The Grey NATO - Ep 87 - Perfect Product #2

Published on Thu, 15 Aug 2019 06:00:35 -0400

Synopsis

Jason and James discuss their favorite pieces of gear, which are the Randolph Engineering (or American Optical) Aviators for Jason and the Patagonia Nano Puff jacket/vest for James. Jason owns both the 57mm American Optical Aviators and 55mm Randolph Engineering glasses, which are identical with the same design but different branding. Randolph Engineering has better marketing and style reputation for these military-spec sunglasses. The Nano Puff jacket/vest from Patagonia is lightweight, water-resistant, and extremely packable, making it an essential travel item for both of them.

Transcript

Speaker
Unknown Hello and welcome to another episode of the Graynado, a Hodinkee podcast. It's a loose discussion of travel, diving, driving, gear, and most certainly watches. This is episode 87, and just like with episode 86, we're so happy to say that Manta Watches is sponsoring this episode. A big thank you to Manta, and be sure to swing by mantawatch.com to take a look at their full lineup. Hey Jason, how's it going?
Unknown Hey, good. Yeah, happy August. Last month of summer.
Unknown Oh yeah, we're in it now for sure. It is definitely the last month of summer. How are things there?
Unknown Good. Yeah. I mean, it's, you know, the bugs have all but let up here and, uh, you know, the weather's been, been pretty reliable. So yeah. Um, you, you, you're on, you're actually on vacation while we're recording this. So thanks for taking a little time off to, uh, to do the recording.
Unknown Well, for sure. The show, uh, the show must go on to, uh, to whatever extent we can. And, uh, and yeah, I am, uh, I am on vacation until I think tomorrow. And yeah, and then just back to the normal. But I have been kind of digging in a little bit on, you know, getting used to a slower pace, trying not to think too much about work and that sort of thing, and just enjoying a bit of the summer here in Ontario. I am, as what has been rare lately, I am recording from my actual home base in Canada, not the Hodinkee HQ in New York.
Unknown Yeah. I mean, it's tough as a freelancer, a permalance person to uh, actually take vacation. I think, you know, when you're working from home or mobile, um, it's just, it's hard to kind of shut off. So I'm sure you've been keeping one eye on your email and maybe doing a little work or something. Yeah.
Unknown It is really hard, especially the, the email doesn't like, can't stop. I don't really, um, I don't really believe in out of office responders. Like I've, I'll, I'll set one up, but I don't actually treat it as something where I wouldn't, where I then wouldn't check my email. Yeah. And like on these, on these ones, especially like in August, I'd like, I didn't even set up an out of office. Like the emails still come in if they're crucial and need to be responded to, they have to be responded to. And then there's, there's, you know, there's other things like we, we have a number of projects on the go at any one moment. Yeah. And, um, and like, you know, even if it's something where like I'm not actively working, I still like, you know, the other day I spent almost, you know, probably four hours just booking travel for the end of the month. Oh wow. Yeah. Hotels and you know, six one-way flights and all this sort of thing. And all of it takes a lot of time to kind of approve with everybody that's you're going to be meeting up and working with and all these things. And you know how it goes, but yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's, it is really hard in this world, in this job to take a vacation and actually not, not feel like what you're doing is just not working. Right. And letting all of that work push forward. And then the moment, you know, I actually just got a Slack message asking if I'm back today. The the moment that you are, you know, quote unquote back, it's a deluge. It's a it's a it can be a lot.
Unknown So yeah, looks like you've been enjoying some time. I saw some nice photos from the zoo and kind of some nice weather up there in Toronto.
Unknown The weather's been lovely. And yeah, and just before I dipped out on vacation, I was in New York and I borrowed from Leica their M10P, which is largely, you know, their kind of premium enthusiast camera. Yeah. and a 35mm F1.4 Summilux. So Steve and Pulverin, our managing editor at Hodinkee, and myself are teaching a class with Leica San Francisco about watch photography in a couple of weeks. And I had some experience with non-Q Leicas, but I wanted to dig in a little deeper on using the M10 platform, especially pointing it at watches or, you know, somewhat more static subjects. Right. And so I board that and I've been shooting it. I mean, what are you going to say? It's an absolutely incredible camera. It feels like shooting film. At times, the range finder format is so slow when you're used to something like the Q, where you just kind of point and shoot and it goes and it always kind of looks incredible. And with this one, you can get incredible results, but you really have to be patient, or at least I have to be patient with it. You know, I don't manually focus the Q. And then to go not only from not manually focusing, like, you know, in a scenario where you might use focus peaking to something like a rangefinder. And this camera does have focus peaking, but of course it doesn't have an EVF. So if you want to use focus peaking, you have to use the screen on the back. Oh, right. So it's a little bit of a different way of handling it. And then if you want to use the viewfinder, which is a traditional rangefinder, format, then you don't have really any impression of exposure or anything like that. You're using a meter, which is telling you to go kind of more shutter or less shutter, and then it tells you you're in the middle and then you shoot and you kind of see if it exposed the way you expect it. Right. So it's kind of this interesting ground between a film camera where you shoot and then later on, you see what you got and what I would call like your super modern digital camera where you have your eye to a screen and as you make setting changes, you actually see the exposure change. So like I barely ever use the meter strictly on my cue, I meter with using my eye.
