Tag Archives: theguardian

There are three good suits you can wear in the summer, and linen is the best (ignore The Guardian)

Posted on August 18, 2022 | 1 comment

There are three good suits you can wear in the summer: cotton, linen and seersucker.

Seersucker is lightweight and doesn’t wrinkle easily, but it tends to be limited in terms of colour options. (The one on the left in the photo above looks good though). If you have to wear suits in the hotter months, having a seersucker suit will help you get through them.

Cotton is also lightweight and can come in a wider range of colours than seerksucker.  However cotton wrinkles. Alot. Really it is a dry cleaners dream. It looks great well pressed, but after a few minutes it looks wrinkled and disheveled.

That’s why I like linen: it looks great pressed, and it looks great wrinkled. Plus it comes in lots of colours and cuts. Hands down it is the best looking of the three types of summer suits and it has been for some time. I had a black linen suit from Hugo Boss and even in the heat I could wear it and feel comfortable.

That’s why you should ignore the Guardian when it talks about how the loose linen suit became retirement wear. They use Boris Johnson wearing linen as an example of why (younger) men should not. I mean, please. The other comparison point is Brad Pitt who wisely decided to promote his new film in the hotter months by suiting up in linen. A smart choice. (Also note the style of Pitt: draw string pants, loose necklines, casual shoes….all good looks to steal.)

It would be a shame if men, especially young men, gave up wearing linen suits. They are extremely versatile in terms of cuts, colours and styles. They are supremely comfortable. You can wear them to a wedding and you can wear them to a show. You can wear them in the city and you can wear them in the country.

Need more convincing? See the site Man of Many, which has good tips on wearing a linen suit. Stay cool, stay stylish, get linen.

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On the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London

Posted on July 28, 2022 | Comments Off on On the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London

I am fascinated by the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square in London. While there has been many a fine artist and their work displayed there, I am especially glad to see the work Antelope by Samson Kambalu going up next. To see why I think so highly of it, read this: Anticolonial hero statue to occupy Trafalgar Square fourth plinth from September in The Guardian.

The Guardian has been covering the work that has been placed on that plinth for some time. You can read about that, here: Fourth plinth in the Art and Design section of The Guardian. I was recently in London and saw The End by Heather Phillipson and that was good, but I’d love to see this work by Kambulu.

To learn more about The Fourth Plinth, go here. It started off empty due to lack of funds for a sculpture of William IV to fill it. I’m glad that happened. Londoners and tourists have benefitted ever since. (No offense to William IV.)

My belief is that a statue of Elizabeth II will go there once she dies. We shall see. Meanwhile check out the various artists who have had pieces there.

 

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The elusive spotlight (being a pop star as a career)

Posted on June 1, 2022 | Comments Off on The elusive spotlight (being a pop star as a career)


Pop stars have unique careers. For some of them, it can be like being an athlete: you do it while you are young and then you are done. That what came across to me in this piece: ‘That’s it? It’s over? I was 30. What a brutal business’: pop stars on life after the spotlight moves on | Music | The Guardian.

Then there are some artists — not as many — who go on and on and whose careers shift and they become more akin to academics (e.g, Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen).

What happens after the spotlight shifts depends on the artist. Read the article and see.

It’s an interesting career, to say the least. All the power in the world to those that can make a go of it.

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On the Gap, sweat shirts, Ralph Lauren blazers and other things fashion

Posted on May 4, 2022 | Comments Off on On the Gap, sweat shirts, Ralph Lauren blazers and other things fashion

It’s funny: the reason my blog was able to get so many visits initially was because someone at the New York Times took me to be a influential fashion blogger and put me on their blogroll many years ago. Talk about good luck!

Since then I have not wrote much about fashion. I don’t know why. It’s not like my deep thoughts on other things are all that great. Maybe I wanted to come across as smart and not shallow and scattered like I am.

Time to change that up. So here’s a good story on The end of the Gap and their Rise and Fall. Very good journalism.

Speaking of good journalism, the Guardian has a great weekly newsletter on fashion. Here’s one such piece: A shopping guide to bold men’s sweatshirts. Highly recommend subscribing to their fashion newsletter.

