Expense Report #13

Last week I got an email from J. Crew regarding the reward points I earn by using their credit card. They were wondering where I'd been, and they missed me. Okay, I made that up, But I did get an email from them, and I thought it said that I needed to spend a certain amount of money by June 30th to accumulate enough points to earn a $25 reward card.

So on Wednesday, the 30th, I stopped by the Copley store. They had a decent sale section again, and I couldn't help feeling like I should have stopped by sooner, that I was missing out on some good deals. In truth, a lot of the deals were mediocre, and this is the sort of thing I keep reminding myself in order to curtail my spending urges.

After talking with one of the sales clerks, I came to understand that I had misinterpreted the email: I wasn't going to lose any reward points if I didn't make a purchase, but I would have to wait until the next quarter to receive the reward card if I didn't spend X dollars. Silly me. So, pressure off, I put back a couple of the things I was holding; the reward card will have to wait a little longer.

But I did end up getting a great deal on a pair of J. Crew's jeans, which I love but which normally sell for around $100. These are kind of an olive brown color ("dill") and in their "vintage slim" cut, which is nice and trim but not uncomfortably tight or low. They had multiple markdown tags on them, from $98 to $70 to $40 to $20, and there was another 20% off that, so I got them for $16. I won't wear them until fall, but at that point they will go nicely with a lot of my shirts and sportcoats.

This Week in Awesome (7/3/10)

Happy 4th of July, everyone. Yes, I know I didn't post this yesterday. I did say that the schedule might get iffy...

First things first: fireworks safety is very important today. (Funny or Die)

Do you ever think about the room vignettes that are styled and photographed for catalogs like Pottery Barn and Crate & Barrel? Me neither. But someone does, and they obviously have tons of free time, because they have gone so far as to create characters and a back story. (Racked)

Earlier this week, a young woman robbed a shoe store in New York. She did so while wearing a cat mask. The police issued a wanted poster that is quite possibly the greatest thing ever. (This even made it onto The Soup.) Later, some extremely fuzzy video surveillance footage was released, showing the woman walking into the store without the mask and then putting it on. Needless to say, the suspect is still at large. (The Awl)

And now for the dorky retro arcana portion of the program, so if this isn't your thing you can just stop here. Charles is a gentleman who lives in England but grew up in Boston and has fond memories of shopping downtown when there were many fine stores, none of which still exist. He posts his recollections, with lots of old photos and newspaper ads, to share with everyone at Shopping Days In Retro Boston.

And in a similar vein, I stumbled across a site filled with info about the old days of telephone numbers, when the exchange (the first two or three digits, for you youngsters) was referred to by a word, and the letters in those words corresponded to the numbers on the dial, and the words usually had some connection to the geographic area that contained those phone numbers (example: the Boston exchange 536 was for KENmore). Like I said, arcana.

How's My Spending?

It's been three months since I started making the effort to be more mindful about my discretionary spending, so it seems like a good time to take a look at how my habits have changed, and how much. I'm giving myself a financial report card, so to speak.

While I do not consider myself a compulsive shopper, I had gotten into a mindset of buying things more or less at will, without much regard to how much I was spending. I wasn't buying expensive things, but I was buying a lot of less expensive things. On average I was spending about as much in a given month as I was comfortably able to pay on my credit card each month, which would have been fine if I wasn't carrying a balance in the thousands of dollars, from my braces and other things.

I have forced myself to curtail my impulses and make choices. If I do decide to buy something, I have to make up for it by resisting the urge to buy something else. One thing in my favor is that warm-weather clothing is less interesting to me, so I tend to buy less clothing at this time of year. I have made some clothing purchases, which I've talked about in my weekly posts, but mainly just inexpensive items like polo shirts.

The big thing for me has been avoiding temptation by cutting back on the amount of time I spend looking for stuff on eBay. The less time I spend looking, the less I find to be tempted by. I've bought two watches in the past three months. but I also resisted buying at least two others. I have stayed away from other eBay temptations like shoes and outerwear, because those are the categories where I tend to make iffy purchases that, for one reason or another, I end up not wanting to keep.

As a result of this, I still have a fair amount of stuff that I would like to sell. I'm off for the next four days, so I should try to make some time to take pictures of the items I want to list. And as is frequently the case during long weekends, posting activity may be lighter than normal.

Leaving the 'Cue

Last week the Mrs. heard about a barbecue "festival" taking place at Suffolk Downs. Admission was free on Friday, so after work we headed over to check it out.

There were about ten different BBQ vendors, but none of them seemed local--at least, we didn't recognize any of them. She thought it might be a good idea if we split up and got food from a couple of different places to compare them, so we got into lines at two adjacent vendors. The lines moved quickly, though the person who took my order was extremely indifferent and might as well have been asleep. The Mrs. was disappointed with her brisket, which was dry and rather chewy. The one I got was better, though the sides of beans and cole slaw that came with mine were bland and unimpressive, while her sides were better.

Elsewhere, the only beer available in the whole place was Bud Light or Bud Light Lime, at $6 for one of those aluminum bottle-cans, or Bud Light Wheat on draft. Now, I understand that the organizers of the event (the people behind the Phantom Gourmet TV show) probably had to make some sort of sponsorship deal, but there are a lot of people like me who will choose tap water over anything with Bud in the name, and barbecue without beer just isn't the same. $6 for a beer is Fenway pricing, but at least at Fenway you have a choice of Narragansett, Sam Adams, or several other beers.

There was also some ridiculously loud, ridiculously bad music from some would-be teen heartthrob, sensitive singer-songwriter type, rides for the kids, and a smattering of vintage cars on display. The Mrs. spotted a cannoli vendor and bought one, but after a couple of bites she declared it the worst cannoli she'd ever had. She offered me a taste, and I agreed, so she threw it away. The cream filling was completely lacking in flavor, and the chocolate coating on the shell was too waxy.

At that point, disappointed by pretty much everything, we headed home. It's a good thing we hadn't waited until the next day to go--the thought of paying $5 just to walk through the gate of this event, in light of everything that followed, probably would have sent her over the edge.

Thermal Dueling

During the summer our office is kept comfortable but not unreasonably cold, yet several of my nearby coworkers require portable heaters under their desks for cold feet. This seems counterproductive and inefficient, since running these heaters raises the temperature at my end of the office by several degrees, thereby forcing the cooling system to work harder against that warmer air.

Instead of heaters, I propose that they should be given pairs of slippers, and if they are still cold, a quick step outside should warm them up quickly enough, on a day like yesterday or today.

Expense Report #12

What a brutal day. Best to stay indoors with AC if you can. Supposedly we're going to have some more comfortable weather coming along after tomorrow, at least for a couple of days. I know there are plenty of people who will be angry with me for saying this, but I've already kind of had it with summer. The heat and humidity arrived early this year, plus I think it's just part of getting older; I'm much less able to tolerate discomfort than I did when I was younger.

Anyway, I bought another watch this past week. It's a vintage Seiko automatic from the late 1960s, when the brand was little known in this country. (I don't even know if their watches were sold in the US back then; many of the ones for sale on eBay are from either Singapore or the Philippines, which would suggest they were primarily sold in Asia.) They made many excellent watches during this period that are not especially difficult to find now, and also are not prohibitively expensive, which is great if you're starting a collection or looking to add a specific watch to one.

I've been looking for one of this model for well over a year, since I saw one for sale on a vintage watch site for $200 and knew I could find one for less. In fact I ended up paying $65 for a watch that is in fine cosmetic and mechanical condition, has been cleaned and serviced, and has a new crystal, so it was an excellent deal, and it came from a US seller. Better yet, I'm paying for it with saved change that I rolled over the weekend and will be depositing into my account this week. I'll have more to say about this particular watch when the next Watch Wednesday rolls around.

I also bought a couple of watch straps from The Watch Prince in Oregon, and that would have been it for the week, except for one other thing. A long, long time ago, I sent a watch to be serviced. One of my coworkers had mentioned a repair place in her town, and offered to bring the watch in on my behalf. I seriously think it was about two years ago. It was a watch that I had damaged several years ago through my own carelessness (I stupidly banged on a stubborn paper towel dispenser with my left hand, and caused something inside the watch case to come loose), but after the repair person had a look, he found some other issues. He offered to fix everything for $175, which was very fair considering Alpha Omega had quoted me $500 to $600 a few years before, and they weren't even going to do the work in-house (which is why I was looking for another repair place to begin with).

And sure enough, the call came this past week that the watch was finally ready. I suppose I could have waited a bit to pick it up, but I really wanted it back. Given the amount of time involved and the updates I had received from the repair person along the way, I expected the final bill to be higher, but he charged me exactly what he had quoted me originally. So I guess I'll be featuring this watch in the future as well.

And, okay, no more watches for a while, I guess.

