Today's song of the day is Wavin' Flag by K'Naan.
A blog of comedy, sports, music, videos, life's lessons, and prep interest
Thursday, June 30, 2011
America!
So this guy has just purchased a 30 rack of Budweiser. An excellent choice for this weekend--how awesome do the new Bud heavy cans look with the American flag pattern on them? Very awesome. But, just having the Ameri-CANS wasn't enough for this bro. On top of that, he's got not one, but two American flags on top of the case.
Not to mention, his outfit. You really can't go wrong with chinos, a tucked in oxford with the sleeves 3/4 rolled up, nice belt and shoes, and a watch. The whole country needs to get on this guy's level.
I have no idea who this is, except for the fact that the photo was posted by someone from North Carolina with the handle SouthernProper, but you sir, are an American hero.
Prep Essentials: Navy Blue Blazer
This is the first post in a series I'm planning on doing entitled "Prep Essentials." The gist of the idea is to take a look at something that is essential to prepdom.
The blazer starts out as a prep staple early on: it is the standard uniform for pretty much all prep boarding schools--with the exception of those bohemian ones, but that's a different post for a different day. After prep school, the blazer remains a staple, as many preppies join fraternities in college, and the blazer becomes the standard uniform for formal functions, composite pictures, and--if you're in the SEC--football games. While most people are familiar with the uses of blazers today, the history of the blazer is not so well-known. At least, it wasn't to me. So, after a quick Wikipedia search (that counts as citing a source, right?), I am able to pass on a brief history of the blazer to you.
The term 'blazer' started with the 'red blazers' of the Lady Margaret Boat Club, which was the rowing club of St. John's College in Cambridge, in 1825. The jackets were termed blazers because of their bright red cloth. Other sources report that crew members of the HMS Blazer wore striped navy and white jackets as part of their uniform in the Royal Navy.
Looking at the origins of the blazer it becomes very obvious as to why this uniform was adopted into the prep world. Sailing and crew are both preppy past times so it only makes sense that the uniform of sailors and rowers would show up in the uniform of preps later on.
Blazers now are usually of a solid color, and quite often have naval-style metal buttons, which reflect the jacket's origins in boating clubs.
If you don't already have a blazer, or your prep school blazer has become too small for you--go get one. While Blazers from Brooks Brothers and Vineyard Vines may run around $500, it is possible to find a nice, well-fitting blazer for around $100. I recommend you check out Men's Wearhouse for that, as they offer free tailoring with your purchase.
The term 'blazer' started with the 'red blazers' of the Lady Margaret Boat Club, which was the rowing club of St. John's College in Cambridge, in 1825. The jackets were termed blazers because of their bright red cloth. Other sources report that crew members of the HMS Blazer wore striped navy and white jackets as part of their uniform in the Royal Navy.
Looking at the origins of the blazer it becomes very obvious as to why this uniform was adopted into the prep world. Sailing and crew are both preppy past times so it only makes sense that the uniform of sailors and rowers would show up in the uniform of preps later on.
Blazers now are usually of a solid color, and quite often have naval-style metal buttons, which reflect the jacket's origins in boating clubs.
If you don't already have a blazer, or your prep school blazer has become too small for you--go get one. While Blazers from Brooks Brothers and Vineyard Vines may run around $500, it is possible to find a nice, well-fitting blazer for around $100. I recommend you check out Men's Wearhouse for that, as they offer free tailoring with your purchase.
Song of Yesterday
I tried to post this last night, but it wasn't working. Anyway, yesterday's song of the day was Life Goes On by Noah and the Whale.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Song of the Day
After posting Knee Deep yesterday, I've decided that I'm going to (try to) start posting a song of the day. Today's song is The Show Goes On by Lupe Fiasco.
Stars and Stripes Dye Job
With Independence Day coming up, today, I'm going to dye the head of an old lacrosse stick in the pattern of the American flag.
