Wednesday, October 28, 2009

La Muerte Siempre Llega


This last Saturday we celebrated Dia De Los Muertos here in LA. Although the actual days of celebration throughout Latin America are Nov. 1st. and 2nd., Hollywood Forever cemetery celebrated this past weekend. Traditional observance includes building altars honoring their deceased incorporating skulls, flowers and favorite personal belongings of their departed. A few of the hits from this year's event...

Marigolds are a very traditional flower used in these altars. The skulls dates backt to ancient Mayan and Aztec rituals in which families would keep the skulls of their loved ones for good fortunes.

Obviously alot of Dodger fan tributes, maybe this guy will rest easier next year.





food offerings also include "pan de muerto" which are often shaped to look like faces and skulls

The most poignant of the altars this year was this one...203 empty milk jugs in memory of the 203 people who died trying to cross the border into Arizona, many of them of dehydration. In addition residents in border towns across the state are being arrested and charged with littering for leaving milk jugs of water for the migrant travelers. Read more about the fight here: www.nomoredeaths.org




One of the best of this year, dedicated to all musicians. I love the mini version of each along side the full scale. These were at least 8 feet tall!

More to come tomorrow....

Monday, October 26, 2009

Rogue fit: Back

Fit Pics

Here's a fit reference pic for the Rogue mechanics shirt

Model is:
6'2", 185lbs., and mildly stoned
Wearing: Size medium, raw. Trim but not tight enough to make the buttons pull

Rega P1




Ok, music is important to me, but earbuds and mp3s don't really cut it when I'm at listening at home on a modest home audio setup. CDs are fine, no muss, no fuss. But there's all that vinyl sitting on my shelves and I still look for more in used LP shops not to mention the ever-increasing new album releases and classic re-releases. My old 'table was shot and needed a replacement. Enter the Rega P1, a bare-bones turntable designed and built in England (www.rega.co.uk). Long known for high end audio equipment, the P1 is relatively inexpensive ($400 including an installed and aligned Ortofon cartridge and clear dust cover). The sole switch is a on/off rocker that powers the unit. The tonearm is moved manually to the record and manually lifted off at record's end; a built-in cueing lever can be used if you don't trust shaky fingers. Arriving in a well-packed shipping box, it took only 15 minutes to set up and start spinning wax.



The design is a great example of functional simplicity. Done in matte grey with a black platter mat, its understated looks reflect the designers' goal of a making a great sounding affordable turntable with unnecessary bells and whistles. For me, it represents the perfect intersection of function, looks, and price. It will look right at home in most home audio systems, from minimalist to high tech. If vinyl is important to you (it should be), the Rega P1 may be for you too.

-David



**David "Don't call me Dave" Sack (Seen left) has been single handedly keeping the indie record store scene alive in Philadelphia since the early 80's. He's forgotten more about music than you will ever know. He's also my Dad... And still pays my car insurance ... Thanks Dad.**






Rogue Territory


So my buddy Karl (NOT the guy pictured above...He's a professional male model...clearly) came to see me earlier this summer with samples and sketches of the inaugural season of his line, Rogue Territory. Karl's that guy set up in the back corner of American Rag, quietly making $400 custom jeans for the denim elite who know well enough to come to him for their jeans....... Crap, now I kinda feel bad I didn't show Karl's picture at the top of the post....


(Fuckin' Karl)

The line pissed me off....... Pissed me off in the way that I know I'm gonna end up padding my store order plus 1 in my size in everything offered..... Goddamn it Karl, I'm a broke shopkeeper...I don't need new clothes, stop making me do this...




The fabrics are all super tasty...The trim and finishing are exactly where you'd expect them. Custom rivets. Custom doughnut buttons. Lined pockets. Hand-cut and branded leather patches. Hand Screened pocket bags. All there, done right.

Love the warp/weft indigo dyed 12.5oz Karabo denim featured in the work trouser and the CPO-style mechanics shirt. Super inky, breaks quickly. Chambray's are Indigo and Grey, crosshatch texture.




