Saturday, August 28, 2010

Trad Week Random Review


All in my world will in a few more days, be right again. Even though I’m not with LFG every day of every week, it’s comforting to know that she’s twenty minutes away. But this week she remains at Ponte Vedra with friends and I’ve had no live phone time with her. So I’ve been slightly off center this week, awaiting her return.

Then I get this email on Tuesday early evening. The paucity of words seem inversely proportionate to the way this little missive made me feel. LFG is just now entering the email realm and this was kinda like manna for me. I now know what parents mean when they talk about the comfort they feel when a child taps in with them via text or email.

From: L___ G____[mailto:___@gmail.com] Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2010 6:31 PM To: D___G____ Subject: hey

i miss you

I miss you too my little Monkey and can’t wait to see you. 
Now I don’t remember squat about Kindergarten. It remains a cannabis hazed foggy recollection for the most part. But I do remember the day we smushed our little hands in plaster. Being the capricious little fella that I was, I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t take it home to my mom the same day we did the smushing. A couple of days later, I gifted the little plaster-hand to my mom. A few years ago she gifted it back to me. Now it shares space with LFG’s hand.
LFG is growing up and I’m fighting it every step of the way. She’s a gift of immeasurable value and I love the little woman that she’s becoming. But in no way will I refrain from pouting about and lamenting the fact that she’s not that cuddly little thing anymore. Shut up.

Ok, on to a pile of random drivel…..
Someone emailed me and asked about the “rugs outside”. Here’s the deal…yes they remain outside year ‘round. They are old and in no way valuable. Only in rare instances will rain or snow make its way to these old rags but sunshine does routinely. So they are dirty and patinated and faded and gnarly…just like me.
I have two old rugs that I bought at a neighbor’s yard sale when I was about twenty five years old. They aren’t valuable either but they have sentimental value. They’ve travelled with me to various destinations and have accommodated my treading them during times prosperous and times painful. This old Bokhara greets you at one door.
And if you’re one of the lucky, this Pakistani (I think) prayer rug will greet your feet in the ADG bedchamber. It accommodated for a few years, the predictable patter of little LFG feet as she climbed in my bed at around three each morning.
Ok, a thanks is in order…and long overdue actually. MegTown from PigTown Design sent us a neat little string of flags to announce to the world that cocktails were served on the ADG veranda. She also sent me a Titanic-Iceberg ice tray. She knows my sense of humour. Thanks again for the flags Meg. At first glance they look like a bikini top for a dairy cow. Shut up.
Ok, let’s talk cars for a moment. I didn’t get to attend the Concours at Pebble Beach but I was the grateful recipient of consolation gifts. A program and a baseball hat arrived in solace.
I’m gonna be off on these numbers a little bit. However, twelve is an exact number and that’s the number of the Jaguar racing XKs assembled at Pebble Beach last week. This will probably never occur again in my lifetime…due mainly to the fact that less than twenty of these works of God remain in the world today. Damn.
I don’t collect cars…other than little replica ones…but I do collect other things. And I share with you evidence that lets one know they have too much stuff. I was thumbing through Forty Years of Spy…the autobiography of Sir Leslie Ward… “Spy” of Vanity Fair fame. I’ve long since read it cover to cover but refer back to it from time to time. It’s a must for any serious Vanity Fair caricature collector.
I’m looking at the above illustration in Ward’s book and thinking…“I’ve seen that watercolour somewhere before…damn it looks familiar!” So I think a little more and then traipse down the hall.
I own the original watercolour sketch by Ward and I didn’t even remember it. I suppose that happens to Ralph and his cars from time to time or Steve Wynn and one of his Picassos.
I finally got around to framing my Richard Merkin New Yorker covers. Expensive green-deco frames consistent with Merkin’s pop-art-ish covers. Michaels craft store and a can of spray paint…thirty bucks total. 
Wouldn't be a random trad post without a Belgian shoe comment. It’s about time to send these back for their rubbers. I’ll do a post later next week explaining the process.
I did give the Belgians a break one day this past week. Ralph cordo tassels filled in.
Thoughts on these?
And help me out on this one please. Dry vermouth…I haven’t had to buy a bottle in ten years. I like ‘em dry over here. When did Martini & Rossi change their bottle? I much preferred the traditional label. No worries…I bought Noilly Prat anyway.
I like them dry and I enjoy a traditional martini glass. And…I’m completely hooked on olives stuffed with jalapeno pepper shards. I’m going through a jar a week. Spare a liver anyone?
I don’t like even well-made martinis in some kind of aberrant glass. It negatively influences the taste.
And margaritas in martini glasses confuse me as well. Kinda like that dairy-cow bikini top.
Let me close this drivel out with a remark about the stuffiness of shirt collars…pinned or not. Sometimes it’s nice to just throw on an old Sero button down and a knit tie. Classic…classic…classic.

