bag balm

In 1899, John L. Norris bought the formula for Bag Balm from its original creator in Wells River, Vermont. The salve was created to soften cow udders, and it works.

Tins come in a few sizes. Comedy unintended use, bicycle saddle sore...

miller time

'If you've got the time, we've got the beer.'
I think I even remember this ad... grandpa. Def' remember the skiing one.

comes a time to fight for farmers

Op-ed by Neil Young in the Boston Globe today.

Image by moonbug.

bookshelf -beady bear

Beady Bear learns that bears really live in caves so he trundles off...

This Don Freeman (of Corduroy fame) book is a good one to read dealing with seperation and friendship (and caves are always scary). Nice woodblocks.

full breakfast

Big flickr set by lomokev. I know what I am doing for dinner now...

This gent, Kevin Meredith, also has a lomo how-to-and-other book, Hot Shots (out now in the US, thx Kevin), as well as a bit of a following it seems.

Regarding the fry ups...going to recycle here...
"The fried English breakfast was conceived during the Industrial Revolution as a form of fast fuel for a working class that actually worked. They ate 3,000 calories in the morning, then they burnt 3,000 calories by lunchtime. Or died when the mine collapsed." Further reading.

mt baker banked slalom 2009

The Mount Baker Banked Slalom was 2 weeks ago, and is one event I would love to see. Growing up in southern Vermont, Burton's US Open is dear to my heart, and I have to imagine the Banked Slalom feels like those "old" Opens... and then some. Come on, first prize is a Carhartt jacket and roll of duct tape. Awesome. Racing the clock, almost as good as racing your friends.

Also via Mount Baker found this "history of" movie; Platinum.
Full Snowboarder Magazine gallery of the event. Including the startgate photo by Jeff Hawe above.

a particular font -carhartt

Have been struck by this Carhartt font for a few years (used extensively on the 1889-1989 collection), in the sense that it is so modern, whereas most of Carhartt's US marketing uses straightforward 'worky' imagery. I like it a lot, don't understand me too fast, just would love to know the full story behind it. A very helpful lady at Carhartt HQ dug up a little more on the font and "C" logo as below...

"...We began using the logo in 1967 (maybe the end of ’66) based on looking at old catalogs etc. I don’t know specifically about the design but I know that 1965 was the year we introduced the Ranch Coat and I think maybe 5 other outerwear designs around the same time. From one marketing report I know we were trying to appeal to a younger roughly college-aged male which I gather had something to do with the cooler, hipper logo. And might I add---what a great design that still is - it doesn’t look dated at all after 40 years."

Agreed. Would love to know more.



[Update: XYZ, examine your zipper]

grape nuts -bread

From The Essential Vegetarian comes one of my standby breads... basically you add grape nuts.





Absolute foolproof, no brainer. The trivet standing-in as rack was one of the best wedding presents we received...

devil's beef tub

The Devil's Beef Tub is an iconic geographical feature outside Moffat, in the Scottish borders. It is the back of a valley (a corrie) that was used to hide stolen cattle in the 18th century. You drive round the rim of it as you head into Moffat from the North. Beautiful. Further reading.

Photo by paddypix on flickr.

Photo by queensferry2linz on flickr.

Photo by the_renaissance at flickr.

happy birthday herb.

trailer park -dr no (recut by robodan)

Modern recut of the Dr. No trailer. Robodan.

captain haddock

Portrait via TintinMovie.

Haddock was half the joy of reading Tintin as a kid. Swearing (Bandit! Nitwit! Vegetarian!), whisky drinking, and pipe smoking. In other words, Pops...

Loch Lomond, used as prop whisky in the Tintin novels is an actual distillery (the name was made up by Herge at the time, nor was the current distillery inspired by Herge, just chance.) Love the omnipresent nautical sweater as well.

cat power x levis

Levi's (Europe) pick Chan Marshall as the face of their 2009 Redtab collection... 2 worlds collide. Found via youtube.

devon sproule

Omil put me onto this sweet folky lady, Devon Sproule, a while ago, and anyway M asking for more music... and a sucker for gingham.

Clip below from the home of all good things Later on Jools.



Lots more at her site.

bookmark -liqurious

Liqurious George... just thought of that one.

