Air Jordan Chambray VII

The Air Jordan VII Chambray was released in February 2006, and came with a black and white retro card.  I really miss those days when Jordan Brand would add retro cards.  I assume they stopped putting them in because retro sneakers weren’t as limited as before.  Now you get a retro Jordan every month, so there’s no need to add an additional item with a release.  Not many people cared for the card when it stopped being included, but I did.  I just felt a special attachment to the artwork and photos when I would look at them.  It’s like it would remind me of the ‘good-old days’ when Air Jordan’s were the best sneakers.

Today, I have a different opinion of the Brand and the sneakers.  Not that I think they’re producing garbage but, I just moved on from the brand.  I do however still treasure the sneakers that I have in my collection.  The one I’m looking at for this post is the Air Jordan Chambray VII.  I bought them back in 2006 after many months of waiting for them.  I would look at websites that would show pictures of the shoes before the release and I would save up to get them.  It kind sucked that I was broke at the time because I also wanted the Flints, but could only afford one pair of VII’s, so I went with the Chambray`s which I don`t regret.

The shoes are made with black nubuck and feature chambray (a powder blue), white and grey accents throughout the shoe.  According to Tinker Hatfield he got design inspirations for the shoe from African tribes.  The triangles are a real nice touch, and I really love the circles on the soles which act as traction for the shoe.  The laces are thin but come with lace tips that are painted chrome and the give a nice shine when light hits them.  Though this is a retro, the overall silhouette of the sneaker is still faithful to the original VII’s.  This is an excellent release and I highly recommend them if you plan on getting them.

Air Jordan:

www.jumpman23.com

YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24E2mC2ebe4

Nike Air Karst Z

With autumn in full swing I decided to dust off a pair of Nike boots I hardly wear.  The boots are my Air Karst Z that I bought back in 2005.  I bought them on clearance which I can only assume is because they didn’t sell very well.  I guess Nike tried to compete with Timberland boots and lost.  Plus I also assume it was because the ‘boots in the summer look’ was going out of fashion, just like wearing jerseys.  I’m still glad I held on to them because they’re now a rarity, which is something I like.

They are made from water proof leather and rubber is used on the soles.  They also feature soft brown leather on the inside.  I have only worn my pair a few times in the past and they have felt really comfortable.  I think that is the advantage of Nike in creating boots, to be able to use Air technology in their products.  Another thing I like about the boots is the leather, whenever I get them dirty it’s pretty easy to get them clean by rubbing off the dirt (I also spray them with protector).

I have only two complaints about the boots.  The first is that I don’t like the way Nike stitches their boots.  The shape makes them seem really odd, especially compared to a pair Timberlands.  The second complaint is that because the shape is so awkward the boot seems to press against my feet, and this pressure causes my feet to hurt.  After a long day this tends to lead to pain.  The most painful areas are on top and around the toe box area.

One of the top reasons why I started wearing and collecting sneakers was because I used to wear dress shoes all the time and at the end of the day my feet would hurt.  A buddy of mine told me to buy a pair of Adidas sneakers he was wearing because they felt comfortable.  I went to go buy them after work and as soon as I started wearing them I loved them.  I told myself I would never again wear shoes that hurt my feet.  With respects to the Air Karst Z, although they are affordable and look really nice, I would advise anyone to pass on them and to spend their money on a better product.

Nike:

www.Nike.com

YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGFbsrBq8Hg

Harvesting Sunflower Seeds

I like to tell people I live for inspiration. Usually this belief centre’s around learning new things that make me look at the world with a better understanding. The inspiration for this post came from my love for van Gogh paintings. Vincent was fascinated with sunflowers and so I decided to grow some myself to see how lovely they could be. When I went to go buy the seeds, I decided on picking some giant sunflowers because I would also be able to harvest the seeds as well. I am a baseball fan, and whenever I go to a game or watch one on TV I like to chew on dill pickle flavoured seeds.