This Week in Awesome (6/26/10)

We're overflowing with web goodness this week. The internets are showing us the love:

Don't mess with street dogs in Serbia. (Jalopnik via YouTube)

More retro-future gadgets. (Engadget via Behance Network)

Mashup time: Kubrick vs. Scorsese. (The Daily What)

Headache? Try this. (Upright Citizens Brigade via Consumerist)

Feeling down? Try this (probably NSFW/C). (Funny or Die)

Halfway Done

Yesterday my bottom braces were removed. They were put on in May of last year, three months after the top teeth. They were originally supposed to come off four weeks ago, but the dentist wanted to tweak the position of one tooth, and what difference does a few weeks make?

The Mrs. asked me if it felt weird. Only for a few minutes, then I didn't even notice that they were no longer there. Of course, now I have the pleasure of wearing a retainer, but as with the braces, science has improved this too. It's just a mold of clear plastic that fits right over my teeth, so it's not even noticeable.

The best part is that the top braces will probably be coming off in three more weeks--again, this is so some adjusting can be done to one top tooth. I had expected the top braces would need to stay on another two or three months, so this is great news.

Bargains, Rapped

I'm not much of a fan of rap. I was into the early stuff from Run-DMC, De La Soul, and a few others, but it kinda lost me after Public Enemy's popularity peaked in the late '80s. I can always appreciate a good beat, and I admire the skills needed to rhyme and flow, but as music it doesn't do anything for me.

I think it's really just a generational thing; had I been born five or ten years later, I'd probably be more inclined to like it (though I'm basing this assumption solely on my younger coworkers' tastes). But how could I not love a rap about discount shopping? More importantly, how could I not share it with you?

Have you heard of Ross? As in "Ross Dress for Less"? They're kind of like Marshalls, except we don't have them in our part of the country. They are as close as New Jersey, but are mainly in the southeast, south, and west. My father-in-law, who lived in southern California, shopped there so frequently, he practically had a shopping cart with his name on a plaque. He never tired of bragging about the deals he found there, or that Tuesdays were senior citizen days and he got an extra 10 percent off.

But, as usual, I digress. I've never heard of the rappers Abraham Linkin, but clearly they are guys who appreciate a bargain, and they have a sense of humor too. So, please to enjoy the all-kindsa-awesome video "I Got It At Ross." Non-stick pans, indeed. If Ross has any clue, they'll pay these guys for the rights to this and make it their official song.

Watch Wednesday (6/23/10)

The camera battery needed a charge, but we have an older camera that the Mrs. likes to carry with her to take pictures of flowers and such. I know this picture is still slightly out of focus (mainly because the older camera lacks the image stabilization of the newer one, and I have a very hard time holding the camera completely still while shooting), but this camera really does a better job on the close-ups. So why haven't I been using it all along?

Somehow I'd forgotten about this watch, which I've had for about two years and which I do wear, though perhaps not as frequently as some of my others. It's from a company called Jacques Lemans, part of a line inspired by auto racing (hence the "F1" designation on the dial). These watches were all over the internet at the time I bought mine, on sites like Overstock and SmartBargains; I happened to find the best deal on this one on ShopNBC, which I otherwise never bother with.

I guess I liked this watch because I thought it slightly resembled a TAG Heuer Carrera, which costs around $3K. I also like the red accents (though they don't pop off the black dial quite as much as I'd like) and the knurled crown and the sleeves of the chronograph buttons. Overall, it's maybe just a little too busy-looking, but it's a nice size and it keeps accurate time.

As with most of my watches, this one came with an awful strap: it was black perforated neoprene with red edging, and there were pieces of metal inside it to keep it in a curved shape. This strap is made in the US by a company called Hadley-Roma. I love the red stitching (it's also available with blue, orange, or yellow), but I don't love the red edge, which you can kind of see a little of at the bottom of the pic. I think it's painted on or otherwise applied, because it's starting to come off in a couple of places. But it's still a huge improvement on the original.

Of Note

In my mail the other day, along with the Val-Pak coupons and unsolicited credit card offers, was a small envelope the color of kraft paper. I thought maybe it was an invitation of some sort, but it turned out to be a note--a hand-written one, at that--from Lands' End Canvas, thanking me for my recent purchase.

That's the second time I've received a hand-written note in the past couple of months (the first was from J. Crew's customer service, after the hat incident), and it's a great finishing touch, such a simple and smart way to cement a bit of positive afterglow in a customer's mind.

But I do wonder what percentage of these companies' customer service employees have handwriting that's actually legible, because no one writes anything anymore. My own cursive writing is atrocious; in high school I got in the habit of printing all my class notes, and now I can barely sign my name, and my printing isn't that great either. Perhaps they are being sent to refresher penmanship classes?

Expense Report #11

I realize that at this point you may be bored by my weekly itemizations, but doing this has helped me pay more attention to my spending, and that forces me to evaluate potential purchases more rigorously than I might otherwise, so I'm going to continue it for the foreseeable.

I have so far managed to resist anything from the sale section on the J. Crew site, even with an extra 30% off. There are a couple of things I would probably buy if they were available in my size, but I'm not about to contact the customer service rep who helped me before--too easy, nothing I need badly enough.

Otherwise this was a disciplined week for me. I am considering investing in an uninterruptible power supply for my television and other audio/video equipment, but I haven't made a definite decision about it yet. I'm probably going to be stopping at Newbury Comics on my way home today or tomorrow to pick up the new CDs by Stars, The Gaslight Anthem, and The National, but I haven't bought any new music in a couple of months, at least.

This Week in Awesome (6/19/10)

Seems like summer has arrived for real. We're even going to a solstice party (a couple of days early) this evening. Meanwhile, stuff for you to look at on the internet--imagine that!

These guys were kind enough to demonstrate exactly how not to attempt to load a jet-ski into a van at the water's edge. (YouTube via Autoblog)

Hyundai did a couple of clever commercials that spoof the TV show Top Gear. Of course, hardly anyone in this country even knows what the show is, so these are airing in South Africa. (YouTube via Jalopnik)

A Russian artist painted something rude on a drawbridge in St. Petersburg, so that when the bridge opened (apparently they leave the bridges open overnight) his handiwork was on display and, um, upright. Pretty damn funny (possibly slightly offensive to some, though I doubt it). (The Awl)

How could I not be intrigued by a series of snarky illustrations called the Douche Series? The first one takes aim at a certain type of ad-agency worker. If you enjoy it, there's plenty more here (they make me think the artist has some anger issues to work out, but they're still funny). (I can't remember how I found these, so I can't give proper attribution.)

Dear Old Dad

So, Sunday is Father's Day, and it's always a challenge coming up with a suitable gift for my father, because, to not sugarcoat it, he's kind of a grumpy old guy who doesn't have likes or interests like an ordinary person. (And some of you have met him, so you know what I'm talking about.) He isn't into gadgets, he doesn't use a computer, has all the tools he needs (a few years ago I got him one of those laser levels, and he later admitted that he'd returned it), doesn't care about clothes (I know, I know!), isn't interested in movies or books, and generally makes any attempt at gift-giving extremely difficult.

But the man's gotta eat. For Christmas, I hit on the idea of getting him an assortment from Omaha Steaks, and he seemed to genuinely appreciate it. I was going to just do the same thing again for Father's Day, but it kind of crept up on me, so this evening we drove up to one of the stores. After looking over the various packaged items in the freezer cases, I decided to get him a gift card, since there is a store fairly close to where he lives. I'm hoping he will make the effort to go there and choose some stuff.

I also popped into L.L. Bean, which is in the same shopping center, hoping to get a look at some of the Signature line, but unfortunately they aren't carrying any of it (at least not yet). The store never seems to lack for customers, but after looking around I have to say that Bean's regular stuff is looking really boring, and bringing in some Signature merchandise would definitely perk things up.

After that, we had to drive to where the Mrs. works, because she'd left her cell phone in her office. We also needed to eat, and she mentioned that we were going to pass a Sonic, where I guess she's been going for slushy-fruit drinks on her way home from work, or something. I didn't realize that Sonic operates like an old-fashioned drive-in, with carhops on roller skates and everything. Of course, this being 2010, there are male carhops too. There's also a drive-through window, but no inside counter service.

I ordered a grilled chicken sandwich with bacon and ranch dressing. The first sandwich the carhop brought me was breaded chicken, with lettuce and mayonnaise. When I told her it wasn't what I'd ordered she was extremely polite and said she'd get me the correct sandwich. The second sandwich she brought me was grilled chicken, and there were a couple of tomato slices, but still no bacon. I didn't bother trying to get it fixed again, because I was hungry. But I have to say, the shake I had with it was excellent.

Grooming Garage: The Empire Strikes Back?

It's deadline week again, hence my absence yesterday. However, I didn't want to leave you hanging for too long.

A little over a month ago, I did a writeup on the new Hydro 3 razor from Schick. At the time, I made a comment about receiving products to try and review. A PR person from Gillette found my post (presumably through a Google alert triggered by the keywords "razor" and "Gillette") and contacted me to ask if I would be interested in trying the company's forthcoming Fusion ProGlide, which purportedly offered some of the same improvements as the Hydro. So of course I thanked him and accepted his offer.

