Analyst

ignore the narcotic lure of brand names. brand names don't mean anything if they don't fit your body right. try finding a good tailor to make dress shirts and pants that will meet your specifications and fit your body. maybe try chinatown and see if there are any trained tailors. right now, i have the luxury of being in hong kong so i had a suit made for myself along with some dress shirts. i brought in some magazines of what i was looking for, specified a slim cut, and picked all the material out myself. the suit was like $300. shieet. so cheap. dood even monogrammed my initials in the dress shirt.

exactly...

No doubt the Jermyn Street guys make some nice shirts i.e., Pink, CT, etc., but if you can't beat finding an excellent tailor to make some bespoke shirts for you. They will provided anything you want: Spread collars, french cuffs, monogramming, Egyptian cotton, etc.

The best part is the price. While the most basic Jermyn Street starts at around $138, bespoke shirts from are around $30-$40. Check out Rajawongse on Nana in Bangkok. They know their shit....

USA (NYC and Washington DC) - I'm missing home after being gone for about eight months now....

Japan - going to Tokyo this late summer!!!

Is Ken Park already out? It's been banned for a while but was supposed to be released at some point. Did you see the completely unedited version?

I downloaded Ken Park a long time ago on Kazaa. Had to wait about a week to download that sucker. If you are into Larry Clark films, check out the International Center for Photography exhibit on 43rd Street and Ave of the Americas. It features a lot of stuff from Tulsa, Perfect Childhood, and Skaters, which is connected with his movie, Kids.

Anyone seen his new movie called Wassup Rockers?

THanks for the heads-up. Charles Tyrwhitt make some excellent dress shirts and are based on Jermyn Street, basically London's Savile Row but for shirts. Used to drop by their NYC location next to Bear Stearns.

Anyone have a preference for shirt makers?

Turnbull and Asser, Pink, Kiton, Paul Smith, Duncan Quinn, etc.

I definitely count Montreal as one of my favorite cities in the world. I spent only three days there last summer but enjoyed exploring and partying there.

Club Aria on St. Catherines is lots of fun. Plus, you gotta love all the French Canadian girls.....wow....

Currently on rotation...

1. Old blue-black 45rpm Sorohikos

2. Raw selvedge Jean Shops

3. Rag & Bone RB8s

Even though I've had all three over a year, it seems like they are just now starting to crease, honeycomb, and whisker.

Wishlist: Eternal 811s; those Kohozo's are looking nice too...

Perfume: The Story Of A Murderer - Patrick Suskind

House of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski

Haunted: A Novel - Chuck Palahniuk

Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

... and anything by Stephen King

just started on Dark Tower series...currently on book 2: Drawing of the Three....wow...

from what i saw in the catalogue, the cut on those doesn't look so great. Marc Jacobs has a hard time with jeans, it seems.

I saw some Marc Jacobs raw denim with sky blue selvedge at Gaysorn Plaza. Looked/felt nice but didn't try'em on. Went for around $325 USD. Any opinions/experiences out there on MJ denim?

Really enjoyed Bonfire of the Vanities by Tom Wolfe and most anything by Bret Easton Ellis (American Psycho, Glamorama), and Michael Lewis (Liar's Poker, Moneyball)

For non-fiction, Barbarians of the Gate, which details the largest leveraged buy-out at the time of RJR Nabisco by KKR. Excellent read of those interested in understanding the minute by minute decision making behind Wall Street's merchant banking business in the late '80s.

Also, the Smartest Guys in the Room, which discusses the rise and fall of Enron, and When Genius Fails: The Rise and Fall of LTCM.

You may want to use cedar shoe trees typically utilized for dress shoes to maintain the leather's integrity and absorb moisture after each use. Don't know if will solve the problem, but it will preserve your shoes for a longer period and may prevent the grime from growing too quickly. Good luck!

I love commercials with good music.

Applied Materials had a cool commerical a few years ago that emphasized their chips and semiconductors in cellphones and electronics carried by pedestrians in what looked like downtown Tokyo.

Background music was Insomnia by Chihiro Onitsuka. Awesome song.

i tell you what i'd do.

two chicks at the same time.

hahahaha. perfect. "damn straight..."

The first time I saw Mullen not skating on those skinny freestyle boards was on Rubbish Heap, I think, by World Industries. Darkslides, wow....

Why avoid Wan Chai?? Im goin there next month.

If your carrier group just arrived at port, then check it out. You might have a good time. It might even be kinda "exotic..."

Otherwise, it's ghetto. But, to his their own...

Endtroducing DJ Shadow is always good.

yeah, awesome album....!!!

another excellent album for summer nights is DJ Krush and Toshinoro Kondo....chill beats and a harmon-muted trumpet ala miles davis...perfect

Looks like MJM got scared off....

