Retro Video Unit (8/12/11)

As I was saying in one of the previous installments, with many of the bands from the new wave era, there are no official music videos of their earlier songs because they predate MTV. That's the case with the band I've chosen to feature today, The Motels.

I could have selected "Only The Lonely" or one of the other, later clips that gave The Motels some deserved recognition in the 1980s, but I became aware of them in 1979 and prefer their first two albums to their later material. I did find a live performance clip for the song "Total Control" from their first album, which nicely captures the band at an early stage.

More than 30 years on, Martha Davis's is STILL one of the most distinctive voices in all of rock, and she appears to be sporting the man's-suit-with-no-shirt look about ten years before Madonna wore it in the "Express Yourself" video.

Go Fish!

As anticipated, I had a food truck lunch today. I didn't go where I had originally planned, mainly because I wasn't sure that particular truck would have something I wanted. Instead I headed down to the plaza outside the Christian Science building across from the Prudential Center to try the Go Fish! truck.

I opted for the grilled tuna Caesar salad wrap, which was delicious if a little messy, even with choosing to take it back to my desk to eat. Instead of croutons there are smoked onions, which gave it an interesting bit of pungency.

I will definitely go back, because there are at least a couple of other items on the menu I would like to try, like the lump crab salad sandwich and the cod and chorizo sliders. There are also weekly specials, and the proprietor is emphasizing local and seasonal choices whenever feasible. I could definitely see myself becoming a regular customer, but I want to try offerings from other trucks too.

I noticed a smattering of small tables under the trees along the edge of the plaza, so it would be possible to visit the Go Fish! truck and eat outdoors on a nice day.

Watch Wednesday (8/10/11)

It's been almost three months since the last WW, and one new watch per quarter seems a more appropriately restrained level of consumption.

I like the appearance and functionality of chronographs, and I have a few. On the ones I have, the subdials either blend in too much with the rest of the watch face or stand out from it too much, so I've been looking for one that falls in the middle. I found a Japanese-market Citizen on eBay several years ago that was just right, but it was over $300 and I couldn't justify spending that.

A Seiko is always a solid choice: they make hundreds of styles that are well-made and reasonably priced, so it's a value purchase you can live with happily. I found this watch on eBay while browsing Seiko chronographs. I'd never seen this style before, but it caught my attention right away. The rings around the subdials are the sort of accent I was after, and it's not too big or too flashy. On the wrist this one comes off looking a little dressier, with a hint of resemblance to a TAG Heuer Carerra.

This watch came on a really ugly metal bracelet, and this strap is just a cheap one I happened to have around that is the correct size, but I found a source for straps (also on eBay) that I was not familiar with, Holben's Fine Watch Bands. They have a nice selection of quality straps at very reasonable prices, so I will be upgrading this one soon. My plan is to go through all my watches, figure out which ones need new or better straps, and get a bunch of them at once.

Making Lunch Easier

I liked the piece on boston.com today about food trucks. The city is making some effort to encourage these small businesses, to the extent that they have created a page on the city of Boston web site that shows the schedules and locations for the trucks. This way, if I'm feeling like I want to try something new for lunch, I can check the web page and see what truck is going to be closest to where I work. I'm planning to try one of these later on this week, probably Thursday.

Short Sleeves

I'm fortunate that I can wear whatever I choose to work. In summer that means shorts and short-sleeve shirts. There are corners of the internet that frown on this, but frankly I don't care. If I was going from air-conditioned house to air-conditioned car to air-conditioned office, I'd probably wear pants. But instead of "car," for me that middle section is "public transit." Unfortunately the climate control on public transit is a huge variable; I never know how comfortable my ride is or isn't going to be.

The T has come a long way since I arrived here for college in 1981, when the only "air" on buses came through sliding windows and the air conditioning on the Green Line trains only worked in the front halves of the cars, but even in 2011 I still can't be certain that the bus that I board in the morning will have AC, or will have it on. (There seem to be some drivers who prefer to be warm, and I also believe that some of them leave the AC off intentionally, just to make riders suffer.) Therefore I need to dress for comfort in warm weather.

I like the look of button-front short-sleeve shirts. I also wear polo shirts, but the button-front shirts look just a bit more dignified without sacrificing comfort. (I've tried wearing some of my lighter-weight long-sleeve shirts with the sleeves rolled up, but they still tend to be too warm around the arms with the multiple layers of rolled fabric.) For the past several summers I've worn the same small group of shirts because it was very difficult to find any new ones that I liked. For a long time the prevailing style of short-sleeve shirt was the laid-back, Tommy Bahama-ish print with a straight bottom. Even though I wear my shirts tucked in, I hate shirts with straight bottoms and won't buy them, and I hate anything by TB anyway.

This year things were much better. Many of the places I like to shop had short-sleeve offerings in colorful, attractive plaids. I also found some inexpensive seersucker shirts in nice, bright colors at JCPenney in their American Living line, the one that's designed and produced for them by Ralph Lauren. When this line started a couple of years ago, most of the clothes were slapped with a gaudy eagle logo, but more recently I've noticed that they have toned that down, and now more of the pieces seem to be logo-free, which is great for people like me who hate logos.

I also got shirts from Lands' End, J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, and even one from Old Navy, where I rarely find anything I like. I don't like to spend a lot of money on my summer clothes, because I know they are going to get worn fairly hard and washed more frequently. But if I have enough clothes to rotate through, they are likely to last longer, and by buying stuff that isn't trendy, I'll be more likely to want to hold onto them as long as I can.

This Week in Awesome (8/6/11)

Yesterday's post really should have appeared on Friday, so I bumped this back a day too. Enjoy...

It's a rainy, lazy Sunday around here. If you're looking for something to do, you might try working on some of these lovely paper dolls based on TV characters. (Flannel Animal via Videogum)

Don Cheadle (perhaps taking a cue from his character in Boogie Nights?) is branching out to explore other business opportunities. (Funny or Die)

I know many of you have been thinking, "We really like those time-lapse videos you find, but how about some other city besides New York?" I hear you, and I have you covered. (Vimeo via The Awl)

To the ongoing argument about why people have to get a license to drive a car but can do so many other things without any prequalification whatsoever, add this: the internet access filtration test. (And click here to see what happens if you get the question wrong.) (Defective Yeti via The Daily What)

And finally this week, a very funny video explaining the origin of the dreaded hipster. (Glove & Boots via YouTube)

Burger Guys

Five Guys opened in Medford back in June. Somehow we had managed to not try any of their other area locations before (not on purpose), so we checked it out early in July. It was right before we went away, so I never got around to mentioning it.

We stopped in for a second visit recently, and the place was humming along as though it had always been there. The burgers are tasty, and there is a long list of toppings and condiments, including grilled onions. The fries are of medium thickness, which gives them a pronounced potato taste. When I eat fries at all, my personal preference is for thin ones.

When you order a burger, the cashier yells "two patties!" back toward the grill area. On our first visit we quickly learned that this means a standard Five Guys burger is a double. That's a lot of food, and their patties are a little thicker to start with. You can order a single, which they call a "little burger" (possibly to embarrass you into just ordering the double?). On our second visit I went with a single-patty bacon cheeseburger, and found it less overwhelming and more satisfying overall.

The biggest surprise to us was that they don't offer typical burger accompaniments like onion rings or shakes, though they do offer hot dogs, which I don't eat anyway. In this respect I have to give Boston's Uburger the edge, because their burger-shake-thin cut fries combo is one of my favorites, and also because their burgers are flatter, which I also prefer. These things just kind of go together (as long as you don't think too much about the gastrointestinal ramifications).

Of course, if Boston got a Shake Shack I'd have to split my burger consumption between them and Uburger. And I don't even dare dream of In & Out—that's best left for West Coast visits.

Grooming Garage: More Still Isn't Better (For Me)

I've been using my Schick Hydro 3 razor for a little over a year now, and I really like it. In fact I like it so much that I stopped using the older Schick razor I had, even though I still had several months' worth of blades for it. (I still feel a little guilty about that, but not much.)

Recently I ordered some stuff from drugstore.com, and when the package arrived there was a free bonus inside: the five-blade version of the Hydro. I don't find that these extra blades are of any benefit to me, but I figured I should at least try it out.

Nope. The experience was about the same as when I tried the Gillette Fusion ProGlide after they offered to send me one last year. The extra blades make the head awkwardly oversize, which makes getting to the tight spots that much more difficult. (Even the Hydro 3 is a little too large compared to the older Xtreme 3.)

More importantly, I just don't feel any difference between the three-blade and five-blade shaves. There's more irritation, and no difference in how long it takes my beard to grow back. So I'm glad I got the chance to try the Hydro 5, but I'm sticking with the Hydro 3.

