Retro Video Unit (4/26/13)

With everything that was going on last week, I completely forgot about this. Sadly, once again this feature becomes an occasion to remember a performer who has passed away.

Christina Amphlett, lead singer of the Australian band Divinyls, died last weekend at only 53, a victim of both multiple sclerosis and breast cancer. The band will probably be best remembered for the 1991 hit "I Touch Myself," but Divinyls released six albums over the course of a decade and a half. While popular at home, most of their work received little attention elsewhere, and they remain one of the most underrated bands from the early 1980s.

Amphlett's stage persona, at least early on, was something like a mix of Chrissie Hynde and early Britney Spears (and I never, ever thought I would put those two names in the same sentence). She had the gift of an immediately identifiable voice, and she was a true badass, a trailblazer who became an icon for later performers like Shirley Manson of Garbage.

My favorite song of theirs is one of their earliest, "Boys In Town," and it happens to be one that I've had in mind for this feature for a while. As with many music videos from the early 1980s, it's a low-rent production, but is distinguished by the presence of a light-up mike stand. How cool is that?



And just for fun, how about a fierce live performance of the same song from the 1983 US Festival?



Thanks for the music. You will be missed.

Cheap Summer Sneakers

Yesterday I found myself in Old Navy, a store I rarely visit. But sometimes even stores where you don't normally shop are worth a look. For one thing, there are a lot of promotions and discounts in ON stores that are not available on their website. This sort of practice can be confusing, but it's done to draw customers into the stores.

For summer, I've become devoted to simple canvas sneakers like Vans. (I briefly tried wearing sandals, but they're not for me.) They are relatively inexpensive, are wide enough to fit my problem feet, look good with shorts, and come in lots of interesting color choices.

While poking around the store, I found that ON is currently offering a sneaker that looks exactly like a Vans Authentic, except it doesn't have a tag sewn onto the upper or a rubber logo patch on the heel. So what? They're $25 a pair, about 60% of what a pair of Vans typically costs.

Then I saw the sign: sale price $15. That's lunch money. Among the color choices they had, a nice bright blue caught my eye. I don't have anything like it. And when I got to the cash register, the shoes rang up at $10! I don't know if that applied to all the colors, but I wasn't about to question it.

There are as many as eight different colors available; of course, the selection is going to vary by store. There's off white, a creamy beige, gray, the bright blue, red, a sort of dusty olive, navy, and black. You could get two or three of these in different colors, or two or three of the same color to have a clean pair in reserve. Even at the $15 sale price, who cares how long they last? (Here's a tip: if you rotate among several pairs, they all last longer.)

They have a nicely cushioned insole that is lined in cotton (the rest of the inside is too), so these are going to be decently comfortable to wear without socks. Also worth mentioning: they are only available in whole sizes (up to 13), which isn't really a big deal for a casual kick-around shoe.

Remember, this deal is not available online. You'll have to visit your local Old Navy store, but in this case I think it's worth it.

Kind of Early

I took the dog out right around midnight, and though it's about 50 degrees, someone down the street has an air conditioner running. I guess they could have turned it on earlier today and forgotten about it.

Aging Out

I have subscribed to GQ for many years. There's much more to the magazine than fashion, so there is always something interesting to read. But for some time now, I've felt that the style pieces have less and less relevance to me, not only because of the way I dress, but because of my advancing age.

I am simply too old for this magazine now.

Some of their advice is helpful regardless of one's age. The new issue (with Robert Downey Jr. on the cover) has a feature on pocket squares. I have long believed that paying attention to the details elevates an outfit above the ordinary, and if I'm dressing up I will have a square in my jacket pocket. And any man, regardless of build, can benefit from getting the fit of his clothing right.

On the other hand, GQ offers plenty of style advice that I would never consider taking. Skinny ties have been popular for a few years now, but because of my height and build, they look wrong on me. I don't wear my pants hemmed two inches above my shoes. I am never going to wear a suit and wingtips without socks (with the pants hemmed to show off my ankles). And I have no interest in what NBA players are wearing (or, for that matter, in the NBA).

Many of these are just personal choices, but age factors in as well. Younger men can get away with taking more risks in the way they dress. Conversely, by the time someone reaches my age, he has typically figured out what works for him and what doesn't, and is more likely to stick with a certain look or style.

I also get Esquire, which seems to be aimed at a slightly older audience than GQ, but still someone younger than me. But there does seem to be a void in the market. Older men tend to have more disposable income (I am obviously not a good example of this, but still), and buy things like boats and vacation homes. Condé Nast attempted to claim this space a while back, but you're excused if you don't remember. The publication was called Men's Vogue, which sort of doomed it from the start.

So I'll keep getting these magazines, but not for the style advice. Men of any age can appreciate Alison Brie.

Auction Status

Last month I put a bunch of my stuff on eBay. Things generally went quite well, but I did have one item that was "bought" but the buyer never paid me. It's kind of my own fault, because I didn't notice that the buyer had zero feedback, a warning sign that I should have heeded.

In such circumstances, eBay makes sellers wait a certain number of days before opening an unpaid item claim, then they make you wait a while longer. Eventually (which is to say, today) eBay notified me that I could mark the case as closed and relist the item, and that they would refund the fee they charged me when it "sold."

So I've posted this particular item for sale again. All my other auctions have ended, either with items selling or, in a few cases, with them unsold. In the meantime I have rounded up another batch of things to try to sell, and I'll start posting those tomorrow.

This Week in... (4/20/13)

Using my usual title is totally inappropriate; nothing about this week was awesome. But there were still some notable moments...

Food photography eats itself, gets indigestion. (Grub Street)

Earlier this week I endeavored to show why the world needs more Patton Oswalt. Not that any more evidence is necessary, but if you haven't seen this yet, it's totally worth a watch. (NBC)

Seeing the city on virtual lockdown on Friday was eerie, but it created some interesting photographic opportunities. (BuzzFeed; Jalopnik)

And finally this week, welcome back, Papi.

Top You Off?

It's been a hell of a week, even though we don't live near the bombing site and don't know anyone who was directly involved or affected. But even so, comfort can be found in simple things like a daily routine.

For me, making and having coffee is part of my routine. For the sake of economy, I buy half and half in the half-gallon size. But when I open a new container it's very difficult to hold the carton and pour it into my coffee cup. I tried using a couple of small creamer pitchers we had around the house, and both of them dribbled and made a mess.

Then I came across this item for sale on ThinkGeek: a creamer that looks like a miniature coffee pot from a diner. I loved its appearance and figured it couldn't be any worse than what we already had, so I ordered one. The elongated lip does a great job of preventing drips, just like with coffee in the full-size version.

(By the way, the mug is from Fishs Eddy in New York. I got it because I liked its color and shape. I may also have a thing for coffee mugs...)

The Cycle

Inside the Wellington T station there used to be a Dunkin' Donuts. It closed several years back and was replaced by a generic coffee-doughnuts-lottery place.

I noticed a while back that that place had also closed. Passing through Wellington today, I saw that it's being replaced...by a Dunkin' Donuts.

Dine Out Today to Help

In the aftermath of Monday's events, people are looking for ways to help. A number of area restaurants have joined together and agreed to donate a portion of today's sales to assist victims and their families through a local foundation.

By choosing to dine out today at one of these establishments, you can do your part to help those directly affected:

62 Restaurant & Wine Bar (62 Wharf Street, Salem, MA)
Bella Luna Restaurant & Milky Way Lounge (284 Amory Street, Jamaica Plain)
Blue on Highland (882 Highland Avenue, Needham)
Bondir (279A Broadway, Cambridge)
Cafeteria (279a Newbury Street, Boston)
China Blossom (946 Osgood Street, North Andover)
Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse (75 Arlington Street, Boston)
Grafton Street (1230 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge)
Harvest (44 Brattle Street, Cambridge)
Olé Mexican Grill (11 Springfield Street, Cambridge)
PARK Restaurant & Bar (59 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge)
Piattini Wine Café (226 Newbury Street, Boston)
Ristorante Olivio (201 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington)
Russell House Tavern (14 John F. Kennedy Street, Cambridge)
Salvatore’s Restaurants (225 Northern Avenue, Boston; 545 Washington Street, Boston; 55 High Street, Medford)
Temple Bar (1688 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge)
Tryst Restaurant (689 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington)
Tuscan Kitchen (67 Main Street, Salem, NH)

(This list may not be complete; I obtained the information from this post on Inside Medford.)

