i hadn't seen palm trees since i was in California it was pretty cool.

i didn't have a bathing suit so we went to find me one. Obviously i couldn't pass up my go to spot in the states for everything pretty much. i ended up at RL a few too many times over the week i spent in the US. I couldn't help myself since this store was just around the corner from the B+B.

we got to charleston a little late so we didn't do a whole lot besides check in, get my bathing suit and relax the first day. i had to best meal of my life tho at this amazing restaurant on the same street as the B+B called poogan's porch i had the best meal of my life at this place, the biscuits were incredible.

the next day was beach day.

i hadn't been in salt water since i was like 12 or something so that was kind of a suprise when i got to swimming. i also forgot just how powerful the sun can be, and even tho i put on spf 70 sunblock, i still missed a few places and paid for it.

the hotel had bikes that you could just take whenever you wanted and cruise around the city. so me and jules took some after midnight to check out the city. apperently charleston is one of the most haunted cities in the US next to salem, and it was kinda creepy at night with next to no one around and all the old buildings and stuff but it was fun.

the next day we were leaving and decided to walk around a bit before we got back on the road. fixed gear faggots exist in charleston too. the green bike with a blue chain is a bit much.

we stopped in columbia on the way back to charlotte, and we found some pretty amazing bbq.

i'll be posting more from my trip to north carolina soon. dont forget about life slightly sideways since i pretty much do update it daily, more often than this thing anyways hah.

These are all from Kevin Walsh. Check out his flikr page

Exciting stuff: Polo is bringing back a logo from what some (myself included) would call the brand's golden age. In the early nineties, the Apollo foot logo was part of the Polo sports collection of Olympic-inspired looks. (Too bad this year's Olympic gear wasn't as cool.) When the line becomes available next year, it'll be a fun nostalgia trip, even for those who were susceptible to fads and bought the old Apollo apparel in double extra-large (myself included).

Anda peminat kendaraan merek Volkswagen atau yang bekennya disebut VW? PT Garuda Mataram Motor (PT GMM), selaku pemegang merek VW di Indonesia merilis harga terbaru untuk produknya.

Harga yang mulai berlaku sejak 21 Agustus 2008 itu meliputi VW Polo, Golf, Beetle, Tiguan, dan Touareg. Untuk lengkapnya bisa di klik di sini atau lihat di bawah. Anda berminat yang mana?

DAFTAR HARGA KENDARAAN VOLKSWAGEN SEDAN
(on-the-road Jakarta 2008)

Rp 245,000,000 : VW New Polo 1.4L (4 doors)
Rp 351,000,000 : VW New Golf 1.6 (A5)
Rp 488,000,000 : VW New Golf GTI 2.0 FSI Turbo (3 doors)
Rp 498,000,000 : VW New Golf GTI 2.0 FSI Turbo (5 doors)
Rp 460,000,000 : VW Beetle 1.6L
Rp 553,000,000 : VW Beetle 2.0L
Rp 636,500,000 : VW Beetle 2.0L Cabriolet
Rp 705,000,000 : VW Tiguan
Rp 985,000,000 : VW Touareg 2.5 (Metro)
Rp 1,290,000,000 : VW Touareg 3.0 V6 (Metro)
Rp 1,360,000,000 : VW Touareg 3.6 V6 (Luxury)
Rp 1,920,000,000 : VW Touareg 4.2 V8

* per 21 Agustus 2008

This magical shoe, go-to footwear shared by hipsters and Whole Foods moms and dads alike, is breaching new territory with the launch of their wrap-around boot.  Looks more like a badly-worked ace bandage to me.

As TOMS gets creative, they're putting out an election shoe as well.  Though - can't imagine very many TOMS clad feet will be marching to the poles wearing the elephant shoe.  I wonder if my demographics are off?

To usher the wrap boot into existence, founder Blake Mycoskie produced this short film, giving context to the bandage-like look of the red boot. It's a cute story...wish the boot would match.

