mandel9000

11 hours ago, nycsurfer530 said:

@mandel9000seeing your hiking and dog posts made me jealous so I had to go and take more haha 

Good one! Your dog can do tricks, the one I'm traveling only sits when she's expecting to be rewarded and the rest of the time she does what she wants. I have a cat so I'm used to that though. 

Great updates from everyone during the last few days and especially nice to have Karl here. 歓迎! 

Another picture heavy post from me follows. We finally arrived in Céret in the South of France last night, but I still have unpublished photos from Landaville, Beaune and the spectacular Château de Maisonseule in Saint-Basile. Even a few snaps of the jeans. 

The B&B in Landaville had a lovely exterior and quite impressive garden with swans (black and white), pheasants, peacocks, geese, ducks and hens. The inside was kind of creepy, lots of porcelain dolls in corners. 

We went on our merry way with a stop in Beaune, a nice little town. Nice to see that kale was a part of the flower arrangements in the parks. It's a good looking green, that's for sure. 

The Château de Maisonseule is owned by French tv-personality and imitator Yves Lecoq. Apparently he owns lots of castles. We were the only guests there, no surprise since we're traveling so out of season, which meant we hung out with the nice couple running the whole operation. 

The last stop before Céret was the Roman aqueducts Pont du Gard. 

The second wash, but first real wash after starting to wear the jeans, really brought some nice textural changes and nice shades of blue. Don't know how easy it is to see in this photo of my view the last five and a half days, but creases are set and wear is starting to show. The knee wear happened when I fell/climbed down the hill after meeting the lynx the other day. 

Shipping to Canada is no problem. I’m away for another week though. Considered bringing the jeans along on my European road trip but the suitcase was so full. Shoot me a pm with your name and address, @MasonAlexander, and I’ll send as soon as I get home. If luck is on our side you'll have them by Christmas. 

1 hour ago, Bobbo said:

I decided to go with Levisification for the arcs and am pretty happy with the result.

Looks very neat! Did you secure the thread in any way?

@Broark Speaking of Austin, TX: I'll be back again for SXSW in March. Maybe grab a beer and compare fades?

Our working title for the trip is “Thelma, Louise & Luna” (the shiba). We’ve already argued about who gets to be Geena Davis...

We’re stopping in Smørum (DK), passing by Hamburg and Hannover but staying in Waldeck (near WildtierPark Edersee), then through the Rhein valley (with a stop in Lorelei) and staying in Wissembourg (FR) and then Landaville. The last night before Céret will be spent in a castle in Saint-Basile. Let me know if you have any tips or insights at our stops or along the way! 

My only mission is to buy a new marinière in France, I’ve worn my Armor-Lux to pieces. 

Great updates!

Busy week at work equals few posts from me, but I do have news for the first half of December: This coming Saturday I’m joining a friend on a road trip through Sweden, Denmark, Germany and France, to arrive at our destination Céret (in the South of France quite close to the Spanish border and Barcelona) almost a week later. We’ll be traveling with a dog (a cute but horribly misbehaved shiba - the only kind, I hear) and staying in B&Bs in small towns I’ve never even heard of before. I promise lots of photos!

Ah, Kvarnen! Great place. I always try to go there when in Stockholm. 

No takers? I'm ready to ship out the jeans this week, with a little farewell in the thread first of course. 

Nice, indeed!

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Another week, another music quiz. Album + year plus a rebus/puzzle. The quizmaster usually includes one round or at least part of one round where the non-nerds can have fun too.

On 21.11.2017 at 6:24 PM, nycsurfer530 said:

short little interview with the master himself 

Aaaaawww!

Quote

Do you collect anything (other than denim)?

I collect old dolls and advertisements related to cats

Winter is here! 

Or rather it was, the rain started moments later. 

Walking down towards the winter death trap outside my building, in my mother's old Barbour jacket that I saved from being donated to the Salvation Army last time I visited. Saved might not be the right word, I probably took it from someone who needs it more than me, but I've worn it so much ever since. It has a detachable lining that is really warm and cosy these days. 