Here's what you'll need:
1 Turkey roasting pan
1 Blue RIT dye pack
1 Red RIT dye pack
1 Unstrung white lacrosse head
Electric tape
Star stickers
Step 1: Prepare the head
The first step is to put electrical tape of the parts of the head that you don't want dyed. I'm going to dye the top corner blue first so I've used the electric tape to mark where I want to the blue color to stop when I'm finished dying it. I decided to make things a little easier and dye the entire throat red, so the 13th stripe on the flag will be longer than the other 12. I wanted to keep proportions of the blue corner correct, so I went ahead and marked off the stripes for when I dye the red. The black electric tape will be the white stripes when the head is done. For the stars, I recommend finding a sticker pack that has star stickers. I used a pattern and cut them out with electric tape, but it was a big pain to do...and it took forever.
Step 2: Dying the blue
To get ready to dye, first you boil water. Once the water is boiling, dump it in the turkey roaster and add the dye. Make sure the water is deep enough to submerge as much of the head as you plan on dying. The store only had navy blue dye, so to achieve the blue on the flag, I just won't leave it in the dye as long. The hotter the water is, the faster the plastic will dye. When the plastic is the color you want, run it under cold water, as this will shock the dye and keep it from running. (The dye looks darker than the picture indicates).
Step 3: Preparing to dye the red
Now, you need cover the corner you just dyed blue with electric tape before you put it in the red dye. If you haven't already covered what you want to be your white stripes, you need to do do that before putting the head in the red dye. You can use the same turkey roaster for the red dye, just dump it out first.
Step 4: Dying the red
Now, just drop the head into the red dye and wait for it to reach the color you want. Be sure to rinse it in cold water when you're done and then remove the duct tape. Hopefully it turned out good. I'm a little disappointed in the way mine came out, especially the stars and the running of both colors,but I'm okay with it. This is by far the most complicated dye job I've ever tried.
Step 5: String it up
After the head is dyed, you can string up and then you're ready to play.
If anyone has any ideas on another pattern they'd like to see me try, and then use my instructions/mistakes to make it better when they try it, let me know in the comments. Just keep in mind, it'll probably be a while before I can afford another head to experiment on.
Here's what you'll need:1 Turkey roasting pan
1 Blue RIT dye pack
1 Red RIT dye pack
1 Unstrung white lacrosse head
Electric tape
Star stickers
The first step is to put electrical tape of the parts of the head that you don't want dyed. I'm going to dye the top corner blue first so I've used the electric tape to mark where I want to the blue color to stop when I'm finished dying it. I decided to make things a little easier and dye the entire throat red, so the 13th stripe on the flag will be longer than the other 12. I wanted to keep proportions of the blue corner correct, so I went ahead and marked off the stripes for when I dye the red. The black electric tape will be the white stripes when the head is done. For the stars, I recommend finding a sticker pack that has star stickers. I used a pattern and cut them out with electric tape, but it was a big pain to do...and it took forever.
To get ready to dye, first you boil water. Once the water is boiling, dump it in the turkey roaster and add the dye. Make sure the water is deep enough to submerge as much of the head as you plan on dying. The store only had navy blue dye, so to achieve the blue on the flag, I just won't leave it in the dye as long. The hotter the water is, the faster the plastic will dye. When the plastic is the color you want, run it under cold water, as this will shock the dye and keep it from running. (The dye looks darker than the picture indicates).
Step 3: Preparing to dye the redNow, you need cover the corner you just dyed blue with electric tape before you put it in the red dye. If you haven't already covered what you want to be your white stripes, you need to do do that before putting the head in the red dye. You can use the same turkey roaster for the red dye, just dump it out first.
Now, just drop the head into the red dye and wait for it to reach the color you want. Be sure to rinse it in cold water when you're done and then remove the duct tape. Hopefully it turned out good. I'm a little disappointed in the way mine came out, especially the stars and the running of both colors,but I'm okay with it. This is by far the most complicated dye job I've ever tried.