Part of the NOTCOT empire, checking Liquirous is my end of the day primer before heading out -or more often -home to the cabinet... Through reader submissions, so no doubt some boostering going on, but great for drinks ideas, packaging, and to get thirsty. Couple choice posts below (fell down trying to link them properly...apologies)







Was going to say did the whole thing without mentioning miller high life but I found this.

bookshelf -spring is here

Taro Gomi's Spring is Here uses simple sentences and bright colors to move through the seasons. Melting snow brings grass then storms, harvest, snow, then the new spring and the calf has grown...



Gomi is prolific, but this title is the simplest...good for sub2 y/o. As opposed to My Friends with its hair pulling and kicking scenes.

pete and dud

Having fun... funny you should say that...

swift one -thistle street bar

39 Thistle St., Edinburgh, Scotland


Off the beaten path a bit, and all the better for it... this Edinburgh pub has settled on the tsb (Thistle Street Bar) name now after a few changes of hands over the years. Cobbled side street, fireplace, £2 malts. Bingo.

image by musicmuse_ca via flickr.

image by john_william_foster via flickr.

bookmark -love. the cool

Found this site a month or so ago while looking for some Brass Eye clips, or was it the "tonic shooters" scene from Betty Blue...can't remember. Featuring 2.0/3.0/social media usability tips with a huge does of art/fashion/music and sense of humour. Good when you need a break from threadcounting workwear sites haha. Yup, we loved Dazed and Confused from the start too.

Don't know the writer atall but she is in Boston by way of London/Paris/NYC/more?; background in fashion/space(?). I hardly follow developments in social media atall so this is a great place to catch up (e.g. nabbed the twitter follow me graphic from her). I also forget to look at Coudal Partners so get it here.

Start at the beginning. Like the homedrawn instructions on CO2, magnetism, science...

Crayon Physics

Maglev

Fully Flared (a-skate-film-by-spike-jonze-and-ty-evans)


Horatio killing it with the one liners

sugaring -coming soon

Below are images from Neil Rappaport's "visual census" of Pawlet VT taken in the 1980's. Much more information at the Vermont Folklife Center. These recently became the basis for a photo essay, Messages from a Small Town: Photographs Inside Pawlet, Vermont featuring Susan Rappaport's oral history work in the area. Priceless. Recently started a class in oral history as part of my librarian degree, and one of my fellow students is closely related to this project, literally. The baby in the cover photo below is her cousin.



BERNIE LURVEY, FLOYD SHELDON

BILL MCLELLAN

CHESTER and LENORA CLARK

Visiting a sugarshack or sugarhouse is a great event. Either learn the process with the kids, or go late night and help stoke the fire -get into it with the owner over a few.

carts of darkness

"You can't live on fresh air and good looks."


Found on slashfilm. Still working through it, it is 59 mins. The image above makes it look like jackass/x-games, not the case. It features some excellent interviewing of a group of homeless men in Vancouver.

"Filmmaker Murray Siple follows men who have turned bottle-picking, their primary source of income, into the extreme sport of shopping cart racing.

Enduring hardships from everyday life on the streets of Vancouver, this sub-culture depicts street life as much more than stereotypes portrayed in mainstream media. The films takes a deep look into the lives of the men who race carts, the adversity they face, and the appeal of cart racing despite the risk." Further reading.

that mud season look

Closely related to that voting look and merges to sugaring look in 2 weeks.
Adirondack pack: John Mcguire
Boots: LaCrosse
Shirt: Carhartt Centennial (non leather label)
Pants: Filson Mackinaw Field Pants (a steal for $20 now, maybe even too warm)
Grading kit: VMSMA
Full-foam blank denim cap: Legend
Knife and corkscrew w/ steel: Laguiole
Belt w/ farrier's hoof-pick: Orvis

americana -george hughes

Though lesser known than some other Saturday Evening Post illustrators, between 1948 and 1962 George Hughes produced 115 Post covers. His illustrations helped define the American self-image, wholesome and rooted, yet up-to-date and upwardly mobile.

Hughes' first Post cover appeared in April 1948. A small boy, grimy head to toe, nonchalantly arriving home to the distress of his mother who is busy hanging out freshly, washed clothes. The cover struck a chord among parents.


Hughes would move his family from NYC to Arlington, Vermont, where among his neighbors were three other prominent Post illustrators: Norman Rockwell, Mead Schaeffer, and Jack Atherton.

