Products |
Father’s Day 2005
By
Published: Jun 19, 2005
Category:
Beyond Classification
There isn’t a tie you could stand to buy Dad this year. Seriously. Have you seen what they’re calling neckwear this season? Strips of gaily colored industrial-strength silk, woven together like a camp belt. Not a dusty foulard or regimental stripe or faded challis in sight. Just these strange, doomed, braided things.
Happily, the cultural choices are broader, more pleasing, better. Or so they seem to me — I want everything here.
Father’s Day is June 19th. Coming up quickly. But if you order now, it all gets to you — or him — with time to spare. Use that free time, please, to design a decent tie.
BOOKS
Last Night, by James Salter Ten stories. 132 pages. White people with money and problems strain to make their lives matter. Salter’s exquisite prose is the key to their redemption.
Young Man with a Horn, Dorothy Baker He was the Jimi Hendrix of the trumpet, a lonely kid who provided the soundtrack of the Jazz Age. The personal cost was very high. But the action, the music! To read this is to be there.
The Kid from Tomkinsville, by John R. Tunis The classic baseball novelist for boys wrote a series about "The Kid." Reading them now is not only to revisit your youth — it’s to thrill to a crackerjack story.
Jackpot, by Tsipi Keller The fantasy of many men — a career woman who goes wild on an island vacation — looks a little different when she tells the story.
The Sleeper, by Christopher Dickey A gripping, surprising suspense novel about terrorism — theirs and ours — by Newsweek’s man in Paris.
Winning, by Jack Welch The former CEO of General Electric shares his management theories and practices.
They Made America, >From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovation by Harold Evans Inside every working man beats the heart of an inventor and entrepreneur. Here are the life stories of the greats.
Take Five: The Public and Private Lives of Paul Desmond, by Doug Ramsey He played the coolest sax in jazz — the musical equivalent of a dry martini. His life was far less smooth.
MUSIC
A Man and the The Blues, Buddy Guy Maybe the greatest Chicago blues guitarist, in his first solo recording, backed by a band that included the impeccable pianist Otis Spann.
Fate’s Right Hand, by Rodney Crowell Is Dad 50? So is Rodney Crowell. And the great Nashville hit-maker addresses the issues of a half century head on.
This One’s Gonna Hurt You, by Marty Stuart Break out the bourbon. Marty Stuart writes little country classics that achieve total profundity when played on the jukebox of a honkytonk.
The Very Best of J.J. Cale Eric Clapton made "After Midnight" and "Cocaine" into hits, but nobody plays J.J. Cale’s seductively laid-back songs better than their author.
Lafayette Marquis, by C.C. Adcock Butt-twitching music from the Bayou, by a Louisiana party boy whose lyrics are family-friendly only because his accent’s so thick you can’t tell what he’s saying.
Aftermath, by The Rolling Stones You can’t get tickets for their tour. Anyway, who wants to see guys in death masks reprise their greatest hits? Better to go back to the CD that was the real beginning of their stardom.
Live in Europe, by Otis Redding Now here was a man. Voice raspy as a file, he stood at center stage in a salmon-colored suit, shouting out his legendary songs to a crowd that had the good sense to worship him.
Facing Future, by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole Want to see a grown man cry? Give him this CD. Play "Over The Rainbow/Wonderful World." Have a full pack of Kleenex handy — you’ll need it too.
MOVIES
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, directed by Danny Leiner Dad may have been too young for Cheech & Chong. Well, here is the greatest stoner film since those guys rolled — I mean, ruled. The scene in a women’s bathroom at Princeton is killer.
Napoleon Dynamite, directed by Jared Hess The ultimate high school dork — you love him or hate him. Those who love him can watch this movie a hundred times. (If only this came with a VOTE FOR PEDRO t-shirt!)
Live Aid Queen. U2. Led Zep. The Who. Dire Straits. Elvis Costello. Bryan Ferry. Elton John. Bowie. Phil Collins. The Cars. The Hooters. Mick Jagger and Tina Turner. Whew!
The Castle, directed by Rob Sitch As in, "A man’s home is his…." But the airport wants to expand and take this man’s Australian home. How can he fight the government? As it turns out: with great humor.
Dodsworth, by William Wyler He made a fortune and retired. She wanted to go to Europe. And there they were — Mr. Bored and Mrs. Hot-to-Trot. This 1937 classic will have Dad on the edge of his seat.
Local Hero, by Bill Forsyth He was sent from Houston to buy a beautiful strip of Scottish coast. But something funny happened on the way to greater oil profits. With a score by Mark ("Dire Straits") Knopfler.
PRODUCTS
Shure E3c Sound Isolating Earphone Stereo Headphone The iPod is the invention of the new millennium. Its headphones suck. These are state-of-the art — costly and worth every penny. Really, until you use these, you’re missing out.
