Syndicate-esque

To capture what is - Syndicate:
Recently, several Syndicate members embarked on what can only be described as an evening truly capturing the Syndicate-ethic.
It starts in Beverly Hills, at The Shave. For those of you not in Los Angeles, it would be safe to say that there is a big trend on retro men's experiences. Haircut places are going rock and roll (see Floyd's or The Garage) and there have been several new places to get straight-razor, barber shaves.

We arrive at The Shave, and pass through the retail area (all manner of implements, shaving goods, etc are there) to the front desk. A young lady at the reception desk verifies our reservation, and calls another woman to escort us past a velvent rope to another room - With leather club chairs, flat screen tvs, magazines, chess sets, etc. She offers us our choice of cocktails, wine or scotch (no surprise what I got) while we waited.
When called, you are escorted to an old-time barber chair, leaned back, and hot towels and various unguents, creams and oils are applied to prepare you. A straight razor shave commences, followed by more oils and unguents, towels and after shaves, as a hand and shoulder massage brings you back to the tasks of the day.

With this completed, the crew made the long trek next door, to Ruth Chris' for meat on sizzling platters, cocktails, and other treats.

From there, severl stops, including Air Conditioned, The Joker, Casa Del Mar, and the Liquid Kitty. Suffice to say, cocktails were provided.

Such is the Syndicate.

A Dry Heat

Ok - I admit it. I might be losing this battle.
When I left for the office this morning, it was 85 degrees.
I'm the first to say - damn the weather, its just a little (heat/rain/pestilence/hail/whatever)... but this weekend may have shown me who's boss.

After a visit to a baseball game, where the on-screen stats indicated a sultry 109 degrees... to a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, that cooled to a brisk 84 degree, I pretty much spent the last 72 hours in search of the next source of hydration and a napkin-sized patch of shade.

We have been having weather of bibilical proportions. I recognize that most of the country has had their share of heatstroke and power failures - but that's all well and good to watch on CNN. But when my newspaper might spontaneously combust on the doors step, its time for action!

I think I did this all wrong. It makes much more sense to simply mix up a nice pitcher of mojitos, pull up a chair next to the pool and work on that tan for a while.

If you can't beat the weather, might as well enjoy it.

Short Attention Sp..ahh...huh?

Technology expands once again.
A recent announcment by the folks in Redmond indicates to me that the world just got a tiny bit smaller. There will now be interoperability between Microsoft Messenger (or now part of the "Windows Live" experience) and Yahoo Messenger. So, for those of you who aren't already using Trillian or one of the other messenger aggregation services, you can now send messages across platforms. When they were initially set up, all the IM products created their own "walled gardens" as a means of keeping their customer base captive. Now, you should be able to chat with most folks, regardless of system.

But, the larger issue is - and I date myself here - Remember the days pre-IM?! Dark days to be sure. But now, I can IM a friend in Paris, walk down the hall and have a conference call with people in London, and then Skype with a buddy living in Florida. Now, from my phone, I can email or IM and from my computer, I can make calls.

The ability to be connected to the world or to access information right now is absolutely unparalleled in human history.

Having said that, though - perhaps there's something to be said for being able to disconnect as well?

Soccer...err.. Football..ummm..GOOOAAALLL!!!

The rest of the world knows things that we do not.

Its just that simple. Soccer - or, out of deference to the rest of the world, "Football," is a universal language on the globe, which apparently, the US either doesn't or is just learning to, speak.

The thing is - we Americans don't like to lose. Olympics are one thing - there are plenty of sports we content ourselves with the fact that we don't care about. But, if we're playing a sport, we like to win at it. And honestly, we just get the stuffing kicked out of us at football. We don't get the colors, the teams, the lingo... and we don't like that feeling.

On a recent trip to Europe, there were no less than 5 channels, at any given time, discussing recent scandals, prospecting teams, etc. Its amazing to watch.

It would seem that with the FIFA ranking of the US as #5, they were throwing us a bone, to see if the US could get behind some serious soccer. We did an admirable job, considering the circumstances, of learning that you can't use your hands, that there are some sort of penalty structures at play, and instead of elimination, there's a round robin format. But, I think its fair to say that we lack the body-painting, car-flag waiving, crying in the stands kind of devotion that we usually only reserve for men wearing cheese hats and bare, painted chests in the middle of winter in Wisconsin.

We are mere babes in the football/soccer woods. We'll see whether we hold on to this sport, or cast it aside and ignore the world's largest shared sporting experience.

Men, Politics and Fire

This is all you need to know - The Fourth of July may very well be the perfect holiday (for men).

First, the obvious - you get the day off of work. Any day that you can legitimately get out of the office by pointing out that the rest of the NATION has the day off, bonus.

Next - there's the politics. Men like to argue about politics, and this day is all about...well, actually, its all about a bunch of elite, landed, white males who were seriously pissed that another bunch of elite, landed, white males far away were trying to tell them what to do, and trying to charge for it. But, its dressed up MUCH better than that. Vivid stories, gun battles, huge personalities - and the seeds of a profitable tourist industry for the Northeast were planted.

Then, there's the fire - actually on this day, we get two flavors, which is almost too good to believe: There's the fireworks, and the bbq.

Its all encompassing goodness when not only do you get to go to any streetcorner to buy explosives, but that you ALSO get the social nod that its acceptable to blow things up in your front yard (unless you live in Santa Monica, as I do - where such activities will get you a weekend visit and a body cavity search).
But, for most - this is the opportunity to strap together a whole bunch of incredibly shoddily made, third world fireworks/explosives, and say - "Hey, look what this will do" - just before the large, potentially maiming explosion.

And of course - BBQ- There are few honest pleasures out there (which men can enjoy in public) like the carnival of animal flesh on the BBQ. Its almost like mankind would INVENT new species of animals, just to get the chance to cover them in molasses, brown sugar, a hint of hot sauce and some salt and pepper. As a button I have pinned to the wall indicates :" If we aren't supposed to eat animals, why are they made of meat?"

To my vegetarian friends, who may be concerned about this festival of meat - take heart - there are PLENTY of BBQ options for you. Not just the garden variety of grilled vegtables, which, honestly, are pretty awesome, but there is a whole host of meat-like products which are primed for grilling. Tofu dogs, garden burgers, tofurkey, just to name a few. All may experience the gentle kiss of 50,000 BTU's just like any other burger, chop or dog.

So, let us raise a toast to the founding fathers, for their vision, their leadership - and their explosives and BBQ's.

Long live the republic!