The aforementioned death trap. This is not bad at all, but the few meters just after the railing ends, which is still pretty steep, is usually covered in ice during winter. More than a few neighbors have broken hips, wrists and ankles there. 

The street where I work. Christmas lights are up. Eldorado used to be a cinema, but now it's a huge bookstore. 

This afternoon I went to a Christmas cocktail party and program launch at the Munch museum. They held it in a great room that's not usually part of the exhibition, but where the biggest paintings are. The last few years they've started using that space for concerts and debates and such. Very nice. 

They really delivered on the cocktail part, serving free drinks based on absinthe because that was what Edvard Munch and the other artists favored in their time. We came straight from work without eating dinner first and had to run out for a pizza after roughly an hour/three drinks. 

Finally, a photo taken from one of the top floors of my building, where a friend lives, that shows the identical one next to it (one of four). It's very close to the centre of the city, yet nice and quiet, and the apartments all have clever floor plans, lots of windows, and great views. I like it here. 

Thanks, @JDelage! I really like it too, it's just too warm most days. 

46 minutes ago, Topgearskin said:

In terms of "gentle dishonesty" a friend of mine came home to a parcel he'd hope to hide from his wife and had to say "I can't tell you what it is as it's your Christmas present" - he then had to find something for his wife from Japan that would deliver in time.

Off-topic but I should add that the co-worker I just exposed above with the shoes above also collects vintage watches, primarily Omega and Rolex, that he sometimes hides too. One time his wife found a hidden new Rolex and in that moment all he could think of was to say that it was a gift for her. So now she happily wears an expensive and rare wristwatch, none the wiser. 

20 hours ago, Hendsch said:

^lol I could get away with that in a month, would need to hide them from my wife 

I recommend the office. Here's part of my colleague's shoe collection, hidden away from his wife.

He just left in the Aldens and took a few other pairs (summer shoes) home. If I had snuck in earlier to take the photo, it would've been more impressive. A former colleague used to store his secret guitars and amps at the office, that was a bit more inconvenient for the rest of us working here. 

I forgot to mention that the Norwegian crown prince was in attendance, seated a few rows behind me. He's in his mid-forties now and has a couple of kids and more official duties as the king is getting older, but a decade ago he seemed to be at all the shows and clubs I went to. Great taste in music, in other words! 

Good wear nonetheless, @Paul T!

It's about a week left of my turn, so while I prepare a major update for you guys I wonder: 

Send name, address and instructions my way on PM and I'll make sure to mail out the jeans next week.

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On Sunday I went to see Norwegian singer Nils Bech at the opera. I love him and he has been called a national treasure, but his brand of neo-classical and very artsy, sometimes electronic pop music sung in a very accented English is an acquired taste for many. It was a great show, his collaborations with visual artists and dancers really worked on that stage.

Inside the opera house

Funny what others have mentioned and that I find to be true, that the jeans look way more fitted than they feel. They're comfortably loose, I could probably do stretches in them without feeling constricted but they look rather slim in photos. At least sized true, like I did.

(And not to put an emphasis on the female anatomy after all that we've been through here , but if I size by my true waist (29-30) it means filling out the seat and the thighs more, whereas a man wearing the same size is probably slimmer in those areas and will rock the jeans looser.)

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Hilarious, @Paul T!! Now we know what to wear if we ever meet up in real life. 

I'll be sure to check out Pale Honey next time I get the chance, @Bobbo. They actually played the nighttime program at the festival where I work this year - and work being the operative word, I had to go home and sleep before they actually started playing.  

Great updates, everyone. I'm very excited about the contest and almost forget that I have 18 months to post pictures and thoughts, I kind of want to do it all NOW. That said, another update coming soon. 

Hahahaha, I wish! Unfortunately I ordered my 20s without the suspender buttons. 

Roys at the dentist’s. 

Zero cavities! But I might need braces...

4 minutes ago, Maynard Friedman said:

It looks like a sauna rather than a barn. Also, the guitarist on the left appears to have 3 arms!

Haha, hadn't noticed that! 

It was a barn made into a living space, I think, and this was the new top floor. It was certainly hot like a sauna when filled up with 100-150 people (mostly behind me when I took that photo), I had to go outside just to breathe a couple of times.