I planted the seeds just on the edge of my driveway just in case the plant grew too big or attracted wild annoying animals (racoons). I also planted them in late spring. They require very little energy to grow so you don’t need to water them as much as other vegetables. Mine grew to about 8 feet by late August and the flowers bloom lasted only about a week. During that week, everyone who walked by would stare and comment how they loved the flower. I must say the bloom is impressive and I could finally understand how van Gogh could paint this flower over and over again.

The advantage of growing my plant near my driveway was that I could use a light pole for support by simply tying the plant’s stem up against the pole. Once the bloom started to fade, the head started to sag and I used more wire to support the head until eventually all you can do is leave it sagging. This isn’t a big deal because the seeds that grow inside of the head still continue to grow. By mid-September I could finally start seeing the seeds growing, with their slight black stripes. It wasn’t until the middle of October that I was finally able to chop off the sunflower head and be able to harvest the seeds. The clues I used to determine the right time was that the seeds looked ready, the back of the head was yellow and the cold outside made me want to avoid putting this up any longer.

I read online and looked at videos on how to best harvest my seeds, and somehow came out with a version I was comfortable with. I chopped off the heads, removed the seeds and placed them in a bucket full of water for about a day, then I dried them on paper towels, I baked them in the oven for a about a half-hour, and when they were baked I added a little olive oil and salt. The seeds tasted really good, and I must have gotten well over 10 hands full of seeds. While the experience was informative, I think the next time I want to eat sunflower seeds I’ll stick to the dill pickle bag I buy from the store.

YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSi-HwkVJeg

Redhead Wednesdays

Name: Heather M. Carolin

This I will consider my redhead Wednesday ‘adult’ edition because Heather Carolin is a nude model. I first saw Heather in the Playboy edition of April 2002. I bought that magazine because it featured Tiffany; a redhead I am sure to do a post on one day. With the addition of Heather to that issue I was going crazy; in a good way. She immediately caught my attention with her unbelievable gorgeous petite nude body, which not only proved she was a natural redhead but a wild one as well. Heather also has beautiful eyes and is covered with sexy freckles all over her body. It’s so rare to find a genuine ginger like her who isn’t afraid to show it all and doesn’t mind kissing other girls (and likes it). Although other women usually just color their hair, just knowing Heather is a real redhead makes me want her even more. I can imagine myself just playing with her hair and kissing her all day. Since I try to keep my blog ‘PG’ rated, I will only post pictures of her that are covered, and let you pervs look for the x-rated pictures online yourself.

The Collector

In the world of collecting, I have noticed that there are two kinds of people; those that collect and use the things they collect, and those that collect and never touch the things they collect. I would describe myself as being more of the collector that never touches the things I collect, though I do have my exceptions. An icon of mine that I admire for this very trait of never ever opening up the things he collects is The Collector, aka Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons.

The Collector first made his debut in Treehouse of Horror X. In the episode Comic Book Guy becomes a villain who takes his hobby to extremes by collecting real life individuals. Unfortunately the Collector does lose to Bart and Lisa, and even mistakenly opens up an extremely rare and expensive collectable, noooo. That episode was hilarious, and I loved the super hero/villain treatment Comic Book Guy received. He also gave a voice to us collectors that love things to be mint in box.

I’ve always wanted to buy the version of the Collector that Playmates Toys made, but it was out of my budget for what I was willing to pay. Then early last month (September) I heard that Burger King would be coming out with the Simpsons kid’s meal toy, and that it would include a version of the Collector. This got me real excited, because I would finally be able to add him to my collection.

The toy is nicely painted, and bright colours were used to make him stand out. On the back of the figure there is a switch and button that activates a red light, so that you are able to read a secret code or image on a brick wall. Unfortunately my toy’s light didn’t work, but it wasn’t so bad because eventually these added features stop working anyway. Regardless of that, I am glad to now add the Collector to my collection of the Simpsons Burger King toys (right beside Comic Book Guy).

Burger King:

www.bk.com

Comic Book Guy Wiki:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comic_Book_Guy

YouTube link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XmlHYseRCc