Unknown Yeah.
Unknown So whatever the EVF is seeing, that's what I assume the photo will be close to. And I go from there. And then if there's a lot of specular highlights or a very like a high degree of contrast, then you can use the little kind of gradient meter at the bottom, I'm sure there's a more technical term for what that meter is called, to underexpose just a little bit and save some of those highlights. It's a whole different world with the M10. And I absolutely love it. It's one of these things that I probably shouldn't have borrowed because I can't afford it at any level. The lens costs more than the entirety of the cue. So it really is a fantastic thing to play around with and have some fun with. And for vacation where I'm not working and I can take the time to say, take 30 or 40 images of a leopard or something like that at a zoo. It's great. It's a, it's an absolutely fantastic camera. And you start to understand the skill that goes into the people who this is the camera that they use for their professional existence. Right. Um, even, even back into the sixties and the seventies where people were using, you know, previous editions of the M's that were obviously recording to film, but otherwise are the same. You know, they're really kind of a fascinating thing. And if you live in a city that has a Leica store or a Leica retailer, I think, yeah, swing by the store and check one out. I think they're a blast. I don't know how easy it would be to do the entirety of my professional sort of work just from the M. But I mean, if you were in a scenario where you could have an M and a Q. You know, if somebody was a longtime listener of the show, or even if we just went back and
Unknown listen to some of the earlier episodes and you kind of follow the arc of progression that we've had with various pieces of gear and kind of our changing philosophies or experiments with different things and cameras is one of those things. I mean you and I have gone through multiple iterations of cameras and types of cameras and you know we're now using the Nikon Z7 for a lot of underwater and topside photography and I've used the DF and I've talked about the Nikonos largely in the in the Nikon family, but we did have a Sony A7 for a while, and you've gone from all Canon to a lot of Sony, and Sony with Canon, and then into film, and now you're into Leica, and it's just interesting to kind of see that sort of arc of progression in the camera side of things. And I think the same could be said about our watch choices over the past couple of years too. Absolutely. But it's all good fun.
Unknown Yeah. And it's like a growth and evolution thing. And you kind of, I think that there's a, there's a process where in many ways you start to minimize some aspects. Yeah. So instead of having multiple cameras with multiple lenses, the idea of having to, the idea of having something like a cue where I don't even have to think about the lens, it's a 28, that's what you get. Right. Work with the 28. And, and admittedly, I kind of eased my step into that by going to the Sony and becoming very much dedicated to that 24 millimeters Zeiss.
Unknown Yeah.
Unknown So that was kind of a poor man's cue in some ways. Very different things, not full frame, but in some ways the handling is similar and certainly the focal range is similar and the macro ability is similar, that sort of thing. And then I still maintain the Canon, but I have been starting to question if it's something I need. I've been developing a new flash technique. for a new for me, this could be something lots of people are doing. I've been working on learning how to use off camera flash with the cue. Oh, okay. For watch photography. So believe it or not, if you go through the last few pieces I've put on Hodinkee, even some that have more review style watch photography, they were shot on the cue. So I use a cable that connects to an off camera flash, a Canon flash that sits wherever I want it in the room.
Unknown Yeah.
Unknown And then I fire that way. And the macro is so strong that if you have a rough understanding of, you know, how a flash operates, you're, you're running it all in manual, but the, but the, uh, the macro is so good from the queue, you can, you can do some really incredible stuff with it. So, huh. Wow. Well, they're not sure. I'm not sure. I still need the cannon. Haven't decided yet. Interesting.
Unknown Okay. Well, yet, yet another thing for people to tune in on. Maybe we'll in the next 10 episodes, we'll, we'll be talking about something different. Yeah. Cool.
Unknown Who knows? And how about you? Obviously with the last episode, which is a Quartz episode, which people liked much more than I expected. Amazing. Right? The reaction was great. Thank you so much for all the emails and everything. But since then, we teased that you were going on a Lost Ships of Cortez trip. Yeah.
