I had some experience with this recently. Even in today’s modern age people still make mistakes and machines still fail. I am still getting used to my new car as well as all of the sounds and buttons that are part of the experience. So, when I left my parking lights on recently I was comforted that I am well prepared to face a dead battery. If you own a car it is imperative that you have jumper cables in your tool kit in the trunk of your car, and that you know how to use them.
Author Archives: howtobeswell
Happy Thanksgiving from How to be Swell
Happy Thanksgiving to you all out there on the interweb. I hope that all of you are enjoying wonderful food and fellowship with your friends and family, or maybe even a down on their luck stranger, a friend you don’t know yet. Most importantly take the time to reflect on the things that you are truly thankful for, as you count I am sure you’ll find there are many. Don’t get caught up in the commercialism and greed that follows this holiday so closely, but celebrate it for what it truly is, a day to be thankful, and being truly thankful is swell.
Every Swell Man Should Learn…
I read a blog post recently on The Art of Manliness called “What the Young Man Should Know” from Harper’s weekly. It was a great article from the 30s that was a list of skills or tasks that the author believed every young man should learn. It included a few A few items that are still important today, and a few that are no longer necessary (keeping a horse), practical (chopping wood), or advisable (hitch hiking), but it is a great list none the less. I thought for all of you swell readers I would update it for the modern man. I have compiled a list of skills that every swell guy should learn in their lifetime.
I think that this post may spawn a loose series of small posts about how to carry out these tasks; after all I can hardly give you a list without telling you how to accomplish it. So look for some of these items coming up in the category ESMSL, so on that note let’s begin.
Skyfall
Well after much anticipation, and blogging I made it to the new bond film, Skyfall. It was everything that I expected from Bond, beautiful women, fast cars, great locations, and of course the villains. From the opening theme , Adele’s Skyfall, to the final…well I can’t tell you, it was action packed and entertaining. Warning, possible spoilers ahead.
Vote
This will be a short post, it is sort of a public service announcement from How to be Swell. I will not be endorsing any candidate (although some of you know my party affiliation). No, I am going to urge all of you to go out and cast your ballot.
If you are a reader fortunate enough to be living in these great United States then not only is it your right, but responsibility to be a part of the political process and vote regardless of who you support. Many battles were fought to secure that right so tomorrow morning make your way to the ballot box because that is an exercise in being swell.
Sazerac
I was discussing all things swell with a friend recently. He began to tell me a story of his quest for the best Sazerac he could find. He chose the right place to look for this historic drink, New Orleans. In his words: I have recently gotten hooked on a new cocktail, I made it my mission to find the best Sazerac in New Orleans. I took my mission so seriously that I do not remember much of the details, but I do know that if you’re looking to lose yourself in the Crescent City, the best way to do so is to start the night with a Sazerac. I highly suggest you pick up a bottle of rye, some Peychaud bitters, and a bottle of Herbsaint. You won’t regret it.
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Garden and gun
A friend turned me on to this publication some time ago. He came over for a dinner party at my house and said “I know you will appreciate this, talk about being swell, well this is it it’s all in here.” Well he was right I was all in… Well once I got past the title that is. I am speaking of Garden & Gun, for those of you in the know, I don’t need to tell you how great this magazine is Garden and Gun really is about all things swell, specifically in the south.
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William Jones and his Swell Motivation
There are a number of places to learn about how to be swell. If you look around the walls of your dentist’s office you might see one attempt that has been made. I am sure many of you are familiar with the obligatory motivational posters that became popular in the late nineties starting with “success” printed below all sorts of thematic pictures. Even Barney Stinson has dipped his toe into proverbial the motivational poster pool. The motivational posters that we are all familiar with are symbolized by the Sharper Image Store staple, the Sucessories. They are usually the butt of the office joke, but back in your grandfather’s day, they revered as sound advice.And some of these original posters are now considered art.
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1964 Heuer Carrera Re-Edition Chronograph
Admittedly I have over looked Tag Heuer for some time, aside from a couple of models, not much has got me going from them. Of course I do love the Monaco (you may see that in a subsequent blog post). Recently I acquired a great watch from them, and it happens to be a watch they made twice. One of the only watches that they produced under both the Heuer name, and post acquisition by Techniques d’Avant Garde then again under the Tag name (I’ll explain in a bit). Heuer began as a watchmaker in St-Imier, Switzerland in 1860 with foundation of Uhrenmanufaktur Heuer AG by Edouard Heuer. The company was purchased by TAG Group (Holdings) S.A. in 1985 and Heuer became TAG Heuer. In 1999 TAG Heuer was sold to French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH -Moët Hennessy, Louis Vuitton.
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The Trilby Fedora
I have fond memories of growing up with my cousins spending time at our grandparents’ house. My grandmother used to teach us how to play poker and we used buttons instead of chips, they also had a great vintage bar in their basement and a gorgeous classic car in their garage (which is now in my garage). This backdrop helped us kids to become thespians; we imagined scenes starring ourselves as mobsters of the coolest make. Of course to “top it off” we all had to have the coolest hat. In my grandparents’ kitchen closet was my grandfather’s hat. He actually had a couple that we wore, but one was always the coolest, and whoever got that one was the “Don”. His hat was the coolest trilby I had ever seen, well at least from a kid’s perspective. I have fond memories of this iconic hat, many fewer men wear hats today, but this one will always be a classic. Continue reading
How to be Swell 