For sneakerheads: these Nike X black Comme des Garcons Eagle sneakers look great:

Who knows if I can link to this image on the Bay for long, but I love this unconstructed madras blazer from Ralph Lauren, below. I had one like it when I was in my 20s and I loved it.

Pair this up with linen top and pants that pick up the colours in the blazer and you will be well suited up. Add some espadrilles and thin socks and you will bear any heat in style.

 

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Here’s 100 ways to improve your life by tweaking it slightly

Posted on January 17, 2022 | Comments Off on Here’s 100 ways to improve your life by tweaking it slightly


I love this: 100 ways to slightly improve your life without really trying | Life and style | The Guardian. While it’s great to tackle big resolutions in the new year, sometimes small changes are fine.

Here’s a few of the 100 to give you a sense of what they recommend:

24 Start a Saturday morning with some classical music – it sets the tone for a calm weekend.
25 Look closely.
27 If possible, take the stairs.
30 Be polite to rude strangers – it’s oddly thrilling.

I especially like 30!

While the Guardian says they are slight, I think some of them take a bit of work. But see for yourself. Look closely. 🙂

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How to shop smarter online

Posted on March 24, 2021 | Comments Off on How to shop smarter online

With the pandemic, we’ve all been shopping a lot more online. Even when the pandemic is over, I suspect we will still do so, though not as much. To do it better, I recommend you read this: ‘Will you wear it 30 times? If not, don’t buy’: the experts’ guide to online shopping | Fashion | The Guardian

It’s a smart guide to getting the most out of online shopping.

(Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash)

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You know you want to know: how to dress up sweatpants

Posted on January 12, 2021 | Comments Off on You know you want to know: how to dress up sweatpants

Like many of us, Fashion has thrown in the towel and has decided to embrace sweatpants. Don’t just take my word on it; here’s one of  the Guardian’s fashion writers explaining, well,  How to dress up sweatpants.

Once the pandemic is over, I predict we are going to see a wave of fashion that is the total opposite of sweats. In the meantime, if you are going to wear them, use that article to be both comfy and stylish.

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It’s the second week of January. You’ve broken your resolutions. Here’s some better ones for a pandemic

Posted on January 11, 2021 | Comments Off on It’s the second week of January. You’ve broken your resolutions. Here’s some better ones for a pandemic


You’ve made resolutions to improve and already you’ve broken some of them. I get it: it’s hard to keep resolutions at the best of times, never mind during a pandemic.  It’s worse if you were hoping those resolutions were what you were going to get you through the rest of the pandemic. You may feel adrift.

Fortunately help is at hand. Here is a good article that will provide you with some gentle resolutions and how you can keep them: I teach a course on happiness at Yale: this is how to make the most of your resolutions | Health & wellbeing | The Guardian.

In a nutshell, be more compassionate with yourself. By doing that, over time you may find you build up enough inner resources to go back and tackle those failed resolutions. Did I say failed? I meant, paused resolutions. 🙂

(Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash)

 

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The race to Mars


In exciting news, the United States, China and the UAE are all sending missions to explore Mars. It’s not the same as the space race: there have been already a number of visits to Mars. But it’s great that the interest is continuing and we will learn more about the mission as a result.

For more on this, see:  ‘We are all Martians!’: space explorers seek to solve the riddle of life on Mars | Mars | The Guardian

Image via the article.

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Posted on August 15, 2020 in new!, science

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On Haring, Basquiat and the art that defined 80s New York


Some good links on the art of the 1980s, of which Basquiat and Haring played a big part, here and here.

Most of the time the links I post are mostly because I want other people to know about them. Links that talk about my youth are mainly for me. 🙂 But fans of either painter or art of that time should click through.

Painting above by Haring in tribute to Basquiat. May they both RIP.

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Posted on June 22, 2020 in art, new!

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Two ways to relieve stress and be mindful without meditating

The first one is make art. It can be of anything with anything. Draw, make collages, do simple painting. Anything. Why? As David Hockney says:

“We need art, and I do think it can relieve stress,” he said. “What is stress? It’s worrying about something in the future. Art is now.”

And if you can find the ingredients, try and bake bread. It’s also good for getting you to focus on the now and stop worrying about the future.

Read both pieces I’ve linked to. Then get busy.

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Posted on April 15, 2020 in advice, new!

