Dry It (You Might Like It)

They do not call me 'Mr Fashion'; this much I know.

However, I would like to share an excellent brand of clothing and stuff - which I'm sure all the cool kids gave up in 2007 - which I have suddenly found to be 'most excellent':

Superdry

So I've been looking for a lightweight coat, sort-of waterproof and with a hood, but not too 'mountaineer' because altitude-wise I don't venture much higher than Blythe Hill Park. Oh, look?

Also, I really could do with a new winter coat, definitely wool but perhaps some kind of pea-coat style but not too long or grey. What's that you say?

And actually I'm probably in need of a new sweatshirt with a bit of colour but no crazy-ass logos all over the shop. Really?

It's simply great. And, presumably, dry. Although quite what this chap has got to look so grumpy about, I have no idea.

Er, right, sorry about that. Advertorial over, your regular programming will continue shortly :)

Thank You For The Days

Just back from a wonderful weekend away; a birthday treat from my excellent wife Solveig (in conjunction with the as-per-usual top-notch babysitting services provided by mum & dad, for which much thanks are due).

Having nipped off early on Friday afternoon and taken the appropriate exit off the M4 (indeed, we had to Turn After Reading*), we headed for the picturesque Goring-on-Thames in which nestles The Miller Of Mansfield, as recommended on Mr & Mrs Smith. Really nice little 'boutique' pub hotel with a fantastic restaurant (do try the shin of beef, it was as melty as it gets) as well as a snug bar with a log fire and a decent selection of gins. We realised when we arrived that we had somehow forgotten how to relax; indeed, it took a while for us to stop wondering where on earth the kids were. But unwind we did and with some walks along the (thin end of the) Thames and a trip up to Bicester on the Saturday, it was a properly brilliant break from the Smoke.

Due to good planning, we also squeezed in an extra treat on the way back, in the form of a visit to Heston Blumenthal's pub in Bray, the Hind's Head (in fact, as we were a bit early, we went looking for the Fat Duck, but somehow never found it!) and what a treat it was. We were tempted by the Sunday roast, but both decided on pies, having been advised by a few people that they were worth the journey. We did start with a Scotch (quail's) egg each, though, and these were splendid - by turns crispy, meaty and perfectly soft:

For our mains we had Shepherds Pie (with lamb leg, breast and sweetbreads topped with mustard mash) and Spinach & Mushroom Pie (served with a Jerusalem artichoke sauce). They were both outstanding and tasted as good as they look:

After a full weekend of indulgence, we simply couldn't face dessert, so we'll just have to go back and try the rest of the menu at some point. Right, dear?

Anyway, what a brilliant weekend - almost enough to make me forget that next year is THAT ONE :)

* I'm truly sorry, I really am

Overheard #96

Getting ready for an office Christmas party:

"Are you actually wearing sector-specific cufflinks?"

Anything To Declare?

Yes - that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how you pack for two weeks in the South of France. I shall have limited access to the interweb for the next fortnight and when I do, I will mostly be checking the score in the Third Ashes Test from Edgbaston. Happy days...

Overheard #79

Regarding shoes:

"I can't wear those; I'd look like a middle-aged goth at a barbecue"

Getting Shirty

I see that my football team has a new away kit. Didn't we have one last year (and the year before that, and the year before that)? For the benefit of readers who do not scour the blogoverse for Arsenal-related news, here is our super Spaniard modelling said items:

So it's blue. The blue is OK. It’s a nice dark blue. As a colour, I quite like it. As a kit? It’s fine. It’s OK. No, really. I mean, I look at it and I think mid-table. I see Blackburn, Bolton, Wigan*, Portsmouth & Spurs but it's OK, I guess. Sort of. OK.

But is that how much the kit means to the club - it just has to be ‘OK’?

With all the history we have with our club colours - the cup finals, the last gasp championships, the European away wins - what I find galling is that clearly, despite all the experiments (white, blue, horizontal stripes, redcurrant, green) the fans’ favourite shirts are red with white sleeves (home) and yellow with blue sleeves (away). So why not stick with that? If we need a third kit (and actually, why would we ever, with those colour combinations) then swap the shorts over. Voila. Done. Sorted. And anyway, can you see Chelsea or Spurs having a red/white away kit? You can stop laughing now.

I know, I know, I'm being deliberately obtuse - it's all about the money. Nike sponsors the shirt; Nike gets to release a new slightly different replica kit each year and thousands will buy it, out of loyalty. I even nearly bought that one-off redcurrant one to celebrate the club's anniversary. But basically, it stinks.

Hey, I’ve an idea - why not be the first big club NOT to actively fleece the fans who put you where you are, eh? Buck the trend, challenge consensus. Arsene does it with his youth project; why not front up and try it at the *spit* 'brand' level? Pick a kit (you could maybe get the fans to choose...) and then that's it for, say, three years.

