What Hat Are You Wearing Today 1?

[jimmy the lid]

I really love these two photos, Jeff.

Ditto. Nice stuff, Bowlerman! I think this goes to show that you're not just blowin' smoke...

 

[Shohei]

Cannot keep up! Brilliant hats all around! I love the ribbon treatment and, bah all things about that Tumwater David.

Al I love your posts, the journey you share with us each time! Love the lid!

Great look Paul! Hat and coat!

Hatophile, love that hat, the ribbon colour matching with the felt colour so smooth looking!

zetwal and you the other strato owners are making me think hard about one more hat

Very great on you Atticus.

Eric your collection is just amazing. That colour is perfect and as always you look so well put together! (which I could say the same for my self )

John your falcon park is amazing!

Great western bowlerman, you look natural in that, love the pictures too!

Perfect Borsalino Jimmy- stunning.

Today was another sick day, Headed out in my Disney again, then returned home a couple hours later to rest. While asleep I received a lovely 2 parcel surprise.
Which my wife assumed to be 2 more hats (HA! only ONE was a hat!)

A late holiday present from my friend and fellow Zen Buddhist priest, from Sweden, and the other a black on black (very swoopy lines) Robert Hall I picked up off ebay.
Not a vintage as it was presented to be, but still a well made fur felt, I researched it a bit before bidding and the felt is, in my limited novice opinion very nice!

 

[mayserwegener]

Jimmy, Beautiful Ice Borsalino Allesandria!

Eric, Velour + Smoke = Winner!

Dirk, Great look with the Black on Black Robert Hall!

 

[DJH]

Wow, this thread is just out of control with so many fantastic hats today.

JtL's Ice Borso, AF's Strat/*******, Jeff's Spider Thingy, Dirk's Robert Hall (never seen one before), Hatto, SBG, Z, Mike ... it never ends!

Thanks for the Tumwater comments as well. I always enjoy an excuse to wear one of Tony's brilliant hats.

So this evening I'm way outside of my comfort zone with a Knox bowler/derby I acquired. It was made for someone who is a much different oval than me so will be sitting on the bandblock that Art made for me for a few days I think. Really nice hat in unworn condition.

I don't think I'll be giving BOWLERman too much competition in this area, but an interesting change of pace.

 

[RBH]

On Saturday, I wrote: "It's actually cold here this morning, so, my sheep-rancher coat, jeans and boots, and my new-to-me '50s-era Stetson Open Road bashed into fedora style.


Here you go:

Taken outside my apartment, a little blurry, but the brim swoop shows off to good effect.

This is a great photo.
The OR looks super on you!!!

 

[gtdean48]

"Ice" Borso Allesandria...
...

WAY Cool Chief!

 

[delectans]

The New Year, Part 1


The first weekend of 2012 brought relatively warm weather to Minnesota, and the return of a very busy schedule of concerts. Friday evening, we rushed over to Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis immediately after work for the eagerly anticipated, annual Future Classics concert. Optimo, Silverbelly.



The six extraordinarily gifted composers, selected from among hundreds of very qualified applicants, on stage following the concert. Osmo Vänskä, the Minnesota Orchestra's brilliant conductor to stage left, and Pulitzer Prize winning composer Aaron Jay Kernis, founder of the Minnesota Orchestra Composer Institute, with microphone in hand.



With the rush to get to Orchestra Hall, we had to delay supper until late in the evening, following the always insightful post-concert discussions. We undertook our own spirited discussion of the six works presented, several of which made their world debuts, as we drove across the Mississippi River a few miles to Northeast Minneapolis and our favorite chippery, The Anchor .



A relatively new restaurant in the Twin Cities, and a labor of love for a couple of Irish ex-pats, it has quickly become a favored eatery for many. Lines can run down the block most evenings. I always find it fascinating to watch the cooks work their magic in the open kitchen.



Already after 11pm upon our arrival, we were promptly seated.



Beautiful and intricately detailed tin ceiling.



We resumed our discussion of the concert.



Mood lighting.

 

[delectans]

The shepherd's pie is deceptively unadorned, but is quite a unique culinary event. Creamy mashed potatoes over 1000 Hills Cattle Company grass-fed beef, peas, carrots, onions, and a dash of Guiness? Perfection.



The signature wild Alaskan cod, moist, tender, and unsalted, is coated with a crispy and amazingly non-greasy batter.



I liked studying the light at our table and would have kept taking still life pictures had Lydia not put an end to it...temporarily.



OK, just one more picture of the cod. I found myself unable to be content with eating just my shepherd's pie and took a few bites out of Lydia's fish.



