I thought I would just post some ideas about the stuff of interest that Brooks is actually selling cheap now. I think the stores may have a greater variety than the internet so being an actual customer in an actual store may be a good idea.
The great buys seem to be in the non basic items. Light weight Italian shoes appear to on closeout for half price. Luxury robes from cashmere to wool to some silk are good buys. some leather goods if you need them. Silk scarves that I am assuming are by Drake are half price. As are the leather and cashmere lined gloves. Borsalino and Stetson hats are also attractively priced.
Last edited by tmc22 (2010-01-05 18:26:12)
Just to add a bit on another iconic brand: I received the ll bean sale catalog today. Worth a look through. A lot of the cold weather practical gear is on sale, and much of the stuff at regular price is good value. Rugby shirts are a steal at about 32 bucks. And I have mentioned before: The all wool Norwegian sweater is a bargain at the regular price. Stay warm and dry: Buy some Bean boots.
And one more little bit. You used to buy fabulous corduroy pants in all sorts of colors made by Hart Shaffner and Marx. This is going back 20 years. You could buy them at the local department store when it was still local. They had the label USA and I assume the fabric as well as the tailoring was from the USA. Today I saw on a website (not our own) where Paul Winston said good corduroy fabric came only from abroad. Oconnels and Press still offer made in USA pants. Press says the fabric comes from Italy. The prices are higher but I think I want the navy and bottle green pants in my expanded size. 150 bucks or so. I think worth it.
I know Sinatra did farewell concerts for 30 years. My anger with the internet is that everything is short, and most of the short posts are factually inaccurate. And that should be enough to discourage me from posting again.
The internet needs more filters. It needs more censorship, not less. In a very real sense the internet has become a font of misinformation. The idea was that it would spread information. The reality is that it has spread misinformation. IT has destroyed music. It is trying to destroy books. In a real sense the internet is nihilism triumphant.
I agree tmc22.
The internet is the antichrist, the great whore of Babylon. spreading it's evil lies across the universe. It will be the destruction of mankind.
But until then, anyone got any good porn links?
The internet has not killed music, it has challenged and perhaps killed off the rock star, which is no bad thing. The file sharing wars were infact a liberation, but as Chet Baker sang "but not for me". As I'm an audiophile who demands the best, most spacious sound possible and you only get that with vinyl and Japanese 24bit remastered CD's, DVD-Audio or the defunkt SACD's.
There's an interesting book by a music journalist Mark Coleman, "Playback: From the Victrola to MP3, 100 Years of Music, Machines an Money". This goes into all the format wars from cylinders vs records to 78rpms vs 33.1/3rpms and even attempts to ban all recorded music as it was perceived as killing off the livelihood of professional musicians.
In the end, I find the internet more rewarding than playing Diplomacy by post, watching Michael Palin's nice little adventure and the readers wives section of Fiesta.
I too agree, in fact due to internet you can now listen your favorite artist any time and anywhere. However, i agree to the fact of piracy, but only we all internet user can stop it. Not completely but at least at some point.
^ This is the kind of thing we ought to stop. IMO. Leave it with me.
The internet has destroyed the way musicians make money. It has destroyed music.
I really enjoy filmnoirbuffs essays. I would pay money to read them. He laughed about being a published author. But the real distinction (to authors) is whether you are a paid author. But I suspect he makes enough money he doesn't care if he is a paid author. The internet will be a failed business model. People will not create content unless they are rewarded.
And here is a little prediction: In the next three years the internet will shut down for a week or two because of a terrorist like attack. It is an obvious soft underbelly.
PS: I don't know who reads this stuff, but the Italian shoes are gone. Still have those Drakes scarves though. and the gloves.
File sharing is not liberation. It is the theft of intellectual property. anyone who does it is a criminal. The people who do it are teenagers who don't have any money. They used to knock over the corner convenience store. Now they knock over western culture. In a real sense they are linked to Al Quaida.
Last edited by tmc22 (2010-01-14 20:00:53)
Last edited by Voltaire's Bastard (2010-01-15 05:20:14)
Yeah, what Tony said. In any event, these rather conventional, petty rants about the internet are hardly the blaze of self-immolating glory we were promised by tmc22.
There was a time when I might have enjoyed these discussions. That time is past. My point was to refer people to the Brooks Brothers I once knew, and the things that they could purchase cheap. My "pal" put up a rude reply. and the under thirty crowd did what they do. adios. and enjoy the boredom.
Last edited by tmc22 (2010-01-20 19:54:55)
The idea of 'the music business' is a curiously 20th Century phenomenon.
There is no reason why it should logically exist: as Tony says non-creative parasites exploiting the naivete of artists. Have you ever seen a music publishing contract?