The Good

In light of yesterday's events, I didn't see much point in posting anything. What could I offer? I don't even live in the area like PB does.

I still don't know what to say. But fortunately for us, people like Patton Oswalt know what to say, and how to say it. His facebook post has been reprinted, with his permission, on Huffington Post, so I'll just suggest you go over there and read it if you haven't seen it already.

This Week in Awesome (4/13/13)

I have more or less recovered from whatever early-spring plague variant I was afflicted with, and somehow, in the midst of being sick all week, I managed to collect a fine batch of stuff for this week.

Have you seen what the view looks like from the top of the new World Trade Center building? I regret never going to the top of the original; I will certainly be visiting the new one after it opens. (Gothamist)

Another place I hope to visit someday is Vietnam (particularly after seeing the Top Gear special a few years back). They just opened some kind of fancy new bridge there. (The Verge)

The Arrested Development-related stuff is picking up with the arrival of the new episodes on Netflix now only about six weeks away. This industrious person made an AD-themed structure for a cat. (Nerdalicious)

David Bowie added a bunch of his old videos to his online archive.

Here's a collection of Los Angeles-area modernist houses that have been used in movies. It happens that I've seen all of the movies on the list, and all of them are worth seeing. (Mr Porter via Kempt)

And finally this week, for our requisite piece of Mad Men-related content, a photo tour of the Time-Life Building (location of the Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce offices) during the 1960s. (Time)

Throw Me A Throw

Sorry folks, I've been sick all this week. Not great, but at least it's on the way out now. I have a good tip for everyone though, courtesy of fellow blogger United Style.

Setting aside the fuss about the recently fired CEO, JCPenney has some very nice wool throws on clearance. These are made in America and are currently available in eight different color/pattern choices, marked down from $75 to a very reasonable $36. But wait, until April 17th the code SPRINGUP will take off an extra 20%, bringing them down to just under $29 each. These would make really nice housewarming or hostess gifts, or are just nice things to have around your own house.

(For you true patriots, there's also an American flag throw from the same maker in a slightly larger size for $75, down from $150. Apply the code and it drops to $60.)

Sandwich Spreads

I can recall asking my mother, as a child of about six or so, as she was preparing my lunch for school, "We eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and we eat peanut butter and Fluff, so why don't we eat jelly and Fluff?"

Last Week in Awesome (4/6/13)

Late two weeks in a row is not a good precedent. I can only claim that I was not feeling well yesterday. I probably picked up a germ from riding on the T, or something like that. Ecch.

The manipulation of aerial photos results in striking imagery. (Beautiful Decay)

HD footage of the San Francisco Bay area. Yes, it is kind of like a time-lapse. (Vimeo Staff Picks)

This is Mad Men-related, but will only be of interest to those who are also fans of FX's Archer. (Vulture)

And finally this week, vintage albums reimagined as multi-volume book sets. (Laughing Squid)

Retro Video Unit (4/5/13)

I just got back from seeing Living Colour at the Paradise. They are touring to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut album, Vivid. They played the entire album plus a few other nuggets, and they sounded just as good as they did a quarter-century ago.

So, I think the obvious choice here is the video for the song "Cult of Personality."



And for a little something extra, here's a clip of the band performing the same song live on The Arsenio Hall Show. Video quality aside (it says it came off a VHS tape), in some ways this is even better than the studio version.

The Rewatch

I imagine you know by now that Mad Men returns this Sunday with a two-hour episode. As I said last year, I don't care for this approach, as it has the net effect of shortening the season by one week. So I thought it was interesting that in this interview with the New York Times, Matthew Weiner said that AMC forced him to do it.

Courtesy of Netflix, I've been spending some time this week revisiting earlier seasons of the show, and I imagine a lot of others are doing the same thing. Even though I watch each episode at least twice after recording it, I still like to go back and immerse myself in the show's world before each new season gets up and running. Plus it's just handy to get my memory refreshed after nine months away from the show.

I haven't followed this pattern for any other show, but with the announcement that Netflix will be releasing the new episodes of Arrested Development on May 26th, I think it would make sense to go back and rewatch all three seasons of it, as it's been off the air since 2006. I've caught bits of them here and there in reruns on IFC, but out of context of the series as a whole.

And as the final season of Breaking Bad approaches this summer, I think it would be worthwhile to revisit that series from the beginning, if only to relive its many amazing moments.

Bargain Bin

I never found the gray dress shirt I was hunting for a couple of months back, but I have found good deals on other dress shirts at Marshalls, especially when they put items on clearance. It's chance as to whether or not I will find something good in my size, but so far I've found two shirts for $20 each that originally retailed for $90 and $70. I don't need to wear dress shirts often, but it's nice to have them on hand—they give me options when trying to assemble appropriate outfits.

Playback, Interrupted

Last week I took advantage of Comcast's free online viewing of shows from the premium cable channels to watch season two of the HBO series Girls. I think I enjoyed it a bit more than the first season, and I think I have a better understanding of what show creator Lena Dunham is attempting to express.

But man, Comcast's online streaming SUCKS. The video frequently lagged behind the audio, when it did catch up it stuttered, playback would stop for buffering at least three times during each episode (and these are only 30-minute shows), and a couple of times the screen went black while the audio kept playing. It made me think of the old days of dial-up internet access.

Of course it's possible that there were a lot of other people doing what I was doing, and the servers couldn't quite keep up with the demand. But I really hope that people who pay for the premium channels don't have to put up with such poor performance, although I suppose if you are an HBO subscriber you'd just use their site or app and not your cable provider's.

Last Week in Awesome (3/30/13)

Late and minimal is how it is this time around...

To help get us in the mood for season six of Mad Men, illustrator Dyna Moe's tumblr of MM-themed art. (Laughing Squid)

Honesty is always nice, but in this instance it doesn't make me feel any better. (Tastefully Offensive)

And finally this week, an important medical message (note: this is not an April Fool's gag—it came out last week). (Pleated Jeans)

Spring Dissonance

I was out looking around in a few stores yesterday, and everywhere the stores are already filled with shorts, polo shirts, all the summer stuff. I know this happens every year, but it still seems to catch me off guard each time.

We're barely able to say that winter is over, and I'm just starting to transition from my everyday cold-weather boots to ordinary shoes, and I'm able to wear some of my lighter coats and jackets for the first time since fall. I'm not ready to think about shorts, let alone look at them.

Watchathon

Comcast is offering free viewing of premium-cable shows (Dexter, Game of Thrones, etc.) all this week through Sunday, either online or on-demand. The catch is, you have to be a Comcast subscriber to take advantage of it.

Still, I got season one of Girls from the library a couple of weeks ago, and instead of waiting months for season two (which just finished airing on HBO a couple of Sundays ago) to come out on DVD, I can watch it now.

This is a nice alternative to college basketball for people like me who have no interest in it.

A Bridge Too Close?

I hastily snapped this picture today in Marshalls, where these framed pictures are for sale. I didn't do a great job of fitting the whole thing in the camera frame, but it's sufficient:

Something seems a little off about the geography here...

Assigned Tasks

In order to remain on unemployment, I have to meet certain obilgations. Three weeks ago i attended a seminar for people receiving extended benefits, and we left with a homework assignment of sorts and an appointment for a follow-up interview.

I have to maintain a log of my job search activity for each week. I also had to visit a particular website and do some very cursory research on employment trends for my general work area, and fill out a couple of brief forms.

I had to complete these things and go back for my follow-up by a certain date. The follow-ups are done on several different days of the week during specified blocks of time; you show up and sign in on a sheet, and staffers come and call people in the order they have signed in.

