job of placing the genesis of Soul Train in the context of the larger social and cultural changes taking place around the beginning of the 1970s. It was first nationally syndicated in 1971, and stayed on the air for 35 years. As of now the documentary does not appear to be scheduled to air again, and I don't think it's available anywhere to watch online, which is unfortunate. If I find it in the listings again I'll post an update.
The first music I recall from my childhood is Motown--The Temptations, Diana Ross and the Supremes, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Jackson 5. My dad loved R&B and soul, so we also had Wilson Pickett, Sam & Dave, Marvin Gaye, and Sly & The Family Stone on regular rotation in our house. Naturally Soul Train was a show my dad would want to watch.
I can't say I remember us watching it every week, but that was probably because my father was a police officer, and often worked nights and weekends. So we were probably catching the show if it was on when he happened to be home. But I do remember being ten or twelve and getting an introduction to the idea of live performance and the visual aspects of music along with an appreciation of the artists and their work.
The VH1 show, Soul Train: The Hippest Trip in America, did a nice job of placing the genesis of Soul Train in the context of the larger social and cultural changes taking place around the beginning of the 1970s. It was first nationally syndicated in 1971, and stayed on the air for 35 years. As of now the documentary does not appear to be scheduled to air again, and I don't think it's available anywhere to watch online, which is unfortunate. If I find it in the listings again I'll post an update.
10 February 2010
Watch Wednesday (2/10/10)
I've unintentionally neglected my watch posts since we got back from our trip, so I'm going to make up for it by doing them weekly for the next few weeks.
I had to go and look back at January's posts to see whether the last one was for a vintage or modern watch. It was modern, so we'll go back to vintage for this one.
This is another Caravelle, date-coded to 1971. This was one of my earlier eBay purchases, but I haven't worn it for many years. Although the luminous material on the hands and numerals has aged, it still glows when exposed to light. This was considered a military-style watch when it was sold, though I'm fairly certain that by that point watches that were actually worn by enlisted men had 24-hour markings on the dial.
The other thing about this watch is that it's comparatively tiny. Its diameter is 31 millimeters, and it takes a 16 mm strap. After years if wearing larger watches it looks strange on my wrist, but I think it would suit a woman's wrist well.
I also happen to have this same style watch with a cream-colored dial. I couldn't manage to get a decent picture of it, but in the interest of fleshing out this entry I've included it anyway:
It's a couple of years older than the other one, but I bought this one first, then came across the black-dial version a while later. Both watches still run, though I'm sure their insides could use a cleaning.
I had to go and look back at January's posts to see whether the last one was for a vintage or modern watch. It was modern, so we'll go back to vintage for this one.
This is another Caravelle, date-coded to 1971. This was one of my earlier eBay purchases, but I haven't worn it for many years. Although the luminous material on the hands and numerals has aged, it still glows when exposed to light. This was considered a military-style watch when it was sold, though I'm fairly certain that by that point watches that were actually worn by enlisted men had 24-hour markings on the dial.
The other thing about this watch is that it's comparatively tiny. Its diameter is 31 millimeters, and it takes a 16 mm strap. After years if wearing larger watches it looks strange on my wrist, but I think it would suit a woman's wrist well.
I also happen to have this same style watch with a cream-colored dial. I couldn't manage to get a decent picture of it, but in the interest of fleshing out this entry I've included it anyway:
It's a couple of years older than the other one, but I bought this one first, then came across the black-dial version a while later. Both watches still run, though I'm sure their insides could use a cleaning.
09 February 2010
On the Lamb
A few weeks back I got an invitation to a restaurant tasting event at a place on route 1 in Saugus called ZaZa. I confess that I hadn't heard of it before, and I thought it was interesting that I was invited to the event because, while I do sometimes write about food and eating at places in the area, I'm not a food blogger per se. But free food is free food, and guests were permitted, so the Mrs. and I went.
We were given generous samples of several appetizers, like coconut-crusted shrimp, baby lamb chops, and my favorite, a big spear of artichoke heart with a dollop of goat cheese, wrapped in prosciutto. I love all three of these things, but it had never occurred to me to combine them; it was a delicious mix. (Waitstaff also brought around samples of some of the restaurant's martini offerings, but martinis are not my sort of drink at all, so I don't feel I can offer a valid opinion on them.)