1,000!

So yeah, this is my 1,000th post. I'm as surprised as the rest of you, kinda.

When I started doing this almost five years ago, I wasn't thinking about how long it might last; I was just trying to summon the discipline to express myself on a somewhat regular basis. I found my way, tentatively at first, and got to where I was posting something about every other day. But then around two years ago, without any specific intent on my part, the pace picked up to nearly every weekday plus my Saturday link roundups, and half of those 1,000 posts have come in about the past 20 months.

It's an interesting circumstance to be in, because I enjoy doing this as much as ever, if not more so, so I look forward to it, but at the same time I feel a certain sense of obligation to produce regularly and consistently because I know people are visiting (at least, my list of followers continues to grow, which you will have to take my word for because for whatever reason Blogger doesn't feel like displaying it). It can be tough to balance work and life and find some time each day to produce something that will be worth your time.

So I'm (hopefully uncharacteristically) going to give myself a little pat on the back, and at the same time say thanks for reading and commenting and otherwise reassuring me that I'm not doing this in a vacuum. Now it's off to J.P. Licks with some coworkers to celebrate the last day of a summer worker. Coincidence? I don't think so...

Track Your Package

The office where I work is located inside a building that serves various functions. When I started here, packages were left in a mail room on the first floor, but after we moved within the building four years ago, new delivery procedures were established: the regular delivery people for UPS, FedEx, and DHL know that packages addressed to our specific business entity are to be brought to the front desk inside our main door. Generally this works very smoothly.

Some of my recent Zappos orders have not been delivered directly to our office. This is a bit unusual, and the tracking info for a shipment I was expecting today claimed that the package had been left at "front desk" and signed for by a name I did not know. I went around the building and checked with other likely destinations, including the front desk, and found nothing.

When I went into my Zappos account information to look up how to contact customer service to initiate a trace, I noticed that my shipping address was not correct. The street address and business name are there, but the qualifying piece that we use to indicate our specific office area had been changed. Shippers don't like this address because it does not conform to what the postal service thinks our address should be, and sometimes they take it on themselves to change it to what the USPS tells them it thinks it should be.

At least it's likely that the package is in the building somewhere, so I should be able to track it down soon.

Brain Is Confused

Have you ever witnessed something that made no sense at all? I had a moment like that this morning.

I was on my way to work on the Orange Line. The train pulled into Sullivan, a couple of people got off, a few people got on. The car wasn't too crowded overall, and before the doors closed I happened to look across and out onto the platform, where a maintenance person was wet-mopping the concrete and the rubber warning strip.

Wait, what? My brain might as well have made that noise when a needle gets shoved across a record. I mean, I'm all for the T trying to keep stations clean, or at least as clean as possible when thousands of people pass through them each day. But what's the point of mopping down a platform that's outdoors? Unless someone had barfed there a few minutes before the train pulled in? Okay. Otherwise, as Don Draper said to the London Fog people, "It is going to rain."

If I see anyone waxing the concrete, the T's gonna have some 'splaining to do.

This Week in Awesome (7/30/11)

It's been a little more challenging lately to cull the good stuff from the internet, but I keep at it, because you guys deserve it.

Did I hear someone ask for more Community bloopers? (Well no, of course I didn't, you can't hear through the computer, silly. Must be the dog talking to me from the other room...) This is your lucky day, then. (Entertainment Weekly via Videogum)

A creative person has applied a kaleidoscopic effect to Google Maps satellite images. (The Daily What via Waxy)

Did you happen to see those bizarre Summer's Eve ads (since pulled by the company)? If you don't know what I'm talking about, don't worry: Stephen Colbert gets you up to speed on the whole thing. Seriously, just watch this.

And finally this week, to mark the 30th anniversary of the debut of MTV, TIME has compiled a list of the 30 greatest music videos, not in any particular order, but split more or less evenly between the three decades of MTV's existence. Some of them are no-brainers while others are debatable, but that's why such lists exist—to be debated. If nothing else, it's a nice nostalgia trip for those of us who spent a lot of time zoning out to MTV back in the '80s.

Retro Video Unit (7/29/11)

I seem to be posting these every other Friday, which seems like the proper frequency for them.

Seems like a Clash sort of day, and I wanted to post the "London Calling" video, but embedding is disabled on it, and it turns out the sound quality in this one is much better. So, all hail The Clash, "This Is Radio Clash."

This appears to have been shot in New York, which is cool (I would have expected London). What an aesthetic these guys had—the epitome of lo-fi years before the term was even coined.

Laced

Okay, I see from the comments that at least two people are following along. The first one came through around 7:30 this morning, so thanks for early-rising blog readers.

PB, to answer your questions: no, I was not wearing the shoes like this (a little credit?), and they were not aligned exactly—it was a very impromptu decision to take the photo. The lacing of the shoe on the right is what prompted it.

When I buy shoes, if they come with the laces already in them, they are almost invariably laced like the sneaker on the right, with the lace going across the bottom over the lace holes. I've always thought this looks wrong, so I've always switched the lacing so the lace goes under the bottom holes. This way, you get nice, even rows of lacing like the shoe on the left. (I was in the midst of changing the laces on these sneakers when I started thinking about it, and the "in-between" picture seemed like a good way into discussing it.)

As far as comfort and wear, I don't believe there is any difference between one way of lacing and the other. It just makes me wonder why, when "my" way seems to me to be obviously more visually appealing, I don't find more shoes laced this way out of the box. I've also never seen this topic come up anywhere else, leading me to think that my personal obsessions are not nearly as significant as I believe them to be...

Pop Quiz

Speaking of the red sneakers, have a look at this (unintentionally too dark) pic:

Notice anything? Think about it, and I'll be back to discuss it tomorrow.

Red Dilemma

I first became aware of "Nantucket Reds" when I read The Official Preppy Handbook 30 years ago. At the time I had lived a fairly sheltered life in middle-class suburbia, had not done much traveling, and definitely had not yet developed anything resembling a personal style. I never had occasion to encounter the sort of old-money folks who were the ones wearing Reds at the time. Even setting aside their class associations, I definitely could not see myself wearing them.

In fact, I've never owned any red pants; the closest I ever got was a pair of rust-colored Levi's cords that I wore in high school. [Hm... brain disagrees, has unearthed memory of buying vivid red wide-wale cords at Filene's Basement in college as "joke pants."] I enjoy wearing red, and have my share of red shirts, sweaters, and outerwear, but I've never been able to cross the line to wear red pants, shorts, or shoes—until this year.

I've been circling around the idea of getting red shorts for a couple of years, and I got drawn in by Lands' End, who for at least the past couple of years has offered chinos and shorts in "vintage brick." I still can't see myself wearing red pants, but at least with shorts there isn't as much surface area. And Lands' End has become a go-to for me for shorts because they offer an 11" inseam, which I prefer. So for $20 I had myself a pair of red(dish) shorts.

After I got them, I realized something I hadn't even considered: because of their color, they are a lot trickier to coordinate with than my other clothes. Most people would just choose a white or navy polo, or maybe a light blue oxford shirt, but I don't own any of those things. (I do have a blue end-on-end shirt, but it's long-sleeved.) Most of my summer shirts are plaids or seersucker stripes, or polos in bright solids, and none of it went with the red shorts. I did eventually figure out that my blue striped seersucker shirt or my cream-colored polo would work.

I ran into a similar situation with those red SeaVees sneakers. They are a much darker red, almost maroon, but they're definitely not what one would consider a neutral shade, as most shoes tend to be, and I was still somewhat self-conscious about what I was wearing with them. After a bit of trial and error, I decided that keeping the rest of my outfit as close to neutral as possible, and staying away from anything else with red in it, were the best guidelines I could follow. It is summer, after all, when there's a bit more room for creativity and boldness in dress.

Breaking Mad Men News

For anyone who hasn't already gotten on board, all four seasons of Mad Men will finally be available for streaming on Netflix starting tomorrow. I don't know if that means "at midnight," but you could stay up and find out.

Future seasons will become available on streaming shortly after they air. Again, I don't know if that means after each episode airs or after the season is over, but I would guess the latter.

Take It from Me

Pro tip: when you buy eye drops, it's probably a good idea to remove the plastic safety seal immediately. That way, when a little bit of airborne debris finds its way into your eye, and you reach for the new bottle of eye drops that you just bought, you will be able to actually use them instead of fumbling around half-blind trying to remove that safety seal.

Oh, and... related: there's a lovely mist of fine, gritty, airborne debris coming out of the air vents in our office.

This Week in Awesome (7/23/11)

Wait, what day is this? It's already Sunday? Yikes...