My interview was this morning. I arrived just after 9 and signed in; there were eight or nine people ahead of me, but there were also three or four different staffers doing the interviews, so it didn't take long. What did surprise me was that there was really no interview to speak of; the staffer looked over my paperwork to verify that I had completed the required tasks, and entered some info into my file on a computer, but that was about it. They didn't even keep the forms, and I was out of there in about 45 minutes. I guess they just want to make sure people are not totally slacking off.

What A Croc

Sometimes I go looking for post ideas, and sometimes the ideas find me. Courtesy of The Awl, I learned today that the Hermès store in Manhattan sells a T-shirt made of crocodile skin, and that this garment costs a mere $91,500. (Scroll down to the comments on that article to find a link to an image from a runway show, if you must.)

And now that I have this knowledge, I'm left not quite knowing what to think about it.

I mean, I know the world of the rich is very different than the world the rest of us live in, but of all the things to potentially blow a shitpile of money on... that? There's just something awfully Eurotrash about it, you know?

This Week in Awesome (3/23/13)

Didn't win the Powerball jackpot; guess I'll keep blogging for now...

Would you like to see a graphic with every one of Robert De Niro's outfits from Casino? Got that covered. By the way, the artist is local, and his work is available to purchase. (Ibraheem Youssef via The High Definite)

Speaking of graphics, there's a guy in the UK who made these two very stylish maps (also available to purchase), of American TV show locations and the birthplaces of English musicians. (James Chapman via Laughing Squid)

Sometimes it's nice to see the lyrics of a song written out; other times it isn't really necessary. (BuzzFeed)

I love these reimaginings of Quentin Tarantino's movies as paperback covers. GeekTyrant)

A hacker used an illegal botnet to create a map of internet usage. Means to an end? (The Daily What)

And finally this week, an overhead view of cities around the world, created from 3D map images. Boston is included. (Vimeo Staff Pick)

Retro Video Unit (3/22/13)

I just felt like hearing this one... here's "Cities in Dust" by Siouxsie & The Banshees, from 1985.

Hidden Benefit of Unemployment

I had a physical today for the first time in three years, not because I was avoiding it but because I forgot. Most interestingly, my blood pressure is very nicely low, even lower than when I went in January to get a referral to a couple of other departments. I don't know why for certain, but I'm going to attribute it to not having to commute to and from work for the past year.

Four-Wheel-Drive Luggage

I don't spend much time thinking about luggage. One reason is I don't travel that much, but also I tend to purchase a suitcase or two and use them for a long time. But I do have a tendency to be a bit behind the curve regarding features that make travel easier. My main suitcase has wheels, but it's not the "spinner" type with four wheels. I didn't think much of this until I tried rolling one around at a store, and then I understood immediately.

Two-wheeled bags are still somewhat prone to tipping over, especially if you happen to cross an uneven surface, like a curb. Also, the position of the handle causes your wrist to fatigue very quickly, because it's turned against its natural angle. (I solved that problem by getting a bag with a single extension pole with a rotating handle on top.)

As soon as you experience a four-wheel bag, you realize how much easier it is to maneuver, and the wrist-angle thing is eliminated too. I still have my two-wheel bag because it's perfectly good, but I have been contemplating getting a four-wheel spinner bag, because it would be nice to have something larger for the occasional longer trip.

One of the nicer bags I've seen, as well as one of the lightest, is from Muji, the Japanese purveyors of all sorts of interesting and useful things. Muji's only US stores are in New York and San Francisco, but they have offered online shopping for a while now. They are currently offering 30% off some of their hard-side four-wheeled suitcases: the 27-inch model that usually retails for $198 is currently $138, and the 29-inch is down from $238 to $166. These bags weigh nine and 10 pounds empty, respectively, so you don't have to worry as much about how much weight you are putting inside.

I don't know how long these are going to be discounted; there are other, similar-looking bags on the main luggage page that are not discounted, and are labeled as "new," so it looks like Muji may be clearing out the older stock, and if you're interested you should act quickly.

A Few Notes

1. Okay, winter, that's about enough out of you. Time to go...

2. I've been a little busy managing my eBay auctions. Several items have already sold, though only one (that I'm aware of) as a direct result of my shameless plug the other day. In looking through my stuff, I see that I have a lot more that I can list, so I'll be adding to the list, probably a couple of items each day.

3. Dealing with that stuff, along with spending a chunk of time over the weekend trying to get caught up on Downton Abbey, caused me to forget about TWiA. I guess I'll just hold the stuff I had collected for next weekend.

4. Last night I got to go to a fancy benefit for diabetes research, courtesy of the Boston Restaurant Examiner (who was invited to cover the event, and to bring a guest). We enjoyed samples of healthier food options from nearly two dozen local restaurants and other food vendors, including some delicious desserts, and got to do some fun people-watching too.

5. See #1.

Shameless Plug

If you'll allow me a moment of self-promotion...

I have written here at length about my clothing purchases. For a while I bought things somewhat indiscriminately, and as a result a percentage of those purchases didn't work out for one reason or another. Some items were bought new; others came from eBay. Over the years I have accumulated a number of items that I intended to attempt to resell at some point.

After procrastinating for years, I have finally started to list these items on eBay. If you visit here for any style-related reason, then some of my stuff may be of interest to you, provided you are size-compatible. I'm at the larger end of the clothing size range: I typically wear a 44 jacket, 36 waist pants, 10.5 or 11 shoes (depending on style and brand). For dress shirts I wear a 16 x 34 or 34/35, depending on brand.

I started with the items that I had already taken pictures of in previous half-baked attempts to get this going, and two pieces have already sold (yay!). I still have a number of things I need to photograph, including a few watches that I'm no longer wearing. All auctions are fixed price ("buy it now") and include free Priority Mail shipping, and I am accepting offers on every item. I will be adding to the selection daily, so if anything catches your eye you may want to check back periodically.

Please check out my auctions here. Thanks for your indulgence.

Winter's Leftovers

It's cold out again, but I choose to believe that this winter has breathed its last upon us. Meanwhile, there are still a few space savers scattered around, though they are not being actively used at this point.

This is by far the most interesting object I saw used as a space saver in our neighborhood this winter:

No sign of its sibling, or the device to which it once belonged. How long will it sit on this curb before someone disposes of it, or reclaims it?

Discounts on Boylston

Today is the opening of the Nordstrom Rack store on Boylston Street. I don't typically rush to store openings, but by coincidence I will be in the Back Bay this evening for another event, so I'll probably stop by just to have a look around.

The Rack stores for me are a hit/miss proposition; the only things I've ever bought there are shoe trees, which are generally an excellent deal at around $13 a pair (and sometimes on sale for less). But as is true with all discount shopping, luck and timing can result in good deals. I have seen high-quality shoes from brands like Allen Edmonds that I would have bought if they were my size. I've seen excellent values on clearance suits from brands like Hickey Freeman and Burberry. They have a good selection of reasonably-priced dress shirts and ties if you find yourself in need of such on short notice.

Also, while nothing will ever replace the original Filene's Basement, it's good to see an empty storefront get filled, and once again offer an alternative to the Marshalls across the street.

Shackin'

Hey, guess what's opening a week from today? The new Shake Shack in Chestnut Hill! Which is great, but obviously we're going to need one that's easier to get to, like downtown or Back Bay.

A Pledge to Make Something Better

Hoodies aren't really my thing. I have a couple that I wear mainly around the house or for walking the dog, depending on the weather. But I do care about how and where things are made, and I believe that clothing shouldn't wear out after a year or two of normal use and wear.

If your interests are so aligned, you may want to check out this Kickstarter project offering a 100% American-made hoodie backed with a 10-year guarantee. The amount you need to pledge to get one is $89, which might seem steep, but consider this: the famous gray hoodie that Bill Belichick sports on the sideline costs $75 at the Patriots Pro Shop, and you can be certain those aren't made in the USA. (Plus, you have to cut off the sleeves yourself.)