A few days later I received a package with a Fusion ProGlide Power razor (the battery-powered, vibrating kind) and a can of Fusion HydraGel. I had tried another Power razor some years ago (probably the M3 Power, which I believe was the first of its kind) and hated it--it irritated my neck something terrible, just like traditional electric razors do, so I didn't bother to install the battery in the ProGlide. Also I figured it would make for a more equivalent comparison to the Hydro if I wasn't using the power feature.

As for the gel, I haven't used any shaving product that squirts out of a can in probably fifteen years, if not longer.--they just don't give a good shave for someone like me with ultra-sensitive skin. I'll get around to trying it at some point, but I don't have high expectations for it, so I'll probably end up keeping it around for an emergency, or giving it to my brother. And again, I wanted to make my comparison as fair as possible by using the same products (face wash, pre-shave oil, and shaving cream) as I did while shaving with the Hydro.

By the way, the ProGlide went on sale about ten days ago, and I had originally intended to have this review ready right around that time, but I wanted to get at least three shaves with it first, and since I only need to shave a couple of times a week, I wasn't paying enough attention to the on-sale date to figure out when I should have started using it in order to make that deadline. Also, I was still shaving with that first Hydro blade, and it was still giving me great shaves, and that reservoir still had moisturizing lotion in it. I think I used it six or seven times and it was still getting the job done; in fact, when I finally discarded it, there was still some lotion inside the head, and if I hadn't needed to start using the ProGlide, I would have kept using it.

It had been more than a year since I'd first tried the original Gillette Fusion, so in a sense I was trying to compare the ProGlide to that as well as to the Hydro. Ultimately I came away with the same opinion as before, with one slight difference. The blades on the ProGlide have thinner edges, but it still rinses easily and generally handles well. But what surprised me most was that, despite Gillette's claims that the ProGlide gives a smoother shave, I found the shaves to be less smooth and less comfortable than either its predecessor or the Schick Hydro. This could be attributable to the composition of the lubricating strip (they've added mineral oil), to a new "low-resistance coating" on the blades, or some other reason. Also, even though Gillette says that lube strip is 25% larger, it still wears away pretty quickly: after three shaves it was pretty much gone.

I wanted to like the ProGlide. I was hopeful that Gillette had produced a product that would eliminate the bias I have against them based on my prior negative experiences with their products. But it didn't happen. Keep in mind, you might be completely happy with your Fusion, and you might get totally different results than me with a ProGlide. And that's fine; that's why there are competing products at the drug store. And if you do decide to try a ProGlide, I suggest you look for sales or coupons (I think I saw some in this past Sunday's newspaper coupon inserts, or you can check this out) to save yourself a couple of bucks.

Lands' End and Style: Oxymoronic?

A couple of weeks back when I mentioned the Lands' End event, A Proper Bostonian challenged me in a comment on that post to explain how Lands' End's offerings are stylish:

Style and Land's End seem kind of contradictory, don't you think? All I've ever found there is fleece and all the spouse ever found were ugly but practical weatherproof shoes. I look forward to your rebuttal!

This is a valid point, and I thought that discussing it in a regular post would expose it to more readers than just continuing the discussion in the comments area of the original post.

The first thing I think I should mention is that the word "style" originated in the email I received from Lands' End, and I was reusing it out of convenience. I never really bothered to consider the implications of the word in this context.

I'm fairly certain that the people at Lands' End are aware that their company's offerings are widely perceived as unstylish, or even anti-style, and I don't necessarily disagree with that point of view. I do think that one reason they decided to launch the Canvas line was to attempt to dispel this idea. (I'm also pretty sure L.L. Bean's competing Signature line had something to do with it.) There also seems to be a pretty significant J. Crew feel to the Canvas selection, which is even more pronounced when you see the clothes in person. Given the popularity of J. Crew's stuff and the company's performance over the past several years, this is not at all surprising.

But even with Lands' End's standard line, you can make an argument that anti-style is a style choice. Some people, both men and women, just don't care that much about clothes; some can't be bothered with shopping in stores. I know people like this, and LE is one of the places they go to stock up quickly and easily. Value is also part of it: the less you care about clothes, the less money you are going to want to spend on them.

I think people go to the office every day in khakis and a plain button-front shirt because they want to blend in. I see dozens of them every day on the T, especially men. A typical guy wants to look presentable with minimum effort, and wants clothes that aren't going to embarrass him. Some people aren't even comfortable wearing a striped shirt instead of a solid one. That's unfortunate, and I feel bad for them, but it's their choice.

I just bought a madras shirt from Lands' End. It's not quite as boring as a light blue dress shirt; it's a plaid called "light teal," but the dominant color is a berry red, with teal, white, and a little blue. It's colorful and summery without being loud, and it has a certain Leave It to Beaver prep/nerd vibe that I like in my short-sleeve plaid shirts.

Sometimes a person just needs a nudge. Lands' End does offer pretty good choices of colors for its products, and changing up the color scheme a bit is an easy way to inject some flair into your everyday outfits. But ultimately, LE is never going to be considered stylish. Their basic line fills a need for many people, and Canvas is offering a variation on the framework with some added distinction. Maybe some of the customers who buy from the regular line will find their way to Canvas.

I've seen a few pictures on style blogs of some of the forthcoming pieces from the fall Canvas collection, and it looks promising. If anyone from Lands' End is reading and wants to invite me to see the collection in person, I would happily write it up.

Expense Report #10

After going on about Lands' End ad nauseum, this past week I pulled the trigger on a pair of shorts from the Canvas line and a short-sleeve madras shirt from "regular" LE. Both were discounted in some manner, and as usual free shipping was involved, so I spent less than $50 total. I know that I'll wear these items for many summers to come, making this a value-oriented purchase.

Elsewhere I was able to resist or avoid temptation. Yesterday we drove up to Newburyport, and even though it wasn't an especially nice day, we still enjoyed ourselves walking around and looking into various stores. There's a little shop on State Street that sells British things like tea and candy, and they also carry a decent selection of Barbour jackets and clothing. Some of it was on clearance for 50% off, making for some very nice deals. The shopkeeper tried very hard to find something for me to buy, but unfortunately for her (and, I suppose, fortunately for my efforts at restraint) none of the items I liked were available in my size.

By the way, I meant to mention this last week, but for those of you with the inclination to shop and who are trying to spend wisely, or maybe just need some clothes, the approach of Father's Day means that many stores have quite a bit of their men's clothing on sale. Naturally this varies from store to store, but this is traditionally a good time to shop for men's stuff, whether it's for your father, some other man in your life, or yourself.

This Week in Awesome (6/12/10)

A dreary, lazy day: slept late, drank coffee, watched soccer. Now it's off to the warehouse club, but first I have some diversions for you:

Speaking of coffee, BP's problems go beyond the Gulf spill, to containing a coffee spill in a conference room. (Upright Citizens Brigade via Consumerist)

And, in one more (coincidentally) coffee-related instance, the Boston Globe did us the questionable service of mapping all the Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks locations in New England. Um, thanks? Actually, it is sort of interesting to see the density of DD locations in various towns.

John C. Reilly was on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon this week, and during a commercial break he sang a song from a commercial for an Oklahoma barbecue restaurant, backed by Fallon's house band, The Roots. Esoteric, yeah, but I'd still rather watch this than anything by Kesha. (Videogum; original ad here, YouTube via Aziz Is Bored)

For something a bit more, um, thoughtful, the blog Jeremiah's Vanishing New York did a very interesting series on searching for the location of, or even just some evidence of the existence of, the diner depicted in the famous Edward Hopper painting Nighthawks. (Link is to Part 1; links to additional entries can be found on JVNY)

Fresh Sounds

Hm, something else I'd meant to post earlier in the week: I discovered the concert archive on the NPR web site quite a while ago, but I hadn't visited in some time. Earlier this week I found more music goodies, including studio performances from KEXP and previews of forthcoming albums.

This week, and through the weekend until its release next Tuesday, you can listen to the entire new album American Slang from The Gaslight Anthem, a New Jersey band I discovered last year and loved immediately, along with a new album by Laurie Anderson. Next week this "First Listen" feature will be streaming The Five Ghosts, the fifth album from the Montreal band Stars, another one of my favorites.

Watch Wednesday Thursday (6/10/10)

Oh look, another Bulova. You're not really surprised, are you? I picked this one up a couple of years ago for some very small amount of money, probably less than $30. (I'm a sucker for that cross-hair detail.)

This is a nice, basic Bulova with an automatic movement, the sort of watch that would have been on the wrists of thousands of American men in the late 1960s. This one is date-coded to 1968, and it happens to be engraved on the back; it's the only vintage watch I've bought that has engraving. It says "Bill-Jean 1944-1969," so maybe this was a 25th anniversary gift from Jean to Bill?