30 years of the space shuttle are beautifully encapsulated in this clip. (Gizmodo)

Here's an enlightening documentary about the watch manufacturing legacy in the town of Waltham. (boston.com)

There's a bizarre fascination to be found in watching government-mandated safety crash tests of vehicles. Consumer Reports has gathered a bunch of them. (Consumerist)

If you're a fan of the brilliant NBC sitcom Community (and if you aren't, why the hell not?), you'll want to check out this preview of the bloopers that are going to be included in the season two DVD set. (Entertainment Weekly via Videogum)

And finally this week, the funniest thing I have seen in some time: a superbly snarky blend of Pets Who Want to Kill Themselves and (the unfortunately dormant for nearly a year now) Look At This Fucking Hipster, I give you... Hipster Puppies. (The Trad)

Overheated

Today's post is post-poned (ha! see what I did there?) on account of it's too damn hot. My employer seems to be holding back on the AC on purpose, in order to conserve energy and put less of a burden on the grid. The entire office is hovering at around 80 degrees, which is downright unpleasant. It's like what they do in offices in Tokyo, or so I've read.

I'm in the process of finishing up my tasks for today, after which I'll be clearing out of here a bit early (I racked up several hours of comp time on that last project anyway) and finding somewhere to cool down. I hope all of you are able to do the same.

Grooming Garage: Shoe Defense

In the summer, I like to go sockless. It sure looks better with shorts, and it's just nice to be able to discard a shackle of male adulthood for a few months out of the year. Of course, if you have ever looked around at the men's style portion of the interwebs, you have doubtless noticed that there are plenty of guys who will wear any sort of shoe without socks, at any time of year, in any climate.

I am not one of those people. I have specific shoes that I wear without socks, and only without socks. I do have one pair of shoes that I have been wearing this summer that I also wore during the rest of the year, with socks: my L.L. Bean blucher mocs. For only $69, I could theoretically have two pairs of these, one to wear sockless in summer and one to wear the rest of the time.

Maybe that will happen at some point, but for now I have just the one pair, and I'm trying to take care of them. Of course, since it's summer my feet sweat along with the rest of me, and sweat tends to shorten the useful life of shoes, especially when you're wearing them without socks.

I'd been powdering my feet each morning with Gold Bond before putting on whatever shoes or sneakers I was wearing that day, but that's tedious and messy. A month or so ago I saw an article in the New York Times Style section about powders for men. It was mainly about keeping one's nether regions dry and comfy, which is certainly a good idea on days like today, but many of the products featured in the article work well on the feet too.

I ordered Dry Goods spray-on powder from drugstore.com and I've been using it for about two weeks now. The spray comes out of the nozzle angled a bit to the left of where I'm aiming it, but I've been able to correct for that and it's been working great. It feels cold when it goes on, which took a little getting used to. It keeps my feet from feeling clammy during the day, and is helping to protect my shoes.

Checking in with Ralph

Last Friday I had a quick errand to do after work that brought me over to Newbury Street. I don't have occasion to shop in the city that much anymore, so I decided to walk around for a bit.

One store I enjoy stopping into every now and then just for the atmosphere is Ralph Lauren's plush, overstuffed townhouse. (Trivia: way back in 1988 I had a job in the building next door, but there was no Ralph store there at the time; I have no recollection of what was, and it may not have even been used for retail space.) Turns out Ralph was having a pretty good sale, with selected items an extra 25% off the already-reduced prices.

I don't buy or wear a lot of Polo clothing, mainly because of the gaudy logos, and truthfully, for the past year or so I have paid very little attention to what they were selling. (I think this is also partly due to the fact that I hardly ever go to Macy's or Lord & Taylor anymore.) But I do like some of the stuff Ralph does, and it never hurts to look.

As it turned out, I found a nice shirt, blue with a white and red check pattern, that had a button-flap pocket with no logo. The flap-pocket thing has been having a moment of sorts (not just workshirts with two pockets, but also casual sport shirts with just one), and I kind of like how it looks. It was already marked down to almost half of its original $125 price (really, who pays full price for this stuff?) and the extra 25% brought it down to nearly 60% of the original price. That's how I like to shop.

(FYI: if you're looking to take advantage of the extra discount and happen to be looking for something in particular, some of what's on the Ralph web site isn't in the stores, and vice versa, so check both if you can.)

Ralph also used to have a smaller store in Copley Place that I used to check out when I was in that vicinity (typically passing through on my way home from work). One particular thing I liked about that store was that they carried a small selection of clothes from Ralph's RRL line, which has kind of a rugged vibe that I like. RRL is pretty difficult to come by—department stores don't generally carry it, and it's not available on the Ralph web site. That store closed last year, and I was surprised to find that there's no RRL representation in the Newbury Street store. I mentioned it to a staffer, who said the Barneys in Copley Place carries a very small amount of RRL, but he and I agreed that it's negligible.

There are a couple of free-standing RRL stores in New York, on Bleecker Street in the West Village and on Prince Street in Soho. Both stores are fairly tiny spaces, but the line isn't that big anyway. I stopped into the Prince St. store on my visit a couple of weeks ago and generally liked what I saw, except for the prices. It's kind of a drag that there's nowhere in this area to see RRL gear in person, but according to a post about chinos on Put This On last week, word is that RRL will be going online soon. I guess the desire to sell product has won out over the perceived exclusivity of limiting its availability.

Eating in Public

At this very moment I'm looking at someone eating an ear of corn on the cob.

On the Green Line.

What.

The.

FUCK.

A Lunch-Inspired Gripe

For lunch, I usually go to the cafeteria in the hospital next to my office and make a salad at the salad bar. The salad bar can be accessed on two sides, but a lot of people don't seem to realize that. I prefer going on the "back" side because it's less used, and I like to take my time so I'm less likely to be holding up the next person. I try to be considerate in that way, but not many others do.

But if I go too late, the back side gets blocked off so the staff can replenish the tasty veggies, and I have to use the front side, where I am inevitably hindered by the slow, clueless people making salads ahead of me. I just stood behind a woman who spent two solid minutes picking through the lettuce and carefully choosing pieces for her salad. It's iceberg lettuce—how much variation did she really think there was? (Besides which, iceberg has basically no nutritional value whatsoever, but that's another topic.)

If I ever lose it and start attacking people, I hope some editor has the presence of mind to call me the Salad Shooter...

Time Demands

This job thing can be tricky sometimes. I had two projects due more or less at the same time (one's my normal monthly deadline), made worse by the fact that I took some time off. (When I made plans to take the days off, I didn't know the second project was coming.)

So I spent a decent portion of the weekend working on one, and several hours at home this evening finishing the other. Everything will have evened out in another day or two, but it makes me wonder if it was even worth it to go away.

This Week in Awesome (7/16/11)

Last week was just a bit on the crazed side, with some extra stuff going on at work before I left, and the general scrambling to get ready for the trip, so there just wasn't any time to get a TWiA ready before we went away. But now you can all relax. What's that British slogan from World War II? Keep calm and carry on...

Have you ever quit a job and wanted to let your boss know how you really felt? This one's for you. (Consumerist via WIVB-TV Buffalo)

Gag reels are often as funny as the movies they are associated with. As it happens, I have seen all ten of the movies on this list. (Unreality via Videogum)

Hey, check it out, I think NPR kinda likes you. Yeah, it made you a summer playlist. (NPR Music)

You know how there's a new Muppets movie coming out at Thanksgiving? Well, Disney commissioned an album of covers of Muppet-related songs. (Stereogum) Be warned, though: the trailer contains the worst song of all time.

And finally this week, nicely wrapping up the sort-of music theme, do you remember back in the 80s when MTV used to run those "Rock Against Drugs" PSAs? Got some right here. Ah, nostalgia. (FlavorWire via The Awl)

Retro Video Unit (7/15/11)

Oh yeah, this one's perfect for a summer Friday afternoon. Plus, it's the original music video that was made for the song. Since it's roughly 30 years old, the video is quite fuzzy, but the audio quality is pretty good. (And to think I once had a 12" single of this which included a German version, and I didn't keep it...)

So sit back and relax, and take a ride down memory lane with Peter Schilling's "Major Tom (Coming Home)."

Downtown Accommodations

I've been to New York City more than two dozen times in my middle-aged life. We used to stay with a friend of the Mrs. who lived in Brooklyn, but eventually she got married and moved to a smaller apartment (and now they have a toddler and live in New Jersey), so we started staying in hotels.

I've stayed in a dozen different hotels in Manhattan. Some were very nice; others were merely places with a bed and a bathroom. On a couple of occasions I was alone and only there for one night, so where I stayed didn't matter so much. Nowadays, though, I tend to make hotel choices pretty carefully. I like comfort and privacy.

