One of the coolest shirts ever

Saw this on TV on the Travel Channel, on a show called Steak Paradise. There's a steak house in north Texas that serves a 72 oz. slab of cow. If you can eat it and the side salad, potato and some other side dish, you can get it free...if you survive, I guess. One of the guys that tried-and failed, even with a really valiant effort-had this slogan on his shirt. I had to go seek it out, because this is truly one of the coolest shirts in the history of ever.


This ranks second to my "PETA: People for the Eating of Tasty Animals" shirt, which offended a clerk at 7/11 so much that she didn't say a single word to me during the entire transaction of the purchase of a Super Big Gulp, and scowled at me through most of it once she read the shirt. Yeah, that was a great moment.

I still find it somewhat...I dunno...bemusing, I suppose...that there are people out there who allow their day to be affected by what someone wears. I see some slacker with no job in a Che shirt or "I wanna stick it to the rich with Obama, even though they're the ones who employ people" sticker on a vehicle, I simply think "What a poor, misguided person that is" shortened to one word ("idiot"), and go on merrily thinking about shooting and how great it is not to be represented by a Kennedy. Yet, those who worry about what other people wear instead of really doing anything about what concerns them so, can have their day ruined by a shirt slogan. What an odd way to live a life.

If you wondered what to get me for Christmas, this shirt would be a great idea.

What's happened to style?

Where has style gone? I was watching SportsCenter the other night, probably the very good NFL Today show, and I couldn't believe what was seeing. It looked to me as if the current state of style was the worst of all available eras. It hurts my eyes and my heart.


One thing I will always love about Abbott and Costello, besides that they're still funny all these years later, is the clothes. That was a more civil time, when men wore hats that weren't baseball caps, pocket squares were not only stylish but required equipment, and suits looked good. I've always been a fan of that era. It wasn't extreme in color or tailoring, didn't have any extra junk that didn't need to be there, and still had variety. Burberry coats. Double breasted and single breasted suits (although I prefer notched collars to peaked collars, I'd still rock the right peaked collar), narrower ties, and no four in hand or Windsor knots with spread collar shirts. Simple, classic colors and simple, classic tailoring.

Giant knots and spread collars look like ass. Always have, always will. I don't care for that knot or that style of collar under any circumstances, but together they're hideous. I still favor single overhand knots in ties, and it took me a long time to warm up to the trend towards wider ties.

In terms of fashion, it's a lot easier to look good traditionally than it is to look good with flash. Sure, you can get the trendiest suit out there, which will probably be too bright and too shiny, and you'll look fly for a while. Just don't let anybody take pictures of it. Many a torturous moment has been caused by the simple act of breaking out the photo album. One reason I really enjoy Mad Men, besides that it's a great show with great characters doing great-or at least interesting-things, is that the clothes are so awesome.

In searching for this pic (well, a pic like this one):

I came across this article in today's Daily Mail Online, a British online magazine. I had no idea I'd find this, but at least it gives me some hope. I gotta admit, even though it's trendy as can be, I like the current big band swing music. In some ways, I'm hopelessly retro and nostalgic. I very much disagree that the gun isn't required anymore, though.

Health Care...Reform? Suuuuuure it is.

The health care debate is raging right now, and will probably rage even louder as the details are disclosed. It seems that its not as popular right now as it was during the election. What, it's not really completely free? It's going to be crushingly expensive? The gummint's gonna run it so choice will go away? Can it be?

Well...yeah. That's pretty much what can be expected of a gummint run program. Here's the thing: gummint is the least efficient, most expensive way to do ANYTHING. The Post Office, which has a practical monopoly on printed correspondence, loses money every year. Cash For Clunkers ran out of money in about a week. That procurement of cash was supposed to last six more months, and they couldn't even go one month, much less six.

Every time the gummint gets involved in running businesses, the lean efficiency required by the marketplace goes away. Would the industry (such as it was) in the USSR survive if the Politburo hadn't decreed that it would? Of course not. Inefficiency causes businesses to fail, meaning they close their doors and all their employees are out of work. They hemorrhage money, which only gummints can get away with...for a short time. Remember, the USSR eventually failed, too.

Here's the juice: whatever they tell you it'll cost, it'll cost much, much more than that. If they tell us its going to cost $70 trillion, it'll cost $170 trillion (I just pulled these numbers out of thin air). This is shown throughout our history, so there's no reason to think they got the math right with this project. We, the American taxpayer, are on the hook for that. That means those of us that work will have to pay for it. The rich (defined as those that earn $100,000 to $150,000 yearly, according to President Obama's election rhetoric) already pay 3/4 of the tax bill yearly. They can't pay more than they already do and be expected to still live in this country. That means everybody loses their options, their out of pocket costs skyrocket, and their quality of care plummets.

Consider this: right now, being a doctor pays well. It should; consider how much it costs in time and money to become a doctor. That means that the profession draws the best and brightest. If the gummint runs the system, do you really think the best and brightest will still be drawn to the profession? Of course not. They'll go find a field that will reward their investment, as it should be. If you want a second rate doctor, go ahead and sign for this mess. If I have to have a major surgery, I want the best and brightest working on me. That's not the time to find out he's not the best available. That's what you get from socialized, government run programs. I want no part of it. EVER.

Commemorating

A friend of mine had these made up for members of the LF community that have been killed in action. They include Travis Patriquin (look for a book soon on the man), Danish serviceman Christian Raaschou, and the teammate of my friend M4Guru, SSG Justin Whiting. I can't call Justin a friend, but I had met him and talked with him on several occasions. Like all of these gentlemen, he was taken too early in his life, but gave his life for a cause he believed in.

All of these, and more in the service, are better men than we deserve. I fear that we will, once again, leave the job unfinished and do the famous cut and run in the Middle East. I can't believe we're looking at doing that AGAIN. What a waste.

Met another hero today: James Megellas

I was not thrilled to be working on Saturday again, having been at it all week, but once again, I found that my job does not suck. I got to meet another real hero today: James Megallas stopped by the store today with his beautiful and gracious wife. He was over on Fort Campbell visiting the troops, and luckily came by the shop with a few of the 101st Screaming Eagles.

He's a very unassuming, very friendly man. Like many of the heroes of the Second World War, one does not expect the smiling gentleman that just shook their hand to have done what the record shows they've done. James Megallas is currently being reviewed via legislation to be awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor. He'd already earned The Distinguished Service Cross, two Silver Stars, two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts, Presidential Citation w/cluster, Belgium Fouragere, 6 Campaign Stars, and Master Parachutist for his WWII service. In short, Mr. Megallas is a stud...although I'm sure he'd dispute that.

Once again, I'm fortunate to meet a hero, and in my world, a celebrity of enormous stature. Kinda makes the temper tantrums of more public celebrities seem all the more childish and petty than ever before.