戦場のメリークリスマス

Senjo no Meri Kurismasu - Battlefield Merry Christams - or Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence

The score, by Ryuichi Sakamoto, is haunting.

Smoking Accoutrements

Ronson Whirlwind and Stanwell Briar

Listening to .....

My Ideal - Chet Baker

Afternoon, Birds. Like someone in love.

Olympus EP-1 w/ 50mm at 1.8.

Tools

Pride of Lions

The best song, best video and best band so far this year. I'll brook no argument on this matter.
Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - Pride of Lions

Fumio Ito from Kemuri sings the vocals and dances his inimitable dance.

Sartorial Hero -Noël Coward

Dress with Michael Alden

A grand patriarch of classic tailored menswear and bespoke cloth on the internet, Michael Alden, one of the originators of the London Lounge, has a personal style that I find damn near perfect. Mixing Tweed and Oxford Pinpoints, Cordovan, Foulard Silk and Fur Felt, he is something akin to a gruff looking Fred Astaire. His personal video blog - dresswithstyle - although infrequently updated offers some fantastic knowledge and visual stimuli. He has this morning inspired me to brush off my Lock & Co hats and break out my seldom worn overcoats. Thank you, Mr Alden.

http://dresswithstyle.com

!pause

Pike Brothers

A German outfit making some interesting Americana and workwear. My friend AlmostNice rocks their "V for Victory" Tee, and I'm thinking their coveralls might serve me well as motorcycle gear... Will have to check them out next time I'm in Germany.

http://www.pikebrothers.com/

Cha no Yu

Today begins my thirty days of sweet F.A. On the prompting of my boss, we are trying thirty days of lean, to account for the 30 years of plenty. Tea is my new coffee.

A day in the life

Nit-picking

"Jyu bako no sumi o tsutsuku"

Picking from the corner of a lunch box. The Japanese phrase closest in meaning to "nit-picking" that I can discover.

Black Crackle

From Zippo's Site;

Zippo and World War II No other event in history increased the popularity of Zippo lighters more than World War II. From 1943 through the end of WWII, Zippo’s entire production was allocated to the armed forces. The company archives are filled with letters detailing the services a Zippo lighter was called to perform: heating rations in a helmet, lighting campfires, sparking fuses for explosives, hammering nails and even signaling to fellow soldiers with the famous Zippo click. On several occasions, a Zippo lighter in a shirt or pants pocket even saved a life by deflecting bullets.

No wonder legendary war correspondent Ernie Pyle wrote, “Getting hold of a Zippo (lighter) is like getting hold of a hunk of gold…There is truly nothing the average soldier would rather have.” Because of a shortage of raw materials, WWII-era Zippo lighters were made of steel rather than brass, and dipped in a black protective coating to prevent rusting. Today collectors refer to these rare models as black crackle lighters. Walter Nadler In the early 1990s, a Zippo employee found a genuine black crackle World War II-era lighter bearing a simple hand-carved inscription, “Walter Nadler” on the front and “June 6, 1944, 0630 France” on the back. As part of our D-Day 50th Anniversary initiative, Zippo launched an international media search throughout the U.S. and France, seeking to find any details on Walter Nadler. Information from several sources led to Walter D. Nadler of Rahway, NJ, who landed on Normandy June 6, 1944, with the fighting 4th Division of the U.S. Army. Unfortunately, Nadler had passed away in 1990. The now famous Walter Nadler lighter is on display at the Zippo/Case Visitors Center in Bradford, PA.

a well polished shoe

A custom order for a good friend - the 348 Westbourne in Chestnut from Crockett & Jones. His dedication in shining them elevates the shoe to much more than it was when they came from the box. Just goes to show - any wealthy man can buy the best shoes in the world, but a true test of character is that they improve with care and ownership. That's a true richness of person that money cannot buy. My hat goes off to you, HT.

Bobby Fischer Style

From Wikipedia:

Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess player and the eleventh World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time.

Fischer's achievements are legendary. At 13, he won a brilliancy that became known as the Game of the Century. Starting at age 14, he played in eight United States Championships, winning each by at least a point. At 15½, he became both the youngest Grandmaster and the youngest Candidate for the World Championship up until that time. He won the 1963-64 US championship 11-0, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament. In the early 1970s he became the most dominant player in modern history—winning the 1970 Interzonal by a record 3½-point margin and winning 20 consecutive games, including two unprecedented 6-0 sweeps in the Candidates Matches. According to research by Jeff Sonas, in 1971 Fischer had separated himself from the rest of the world by a larger margin of playing skill than any player since the 1870s.[1] He became the first official World Chess Federation (Fédération Internationale des Échecs) (FIDE) number one rated chessplayer in July 1971, and his 54 total months at number one is the third longest of all-time.

Flotsam and Jetsom

In my pockets today.

Laguiole Rossignol Pocket Knife

Tombow HB Pencil

Field Notes

WWII black Zippo

Yen - I haven't worn these trousers in a while...

-Five-

Check out http://five-secondskin.blogspot.com - a great blog from a denim junkie and vintage military enthusiast. I'm constantly blown away by how passionate and interesting the people I meet online are, and Faisal is no different.

Now I just need to get all these people together under one banner, and we can take the apparell industry by storm....

Form Follows Function

Time to say goodbye to my Delta Brake Calipers. Campagnolo C-Record, they are engineering in beautiful form.

Life.