This is preamble to me telling you about the hotel where we just stayed, which we both felt was the best overall hotel experience we have had in Manhattan. It's called Andaz; it's a stupid name, but a great place. Andaz belongs to Hyatt Hotels, and is meant to be their equivalent to boutique hotels like Starwood's W brand. We stayed at the W on Lexington Avenue several years ago, and found the room small and mediocre, plus there was a definite cooler-than-you vibe among both guests and staff.

The Andaz Wall Street is nothing like that. It's warm and welcoming from the moment you come through the revolving door. In fact, there's usually a hotel staffer there to turn the door for you, which is especially helpful when you are maneuvering luggage. There isn't a front desk per se; there is a counter in the middle of the lobby, but staff may be found on either side of it, or roaming around.

We arrived earlier than expected, but checking in early was no problem. We were checked in while sitting on a sofa off to one side of the lobby by a staff person with a small netbook computer. (I asked about iPads; he said they are getting them soon.) Then we got a brief introduction to some of the amenities Andaz offers at each of its hotels (at the moment there are only five locations; one of those is in London, the others are in Hollywood, San Diego, and in Midtown across from the New York Public Library).

There are free newspapers, and a little "pantry" area at one end of the lobby with some complimentary snacks (cookies, apples, candied walnuts), sparkling water, orange juice, and a barista station. Yes, there is a person there whose job is to make coffee for you. So instead of a gunky in-room Mr. Coffee or a vat of industrial-solvent coffee that's been sitting for who knows how long, you get a freshly made cup of coffee, espresso, tea—whatever you feel like. There's also free wifi throughout the hotel (as I'm sure you know, one of the most obnoxious gouges of the hospitality industry is that, typically, the higher-end the hotel, the more likely it is that you will have to pay an outrageous daily charge for wifi).

The clerk went to the desk to make our keys, then escorted us up to the room and showed us around, because there was more good stuff to come. The word "minibar" can send even the most seasoned business traveler into a cold sweat. Some hotels leave a bottle of sparkling water on the desk as a "welcome gift," but if you drink it they charge you $8. Some hotels have sensors in their minibars that record a purchase if an item is merely moved, when maybe you just had some leftovers you wanted to store in the little fridge. At Andaz the in-room snacks and drinks are free, except for alcohol. So you can relax and drink a bottle of water, eat a chocolate bar, nibble on some Terra chips.

There are a couple of cool tech bits: there is a control panel next to the bed for the lighting, with settings that adjust the various lights in the room accordingly: work, relax, night light, etc. There are also buttons to lower or raise the window covers, which is really cool and fun to watch.

And the room? The standard room is about 350* square feet, larger than some hotels' upgrade rooms. (Where we stayed back in November was a nice enough hotel, but there was barely enough space in the room to get around the furniture.) The added space makes a big difference. There was a nice comfy chair between the bed and the window, with a reading lamp next to it. The bed was extremely comfortable. There were cushions on the windowsill so you could sit and look out. The bathroom was huge by hotel standards, with a four-by-six-foot (yeah, I measured it) walk-in shower with one of those rainfall heads.

The location is only a brief drunken stumble from South Street Seaport, and there's a new (only partly open, at the moment) waterfront park along the East River in the same general area. A few short blocks to the south is Battery Park. The subway lines are to the west relative to the hotel, but the closest one is only two or three minutes away, and you can walk over to the others in less than ten minutes. (Wall Street is pretty short.) And the financial district is a lot less crowded on weekends than, say, Soho or Midtown. The hotel even hosts a farmer's market on Saturdays.

As more people are choosing to live in lower Manhattan, more amenities are appearing. The city's ubiquitous Duane Reade drugstores have been getting a serious makeover, with better designs and product selections, and things like fresh produce. There's one directly across the street from the hotel, but they also just opened a ridiculous, kind of awesome 22,000-square-foot store a couple of blocks up Wall Street, where you can get a shampoo or a manicure, plus there's a smoothie counter, a prepared food section, and a sushi bar. This stuff is geared toward the thousands of folks who work in the financial district, but visitors can certainly benefit from it too.

I got an excellent deal on this stay through Jetsetter, which is the travel arm of the flash-sale site Gilt (if you're interested, you can sign up here). I paid about half the standard rate, but you can frequently find decent rates on the travel site Oyster, along with lots of real photos, not ones taken by hotel-hired pros or PR people.

(*I got this number from the hotel's web site.)

Summer in the City

You may wonder why we would head to New York City at the height of summer, and you'd definitely be justified in wondering that. As it happened, a very good deal on a hotel presented itself, and with the Mrs. getting ready to embark on grad school in September, we weren't sure if/when we would be able to take another such trip, so we just decided to go ahead and do it. After a few short hours in the city, though, I found myself thinking that I probably want to avoid going back there during the hot months unless there's a good reason.

At home, my approach to dealing with the hot-and-humid is to be outside as little as possible, which, thanks to the advent of things like GPS bus tracking, works pretty well when commuting and working in a nicely chilled office. But in Manhattan, you tend to do a lot of walking, and even when it is possible to avoid the heat, you inevitably find yourself heading down into a subway station at some point, which is a lot like being parboiled in asphalt.

We spent a fair amount of time ducking into stores to cool off for a few minutes, but I was somewhat surprised to find that many places have rather feeble air conditioning. Nonetheless we persevered, going back to the hotel to take showers before heading back out to get sweaty again.

I thought about my previous visit, the day trip I took in March with the Proper Bostonian. It was just below 40 degrees that day, and walking down Fifth Avenue toward Washington Square we were pummeled by a stiff wind. I know this makes me somewhat odd, but I prefer the bluster and cold to July's slow-roasting.

Brain Fail

Middle-age forgetfulness is creeping up on me in earnest. Today I discovered that I left my phone charger at the hotel. It's inductive, which means you don't have to actually plug it into the phone; the phone's back rests against the face of the charger and is held in place by little magnets. That's cool and all, but it also makes it easier to forget about. I picked up the phone off the desk in the room and ignored the charger.

I called the hotel, but they didn't have it. Housekeeping probably just thought, "another stupid tourist forgot their charger" and threw it away. Fortunately, my phone has been discontinued, and a quick look at the Verizon web site showed that I could get a replacement for only $10, which is interesting because direct from HP (Palm) it's $70. Guess which one I chose?

Bonus embarrassment: when we left my mom's last night after picking up the dog, I left my phone on the kitchen counter, but realized that after we'd been on 95 for only a few minutes.

Did You Miss Me?

We're back from our trip, so you can expect regular (whatever that means) programming to resume shortly. I had access to a computer at the hotel, but I guess I was more concerned with things like where we were going to eat.

Overheard: Musical Taste Police Edition

Have you noticed that when a car is blasting loud music, that music is generally not what would be considered good music?

This leads, sort of, to an anecdote. (Those of you on the facebook thingy may have already seen/heard this; I'm relating it primarily for the rest of us.) Our friend Dave (he of the Rationales) was driving around on a recent night, listening to The Smiths. While stopped at a traffic light a car pulled up next to him, and someone inside yelled, "Hey! No Morrissey in East Boston!"

I guess the good music will go unappreciated by the philistines anyway.

About Time

Hey, guess what? Watches are cool again, now that the New York Times Style section says so. What a relief to be told that my interest in them wasn't a waste of time...

Rays

As someone who is very pale, I'm no fan of the sun. A very deeply tanned woman (wearing a white dress to show it off, of course) sat next to me this morning on the T, and it creeped me out a little. But it reminded me of something else.

Back in the first half of the 1980s, before there was a significant public-health effort to educate people about the dangers of sun exposure, I spent my summers between college years working at city hall, in the tax collector's office. One of the full-time employees was a sun worshiper. She was probably in her mid-40s at the time, though she did her best to give the impression that she was younger than that.

Each day at lunch, weather permitting, she would go out to her car, take a folding lounge chair out of the trunk, set it up, and lie in the sun for 30 or 40 minutes. It was obvious that she'd been doing this for some time, and also obvious that she spent her weekends at the beach. Her skin already looked leathery, so who knows what became of her down the road.

As for me, I try to limit my time outdoors when the sun is high and bright, and I'm more conscientious about wearing a hat than I used to be. I'll be packing one with me for our trip.

Days Off

Reflecting on the holiday weekend, we were pretty busy and had fun, but it wasn't particularly relaxing. Saturday we got haircuts and then drove down to RI to my mother's for some grillin' and potato salad and such. Sunday evening we were invited to dinner at the home of friends, Monday we were invited to lunch at the home of some other friends. We had some down time earlier on Sunday and got to sleep in all three days, but that's about it.