And you know what?

Everyone would buy it. I would. Everyone. Because they know that it would be worth the investment to stand alongside similarly-attired fellow supporters and not feel cheated. Part of what attracts about football is belonging to a gang; throughout history, gangs have worn clothing that identifies your lot from their lot (makes it easier in a scrap). It would look better on the terraces too; a chanting sea of red/yellow (home/away) rather than the patchwork quilt of random shirts from years gone by we currently display. At the moment, our 'look' is changing every 'season' - remind you of anything?

Proud of that much? No, didn’t think so. Think on.

* by the way, 'Wigan' was not in the embedded spell checker; I think that speaks volumes :)

And It Was All Going So Whale...

Somebody give me a good reason not to get everything on this page?

Hello Fail Whale
Confused? Try here.

Droids

Droids
Originally uploaded by Olly Moss

I'd really like this on a T-shirt. Olly Moss is a god.

Change 13

Today was a bit short on change so I'll have to go for the obvious. My socks were successfully changed earlier today (I'm sorry).

Change 07

Today's change was clothing related; due to the somewhat inclement weather, I have swapped my colourful but thin Boxfresh scarf for an extremely warm slate grey knitted one from Solveig's mother, which I received for Christmas. Toasty!

Another In The Series

I really might have to get this:

Fibonacci T-shirt

Geektastic!

Blue And Green Should Ne'er Be Seen...

...except on a Premiership goalkeeper's third change away kit :)

Thirty Arsenal Kits

So 95/96 Away has to win for sheer audacity ("We shall strike like lightning through your defence!"), followed by 92/93 Away ("I can't see the ball, my eyes have started bleeding.") and 05/06 Goalkeeper a close(t) third ("Oooh, has anyone seen my man-bag; I'm sure I put it by the corner flag?").

Sheesh.

(big thanks to The Cannon)

34B-O-XXS-18-24m-15"

Just in time for that last-minute dash to Oxford Street to buy everyone's presents in the sales, we bring you:

Christmas Cheat Sheets

Amusingly, the ladies' one contains 'ring size' (now there's optimism!)

Yes, I'm blogging on Xmas Eve. Yes, I'm at work. Yes, the two are connected

Makes You Wand-er

We all suspected it, didn't we? Anyway, I'm going to get one of these for Rowan (the biggest Potter fan I know) for Christmas:

Dumbledore Pride!

CLOG clog

These are awfully sweet:


Although obviously it negates the effect of dancing around really fast and them falling off howling with laughter and wanting to go again. Perhaps they frown on that kind of thing in Finland :)


However, they also have these and these. Heh!

Makin' Woopie*

Coo, it must be Antonia week:

Woopie* Infant Cushion Costume

Those merkins do go a bit bonkers at Hallowe'en, don't they...hang on, that lobster looks rather familiar!

* (sic) - obviously the delicious irony of that spelling error is not lost on me.

P.S. Solveig - can we get this for Freyja....nana....nana....nana....nana....

A (Fairly) Recent Conversation On IRC

[14:18] (fourstar) so i went to Lillywhites yesterday and i was truly saddened
[14:18] (fourstar) it's just a f*cking 'Sports World' in a wonderfully famous & historic London building
[14:18] (greatbiglizard) tbh, it's been pretty ropey the last couple of years
[14:19] (fourstar) yeah, i didn't know - it is clearly the fifth circle of hell, staffed by incontinent meandering baboons, stocking only ill-fitting highly-flammable nylon sportswear, available in size (a) big-boned b*stard offspring of Giant Haystacks or (b) amoeba
[14:20] (fourstar) and now the aforementioned baboons have walkie-talkies
[14:21] (fourstar) so they spend all their time shouting random shoe sizes at the stockroom, the occupants of which are plainly out of their minds on ridiculously strong skunk (or busy contemplating the physical influence of supercoiling DNA-modifying enzymes and calculating the chemical energy of nucleoside triphosphates required to unwind the DNA double helix into single strands)
[14:21] (fourstar) but i reckon the former...
[14:22] (fourstar) anyway, they only ever have anything in a size 6 or in pink/yellow stripes
[14:24] (fourstar) w*nkers

Down To A Tee

Another one for Andy:

Nerdy Shirts :: The Most Awesome Shirts in the World

Look - it's MacGyver, the most handsome man in the world!

Awesome.

Alderaandy & Darth Paul

Leaping aboard the current bandwagon of blogging for your mates, how about a double-whammy - the top ten Star Wars T-shirts?

I really like the Dark Side Of The Garden one (from, predictably, Threadless)

It's A Shoe In

In response to Andy's post about trainers:

I can talk, I'm still looking for the original limited-edition adidas ZX-500 in slate grey and sky blue with the red heel guard trim...