Onward.

ADG
Oh and Ps … it may not be cold enough to swath yourself to this degree just yet. However, it’s time to store the seersucker and madras. One more week and the linen stuff has to go as well. I don’t like the transitional months.

34 comments:

Suburban Princess said...

The green shoes = me likey!
In fact...I have been on the prowl for a pair in brown for myself...or some kind of similar shoe *sigh* options are limited in The Great White North!

James said...

MEMO
TO: ADG
RE: LFG ,cuteness factor and effects there of.

Do I have to say it?

Mo50's

Anonymous English Female said...

ADG - Those slimey snotty green froggy fake Gucci slipper things with deviant heel/sole construction and aberrent stitching detail?? No.

Laguna Beach Fogey said...

Now I don’t remember squat about Kindergarten. It remains a cannabis hazed foggy recollection for the most part.

LOL!! This one made me laugh out loud, ol' chum. Classic.

Nice rugs and flags--do they have ones in a madras pattern I wonder?--just in time for the spring.

And of course, the ever-present Belgians are as wonderful as ever. The Bavarian Loden green Belgians are really starting to appeal to me. I really should get motivated to order a new pair. Your bachelor friend Tintin has threatened (promised?) to shove a Belgian shoe up my arse (!), so I'm having second thoughts. ;)

Enjoy the weekend!

Anonymous said...

I have noticed a photo of Hemingway's A Moveable Feast in several of your posts. The Restored Edition was just published in paperback. Here is the review by Hitchens:http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2009/06/hemingway-apos-s-libidinous-feast/7425/

~Hilton

Anonymous said...

Didn't Noilly Pratt change the formula in its US-distributed vermouth a while back to make it sweeter? (That's a no-no.)

Think about trying a new one -- Dolin.

As in:

http://www.dcfoodies.com/2009/02/most-casual-drinkers-shun-vermouth-as-the-bastard-stepchild-of-the-cocktail-world-barely-tolerating-it-in-some-scenarios-an.html

J.P. said...

First off I love your blog and I love your taste. The Merkin frames look great and I like that they were cheap.

I've been inspired by your Vsnity Fair collecting and I bought a few prints off of Ebay. Not sure if that is the right way to do it? Regardless I aspire to some kind of collection like yours.

I like the green shoes-- they fit your fuzzy dice style.

-J.P.

Salt Water New England said...

I echo your Sero comment. Spent years buying shirts at their factory, and still have plenty tucked away. Sweet pictures.

Silk Regimental said...

The green driving shoes could go with the yellow jeans? you bought last season - wear them in the snow this coming winter and they might turn martini-olive.

That silk knit tie - love it - reminds me of school up north and the first hint of autumn.

Richard M said...

The green shoes: No! The knit tie, Frazier style: YES!

ADG said...

Richard M. ... Fear not. I only posted the green shoe picture to color things up a bit. Knit tie...Frazier ... yes. And Bobby Short.

SilkPaul...are you trash talking me boy? Yes, the knit tie is a very Connecticut/New England look isn't it?

Muffy...thanks. Sero, Enro, Gant...not sure if there are any shirtmakers left in the North...or too many in the USA for that matter. Troy Shirtmakers Guild just came to mind too.

J.P. thanks for the kind words and yes, ebay is THE best place to get started with Vanity Fair prints.

AnonymousNoilly...indeed you are correct. But here's the deal with me and vermouth...I just wave the bottle in front of the shaker. I use two drops if any. So I care not that they've trifled the recipe. Plus, the new Martini/Rossi bottle looked too Disco for me.

Hilton....Ahh thanks man! I'll look forward to reading Hitchens review. Watched the startling interview that Charlie Rose did with Hitchens. He's gonna go fast I'm afraid.

LagunaFogey...glad to provide a laugh for you. Otherwise, we got nothin' over here. Yes, the loden belgian is a good color...not too dramatic but just different enough. And Tintin...he's all talk.

AnonEngFem...yep. I bought 'em today for twenty bucks.

James...could be worse I suppose!

Pigtown*Design said...

thanks for the shout! now people are going to be prowling the streets of alexandria looking for the flags, so they can barge in and have cocktails on the porch.

Young Fogey said...

Lime green bit loafers in suede? For you? Yes! BUY THE SHOES!

(What do *I* think of them? Well, I think they're hideous--why do you ask?)

garden and gun said...

looking foward to the post on Belgian rubbers, I'm wondering when do you send them off and can't you get it done locally?

Anonymous said...

