Got you eh? Being politically correct is the opposite of irreverent. While we have nothing to say about Jesus, we do have a great link to a very funny place to buy books. The site is called Quirk books and it packs a plethora of reference books that are well off the Barnes&Noble, Chronicle Books and even Phaidon (great place, still) path. It might even have a good compilation of Jesus Action figures and Catholic iconography but we’ve yet to see anything. Unlike that blinding light that hit us on the road to Detr…oh forget it.
Archive for the ‘Groovy Books & Film’ Category
Irreferent (Christmas) Books
Monday, November 23rd, 2009Doubledeck Skis. Atomic Bomb?
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
This video tells you all about the latest in ski technology from Atomic. A young insider on the US Ski Team says that the racers swear by this doubledeck techology. Ski forums like Epic and Barking Bear are lukewarm on the idea. We’ll let the Atomic rep explain the philosophy of the “two ski in one” idea–for lack of a better term. I personally purchased a pair for this year. I hope the purchase does not blow up in my (Chris Birt’s) face. Sometimes that happens with Atomics, like the Metron B5s. (The video continues with a discussion of free skis and powder boards… the Giant Slalom (GS) race ski he shows is a great ski, at least, for Masters–i.e. older guy wide turn type–skiing.)
Swearing in French
Saturday, September 5th, 2009
Years ago I had a large vehicle. This vehicle wasted gas while it saved souls. For this vehicle, you see, was large enough to transport a few French exchange students around the suburban parts of Edina and St. Louis Park as they swore their hearts out into the night.
I was, ostensibly, the “host parent” for one of them. In this position it fell to me to become the taxi driver. Being irresponsible as I tend to be, I not only encouraged the lovely Odele to speak her mind out in the car but to entice her somewhat shy and culturally shell-shocked expatriates to do the same.
The cacophony of cursing that soon followed on those taxi rides is a mellifluous memory I shall never forget. When a young French girl swears back and forth from English to French it is a sound that can melt the hardest heart. Which reminds me that french rap is a good facsimile thereof.
Gangsta seems somehow cultivated in a romance tone.
Its so contradictory that it must be cool.
gross generalizations with almost no meaning whatsoever
Saturday, August 15th, 2009This site is devoted to soulful materialism. You will find no grist for the political mill here.
Disclaimer aside, we would like to make a observation about political belief. It can be said that the more religious a person becomes, the more religion becomes their politics. Conversely the more secular a person becomes, the more politics becomes their religion. This is a merely an observation that is perhaps worthy of a high school social studies project.
Once we are able to locate a precocious high school student to prove this empirically we will then make our second observation in the form of a parable. We are reminded of a comment made by either a Russian cleric or communist (the symbolism is appropriate) who said this:
“When I see a poor man in the street, I consider this a spiritual problem, not a political problem.”
If we learned anything in college, it is that altruism is metaphysical. For example, does a young man give up his seat for the old lady on the bus out of self-sacrifice or to placate his conscience? The answer, we believe, is that only a spiritual force outside of the physical world can compel a human being to truly sacrifice for others.
Before you think that this makes religion our politics, however, consider what motivates people to take up spiritual things in general. What is to be said of the spiritual healer a few days back who killed three people in a sweat lodge ceremony by confusing vomit with purification?
We’d rather commune with communists.
At least if the door was locked.
A Parton Priestess of Grooviness
Friday, August 14th, 2009
The new biopic Julie & Julia (more or less) on Julia Child reminds us of what it means to be and not seem. We think she looks rather fetching in this shot as well, don’t you think? With the popularity of this very good movie copies of the cookbook (the one and only) may be hard to come by. We suggest you bide your time by practicing the Art of French Kissing (for which there must surely be a manual) before you grow fat and ugly from all that classic (nouvelle is for nits) french cuisine you should be enjoying soon.
3 in 1 shower gel. An answer to prayer.
Sunday, August 2nd, 2009
I have to make a confession about the mother of personal makeover shows. If I were ever to have been nominated for “Queer Eye,” they would have exposed a personal habit that is pure fashion sacrilege. I use bar soap to shampoo, and even to shave. While I admit to being suckered into expensive “product” by a pleasant stylist now and them, I usually go back to Irish Spring, Dial or whatever sliver of soap that still lathers up.
Now I see this ad for 3 in 1 shower gel that serves as shampoo, soap and even shaving cream. This soap is from a company with a pleasant french name that conjures up images of Ban De’Soleil, which for a man of a certain age, remains the iconic image for the suave, stylish, and dare I say, groovy life.
3 in 1 shower gel. It could the answer to a prayer I did not even know I had.
So go to h-ll, Carson. And take your friends with you.
(submitted by Chris Birt for groovyman.com)
Ten Grooviest Cars Today
Sunday, July 26th, 2009
The groovyman maxim that “cash alone won’t make you cool” will always apply to buying a car. The new Camaro SS for 31k is the latest example of this principle. The challenge gets trickier, however, when you have less than 20k to spend. The following list should clear up more than a few arguments while saving you dough.