No matter how silly the shoe, you got to applaud the company for their One for One program which donates a pair of shoes to impoverished kids for every pair you buy.  Makes you feel alot better for paying $40 for what is essentially two strips of canvas over a leather sole.

1st Chukker: Ahmibah gets ahead with two goals by MacDonough, but talented Pelón Stirling and Ayala patron Íñigo Zóbel put the scoreboard at 2-2.

2nd: Ahmibah surges forward with goals by MacDonough and Laprida, though Stirling again puts in another goal. Score: Ahmibah 5 - Ayala 3.

3rd: Pablito with a superb goal and Iñaki with another one put Bahar's team well in front, until a magnificently played goal by Pelón and Laborde's 30-yard penalty shot sets the score at 8-5 at half time.

4th: Now Pablo MacDonough is at his best, putting the score at 10-5 against an Ayala that simply couldn't match him despite their very best efforts.

5th: Thanks to Pelón Stirling, Ayala gets closer on the scoreboard, but once again Pablo MacDonough shoves his men ahead. Ahmibah 10 - Ayala 7.

6th: Ayala struggles to equal the score with two goals, but MacDonough puts in yet another one one from a 30-yard penalty. And the match, tournament and Gold Cup go to Ahmibah for a final 11 to 10 goals. What a match!

CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE

Dieses Poloturnier ist für jedermann offen. Es hat viele Plätze und eine Tribüne. Inklusive Verpflegung und Getränke. Kommt doch im Jahre 2009 auch mal vorbei.

serious of tournaments and high goal players from all over the world.  The United States, however, has seen its polo base erode for the past forty years.  The Association no longer promotes international competition and there is a move to lower the handicap limit of the U. S. Open to 22-goals.

As if things weren’t bad enough, Adolfo Cambiaso and Gonzalo Pieres will be promoting their Argentine Polo Tour that will directly compete with Wellington’s high-goal format and a professional polo league is being formed that will enlist the balance of our high-goal players.

Is this the end of high-goal polo in America?  It’s too early to tell, but the results of September’s USPA meetings in Virginia will give us a good indication.

There was a time when despite its numbers, America was creating a growing system of building young players who would graduate into the high-goal ranks.  Mike Carney, Heath Manning, the Sieber brothers, the Wigdahls, the Armstrongs, the Bostwicks, the Fortugnos, and then it slowed to a stop.  Was it the importation of Argentine players, maybe, but that didn’t stop the growth of young American polo players in the 1980s.  What’s the answer, I’m not sure, but then I don’t have a job that pays me to do nothing all year long but try to figure it out and make the changes.

If you go to the USPA website you’ll find that the Executive Director is charged with growing the game.  There is a staff of nine full-time employees who are in place to support these efforts, and an additional eight full-time employees of the Polo Training Foundation, yet we see our membership eroding and the level of competition being lowered.

Considered the world polo power until the mantle was take from us by the Argentines, we are now not even the top-rated polo power in North America.  Mexico has held the Camacho Cup since 1976 and Canada eliminated our US team from FIP World Cup competition last year.  The once coveted Westchester Cup (U.S. vs. Great Britain) has been sitting in England since 1997, and a half-hearted effort by the Museum of Polo (the USPA would have nothing to do with helping to organize or stage it) to play the Cup in January 2009 fell apart, as no sponsorship could be found to subsidize the event, and the USPA didn’t look upon the event as important enough to dig into the millions of dollars Properties has supplied it with to carry it out.

If a handful of powerful patrons can dictate the level of the Open today, we can only expect that cap to be lowered as their skills diminish but their desire to compete in the “Open” remain. 

Is this the end of high goal polo in America, I'm not sure, but I don't like the direction in which it is going.

Porque meteram uma cama elástica no Polo Norte?