Oh, and we saw Bad Teacher last night, which I enjoyed. Bridesmaids was more overtly funny, but this movie was certainly not a disappointment. It's worth it for the car wash scene alone, and Lucy Punch, the British actress who played the adversary to Cameron Diaz's character, was really good too. BTW, bonus points to the producers (or whoever makes such decisions) for using the classic Rockpile song "Teacher, Teacher" during the opening credits.

Normally I would have taken off the Friday before a long holiday weekend, just to make it a longer holiday weekend, but New York beckons yet again—we're heading down Friday morning, and since I'd already planned to take three days off I didn't bother with the Friday. But Labor Day weekend will definitely be stretched to four days.

Festive Attire

I was watching the fireworks show on TV, and noticed that many people were wearing festive, red-white-and-blue outfits. I don't begrudge anyone who enjoys dressing up like this, but my only sartorial acknowledgement of the holiday was a red polo shirt.

Also, you would think there would have been one person in the staff of the production who would have noticed that a guy with the build of Michael Chiklis should not be wearing a black three-button suit (I thought those had faded away, but I guess not), and definitely should have told him not to button all three buttons, and ESPECIALLY not the bottom one. It's all Alec Baldwin's fault.

This Week in Awesome (7/2/11)

I hope you're enjoying the long holiday weekend. (I also hope you get a long weekend to enjoy.) I was thinking I'd line up an extra-large batch of goodies to keep you entertained, but it didn't quite work out that way.

An article in the style section of the New York Times about powders for men led me to this funny, spoofy commercial.

Update, 7/5: I had bookmarked this site at work and forgotten about it: a blog that digs into the history of shopping centers and malls from decades past.

And now we're just going to move right into the thematically-appropriate entertainment portion of this week's feature: first, cameras mounted on fireworks (BuzzFeed via Gizmodo), followed by fireworks explosions captured with a high-speed camera (Gizmodo via PopSci). Happy 4th, stay safe out there.

Retro Video Unit (7/1/11)

While banging around in YouTube's dusty basements and attics, looking for clips to post for this, I've discovered that many of the late-'70s new wave artists that I liked never made music videos for their singles, or if they did, they either didn't survive or haven't been dug up and posted.

Such is the case with today's featured band, The Records, so this performance clip, which seems to be from a UK TV show, will have to suffice. It's certainly better than those clips that have nothing more than an image of the sleeve from the original 45, or of the 45 itself. Enjoy the music...

Shameless Plug: My Loss Can Be Your Gain

So yeah, no post yesterday—sorry about that, it was just one of those days. We had a meeting at work and it seemed I was the only person who wasn't aware of it (there was nothing on the Outlook calendar and nothing in my email), then I kind of skipped over lunch because I needed to leave early for a dentist appointment, plus there was a cake for a departing intern, and before I knew it, it was 10:30 pm and I needed to start getting ready for bed.

You may remember me talking a few weeks ago about the SeaVees sneakers I bought from Zappos. I like them a lot, and in the interim I bought another pair in a different style direct from the company. But after wearing both pairs for a couple of days each, I ran into something that has happened before, and which my friend the Proper Bostonian has also experienced and talked about more than once: sometimes, you buy a pair of shoes and try them on, and everything seems fine, but then you wear them and walk around in them for a normal day and realize they don't fit properly after all, but now you can't return them.

Even without socks (the only way to wear canvas sneakers, really) the fit is very snug, and given the problems I have getting shoes that fit well in general, it's simply not worth it to wear shoes that are not comfortable. The main issue for me seems to be the toe box, which is fairly low from top to bottom. Otherwise they fit well and have nicely cushioned foam footbeds.

I was able to order one style in the next larger size from Zappos, but I can't find the red canvas ones in the proper size anywhere. Meanwhile, I've decided that the sensible thing is to sell the ones that don't fit; I've worn each pair only twice, so they're still basically new. Both are size 11, but they run small even by athletic shoe standards, so they would most likely fit someone who normally wears a size 10 shoe. I've posted them on Style Forum, and if you happen to be interested but are not a member, please contact me through the email link over there in the right column.

Extra Postage

I know the postal service hasn't been doing well for a while, as the volume of mail has decreased due to things like people paying their bills online. But on the other hand, I'd think they would be making it up in increased package deliveries, which cost more and must bring them more profit.

Have you been in a post office lately? Even if you just want to buy some stamps or mail a package, you get a whole hard-sell routine. The clerks have to go through this whole spiel, asking if you want to sent it overnight, do you want to add insurance, blah blah. It's like department store employees who are required to ask if you want to open a store charge account. And you typically have to wait in line longer because there are fewer employees staffing the counters.

I kind of feel bad for the front-line staff who are required to ask all those questions, but honestly, it's less bothersome to just use the automated postage station.

Changes

The Mrs. has been at her current job for a little over two years, but at the beginning of the month she found out (along with all her coworkers) that her program was being shut down as of June 30th. The parent company has been losing money on this particular endeavor for some time, so even though any layoff is something of a jolt, it did not exactly come as a surprise to anyone.

As it happened, she was not particularly upset by the news. She enjoys her work and cares about the people she works on behalf of, but she had no love for her employer or her miniscule salary. She had already decided to return to school, primarily because not having an advanced degree is a barrier to advancement in her field, and had been accepted to a Master's program with classes mainly on weekends.

But as soon as she learned of the impending layoff, she contacted the school and was able to switch onto a full-time track, which means she will be able to complete the degree program in two years instead of three. Sometimes the universe decides things for you, and this seemed like one of those times.

Of course, this means changes for us and our lifestyle. I suppose we'll need to cut back on our takeout meals somewhat, and try to grocery shop more regularly. If further economizing becomes necessary, we will manage. Plenty of other couples have handled this sort of circumstance (though more typically when slightly younger, I'd say), and so will we.

This Week in Awesome (6/25/11)

Gotta be honest, internets, you let me down a little this week. Just not quite as much awesomey goodness as I would have liked. But still, we must press on...

Are you looking for planter pots, and do you consider yourself generally not too picky about spelling errors? This is the place for you. (The Daily What via Videogum)

Last week I bought some Sixpoint Crisp Lager and noticed the cans have a cool, funky barcode with a city skyline (presumably New York, since Sixpoint is brewed in Brooklyn) and the Statue of Liberty. Then I saw this. (BuzzBrewery via Consumerist)

Do you guys remember Miss Blankenship, Don Draper's elderly secretary last season on Mad Men? Well, even though she's been dead for like 46 years, and wasn't even a real person to begin with, she has a facebook page. It's really a clever part of a campaign to get Randee Heller, the actress who played her so memorably, an Emmy nomination that I would say is well-deserved. (Basket of Kisses)

And finally this week, something I think many of us have suspected at one time or another: animals can be dicks (this one in particular). (The Awl via The Daily Beast)

You Get One Warning

I read an interesting article today in the business section about the strict no-phones/no-texting policy at the Austin-based movie theater chain Alamo Drafthouse, and how they turned a complaint left on their voicemail by a disgruntled patron into an ad. Brilliant and hilarious (and also, sad and disturbing). Here's the uncensored version of the ad.

I wish more places, particularly movie theaters, were willing to take this sort of hard-line stance against rude, ignorant behavior. Also: no ads before the movies, and no kids under 6 allowed. I wish Alamo would open a theater around here; it sounds like my kind of place.

Coffee Puddle

It's very interesting to observe how different people react in certain situations. When I got on the train after work, I sat next to a seat that had some spilled coffee on it. I had a section of newspaper that I was done with, so I tried to use it as a blotter, which sort of worked, but it was still iffy.

At the next stop someone attempted to sit down next to me and I warned her off. A grateful look crossed her face, she said thank you, and moved on to another part of the train. Same sort of situation at the next stop.

At the stop after that an older woman who looked a bit unsteady on her feet headed toward the seat. She was wearing an apple-green poncho with pink flowers on it. It looked to be made of vinyl, and reminded me of nothing so much as an old tablecloth, the protective kind like you might have found in your grandmother's kitchen 50 or 60 years ago. I warned her about the coffee, and she looked right at me and said matter-of-factly, "I don't care, I'm wearing a plastic coat." She sat down.

A few stops later the person on her other side left the train, and she slid over. By this point I was reading and not paying full attention to the seat anymore, but I had finished the last section of my paper and added that to the adjacent seat for some theoretical extra protection. Soon after that, someone swung into the seat so quickly that I didn't have time to say anything, but then I saw that she was wearing those big-ass headphones and wouldn't have heard me anyway.

She proceeded to get out her Metro, turned to the sudoku, and adjusted her belongings on her lap so she could write, in such a way that her bag was digging into my leg. I made a couple of tentative nudges in her direction to try to get her to adjust, but nothing happened. I sat there and hoped her ass was getting wet from cold coffee.