It's in pretty good condition, with a few blemishes. You can see a couple of marks on the dial below the hands, and the crystal has a few scuffs that I think would buff out. But otherwise, given its age, it looks pretty good. The dial has fine lines radiating out from the center (too faint to show up in this mediocre picture), and while it was probably originally a silvery white, it has taken on a slightly cream-colored cast with aging, which works nicely with the luminous hands, which have also aged to a similarly creamy hue. Plus, they still glow, though rather faintly.

I don't remember buying this strap, so it either came along with the watch, or it was one I had around that was the correct size. But with the coloring I just described, I think this watch would look good with a tan or light brown leather strap, like the one on this Timex.

Seeing Double

Apologies for the unintended absence yesterday--I got involved in a project after lunch and it took longer than I thought it would. There's plenty of material in the pipeline, though. [In retrospect, that seems a poor choice of words, doesn't it?]

On the train this morning, I saw something that I thought was kind of unusual: adult twins dressed alike. Male, I'd estimate in their mid-20s, they got on at Government Center wearing identical corduroy jackets, shirts, jeans, and shoes. I'm pretty sure they were each carrying a different sort of backpack, though I wasn't really close enough to tell for certain. I considered trying to get a picture, but there was no way I could have done it without them noticing, and I figured it was a little early in the day to be pissing off two people.

Caffeination

I'd like to give a plug to a newish coffee shop in Medford Square. Mystic Coffee Roaster opened a couple of months ago, and since we're typically in the Square on Saturdays as part of our weekly errands, we've been making it a semi-regular stop.

The coffee is roasted in small batches three or four times a week, and in addition to hot and iced drinks, you can buy beans to take home or have them grind it for you. They are also offering treats from local bakeries, including various bagels and breads from Iggy's. The atmosphere is pleasant, the staff and owner are very friendly, and the coffee is excellent.

It's great to see this type of business opening in Medford Square. Previously the only option was Dunkin', which has its place, but I also like being able to try other varieties of coffee and getting freshly roasted beans to brew at home, and I like supporting a truly local business (the owner is also a Medford resident).

Expense Report #9

When I mentioned yesterday that we were out on the Pike, it's because we were on our way to the mall in Natick to do some shopping. This trip was actually instigated by the Mrs., who said she wanted to find some lighter-weight pants for summer workwear. (She can't wear shorts, and she isn't much of a skirt person.) She doesn't enjoy shopping much because it's difficult to find clothing that fits her well, so she tends to shop for work clothing only when she needs it.

As it turned out, she came away with only one pair of pants--technically capris, but she's so short that they land right at her ankles. But she also got six basic, patterned short-sleeve tops for $10 each, a Macy's house brand. We'll need to visit another couple of stores to see if she can find decent pants.

I ended up at JCPenney again, and this time I found the polo shirts I wanted last time but couldn't get because they were out of my size. I bought three, for $10 apiece. They are decent shirts for so little money, made of fabric that's substantial enough to wear well for at least a couple of seasons, but light enough to be comfortable when the temperature rises.

The cut is neither too baggy nor too snug (for me, anyway--I wear a 44 suit jacket, and the large fits me just right). Their fit is comparable to Lands' End polos, which normally sell for $20 (and are currently on sale for $12, through today only), though I would have to give the edge to the LE shirts for softness of fabric. (LE also offers their shirts in a "tailored-fit" option, for those of you with slimmer frames.)

One nice thing about the store-brand shirts at Penney is that they come in more than three dozen colors; I ended up getting ivory (to replace an old and much too large shirt, it's a difficult color to find, but works well with plaid shorts and looks better with my skin tone than white), turquoise, and a deep fuchsia that's going to look better on me than a more typical hot pink. But as I learned, selection seems to vary considerably by store, and after being in both nearby (to me) locations, Northshore Mall in Peabody and Natick Mall, recently, I have to say that the men's department in the Natick store is much better. There's a lot more space overall, so they can offer a wider selection and deeper stock.

You can make fun of me for shopping at a middle of the road store like Penney, but it's a good place to save money on basics, and the quality is much better than you might expect. Don't get me wrong, there are still clothes you would want to avoid, like elastic-waist shorts and non-iron dress shirts in a very unpleasant-feeling 60/40 blend, but there's plenty of useful, wearable stuff too, and as I've said before, I want to help you spend your money wisely. You can easily spend $50 or even $80 on a single polo shirt (especially if you favor the kind with a logo), but what's the point?

Road Hazards

Out on the road today, we were on the ramp from 128 south to the Pike westbound when the Mrs. suddenly jerked the wheel to the left to avoid something. I could only see a small blob on the shoulder, but she said it was a group of eight to ten ducklings, all clustered together, that appeared to be trying to cross the road.

It was like Make Way for Ducklings on the Mass. Pike, but where's Officer Michael when you need him?

This Week in Awesome (6/5/10)

Yuck, it's humid here today. Air conditioners are definitely going in later. But first, time to catch up on some of the things that make us keep coming back to the internet over and over...

If you saw Tropic Thunder, then I'm sure you remember Tom Cruise's nearly unrecognizable cameo as Hollywood agent Les Grossman. (If you didn't see it, what's wrong with you? That movie was hilarious.) He's revived the character in some promos for the MTV Movie Awards, which are on tomorrow night. (TV Guide)

You know the World Cup starts next week, right? To get you in the mood, here's a cool Puma soccer commercial. (YouTube via Unlikely Words)

A lot of people have those transponder things in their cars so they can pay tolls without requiring cash or the need to stop. But if you don't have one, this is not the way to avoid paying the toll. Obviously, intoxication was involved. (Dallas Observer blog via Jalopnik)

And we'll conclude today with another gem courtesy of Web Soup: the "musical" stylings of one Shane Lee. Thank you, Shane. You've done the world a great service. Or something.

Friday Funny: Poor Judgment

It's turned out to be kind of a stressful week--the wire on my bottom braces poking the inside of my mouth, a large floater in my left eye for the past two days, more TiVo problems--and I'm sure you could use a laugh anyway, so I'm going to choose the easy path today, and offer you this brief clip from G4TV's Soup spinoff Web Soup, in which a person does something he maybe should have thought twice about doing, and suffers the consequences.

Juvenile? Yes. Funny? Oh, yes. And if you enjoyed it, there are plenty of other funny clips at your disposal over there.

Summer Style Event

I received an email from Lands' End about an event taking place this Saturday, June 5th, at the Lands' End Canvas mini-shop at the Sears in the Burlington Mall (for those of you reading this in my approximate geographical area), and thought I'd pass along the info.

It's in conjunction with Lucky magazine, so I guess it's more for the ladies, but maybe me blurbing it here will get the attention of someone at Lands' End and they'll do something similar for us guys, who knows?

There will be style tips, a chance to win stuff, mini manicures, light refreshments (key words, right there), and swag (if you're one of the first 100 people to show up). It's from 11 AM to 3 PM. We have a vet appointment during that time, so I don't think I'll be able to make it, but if any of you go check it out, let me know how it is...

Cloudy with A Chance of Bombast

I've mentioned before that I watch New England Cable News in the morning. I think I've also mentioned that they have a tendency to repeat their commercials, so it's not unusual for the same ads to run at the same time each day.

For maybe the past two months NECN has been airing a promo for their weather. It comes on every morning right before the 7:30 news block begins, and it is hilariously cheesy. It has all this thunder and lightning, and this hard-rock song that goes something like "...every day the rain will won't fall/the sun will come out and warm shine on us all..."

Then one of the meteorologists says something to the effect of, "[Viewers watch because they want to know] ...is my house going to be hit by lightning?" Of course, this is something that no meteorologist can predict, which makes the ad all the more amusing.

Unfortunately they don't seem to have a clip of the ad on their site, and I couldn't find anything on YouTube. Does anyone know if this is a real song that the station is using in the ad, or if it's an original composition that they commissioned?

Addendum: Because I'm almost never in the room when this commercial airs, I was hearing it but not seeing it. But I happened to see it today, and there's a music credit at the end: it's a song called "Storm" (duh) by Lynyrd Skynyrd, but it must be the more recent incarnation of the band, because the singer sounds nothing like Ronnie Van Zant and the band sounds nothing like anything I know from them.

Doggie Daybed

After almost four years with us, our dog has discovered that she likes the couch and the bed. We never prohibited her from using them, but she never showed any interest in either, until about a month ago.

On Mother's Day we were at my mom's house. Her beagle spends most of his time ensconced on either a recliner chair in the family room or a futon in the living room. Our dog has seen him hoist his overweight self up onto these perches numerous times, and never showed any inclination to imitate him, until this particular day.

We were all gathered around the computer, looking at some photos. Behind us, our dog suddenly jumped onto the futon, then settled down, but unfortunately none of us witnessed it. My mother happened to look over her shoulder and saw the dog laying there.

Back at our house that night, it took all of 15 minutes for the dog to vault onto our bed. She was in there with the Mrs., who was sorting laundry. I was in the next room, and she called me to come into the bedroom, where the dog was happily stretched out, already nuzzling into the soft, puffy comforter.