Unknown Can you tell us about that? Yeah, it was fantastic. I mean, it was truly one of those trips, expeditions, projects, whatever you want to call it, that really made an impact on me. Even though we were only in Mexico for five days, Ghoshani and I went down there at the request of Aquadive watch company, which is a brand I've done a little bit of work for. They are the kind of the official watch supplier for the expedition, The Lost Ships of Cortez, as well as a big sort of financial supporter of that expedition. And so we were kind of asked to go down and gather some, some content, get some photos and do some interviews and things for awesome for them. And, uh, it was, it was fascinating. I, you know, this is one of those sort of proper shoestring expeditions, very a seat of the pants. It's about a core team of four or five people, uh, four men and one woman who have been working together for the past several years to, to gather evidence on what, and you know, what became of the, the 10 ships that Hernan Cortes scuttled offshore in Mexico when he landed there in 1519. And as history tells it, he did that in order to prevent a mutiny of his men who potentially wanted to go back to Cuba or further back to Spain. And so this expedition is being led by a couple of guys, Chris Horrell, who's an underwater archaeologist based in New Orleans who works for the U.S. government, and Fritz Hanselman, who is kind of his partner in crime. He's a professor at the University of Miami and also an underwater archaeologist. And they've both been doing a lot of research on, you know, kind of where these ships, these shipwrecks potentially could be. And they've narrowed it down to this bay just offshore from this small town called Playa Villa Rica in Mexico, which is in Veracruz State, about an hour north of Veracruz City. And so, you know, their process has been very sort of systematic and deliberate and fairly slow going, and they've been using, you know, their own PTO, a lot of their own funding, very grassroots kind of stuff down there. They've sort of commandeered or hired two local fishing boats to take them out and tow magnetometers around behind the boats to kind of establish where certain anomalies are on the seabed, to sort of identify spots where they can start poking around and digging for wreckage of these ships. That's fascinating. And so that's kind of the starting point. And then once they establish these locations and GPS them, they go back and dive and use, you know, just very manual process. They're using, well, metal detectors for one handheld metal detectors, but also just simple two meter long probes that they just sort of jab into the sand until they hit something that might be an object. And then they have to dig. And a lot of that digging is done using hand tools, but also They've got just kind of a crude pump, water pump that pumps water at a high pressure through a long hose that they then, they're underwater diving and they're holding onto these big water jets and they're blasting away at the sand on the seabed and underneath that there's sort of a bed of clay that they have to blast through as well until they ultimately find something or hopefully find something and I think on the last episode I mentioned that last summer they found an anchor that they had dated and determined was of the correct era and style that Cortez would have used. So it really gave a lot of hope and optimism to the team that they might be in the right location. There was a big National Geographic article about it last year. So they went back this summer. They only work for about two months a year during their off time from the university and from their jobs. So they went back. and kind of did more of the same this year and, uh, you know, had, had some, some luck. I think they're still waiting to do some analysis and kind of collate everything that they came up with now that they're back in the States, um, before they make any announcements or figure out what, what's what there. But, uh, just being on the ground with this team gave me this, this really sort of raw sense of, I don't know, sort of pure adventure. I mean, it was in this very small town, a little fishing village in Mexico where, you know, my, ultra limited Spanish was pretty useless and my English even more so. And, um, so, you know, you're, you're just, um, sort of dealing with the day to day struggles of a very grassroots expedition. These guys are dealing with, you know, broken boat motors and pumps and, um, you know, the one day, the, the, the day before we left to come home, they, um, they have a pickup truck that they have to haul all of their gear to the beach with and, and the, the clutch master cylinder went out on it. So they were without a truck for two days and they had to, you know, scramble to kind of put together, uh, borrow a truck so that they could haul their gear and, you know, cause they're only there for a limited amount of time. They don't want to waste it. Um, weather issues, um, you know, plus the diving itself is tough. I mean, there, this isn't sort of reef diving or even wreck diving. Well, I guess it is wreck diving if they find something, but, um, it's fairly shallow. It's about 40 feet deep to the seabed, but it's all just, sort of a sandy desert under there. There's no real life. There's no coral. There's not even any rock formations. It's just a flat, sandy bottom. And so they're under there with these high-powered jets and have to wear a lot of weight so that they can stand on the bottom and not get blown around. And once they kick on the water jet, it just creates this almost whiteout of sand that's just blowing everywhere. And so Ghoshani and I were diving off of the second boat. And we kind of took turns diving because they had this limited amount of dive lead because they had to use so much of it for the guys that were underwater working so that we could only dive one at a time and go under there. And it was very difficult to