The people behind this have already raised eight times the funding they were asking for, so you can be confident that the project will go forward. If they were offering a pullover version, I'd be a lot more tempted to get one.

Four Weeks to Go

Check out the official poster for the upcoming sixth season of Mad Men:

(You can see a larger version here.)

Did Don just pass himself? Could that be Peggy over his left shoulder, in the hat? Whose hand is he holding?

By the way, this poster was hand-drawn by a 75-year-old English illustrator who worked in advertising during the era the show depicts.

This Week in Awesome (3/9/13)

I know we've been doing this for several years now, but it still feels very strange to switch to Daylight Saving Time so early in the year. For those of you who don't like the lack of sun in the winter months, today's sunset will be at 6:45 pm in Boston.

This appeals to me on multiple levels: a greyhound named after a Patriots player is tearing it up down in Palm Beach. (The Roosevelts)

Sometimes movie and TV show creators make up products (like the Morley cigarettes in The X-Files). And sometimes these made-up brands end up being celebrated in unusual ways. (Laughing Squid)

Really retro: there was a time when charge account holders at department stores were issued "coins" marked with their account numbers. (Shopping Days in Retro Boston)

And for a corresponding bit of retro-futurism: looking back at past visions of what the future would be like is always interesting. Here's a bit of corporate propaganda produced by General Motors for the 1964 World's Fair. (LS)

And finally this week, National Geographic has started a blog to showcase images from their vast photo archive. (The Verge)

Retro Video Unit (3/8/13)

This is one of those installments where the video isn't anything much (keep in mind it predates MTV), but it's just a song I always liked. This one is definitely obscure, a band from Australia called The Angels, who were known outside their home country as Angel City.

It took me a really long time to track this one down, partly because of the name confusion, and partly because I couldn't recall the name of the song. But I did finally figure it out—it's called "No Secrets."

Brews You Can Use

Related to the previous post: those of you in my general geographic area may want to stop by the Kappy's Liquors in Medford this Saturday. They're hosting a local craft brew tasting from 2 to 5 pm.

Participants include Cambridge Brewing, Somerville Brewing, Night Shift, Idle Hands, Pretty Things, and others.

Welcome to Castle Guinness

It must be getting close to St. Patrick's Day:

Also while at the liquor store, I noticed that Rolling Rock now comes in tallboy cans. Seems like a desperate grab for some of the PBR crowd.

Trying to Buy Locally

I like to support small and local businesses as much as I can, but it isn't always easy, or even possible.

Last week I needed a 22 millimeter wide watch strap. It's not the most common size (those would be 18 and 20 mm) but enough larger watches take them that they aren't that unusual either. I went to the Watch Hospital downtown on Bromfield Street. The spinning rack on the counter contained only the 18 and 20 straps, so when I was asked if I needed help, I said I was looking for a 22. The woman behind the counter said, "We don't have much," reached behind her, and placed a single strap in front of me.

I thought I might have misunderstood her. "This is all you have?" I asked, just to make sure. She said yes. I said thanks and left. I went home and ordered what I needed from an eBay seller I'd purchased from before, Holben's. They're out in Washington, but my order managed to get across the country to me, via first class mail, in two days. (They are currently closed, but I recommend them enthusiastically.)

Then I needed a blue refill for my Pentel EnerGel pen. I had to be downtown again today, so I stopped in at Bromfield Pen, down the block from the Watch Hospital. They don't carry the refills I needed. I walked over to Staples, where I bought the pen last summer. I found a rack with refills for many different brands of pens. I was starting to think they carried everything except what I needed, but then I found them down by the floor, and in two-packs, which is quite sensible.

This Week in Awesome (3/2/13)

Busy day, busy weekend (for us, anyway). But wait, what's that coming over the horizon? TWiA...

Check out this video of an art installation made up of hundreds of clocks. (Laughing Squid)

If you visit Albuquerque, you're going to want to see some of the locations used in Breaking Bad. (Uproxx)

This month's Vanity Fair has a good read on the making of Pulp Fiction.

And finally this week, what happens when you buy a cake pan to make a specific sort of naughty cake (think bachelorette party), then decide you want to get some additional use out of it? (Consumerist)

Buffalo Plaid

A while ago I was scouting eBay for a wool buffalo-plaid "lumberjack shirt," the kind of thing you can use for layering in winter or as a light jacket in spring. The shirts originated with hunters and other outdoorsy people but became popular for everyday wear; Woolrich has been making them for decades.

(Did you know that hunters prefer wool clothing because, unlike synthetic outerwear, it doesn't make noise when moving?)

I couldn't find a shirt that was in good enough condition for a reasonable enough price, so after a while I stopped looking, but I kept the search I'd set up in my saved eBay searches. This fall, J. Crew had a red-and-black buffalo plaid wool shirt in its Wallace & Barnes line. I thought it might be a nice thing to have, and I got a couple of gift cards for Christmas. The shirt went on sale right after Christmas and had an extra discount stacked on top of it, but as is often the case with J. Crew sales, my size was gone almost immediately.

My customer service contact was unable to locate one of the shirts in my size. Weirdly, a couple of weeks later the shirt went back to full price (when something gets marked down at J. Crew, it tends to stay in the sale section until it's gone). Miraculously, all the sizes were back in stock too, but at full price that wasn't helpful to me.

I decided to revisit my eBay search and see if I could find a shirt that way. It took about a month, but I was successful. Since it was sunny and kind of nice yesterday, I hung it outside to air out, something I do with any item I purchase secondhand. I bought a simple hook at the hardware store and screwed it into one of the porch support pillars, so air can circulate all around a garment:

This shirt isn't new, but it's in excellent condition. There are no moth holes, no snags, no tears, no stains or other weirdness. It was well cared for, and, I suspect, worn very little.

Part of the fun with stuff like this is trying to figure out how old it is. It's made in USA, which means it's probably at least 20 years old, but the dark blue "sheep" tag suggests it's older than that, at least from the '80s. (Does anybody remember the Woolrich store on Boylston Street?) There are only six buttons down the front, which makes me think it's from the '70s.

Woolrich sells these shirts for $119 now. They have seven buttons and the pockets are pattern-matched instead of biased like these, but they've also added an ugly light blue cotton lining in the collar, something that has no place on a shirt like this. And they're made in China. (So's the J. Crew shirt, for that matter.)

I paid one-fourth of that for something that is practically new, and will likely last as long as I do. If you want to try to find something similar on eBay, you should also search for other brands like Filson, L.L. Bean, Pendleton, Johnson's Woolen Mills. Or you could structure a search the way I did: casual shirts, 100% wool or wool blend, long sleeve, button front, and then narrow by your preferred size(s) and color(s).

Pricey Time

Have you seen the new line of Swiss-made watches from Fossil? They are very attractive, and Fossil manufactures watches under license for a number of fashion and luxury brands including Burberry, Michael Kors, Skagen, Michele, and others.

The problem is that these watches retail for $900, and that's for a quartz movement. (There is one automatic model at that price.) That's a lot of money for something that most people won't be able to distinguish from a $100 watch you can buy at Macy's. I'm not saying that a brand name is more important than quality, but if you are interested in quality, there are excellent watches that cost significantly less.

One of my favorite under-the-radar watch brands is Christopher Ward, which is based in London. They don't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertising, so that helps them offer their fine watches at lower prices. Here's just one example: automatic movement, display case back, and leather strap with deployment clasp for only $515. I don't own any of these watches, but I would certainly like to someday.

Holes

You all know of my love for doughnuts, so I was excited when I learned a couple of weeks ago of a new doughnut place opening in Somerville's Union Square.

But then I read further. I found out that these are foodie doughnuts, in flavors like chocolate chipotle, hibiscus rose, and maple bacon. Now, I also love bacon, but I don't want it in my doughnut.

I'm sure these people have worked really hard on their place, but these doughnuts aren't for me. I'll stick to the little places around here that make traditional doughnuts: Demet's (on the rare occasions when we're up early enough to get over there before they've sold everything), Kane's (haven't been there in much too long), Lyndell's (had one just last weekend), and the place in a strip mall not far from our house (its name escapes me at the moment) that is somewhat questionably situated next to a Weight Watchers facility.