I always thought it was a little unusual that the dog did not show any interest in the couch, at least, because she's a fairly large dog with long legs, and it's relatively easy for her to jump up onto it. The bed is somewhat higher, so she does seem to prefer the couch. She also doesn't like sharing it; if she's laying on the couch and the Mrs. sits down, the dog will usually get up and leave, even though there's more than enough room for both of them.

We've decided to limit her access to the couch and the bed to times when we are home, in an attempt to convey that lounging on the furniture is a privilege and a treat, and she should not expect to get to do it all the time. When we go to work we close the bedroom door and flip up the couch cushions. I'm sure there are many of you who let your pets hang out on the couch and/or bed all the time who think we're goofy, and we probably are.

I think she started doing this at least partly because her dog bed has lost some of its squishiness, and she is seeking equal or greater comfort. But really, who knows what she's thinking? It's funny how a pet's behavior can change suddenly after a long interval of status quo. Animal behavior is truly a curious and wondrous thing.

Expense Report #8

I woke up with a headache this morning, which is always a sucky experience. Consequently I didn't do much today. But I remembered that I have been reporting on my spending on Mondays.

The only discretionary thing I bought last week was a photography book called Roadside America. It retails for $40 but I got a 40% off coupon from Borders via email, so I used it to get the book for $24, plus tax.

This Week in Awesome (5/29/10)

I hope you're enjoying the holiday weekend. There may or may not be a post on Monday, depending on my motivation, inclination, etc. Meanwhile, there's plenty to look at here.

I'm sure if you watched the Lost finale, you had a few lingering questions. This guy sure did. (CollegeHumor)

This very cool short film imagines Los Angeles without cars. (Flavorwire via Vulture)

Here's a Google Earth view of what the World Trade Center site will look like when the rebuilding is complete. (You'll need to install the Google Earth plug-in if you don't already have it.) (New York Times City Room blog)

Most people like cereal, but this slide show of creepy kids' cereals may give you second thoughts. (Huffington Post)

Fall TV: The Same, Only Different

If you've been following along, you may remember that I mentioned I was going to talk about the networks' previews of upcoming fall TV shows. I may have also mentioned something about doing it on Monday. Obviously that didn't happen, but we're here now, right?

For the most part, it's more of the same: familiar genres, familiar faces, and in two cases, outright reboots of familiar (at least to some viewers) shows. A lot of it is somewhat escapist in nature, which is understandable. I've read comments from people in the business that claim that when times are tough, viewers want shows that distract them from their troubles, as opposed to complex, serialized shows that demand a serious commitment from viewers.

Speaking for myself, I can only handle watching so many shows at a time, regardless of whether or not they are serialized. With the departures of Lost and 24 I'll have a couple of viewing slots available this fall, and some tough decisions about which new shows I'm going to watch. (I'm not going to run down every new show, because it would just take too much time and space, and you would all be bored, though if you really are interested I can point you to plenty of places online where you can read all about them.)

NBC, the network many of us love to hate. is offering plenty of standard stuff: two legal shows (one with Jimmy Smits, one with Kathy Bates), a romantic-comedy anthology in the vein of Love, American Style, another Law & Order variant set in Los Angeles, and a series from Jerry Bruckheimer about U.S. marshals. Also, NBC is holding Parks and Recreation until midseason and moving 30 Rock to the 8:30 slot on Thursday so they can launch a new comedy after The Office about a guy who is sent to manage his company's call center in India. I thought the clips from this show, Outsourced, were rather unfunny, and The Office had a weak season (and it's unclear how much gas is left in its tank), so I question whether messing with the Thursday comedy lineup is a good idea.

But there are a couple of shows that could break out. One is a light spy show from J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost, Fringe) called Undercovers, about a pair of married former CIA agents who are pressed back into service. The other is called The Cape, and it's about a police officer who is framed and is forced into hiding, where he assumes the identity of a comic-book superhero character. This isn't a show I would watch, but I could definitely see it finding an audience.

Fox has what strikes me as a fairly mediocre slate of new shows. They have been accused in the past of not trying very hard during the fall, then coming on strong in winter when you-know-what returns each year. Among their offerings are a Dallas-esque drama about a family in the oil business and a comedy about a self-absorbed jerk (Will Arnett) who falls for a do-gooder (Keri Russell). I think Arnett is hilarious, but the premise sounds trite.

Fox may have better luck with Raising Hope (from the creator of My Name Is Earl), about another wacky family that includes Martha Plimpton and Cloris Leachman. The Fox show I'm most looking forward to won't arrive until midseason; it's a cop drama called Ride-Along from Shawn Ryan, creator of The Shield (so you have my attention right there) that will be filmed on location in Chicago.

ABC is not trying to find a replacement for Lost (they already tried it this past season with FlashForward, and it bombed), but they are offering No Ordinary Family, a show about a family that survives a plane crash and returns home to discover they have super powers. I'm very tempted to call this a live-action Incredibles, but that's not quite fair. I could see this as a show that families would want to watch together, which there isn't enough of on TV.

Elsewhere, they have a couple of relationship comedies, a legal show, a doctor show (two if you count the Quincy-ish Body of Proof with Dana Delany), a comedy with Matthew Perry in midlife-crisis mode, and Detroit 1-8-7, a police dramedy (it's about time) shot mockumentary style (that gimmick is going to be overdone soon), starring Michael Imperioli. Could be okay.

CBS got more attention for its schedule moves and surprise cancellations (Boob Ghost Whisperer, New Adventures of Old Christine) than for its new shows. Still, they are offering the fewest new shows of any network, which speaks to their overall rate of success with proven formulas. CBS is moving Survivor to Wednesday and is bringing The Big Bang Theory over from Monday to Thursday, where it will be followed by Shit My Dad Says, based on the Twitter page (yes, really) and starring William Shatner (yes, really). Obviously they're going to have to do something about that title; the current plan is to write it as $#!+ and to use a bleep sound when it's being spoken. There are so many things wrong with those last couple of sentences; I'll leave it to you to ponder all of them.

CBS's other big bet seems to be on its remake of Hawaii Five-O, which will displace CSI: Miami from Monday to Sunday. They've been trying to build a successful show around Alex O'Loughlin (who will be playing the son of Steve McGarrett) for a while now, and if this one doesn't work, maybe he should just give up and go back to Australia. But I imagine the folks who tuned in on Monday for Horatio Caine and crew will like this show too.

CW? Nothing to see here, move along... Well, of course they're going to have a couple of new shows, but really, do you care?

One other bit worth noting is that all the networks seem to be looking to get viewers to return to Friday nights. In decades past, Friday was home to some of TV's most popular shows, but in recent years it had become something of a wasteland. Looking at the fall schedules, all the networks are offering at least one new show on Friday, and in some cases they are moving established shows to Friday to help lead viewers to new shows.

CBS is moving CSI: New York to Friday before its new NYPD drama Blue Bloods, with Tom Selleck, though I predict that by midseason CSI: NY will be back on Wednesday, mainly because its replacement on that night, a legal show with Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell, is dreadful and will make a quick exit. Fox is also moving Human Target to Friday; I was just happy they thought it did well enough in its first season to get a renewal. It's an implausible, escapist, fun action show, and airing it on Friday makes sense.

Watch Wednesday Thursday (5/27/10)

I totally forgot that yesterday was supposed to be a Watch Wednesday, so in the interest of expediency I've borrowed another picture from the internet. This is the watch I bought on eBay a couple of weeks ago, a Seiko with an automatic movement. It has a medium-sized (36 mm) case, which is actually a little smaller than most of the watches I wear these days. It has a display back so you can see the workings of the movement, and the case is finished in matte stainless steel that (probably intentionally) looks sort of like titanium.

I like the easy-to-read markings on this watch, I like that the day and date are white on black so they blend in with the rest of the dial, and I like that the crown is at the 4 position, a design element that goes back to Seikos of the 1960s. The hands I don't like so much--they're a little fussy-looking for a rugged watch with a bit of a military look, and I find the ball on the "wrong" end of the second hand distracting. (I could certainly get the hands changed if I had the inclination, but I don't think I'm going to worry about that.)

I also don't love the strap--big surprise, I know. It's nylon canvas, and the strap itself is okay, but it has these two metal loops for keepers which are seriously ugly. For now I've borrowed a leather strap from a watch I'm not wearing, but I'll be looking for a permanent replacement.

Oops, I Crapped on Your Ad

So over the weekend in TWiA I mentioned the faux-denim diapers, but now I've seen the commercial and I just... well, I just don't know.

First of all, seeing it made me I wish I'd never brought it up, and second, there are so many things about it that are just so awful and disturbing, I don't even know where to begin: the glam ladies lunching, the toddler walking in slow motion, the creepy voiceover, the pervy-looking dude on the moped, the chauffeured car, the cheesy techno soundtrack. All that's missing is for the tot to be wearing sunglasses. How the hell did they forget that?