get photos because of all the particulate in the water from the work they were doing. And just to kind of observe and see both the sheer effort of what they were doing to not only find some potential wreckage, but also just the physical labor of twice a day hauling the gear from the um, this little hotel that they had sort of taken over for, for two months, um, you know, cleaning gear at the end of the day, putting it into the pickup truck and driving it to the beach and then hauling it, you know, a quarter mile from the, where they could park the truck down to the fishing boat. We had to push the boats, you know, put logs underneath the boats to push them offshore and jump in and get going. So it was, it's just, it's just a lot of work and a lot of effort and a lot of, um, but a lot of passion obviously to, to kind of pull this off. And I just really, really enjoyed being a part of it. And the team was super accommodating and really nice. And one of the guys that I met and made pretty good friends with was Jonathan Kingston. And he's a good follow on Instagram as well. It's just at Jonathan Kingston. And he's got an interesting story. He's a National Geographic photographer. And he shot the photos for the article that they ran last year about this expedition. And now he's back this year, or was back this year, purely on a volunteer basis. He's kind of joined the expedition, devoting his time to them to provide images for potential fundraising and promotional use and just scientific use as well. And to kind of dive with him and be around him and observe how he worked and the equipment that he brings, drones and GoPros and umbrellas and tripods and everything. I mean, we borrowed his tripod to do a video interview with one of the team members. you know, really great guy and really kind of fun to watch him work as well. Um, and, uh, you know, I mean, it's, it's something that, that I, I'm, I'm kind of debating, you know, or not even debating, I guess I'm deciding, you know, uh, how much involvement I can have with this because it was just one of those things that I felt was, it was a great team of people doing kind of a really interesting project. And, um, so I, I think I'll be back down there next year for probably a little longer, um, maybe actually doing some, some work with them as well as gathering stories again. But, uh, yeah, really just really a fascinating time. Again, we were only there for five days and, and you know, three days potentially of diving, although we only dove one day because one day the weather was so bad and the other day the, the boat motor fritzed out and, and we pushed into our 24 hour no fly time before we had to fly home. So we did a lot of kind of topside stuff. We went to a, um, up on the hillside above the, above the town, there's this, uh, Totonac settlement there that is 500 plus years old, old ruins, ancient ruins, burial ground and cemetery and buildings and overlooks the sea. So that was really spectacular. And then, you know, I posted photos on my Instagram so people can check it out. But there was also this this fort. It's like one of the very first European structures in the new world. It was a fort that Hernan Cortes built. And it's just on this hillside above the beach. And there's no sign that would even tell you it's there. There's no gate. There's no interpretive plaques or anything. I mean, you step over this little barbed wire fence, and you're in this weedy field with these rock foundations that were once kind of the first Spanish fort in Mexico. And you just get the sense that you're like Indiana Jones discovering this for the first time. Um, quite a powerful experience. And then, and then just being around the, um, the locals and spending some time on the beach, having empanadas and drinking out of a coconut. And, um, so, you know, all in all for, for really just three days on the ground, it was, it was really action packed and, and just a really great experience. So, um, we're, we'll, we'll put a link in the show notes, but I've been putting together some, some stuff for, for AquaDive and we'll put a link to their, to their website. The whole team was wearing AquaDive watches, which was really, fun to see and they really enjoyed that so it was kind of neat to see them torture testing these these dive watches in this you know really salty sandy environment there and um so yeah all in all great great time and and uh my sunburn sunburn is finally peeled and i'm oh there you go back to my usual pale complexion here but uh yeah great great stuff that's amazing it sounds like such a fringe
Unknown thing to be involved with, especially like, like it's one thing for you, obviously for you to go down and kind of cover it or, or, you know, produce some stuff with aqua dive. It's an, it's another thing to be one of the people working in that space. Like you and I kind of have a loosely fringe job, but it's not the same as, as saying like, Oh, I'm searching for, you know, the lost ships of Cortez. And that sounds like romantic, like you're diving around and there's treasure chests and that sort of thing. And then you actually see it and you're like, this is closer to drywalling underwater.
Unknown Yeah.
Unknown Yeah, totally. It's something else. I was just looking through my book from Clipperton, which is now a couple of years ago, and I really miss the big adventure, the big scope being part of that. Yeah, yeah. Out there, disconnected from everything else, just being in that mix for some span of time. I see the allure of it. I don't think it's that far displaced from a professional photography or the travel slash product writing and that sort of thing. It's a step further, it's maybe a step more educational or academic than maybe you and I have gone in our lives, but to be part of it, it's such a special thing. And to meet the people that this is what they've dedicated their life and their skill to is always really, really... It just kind of puts some fuel in the tank.