Two Weeks After

We got a little more snow last night, but with the earlier rain and temperatures around 40 with sun for the past few days, a lot of the snow mass is gone. If it wasn't for the huge mounds of snow plowed into the street corners around my neighborhood, and the banks that still jut out into the street from where people shoveled out their cars, it would look like any other winter with moderate and normal snowfall.

This Week in Awesome (2/23/13)

Some awards show is on tonight. I probably won't watch it.

However, this page has a list of every Best Picture winner since the Oscars began. How many have you seen? How many are movies you wouldn't be the least bit interested in seeing?

This... is the sort of thing that most people would not find interesting or amusing, but I do.

The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is getting a light installation that's going to be really cool, and I hope I'll have a chance to go see it in person. (Laughing Squid)

There are many ways to screw things up; this site attempts to chronicle them visually. (You can navigate through the images by using the left and right arrows on your keyboard, or if you click on the image, arrows appear at the bottom of the screen.)

And finally this week, here is the full performance of David Bowie's "Sound And Vision" by Beck, accompanied by 170 musicians and choir singers. (I apologize for the fact that this is sort of a marketing tie-in, but it's still worth seeing.) If you are feeling more adventurous, there's also a link on this page to the 360-degree "experience" version of the performance, which involves using motions of your head and your computer's webcam to control the camera angles.

Retro Video Unit (2/22/13)

Yup, I forgot again—sort of. I was looking around late last night for a clip and couldn't find what I wanted, it was getting late and I gave up, then forgot to go back to it today. So I'm using this video of the Boston band The Neats that my good friend Dr. Hackenbush found and sent to me just today. Thanks, Doc. Oh, it's 12 minutes long, but don't let that stop you—it's worth it.

Ginger Beer for Grownups

Last night I was at Cornwall's in Kenmore Square to sample Crabbie's Ginger Beer, an adult beverage that is quite popular in the UK and is making inroads here.

It's made from a beer base that has ginger and spices steeped in it for several weeks, giving it a distinctive and satisfying flavor. It's not especially sweet, and can be enjoyed over ice with a twist of lime, or in cocktails.

We tasted Crabbie's on its own, and sampled three different drinks made with it: a Ginger Buck (made with gin), a Moscow Mule (vodka), and a Dark & Crabbie (Gosling's dark rum). I have never cared much for gin, and the vodka drink was all right, but the rum combination is a natural match for the ginger and spices in Crabbie's, and I could see this being quite a nice summer drink.

(Full disclosure: the drink samples were provided by the distributor, and we also ordered food, which we planned on paying for ourselves, but it turned out to be complimentary as well.)

Freaky

Did you ever have a dream where you're speaking a foreign language that you don't know in your actual awake life?

Storefronts

We briefly went to the Northshore Mall today. I hadn't been there in a while, and I noticed a couple of changes. There's now an Orvis, which, combined with the one in Dedham, explains why the Quincy Market location is being closed. They do seem like a store with more of a suburban clientele anyway, and if someone in the city wants to buy a Barbour coat, they can go to the Barbour store on Newbury Street, or North River Outfitter on Charles.

Also, Brooks Brothers moved from its location next to Macy's to a two-level space adjacent to Nordstrom. I believe the space was formerly occupied by a dark, dull Zara for what seemed like about fifteen minutes. It has been transformed into a much brighter and more pleasant environment. There's a lot more room in this store, and the displays are able to take better advantage of that space.

The former Brooks location has been taken over by a Newbury Comics, which moved from a small strip-mall storefront a short way down the road from the mall. It's funny to see it situated between Macy's and Talbots, but in recent years Newbury has been transforming itself into something of a pop-culture department store, so it makes a certain sense. They carry a lot more clothing now, with emphasis on streetwear and skate brands as well as a generous selection of local sports team gear. Kids still spend plenty of time hanging out at the mall, so I'm sure there's enough foot traffic.

In other retail news, the Nordstrom Rack that is coming to Boylston Street in the former Filene's Basement space will be open within a month's time—I believe March 14th is the date I read.

This Week in Awesome (2/16/13)

Tomorrow: Bugs Bunny festival at the Brattle Theater...

Jimmy Fallon released the latest in the ongoing saga of Downton Sixbey.

I can identify only about a quarter of the movies referenced in this poster, but I didn't spend long looking at it. (Laughing Squid)

I don't really know how to describe this, but I do know that Lizzy Caplan is delightful, and I like it. (The Hairpin)

This week's time-lapse: stars over Death Valley. (Boing Boing via Laughing Squid)

And finally this week, a treatment for an affliction that affects thousands in areas like Brooklyn, Somerville, and Los Feliz. (Tastefully Offensive)

Retro Video Unit (2/15/13)

It seems that I forgot about this in the run-up to last week's storm, so I'll feature one today and one next Friday to get back on my arbitrary, self-imposed schedule.

I've posted a video by The Church before, but this is the song most people think of first when the band is mentioned, "Under The Milky Way." They are so much more than just this one song, but if this is how they are known/remembered, I don't mind.

Tweedy

I don't wear a lot of browns, but they are useful. Corduroy or moleskin pants, tweed jackets, boots—all look good in shades of brown and coordinate well with clothing in other colors.

I've had this sweater for well over a decade, maybe closer to 15 years. It's from the Macy's house brand Club Room. I was attracted to it because of the tweedy weave, with the variations in hues woven into it. (I know it looks sort of gray in this picture, but that's just my camera—it's definitely brown.)

The elbow patches were not original; I wore the sweater a lot, and holes developed in the elbows, so the Mrs. added the patches. Now you see this on sweaters all the time.

I've gone to pretty much all V-neck sweaters now, because I prefer that look, but I held onto this one because I liked it so much, and because I figured I'd never find anything similar enough to it. Until this fall that was true, but then a tweedy V-neck showed up at Club Monaco.

Not that long ago, there weren't even any Club Monaco stores in the US. The chain originated in Canada, and even after they opened stores here, the clothes they sold were a slightly more Eurofied iteration of Banana Republic. But a couple of years ago a new design director came in, and their style has shifted toward a decidedly more J. Crew aesthetic.

I'd still never bought anything there, and had only been in the Prudential Center store one or two times, finding nothing of interest. But I checked their website every once in a while, just so I'd have an idea of what they were offering, and that's where I saw this sweater:

It's a shade lighter than the old crewneck, but otherwise it's very similar, right down to the nubs of different-shaded yarns woven into the main color. There was also a dark brown version that went on sale almost immediately, but I had to wait three months for this one to get marked down, and then wait a little longer for CM to offer an extra 30% off sale merchandise, which brought it down to around half of its original price.

It doesn't have any elbow patches, but the Mrs. is going to add them.

Early Awakening

Our entire household was rudely awakened at 4:30 this morning by loud noise in the street. It sounded like heavy equipment, and then there was the telltale beeping of a piece of machinery in reverse.

We got up to investigate, and it turned out the city was out clearing the storm drains and fire hydrants. A good idea, but did it need to be done predawn? I guess some people are pulling in some overtime.

The dog was the most upset by the disturbance. Truck engines still remind her of her many trips to the dog track, and this prolonged noise (at least five minutes) had her edgy and pacing around. Eventually they moved on and we all got back to sleep.

Snow Shots

After the snowstorm was over, we had to begin the task of clearing the snow. On Saturday the objective was simply to clear the front steps and carve a path out to the street, mainly so we could walk the dog. I also made a path along the sidewalk in both directions.

On Sunday we needed to dig out the driveway so we could use the car:

You can just see the nose of the car at the left edge of this picture, to give you an idea of how much we had to clear. After about an hour and 15 minutes, we were halfway done. At that point, a group of several teenagers with shovels came by looking to make some money, and asked us if we wanted help. We quickly agreed on what we would pay them and how much they would do for that amount, and they got to work:

It took them only about 20 minutes to finish. The result:

And all that snow had to go somewhere. This is only a small portion of it:

Overheard: Lesson Learned Edition

At the theater last night, before the show started, three women in the row behind us were chatting and facebooking on their phones and such, then one said, "I just want to double-check that this is off. I don't want to be that person...again. Last week I was at a funeral and my phone rang."