Our friend Sandi, who is very much a foodie and food blogger (see her Boston Restaurant Examiner page) was also supposed to attend, but could not. She was on a different mission anyway: to talk to the restaurant's chef about one of ZaZa's special dishes, lamb osso buco. She made arrangements to have an early dinner there that Saturday, and it turned out that we made plans to see a movie with her later that night, so we ended up accompanying her.
Unfortunately, the chef was out of town, but the manager, Chris, took excellent care of us. We shared a tapas appetizer platter containing the shrimp and artichoke items mentioned above, plus crab cakes, gnocchi, and Italian sausage with broccoli rabe. We also tried the arancini, a favorite of mine (I talked about the ones from our neighborhood place just about a month ago). ZaZa makes theirs with peas and asiago cheese, an interesting variation that works nicely.
We were also able to sample the lamb osso buco, which was pretty amazing, but time ran short and we had to leave (Sandi got to take it home). I don't believe it is a regular menu item, but rather an occasional special; if that's what you're interested in, I suggest calling for more information. Chris is an affable and gregarious host, and the staff were highly attentive. This is by no means an impartial review, because that's not what I do, but consider it a recommendation.
We were given generous samples of several appetizers, like coconut-crusted shrimp, baby lamb chops, and my favorite, a big spear of artichoke heart with a dollop of goat cheese, wrapped in prosciutto. I love all three of these things, but it had never occurred to me to combine them; it was a delicious mix. (Waitstaff also brought around samples of some of the restaurant's martini offerings, but martinis are not my sort of drink at all, so I don't feel I can offer a valid opinion on them.)
Our friend Sandi, who is very much a foodie and food blogger (see her Boston Restaurant Examiner page) was also supposed to attend, but could not. She was on a different mission anyway: to talk to the restaurant's chef about one of ZaZa's special dishes, lamb osso buco. She made arrangements to have an early dinner there that Saturday, and it turned out that we made plans to see a movie with her later that night, so we ended up accompanying her.
Unfortunately, the chef was out of town, but the manager, Chris, took excellent care of us. We shared a tapas appetizer platter containing the shrimp and artichoke items mentioned above, plus crab cakes, gnocchi, and Italian sausage with broccoli rabe. We also tried the arancini, a favorite of mine (I talked about the ones from our neighborhood place just about a month ago). ZaZa makes theirs with peas and asiago cheese, an interesting variation that works nicely.
We were also able to sample the lamb osso buco, which was pretty amazing, but time ran short and we had to leave (Sandi got to take it home). I don't believe it is a regular menu item, but rather an occasional special; if that's what you're interested in, I suggest calling for more information. Chris is an affable and gregarious host, and the staff were highly attentive. This is by no means an impartial review, because that's not what I do, but consider it a recommendation.
08 February 2010
Finally Getting Smart
A little over two years ago I decided that I could no longer stand to be without some form of mobile internet access. What I most wanted was the ability to check the MBTA web site for information about delays, and the ability to access my email while away from home or work.
At the time Verizon did not offer any devices that were of interest to me, but I didn't want to switch carriers, so I looked into getting a second device. I found that it was possible to get a BlackBerry with only internet service on AT&T, and they were selling refurbished devices through their web site for only $30. It wasn't the simplest or most elegant solution (the BlackBerry web browser is woeful compared to its competitors), but it gave me what I most wanted and needed at the time.
Except... except for AT&T's notoriously bad service. Roughly 40% of the time I needed to go online to get some info, I could not connect to the data network. Sometimes I could resolve the issue by shutting down the BlackBerry and restarting it, but that was a cumbersome and ridiculous workaround. I was paying $30 a month for service that I often could not make use of.
The smart thing probably would have been to just ditch the service altogether and pay the early termination penalty (Verizon finally came out with its own version of the same device about six months after I'd gotten mine), but I felt nagged by the idea that I would end up stuck without web access (or even theoretically possible web access) in a situation when it was needed. And I had been able to make use of a dedicated Google Maps program for the device on several occasions when the Mrs. and I were driving in an unfamiliar place, so I kept the thing, using it only when it was really necessary.
My contract ended right before Christmas, and I canceled it immediately, because by then I knew that Verizon was launching its version of the Palm Pre in January. The Pre originally launched last June on Sprint, and it had been widely assumed that a Verizon version would be forthcoming. Then Verizon announced the official launch date, January 25th--the day we were flying home from our trip to California.
