Shaping up before I ship out.


Let it be known that on Sunday the 30th of July, 5:48 Pacific Time, this title and image was the very first thing that popped into my head.

I don’t have a ton to get through today, so in short order, we’ll play though what I have on deck, and then slap hands goodbye.

First things first- One thing I love are clothes that don’t make me feel like I’m wearing clothes.

If I wasn’t so repelled by the sight of my own naked form, I would be a nudist. Since I was a little kid, I’ve never cared for wearing clothes. In fact, I remember one time when I was four or five, I became so enraged by the the various folds in the fabric of a shirt I was wearing, that I was imagining the only solution would be tent stakes holding the bottom of it to the ground around my feet.

In the midst of my hysterical freakout, I remember my mom finally cooling me out by explaining that Fonzie had folds in his shirt too.

I was a simple, yet troubled child.

Anyhow, the point of all of this, is that in my life and being a creature of habit, once I found a style and cut of shirt or trouser that I liked, I stuck with it. Venturing out and buying a new cut of pants, for example, would most likely never happen, because when I buy three pairs of 38/32 Ben Davis, I know they’ll fit me like every other 38/32 pair of Ben Davis pants I’ve ever owned and worn.

So it was well out of my standard operating procedure when back in April, after having featured Thee Teen-Aged brand in this post, I actually went and bought the then-featured shirt;

Truth be told, besides thinking it was a real sharp garment, what inspired me to spend the dough (and besides my suit, which cost more than my first car, was arguably well more than I’ve ever dropped on a single piece of clothing in my life), were the people on their various forms of social media complaining about how much their clothing cost.

Having worked in some capacity or another in the bike industry for many years, it’s been until my ears have bled that I’ve listened to people gripe about how important American made products are, and why isn’t this made in America, and why isn’t that made in America.

Their soapbox being well-secured until you present them with a product made right here in the USA, which inevitably costs considerably more to make, resulting in that same person turning around and then bellyaching about the costs.

Everybody wants made-in-America products, but nobody wants to pay made-in-America prices.

Anyway, so I felt a kinship with the folks behind Thee Teen-Aged, and as a gesture of good faith, bought the shirt. In the time since, we’ve become pals, and even collaborated on the recent production of their Life Crisis zine;

Well, as a thanks for taking part in making said zine, I’ll be damned if those old so-and-sos didn’t bestow upon me caringest kind of care package;

That right there is a Huxley t-shirt, and the Teen-Aged jean;

I’ve never really fancied myself as much of a jeans guy, but wanting to give them a fair shake, I washed them, tried them on, and I haven’t taken them off since.

Apparently I’m now a jeans guy;

And yes- they are expensive, but perhaps George Wilson’s perspective on things might offer some in turn;

If you might be in the market, might I recommend some of these?

And please know this truth- If I didn’t love them, I wouldn’t say jack.

In other news unrelated to pants in anyway aside from sometimes needing to wear them while you do it- Folks might recall a couple of years ago when Paul from Paisley Skateboards and I partnered on this joint project;

Well, needless to say, I sold out of those in pretty short order.

Because his vendor/screen printer is now super balled up with all things Paisley, I’ve been unable to get back in the queue for a second run of decks.

In light of this, I was really excited to get a call from Jacob of Clutch Distribution the other day, during which time we discussed the possibility of doing another run of AHTBM decks together.

Because (as I previously noted) I’m a creature of habit, the stock shapes which are most appealing to me are the W6 and W7;

Though I have a tentative plan to meet up with Jacob at some point and get a tracing of the original deck in order to get a quote on a custom shape.

This most likely will occur a little later on in the fall in order for me to get out of underneath the current AHTBM woolie project;

Certainly if anyone happens to be sitting atop a suitcase full of money they would like to invest in these, or any of the harebrained product schemes I have in mind, don’t be shy about making the contact.

I mean, anyway you slice it, it makes more sense than these;

That said, perspective is relative.

I’m sure the people behind the arm hydration system would probably think investing in the manufacturing of fashionable and functional American made wool garments or branded skateboard decks is for the foolish and the lazy.

Both qualities being primary in those who refuse to pick up their dog crap, which folds us right into the next topic, and a photo message I received from Mike;

Or get a goldfish instead.

Amen, random Sharpie scribbler. Amen.

Lastly, I received an email from Robert in which he was showing off his new goods;

Hi Stevil,

Thanks for the ultra high zoot adaptor;

Rob

For those who might have missed it- Months and months ago I began chatting with the heavies at Paul Component Engineering about the possibility of making a real fine quality branded 7″ record adapter.

Because they have a bundle of their own fish to fry on a daily basis, this project took a backseat for a number of weeks. Then they made a prototype. Then it went back into the backseat. Then it went to the laser engraver. Then it went back into the backseat. Finally, the planets aligned, and just a couple of weeks ago I received the order, and my, are they fine;

If you’d like one for your own spinning pleasures, as long as supplies last, they can be found here. If you place your order today, I promise to get it out in the final mail run before I split town. Otherwise, I will get on is just as soon as I get back home.

While I can guarantee they will be compatible with all 7″ records with a large spindle hole, as well as making them sound 15% to 25% better, when it comes to playing your Jazzercise record, you’ll probably want to leave it to the side.

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4 Responses to “Shaping up before I ship out.”

  1. hurltron5000 July 31, 2017 at 6:47 am #

    #calvinkrime

  2. Ashley July 31, 2017 at 8:42 am #

    Love this. I bought an American Giant sweatshirt back when they first started, that I still fucking have! It’s so old and I wear it all the time. Sure it was a ridiculous amount of money for what it was, but hell if it won’t outlast me!

  3. SGK July 31, 2017 at 1:18 pm #

    Those look like very nice jeans but they are silly expensive. You can get USA made jeans for about $50 to you house if you look. #roundhouse

  4. Nevid July 31, 2017 at 3:33 pm #

    Kickass

    Totally

    #over40skateboarding