to auld acquaintance

And there is a hand my trusty friend.
And give us a hand of thine.
And we’ll take a right good-will draught,
for auld lang syne.

that pack it down look

Major toboggan action starts now. Should have a nice run packed down for later/tomorrow. I know nips (miniatures) are a waste economically but feel like a kid in a toy store when you go to those NH border state-liquour stores. Hell yes a helmet... heading down field towards a nice split-rail fence you might also want a barbwire-proof neckwarmer... layBaACK!!!

Pants -Johnson Woolen Mills.
Fleece -Patagonia RetroX, turns you into a Muppet. Then turns you into a Yeti as snow sticks to it.
Carhartt vest on top. Nip in vest pocket.
Mittens -Kinco.
Socks -Chrimbo present (thx Carrie), might as well have the best right??
Boots -Lacrosse Alphaburly.

stay away, joe

Not an insane huge Elvis fan, but have a few coffee table books, read some bios, friends send me Elvis Christmas cards, have his portrait up in the kitchen [all true -ed.]; OK, maybe a bit of a fan... Those Louisiana Hayride days must have been off the chain, have a few of those early recordings. Admittedly, Elvis' movies are a pretty *ahem* mixed bag and Stay Away, Joe came near the end of the film days. Sidenote, Jailhouse Rock may be his best imho; just cut out the campy Jailhouse Rock song/set piece itself. The end fight between Elvis and old Hunk; "I'm gonna beat hell outta you boy..." -great stuff.

Long/short, hadn't looked at Stay Away, Joe until a NYT article mentioned it (and I then proceeded to leave an incoherent comment, good for the 10engines stock...) but it is pure fencepost prAWn. Bathtub-bleached denim on Elvis, pleated unwashed jackets on everyone else. Snap shirts for everybody. The greek chorus of mangy dogs, and sleepy bull motif has legs but atrocious otherwise, borderline offensive...

harris tweed hebrides

If you watched even part 1 of the excellent BBC Harrassed Tweed documentary you would have seen how a mothballed mill at Carloway on the Isle of Lewis was restarted by a Harris Tweed Textiles as an answer to Brian Haggis' paired down, 4 pattern, Stornoway mill. They are now selling cloth and look to have some kind of 2010 collections planned. Another group, Harris Tweed Hebrides (HTH) reopened an old mill at Shawbost and now offers over 100 yarns that can then be made into thousands of patterns. HTH seem to be taking the bull by the horns and directly arranging projects with mens/womenswear designers and home furnishers etc (Graven Images' Tunnucks lampshade, v cheeky) as well as selling cloth of course.

Sales of Tweed are down in the USA though according to the HTH chairman.

major hoad

Major Hoad, the young Peter Christian outfitter's sartorial advisor, breaks it down with Victorian values and no quarter given. Pipe -check, tumble of whisky -check, endangered colonial elephant's-foot-table -natch'. These could have been off the charts but still good value. I am definitely getting a monocle now...

eddie bauer x harris tweed

Eddie Bauer Three Season (it fits an optional quilted vest, out of stock) Harris Tweed Wool Sport Jacket (is this Haggis' Harris Tweed, doubt it, but not sure). Suede leather patches at elbows (niiiice). Bellows, shell-box pockets with tuck-in flaps. Wind flap at collar. $700... way too rich for me (e.g. for $500 you could go BarbourxTweed), but this is part of Eddie Bauer's Heritage Collection, making some moves. Slightly old news but hadn't seen it myself. Sucker for windowpaney tweeds. Starts at a 40" chest.

[Update from Eddie Bauer customer service, 1/5/09: "This item originates in Morocco. Unfortunately we are unable to provide detailed information regarding the source of the fabric."]

a deadly invention aka the fabulous world of jules verne

Czech filmmaker Karel Zeman used woodcut backgrounds, live-action, animation, and puppets (a process dubbed Mysti-mation) to create this 1958 film Vynález zkázy (Deadly Invention??), released in the English speaking world as The Fabulous World of Jules Verne, based on various Verne tales. Crisp quality on these youtubes for once. Further reading on Zeman's other projects, some insane stuff, via JohnCoultart.

great mammal hall -harvard natural history museum

The Great Hall of Mammals reopened in October I believe; we went last w/e. Part of the Harvard Natural History Museum, the Hall is now updated with gleaming floors, bright paint and newer signage. Freekin gorgeous... can members rent this for cocktail parties?? Sunday mornings are free for Massachusetts residents at the museum; it opens at 9am so great for parents w/ cabinfever kids, and yes it gets busy. Much more than just the Great Hall though, but make sure you also see the famous, and not to be believed until you see, Glass Flowers. Pics below from the HarvardMuseumofNaturalHistory on flickr.

nimbus

For a second was disappointed in the music choice, but hang in there; looks good. Found via EastCoastSnowboarding.
2010 snowboard movie Nimbus, from Bad Quality Productions.

beer boards

For a snowboard collector (not me) you know you have it bad once you start getting into "beer boards". These apres-ski promos are not all bad though; usually lower end models from well known manufacturers (Palmer, Never Summer, Hayes Bros!) so really nothing to sniff at, but pay $250 on ebay for them... nah. That Magic Hat below is a Burton Custom, on the 'bay right now for a buck and a quarter...

Sidenote; I believe they have done it a few years running; Coors have teamed with Never Summer (boards manufactured in Colorado since 1983) to produce an inexpensive arrow (only in size 160 cm though?? is that right?), $180-odd including shipping; more at www.coors.com then click SNOW in top leftish. From the message boards etc it looks like the board is a Circuit, MSRP$399. Nothing to do with me, haven't ridden them or spoken to anyone that has... just a find.

parenting -homemade play dough

Play-doh, play dough, modelling clay... whatever you want to call it. I'm not the crunchiest person around, don't weave my own yoghurt etc... though we sometimes do baking projects on the weekend (not completely inedible). This is a quick project (30mins tops) and the resulting Play Doh-like substance blows the real stuff out of the water. Seriously. Smoother, not crumbly atall and lasts forever (stuff pictured is at least a few weeks old). So, if fragrance free or gluten free or what have you are concerns you can now make your own organo-vegan-doh.

One tip though, if you use red food coloring, put a good amount in, or else you end up w/ pinky play dough that inevitably gets formed into *ahem* humourous shapes... Also, the pan that you cook the stuff in does get caked w/ the cooked dough, so that needs a good soak, only drawback.

kathryn terwilliger -rusty shackelford

Nantucket is up there with Iceland for me in the sense that it is easy to romanticise it but bet is tough to live there. You have to a) love the outdoors and b) be resourceful enough to keep your own side-projects moving along. [Sounds like VT -ed.] By definition you get that island mentality... [Like in the VT valleys -ed.] Worked for one summer on Nan' (at the old Chanticleer, wore Pops' 60's Burton tuxedo every night. Bit of stress but got to try some amazing wines; a whole other post sometime) and was then shocked to arrive back at South Station in Boston and not recognize everyone I met... (i.e. on-island you knew so many people by sight).

Anyhow, found a massive set of Nantucket images by Kathryn Terwilliger on flickr that she has agreed to share. Many treatments here from Polaroids to shooting a Holga, a Kiev 88 (new to me), some IR... even hand developing prints with coffee grounds and soda; mental. Toys are great but you still have to get up at 4am to get these pics... respect. Timeless shots of the old Grey Lady. More great stuff at her flickr site, handle: Rusty Shackelford. Thanks Katie!