Disptach from London | The Beretta Gallery

Porter, the little patriot that she is, spent Memorial Day weekend in London. Our old friend and Brit Steve Harker advised her to head to the Beretta Gallery on the corner of Jermyn and St. James to live out the best part of a hunts(wo)man's fantasy (i.e. dressing for the hunt).

I'd kill for that jacket! (and/or the waist that fits inside that jacket)...

(All photos by Porter Hovey)

Hot Wheels

My old Raleigh folding bike looks so great in photos. It does not, however, look any bit acceptable as a means of transporting a 5'11" human. It also weighs about 45,872 pounds and makes a clicking noise when I pedal. So, I picked up this old (much faster, still heavy) Atala at Hudson Urban Bicycles a couple weeks ago. The little bugger just flies and the basket makes me feel like a gleeful Sylvia Plath.

Day Trippin' | Garrison and Cold Spring, NY

Jamie "The Standard Edition" Apostolou and I headed up the Hudson on Friday to get away and buy more toy boats (him) and toy soldiers (me) at the great little shops of Cold Spring, NY. We also saw some real boats and some absolutely ridiculous views, especially from the Boscobel Restoration and The Garrison Inn and Golf Course in Garrison, the next town over. No matter how many times we go, we just cannot get over the fact that all this is an hour from Manhattan. So freakin' beautiful.  (Above: an old scooner sails past the Cold Spring waterfront)

A view from inside one of the "sheds" on the Boscobel property.



A view from the front of the mansion...(it was originally located in Westchester County, but moved up to Garrison, NY after a VA hospital userped the original grounds in the 1950s).



The view from the back porch at the Garrison Inn...





...and another view from the porch without the porch showing.

Tumblring into a Wormhole

A blog for the blog! With more active posting (not hard given the recent clip of things on here). 

Escape on the High Seas

Heir Antiues is selling these wonderful ultrachrome prints depicting the story of "The Stowaway": A young English boy who toils away at home and school, runs off to the docks, stows away on a captain's ship and has adventures on the high sea.

Made from late 19th century hand painted glass plate slides, there are 10 24" x 24" prints available for $400 each. (They remind me so much of the incredible Allen Say).

How to Envy a Retronaut

Chris Wild's How to Be a Retronaut is the best, most beautiful blog I've ever seen. Period.

With each click - on things like photos of Napoleon's Veterans...

...or autochromes of objects from 1915...

...you end up swearing and cussing with astonishment, awe (and blog envy!).



The House is Burning

Photographer, Ralph Lauren guy and Restless Transplant, Foster Huntington wants to know what you'd grab if your house was burning. Here is what I decided I cannot live without. Given the inherent difficulty of a stop, drop and roll maneuver while holding a black bear head and top hat box, the title "things I cannot die without" seems much more appropriate. You can't take it with you, they say. Well, damnit, I will try. 

(Porter, on the other hand, will be alive and well with wonderful, sentimental keepsakes by her side.)

Brushing Up

Nothing looks better than a natural bristle brush. Well, some things do, but when limiting the scope to personal hygiene and cleaning products, I think it's a fair statement. So, when I spotted Swissco tortoiseshell/badge bristle brushes for under five bucks at the amazing Merz Apothecary in the lobby of the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago on Saturday, I scooped up a load. They feel a bit odd on the teeth, but look absolutely wonderful sitting in the bathroom. AND a couple weeks back, Porter and I were lucky enough to have our hair done by a guy who's coiffed some pretty amazing dos for some pretty amazing people. He said he's never found a brush better than the natral bristle one his grandmother used to use to brush her wigs. So, hopefully the one I got from Kent will be 10% as great.

Auctions | Medals! Flags! Military Men! Deep Sea Divers!

This Thursday and Friday, loads of military (and two suits of diver's) kit and art depicting those wearing it will hit the block at Hermann Historica Munich as part of its Orders and International Collectibles sale.  This is just the tip of the iceberg! That somewhat plain-looking khaki square in the chart is actually not plain at all -- a log/stationery set that belonged to the leading fighter pilot of WWI (who was German). Some of the descriptions were all in German, so I hope none of these things represent complete, unadulterated evil.  

The Duke and the Duchess

Despite William's somewhat goofy smile and pants that seem to be breaking left and right, I think someone should make little lead soldiers out of these two. I'd buy the Harry and Pipa "soldiers," too.