Reading list, all in progress:

America at the Crossroads: SAIS's Francis Fukayama on the current state of US foreign policy and the redefinition of the neoconservative view

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (Perkins): Fun read and maybe slightly embellished personal biography of a economic consultant that claims responsibility for persuading developing countries to allocate funds from the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, etc. to overinflated infrastructure projects that directly benefit US engineering firms ala Bechtel, Halliburton, etc.

Lords of Discipline (Conroy): Rereading this one from my college days. About Conroy's days at the Citidel. Exciting read about a secret society inside one of America's oldest military academies.

am reading "we wish to inform you tomorrow we will be killed with our families" - i know, the longest title ever! it's about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. not the most cheerful subject, but i've had this book for a while and finally decided to finish it. so far it's actually pretty engaging. working in the entertainment PR/marketing industry, i sometimes "crave" more serious reading material b/c all i do all day is read about celebrity gossip and movie news (mind you, it's great getting paid to do it haha).

As the credits for Syriana roll:

Woman: I think that movie outsmarted me.

Man: Yeah, I think the movie won.

--AMC theater, Lincoln Square

No the most happy topic, but a very pertinent and important one.

Check out a Problem from Hell by Samantha Power, who teaches at the Kennedy School. Her book examines the Holocaust and Cambodia, Armenian, Iraqi, Rwandan, Bosnian genocides and asks the question of "What role should the US/world take to prevent and mitigate genocides going forward?" A key question, given that history keeps repeating itself (i.e., Darfur) despite the empty promises from world leaders of "Never Again."

I really like the 45rpm bandanas, but I have no idea what I would do with em.

You live in DC? It's about a year, but go see Rosana and Dinah at Circle Boutique on 17th Street in Dupont. They have Rag and Bone denim there. Picked up some 10.5oz Selvedge denim called RB8. Perfect for the summer, and the constant heat and humidity here in BKK. They have amazing detailing and fade into a this weird blue-green color.

DenimBar (Pentagon Row) may have some, too, but not sure. They are worth checking out though.

Relish in Cady's Alley (Georgetown) may have something but don't know for sure.

what are your bearings? skating is fun. keep the dream alive, man :-)

Hey, never scimp on bearings. I always used Bones Bearings from Powell. Keep em clean and lubed and they will keep you fast. Go speed racer, go!

I miss skating a lot. You will never view concrete, curbs, benches, stairs or ledges the same afterwards, even after 10 years.

Someone mentioned Questionable by Plan B team earlier. Anyone remember Santa Cruz's Wheels of Fire? Used to love the Christian Hosoi and Jeff Kendall sessions on that old flick. Also, Natas Kaupas (sp?) spinning on the fire hydrant on Streets of Fire.

Used to love H-Street's Hokus Pokus, too. It had the best music by Kirk and the Jerks and also The Cry. Danny Way's at the Woodward Skate Park. Matt Hensley. Tony Rasmussan (sp?). Wow.

From the summer for 1994 (damn I'm old)....

California (All the Way) by Luna on their Bewitched album...

Riding into the Sun by Luna on their Slide EP...

All Red Hot Chili Peppers....

Sometimes by My Bloody Valentine on their Loveless album

yeah, i saw it had been re-released. i've got the 10th anniversary edition - anything worth watching on the double dvd? i'm not usually a big fan of dvd extra's, i generally prefer to judge a film on its own merits, but as la haine was/is so politically charged (it was shown in a private screening to the french cabinet upon release) it gives decent opportunities for interesting extra's. i've just re watched that aerial shot i raved about in my last post, and it's not quite as good as i remember it, still pretty good though.

anyway, screencaps for you enjoyment (i hope this works and they're not too big)

another new-ish film i forgot:

goodbye lenin - a very charming german film set around an east german family during the fall of the berlin wall. the plot is a little bit contrived, pleasant enough though, but this film has buckets of charm. i'm not entirely sure if englandmj will like this film, from previous posts i believe he is a politically aware person, and if i remember correctly he is republican-ish centre right (if i am mis-representing then tell me to shut the fuck up), and goodbye lenin has a certain pleasant nostalgia for some of the soviet communist systems. in fairness it neither condones nor condemns east or west, and much more importantly it has many directorial references to kubrick and a foxy russian nurse. a very nice interesting little film: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0301357/

*possible spoiler reg. magda goebells, if you don't know what she did, and are going to watch downfall, don't read on*

downfall - i've only seen the second half of this film, and so cannot vouch for it absolutlely wholeheartedly, but if the whole is nearly as good as what i've seen then it is amazing. a german production, it concerns the final few days of the life of adolf hitler and his most important minion as they sweat it out in his bunker within the devastated berlin. the performances in this film are amazing, bruno ganz, as hitler, didn't put a foot wrong in his portrayal as one of the most (rightly) demonised men in history. all the supporting cast were v good as well, a stand out scene being when magda goebells, one of hitlers most fanatical supporters, poisoned her children, a wretched and desperate scen that got to me. i must watch this film all the way through, and i reccomend it to everyone as a ver important piece of work. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0363163/

Hey. Great suggestions and reviews. Keep it up!!!