Backed Up

You would think that by now I'd know better and avoid the Green Line on days when there is an afternoon Red Sox game. But since it was raining, I hopped on the E train that was waiting outside work.

Things were fine until we got to Government Center, where trains were being turned around en masse, whether they were supposed to turn there or go on to North Station. I counted six trains, including the one I was on, before a train rolled in that was continuing on, and of course it was packed. I held back, and another one came along in a couple of minutes.

I've found that in these situations it's much better to just let go and realize that I will get home eventually. Getting home 20 minutes later than usual isn't really a big deal. But it's taken me a couple of decades to truly understand and accept that.

You're Killing Me

Did you watch The Killing on AMC? If not, this probably won't be of any interest. If you did, but you haven't yet watched the season's last episode, be warned that I'm about to get spoilery.

The Killing is an adaptation of a Danish series about a murder investigation in Seattle. Each episode covered one day in the case. I hadn't even planned on writing anything about the show, but the finale provoked such strong reactions from so many people. The season ended in a particularly unsatisfying way, with an apparent answer to the season-long question of who killed Rosie Larsen (the very line used to market the show) that was revealed in the final moments to be a fakeout, or at the least, a solution without a full and adequate explanation accompanying it.

The show set up a pattern of dangling a teasing reveal for us at the end of almost every episode, only to debunk it within the first few minutes of the next. These red herrings grew increasingly tiring, and sapped some of my interest in the show. There were parts of the show that I thought were quite good, but they were interspersed among other parts that were alternately enervating and frustrating. This is an unfortunate side effect of a show with this type of story structure (see also: 24), but I stuck with it because I wanted to find out who had killed Rosie, and then they didn't even really tell us.

They seriously expect us to wait nine months or so, and still care, and still be invested enough to come back to the show. The show's creator has said in numerous interviews that the show is meant to be an anti-mystery, an anti-cop show, and that no one ever said the crime would be solved by the end of the season. Well, that's a gross violation of the audience's trust and patience. They could have given us some hints from the outset that the case might not be solved by the end of the season, or they could have given us a better show, in exchange for which we probably would have been inclined to allow them some slack.

But hey, it could have been worse. Imagine if the show hadn't been renewed.

Way Back When

I love seeing photographs of the city as it used to be, and I'm always happy to discover new sources. Over the weekend Universal Hub directed my attention to Old Boston, a tumblr full of vintage Boston goodness.

This Week in Awesome (6/18/11)

I did not attend the Bruins parade, but I was there in spirit. I only attempted to go to one of these once, after the first Patriots Super Bowl victory, and I couldn't get close enough to actually see anything, so I'd rather just watch on TV.

The Office reimagined as a 1980s-style sitcom, with laugh track and cheesy opening credits. Vulture via Have You Seen This?)

Some women are into guys who are a little older, and some women have a different definition of "older." (The Hairpin)

A conceptual diagram of HBO's original programming. (CollegeHumor via Warming Glow)

And finally this week, tying in nicely with the wedding-suit stuff, Racked NY ran a contest this week asking for submissions of pictures of horrible bridesmaid dresses, and the internet happily obliged.

Eating Habits

Chicken pot pie followed by caramel cup ice cream. Last Friday it was a cheeseburger, fries, and a shake at Uburger. This has to stop...

Retro Video Unit

Today I need to be brief, as my monthly deadline is nearly upon me. I was recently listening to an mp3 I'd created from a mixtape cassette I had made back in the '80s. When this song came on, I remembered how much I enjoyed the wacky, low-rent music video for it, and how long it had been since I had seen it.

Then I thought, it must be on YouTube, and sure enough I found it. So take a few minutes to enjoy this flashback to the golden age of music videos and MTV: The Rubinoos, "If I Had You Back." (With apologies for the poor video quality, but you know, it's likely it came off a VHS tape someone had stored for 25 years or so...)

Suited for Summer, Part 4: Putting It On

Last week's summer suit suggestions were by no means meant to be an exhaustive list; I left out some stuff, more for reasons of time than anything else, like Boden (I've never bought anything from them, but there are banner ads all over the web lately for various discounts plus free shipping and returns; you may want to peruse RetailMeNot for some discount codes) or Haspel (a hundred-year-old manufacturer of traditional cotton and linen summer suits similar in fabric and cut to those you'd find in Bank or Brooks; use this store finder for retailers, or try online sources like eSuit). I've also seen cotton suit separate pieces pop up occasionally on the flash-sale sites Gilt and RueLaLa, but the size and color choices are usually limited.

Maybe it's been obvious, but all of this came out of my efforts to find a comfortable and affordable summer suit for myself. That decade-old Banana Republic model no longer fits quite as well as it used to, and anyway the jacket was a three-button style that looked dated and was not a good candidate to steam and press into the more trad-preferred 3-roll-2 (though I have done this more successfully with a tweed sport coat, with the aid of a wooden pressing block that the Mrs. uses in her sewing projects).

I don't have any impending dress-up events, but I figured I was better off doing the research and shopping when I was not in imminent need. A summer suit is something I've been wanting to add to my wardrobe for a few years now. My main requirements were: lightweight fabric; a comfortable and age-appropriate fit (by which I mean, no low-rise pants); the ability to buy separates to get the best fit and minimize tailoring needs; and a moderate price.

After much thoughtful consideration, I settled on the L.L. Bean Signature Plain Weave jacket and pants in "soapstone." The online photos make the fabric look like it has a greenish-gray tinge to it, which I liked, but in reality it's a pretty standard light beige. The jacket is fully tailored with a center vent, full lining, multiple inside pockets, including ones for a pen and a phone, and lightly padded shoulders. I may look into having those removed if it isn't complicated; they aren't prominent enough to be noticeable, it's just a comfort thing.

You may remember that I expressed concern about the lack of tall sizing in the jackets, but it turned out not to be an issue. The jacket is of an appropriately butt-covering length, and in fact the sleeves are a bit too long on me. The overall fit is on the trim side, particularly through my midsection, but I can button it without it pulling. It also has functional sleeve buttons, which are showing up more and more on moderately-priced suits and jackets. This is not necessarily a good thing, because if you need sleeve alterations it can cause a problem. In my case the sleeves need to be shortened about half an inch, which should not affect the buttons or buttonholes.

Many suit pants are lined to the knees; these are not, which I don't consider a problem; if you're going to be wearing a rig like this in warm weather, unlined pants are probably better. I could say the same about the jacket, but I don't care for the look of unlined, less-structured jackets, and if you put stuff in the pockets they have a tendency to droop. The pants are alterable via a split in the back of the waist. They have a plain front and straight, on-seam front pockets. They are sold only with finished inseams, so if you are an in-between inseam length or prefer them cuffed, you'd need to choose a longer inseam and visit your tailor.

Overall I think these pieces are a good value at $220. If you happen to have an L.L. Bean Visa card, you can reduce that amount, as I did, by applying the reward discounts earned by making purchases with the card. I have one small complaint, but it's not about the garments themselves: mine arrived in one of those plastic mailing pouches, so they were extremely wrinkled. I would have expected items of this sort to automatically be packed in a box, but who knows how those decisions get made.

TV Bits

Last week, while poking around on Netflix, I discovered that all nine seasons of the previously discussed British spy drama MI-5 (including the most recent eight-episode season that aired in the UK last fall) are now available, either on disc or via streaming. I find the show isn't as good as it was in the first few seasons, but I still enjoy it enough to keep watching.

A couple of other reminders: Breaking Bad returns for its fourth season July 17th on AMC at 10 pm Eastern time. The channel is still running the previous three seasons' episodes late at night. According to the schedule page, they're going to be starting another cycle of the whole series in order starting in the early morning hours of July 6, so if you haven't gotten on board yet and have the DVR space, I recommend you set up a "record all episodes" season pass. But if you do, you'd better set aside some time, because once you get started on this show it's likely you aren't going to want to do much else until you've watched all 33 episodes.

Over on FX, the amazing Louie returns for its second season next Thursday, June 23rd, at 10:30 pm. Louie isn't a sitcom in the way we're used to thinking of them; there are situations, and there's plenty of comedy, but that's as far as the similarities go. It's a bold, brash, uncompromising, brilliant expression of one man's comedic vision. It will make you uncomfortable, and (depending on your sensibilities) it will make you laugh really hard, sometimes simultaneously. If you enjoyed the show last year and have not yet read it, I highly recommend this article that ran in New York magazine last month about Louis C.K. and his unique approach to creating the show. The season one DVDs release next week, and it's probably also in iTunes (though I don't know that for certain).

