A now for some tortured twang…

Ever since viewing 2009’s ‘Crazy Heart’, I’ve been on a country music kick of sorts. It’s not the new country playing on my local radio stations that I’m into – it’s the old country classics: Hank Williams, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard.  The same sort of haunting, tortured tunes that Jeff Bridges strummed as Bad Blake are what I’m after. Watching PBS’s ‘American Masters – Merle Haggard‘ last night was even more of a push. While mostly sad and depressing, the songs seem real and honest – sometimes strikingly so. I listen to the lyrics and learn them almost instantly. On my trip to the library today I walked out with 3 Merle Haggard’s, 1 Hank Williams, and a Ray Price album.

You may want to check on me in the morning.

Playing footsie

There are all sorts of International collaborations going on in honor of the 2010 World Cup. Take, for example, the Swedish sock powerhouse ‘Happy Socks‘ teaming with NY design collective ‘Wong Wong’ to create this limited edition sock collection representing 9 of the participating countries.

France

Argentina

Now my feetsies will be styled out as I root and jeer during the month long tourney!

diggin’ it

so far, so good.

Eat a Chiquita!

I’m going bananas over the new brand design @ Chiquita!

First Aid Kit

A friend recently told me that “Swedes are better than us.”

In most things design related, I would agree.

In manufacturing safe automobiles, I would again agree.

And when it comes to teenage, sibling, folk singers, I would most definitely agree.

The harmonies these sisters create together as Swedish import, First Aid Kit, are other-worldly and their lyrics seem wise beyond their years. I’ve been haunted by their tune – Hard Believer – all day. Grab a blanket, pour yourself a cup of tea and crank the volume – you’ve got some listening to do!

@my’s bar

I promise to have you all over for manhattan’s once I get it stocked.

http://www.lookmodern.com/largedetail.php?itemid=13740&currimage=41741&fromdealer=1

That is, assuming that Santa can fit it down my chimney!

Cheers!

Shake ‘Em Up

A friend stopped into town last week for a visit and handed me a paper handled bag filled with vintage books. “Here,” she said. “Teri found these at an Estate Sale and thought immediately of you!” I happily accepted them and tossed the bag into the trunk of my car.

A few days passed before I had time to sift through my lovely gifts. I love old books – the way they smell, the feel of the paper, the penciled in notes from previous owners, and most of all, the content. There were definitely some interesting titles here, “69 Ration Recipes for MEAT”, no publish year listed, but early 1940s assumed. “Living in State – The Adventures of a Foreign Service Wife” – published 1959. And my personal favorite “Shake ‘Em Up” – A practical handbook of polite drinking, published in 1931.

“Shake ‘Em Up” is filled with gems like, what to serve if conversation languishes and your party needs a “Shot in the Arm”. Haven’t we all been there?
Or, how to prepare a phony bottle of booze, a “Bottle for a Certain Purpose”, for that party guest who doesn’t know when to say when. I may know one or two of those sorts!
And one I’ve tried just recently, “Hot Weather Drinks” – which “consist of Juleps, Highballs and Rickeys, and also the magnificent John Collins, whoever he was.” My latest Summer soiree was a hit thanks in large part to the Joe Rickey, a whiskey, lime, and seltzer concoction that looked fantastic served in my tall vintage ice tea glasses!

This skinny little hardcover publication “made for people who fling parties, people who go to parties, people who just have a table of Bridge, people who don’t really drink but feel that a cocktail or two enlivens conversation – in short for the American people in the twelfth year of Volstead, 1930.” is chock full of drinking etiquette, recipes and menu suggestions that may have been written for a certain time, and even a certain American, but prove no less entertaining and valuable today. My parties and gatherings will indeed be richer for its discovery!

I’ll leave you with this final excerpt on the possible ways to stave off the impending hangover. Cheers to the party flingers!

“Try to impress upon your subconscious that you must not go to sleep or to bed while your head is whirling. The penalty is a marvelous hangover. Drink quantities of water and hot coffee and keep moving; take violent exercise if you can. An extremely hot bath is also recommended, though it induces drowsiness. Another successful antidote for imprudent absorption is a series of long and very deep breaths. Fill your lungs completely, but rather slowly. The amount of alcohol one can work off in this way is amazing.”

MadMen Yourself

Be Sleek, Be Stylish, Be Yourself…

At some point in high school – I decided that I was born about 40 years to late. I should have been a child at the tale end of the depression,  a teenager & young woman during the innocence of the 50’s, and a totally rockin’ housewife at the height of mid-century goodness in the 1960’s.

While I can’t time travel and change my destiny – I can definitely enjoy some of that 60’s deliciousness as served up by the AMC hit series ‘Mad Men’. Whether you consider yourself a Dirty Martini or a Classic Manhattan – this fun site lets you create a retro version of yourself, or whoever you’d like to be!

Design is Key

I’m always one for forgetting which key is to what.

 This seems like a surefire way around that!

Hemp-Hemp-Hooray!

Hot on the heels of Maine and Hawaii, Oregon looks to become just the 7th state to allow farmers to cultivate hemp, which still technically violates federal law. Here’s a brief write up of the hemp hullaballoo…http://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/index.ssf/2009/07/here_comes_hemp_and_oregon_is.html