But the worst part has to be the words: "My diaper is full... full of chic. When it's a number two... I look like number one. I poo... in blue." And finally, the tag at the end: "The coolest you'll look pooping your pants." AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH NO NO NO NO please make it stop... need to go to my happy place... phew.

This makes me think of how we've always heard that European commercials are supposed to be so much more clever and risque than the commercials we get here. Not true, at least not always. It also reminds me of Dave Chappelle's assertion (if you watched the commercial, this clip will serve as your mental palate cleanser) that most things are better in slow motion; this clearly falls in the exception category that Chappelle mentions at the end of the clip.

Damn, I miss that show...

Mark Your Calendars

Just a friendly reminder: season four of Mad Men premieres exactly two months from tonight.

Another Rock & Roll Swindle

Another strategy for not spending money is to browse somewhere that doesn't have anything that interests you. I did this on Saturday, when we decided to drive into the city and wander Newbury Street for an hour or so around dinnertime. Some stores were already closed, which helps, and the ones that were open tend to offer fashions that are not to my taste.

I discovered that British import AllSaints Spitalfields had opened in the former Pottery Barn space (sorry, city dwellers, if you want to ogle PB's wares in person, you'll now have to trek out to a mall in Natick or Burlington). I had read that the New York AllSaints opened last week (on Broadway in Soho, naturally), and I knew from A Proper Bostonian that work on the Boston store was progressing, but I didn't know that it too had opened.

I went in out of curiosity, just wanting to get a look at the stuff, not expecting to find anything I liked, and in that respect the store met my (lack of) expectations. It's certainly a cool-looking space, dimly lit and with rows of antique sewing machines lined up in the windows. Inside the floors are rough boards, and there are ram skulls (the brand's logo) everywhere.

As for the clothes, they are all components of a very specific rock & roll aesthetic, and I didn't see much that would fit in with my current style. 25 years ago I would have gone nuts for this stuff, except that it's pricey now, and even in 1985 dollars it would have been well beyond my means. But regardless of cost, these clothes are meant for the young, and I'm no longer in that category.

Denim is in the range of $130 to $150, boots (all carefully pre-distressed) around $250, certainly cheaper than John Varvatos's main line (which is what I was most reminded of when looking at these clothes), but still expensive enough that the average person would likely have to think twice about a purchase.

Still, I imagine there will be plenty of tourists and parentally-supported students, unable to find this iteration of prefab cool for sale wherever they come from, who will snap up what AllSaints is selling, while the starving artists and musicians will continue to find their own versions of these looks in local thrift stores.

For this kind of money, I also wonder how durable this stuff might be (in both the literal and stylistic senses of the word). Stores like H&M and Zara and even Old Navy, for better or worse, have gotten shoppers used to the idea of fast fashion: you can buy something very cheaply, wear it a few times, then get rid of it. But the clothes at AllSaints, while priced too high to fit into this construct, don't suggest that they will last more than a couple of seasons, and even if they do, they will probably be horribly out of fashion by then.

I did see one item that caught my eye, a simple black mackintosh-style coat with a black-and-cream plaid lining. It was very smart-looking in its minimalism, and I could see getting some use out of it, but for $275 I could certainly find something comparable for less, and I wouldn't need it until fall anyway, so even thinking about looking for something similar can wait.

Expense Report #7

Good news: I resisted temptation again this week. After last week, I kind of had to. And we were at the mall for a bit yesterday, so I was definitely tempted, mostly by the laid-back offerings from Lands' End's Canvas line, on display in, of all places, Sears.

I had taken a quick glance at this stuff once before, but this time I looked over several items more carefully. The fabrics are pleasantly soft to the touch; I would guess the khakis and button-front shirts have been given a prewash treatment. They feel as nicely broken-in as any of J. Crew's comparable items, but without any distressing or fraying.

Cuts are a bit slimmer compared to typical LE items, but not as divergent from the main line as L.L. Bean's Signature is from regular Bean. And for those who don't care for slimmer-fitting stuff, the khakis come in two fits, straight and relaxed. For $40 these are pretty much a no-brainer (and, I should point out, $20 less than the non-sale price of a pair of J. Crew's broken-in khakis), and with a quick ironing they'll look dignified enough for any casual office environment. (Shorts are $5 less, but they only come in the straight fit.) But I didn't buy anything--not yet.

This Week in Awesome (5/22/10)

Hello and welcome to a gorgeous spring Saturday here in this corner of the world. To my great relief, the internet found its groove again this week, and has provided us with plenty of good stuff.

Google has some proposed changes to its Android phone operating system, and the Onion News Network has the (fake) story.

An artist who works for Pixar has come up with an unusual crossover idea: a collection of picture-book illustrations based on classic movies that are not typical children's fare. (/film via Videogum)

Faux-denim diapers. So obvious, and yet so wrong. (Denimology via Racked NY; also How's Your Face? via The Awl)

Raise your hand if you remember Twin Peaks. Okay, get ready for a TP rap song from one MC Chris. The video is nothing more than a quick-cut montage of scenes from the show. Cramazing. I was really tempted to post this earlier in the week when I first saw it, but some things, you just have to wait for the right time. (BuzzFeed)

Weekend Reading Assignments

What's this? Friday afternoon slipped by without me posting anything? Believe it or not, I was doing actual work. I have something in the works about the TV networks' new fall show announcements, but in order to do it justice, I need to do my due diligence and watch all the clips the networks provided, which will take some more time. So, Mondayish?

But don't despair: in the meantime, I'm going to point you in the direction of the generally superb site This Recording. For some thought-provoking pleasure reading, check out this excellent piece on masculinity, femininity, television, and the intersection of those things. Lots of pretty pictures of Jon Hamm, Tina Fey, and others. (And re: those first two pictures of Jon Hamm--might they be production shots from season four of Mad Men?)

If that's not quite your speed, New York magazine did an interesting article in last week's issue about Japanese retailing juggernaut (and SAR fave) Uniqlo.

Shop Your Forgotten Stuff

Last week I didn't do so well in my thrift quest, as I described on Monday. But it could have been worse: during last week I also came across a nice-looking pair of adidas Samba shoes in light gray suede with white trim and soles. I thought they were much better-looking and more wearable than the traditional black Samba, but the adidas online store had nothing larger than a 9, and with adidas shoes I need at least an 11, sometimes an 11.5, depending on the style.

Normally I would have zipped over to Zappos or Piperlime or some other online shoe seller to look for the shoes in my size. But I'd just bought that watch on eBay, so I exercised some self-discipline and refrained from shoe shopping.

Over the weekend I was in the basement (which these days resembles a very large walk-in closet), swapping cold-weather clothing for shorts and other warm-weather stuff. I was pulling out some of the shoes I tend to wear only in summer, like my boat shoes and certain sneakers, when I came across a USPS box for shipping shoes. I didn't know what was in the box, and I didn't remember putting it in the basement.

Inside I found light gray suede sneakers with white trim and soles, not adidas but Puma. In fact, this particular style is called The Suede. I bought them from eBay a couple of years ago, and I know I wore them at least a few times because the soles showed minor darkening. But I'd completely forgotten about them. They're not quite as sleek-looking as the Sambas (I think the Pumas are meant to evoke old-school basketball shoes), but they fit and have a decent amount of room in the toe box area, which is sometimes a problem for me with sneakers.

So now I have a "new" pair of sneakers that I can wear guilt-free.

[By the way, remember the headphones that started this whole thing? The ones that separated that I decided to super-glue back together instead of replacing? Well, the right earbud just came apart, so I super-glued that one back together as well.]

Final(e)s Week

The days are ticking down until the final episodes of Lost and 24, which will air this coming Sunday and Monday, respectively. I've managed to stay more or less current with both shows this season; I still need to watch last night's Lost, but I'll certainly do it before Sunday.

I'm hoping to watch both finales live, so I won't end up having anything spoiled by the media in the following days. In the meantime, I ran across this Boston Globe article about how TV show finales are almost always letdowns. The article itself is all right, but what I really liked was the accompanying comic book-style mashup of the two shows.

[And Lost fans, don't forget the special edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live airing at 12:05 AM Monday morning, after the finale and the late news. He'll have as his guests members of the cast along with the show's executive producers, and supposedly there will be alternate endings. If you're really feeling like a maniac, you can watch the original two-hour pilot episode on Saturday night at 8 PM, and a two-hour retrospective on Sunday at 7 PM, before the finale airs at 9. (All times Eastern)]

Overheard: Pretend Drive-Up Window Edition

On Saturday we were doing some of our usual errands in Medford Square, and we went into the Dunkin' Donuts there to get coffee. As we neared the door there was a woman on the sidewalk, talking on her phone. I couldn't tell if she was waiting for someone or had been approaching from the other direction (the store's entrance is right on a corner), so I held out the door behind me, but she ignored me and kept talking, so I let it swing closed. Just before it did so I heard "...and I want some of the mocha syrup, but tell them to put it on the bottom."