Barbisio " Lugano ". Saturday morning, we paid a visit to an old friend, Dr. Li Gu, an esteemed and distinguished traditional Chinese medicine practitioner and professor who was responsible for drafting the Acupuncture Point Standards in China. We always find it fun and interesting to visit with him, and he had just returned to Minnesota from a three month stay at his home in Beijing. The cabinets behind me hold dozens of varieties of Chinese herbal medicines.






The dried herbs and plants are normally brewed slowly and taken straight up.

 

[delectans]

Brunch at one of many Twin Cities restaurants, at which we are regulars: the Himalayan. Home-style Nepalese cooking at its finest.



My friend and luthier John Waddle had called me to come over and examine and study an 18th century violin by Giovanni Battista Guadagnini, and so we stopped by his shop after brunch.



The "belly", or top. We scrutinized the purfling and deliberated over its similarities to other examples of Guadagnini's various periods of work.



A fascinating fiddle.



Splendid varnish amply preserved on the "back", made of highly figured Bosnian maple, cut on the quarter.



We dashed across town, to the Edina Cinema, built in the 1930s, to take in a movie worthy of a second viewing: " The Artist ", our favorite film of the past year, perhaps the past several years.



No hat holders were to be found under the theater seats, which are of more recent vintage than the 1930s.



The theater would be packed in a matter of minutes with an enthusiastic audience. If you have not yet seen " The Artist ", which has now added several Golden Globes to its well deserved laurels, I would strongly urge you to do so. It is a marvel of film making, beyond mere homage to the silent-film genre, filled with outstanding, nuanced and sensitive performances and a lush, rapturous score. Did I mention there are hats galore?

 

[delectans]

On Saturday evenings, at another of our favorite haunts, The Glockenspiel in St. Paul, the sounds of the accordion and euphonium bring a bit of Bavaria to Minnesota.



Outstanding Leberkässe, Ryan's favorite.



I enjoyed the excellent liver and onions.



We love the atmosphere here, with merriment as hearty as the food.



We stayed until well into the evening before heading back home.

 

[delectans]

The sun finally came out on Sunday morning, as we headed over to Cecil's for a late breakfast. Millard-Hirsch "Twenty-Five".







I had my usual, Cecil's New York style hot pastrami on freshly baked Russian rye bread.



Amongst the gleaming skyscrapers of downtown Minneapolis, and across the street from Orchestra hall, the weathered brick building that has housed the Dahl Violin Shop for more than six decades stands as a reminder of a bygone age.



In the skyway, crossing Marquette Avenue to Orchestra Hall.



The iconic and glorious standpipes that I have stood in front of for countless photos, during innumerable concerts, over nearly two decades.



Orchestra Hall is slated to undergo a $40 milion-dollar renovation later this year. The '70s industrial-style exterior, with its opaque panels, bold primary colors, and these steamship-esque standpipes, will make way for a classic facade of stone and glass. Where will I stand for photos?



A patch of sun in the skyway.

 

[delectans]

View of part of downtown Minneapolis from the sun-drenched skyway.



Reflected sunlight from skyscrapers...



...made for a dramatic source of illumination.



On the program this afternoon, Tony Award Winner Brian Stokes Mitchell, with the Minnesota Orchestra. We purchased a copy of Mr. Mitchell's book, "Lights On Broadway", with proceeds from the sales to benefit his charity, The Actors Fund Of America.










Lydia, a fantastic soprano, adored the Broadway icon and legend, as did Ryan and I. A fabulous baritone voice with incredible charisma and stage presence. With a program featuring memorable Broadway tunes, it was...some enchanted evening...

 

[delectans]

We concluded our weekend where we started, back at The Anchor.



Chairs had already been placed atop tables at the charming Maeve's Cafe next door.

 

[randooch]

Downright cinematic, Al! Thanks yet again for a glorious set of shots, mis-en-scene. :eusa_clap

 

[Kirk H.]

Al, those are some spectacular photos you took, and as usual you always look quite dapper.

Kirk

 

[alanfgag]

... and it came from a smoke-free home, too. :behindsofa:

 

[alanfgag]

Classic AL!

It's always a treat to savor your scrumptious photography.

Which thin ribbon is that?

 

[clossonrr]

went out geocaching today with the wife and little sister had a blast. Wore the licensed Indiana Jones Fur Felt hat. I know there is many better indiana jones hats out there but this sure is a great hat for the money!

 

[clossonrr]

and the way this iphone loads photos is driving me insane!:eusa_doh:

 

[delectans]

Black definitely looks great on you, Dirk. Nice lid, and thank you for your kind words.