Step 5: String it up
After the head is dyed, you can string up and then you're ready to play.
If anyone has any ideas on another pattern they'd like to see me try, and then use my instructions/mistakes to make it better when they try it, let me know in the comments. Just keep in mind, it'll probably be a while before I can afford another head to experiment on.
Monday, June 27, 2011
Winnipeg is Back
I'll tell you what NHL team I wish would come back: the Hartford Whalers. This franchise moved to Raleigh, NC and became the Carolina Hurricanes in 1997. This old school team, although they were founded 1972, and played in the WHA until 1979-80 season, when they joined the NHL, has a great looking logo, sharp colors, and a great name: the Whalers. It just sounds awesome. Not only that, but unlike Raleigh, Hartford is actually a hockey town. Sure, they never won a Cup as the Whalers and the Hurricanes won it in 2006, the NHL needs to go back to more of an old time hockey league. The post lock-out league just isn't working. The league wanted to open the game up and get rid of the clutching, grabbing, and hooking, but guess what? Scrapping is part of hockey!
Welcome
Hey guys. Thanks for checking out my blog--by the way, this is my first blog post ever so don't be too hard on me. It's good to know that there are some people out there who actually care enough about what I'm doing to read about it. So, for my first official post, I thought I'd share a funny story with you that actually happened this morning.
This summer marks my last semester as an undergraduate architecture student. I have an elective entitled, Boston: The City & The Sea. Basically, the class is about Boston's history and how being on the waterfront has effected the shape of the city over time. Part of this class is weekly site visits to various places around the Boston Harbor. Today, we we are the Charlestown Navy Yard, pictured here:
As our class was walking along, a golden retriever ran around the corner, past the hands of several students waiting to pet him, and he went under the chains. As you can see on the far side of the pier, there are steps that go down to the water. The dog disappeared below the concrete, out of sight.
Sure enough, a lady came running behind the dog, who was now out of sight, and the class directed her to the area that the golden had disappeared at. When she arrived at the steps, he emerged back on land, soaking wet. After he shook off, a yellow lab came around the corner, also unleashed, and met the golden retriever.
I'm sure the exchange went something like this:
Golden: "Hey! Look, what I found!"
Lab: "Wow, let's go check it out!"
And off both dogs went back down to the water for an early morning swim. Of course, all this time, our professor was still talking....to approximately zero students as all of us were much more entertained by the dogs than we were by hearing about connections of the Tobin Bridge and the Zachim Bridge.
Okay, so the story doesn't seem that funny now. Maybe you had to be there. Maybe I didn't tell it very well. That's all for now.
This summer marks my last semester as an undergraduate architecture student. I have an elective entitled, Boston: The City & The Sea. Basically, the class is about Boston's history and how being on the waterfront has effected the shape of the city over time. Part of this class is weekly site visits to various places around the Boston Harbor. Today, we we are the Charlestown Navy Yard, pictured here:
As our class was walking along, a golden retriever ran around the corner, past the hands of several students waiting to pet him, and he went under the chains. As you can see on the far side of the pier, there are steps that go down to the water. The dog disappeared below the concrete, out of sight.
Sure enough, a lady came running behind the dog, who was now out of sight, and the class directed her to the area that the golden had disappeared at. When she arrived at the steps, he emerged back on land, soaking wet. After he shook off, a yellow lab came around the corner, also unleashed, and met the golden retriever.
I'm sure the exchange went something like this:
Golden: "Hey! Look, what I found!"
Lab: "Wow, let's go check it out!"
And off both dogs went back down to the water for an early morning swim. Of course, all this time, our professor was still talking....to approximately zero students as all of us were much more entertained by the dogs than we were by hearing about connections of the Tobin Bridge and the Zachim Bridge.
Okay, so the story doesn't seem that funny now. Maybe you had to be there. Maybe I didn't tell it very well. That's all for now.
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