Monday is an odd day to launch such a device; usually smartphones go on sale on a Saturday to generate buzz and draw out the diehard early adopters. I griped out loud to anyone within earshot that if Verizon wanted to launch the Pre on a Monday, why not do it on the 18th, which was a holiday, so people like me could go get it, and that way I would have had it in time for our trip. But no one from Verizon consulted me about the timing of the launch.
On the morning of the 25th, we had coffee in downtown Santa Cruz before making the drive across the mountains and up the peninsula to the San Francisco airport. Across the street was a strip mall with, among other things, a Trader Joe's and a Verizon store. I mused out loud to the Mrs. that I could probably just go across the street and get the phone. She shrewdly pointed out that if I did that, I would have to pay the much higher California state sales tax, and on the full pre-rebate amount. I thought, what's a few bucks, but then I decided it was probably easier to just wait and deal with it after we got home. I think if we'd been planning to come home on Tuesday, I would have gone ahead and gotten it out there on Monday.
The next day, back at work, I checked the Verizon web site and was reminded of something I'd forgotten since my previous phone upgrade: when you order through their site (instead of going to a store and getting the phone in person), any applicable rebates are deducted from the transaction immediately, saving the trouble of collecting the bar code from the package and filling out the forms and mailing them and waiting six to eight weeks for a check, hoping you didn't make a mistake (believe it or not, rebate processes are designed to trip people up, or be so onerous that people won't bother submitting them at all).
Phones ordered through the web site are also shipped overnight for free, so if you can delay your gratification just a little longer (not always easy for someone like me) it's a pretty good deal. The phone came the next day by 11:30 AM, and all I had to do was call a number to activate the device on my line.
The Pre is a nifty little device. It's smaller than an iPhone (which means it will fit in my pocket comfortably) with rounded corners and edges. It looks like a glossy black stone of some sort. It has a physical keyboard, which was a requirement for me, and a removable battery, which was not crucial but is still nice. It has a touch-screen interface, like many other such devices now do, that is intuitive and easy to learn. Palm's app store has nowhere near the selection of Apple's, but it's growing, and apps are less important to me right now than reliable internet access.
One other thing that's really cool is an optional charging device called Touchstone. The Pre comes with a conventional wall-plug charger, an impressively tiny cylinder (about 1.5 inches high by 1 inch diameter) with flip-out prongs and a USB cord, so you have the option to charge the phone through a computer's USB port. But if you plug the cord into the Touchstone instead of the Pre itself, you can then charge the Pre just by laying it on the Touchstone: there are tiny magnets in the phone's back that hold it in place, and electrical contacts that conduct the charge. So you can leave the Touchstone on a desk or table and park your Pre on it each night. (I bought my Touchstone through Amazon and paid much less than what Palm or Verizon charge for it.)
As you might figure, I'm pretty excited about my new toy, and I'm happy to have finally entered my own personal Smartphone Era. I don't plan to bore you with any further talk of it, unless anything particularly good or bad happens. But this does mean that it should be much easier for me to post while I'm traveling, since now I don't need access to a computer. Lucky you...
At the time Verizon did not offer any devices that were of interest to me, but I didn't want to switch carriers, so I looked into getting a second device. I found that it was possible to get a BlackBerry with only internet service on AT&T, and they were selling refurbished devices through their web site for only $30. It wasn't the simplest or most elegant solution (the BlackBerry web browser is woeful compared to its competitors), but it gave me what I most wanted and needed at the time.
Except... except for AT&T's notoriously bad service. Roughly 40% of the time I needed to go online to get some info, I could not connect to the data network. Sometimes I could resolve the issue by shutting down the BlackBerry and restarting it, but that was a cumbersome and ridiculous workaround. I was paying $30 a month for service that I often could not make use of.
The smart thing probably would have been to just ditch the service altogether and pay the early termination penalty (Verizon finally came out with its own version of the same device about six months after I'd gotten mine), but I felt nagged by the idea that I would end up stuck without web access (or even theoretically possible web access) in a situation when it was needed. And I had been able to make use of a dedicated Google Maps program for the device on several occasions when the Mrs. and I were driving in an unfamiliar place, so I kept the thing, using it only when it was really necessary.
My contract ended right before Christmas, and I canceled it immediately, because by then I knew that Verizon was launching its version of the Palm Pre in January. The Pre originally launched last June on Sprint, and it had been widely assumed that a Verizon version would be forthcoming. Then Verizon announced the official launch date, January 25th--the day we were flying home from our trip to California.