Digging Out

So the Blizzard of '13 (let's hope it's the only one) has come and gone. We never lost power, which is a relief. The official snowfall total at Logan Airport is 24.9 inches, ranking it at #5.

We seem to have gotten more than that here in Medford; when I finished clearing our front steps, I got a tape measure and the trough I had dug was 30 inches deep. There's also some drifting in our back yard that probably exceeds four feet in a couple of places.

The snow wasn't as heavy as I expected, but there's so much of it that I had to work on it in small sections. When clearing the snow from around our house, I normally try to remove as much as possible, but dealing with 30 inches of snow, even six linear inches at a time, is a daunting task.

Today I dug a path out to the street so the dog could finally be walked again, then worked in both directions to the adjacent property lines. All that took two hours. It's kind of cool to have a path that's only a shovel wide with these walls of snow on either side. I wanted to keep going, but I was worn out.

I didn't bother digging out the car yet, because we didn't need to go anywhere. Tomorrow is supposed to be sunny and somewhat less frigid, so we will work on clearing the driveway then. At some point we will also need to clear a path to the back door, but at the moment it's easier to use just the front door.

Also, our next-door neighbor is ill, and if no one else has cleared the sidewalk in front of their house by tomorrow, we will take care of it for them.

Stocked Up and Ready

Well, we got back from the market about an hour ago, and we are definitely not the only people who waited until today to get provisions. But it was much less nutty than the reports from yesterday; it took less than five minutes to check out, and we were able to get everything we wanted/needed.

Some of the shelves were empty—there wasn't a lot of bread left, and the yogurt section was kind of decimated. Why yogurt? Don't know.

Bring on the storm...

PS: Snowstorms have names now? Weird.

Here It Comes

I haven't been anywhere, but I guess my brain has been elsewhere... so, we have a big snowstorm bearing down on us, the first major one in at least a couple of years. People typically rush to the supermarket to stock up on food and whatever else they might need, resulting in long checkout lines and empty shelves.

The Mrs. was in class all day and evening, so we didn't do that today. We didn't do it Wednesday evening either. We have enough of the basics: milk, bread, coffee and cream, and toilet paper. But there's still time; the snow will start tomorrow morning, but it will be falling lightly during the daytime. We can head to our closest store around 9 am and still be fine.

Today happens to be the 35th anniversary of the Blizzard of '78, the winter storm to which all other winter storms in this area are inevitably compared. It started on a Monday afternoon, and our street did not get plowed until some time on Thursday, and then only because my father, who was on the police department at the time and working double shifts, talked someone from the National Guard into coming down our street with a plow. We were out of school for a full week.

It seems unthinkable now that a storm could leave the region so paralyzed, but back then the forecasting equipment was not nearly as sophisticated as it is now, and if I remember correctly there was some confusion as to how severe the storm would actually be, and the warnings of a major snow event were not heeded by some. So much snow ended up falling so quickly that almost every road became impassable, and clearing even major roads took several days.

(Archival material I've seen since posting this affirms that the area of Rhode Island I lived in at the time received at least 30 inches of snow.)

After we get our provisions, we don't need to leave the house again (except for walking the dog) until Sunday, when we have tickets for the evening performance of The Glass Menagerie at the American Repertory Theater in Cambridge.

Warm Hands

I don't spend all my time searching for American-made products, but I do like to know about them. One source for a lot of interesting stuff, both from the USA and elsewhere, is Kaufmann Mercantile.

KM puts a lot of thought into the products it chooses to sell; a look at any of their product description pages will confirm this. Some items are pricey, but others are quite reasonably priced.

A recent email from them highlighted ragg wool gloves made in upstate New York by one of the few remaining glove manufactures in the USA. I used to have these in college and I liked them, but I have to be honest: they are more effective when it isn't super cold out, unless they happen to also be insulated.

Still, I find them appealing in the way that simple, old-fashioned things often are, especially the ones with leather palms. The KM gloves have those (deerskin, actually) and they come in the traditional marled oatmeal color with tan leather, or in marled dark gray with black leather. And they cost only $22 a pair, which is a huge bargain in my view. They are available sized for men and women (though the lighter-colored women's gloves are sold out at the moment).

KM has other American-made gloves available, like these deerskin gloves and these wool-lined leather gloves. And they're also carrying my favorite winter hat, the Michigan-made Stormy Kromer.

Overheard: Career Conflict Edition

While walking past the deli counter at the supermarket, I overheard this, clearly from a supervisor to an employee: "What are you smiling about? You're not a male model, you're a deli guy. So quit smiling and get moving."

This Week in Awesome (2/2/13)

It's snowing again, but barely enough to cover the sidewalks. I can get behind this concept...

I bet you saw this already, but I don't care; thematically, it's a must-link. (GQ Eye)

Do you watch movies and TV shows and think, "I wonder where they filmed that?" Here you go. (Laughing Squid)

You can now buy a die-cast replica of a Green Line trolley car (though it seems outrageous to me that, for $30, you're getting only half a trolley). But the real fun comes from imagining what to do with these things. (Dig Boston via Universal Hub)

And finally this week, two more Downton Abbey spoofs. (Videogum; Yahoo! Sketchy)

Inside Info?

Does being a fictional TV character give you access to inside information about the future plot direction of other TV shows?

During last night's 30 Rock finale, Liz Lemon, trying to talk Jack Donaghy out of killing himself (which he wasn't going to do anyway), yells to him: "Don't you want to know how Mad Men ends? Don goes to work for Peggy!" However, it was kind of hard to hear this because the background music was a little too foreground (a problem with a lot of TV shows), and at that point Liz was sort of shrieking; I had to go back and listen to the line three or four more times to decipher exactly what she was saying.

But what's interesting about the scenario Liz described (to me, anyway) is that it's been in my mind for some time as a possible ending for Mad Men. It's not entirely outside the realm of possibility (though I acknowledge that a great many things would have to happen), and it would probably be about the worst possible situation for someone like Don Draper.

Don't expect Matthew Weiner to have any sort of comment on this...

Shut It Down

After seven seasons and around 130 episodes (edit: Tina Fey says 140, so I'll go with her number), 30 Rock says goodbye tonight with a one-hour episode (8 pm Eastern on NBC). I have loved this show since it premiered in 2006, and my sadness at its end is something I don't usually experience with TV shows, regardless of how good they are.

Tina Fey and the other writers conjured an alternate-universe NBC full of crazy shows and crazier characters that somehow seemed like it was real, or at least could be real. My favorite moments include the two live episodes from seasons five and six, any episode with Liz's clueless ex-boyfriend Dennis Duffy, and the many appearances by NBC News's Brian Williams.

Last year I rewatched all of seasons one through five in order (the show airs in syndication on many channels) and I will probably do it all over again at some point, adding seasons six and seven (it's also on Netflix streaming). To me it's just that funny; I'll never get tired of it, and it will likely end up as one of my top five all-time favorite TV shows. (I think Liz would approve.)

There's been a LOT written about the show in the weeks leading up to its finale (a lengthy list is here), more than one could hope to get through in a reasonable amount of time, but you could do worse than reading these appreciations from Vulture's Matt Seitz and HitFix's Alan Sepinwall, and then take a spin with the Jack Donaghy Insult Generator.

Overheard: Wild Kingdom Edition

On the Orange Line: "Downtown, in front of where the Borders useta be, I saw a seagull eat a dead sparrow...whole."

Food Stuff

I got an email from someone at Shake Shack thanking me for mentioning them in my bit from last month about eating in Manhattan. Not necessary at all, but nice of them. They also reminded me that they are coming to the Boston area (Chestnut Hill) later this year.

