10E2126: Eastland Realtree Camp Moc

File under oh-yes-they-did. $295 from Eastland. W/ dusty Carhartts and a white tee... hello summer-in-small-french-village-fantasy.

Hunter orange insole Handsewn in Maine Made from 100% American Realtree® and Horween® leathers

10E2125: Dick Bradsell - A Different Breed of Bartender

My sis is in the resto trade in the UK and put me onto this gent, Dick Bradsell, a sort of godfather of London cocktails and bartending. Famously inventing the espresso martini on the spot for a certain 80s supermodel who wanted something to wake her up, then f*ck her up... 

No mustaches or braces or silliness. The opposite of flair. As you will hear, he got his start as a teen working at The Naval and Military Club on the Isle of Wight serving bedrock British classics; gin martinis, pink gins, Pimms, Bloody Mary, etc.  Above he shows his simple Bramble w/ gin and creme de mure. His vodka martini is great too - just shakes Lillet over ice, pours it off then shakes vodka. Bam.  

10E2124: I Wear A Helmet For 3 Reasons + Bern Promo

I wear a helmet for three reasons; and they are often at home waiting for me. This isn't a story about me though... Last week we were lucky enough to take the kids out on the hill for a few days, where I witnessed the final answer on helmet usage...   

He went till last chair. Headsock is key. 

#1 son and I were headed over the crest of Bear Down at Stratton and he caught his backside edge... Remember that scene when Brad Pitt gets clocked during the gypsybareknuckle fight in Snatch? Or when Michael Biehn gets punched out in The Abyss... talking horizontal backwards. Feet off the floor. That's what I saw. Then he landed head first.

He was shaken up for sure. Me too. But all fine and after a few deep breathes we were on our way. It happens to be that he wears a summer/winter Bern helmet (Nino model) that I bought him - though course there are other brands out there. Essential.

If you don't have something for your young ones or yourself the folk behind  Bern Unlimited are offering 10e readers a discount; use code 10engines for 10% off your purchase right now at GoAllSeason.com. Thx gents.

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BTW here is another hot tip for parents; remember to check your local mountain for a lower-lift or beginner ticket. Stratton offers a lower adult mountain ticket for $15, which combined with U7 tickets for $5 paradoxically makes them the cheapest option in New England for ski/riding if you are taking beginner kids with you. Also remember to check Liftopia.com to get 10-50% most area tickets if you book in advance - I did it last week and yes it works.

10E2123: Roughing It - Mark Twain

About to start Roughing It by Mark Twain. Supposedly an adventure tale/memoir of his Wild West travels. Good Reads gives it 4 out 5 with over 3K ratings. It is also available for free via Amazon for Kindle here.

10E2122: RAW - Gold Edition

RAW from down the street in Somerville have rereleased three of their classic tees in a gold edition, including "the pen is mightier than the sword" from the Teele Sq. days. $25. Insane.  #loyaltyoverroyalty #assembleandconquer #godblessskateboarding. Shop the whole collection here.

10E2121: USPS Muscle Car Stamps

Released today...

"With the issuance of the Muscle Cars (Forever®) stamps, the U.S. Postal Service celebrates five iconic automobiles: the 1966 Pontiac GTO, the 1967 Shelby GT-500, the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona, the 1970 Plymouth Hemi 'Cuda, and the 1970 Chevelle SS." 

For further info see USPS.  Made in the USA...

10E2120: Valentine's - Land Rovers UK

Now THIS is what she wants for Valentine's Day...

Better than new. Scoped and cleaned up Defender 90. Cause a 110 would just be too much...  £12K.
BTW Love the pricing policy over at Land Rovers UK;

"So that we do not have to compromise on quality; we do not negotiate on price. Thanking you"

Have a close contact that has used these guys to buy and ship a Defender overseas. V v happy. They can also do all kinds of non-standard work on it; cosmetically "ageing" the vehicle to lower its profile - yawn, fuel cutoff switches to hobble theft - natch', skidplates and undercarriage protection - of course. Well played.