Para o urso polar!

caracteres: 67

por: desconhecido

enviado: Tochas

Dear Kristen,
Well, I must say that photo you sent me was a little out of the blue. I really liked it, do you have any more, how do I put this without being too forward, do you have something with the Soviet Union's flag, something more risqué? For the Party's sake. We are trying to allure young blue collar gentlemen into the Party and our advertising firm suggested we get some photos of attractive Party members, maybe even make a calender. Some time back Sergei thought it was a good idea, so he signed a million dollar contract with this firm, it's the same guys that are doing the Budweiser frog commercials, top notch. Just send the photos to me and I'll take them to our ad guys. Or, if you want, I could come over and we could do a photo shoot?

Back to business. I checked with Bank of America to see if you deposited the funds, they said that you had a checking account with $4,923.67. It sounds like we are about $195,000 short of our goal, so we need to get cracking on that, okay?

And unfortunately I have some more bad news about Ernesto. He was able to receive the liver transplant, free of charge compliments of Commandante Castro's personal surgeon. The problem is that since the surgery, Ernesto has been hooked on morphine. So we sent him to rehab at the Betty Ford Center in LA to get him off the dope, but during a game of squash at the Center's athletic complex he threw out his back. The doctors have him in a wheelchair for the time being.  We were thinking that if we pitched in a few hundred bucks we could get him one of those nice electric scooters like the Lil' Rascal. This couldn't have come at a worse time, Ernesto is right in the middle of the playoffs with his polo club. Anything you can contribute will be greatly appreciated, and maybe send a personalized photo to Ernesto, he would like that. Do you have his email address?

Your Comrade,
Alexei

August 12th, 1997
From:KristenR_____@yahoo.com
To: Commie97@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: All I can say is wow!

Alexei,
I never sent you any photos, would you mind forwarding me the photo that you mentioned? I'm trying to figure out if someone else is emailing you from my account. Do you know someone that works at my bank?
Kristen

and a few other snaps of the polo

and here

smeear will be upping stick and moving house shortly so dont expect to much in the way of new products

also i have been doing lots of performance and costume and other such fun with the rather amazing "zebra World" no website up as of yet but its in the making and i'll let you know

if you wish to see zebra world or your wondering what te hell im talking about then come to this gig

and see this band

and last but not least i bagged myself one of these

from Archie's Growbags

after leaving I proceeded to talk with another student who left with me. He was wearing a Drucker school shirt, so I talked to him and found out that he has an MBA from there and teaches at CPP. I asked what he tought, and found out that this guy totally was my teacher for one day when until i dropped his human rescources class because it was not on my track. now Im on par with this guy talking about what courses we are taking, and how he thinks this joint program we are in will be. hold up, 2 months ago this guy was my teacher, now we are in class together, and he is talking about who i should avoid.... wow, this went fast.

Mrs. Gilbault (leslies mom) helped me with finances today and fixed my loans. horray for the help. I now can afford to take classes with somebody elses money. durring our talks she brought up leslie who i used to swim and dive with. We talked about girlfriends then things got strange. She said, oh well leslie kissed a lot of boys whlie she was on the swim team. so i tried to change topics and said something about "swim-cest" like incest because if you kised anybody you could trace your way to anybody else on the team. Practically making everybody who was swimming making out as one big revolving family. durring another pause in the loan process she asks if I have ever made out with her daughter. And I am stunned. this is aquard. Im trying to get some insane ammount of borrowed money, and she is wants to gossip about if I played tonsel hockey with her daughter 4-8 years ago... I tell her that i did not make out with her daughter, and we finish the loans like we are best friends, chatting, talking about school and CPP, and HS swim drama..

And I know you are dying to see the pictures from the tailgate competition... (which was incredible... and the prizes are even more incredible! So, get thinking and put together something great for next summer!)

In third place the Cody Lusk group...

and second place with a fabulous Olympic theme the Mapco Group...

and the winners, who had some of the most incredible food...

and the flamingo go-getters managed to walk away with the honorable mention.

Allora fatevi un giretto QUI.