Tree Your Shoes for Less

If you have nay decent shoes, you should be storing them with cedar shoe trees when you aren't wearing them. (Not those square-toed Kenneth Cole things, either; throw them away and start over.) It's an easy thing to overlook, unless you are in the habit of getting the shoe trees when you buy the shoes. That's definitely one way to remember, but it's a more costly way of doing it.

Over the weekend I happened to visit a Nordstrom Rack (we had to wait for a table at a restaurant, and the store was in the same shopping center). On my few previous visits to Rack stores I've found them to be very hit-and-miss; much of the merchandise is no more interesting or impressive than what you'd find on any given day at your local TJ Maxx.

But as with any discount shopping experience, you often find good deals when you aren't looking for anything in particular. A couple of years ago the Mrs. found a pair of Keen outdoor/hiking shoes for $30, because they were technically boys' shoes. She was waffling on whether or not to buy them, but when I told her she would likely pay around $100 for the adult version of the shoe, she bought them, and has gotten a great deal of use out of them, since they are waterproof.

On Saturday I saw some shoes that might have interested me, but then I turned the corner and saw a display full of shoe trees. I needed a couple of pairs, and these were tagged at $12.90, which is an excellent price (they typically sell for $20 or more a pair, depending on where you buy them). They are the kind with the two-piece toe, made in Wisconsin by a company called Woodlore. I know this brand well, having several other sets of trees from them.

I grabbed two pairs and headed for the register, where I learned that some sort of additional discount was in effect: the trees rang up at $9.90 per pair, plus tax. I was in the process of considering whether or not to go back and get more when the restaurant buzzer went off, so I paid for the two pairs and hurried on my way.

I don't know how long this deal might last, but if you live near a Nordstrom Rack you might want to swing by and check it out. Even at the regular price of $13 a pair, these are a good deal.

This Week in Awesome (6/11/11)

Kind of a low-key weekend, not great weather, but still getting some stuff done around the house.

On the NBC comedy Community, Abed is a pop culture-obsessed film student. Variety magazine asked the actor who plays Abed, Danny Pudi, to comment on the upcoming Emmy nominations in character. (TVLine)

Sometimes things don't go as planned but turn out pretty cool anyway. So it is with this vehicular stunt involving a ramp and some old school buses. (Jalopnik)

A graphic designer in the UK has a collection of "logo swaps." Take a look and you'll understand. (Graham Smith via The Daily What)

And finally this week, did you catch the Google Doodle guitar on Thursday in honor of Les Paul's 96th birthday? I didn't realize it when I saw it, but you can "play" the guitar using your keyboard, which is pretty damn cool; instructions are provided here. (Huffington Post)

On Second Thought, Maybe Not...

At first, this seems like a good idea: cuff links that contain USB drives.

But damn, those are some ass-ugly links.

(Image borrowed from the Los Angeles Times style blog All The Rage.)

Bargain Alert: About Those Suits...

In the midst of my suit discussion, I received an email from Jos. A. Bank alerting me to a one-day offer today: 50% off all suits, plus a second suit (of equal or lesser value) free. Of course, those reductions are going to be off the theoretical "original" prices, but even so this could be a good opportunity. It's valid on all suits, not just summer ones, so depending on your needs, taste, and fit preferences, you could cover your year-round basic suit requirements.

Some fine print: as far as I can tell the offer is valid only on their web site and not in their stores, but they are also offering free shipping with no minimum (I think their free shipping normally starts at $175). The suit offer ends at midnight Pacific time. Happy shopping.

Suited for Summer, Part 3: More Choices

Once I got going on this topic, I found there are many more possibilities than I'd first realized, and I felt it was too much for one post, so I broke it up.

L.L. Bean's Signature line has a couple of options. However, there are differences in the fabrics, fit, construction, and detailing. The "New Traditional" is much more casual overall: the jacket is cut shorter, with patch pockets and a half lining, the pants have unusually wide belt loops, and the fabric is visibly stonewashed, giving it a slightly distressed appearance along the lapel seams, which also has the unfortunate effect of making the stitching stand out in an unfavorable way (click on the lightest-colored jacket here and zoom in on the bottom seam, and you'll see what I mean). It might be a better choice for a teen who has been invited to a family wedding for the first time and needs to look decent without it costing much. The New Traditional jacket is currently on sale for $90 (from $135), while the pants are still full-price at $60. (Update: the pants are now on sale for $40.)

The LLBS "Plain Weave" jacket and pants are much more traditional-looking pieces which would not look out of place or draw undue attention in a more dressed-up setting, but you should know that the jacket is not available in short or long, which is going to exclude a portion of potential buyers. The Plain Weave will run you around $220 for both jacket and pants. There's also a jacket and pants in something called Tropicweight Wool, in a nice-looking light-medium gray, that appear to be the same cut as the Plain Weave pieces and might work in less-sweltery locales ($325 for both pieces).

This is the point where we need to discuss seersucker. It's a wonderful fabric for summer wear, and it conjures thoughts of elegant garden parties, or perhaps warm memories of Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird. But you have to stop and consider it very carefully before you opt to head down that road. With any seersucker suit, even in the traditional blue stripe or a subdued gray, you run the risk of looking like you're wearing a costume. It has a lot to do with your age, the way you like to dress in general, and where you're wearing it (both geographically, and the type of event).

To be honest, a lot of men will simply look more at ease and put-together in a solid, light-colored suit such as the ones we've been discussing. If you're inclined to split the difference, there's pincord, which is a very fine stripe, traditionally in blue and white, but J. Crew has Ludlow fit separates in "faded black" and white as well as the blue. I like the look of this, and have considered buying it for myself for a couple of summers now, but the Ludlow jackets aren't the best fit on me, and the pants are cut too slim and too low in the waist. Hey, J. Crew: please consider offering this style in the Aldridge fit.

If you truly feel you have the confidence to pull off a seersucker suit, then I think the way to wear one is to go full-on peacock: a colorful bow tie (maybe a madras plaid?), white bucks without socks, and topped off with a straw boater or panama. Go back to the Bank site and check out the colors they offer their seersucker suits ($200) in: tan, white-on-white, even red (or, for the less bold, a dark navy with white pinstripes). There's a part of me that would like to get the red one just for the go-to-hellness of it, but I'm not sure I could pull it off. And anyway, where would I wear it?

Alternately, you could have a go at the black-on-black seersucker from Bean Signature ($265 for both pieces), which might work if you have goth tendencies, but I can't imagine why anyone would want to wear a black suit in the summer sun, even if it is cotton. An after-dark event, maybe? (They also have it in loden [olive-ish], currently on sale for $100 for the jacket, $50 for the pants.)

There are some other inexpensive options available at places like H&M, Express, or Zara, just lower your expectations accordingly. Anything you buy at H&M is unlikely to last more than a season or two, and the one time I attempted to try on jackets at Zara, I was never able to find anything big enough to fit my shoulders. I happened to wander into an Express (did you know they still sold men's clothing? did you even realize they were still around? me neither) a month or so ago because a suit on a mannequin in the window caught my eye, and while I wouldn't go so far as to say that I was actually impressed by their offerings, they were better than I expected, reasonably priced, and decent looking (and on sale at the moment).

Suited for Summer, Part 2: What to Wear?

Now that we've established some guidelines, let's consider some reasonably priced options for summer suits.

In the past, warm-weather suits were typically purchased at the traditional men's clothing stalwarts like Brooks Brothers or Jos. A. Bank. They are still available at these stores, but these days they are typically a cotton/polyester blend, which isn't going to wear as cool as all-cotton, and the quality isn't particularly impressive, especially so with the Bank suits.

A Brooks Brothers cotton suit is going to run you $400, unless you wait until the end of the season when you'll probably see some markdowns. By comparison, the Banks are a relative bargain: if you go look, you'll see that you can currently get a poplin suit for $137, which is hard to beat if you can live with the fabric. Keep in mind, though, that their suits are cut very full, and you can't mix and match jacket and pant sizes. (At least there are a couple of fit options at Brooks Brothers.)

Fit and sizing are key issues for me. I don't have what would by any means be considered an athletic build, but I still have an eight-inch "drop" (the difference between the chest and waist measurements), and a standard suit has a six-inch drop (sometimes tapering to only five in the larger sizes). You may be able to find an "athletic-fit" suit, which would have a seven- or eight-inch drop, or a good tailor can alter a standard, fuller-fitting jacket so the waist is more defined, but tailoring has its limits. If I were to purchase a suit from Jos. Bank in the proper jacket size, the waist of the pants would be three inches too big, and even the best tailor can only take in a pair of pants so many inches before they start to look too weird (back pockets too close together) and/or the tailoring becomes not worth the expense. Overall I think buying separates is a better option.

