Welcome to the first Saturday version of my weekly roundup thing. My hope is that you, my dear reader, are currently somewhere comfortable, possibly a bagel or Bloody Mary in your hand, and you’re maybe wanting something to read while you do your weekend thing. So I think this is going to be the way I send this one out going forward, but we shall see.
Quick update: My paid subscriber-only NYC guide is running a little behind, but will be out this week. If you are a paid subscriber, then thanks. If you aren’t and could consider tossing me a couple of bucks, I’d appreciate it. I’m trying to grow this thing and whatever people can add to the pot helps.
Melted Reads
Over at Taste this week, there’s a piece by me about hanging out with local legend Eli Zabar (above, from 1983). He gave me a bottle of Sting’s olive oil. It’s very good.
Read: “Luncheon with a Zabar” by Jason Diamond at Taste
I’m so sick of hearing about Barbie and Oppenheimer, so reading about Eric Rohmer Summer in the Times this week really was a bright spot. “Rohmer’s blend of aspiration and realism that keeps his films — and costumes — so fresh.” Yes and yes!
Read: “Tired of Barbiecore? Make This an ‘Eric Rohmer Summer’” by Sarah Rosen at the New York Times
If you’ve been reading me for a second, you know it’s never too hot to step inside a schvitz. That’s why I was so happy that Eustace Tilley sent Rachel Syme around the city to check out the steam scene and “the art of communal bathing.”
Read: “Soak and the City” by Rachel Syme at The New Yorker
I’ve never seen a single episode of Justified, but I read this and now I’m seriously considering it because Walter Mosely has some sort of involvement in the new season of the show, and even if it’s just a writing credit, that’s good enough for me.
Read: “'Justified: City Primeval' Puts Its White Marshal In Detroit — And Rightfully Challenges Him” by Candice Frederick at Huffington Post
Melted Stuff
Yes, I’m already starting to think about the fall. So the North Face x Beams jacket I saw this week that looks sort of like a light bomber really spoke to me.
One of my favorites, And After That went Mann crazy after “I read that one of my favorite directors ALLEGEDLY crossed the picket line of the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strike” and so there’s a bunch of Thief, Miami Vice, and Heat merch you can cop with a portion of the profits going to the Entertainment Community Fund.
I’m sorry, but I can’t help but think this Stüssy x Sean Paul shirt goes a little harder than it needs to and I love that. Also, between that and the Online Ceramics x Bob Marley thing, I really think we’ve finally come back around to mid-1990s “funky” store in the mall vibes in a way that I can appreciate. Hacky sacks will make a comeback any second now. I can feel it.
Studio Nicholson keeps speaking my language. More ‘80s Armani in the spring/summer and for the fall/winter they’re going “1980s New York City.”
I am not a commenter per se and yet I cannot help myself: Justified is an incredible and criminally underappreciated show with one of the best series finales of all time, up there with Friday Night Lights.