Once inside, there was one person ahead of us at the counter, and I heard her say, "...mocha syrup, and can you put it on the bottom?" So, Woman A was giving her drink order to Woman B over the phone, while standing outside on the sidewalk. I started to let myself think about why she might be doing this, instead of just coming inside, but I realized that way madness lied and let it go.

Eventually she did end up coming inside, though she appeared reluctant to do so. Maybe she was worried her friend hadn't explained the request properly, maybe she thought the person working wouldn't make the drink right, or maybe there was someone in there she didn't want to run into?

Expense Report #6

I slipped this week: I bought a watch on eBay. It's a Japanese-market Seiko model (which means it is not officially sold in this country*) with an automatic movement that I've had my eye on for a long time. It's regularly available on eBay from several sellers, so I could have bought it at any time, or if I'd waited a while it's likely I still would have been able to find it from one of the same sellers at about the same price, but almost all those who sell it are located in either Hong Kong or Singapore.

[*This may be incorrect; the watch's price tag is in English and the price is in US currency.]

I try to avoid making purchases from international sellers, because there is always a bit of a question as to whether or not your package will actually arrive, and what condition it will be in. (This is not prejudice; it's simply a fact that the vast majority of the fraud committed on eBay originates outside of the U.S.)

A seller's feedback score can help provide some sense of that person's reputation and reliability, but I have yet to come across anything that I wanted badly enough that I could not eventually locate from a domestic seller. Such was the case with this watch: the seller I purchased from is in Texas, the watch is new, and it's coming with its original box and paperwork, which swayed me to make the purchase (those last two are often not available from the overseas sellers, another sign that you may not be dealing with someone entirely legitimate).

I also bought a few items of clothing over the weekend. I've developed an affinity for JCPenney's American Living label clothing, even though too much of it comes with a gaudy embroidered eagle logo. But the quality is good (it's designed and manufactured for Penney by Ralph Lauren) and, due to the way Penney operates its business, it is almost always on sale at very reasonable prices. We were heading to Salem on Saturday, and the Northshore Mall is on the way, with one of the only Penney stores in our area, so we made a stop.

I've been lucky enough on previous shopping trips to find a couple of AL shirts without logos (like Polo, they seem to make a few logo-free items each season) and I found another on this trip, on a clearance rack for 70% off its original $50 list price, which was just too good a deal to pass up. I also got a couple of pairs of shorts, something I know I'm going to need to buy each year anyway.

The shorts looked big, and since I had forgotten to bring my tape measure I compared them to a different brand's shorts, and found that they were approximately two inches larger in the waist than their tagged size (confirmed by a trip to the fitting room). Some of the shorts also have the eagle logo, but these don't; they have only a small brand tag above the back pocket that is easily removed. (It may have been my imagination, but it seemed like they may be cutting back on the percentage of stuff with a logo.)

There was an additional 15% discount on top of the already-low prices, so I walked away having spent less than $50 for three items. I might have bought more stuff, like store-brand polo shirts for $12 in a wide array of attractive shades (polos are almost as disposable to me as undershirts, and I typically buy/replace a few each summer), but they had none of the colors I wanted in my size. Hopefully I'll be able to get them on a future visit, but maybe it's just as well I didn't end up spending as much this time.

This Week in Awesome Bonus Bit

[Hopefully this will sort of make up for what I considered to be a lackluster edition of TWiA this past weekend...]

This appeared a few weeks ago, and I was remiss in not posting it in the first place: at a minor league baseball game in Texas, Will Ferrell stirred some shenanigans by pretending to be a pitcher from Venezuela named Rojo Johnson. The whole thing was some sort of gag that tied into a charity event. Unfortunately, this clip doesn't provide any context or explanation, but it is amusing.

This Week in Awesome (5/15/10)

Sorry for the delay, but yesterday was kind of a busier day than usual, plus I had some difficulty coming up with material this week. I always get a little worried when this happens, because, you know, what happens if the internet ever does run out of stuff for us to read and look at? What will we do with ourselves all day?

Early this week, I came across this humorous fake commercial, for a beauty product no woman really needs, but I suspect that somewhere, a marketer is thinking, "hey, we should do that!" No, you shouldn't. (The Gloss via Racked)

You've heard of trainspotting? I don't mean the movie, I mean people whose hobby is actually standing around looking for specific types of trains. Well, this guy may be rethinking his interests. (LiveLeak via The Daily What)

And the last SNL Digital Short of the season will put a bounce in your step and get your day off to a great start. Or perhaps exactly the opposite of those things. (Hulu)

Sound Sampler

I've been attempting to keep to a more or less regular schedule of posting something every weekday, my weekly link collections on Saturdays, and usually not posting on Sundays. But yesterday just slipped right by me. Pressure? Me? Nah...

Regardless, let's not dwell but rather move forward. GQ's blog The GQ Eye inaugurated a new feature this week called The Rebellious Jukebox, presenting a streaming audio track by "unsung artists" each weekday morning. This week's batch includes The Fall, The Clean, The Loft, ESG, and The Durutti Column. Just something a little different to try when you get bored with your regular iTunes playlists.

Watch Wednesday (5/12/10)

For the sake of variety, I thought I'd feature a vintage watch that I got for the Mrs. some years back. It's a classic Snoopy design (I'm pretty sure there were watches with other Peanuts characters) that was first marketed about 50 years ago.

I don't know the exact age of his example, but I suspect it's from the late 1960s or early 1970s. It's in outstanding condition and runs well, though I don't know how accurate it is. The strap is not original; as is my usual habit, I added it after acquiring the watch.

I'm not sure what the deal is with my camera, but it has a tendency to misrepresent color. In this case, both the watch face and the strap are a bit more red than they appear here.

Charmed

I wasn't sure what to get my mother for Mother's Day, so I texted my sister to see what she was doing. She said she was getting her a charm for this bracelet she'd gotten a couple of years ago. It's an easy and reasonably-priced gift, one we've chosen in the past, so I figured we would get her one too.

The company that makes these bracelets and charms is called Pandora (not to be confused with the internet-radio site, which I bet the jewelers wish didn't exist, because it means they can't have the pandora.com URL). The charms and bracelets are threaded, which makes them easy to add and rearrange. They are carried by a number of jewelry stores, and they now have a couple of free-standing stores as well. So after looking at their web site to get an idea of what we thought my mother would like, we set off for the mall on Saturday to get a charm.

We got to the mall around 6:30 PM and spent a few minutes looking at jewelry in Nordstrom before heading out into the mall. The Pandora store is located just outside the Nordstrom in this particular mall, and as we walked across the area just outside the store, we could see that there was a line of people waiting to get into the Pandora store. It stretched down a side corridor and was about 30 people long. (Someone in Nordstrom told me there had been a line on Friday as well.)

I know it was the last minute, but I still had no idea these things were so popular. We had been in this store once or twice before, and I had purchased a charm for my mother for Christmas, but I had gone to the store in the Prudential Center on my way home from work, and had done it at least a couple of weeks before the holiday. Apparently charm bracelets are a big deal for those of the mom persuasion.

My first inclination was to come back later, but the Mrs. went and stationed herself in the line right away, so I figured I had no choice but to join her, seeing as it was my mother we were shopping for. Clerks from the store were walking along the line, passing out catalogs so those waiting could decide, or at least narrow down their choices. There was a lot of cell phone activity as people called spouses and siblings to discuss which charms to get.

The Mrs. buttonholed one of the clerks and he confirmed that the style we wanted was in stock, so at least we knew we weren't wasting our time waiting. Once we made it around the corner and into the store, it didn't take long to make our selection and finalize the purchase, but in all it had taken about 45 minutes from the time we got in line. But hey, Mother's Day is only once a year, and mom is worth at least that much time.

Expense Report #5

I spent more than usual on food and entertainment this week--dinner with my family yesterday for Mother's Day, of course, and Friday I had dinner with a friend and then saw Avatar at the IMAX theater at the Aquarium--so in between, the Mrs. and I ate our evening meal at home on Saturday, which we normally wouldn't do. (She doesn't have a thrift problem; she has to be talked into buying even things she needs.)

Elsewhere, I did make a purchase this past week, and the story is kind of an exclamation point to the J. Crew story I told last week. After I had received the replacement hat, I emailed the rep who had helped me to express my appreciation. He encouraged me to contact him again if I had any other issues or needs. I decided to take a chance and ask if he might be able to locate the gray plaid flannel shirt that I've been going on about for months now.

Given how quickly it sold out in the fall, and that my previous attempt at ordering it from their web site had gone awry, I didn't hold much hope of him locating one, but it seemed like it was worth asking. A couple of days went by, and I thought it was a bust. Then, last Sunday afternoon, I found an email from him in my inbox. I thought it was strange that he'd be working on a Sunday, but customer service doesn't get weekends off, and he explained that he had been off the previous two days.

He said that he had the shirt on his desk, and as soon as I confirmed that I wanted it charged to my J. Crew card he would ship it. I was pretty blown away by this, and I still didn't quite want to believe it until I had the shirt in my hands, but I guess since he works at the main warehouse/distribution center, they can sometimes track down stuff tucked into dimly lit corners.

