school lunch -uncle buck style

A rotten banana, a mayo jar full of milk, a pickle and its juice in a ziploc, a baggy of bacon, and god knows what is in that sandwich. Oh and a can of sardines... Forgot how gross this lunch looked. For the 'rents out there, I definitely commiserate over trying to find good, easy food to send w the groms for lunch. I really want to send pickles in a bag... 'Grab from Uncle Buck. So underrated.

lands end -windpoint

This Windpoint series from Lands' End looks *cough* COOL... heathery faux-tweedy snowpants and more for the kids. No surprise that the grommits will be better dressed than me... And as usual for Lands' End, very rea$onable.

revere ware

"REVERE® cookware have been part of American history since patriot and silversmith Paul Revere started making copper sheathing for naval vessels in 1801. Paul founded Revere Copper Company which evolved into Copper and Brass, Inc., the makers of Revere Ware Copper Clad Stainless Steel Cookware.

Designed by W. Archibald Welden and introduced in 1939, the REVERE copper-bottom stainless steel cooking utensils not only represented great advances in both technical and aesthetic cookware design, but proved to be incredibly durable without being heavy." via Revere Ware. These stainless steel/copper pots are good enough for what we do, and cheap too... V v lucky to have a larger set grandfathered to us.

My mental checklist for any thrift store goes, 1) wool shirts 2) french cuff shirts (easy to spot with their arms hanging so long) 3) blanket lined denim and 4) Revere Ware pots. Bingo. Add some copper cleaner and elbow grease = $2.50 well spent. (before above, after below.) Anyone know what the little numbers by the size measurement mean?? f93 etc... thinking it is related to year produced, emailed them to check. [Update 9/23/09: heard back from WorldKitchenInc. "The number you are referring to is a batch number. This is not the year the vessel was made."]

sprig toys

Found these recently, and as well as looking pretty ballsy these Sprig toys have a cool backstory in that their Adventure Series is made of a wood-plastic thermoplastic biocomposite (you know, like fake decking...) of organic fibre byproducts and recycled plastics (from Canadian JER Envirotech). Sprig Toys Inc. is a trio of Colorado toy designers who are producing battery free (lights and noises come from revving kid power), paint free and environmentally responsible vehicles and playsets. Datamining below.

constructive eating

The bulldozer "pusher" thingy is the best. Our kids eat it up... [ouch -ed.] From Constructive Eating. (No paint, no lead, no Bisplenol A (BPA), no PVC, and no Phthalates.)

homeboy

Often derided as a shameless vanity project, Homeboy (1988) written by Mickey Rourke [under the pseudonym Eddie Cook -ed.] is a major guilty pleasure here. Throwing out the bad (too many moody lingering shots of the star) there really is some good fun to be had. And considering this was shot right after Barfly you have to tip your hat to his workout regime. This is Rourke pre-tattoos, pre-surgery and pre-HGH. (I wore out my VHS copy years ago, but Homeboy has been reintroduced on dvd since the Wrestler. I believe the "piece of meat" scene is filmed at the same location as some of this film.)

Cowboy boxer, Johnny Walker, transplants to New Jersey and falls in love with an Indian cycle riding fairground owner (played by Debra Feuer -Rourke's wife at the time, who also starred in the undervalued To Live and Die in LA). Tough/tender guy falls for girl next door type running the carnival... late 80's this was right in my wheelhouse. Plenty of old man B-reel shots (in diners, boxing clubs, bars), lots of Chris Walken (the dinosaur and Aristotle monologues, great stuff), Ruben Blades in a brilliant scene as the doctor, John Polita nails it as the greasy fight promoter; and finally Rourke's ever rotating denim collection is practically its own character, awesome. Man, I want that shirt with the pony hide elbow patches... That is what this post is really about. Have to tread pretty carefully here as don't want to suggest that Johnny Walker (great name) with cowboy boots et. al. is my sartorial hero... but enjoy the workgloves, blanket-lined Lee Storm Riders, Redman and rabbits foot... He also carries a Bruce Banner-esque holdall that seems able to fit all this.


Am I certifiable if I bought an identical Tiddledy Winks game to travel with? Well sign me up then. Bosh.