I am no doctor of the head (yet) but I do know how to get people out of a funk. 80’s music. 80’s hair rock, power pop, and ridiculous ballads. Today, if you’re in a shitty mood because you’re back at work, or you’re pretty sure you’re in love with your best friends girlfriend, or you just watched Sixteen Candles and want to be 16 again, make yourself these CDs, and the world will seem just fine.

(Alternatively, ask me, and I’ll do it for you. I’m good like that)

Title: Closed Box’s Guide to Happy Times

CD 1: Pretty in Pink

01.  Highway To Hell – AC/DC

02.  Here I Go Again – Whitesnake

03.  Any Way You Want It – Journey

04.  Talk Dirty To Me – Poison

05.  Shout At The Devil – Motley Crue

06.  Pour Some Sugar On Me – Def Leppard

07.  Why Can’t This Be Love – Van Halen

08.  Don’t Stop Believing – Journey

09.  The Best Of Times - Styx

10.  God Gave Rock ‘n’ Roll To You – Kiss

11.  Every Rose Has Its Thorn - Poison

CD 2: Some Kind of Wonderful

01.  Jesse’s Girl – Rick Springfield

02.  Somebody’s Baby – Jackson Browne

03.  Little Bitch – The Specials

04.  Pump It Up – Elvis Costello

05.  Dancing In The Dark – Bruce Springsteen

06.  We Got The Beat – Go-Go’s

07.  It’s Different For Girls – Joe Jackson

08.  Edge Of Seventeen – Stevie Nicks

09.  Boys Don’t Cry – The Cure

10.  Ashes To Ashes – David Bowie

11.  Is She Really Going Out With Him? – Joe Jackson

If they don’t put you in a good mood, nothing will!

How were your collective weekends? Fun? Exciting? Downright depressing? All Of The Above? I think I managed to break a thumb, that’s my big news.

I somehow managed to swing a 5 day weekend – taking Thursday and Friday as ‘holiday/vacation time’ and with Monday being a bank holiday here, but I want to start today’s blog with a relaying of what came to be a rather heated conversation on Sunday night, and has sufficiently pissed me off enough that I still feel a need to rant a little about it this Tuesday morning.

And it is about this: the correlation between money and happiness.

I will begin by making my opinion very clear: Money has NOTHING to do with happiness. It might make life easier on a very superficial level, but make you more happy? Hells no.

It all sprung from a conversation I was having with my friend, who I will call Jane (for anonymity purposes) on Sunday night. Jane is yet another episode in my continuing quest for reconnection with old friends, and we were having dinner at ‘Balams’- http://www.balans.co.uk/soho.html,  a 24-hour restaurant (well, virtually) in London’s Old Compton Street.

As has become to the usual pattern of play, I explained to Jane that I had undergone a massive period of change, the why, and what the ‘new’ David was all about.

The conversation, as it inevitably does, swayed towards people’s own history – it never fails to amaze me just how much people want to ‘talk’ – and then, as it does, the inevitable clashing of what makes a person happy, and my (again) inevitable repeating of what seems to have become my mantra ‘ whatever makes you happy’.

Now, Jane is a pretty together person, and a pretty happy one. She has what most would consider a pretty nice life, so there would be no reason for her not to be.

However, she made a comment during our evening, which made me wonder actually how happy she really is, and having recently read ‘Affluenza’, I was all too happy to delve as deep as physically and mentally possible.

Jane contended that she was happy because she always left the house looking ‘her best’, and was always best representing herself. She did this, so she said, so that she was constantly ‘high’ or thereabouts. I enquired that if she considered this ‘high’, and did it all the time, was it not that her ‘high’ was actually her ‘norm’.

I enquired, simply, that if we accept her constantly feeling a need to best represent herself as her ‘norm’, at what point did she actually experience a ‘high’ – that point where, on a Saturday night (for instance) someone will look in a mirror and say to themselves ‘I look good’ – a form of self love.