Also, the Mrs. has been waiting years for California-based See's Candies to open a permanent store in this area. The seasonal stores and carts in malls are nice, but we would like to be able to buy their dark chocolate nuts and chews assortment and walnut square bars year-round without having to order by mail. Well, according to the See's website, a store is opening Friday in the Natick Mall, and also one in Providence Place on the same day. Yay!

The Hunt Is On

I haven't had an item of clothing to obsess over for a while, so I guess I was due. The other day I was downtown and went into Macy's to poke around, something I do maybe two or three times a year these days. This is a good time to check out clearance stuff, so that was enough of an excuse.

The clearance dress shirts were stocked standing up in boxes, arranged by neck size. I found a very nice Ralph Lauren shirt in gray end-on-end fabric, one of my favorites for dress shirts and in a color I could use. EOE fabric has tiny alternating lines of colored and white threads that you can see by looking at it really closely, but when viewed from a few feet away it appears as a textured solid.

Ralph's dress shirts fit me very nicely, and this one also had a spread collar, which is my preference for dress shirts, partly because it looks more dressed-up, and partly because the collar and knot of the tie form a sort of horizontal counterpoint to my longish, oval face. Most men's style advice I've seen says that a spread collar looks good on just about any man, and if you look at dressed-up guys on TV or even on the street you'll see that this tends to be accurate.

Unfortunately I could only find the shirt in neck sizes 17 and 17-1/2. I still wear a 16 after all these years, so I'll have to keep looking. At the clearance price it's worth it to expend some effort checking other Macy's stores that are T accessible. And it's something to do with my copious free time...

This Week in Awesome (1/26/13)

I like it when we get only a fraction of an inch of snowfall and I can clear it with a push broom. Much easier than shoveling...

Remember the '80s? Remember the TV commercials? Want to get lost for nearly an hour? (Smash TV via Laughing Squid)

MBTA riders have to be able to laugh at their commuting misadventures, or they'd never be able to leave their houses. (Universal Hub)

Ladies, these are just for you: special products for women, here and here. (Yahoo! Screen; Funny or Die)

And finally this week, BU Today looks at how Kenmore Square has changed. The slide show moves way too quickly, but all the images in it are also available on this page, and are much larger anyway. (Universal Hub)

Retro Video Unit (1/25/13)

As I was prowling around YouTube looking for clips, I was thinking about how so many of the songs I liked from back in the late 1970s did not have official videos, but often I will find vintage footage of live performances from back when the music was new.

I started thinking about Boston bands, and before long I found this clip of the legendary (to us locals, anyway) Neighborhoods performing both sides of their 1979-ish single, "Prettiest Girl" and "No Place Like Home." I still have this 45, packed away with all my vinyl.

Medical Advice

Yesterday I saw a podiatrist. X-rays were taken which showed the presence of a small heel spur, confirming that the pain is, as suspected, due to plantar fascitis. But the small size of the spur means it hasn't progressed far and is still manageable.

I already know the basic parameters of what I need to be doing: ice, not heat; various stretching exercises; heel cushion inserts for my shoes; and wearing shoes with a defined heel. In other words, flatter shoes are bad. I spend the summer in boat shoes and flat-soled sneakers like Vans, so I may have contributed to this unknowingly.

For people whose pain does not get better, the podiatrist typically recommends physical therapy, and if that doesn't help, a cortisone injection. I hope my situation does not progress to that point. I just want to be able to walk with as little pain as possible.

Overheard: Go (Insert Team Name Here) Edition

I was standing near a guy whose phone rang, but his ringtone was the music Fox uses during its NFL broadcasts.

Coming Soon

Attention Mad Men fans: AMC has announced that the sixth season will premiere on Sunday, April 7th. Like last year, two episodes will air that night. I don't care for this practice, as it effectively shortens the show's season by a week, but TV programmers seem to favor it.

For whatever reason, season five has not yet made its way to Netflix streaming, but AMC already runs episodes from earlier seasons early on Sunday mornings, so they will undoubtedly be showing last season again for those still catching up, or just wanting to watch them again.

Meal Planning

We're being careful about our expenses, so last week we stocked up at the grocery store, and over the weekend we made a bunch of food.

On Saturday I made meat loaf using a stupidly easy recipe from a Boston Globe cookbook published in the 1980s. It works nicely with a blend of ground beef and pork, and the market conveniently sells a package of the two combined. For me the whole point of making meatloaf is to have meatloaf sandwiches, which taste best the next day, after the loaf has been refrigerated, on good bread.

On Sunday I made chicken breasts, cut them up, and threw them together with tortellini and some cheese and olive oil. I then added pantry items we had on hand: a can of olives, a jar of artichoke hearts. We also had some grape tomatoes, so I put those in too. You can also make this with pre-cooked sausage like Trader Joe's (most markets carry some version of it) instead of the chicken.

Yesterday the Mrs. baked chicken thigh pieces that she had marinated overnight in the refrigerator. We'll be having those tonight with salad and some broccoli. Now we basically have enough food prepared for the rest of this week. Next week we'll shop again, and I'll make another batch of slow-cooker chili, which I've been perfecting for the past several months.

This Week in Awesome (1/19/12)

Got it posted on Saturday! (slow clap) Anyway...

Remember when you used to have to leave your house to play video games? Here's a very interesting article on the history of video arcades. (The Verge via The Awl)

Who'd have thought termites would lead to these compelling photo opportunities? (Wired via Laughing Squid)

This video surely inspired Jimmy Fallon's "found footage" of a video dating service, and possibly also the "Lowered Expectations" running bit on MADtv. (The Daily What)

And finally this week, as 30 Rock nears its final episode, take a look back at some of the show's best jokes (Rolling Stone; hat tip to Dr. H), and then check out Tina Fey's thoughts about Twitter.

Start Your Engines

Great news for all you Top Gear fans: the new series (season to us Yanks) starts on BBC Two on January 27th, which is a week from tomorrow. I know a lot of people torrent the shows illegally right after they air, but according to Jalopnik, these episodes will air on BBC America a mere eight days after they've aired in the UK. I'm pretty sure that's the shortest gap yet between British and American airings.

I (along with many other people) have long wondered why it typically takes such a long time for the new episodes to make their way across the Atlantic, so let's hope this is how things are going to work from now on. If you have BBCA, look for the first episode of Series 19 on Monday, February 4th.

Also, to be fair, Top Gear USA returns to History Channel (?) on Tuesday, January 29th. We all know it isn't as good, but it still has its moments.

Advice

When the doorbell rings and you aren't expecting anyone, it's probably better just to not answer it, especially if you're still in a bathrobe and haven't showered yet.

Say It With Beer

I just saw this picture on Inside Medford. While I'm not as big a fan of Kappy's as I used to be (and certainly no fan of "Pissweiser"), I have to give them credit for effort.

(Picture copied from Inside Medford)

Walk Safely

I just did a bizarre and rather obsessive-compulsive thing.

Today's snow was soft and slushy. We got only about an inch, and by the time I went out to clear it around 10 am, it came off the sidewalk easily, leaving no residue behind. A little later it warmed up a bit, the snow changed to rain, and some of it even started to melt.

Now, though, it's starting to cool down again, and anything left on the walks is going to freeze overnight. I just came back from walking the dog, and the business that occupies the corner lot two buildings down from us had plowed their parking area as they always do, but they left the sidewalk untouched, along with an area at the back of their property on the side street.

I walk along these places with the dog one or two times each day, and given that she's getting older, she's been having a little trouble on the slippery spots. After the last storm there were some icy patches that didn't go away until this past Monday, so after I finished walking her I put her back in the house, grabbed my shovel (which was conveniently still on the back porch where I'd left it this morning), and went over to the corner and cleared the slushy areas around the business's lot. I didn't do it just for me and the dog; I also did it for the dozens of people who walk around here every day.

Foot Relief?

Over the weekend I was talking with a friend I hadn't seen in a while, and somehow the subject of plantar fascitis came up. Turns out he's had it in both feet, but he went to a podiatrist and got orthotic inserts for his shoes, so this seems like a logical move for me as well.

