Last time I posted these, they were about halfway to mirror. Well, this is as close as they're getting, and I wore 'em out to an event. 96 degree Miami heat may have about melted the wax and finished the job 😅
Fifth Avenues in Mahogany, if that wasn't obvious. They're not cavalry calf, they're the real goods - made it harder to get them glossy, but I'm happy with the look.
I don't own any gloves, but if I did I'm sure these would fit better! They are ludicrously good. I'm taking walks in them I have no excuse for taking!
Starting to see how some of you get addicted.. but it could never happen to me! Could it?
They're calling them B stock - only thing I can think is that there is some visible grain on the upper. Probably counts as a defect, on some planet I never hope to visit!
Happy 4th, GS gang!
Last pair in the run, so I had to bring my best selvedge game! Twill side panel slays!
Bonus: they are literally the most comfortable pair of shoes I have ever owned, on par with my LL Bean sheepskin slippers. I don't know how they managed that!
Took a whack at putting a mirror shine on the toe-caps of my new Fifth Avenues in Mahogany. I like the way it turned out!
Product used was Saphir Mirror Gloss. 13 coats, the last two put on after a 24-hour dry time. T-shirt and a drop of water. The suede brush in pic #1 was not a part of this process, it just happened to be on the counter.
Pic 1 is after, pics 2 and 3 are intermediate steps, pic 4 is a before shot, and pic 5 shows the pores of the leather.
Anyone else rocking a mirror shine on their toe caps? I feel very old-school walking around in these.
I have someone here to thank - they mentioned in a thread that they re-read it every few years, and I thought, "Well, it's been longer than that." More than two decades, in fact. Still one of my favorites, though, so I took it down off the shelf.
It was like encountering a different book. As a kid, I was fascinated with the Moties - the different subspecies, the crazy articulation of their not-spines, the diversity of their hands, the specialization of their artificers. The coffeepot that exuded all the nasty oxidized oils on its surface, keeping only the clean sweet aromas inside. All the exo-biology and exo-engineering.
This time, that part hardly made an impression. I read a different novel - one about governance, and power, and caution, and prudence, and how wisdom and experience guide us when we approach new and threatening situations. A political novel, where personalities and proclivities, motivations and methods, lead to ultimate outcomes.
I wonder how it's going to read in another 20 years - what I'm going to learn about myself, and how I've changed?
Happy Father's Day! My present came - these Grant Stone Brass Boots in Cognac Ecbatana, "B" grade.
The reason for the B grade is clear enough. Ecbatana is kind of a crazy thing - Badalassi Carlo makes it in Tuscany, and in addition to the beautiful color and patina, it comes pre-distressed with punctures, scratches, rake marks, tumbling, maybe some stains, and what ever else the artisans do. It's quite polarizing - some folks look at it as pre-damaged leather. I kind of like it, and buying 'B' grade commits you to whatever you get - no returns.
You can see one of the toe caps the leather was raked parallel to the long axis of the shoe, and it split there, all the way through the grain and into the corium layer. Doesn't bother me - it's beautiful and it's not going to affect the way I wear these boots or the pleasure I take in them! In the last photo I've smeared a little cognac Saphir pommadier down into the gap and the color took, so that's done.
These aren't in the same class of waterproof hikers, and they're apron-top rather than wholecuts, but they remind me of a beloved pair of Vasque Sundowners c. 1989 that didn't make it all the way to the present day. They fit like those old Vasques used to - little stiff, but already breaking in after just 4 hours - and they look and feel great like those old boots used to. And the fit and finish of these boots is something I'm frankly a little stunned by - you don't really see this kind of craftsmanship at this pricepoint much anymore these days.
Made it out to the ice cream store with my 5 year old for the break-in walk, about 2 miles. Anyone else got some Grant Stone stories to share on this happy Father's Day?
Good news: I just got a human email reply from a problem I submitted to Anthropic support.
Bad news: Problem occurred in January. They're literally running a 4 month backlog on support requests. Probably more than that now, if they're spending time responding to 4 months stale requests. The email I got didn't address the problem at all, just asked "Is this still a problem?"
About 10 years ago I was a passenger on a short hop, Santa Maria (California coast) to LAS, which at the time was still McCarran, not yet Harry Reid.
I like to look out the window and pay attention to what the pilots are doing. We had just passed those solar farms - they're very visible from the air, usually some stray sunshine when the aircraft, top of the heating tower and a mirror are aligned. Anyway I'd flown this route before so I knew a hard left turn was coming, a 180 on approach to line up with the runway.
I looked out the window as the pilot started to bank.. and bank.. and bank. I was a little surprised at how far over the plane rolled, and it kept rolling. Finally I saw daylight where it didn't belong - I think the pilot had actually managed about a 95 degree bank angle, the wings were past vertical and headed towards inverted.
The ride was about as smooth as usual, the plane turned losing altitude as usual, the bank was taken off in the same smooth fashion it was applied, I don't think anyone else noticed. Landing was perfect.
I remember at the time thinking this was so implausible that I probably better just shut up and not mention it to anyone. If I recall correctly the aircraft was an ERJ of some flavor.
Could this really have happened? Could I have deceived myself looking out the window?