What really got ME geeked about the line though were the fits. Shirts are tailored and slim. Sleeves are long. The result is a silhouette that is flattering and body conscious, but masculine and nonchalant. Really quickly, the line is:

Three, five pocket styles range from skinny to straight. All selvage: The Slim Straight and Standard fits are 14oz Cone Mills, the Skinny in 13.5oz Kaihara . A trim and modern interpretation of classic lines. Think more APC than Sugar Cane....

Slash Pocket Work Trouser. Along with the Mechanic's shirt, these are the real stars of the collection. Chino-style slash pockets in front, patch pockets in back. Avail. in the double indigo denim (raw) and Brown denim (vintage washed).

Chambray Workshirt. In Indigo and Gray, vintage washed. Oxford style button down collar (with the all important third button at the back of the collar to keep things crisp).

Mechanics Shirt. Trust me, you want one of these. I took mine out of the order first, put it on, and haven't taken it off since. I will be days ahead of you on breaking mine in.... How many days ahead is up to you. Don't sleep. These are more limited than I'd care to admit.

All in stock, in store, here now, immediately....... soon......... No, I'm fucking with you.... the shit's here, get at us.

Rogue Territory Inaugural Season Lookbook























Sunday, October 25, 2009

Baby Blues West Hollywood: Its like the Disney version of their spot in Venice, with a staff of cute girls in cowboy boots.... Food's the same though, so it's all love

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Oh, right.... We're a clothing store too.... Did I mention that?

(Sugar Cane's clean, dense, overbuilt buffalo plaid overshirt $266)


Its fixin to cool off soon, god willing..... What're you gonna wear?

You know what really grinds my gears??

Size fucking zero jeans! Now, don't get me started on the inherent absurdities of women's fashion in general, but as someone with A.) Some experience in fashion and B.) some experience as a person WITH A BRAIN.... size zero, by definition, cannot exist. Assuming for a second that the numbers we arbitrarily assign different sizes of clothing actually mean something and are bound by the rules of physics and number theory... a size zero.... null.... shouldn't exist!! If you order ZERO of anything else... what do you get? NOT a fucking thing....."Um, yeah, I'd like a ZERO size Big Mac meal, with a diet coke...." Am I taking crazy pills?!


(Can someone close to him please ask Stephen Hawking to think on this for a while? Please.)


Ok, so the number theory part is only 20% of my outrage on this issue. What really grinds my gears is the groin-grabbingly transparent, psychological bait and switch that women are perpetuating ON EACH OTHER! Your goal now is not to be skinny... but to be so skinny that your clothing shouldn't even really exist in this plane of consciousness. Talk about unattainable! You wear a size two?? You fat bitch! Kill yourself. Why are women standing for this? You're being treated like retarded children. Stand up for yourselves

And if you're a size DOUBLE-FUCKING ZERO(!!!!)....... Call me.... cause that shit's kinda hot.

Daily Carry



This is the shit in my pockets/on my belt all day every day. I have mild OCD about shit in my pockets, and where everything goes, so trust me, this is not a topic I take lightly. Add in the fact that I'm diabetic, so I have extra shit (life saving shit) that I need to have on my person at all times, and I hate having to carry a man bag, and I hate huge squares faded into my jeans from phones etc..... These are the problems of the modern man in LA.... In a depression....Shit's complicated

I do, however, love the relationship that develops with the few possessions that I actually use, and handle every single day. That vibe is what attracts me to wearing the same clothes day in and day out. Despite the fact that I'm buying new crap way more often than I'd like to admit, in my heart I'm always trying to boil my wardrobe down to the bare essentials. Everytime I find something that I "must" have, the lie I tell myself is "You'll wear this everyday, forever.". . .which usually lasts about two weeks.... until I find the next holy grail thing that I need to wear everyday for the rest of my life.... Fuck, I'm weak. Atleast I have good taste. Fuck you for judging me.


*click on the pic to see the whole thing, pending me learning how to use fucking blogspot*

Glassses by SEE
Leather Case by BillyKirk
Wallet by Mr. Winter
Spyderco Police Issue
Work Keys/House Keys/Truck Keys