Fashion unforward

While I haven't made too many posts outside of men's clothing on this blog (and frankly, haven't made a lot of posts in general lately), I do have several other interests that keep me busy outside my main orbit of family and work. Although I've hinted at it in places, I'm a huge, huge, huge devotee of music and film, and have been a dilettante of many different sports, with the latest being running.

Around the beginning of the year, I decided that it would be a good challenge (and goal) to run an official half-marathon. Despite living in the midwest, I managed to train outside all winter, and the very longest stretch I went without running was four days (when we got socked with snow). Fortunately, I live close to a route that is regularly cleared, all the ice, snow, and sleet (and more recently, rain) that mother nature threw at me only seemed to embolden my spirit.

The aforementioned photo was taken at roughly 3/4 of the way through the half-marathon, on one of the last major inclines. It was taken a little bit prior to me hitting the proverbial "wall," hence the awkward smile. The day was unseasonably cold, and with a start time just after sunrise, my choice of clothing was almost purely synthetics.

Prior to running, I challenged myself by setting a goal time and donation amount to One Fund Boston, noting that I would double my amount given if I managed to beat it. In the end, I managed to do so by almost five minutes, and saw a load of friends and my wife and daughter cheering for me as I neared the finish. Not the worst way to spend a weekend morning, especially when it involves a delicious post-race meal and relaxing day afterward.

Wednesday WTF: Vintage basketball warmup jersey

I've mentioned it before, but sometimes I have a weakness for clothing items that would fall under the "kitsch" category before anything else. The item in this entry certainly does that, but it also falls under the small list of clothing items that I haven't even worn since buying them. In this case, that time frame is over 5 years, and yet I know I won't get rid of it.



There are many, many reasons that I keep it around, most of which might not make sense to someone who has any interest in traditional style. First off, I'm a sports buff (which surprises a lot of people, even after they've known me for awhile); Secondly, the colors on this vintage warmup jersey are still crisp and the team name is "The Crush," for gawds sake. Oh, and if that weren't enough, look at the name on the back...



So yeah, do I really need to explain the "neat" factor any further?

I've reached the point where I admit that I haven't been able to find any information about this particular jersey. I've searched the web over and over, looking through old ABA, pre-ABA, ABL, and other league names and teams and simply can't find anything.

The right breast area has the designation "1961CG," which I'm guessing corresponds to a date and some sort of league, but google delivers nothing. Various combinations of the team name, player name, and date also leave me scratching my head. I'm assuming it's from a very small regional team which dissolved and left hardly any records (none of which made it to the internet), but it still surprises me that I can't find even a small nibble of information.

What I'm left with is a nearly half-century old basketball warm-up jersey that will likely always take up at least one hanger in my closet. It would be a travesty to get rid of it before I found out at least a little about its history. Right?

Oh, and how about a close-up of that team logo?

As a former power forward, I approve

Objects I Love: Panasonic R-70 transistor radio

Truth be told, I listen to the radio only a fraction of the percentage that I used to. I have an insanely large collection of music, and instead of taking my chances with what I suspect is largely crap on the airways, I pull something off my shelf (or out of my digital library) that I know I will enjoy. Is that elitist? Perhaps.

And yet, there are a couple things that I really enjoy listening to the radio. There's something soothing to me about waking on a weekend morning and hearing at least part of "Car Talk," and there are days when I come home from work and spend an hour in the kitchen working on a meal where I flip back and forth between sports talk radio and "Fresh Air" with Teri Gross.

I'm getting really circuitous here, but the other thing I absolutely adore listening to on a radio is baseball games (particularly college baseball). There's something about the numbers, the names, and particularly the cadence of it all that really appeals to me. There are the long periods of near dead air sometimes punctuated by rapid bursts of action and the ocassional low-scoring pitching duels that unfold with ever-increasing tension. I have my team that I follow, and this is where the cutest damn chunk of plastic and wires in the world enters the stage. Please let me introduce the Panasonic R-70 transistor radio (aka "The Panapet").

The coolest vintage radio ever? Probably

I discovered my first Panapet at a thrift store about 3 years ago. I'd never seen anything like it before and knew that for the $3.99 price, it would be mine whether it worked or not. I got it home and replaced the 9-volt battery and it crackled to life. I spun through the AM dial and realized that sadly, there wasn't much worth listening to. Not much to listen to, that is, except baseball...



In less than a month, it will be college baseball season, and my army (which now numbers 4, in 3 of the 5 total colors available) of Panapets will be ready to inform me of every inning of the season and provide a chattery backdrop as the days get a little bit longer and the temperature gets a little bit warmer.

From a design standpoint, I don't think that this particular device has been rivaled until recent times, if at all. It's got an Eames era, space age flair that just works in the five color combination that it were released in (blue, green, red, white, and yellow). In addition to the dual dials for volume and tuning (which look like eyes), the split body (which opens to reveal the transistor guts and 9-volt connection, along with a solid battery housing cage) is highlighted by a clear, rotating band display, a perforated speaker opening, a mono earphone jack and a built-in keychain. Yes, you saw/read that correctly, a keychain. It was the 70s version of the iPod, but much more colorful and playful.



Fortunately, they were also very popular, and if you can't find one at a thrift store, flea market, or junk store, they're abundant on ebay as well.