Monday is an odd day to launch such a device; usually smartphones go on sale on a Saturday to generate buzz and draw out the diehard early adopters. I griped out loud to anyone within earshot that if Verizon wanted to launch the Pre on a Monday, why not do it on the 18th, which was a holiday, so people like me could go get it, and that way I would have had it in time for our trip. But no one from Verizon consulted me about the timing of the launch.
On the morning of the 25th, we had coffee in downtown Santa Cruz before making the drive across the mountains and up the peninsula to the San Francisco airport. Across the street was a strip mall with, among other things, a Trader Joe's and a Verizon store. I mused out loud to the Mrs. that I could probably just go across the street and get the phone. She shrewdly pointed out that if I did that, I would have to pay the much higher California state sales tax, and on the full pre-rebate amount. I thought, what's a few bucks, but then I decided it was probably easier to just wait and deal with it after we got home. I think if we'd been planning to come home on Tuesday, I would have gone ahead and gotten it out there on Monday.
The next day, back at work, I checked the Verizon web site and was reminded of something I'd forgotten since my previous phone upgrade: when you order through their site (instead of going to a store and getting the phone in person), any applicable rebates are deducted from the transaction immediately, saving the trouble of collecting the bar code from the package and filling out the forms and mailing them and waiting six to eight weeks for a check, hoping you didn't make a mistake (believe it or not, rebate processes are designed to trip people up, or be so onerous that people won't bother submitting them at all).
Phones ordered through the web site are also shipped overnight for free, so if you can delay your gratification just a little longer (not always easy for someone like me) it's a pretty good deal. The phone came the next day by 11:30 AM, and all I had to do was call a number to activate the device on my line.
The Pre is a nifty little device. It's smaller than an iPhone (which means it will fit in my pocket comfortably) with rounded corners and edges. It looks like a glossy black stone of some sort. It has a physical keyboard, which was a requirement for me, and a removable battery, which was not crucial but is still nice. It has a touch-screen interface, like many other such devices now do, that is intuitive and easy to learn. Palm's app store has nowhere near the selection of Apple's, but it's growing, and apps are less important to me right now than reliable internet access.
One other thing that's really cool is an optional charging device called Touchstone. The Pre comes with a conventional wall-plug charger, an impressively tiny cylinder (about 1.5 inches high by 1 inch diameter) with flip-out prongs and a USB cord, so you have the option to charge the phone through a computer's USB port. But if you plug the cord into the Touchstone instead of the Pre itself, you can then charge the Pre just by laying it on the Touchstone: there are tiny magnets in the phone's back that hold it in place, and electrical contacts that conduct the charge. So you can leave the Touchstone on a desk or table and park your Pre on it each night. (I bought my Touchstone through Amazon and paid much less than what Palm or Verizon charge for it.)
As you might figure, I'm pretty excited about my new toy, and I'm happy to have finally entered my own personal Smartphone Era. I don't plan to bore you with any further talk of it, unless anything particularly good or bad happens. But this does mean that it should be much easier for me to post while I'm traveling, since now I don't need access to a computer. Lucky you...
06 February 2010
This Week in Awesome (2/6/10)
Plenty of good stuff this week...
Does anybody remember that old Bottle Rockets song "Thousand Dollar Car"? Head over to Cars for A Grand, which is going to perplex some and delight others. (Jalopnik)
Weird products: these candlesticks are certainly, uh, unique. (BuzzFeed via Consumerist)
Regrettable products: another commercial for something of questionable merit. This time it's Pajama Jeans. (Videogum)
Worlds are colliding: did you know David Hyde Pierce hosted the Sundance Awards? Did you know there was a Sundance Awards? Don't feel bad, me neither. Regardless, like many award-show hosts, he opened with a musical number, and that's all I'm going to say. (Videogum via Gynomite)
You know what's an excellent way to spend your time this weekend? Watching video clips of a professional demolition company's building implosions. Start at the web site of Controlled Demolition, Inc., then head over to their YouTube channel for lots of entertaining stuff-blowing-up action. (Esquire's Daily Endorsement)
Does anybody remember that old Bottle Rockets song "Thousand Dollar Car"? Head over to Cars for A Grand, which is going to perplex some and delight others. (Jalopnik)
Weird products: these candlesticks are certainly, uh, unique. (BuzzFeed via Consumerist)
Regrettable products: another commercial for something of questionable merit. This time it's Pajama Jeans. (Videogum)
Worlds are colliding: did you know David Hyde Pierce hosted the Sundance Awards? Did you know there was a Sundance Awards? Don't feel bad, me neither. Regardless, like many award-show hosts, he opened with a musical number, and that's all I'm going to say. (Videogum via Gynomite)
You know what's an excellent way to spend your time this weekend? Watching video clips of a professional demolition company's building implosions. Start at the web site of Controlled Demolition, Inc., then head over to their YouTube channel for lots of entertaining stuff-blowing-up action. (Esquire's Daily Endorsement)
05 February 2010
Aren't You Cold?