"Rockwell and Hughes became good friends, often sharing the same Arlington models, although their tastes in subject matter differed. Hughes would take the authentic rural characters that Rockwell preferred, dress them up, and construct a more sophisticated situation around them. Although the two often asked each other's, advice on their works in progress, Hughes suspected Rockwell of soliciting his advice only to take the opposite course, so as not to get too modem. One evening at a party, Rockwell lamented about a painting that he had been working on all week, only to get so frustrated with it that he had thrown it out of his studio into the winter snow. It depicted a proper elderly woman and a child saying grace before eating in a railroad diner while being watched by several rough-looking types. Hughes agreed with Rockwell that the idea didn't sound workable. With that confirmation, Rockwell retrieved the painting and completed it. "Saying Grace" became one of Rockwell's most compelling and endearing covers."
Pettinga, Steve (1992). Hughes' Views The Saturday Evening Post,264, 54-57

All well and good. This is a preamble to the below. Pops lives in Hughes' old home (a later home, not Arlington but Peru VT). There are several pieces painted in the house, now just the crumbling paint of outdoor scenes. Below is the back of the sink (prob not the best preservation area admittedly...).



[update: below, Hughes cover with the Peru church in the background.]

bookshelf -little fur family

Come on, the book itself is covered in fur... awesome.

Written by Margaret Wise Brown (Goodnight Moon, Runaway Bunny and many more), and illustrated by Garth Williams (also illustrated popular editions of Charlotte's Web, Bedtime for Francis, Little House on the Prairie) Little Fur Family tells of a child's day in the woods. The day ends going 'up the wooden hill' to bed and with an impossible to sing bedtime song... you try and find a tune that works.

A great site, Vintage Books My Kid Loves, has a run down of more off-the beaten-path MWB offerings. Further reading.

blossom dearie -1926/2009

C saw Blossom quite a few years ago, and then introduced us to the music. Very sad to read that she passed away last weekend. Obit' in the NYT here. Take five, and listen.

quotable -dr no

"It's a Smith&Wesson. And you've had your six."

pete seeger

M gave me a 3 disc Johnny Cash Show chock full of great performances, a huge range of guests, including some nice back and forth with Pete Seeger here. Was reminded today that Seeger was also part of the worldwide transferal of the song We Shall Overcome... great documentary on its transformation from spiritual to civil liberties rallying-call here.

Been on a bit of a Seeger kick the last year. Play. Was perfect timing for the inauguration...

steven berkoff

Huge fans of Steven Berkoff. Have seen him in Kvetch (1986), Acapulco (1990), Brighton Beach Scumbags (1991) and Massage (2000 maybe?, he directed and was not in the cast, but illness took out the lead and he stepped in on the day i went; fan-fn-tastic) And love his turns chewing up the scenery in Under the Cherry Moon (Let the dogs loose, they look hungry) and The Krays (Bang bang, end of story, end of agro)... aaaaaaahhhh could go on. [sidenote: Ron Kray's funeral procession went right past our window when we lived in the East End. Quite the scene] He is a bit of a punch line for some, the slow motion, the mime techniques, the threats to kill critics... Great scene in The Tall Guy riffing on him, sort of lovingly I think.

His production of On the Waterfront finally coming to London's West End (has had many years of fits and starts). Read. He will play Johnny Friendly.

Great stuff below, SB performing his Shakespeare's Villians. If we can all be so vibrant and energetic (and articulate) at 70-odd.

bookshelf -choo choo

"Whenever I can, I substitute picture for word." -VLB

Written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton, Choo Choo was her first published children's book (an earlier work, Jonnifer Lint, did not get accepted). Quite an amazing lady actually. A Massachusetts native, father was first dean of MIT, on the bleeding edge of children's book illustrating. Read more here. The premise for this story came from watching the trains at Rockport (MA) station with her son, Aris. Our wee boy is mad on trains and loves this, especially as the train runs away and goes too fast in his estimation...




Her better known works may be The Little House or Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, but the dark graphics of Choo Choo definitely give an illicit thrill to the sub5 set...

lee denim

'Course love my blanket-lined Levis to death, but have written about the stealth pick of Lee denim here before too. M thinks Buddy Lee is a creepy doll a la Chucky... i think he looks like our wee boys hahaha. Lee are digging in the archives ('archive' is a word thrown around a little too loosely sometimes, but this time it does apply). Nice animated/potted history of the Lee company on their euro site here. Via Selectism. The Lee store does not even offer the jackets for sale, forget 101 repros etc... huge hole.

Exhibit A, Lee repro shirts by Edwin below. Classic shapes, good materials. Not rocket science guys...