1986

"I don't like country and western. I don't like rock music, I don't like rockabilly or rock and roll particularly.
I don't like much, really, do I? But what I do like, I love passionately."

Deliver Me

This time of year is such a bummer, winter just won't let get go. This morning this song was in my head, "Deliver Me" by The Beloved.

Back in the early Aughts this song was on one of the Hed Kandi "Winter Chill" compilation cds we used to sell at my old store Mezzanine, so it brings back some good memories of that. I didn't discover the video until later, but now I love its 1996 moment. The Damien Hirst-style gallery exhibit, the early Wallpaper* magazine look of all the actors, that green that was all over The Matrix only two years later.

Given how quickly we churn through cultural references it seems like people would be looking back to the 90s a little bit more than they do ("Seinfeld" on Hulu doesn't count). Anyway, it's a enjoyable little fin-de-siècle moment on a cold March morning.

Ferry & Jerry

Bryan Ferry, with Jerry Hall giving Jerry Hall. Before the heartache. In honor of Valentine's Day.

Electric Blue

If you're of a certain age, you remember those old cable boxes where you could play around with the dial and sort of get Skinemax or the Playboy Channel to show up.  Usually as a negative image.  You make do with what you can get when you're 13.  It's not like we had the internet back in 1982.

One program whose opening credits have been lodged in the back of my brain all this time was Electric Blue, a Playboy channel program.  I've been looking for evidence of that show for years, and I finally found it.  Well, highly-edited evidence, but this is a family blog.  Watch this completely safe-for-work version of the credits.  At least you can enjoy the amazing song, from the golden years of watch-at-home erotica.

Speaking of classic erotica, we're up to our ears in vintage Playboys at Hugh, with issues dating from 1964 to 1979.  At $7 a pop they're a fun way to enjoy a more innocent, almost charming, period in American bachelordom, and a vintage Playboy from someone's birth month makes a terrific gift.

The Easiest Gift to Give

If you are looking for an easy gift to give this year, it's at Hugh.  It's called the Wine Finer, and it's a 4-in-1 wine accessory that is an aerator, dripless pourer, filter and stopper.  And it's only $29.

There is video that shows the Wine Finer in action.  I had to swap the music for something more apropos to drinking wine - the original had some Cafe Ibiza-type new age tripe that literally put me to sleep (you can check it out here).  Watch our version instead.

You can give the Wine Finer to practically anyone and they will love it.  I promise.

But What About the Bourbon?