Okay, seriously, what's up with the weather-inappropriate clothing? I've griped about this before, but it hasn't reared its head for a while.
Right now the Google says it's 26 degrees, and it was a couple of degrees colder when I left the house. Just as the bus was approaching, a guy came around the corner wearing a dress shirt, dark pants, and New Balance running shoes. No coat, no hat, no sweater, no scarf. I see this guy from time to time, and the most I've ever seen him wear is a suit coat over the rest of his outfit. I don't know where he lives in relation to the bus stop, but it seems like he times his arrival for minimum outdoor exposure. I'm not sure how he does this, given the unpredictability of MBTA buses. I guess it's possible he's wearing long underwear under his clothes, but somehow I doubt it.
Then when I got to the platform at Wellington, I saw another guy I've seen on several mornings, wearing what he always wears: a warm-up jacket, knee-length athletic shorts, and work boots. He carries a big duffel bag, so I'm thinking he's either going to or coming from a gym, but still. I don't know how people do this in the dead of winter. I understand that being underdressed in cold weather does not necessarily mean you're going to get sick, but it still has to be pretty damn uncomfortable. When he was younger, my father was one of those people who was seemingly impervious to cold, but he added a layer or two during the winter.
Right now the Google says it's 26 degrees, and it was a couple of degrees colder when I left the house. Just as the bus was approaching, a guy came around the corner wearing a dress shirt, dark pants, and New Balance running shoes. No coat, no hat, no sweater, no scarf. I see this guy from time to time, and the most I've ever seen him wear is a suit coat over the rest of his outfit. I don't know where he lives in relation to the bus stop, but it seems like he times his arrival for minimum outdoor exposure. I'm not sure how he does this, given the unpredictability of MBTA buses. I guess it's possible he's wearing long underwear under his clothes, but somehow I doubt it.
Then when I got to the platform at Wellington, I saw another guy I've seen on several mornings, wearing what he always wears: a warm-up jacket, knee-length athletic shorts, and work boots. He carries a big duffel bag, so I'm thinking he's either going to or coming from a gym, but still. I don't know how people do this in the dead of winter. I understand that being underdressed in cold weather does not necessarily mean you're going to get sick, but it still has to be pretty damn uncomfortable. When he was younger, my father was one of those people who was seemingly impervious to cold, but he added a layer or two during the winter.
04 February 2010
Overheard: Denial of Moral Support Edition
I'd forgotten about this... over the weekend I went to see The Rationales play, at the Rosebud in Davis Square. For those of you unfamiliar, there is a separate bar room tucked in back behind the diner. It has a generous amount of... um, let's say "local flavor."
When I went up to the bar to get a beer, I happened to end up standing next to a couple who were in the midst of some sort of argument. I didn't dare turn my head because I didn't want to end up on the receiving end of a "What are you lookin' at?", so I stared straight ahead as I waited for the bartender to take my order.
I guess I came in near the end of the proceedings, because all I really heard was this, from the woman: "You don't have anything I need. You know what? I'm not gonna go to court with you after all."
When I went up to the bar to get a beer, I happened to end up standing next to a couple who were in the midst of some sort of argument. I didn't dare turn my head because I didn't want to end up on the receiving end of a "What are you lookin' at?", so I stared straight ahead as I waited for the bartender to take my order.
I guess I came in near the end of the proceedings, because all I really heard was this, from the woman: "You don't have anything I need. You know what? I'm not gonna go to court with you after all."
03 February 2010
Winter Clearance
I had two or three post ideas rattling around in my head while I was on my way to work yesterday, but by the time I arrived I couldn't remember any of them.