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Three good pieces on Anselm Kiefer, in the Guardian

Anselm Kiefer had a big show in England this year, and that lead me down a rabbit hole reading pieces in the Guardian on him.  Never boring in his art work or his interviewers, anyone interested in knowing more about this great German artist can learn more here:

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Posted on December 11, 2019 in art, new!

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What the smart socialists are wearing these days…


Is socialist slogans spelled out in pinstripe! Interesting. For more on this, see:  Socialist pinstripe: the secret message stitched into Jeremy Corbyn’s new suit | Politics | The Guardian

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Posted on December 9, 2019 in fashion, new!

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On the super tall and skinny buildings popping up all over New York City

New York City has had skyscrapers for a long time. A new twist on the skyscraper is the super skinny ones popping up all over Manhattan. There’s plenty of reasons for that, and the Guardian well documents that, here: Super-tall, super-skinny, super-expensive: the ‘pencil towers’ of New York’s super-rich | Cities | The Guardian.

I don’t particularly like them, but like all buildings, I am sure they will grow on me over time. They seem too featureless. Their main feature seems to be the thinness. That hardly puts them in the same class as the Chrysler Building or the Empire State Building.

Regardless of your thoughts on them, the article in the Guardian is good.

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Posted on August 14, 2019 in new!, newyork

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How to get unstuck from your fitness routine (25 ideas)


If you fitness routine is stuck or worse, then I highly recommend you read this:  How to Stay Fit Forever: 25 Tips When Life Gets in the Way.

You should find something in that piece to help get you unstuck and get going again. So grab a towel and a water bottle and get moving!

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Posted on August 7, 2019 in fitness, new!

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What you should do when you are facing a dilemma


According to this:

If you’re facing a dilemma, and can’t figure out whether to take the plunge, then all else being equal, you should.

Why? Partially because we tend to stick with the status quo, especially if all the options are bad. Also, because studies show that people that did take the plunge were happier than those that did not.

For more on this, see the Guardian article linked above.

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Posted on June 19, 2019 in advice, new!

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What the Internet is (and what it is not)

This is what the Internet is:

The internet is the wider network that allows computer networks around the world run by companies, governments, universities and other organisations to talk to one another. The result is a mass of cables, computers, data centres, routers, servers, repeaters, satellites and wifi towers that allows digital information to travel around the world.

The Internet is a network of networks. Much of what people believe the Internet is actually runs on top of it: the Web, social media, email, gopher, what have you.People often say “I liked the Internet when..”. They are talking about the platforms they use on the Internet. Things popular on the Internet now — hello Facebook! — will be a relic in the future.  Technologies running on the Internet come and often go,  but the Internet itself is relatively constant and changes slowly.

The quote highlighted above is from this article: What is the internet? 13 key questions answered | Technology | The Guardian. It’s a good introduction to the Internet at a basic level.

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Posted on October 25, 2018 in IT

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 George Saunders on writing

Posted on September 2, 2017 | Comments Off on  George Saunders on writing

Yesterday I mentioned Robert Caro and his writing routine. Today, here’s a good piece by George Saunders and what writers really do when they write in The Guardian. Well worth a read.

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Two good articles on David Hockney in the Guardian

Posted on May 21, 2015 | Comments Off on Two good articles on David Hockney in the Guardian

The first one is a summary of his new show in L.A.: David Hockney unveils new works on perspective created in Los Angeles | Art and design | The Guardian.

The second one is a meaty interview: David Hockney: ‘Just because I’m cheeky, doesn’t mean I’m not serious’ | Art and design | The Guardian.

I enjoyed the interview alot: it is a great review of his career, plus it talks about many other great artists of the second part of the 20th century.

Anyone interested in modern art would enjoy both of these.

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Going to art galleries this fall? You need a guide to the lingo

Posted on September 12, 2013 | Comments Off on Going to art galleries this fall? You need a guide to the lingo

If you go to galleries occasionally, you may pick up reading material that is written in art-speak. There’s a reason for it, and a guide to how to deal with it, here: A user’s guide to art-speak (The Guardian).

You can ignore the guides and the reading material, but often times it helps to at least take a stab at gaining an expert’s thoughts on the exhibit before you. If it is art-speak, this guide can help.

 

 

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