I say go for the green suede driving shoes. Just think how wonderful they will feel and look on a mild autumn days with your favorite jeans ....

ilovelimegreen said...

Yes, ADG, your rug is a prayer rug but I don't think it is Pakistani. It's hard to say from a photo and an in-person examination to evaluate the foundation, weave and knots is essential to determine its origin. I would think my rug/textile expertise, if nothing else, would qualify me for a bedchamber invitation. Correct me if I am wrong.

Laguna Beach Fogey said...

A prayer rug, eh? I can just imagine the kind of prayers you mumble under your breath as you climb into bed after an evening of martinis: "Please God, don't let me wake up with a hangover!"

ADG said...

FogeyLaguna...I've long since stopped praying for silly things!

LimeGreenGal...I'm not yearning for that level of authentication re the rug. I'm flattered though, that you want access to my bedroom.

DeathMon...evern though the shoes aren't too expensive, we are on spending lockdown over here.

GardenGunner...I don't trust anyone locally. I'd rather have them done by shops that do them frequently.

YoungFogey...how you wound me...

MegTown...drinking flags...that's it!

Reggie Darling said...

Am also a dry martini man, and yes I can't stand one in anything other than the traditional shaped glass. I'm on an olive with hot peppers jag at the moment, too. Delish. Dare I say I might even think the green pseudo Gucci drivers look pretty good, particularly for imposters. Fooled me, and Reggie has a nose for these things...

SouthernProletariat said...

As always, LFG is precious- I love the older picure of her in the blue dress. Double up her vitamins when she starts back to school- mine always get sick within the first month without fail (and were this last week).

Memphis88 said...

So are you seriously considering the drivers? If you are, I say go for them without hesitation. I was just talking to a guy at a local place and he was saying they were coming out with quite a few new colors in those for fall. Also, one of these days I'm going to get me some Belgians and when I do they will be in that Loden Green. I love that color.

NCJack said...

LFG as "Scarf Monster" is probably my favorite pic. "Hey, I gotcha neckwear right here, Buddy!"

ADG said...

Jack of the North..Just got off the phone with he Scarf Monster...she's in from Florida and getting ready for day one of school.

88Memphis...give me them damn Gucci Keebler Elf Shoes.

SouthernProle...sorry your little ones are already gunky.

ReginaldLordDarlingtini...I also loath stemless wine glasses. For some reason I end up with a wine moustache every time. Can't believe the ersatz Guccis almost got by you.

Anonymous English Female said...

ADG - $20? You were robbed. Guess you could always hand them out to your flagged porch cocktail party guests to use as fly swatters.

JDB said...

My son started t-ball and I want to cry. When did he get big enough to swing a bat and throw a ball?

Kids! One minute they are drooling all over themselves, the next they are packing for college...where I suppose they'll drool on themselves once again, but for entirely different reasons.

Barima said...

If anyone were ever to ask me what an essential Maxminimus entry would be, I'd nominate this one. It encapsulates all that you offer here rather admirably

All best,

B

tintin said...

Geez, you have small hands.

ADG said...

Tintang...small hands...micro-wanker.

Barima...thanks!

JDB...ditto and then some.

AEF...twenty bucks for what?

Silk Regimental said...

Me???? Trash-talkin' y'all??? Hail no.

If I could hang you by the collar in my closet, each morning you could have your recommendations ready for me so I can hit the road lookin' as dapper as you.

Patsy said...

Oh, I'm so sad that you were unable to attend THE Concours.........

Unknown said...

I much prefer the Noilly anyway. I remember those Martini & Rossi tv ads from childhood and they were a little disco then too.

I'm gonna cheat on the madras and push it one more weekend because I just scored an amazing little jacket. So there. :)

ADG said...

ami...oh shit. I'd forgotten about..."Martini and Rossi on the rocks...say yeeeesss" oy.

Patsy...maybe next year.

Silk-Reg Paul...you'd get tired of hearing my yapper every time you opened your closet.

Anonymous said...

Should ur commercial meanderings find u in the vicinity(ies?)of SAKS Off-5ths, u might check for Eddie Green suede Alberts with golden bullion vamp motif - fox head & crossed femurs.

'bout half off, more in a few months.

Ta'er

ps: you should acquire the JagUar Victory By Design DVD if not the series. Do ur home theatre acoustics go to 11?

ADG said...

Taytayta'er...I'm on SPENDING LOCKDOWN man. Otherwise, I'd be riding my ass out to Leesburg tomorrow in the quest for fiddy off Alberts. And yes, I'll check out the JagYouar DVD. My home theatrics could go to 11 but the whole thing starts shakin'...even though we took the wheels off years ago. Thank you and goodnight.