Moon Boots

I have neglected the theme of my blog for, well, almost all of my posts. You may not have picked up that my blog was originally intended to feature bad taste but I ended up posting on stuff I thought was cool. Well, now, after +40 posts, I'm finally picking up where I intended this blog to go. I present you:

Brooks Brothers offers these on their online store. I'm not really sure who would wear these. Hipsters? Astronauts? Mountain climbers? They seem to be something one would order from Sierra Trader's in order to climb Everest. I can't imagine them being worn for any other purpose. Would you wear these? Would you wear these is you were older than 50? Would you wear these if you just need a warm boot to walk your dog in? Would you wear these with green eggs and ham? I would not wear these Sam I am.

Parting thoughts: Postal Service - good lyrics = Owl City

Decisions, decisions...

When it comes to bags, I'm not the first to get a tote. They look cool and all but I like to ride my bike, a lot. This pretty much rules out getting a tote, so I do enjoy looking out for backpacks. I, after a year of using a crappy backpack I found in the attic, am finally getting a new bag. Now, surprisingly, there are a lot of (hip?) bags out there. Backpacks are apparently making a comeback (see Selectism) after getting the school boy label for a year or two. I'm game for a nice canvas bag, and here are some options. From an affordability stand-point, only two of these bags make the cut. But one can dream, right?

Dropped by Nonnative, this Mountaineer Daypack might be my favorite pack. It looks like an Orvis or Filson backpack, but lacks the structure, which I think sends a nice disheveled message. The quality should be good, you're paying a nice hefty sum of £315. That's $522. I think I'd rather not take out a loan for my college books, thanks.

Gotta' love red. This pack by Master-Piece would really make my jean jacket pop but I can't say that a rucksack has ever been good as a bookpack. It's cool, but once again the price tag, at $307, sends me packing.

Oh, now this is cool. Utilitarian, rugged, and just plain old simple: this bag kills. You have to love what Kanken has done here. I only have a 15" laptop but you can fit up to a 17" laptop in it. Given my tendency to carry around everything that I might need (Chapstick? Yeah, that's a little girly), I'll need the extra 2". At $99, it's the right price.

This Penfield backpack, while really cool, is a bit bold in my tastes. Penfield blanket print seems like it might be a bit of a fad. The indian print looks great on blankets, but I feel that 2 or 3 years down the road the backpack might feel fadish and contrived. But than again, at $99 it's certainly not breaking the bank. I could go for this pack, but my first pick would definitely be the Kanken.

Minnehaha

Keeping posts uniform while having your HTML screw everything up gets difficult. I have been lazy cleaning up as of late and hope that won't happen again. Anyway, thought I'd share a company based out of Minnesota, although outsources to China. Minnehaha makes bike bags that hang around the back of your bike seat. The shown model is $69.97, cheap for a bike specific bag. The construction is excellent, made of thick double layered cloth and supported with a wood bar. The straps are made of good leather that have aged well for me. There are a few problems: you can't fit a two liter in there and the buckle holes are too tight to strap the buckle in at first but break in with time. You can waterproof you bag with different treatments but avoid oils, as they can ruin the leather. They're good cheap bags but that's because they're made in China. I would advise a purchase if you ride a bike that needs a small bag and you're OK with outsourced products.

Parting thoughts: This post got me thinkin' it's time to bike before it gets too cold.

MASH SF Jonathan Burkett 2007 from MASH TRANSIT PRODUCTIONS on Vimeo.

Snow?

It's November. I demand snow by December. That way I can go snowboarding by the time I'm back home for the Holidays.

Also: Shampoo daily? Or every other day?

VG Early Season Shit: Volume II from VIDEOGRASS on Vimeo.

Reeboks?

The white sneaker is a staple. GQ endorses it, ACL endorses it, hell, the kid down the street does too. Of course when winter rolls around, the dirty sneakers get put in the closet. White sneakers, be they canvas or leather, just aren't built to stand up to snow and keep your feet warm. Winter has traditionally been reserved for the boot. While I love boots, they can sometimes be too heavy on those days between the first snow and an actual snow base. On these days I go for *drumroll*... my Reebok Workout Mids.

"Why would you wear these?" you ask. "They'll get filthy in winter, they don't look like something a skinny jeans/button-up guy would wear, and you certainly don't play basketball. These are actually the most comfortable shoes I wear and they are indeed filthy. Unlike a Vans or Sperry, you certainly can't wear this shoe with shorts and without socks (should go without saying). I bought these off final-score.com last year for $29.99. Sorting through the perpetually bad sneakers, mostly rejects from the sneaker freaks, I found these. They don't scream "awesome" but when I read the comments I was hooked. One man said he had been wearing these for the past 10 years working at a Ford factory. Another said that they wore these when working on his garbage truck. Being a person that thinks workwear is pretty cool (like 90% of other bloggers, right?), I purchased these even though these were made in Indonesia. While they look very silly during the first few wears, once they brown, they look as loved as your first pair of Chucks. They're killer, in my opinion, and I'd be interested to see if anyone else owns pieces of clothing that are not typical ACL wear. Non-blogged items can add so much character to your wardrobe, and while it's shallow, set your apart from the crowd.

LL Bean Trim Fit

Wrinkle-free shirts have been given a terrible rap as gross and chemically. While it is true that some have been irreversibly altered, for some shirts you can wash the chemicals out. For example, this LLBean trim fit will be soft and chemical-less in about 7-8 washes. Having worn two of these for both years of prep school, I can attest for their quality. They don't fit super slim as they fit similar to Brooks Brother's slim fit. I certainly don't swim in them. And really, for $29.50, you won't worry when you eat spaghetti sauce. I would recommend at least getting one and remember, frumpy takes time.

Being a college cross country runner, I drink a lot of Gatorade. It was probably cooler when it was out of a glass bottle.