By the time he received my response it was Monday, so the package came to me at work last Tuesday. He'd sent it overnight, and didn't even charge me for regular shipping. I was hesitant to open it right away, fearing more disappointment, but after a few minutes I sliced through the tape and there it was.

I just realized that after all the fuss, I should have added a picture (hastily taken this morning in the midst of getting ready for work):

[Seems like they should have used white buttons, and the Mrs. agreed with me. I have to think about whether it's worth it to get some white ones and have the tailor change them.]

So, for the second time in a week, J. Crew's customer service came through huge for me, because I bothered to ask about something. Of course the rep mentioned that I should let him know if I needed anything else, but in the interest of restraint, I'm going to refrain from doing so. There are a couple of other items I would like to get hold of, but nothing that I wanted as much as this shirt. I think the difficulty in getting it has made me like it more, and the weather even cooperated by cooling off over the weekend so I could wear it.

This Week in Awesome (5/8/10)

After a hot and humid start to the week, today it's back to cool and rainy, also known as "the shitty weather we usually get in May." So stay inside, curled up with your warm computer, and check out these goodies:

Back on Monday, The New York Times ran an interesting (for them) article about how China's efforts to rework English-language signage to make the translations somewhat less, um, tortured. But then what would sites like Engrish do?

Another weird/ridiculous commercial for a weird/ridiculous product. This one raises the bar for the whole category, in my opinion. And of course, by "raises" I mean "lowers." (Consumerist)

The Daily Show took time out from its continuing coverage of the world's imminent collapse to focus attention on the illegal immigrant issue, though their choice to do so on May 5th in a Mexican restaurant full of gringo revelers is somewhat questionable. Bonus points, though, for what will undoubtedly become the greatest rendition of "Single Ladies" you have ever heard, or will ever hear.

And finally, tomorrow is Mother's Day, but you already knew that, and didn't need to be reminded. Be nice to your mom: call her, send her flowers, take her out to dinner, etc. And enjoy this clip of moms being moms, i.e. doing things that embarrass their children. (Everything Is Terrible via Videogum)

Okay, now I gotta run to the mall to get my mom a present...

Soundtrack of the Moment

I don't have anything useful to contribute this Friday afternoon, so I thought I'd just toss out a plug for what I'm listening to: the double-disc live set The Blow-Up by Television.

The recording originates from 1978 shows and was originally released on the cassette-only label ROIR in 1982, so the sound quality isn't exactly pristine, but the rawness only adds to the enjoyment of the performance, making you feel (almost) like you're there.

Television remains a criminally under-appreciated band; the work of guitarists Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine on this set is completely jaw-dropping.

Grooming Garage: The New Blade in Town

I've spent time here talking about shaving products and equipment, offered suggestions and recommendations, and made clear my general disdain for hipster/woodsman beards and Gillette products. So when I learned that Schick had recently introduced a new razor, the Hydro, I figured I needed to give it a try.

Unfortunately, nobody sends me stuff like this to try (though I would certainly be amenable to such an arrangement, if anybody who's reading wants to send me something), so I bought one. I needed to pad my order to get free shipping when I ordered the Mad Men DVD set from Amazon anyway.

The Hydro comes in three- and five-blade versions, but you already know that I think using anything with more than three blades is pointless, so I got the three-blade version. Besides, it costs less, and looks better (chrome and blue plastic, while the five-blade is a really ugly combination of blue metal and white plastic).

The Hydro's big gimmick feature is a reservoir of water-activated lubricating gel above the blades. Instead of just a strip of stuff on the blade head that wears away after a couple of shaves, the Hydro has a larger quantity of stuff inside the blade head, with a strip of holes across the front to dispense it. Also, the blades have these guard things mounted just behind the edges that are supposed to help smooth your skin for the blades. Okay, sure.

But you want to know how it shaves, right? Okay. I used it for the first time yesterday, and I was mostly very impressed. It was a very smooth shave, and I felt like I was shaving faster even though I'm pretty sure it took the same amount of time it always does. I didn't experience any nicks or irritation, and the head rinsed out very easily.

My one real quibble is that the head is hinged at the bottom, like the Gillette Mach 3 and Fusion, and as I've mentioned before, I feel like I have less control with this sort of arrangement, but that could just be me. Also, the head is large compared to my other Schick razor (blame the gel reservoir), which makes the detail work trickier.

I still need to see how long the blades last, which will take a couple of weeks, but I do feel the Hydro is an advance in comfort (for me, at least). But I'll probably use up my stash of Xtreme 3 blades before I switch permanently.

Wild Kingdom

The other day, we were waiting at a stoplight. It was warm that day, so the car windows were open. A little bird, no more than three inches tall, landed on the edge of the window opening on my side of the car, next to the mirror, and just stood there. After a few moments it tried to take off again, but didn't succeed and landed again.

It seemed like it was stuck, or unable to get enough velocity from its takeoff. (Maybe it was too breezy? I don't know that much about birds.) This pattern repeated ten or twelve times, with both of us staring at it the whole time.

The bird didn't appear to be injured or impaired. Eventually it managed to fly backward without also going upward, which seemed to give it enough momentum for a getaway, but it landed on the pavement right next to the car. Fortunately it hopped over to the curb before another vehicle came along in that lane.

What's the Total, Please?

When you buy something at a store, does the cashier say the total amount of the purchase out loud to you? Do you think s/he should? At the risk of sounding like Andy Rooney, allow me to gripe for a moment.

I've always thought of this as Basic Cashier Protocol, so basic that it shouldn't even have to be covered in the training class, and during the many years when I worked behind a register, I always made sure to speak the amount to customers. But as our society gets lazier and stupider, apparently retail workers now feel that it's too strenuous to work those vocal cords for a few syllables.

Today I decided to go to the Stop & Shop near my office to get a banana and a yogurt for breakfast. I ended up getting a couple of other items, and while I sometimes make a rough tally of the total in my head, today I was thinking about something else while I was in the store and so didn't do the math.

The cashier scanned my items, and then (this is my favorite part of these asinine situations) stood there staring at me, waiting for me to hand over cash or make a move for the card reader. When this happens, I just stare back, waiting. If more than a few seconds go by, I then ask, "What's the total, please?" She finally looked over her shoulder at the screen and told me the amount. Hope that wasn't too much trouble for her.

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect that part of a cashier's job should be to look you in the eye and say "four dollars and forty cents" or whatever the amount happens to be in an audible voice. Hell, the self-checkout tells me the total out loud, but I'd actually prefer an interaction with a person. In my case, I can't see the readout on the screen from where I'm standing on the other side of the counter, which is the reason I want the cashier to tell me the amount.

I'm sure there are plenty of other shoppers--the elderly, others with visual impairments--who have difficulty seeing the numbers on those screens from several feet away, but that should be irrelevant. It should automatically be part of the process, because, well, act like you give a fuck. Really, it's no more complicated than that. Working retail sucks and we all know it, especially those of us who have had to do it. But regardless of what your job is, do it with dignity and in the process you dignify the job and yourself. Act like a witless slug, and that's what I'll think you are.

Expense Report #4

So, April is over. How did I do? Last week I gave in and bought two things (perhaps as a reaction to going a whole week without buying anything discretionary): the DVD set of season three of Mad Men, which was $18 at Amazon, and a madras short-sleeve shirt from eBay, which was $13 plus shipping.

Going back through my eBay records, this is the first item I've bought there in over a month, and that was an auxiliary hard drive for the TiVo to replace the one that got fried back in March. Prior to that I had bought a couple of inexpensive clothing items in March, one expensive one in February that didn't quite work out (which I'll be discussing at more length soon), and a watch in January. So I was already making an effort to scale back, but I still needed to be more... emphatic about it. For May, I need to stick to not buying stuff as much as possible, and start selling some stuff too.

Oh, I did go to the Top Shelf Flea yesterday. I met Giuseppe and talked with him for a bit, and he is every bit as colorful and cordial as I expected, just a swell guy. I bought a vintage J. Press tie from him for $5.

This Week in Awesome (5/1/10)

Oops, sorry. I was busy boiling water (because the water system that serves eastern Massachusetts suffered a catastrophic rupture this morning, lucky us). Anyway...

Is the Lost iPhone Prototype Saga over yet? I'm not sure, but this handy flowchart sums it all up nicely. (FastCompany)

By now most people are familiar with that the decade-old Saturday Night Live sketch "Behind the Music: Blue Oyster Cult," or at least the famous "I need more cowbell" epithet that came out of it. (If you've never seen it, go here.) Now you can add more cowbell to a song of your choosing. Isn't life great? (Videogum)

This host of the morning show Good Day New York got a little too explicit when trying to think of another term for soy milk. (Huffington Post via Vulture blog)

You've seen Lady Gaga's video for "Telephone," right? (If not, go here.) So check out this version done by troops in Afghanistan. (YouTube via Reddit)