As I mentioned yesterday, Banana Republic can be a good source of reasonably-priced suit separates, and it looks like they are now offering two fits, though it seems to be an either/or proposition: some suits are in one fit, some are in the other. J. Crew still offers its most basic cotton suit pieces in both fits. Those of you who tend toward the shorter and lankier would probably be more comfortable in the Ludlow fit, which is cut slimmer and with a slightly shorter jacket and lower-waist pants; those of you who are built more like myself would likely want to go with the Aldridge fit, which is more traditional but not nearly as sacklike as a Bank. The Italian fabric on these is really nice, and there are options like center- or side-vent (for the Ludlow jacket) or two- or three-button (for the Aldridge). For either store, the suits run $370-380 for both pieces, but can certainly be bought for less during sales or with the retailers' frequent discount offers.

J. Crew also offers the Ludlow fit in linen, which is an option worth considering because its weave makes it breathable, and the fabric has some tactile and visual texture. Linen also wrinkles easily, but then again so does cotton. I've never particularly cared for linen, probably because you can end up looking dressed-down even when you're dressed up, but if worn with the right shirt, tie, and shoes (keep 'em all simple) you can do a credible impersonation of an Italian fashionisto. The J. Crew linen pieces are only $10 more each than their cotton counterparts, and it comes in a light gray that's a refreshing change from the typical beiges and tans.

Tomorrow: believe it or not, I'm not done with this nonsense...

Suited for Summer

Once you get a few years past college, it's likely that someone you know will get married. These events often tend to occur in clusters (one of my coworkers has a different wedding to attend each weekend this month!). And while weddings take place throughout the year, eventually your presence will be requested at an event that takes place during the summer. And if it happens not to be a wedding, then there will be some other situation (a job interview, a graduation, or a Derby Day party) that you will attend during warmer weather, where you will be expected to show up wearing semi-formal attire.

Do not even think about not wearing a proper, respectable outfit such as a suit, or at the very least, a sportcoat or blazer with a tie. I can tell your eyes are already sliding over toward your closet, and you're thinking, Why can't I just wear my "good" khakis and my nice blue button-up shirt? Forget it. If you happen to be still in high school, you sort of maybe get a pass, but beyond age 18 you need to dress like an adult.

Jesse Thorn of Put This On expressed the essence of this very well, but unfortunately I can't find the exact relevant quote at the moment, so I'll have to paraphrase: as guests of the bride and groom, we dress up for weddings as a way of acknowledging that it is a serious, important occasion and not just another day. In other words, you are a grownup, and you grasp the idea that there are certain occasions in life that require you to look like one.

You should be wearing a suit, and that's that, especially if you are attending this event with a wife, girlfriend, or significant other. If you don't it will reflect badly on her as well as on you, and it's likely she will suffer some embarrassment and end up feeling resentment toward you as a result, not to mention she will most certainly have gone to some effort to look her best, and it's disrespectful to her if you don't at least offer the appearance of having gone to some comparable degree of effort yourself. (Friendly advice: dressing in a way that upstages your date is highly ill-advised. You need to look good, but make sure she looks better.)

[Aside: During the past decade I have attended two weddings in California, one in the southern part of the state in July and one in the northern part in January. In both situations I was quite shocked to see how the guests, both male and female, were dressed. It's like they're living in another country or something. Extreme casual was the dominant look at both events, though it skewed slightly more toward streetwear at the first one and more than slightly toward hippie at the second. There were guests who looked like they had rolled out of bed maybe an hour before and literally grabbed the first pieces of clothing they could find. I still have occasional unpleasant flashbacks about this.]

Now, you probably own at least one suit, and that's swell. But trust me, you are not going to want to put on that thing made of wool in the middle of July, and I can practically guarantee you that the site of either the ceremony or the reception will lack adequate air conditioning, or that it will take place outdoors. I have been in both these situations while wearing a non-seasonal suit, and it's not fun at all.

Over a decade ago I found a very nice cotton suit jacket and matching pants the color of sand, deeply discounted at Banana Republic. I think I paid around $120 for both pieces, and I got more than enough use out of them over the years to justify the purchase. The lightweight fabric is a bit more forgiving in warmer weather, and the neutral shade gives you a chance to demonstrate your style with judicious use of bright color in your shirt and/or tie. (Incorporating bright colors in this way may not be the most appropriate choice for a job interview, but it depends on the situation; I did it once, and I got the job.)

Tomorrow: a few suggestions for you.

This Week in Awesome (6/4/11)

Yesterday we took the dog for her annual vet visit, got haircuts, did some other errands, and otherwise just enjoyed a beautiful day. Regarding other diversions...

What's that? You say you never get tired of those New York time-lapse videos? Wow, what a coincidence—me neither. This one happens to have a lot of night shots, which is a bit different from ones I've posted before. I'd love to post something similar for Boston or other cities, so if any of you come across such, let me know. (Gawker)

Those of you of at least a certain age will have memories, fond or otherwise, of the "cassingle," a retail music product with a relatively brief history. (Digital Music News via The Awl)

Pictures of cool people being cool. (The GQ Eye)

And finally this week, a cute little computer-animated short that's worth two minutes of your time. (Daily What via b3ta)

Recommended Viewing: Party Down

We just finished watching the too-short run of this unappreciated comedy, which ran for two seasons on Starz (which one could argue is part of the reason so few people saw it). It's about a group of cater waiters in LA who are (mostly) trying to make it in show business.

It's really funny, there are only 20 episodes total, and it's available to stream on Netflix, so you could probably knock off the whole thing in a weekend (if you didn't have any other plans) or a few nights at a more modest pace.

Pizza Face

The Daily Show does it yet again. You have to watch this. Really, you have to, 'cause there's gonna be a quiz. Okay, not really. Just watch the damn thing:

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Me Lover's Pizza With Crazy Broad
www.thedailyshow.com

Diving for Boxes

Online shoe shopping is possibly one of the greatest benefits of the rise of e-commerce over the past 15 years or so. (I do miss the full-service, multi-brand shoe stores of my youth, but that's a post for another time.) Sites like Zappos and Endless have far more variety than you could ever hope to find in a single store anywhere, and you typically receive your shoes within a day or two of ordering them.

(If you have VIP status at Zappos, you get permanent free overnight shipping. (They used to offer this to everyone all the time, but cut back a few years ago.) They offer VIP signup days now and then, or you can go to vip.zappos.com and get on the "waiting list." However, knowing what sort of company they are and the emphasis they place on service, I think that if you just called their customer-service number and asked, they would give you VIP status. YMMV.)

The flip side of this convenience is that you don't always know what size you should order, especially if it's a brand you are not familiar with or one that isn't readily available in local stores. With many brands of shoes I'm kind of between sizes, so the right size might depend on whether or not I plan on wearing the shoes with socks, or whether or not the shoes are available in wide widths. I frequently have to order two pairs of the same style to find the right size (which is where shopping in a store can be easier).

It's not really a big deal since most shoe sites offer free returns for this very reason—just pack 'em back up and drop off the box at the nearest UPS Store. But what happens when you order two pairs of shoes and then need to return one of them? It's not always practical to send that pair back in the larger box that arrived containing two pairs. Sometimes it can be extremely awkward. In the past couple of weeks I've had to deal with this situation twice.

Now, I tend to hold onto the boxes I receive stuff in. I have the space (in the basement), I sometimes need boxes for those times when I sell things on eBay or Style Forum, and I have some pack-rat tendencies to begin with, so I grabbed a tape measure and headed down to the basement. One box was easy, but the other was a problem. Plus, since the shoes were from separate orders from two different online stores, they could not go in the same box.

I had ordered some red canvas "tennis shoes" from SeaVees, a newish revival of an old brand that's been producing some really nice retro-looking styles in the past couple of years. Since I ordered two different sizes, and the shoe boxes SeaVees uses are somewhat larger than normal, the box Zappos shipped them in was fairly gigantic—it could easily hold five or six "normal" shoe boxes. When the UPS guy appeared at my cubicle the other day holding the box, I though he had me mixed up with someone else in the office.

I couldn't realistically send back the other pair in the huge box, but I also couldn't find a box in my basement stash that would fit the oversize box. The shoes were still at the office, and we do sometimes have empty boxes around there, so I went back to work the next day hoping I could find something suitable. Eventually, in the copier room, I found a box that had contained copies of one of our publications. It was a couple of inches longer and wider than the shoe box, and tall enough. I also found a large quantity of bubble wrap that I used to fill the extra space.

So now it seems I may need to start hoarding boxes at work, too.

Wednesday Bonus Awesomeness, Sports Edition

I can't claim to be a big hockey fan, but this is all kinds of awesome. (Kristen Kmetetz via Unviersal Hub)

Go Bruins!