Anyway, I guess the perennial fallback topic is clothes and shopping. I've been intending to hit the Wrentham outlets since right after Christmas, but with weather and travel we never made it. By now it may be too late to find anything good. I've been making an effort to be a bit more choosy about what I buy, and since the beginning of the year I haven't bought much (for me, anyway).
Last week I read on a shopping site that all the clearance merchandise at Saks stores around the country had been collected and sent to six stores, and Boston is one of them, so I thought it would be a good idea to pop in and have a look. I don't do much shopping in Saks--I think the only things I've ever actually purchased there are grooming products like shaving cream--but they have a pretty good selection of men's clothing spanning the spectrum from classic Italian suits to more trendy young-dude threads.
I went Monday after work, but unfortunately I was disappointed. Clearance stuff is usually on clearance for a reason, and the stuff on the sale racks was unimpressive. I did, however, see several nice things that weren't on sale, which is pretty much what happens to me everywhere I shop. I guess there's hope that those things might eventually go on sale, or show up on Gilt or RueLaLa.
Since I was on my way home from work, I had to walk through Copley Place anyway to get to the Orange Line, so I stopped in J. Crew. I did pretty well in their stores' sale sections in December, both around here and on my microvisit to New York (the stores in Rockefeller Center and on Fifth Avenue below Union Square have particularly good men's departments), and I was hoping for some additional markdowns.
So I was kind of surprised to find that there was no longer a men's sale section in the Copley Place store. There was a small section of women's sale stuff, and that was it. I guess it's possible for a store to sell all of its sale/clearance merchandise, but I think it's more likely that after a certain date, whatever is left gets sent to an outlet store (so maybe I should get to Wrentham after all).
There was one flannel shirt I really liked from the fall, but it sold out even before December. I know this because it disappeared from the stores and the web site and I couldn't find it anywhere, so I asked a store employee about it. I saw the character Andy wearing it on the show Parks and Recreation, and while I don't think that's why it sold out, of course it only made me want it more. Yeah, I really am that weird about clothes sometimes.
Anyway, I guess the perennial fallback topic is clothes and shopping. I've been intending to hit the Wrentham outlets since right after Christmas, but with weather and travel we never made it. By now it may be too late to find anything good. I've been making an effort to be a bit more choosy about what I buy, and since the beginning of the year I haven't bought much (for me, anyway).
Last week I read on a shopping site that all the clearance merchandise at Saks stores around the country had been collected and sent to six stores, and Boston is one of them, so I thought it would be a good idea to pop in and have a look. I don't do much shopping in Saks--I think the only things I've ever actually purchased there are grooming products like shaving cream--but they have a pretty good selection of men's clothing spanning the spectrum from classic Italian suits to more trendy young-dude threads.
I went Monday after work, but unfortunately I was disappointed. Clearance stuff is usually on clearance for a reason, and the stuff on the sale racks was unimpressive. I did, however, see several nice things that weren't on sale, which is pretty much what happens to me everywhere I shop. I guess there's hope that those things might eventually go on sale, or show up on Gilt or RueLaLa.
Since I was on my way home from work, I had to walk through Copley Place anyway to get to the Orange Line, so I stopped in J. Crew. I did pretty well in their stores' sale sections in December, both around here and on my microvisit to New York (the stores in Rockefeller Center and on Fifth Avenue below Union Square have particularly good men's departments), and I was hoping for some additional markdowns.
So I was kind of surprised to find that there was no longer a men's sale section in the Copley Place store. There was a small section of women's sale stuff, and that was it. I guess it's possible for a store to sell all of its sale/clearance merchandise, but I think it's more likely that after a certain date, whatever is left gets sent to an outlet store (so maybe I should get to Wrentham after all).
There was one flannel shirt I really liked from the fall, but it sold out even before December. I know this because it disappeared from the stores and the web site and I couldn't find it anywhere, so I asked a store employee about it. I saw the character Andy wearing it on the show Parks and Recreation, and while I don't think that's why it sold out, of course it only made me want it more. Yeah, I really am that weird about clothes sometimes.
01 February 2010
Bore Bar
Sometimes lunch is better in theory than in reality. Today's salad bar had no olives (black or green), no mixed field greens, no pasta option, and perhaps most egregiously, no feta cheese!
I guess in the future I need to look things over before plunging in.
I guess in the future I need to look things over before plunging in.
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