Charles Tyrwhitt Shirts

I recently came across a fine bargain for a Charles Tyrwhitt shirt.  The deal is a new Charles Tyrwhitt shirt, from a selection of several hundred patterns and colors as well as a free tie and free shipping for $39.50.  I am not affiliated with Charles Tyrwhitt in any way, but this is an awesome deal!  I have come across a number of Tyrwhitt shirts in my thrifting adventures, and I always grab them, because they are very popular and high quality.  I decided to take the plunge and ordered a white "oxford" shirt with standard button cuffs in their "slim" fit.  I also ordered a navy tie with small polka dots and grabbed a pair of silk knots for my Turnbull & Asser shirt.  The grand total: $45.50.

I patiently waited for the items to arrive, and after about 7 or 8 days, the package showed up.

The tie is a fine silk, and fairly slim.  I left the tags on, but plan on wearing it for my next formal obligation.

I prefer button cuffs, as they are more appropriate for my station in the business world (a grunt) and a white, business shirt one of those staples you will always need as many as you can get!

A nice Tyrwhitt touch, complementary bronze collar stays.

The fit is pretty good, although the shirt could definitely use a good pressing.  Here I am with my new Turnbull & Asser tie, and a pair of charcoal wool Zanellas.  Please excuse the douchebaggy face, caught myself mid blink!

Here are the silk knot cufflinks with the aforementioned T&A shirt, a Paul Stuart tie, and the same Zanellas, a little untucked, but I am pleased with the links

Received a catalog that is pretty tastefully done and highlights the collection.  I enjoy those farthing cufflinks in the bottom photo, definitely on my list.  The Ben Silver catalog arrived on the same day and is fantastic as well!

Walking Dead Season 2 Recap, Mad Men & Game of Thrones Forthcoming

In my opining on the written word earlier this month, I mentioned how books, specifically fiction novels, were being replaced by television series.  Grantland talks about the Golden Age of television this week, claiming Mad Men to be the last series of the age.  I do not have cable, but I still manage to follow a number of quality series, and I much prefer watching them sans commercials, which are quite annoying on the AMC shows.

Walking Dead season 2 recently wrapped up, with the group leaving Hershel's farm in a state of duress.  Rick Grimes had to kill his best friend Shane and as he let out in the season finale, he felt he had to do it, even though I am sure he believed there was another option.  This signifies a change in Rick's character, and him saying that this is no longer a democracy foreshadows a much colder and crueler Rick to the one we've seen trying to push democracy and equality in spite of Shane's Machiavellian views on the world as they know it.  The group is right on the brink of discovering a large new community and Andrea has already encountered a new character, who has some serious blade skills and what appears to be two zombie pets chained to her back.  I am looking forward to season 3, and hope that the in-fighting and bickering will be outweighed by zombie killing action in the forthcoming episodes.

Mad Men is in my top three favorite shows all time, following The Wire and The Sopranos.  I really enjoy the character of Don Draper, who is really only a character created by Dick Whitman.  The fact that Don works in advertising, selling a false image, is all too ironic, considering what he did in his past life.  With the passing of the real Don's wife and Dick/Don marrying the French-Canadian secretary and a new advertising agency being formed, this season holds a lot of surprises.  Will this be the season everything is revealed and Don falls from grace?  I look forward to these well-crafted episodes and can't wait to dig into the first episode now, which just finished downloading.

Finally, Game of Thrones first season was excellent, lots of intrigue, an abnormal story twist, a broad range of excellent characters, and great production means a quality show.  I am a huge science fiction book fan, and the Game of Thrones is adopted from George Martin's book series, which are considered the best science fiction books out there, although they are very long and the plots are quite circuitous.  I look forward to Arya and Tyrion who are very unique and intriguing characters, and can't wait to see the fight between House Stark and House Lannister.

Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning

Tim Tebow is now a member of the New York Football Jets

Peyton Manning is now a member of the Denver Broncos

Sean Payton is suspended for a year, a pretty harsh penalty for the bounty scandal.

Summer in March

I have been thoroughly enjoying the record breaking heat here in New England, with temperatures in the 80s, and its only mid-March!  I enjoyed spending the last weekend with my family, and my beautiful wife, Marina, has been on spring break this week as well.  This means lots of great home-cooked meals, walks, and just a better vibe at home, without the stress of schoolwork hanging on her shoulders. 

We have been playing tennis lately, as she has taken it both beginner and intermediate classes at her school, and has taught me the basics as well.  I just recently ordered a Babolat racquet from Ebay, although used I am happy to get a "tweener" racquet that I can use for at least a year or two!

  

I also have been able to pick up two great ties from Ebay, a Turnbull and Asser for $8 and a Vineyard Vines for $16, both bargains!

I enjoyed a few beverages this weekend.  Blue Hills Brewery's American Bitter was pretty decent for $8.50/growler and the Sam Adams Spring Mixed 12 pack was solid, for the few offerings I had tried so far.  The Mighty Oak was not my favorite, but certainly not terrible.  I had my brother pick up a 750ml bottle of Bulleit Bourbon on his way back from New Hampshire for $25, saving $7 off the retail price here in MA/CT.  I enjoyed this bourbon a lot, and I hope to continue tasting more great brown spirits!

Hiking up Tuckerman's Ravine at Mount Washington the weekend after this coming one, should be a good time!

Supreme x Comme des Garcons

Supreme released a collaboration today with Rei Kawakubo's Comme des Garcons.  The collab consists of a shirt, camp cap, hoodie, box logo tee, and two styles of Vans.  The shirts and camp caps use a university stripe fabric design, complete with the usual CDG tweaks.  The box logos are all done backwards for this collection.  The tee and hoodie are polka dotted with the famous Supreme box logo.  The collection was released at retail outlets today, including online where I was able to snag a box logo tee.  I put it up on Ebay right away for an absurd asking price and was able to sell it rather quickly.  Did some quick research on the buyer, and they are a close relative of someone who is extremely famous.  Let's just say the shipping address is a $60,000,000 villa in Beverly Hills, pretty amazing.  Check out the pictures below.

2012 NCAA March Madness

March Madness is upon us.  The two play-in games, which NCAA officials want to call the first round.. are happening this evening.  Both of these future 16-seeds are going to face quick exits in the real first round on Thursday/Friday... so why even bother?  At the office, and around the country, brackets are being filled out at a rapid pace.  My final matchup consists of the fairly mundane Kentucky v. Ohio State. This is unlikely to take place, since they are both high seeds and John Calipari's revolving door (Kentucky basketball team) is probably not going to compete with some of the midmajors like Baylor and Creighton who have a lot of seniors and continuity.  The whole country is going to be watching the tournament, and I can't wait for all the hoops action.  Here are some of my thoughts for the tournament.

UConn backers surround me at work.  Although they had a decent run in the Big East tournament and are the defending champs, I am expecting an early exit, possibly at the hands of higher seed Iowa State that many people have UConn penciled in beating.

North Carolina has the easiest 1 seed path to the final four, their conference is the weakest: Georgetown, Temple & Michigan as high seeds are a lot easier than any other conference.  Michigan State led by Tom Izzo is a bit of a suspect 1 seed, and I think they will have the toughest time making it to the final four.

My underdog picks include NC State who had an amazing ACC tournament, beating Duke, and just looking great.  They are an 11 seed, but I think they can ride the wave into the later rounds of the tournament.  I am looking for Louisville to have a big year and hopefully come out of Michigan State's bracket, after winning the Big East Tournament.

I predict Syracuse to lose in the Final Four.

For those of us who care about our environmental impact; Green NCAA March Madness.