Last Week in Awesome (1/12/13)

I had everything ready for this, but totally forgot about it until I was getting ready to go to bed last night. Oh well...

This is the intersection of design-nerd and car-nerd interests. (Curbside Classic)

This week's time-lapse: building a bridge. (Berkeleyside)

A misheard lyric in a song (" 'scuse me while I kiss this guy," etc.) is known as a "mondegreen." but what about when a song references something you just aren't familiar with? (Mental Floss via Blogfood)

And finally this week, last week Jimmy Kimmel Live moved to its earlier time slot right after the local news, but there was some confusion along the way.

Retro Video Unit (1/11/13)

I heard this while in the car a week or so ago, and it's one of those songs that instantly takes me back to when it was first released as a single in late 1979. At the time I was mainly listening to WBCN, because it was one of the only stations playing the new, different, and interesting music that I craved. But talent is talent, and "Heartbreaker" is the kind of song that forces you to notice it.

It's that voice. At the time, I had never heard a female singer with a voice like Pat Benatar's, except maybe Ann Wilson of Heart. It still kind of amazes me when I hear it. And that's one of the things that remains so thrilling about music—the power of a voice, and the sense of discovery.

(Oh, and Pat just celebrated her 60th birthday on Thursday.)

As is frequently the case with songs from this era, there's no official video that I could locate, but there are several live performances from around the time her first album came out, so I decided to feature a couple of them:

Today's Weirdness

I usually take the dog for her afternoon walk between 2 and 3 pm, and that seems to be when things happen around here. The day after our encounter with the National Grid guy, a police officer stopped to see if I had seen a seeing-eye dog that had escaped from its owner nearby. (I never heard anything more about that, so I don't know how it turned out.)

Today as we were out on our walk, a guy came down the street on rollerblades... being pulled by two huskies at a decent clip, in the middle of the street. A couple of minutes later they passed us again, going back in the direction they'd originally come from. I don't usually take my phone with me when I walk the dog, but I really wish I'd had it with me today so I could have taken a picture.

Linens & Domestics

I was just changing the bed, and since I had pulled out the down comforter in haste when I was sick a couple of weeks ago, I'd put it on the bed without its cover, so I took that out too.

The cover is bright red, with variegated stripes in several colors: pink, orange, white, green, turquoise, and blue. It came from Target, and we have a set of sheets that goes with it, but those were at the bottom of the plastic bin where we store our sheets, so I chose another set, in a lighter green organic cotton with a vine pattern.

The Mrs. saw me stuffing the comforter into its cover and said, "That doesn't go with the sheets."

I replied, "Don't care." She was surprised. "You don't care?"

My reasoning: it's a bed, not an outfit. It's not being photographed for a shelter magazine, so it doesn't need to look perfectly matched, just be clean and comfortable. There is a bit of green in the cover, and it's not that far off from the green of the sheets, but... whatever.

The Sale Game

At this time of year, there are a lot of good clearance sales and extra discounts going on, and you can pick up sweaters and things that you'll make use of right away and for the next couple of months (although the way things are going with weather patterns, that may not continue to be the case).

The trick to these sales is finding the things you want in your size and/or color. I got three J. Crew gift cards over the holidays, and I've had my eye on a couple of items. I've had a contact in customer service for a couple of years who is usually able to locate items in my size, even if they have sold out online. Last week I wanted to take advantage of the extra 30% off sale items, so I emailed him, but he was unable to find either item.

The extra discount went away for a couple of days but came back this week and will be around through next weekend. Typically the sale section gets restocked every few days, as items get returned and added back into inventory. Yesterday I lucked out and was able to order one thing I wanted, a pair of shearling-lined chukka boots. But online shopping can be iffy about inventory levels, and until I get the email confirming that the shoes have shipped, the order could still be canceled. Meanwhile I'm still checking daily to see if the other item I want reappears in my size.

Update, 1:20 pm: And the shipping confirmation just came through...

Existential Delivery

I'm not sure which is more disappointing: a day with no mail, or a day when every piece of mail we receive goes directly into the recycling.

This Week in Awesome (1/5/13)

No wait, I really do have TWiA this week, honest... well, it's after midnight Sunday, but I say it still counts.

These illustrations of cities without lights are very cool. (The Daily What)

Do you have a "first-world problem"? Help is here.

This was bouncing around the Mrs.' facebook the other day, so you may have already seen it, but someone was kind enough to provide a link to a static page that got picked up on Universal Hub: one crucial difference between New York and Boston.

Who says blind people can't take photographs? (Laughing Squid via Photojojo)

And finally this week, your New Year's Eve could not have been worse than this disastrous live TV broadcast on a Los Angeles-area station. Keep in mind, this is just an edited version of a few of the, um, highlights? (Grantland)

Hang It Up

Wire hangers have faded from common use (aside from when you get your clothing back from a dry cleaner). But I'm no fan of plastic hangers either. Several years back I replaced my plastic shirt hangers with wooden ones. I bought them in boxes of 20 at Bed Bath and Beyond. They still carry them, but they aren't as good a deal now; I think they come in packages of six or 12.

If you live in the vicinity of an Ocean State Job Lot store, there's a much better deal available to you. They have wooden hangers for 50 cents each, which is about what I paid per hanger for my first couple of batches from BB&B. These don't have a crossbar, so they might not work so well for heavier outerwear, but if you stick to using them for shirts and light jackets, they will do just fine.

Yesterday I discovered an even better deal at Job Lot: suit hangers. Suit jackets and sportcoats should be hung on wider hangers to preserve the shape at the shoulders and keep the jacket draped properly. Several of my sportcoats are vintage items I found on eBay, and a couple of my suits were bought online, so none of them came with hangers. Even if you buy a suit from a department store, there's no guarantee you'll get an appropriate hanger with it. You might have to ask for it, or you may be told it's store policy to keep the hangers.

What you want is a hanger that flares out toward the ends to at least a couple of inches wide. A bar for holding trousers is also nice. OSJL has hangers like this for only $2.25 each. I've been looking for such hangers for a while now; the best price I've been able to find online is $6 each for ones without a crossbar, $7 each with the bar, from a site called Wooden Hangers USA. I was about to place an order from them, and while the hangers I found yesterday may not be as durable, the lower cost is much better for my wallet at the moment. I grabbed half a dozen, and I may go back for more if needed.

Wasted Paper

The phone books started showing up on steps and porches around my neighborhood this week. It happens every year, and since there are several different ones, it will go on for a while. This is so stupid and wasteful, plus it puts the burden of disposal on the recipients.

In 2013 printed phone books are unnecessary for most people, and it's rather surprising that these companies spend the money to compile and print something that few people want or need. I remember reading about a city out west (maybe Seattle?) that passed a law that residents had to be offered the option to opt out of receiving phone books. This is incredibly sensible, and seems like something that might also be handled by a state's department of consumer affairs.

Dog Tales

After it snows, there is ample evidence of the number of dogs in our neighborhood. Of course, our dog insists on stopping to sniff every single yellow spot left by the other dogs, because they're right on the surface and therefore that much more accessible. It's not such a big deal when it's 30 degrees, but on a night like this when the temperature is flirting with 10, it can be a comfort issue. The dog doesn't seem to notice the cold; she still wants her outside time.

Also, when I was out with the dog this afternoon, a man driving a National Grid van stopped to ask me about an address. He then told me I was going to heaven because I had adopted a greyhound. That wasn't among our motivations at the time, but I'll take it.

Holiday Thoughts

Happy new year, everyone. Just a couple of quick bits before I return to my day of torpor...

For New Year's Eve TV broadcasts, nothing can beat Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin on CNN. She spends the entire time trying to embarrass and befuddle him, and he tries to deflect by repeating, "I don't know what you're talking about." It's loose and unscripted, the opposite of the canned revelry on the major network shows.

Also, if you're a fan of the amazing FX series Louie, there's an excellent piece on New York magazine's Vulture blog about this year's season finale, which aired in September and was called "New Year's Eve." (If you aren't caught up on Louie, you probably shouldn't read it.)