10E2119: Vimeo - the little things

Won't assume you know - Vimeo is like the high caliber version of youtube; no trolls, generally much higher quality user content, and no ads over your stuff. They do so many things right - but this little touch is great... they edit the < title > element of the technical difficulties landing page to read VimeUhOh. V cute. UX geekery!

Another available feature that not everyone uses (boggles the mind - almost as much as folk not personalizing their twitter icon...) is the chance to choose a titlepage/thumbnail to present the video. Essential.

Nothing crazytime but I do keep a page at vimeo.com/vimeo10engines/.

10E2118: Sugar Bob's Finest Kind - Smoked Maple Syrup

Have featured our pal Rob (Sugar Bob) before, but he and wife are now selling online and separating themselves from the pack with their smoked maple syrup that they have created over the last few years. These guys do their own sugaring (boiling the sap) for regular syrup too 'course, but this smoked stuff is neat - and intense. As he says "Taste a little. Very strong. Probably not for your pancakes". $12 here.

"Sugar Bob’s Finest Kind is made from real maple syrup and real hardwood smoke – nothing else added. Using food grade compressed air and venturi injection principles, we bubble low temperature maple and beech wood smoke through a finished vat of maple syrup for roughly 24 hours. Key aromatic notes and flavors are preserved while we refilter the infused syrup to deliver a clean consistent product for your cooking pleasure."

10E2117: (Boston) Baked Beans and Snow

Borrowed one of these guys last weekend, and perfect (storm) timing. Sort of modified this recipe though I'd say now; precook the bacon, and use less onion - but I pulled some of it out later and it worked. Also if you add tomato paste, do it near the end (meaning last few hours) as acidic.

Poached egg on top. Essential.

At first it is all fun and games. Kids were into it. About to be waist deep into it below...

After shovelling for a second day I was starting to quote Morrissey, "This joke isn't funny anymore..."

A neighbor was recounting the blizzard of '78 - her dad would place a beer can 4 feet ahead, on top of 4 feet of snow - and say to himself, "shovel to there." Then place another beer can 4 feet ahead and so on. Reminiscent of the "cold wrench" ad from Miller.

10E2116: Sears Western - Patterned

#riskreward

10E2115: Old Man Winter

"Alot of folks find cause to complain about the snow... It slows things down. Makes it hard to get around, and so forth... [this one just does not get old -ed.]

Further reading; That Pack It Down Look

10E2114: Just My Type

"Typefaces are now 560 years old. So when a Brit called Matthew Carter constructed the now-ubiquitous Verdana on his computer in the 1990s, what could he possibly be doing to an A and a B that had never been done before? And how did a friend of his make the typeface Gotham, which eased Barack Obama into the Presidency? And what exactly makes a font presidential or American, or British, French German, Swiss or Jewish? These are arcane mysteries and it is the job of the book to get to the heart of them. But it begins with a cautionary tale, a story of what happens when a typeface gets out of control." [talking to you comic sans! ed.] - author, Simon Garfield

Reading this book at the moment; fascinating and quite funny actually. What is an interrobang? Get with it kids...  read and find out. Amazing how easily we are manipulated by a font. Or how economical typeface can be -see the story of the Edward Johnston's Johnston Sans credited as the first modern sans serif and thus precursor to... 

Pro printers and designers may know many of the stories and anecdotes already but a huge heads up for any small organisation. Also underscores the impact of local (Cambridge, MA) typeographer/legend Matthew Carter. 

10E2113: Awesome Box at the SPL

"The Somerville Public Library, in a partnership with the Harvard Library Innovation Lab, is launching the "Awesome Box" project at all three library branches in early February. The first municipal partnership of its kind, the "Awesome Box" will allow patrons to share "awesome" book suggestions with fellow readers by depositing checked books into the Box rather than into the regular "Returns" bin. "Awesome" books will be linked to a website for community members to learn about and explore potential book titles." - City of Somerville

This set my geekery meter to 11 - very v neat. Psyched that the Somerville Public Library (and thx Harvard LIL) released this real-world/online mix. It is basically taking people's habit of browsing the return/circulation carts in the library (i.e. looking at what others just returned as a stamp of approval) and cranking it way up. Big smile here...

10E2112: Fridays Are Tie Days - Vintage Orvis