Jane’s reply was that this only happened when she went shopping and bought something fabulous – but with an interesting difference, Jane made clear that this ‘high’ only occurred when she bought something ridiculous, like a Gucci shirt, Armani trousers, or a Prada bag.

Jane comes from a relatively affluent background, but by no means is she a ‘Daddy’s Credit Card’ girl, and she explained to me how the high worked. She would save for a month, maybe two, and THEN allow herself the pleasure of the shop. Immediately, I wondered about the need to ‘belong’ – how the Gucci/Prada/etc shopping experience wasn’t necessarily about the quality of garment, but rather the need to feel the high of belonging to an exclusive club, or designs on a lifestyle, or indeed, as she had mentioned the need to always look her best, the projection to the outside world.

I asked Jane why it was that rather than go and buy something once a month, she didn’t do what the vast majority of people across the country do, which is economise, or feel the fun of shopping on a more regular basis, and do so in Top Shop or one of its many equivalents – for the pair of £200 Armani trousers she told me she had recently bought, and recalled as her last ‘high’, she could buy any number of trousers, admittedly, they might be a slightly worse cut – but why did she feel the need to deprive herself?

She looked at me in disgust. In fairness, she is a self-confessed snob. She explained to me that if she had the money, why shouldn’t she do what she likes? I countered that it was fairly obvious that (a) she didn’t have the money since it took her a month or two to get to the point where she could buy something, and (b) that it was a case of relative values – that a £30 pair of trousers in Top Shop were only a £170 worse off than the Armani ones by the label on the price tag. Sure, maybe the Top Shop ones cost £1 to make, and the Armani £10, but the relative increase was dependant only on the label, and that’s what you were paying for. Jane simply answered that if she shopped in Top Shop or Primark, she would be desperately unhappy, and probably wouldn’t leave the house.

By pulling Primark out of thin air, I immediately thought she was making an interesting point without realising it. Primark is generally considered a budget store, but is ridiculously popular due to it place as the ‘disposable fashion house’ on the high street – that you can buy things in there for next to no money, that look ok, but you know you’ll throw it out after a couple of times wearing it. Jane basically believed that it was either designer labels, or she was scraping the barrel, and I wondered if it was the seemingly mental black hole she invented in-between that signalled just how insecure or otherwise she was in the way she looked.

In the car on the way home, I argued the case of a person having relative value, while Jane continued to argue her point that to her, it was the luxury that equalled satisfaction, while I argued that satisfaction, and happiness, came from within.

Jane posed a question – if I were to become an overnight millionaire, would I want the luxury Mercedes driving in front of me over the Polo I was driving? My answer was simple: No. I said that I understood that the Mercedes was probably a better car, with more features, was more luxurious, and was, in the eyes of others, probably a nicer car, but that I was comfortable in my Polo, and didn’t see the need.

Jane really couldn’t understand it. And became quite animated. She then posed another question.

She had been desperate to see George Michael in concert, and asked me if, in a hypothetical situation where my favourite band was playing, and it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to see them, that I would pay over the odds to see them. I answered, again, that I wouldn’t – a noted a time when this had actually happened.

Last year, Pearl Jam (my favourite band) came to play in London at the Astoria, a significantly smaller and more intimate venue than their usual arena shows. Tickets sold out within minutes, and eBay prices went from £500 to £800 to £1400 in 24 hours. I explained to Jane that, as I believe in relative value, that never, in a million years would I even have thought for one moment of paying £500 for a ticket, let alone what they went for in the end.

Jane couldn’t understand – why, she asked, if I had the money, would I not want to see them?

This argument went on for quite some time, as this mammoth diatribe can probably attest to, and the fundamental difference in values are probably apparent. But I wonder, and perhaps you can help – is relative value relative to what you have? Or should you follow Jane’s mantra of desiring the best, and using money as power? I know (very firmly) my ideals.

That will most certainly do for today. Again, if you are reading, my thanks to you.

Keep well, and fill your hearts with love and 80’s Hair Rock, all of you

Closed Box