1) Hottest Eco-Mommy-Car. SAAB Sport Combi Wagon. The “hockey puck” window treatment on the back of this bitchin’ ride is reason enough for ownership. Low emissions, very decent economy and a peppy engine only add to its allure. We also like the rubbery feel of the SAAB shifter (although we’re not supposed to.) Best of all, a low mileage, two-year old model goes for around 13-15k.
2) Best automotive appliance. Nissan Cube. We predict that this car will not sell well because it is simply too different. Essentially it is a direct import of the kind of microcars remain the rage in Japan. You can sleep in the Cube while listening to a great built in boom box with groovy ambient lighting. They advertise this vehicle as a “mobile device.” It really is the first such appliance to be groovy.
3) Best pocket rocket. Mazdaspeed 3. Do we need to cross-reference all the magazines that have appluaded this little beast as such or do we simply need to turn your attention the long-term test in the April, 2009 Motor Trend? With the new 3 model on the market the previous generation is an incredible steal.
4) Splurge Car. BMW Z4 M Series Coupe. Talk to our friends at Sears about this one. It’s better looking than the Boxster and kicks the small of your back with a torque wallop than few cars, in any price range, can match. While it remains a handful at the limit, this is what makes it more fun.
5) Family car. Mazda MPV If they still make this mid-mini van you should buy it for your budding family. While no one knows about these cars, they look great, offer four-wheel drive and can be bought for peanuts.
6) Semi-Splurge Car. Cadillac CTS-V Series, first generation. This car has a few problems. It has a ‘ring-finessed suspension that is harsh on corpulent backsides and it suffers from wheel-hop under hard acceleration. Still its hard to find a meaner four door sedan with knife-edged handling for around 20k right now (with low miles). The 8th or 9th generation Mitsubishi Evos are very hard to find and have likely been driven by boy-racers idiots. The Pontiac G8 GXP will eventually replace the CTS-V in our book but it is still a new car and goes for around 30k (M5 level performance for half the price.)
7) Best truck. Toyota Tundra Truck with the 5.7 liter V8. While even the mighty Toyota has not fully fetted this monstrous engine, this beast trumps all comers. The fact that you can buy one brand new with this engine for about mid-20s makes this a Godzilla-sized great buy.
8-10) Best of the rest. Honda S2000, Lincoln Aviator and well, we would personally buy back a 2003-04 Mustang Cobra for around 14k and start pimping it out all over again if we had the money.
Blonde Women With Phones
Wednesday, July 1st, 2009
Someday, before I die, I will make a new wave, French style film on this very subject. While ostensibly it is of little interest to the general public, I believe this species of female, when captured “in-situ” with a said small communications tool glued like an appendage to their ear is responsible for many of the tectonic movements in society. For starters, I know of no other human being who spends quite as much time on the phone, not merely texting, but passionately speaking to another of the same species. Somewhere in their torrent of words, fashion trends, child rearing techniques and suburban migration patterns are established for the rest of us. I would write more, but alas, I can’t seem to get beyond the SUV in the parking lot. The contrast of black truck with blonde ponytail is leaving me blind.
Flipped Over Flyp
Sunday, June 14th, 2009
Just came across the most lavishly produced media experiment we have seen online, Flyp magazine. It is hard to believe the production graphics are what they are but they are. And just when it seemed that multi-media was a fetish of the web’s first wave.
We are tongue tied.
If you prefer magazines built with atoms instead of bits, there is still nothing like Visionaire, the former Nest or going back a few decades, Flair magazines for over-the-top production value. Nest and Flair both went bust pretty quickly but the balls it took to bring them to market forever holds our respect.
What can replace the scent of fresh ink applied on paper delivered in the morning mail?
Micro-or-make-that-nano-payments from Google?
Cars are cheaper in Michigan. The grooviest car of all time.
Sunday, June 7th, 2009Groovy Dispatches
This just in. We have discovered that the best place to buy a car today is in…Michigan. Regional pricing differences are profound across the United States for American-made cars. Thanks to many great new GM and Ford products (primarily) American-made no longer means awful or even “uncool-looking.”
In Ann Arbor, for example, dealers are sending new cars off at 60% off sticker. This means you could snap up the phenomenal Pontiac G8 GXP, the Solstice Coupe the Chevrolet Malibu and a range of Chrysler products–including most of their SRT-8 Series cars with Mercedes suspensions, for incredible deals.
You might also shop for the in-demand cars like the new Ford Fusion hybrid (it just beat ALL other imported makes in Motor Trend). This Ford Fusion, when you see it in the metal, is fantastically re-designed.
The Grooviest Car of All-Time
On a completely different note, the British magazine Octane has recently listed the 25 Coolest Cars of All-Time. Interesting that while we are promoting Jaguars on groovyman.com, this great magazine is thinking right up our alley (such phrasing!). The Coolest-Ever Car was the Jaguar XKSS. It was, literally, a LeMans-winning race car that you could buy from the factory minus the rear wind-vane and a few other deleted parts.
Octane chose the XKSS for precisely this reason–that the XKSS was the last pure-bred car one could buy directly from a manufacturer. It was not the most expensive, fastest, or most beautiful ride, but it was, simply the best race car of the 1950s. You could buy one on Sunday and drive it to the Farmers market on Monday. Steven McQueen (pictured) did just that. Any questions?