Unknown Yeah, I agree. It really connected with me in a very different level. I've been on a number of trips, as have you, that are kind of press-oriented or sponsored by a brand. The one I can think of was that trip with Blancpain last summer for 11 days out to the Riviera Jijados. Great time, but to see the scale of that trip and the sheer expense of it and kind of the level of commitment that Blancpain has given and kind of the style of, quote-unquote, expedition of that one versus this one, which is, okay, everybody Put your, put your back into it, you know, let's push this boat off the beach and oops, the boat motor doesn't start and the pump is flooded and et cetera, et cetera. It's, it's, it's just such a different level, but it's, it's the kind of. Raw adventure and kind of unknown outcomes that, uh, and small team work that, uh, that really, uh, I gravitate towards. And so that's kind of what makes me want to help these guys and potentially go back next year. So really, really cool experience. Fantastic.
Unknown Very cool. Yeah. Well, I think it's probably time to kind of roll right into our main topic. But, you know, we're far enough into the episode now where I think it probably makes sense to drop in our ad break. And yeah, this week, like we said with the last episode, this week we're sponsored by MontaWatches and that's at MontaWatch.com. And, you know, it really is kind of a fun thing to be sponsored by a brand that's so closely tied to the enthusiast community, like them going in some ways, you our comfort zone, what we're capable of. I don't think you and I, actually, I'm going to go right out and just say you and I could not create something like what Monta's created. Yeah, I would agree. I think that we would we would drop the ball many times. It would be something we would talk about for several years while doing all the other work in our lives. But yeah, I think that like this is a great sort of sponsorship for the show because Monta's right in the wheelhouse of what we love. You know, we preach quite strongly about watches that are, you know, under twenty five hundred bucks. uh, that are, you know, steel, sporty, sporty watches that are meant to be worn, meant to be appreciated, but are still, you know, objects of enthusiasm for the greater world of kind of watch craft. And I think that really does kind of describe the, the, the watches that you get from a brand like Monta. You pay a little bit more than you do for the normal micro brand sub $1,000, uh, product. But what you get is I think you actually get a lot more in terms of finishing, in terms of attention to detail, in terms of movement. You know, if we were to use something like the Manta Atlas, their most recent release, this is a 38.5 millimeter steel GMT. It's 10.2 millimeters thick. It has a lovely bracelet. It comes with one of the best NATO's in the entire world by our measure. And all of that you're looking at under $1,700. So right now it's in pre-order for $1,615. And then it'll be about $1,800 if you miss out on the pre-order. You can go bracelet, black rubber, several different leather options. And then of course the watch itself comes in three dial options.
Unknown Yeah, I mean, I think for those people who want the really high finishing quality of more of the mainstream Swiss brands, but you want something that's a little less mainstream, a little more small brand, but you still want that finishing that you get with the bracelet, the little details like that curved GMT hand that rises just above the raised markers on the dial, some of their color choices. I mean, Manta's just one of those brands that, you know, you see the passion and the attention to detail of the two owners of the company that kind of rise up through every aspect of the product. And then you throw in just an incredible pricing and it's just a real winner choice.
Unknown Yeah, I absolutely agree. I mean, you mentioned the three different dial colors. I have a real soft spot for the blue. And I think like we get a lot of people that write in and say like, oh, I want a GMT watch, but I don't want to spend the money on, you know, tracking down a used Explorer 2 or something like that. But I would like something that you could wear anywhere. Maybe I don't have to worry about as much as some of my other watches. something that's still tough, something that still feels right. And I think, like, Manta hits all those points really well. Super wearable. I think even the sizing, coming in at 38.5 instead of 40, I think it's just a little bit of a nod to say, like, we know that people want smaller watches, and we make a 40-millimeter watch that's great. So here's another option. And I think that if you don't need the bezel, the Atlas is killer. Obviously, the SkyQuest is rad. We've talked about the SkyQuest in the last ad. But from a product standpoint, which is more or less our wheelhouse, this is a really, really strong piece of design. And on wrist, it just feels excellent. Even just like stuff that some people might roll their eyes at. But if you spent years wearing like $800 or $900 watches, you don't get the little polished bevel on the inside of the lug where the bracelet meets. Right. The finishing on the bezel isn't as good. in a cheaper watch, the case might be thicker because it's a lot easier to engineer or buy a thicker case, so you don't get the sub 11 millimeter, sub 10.5 wrist presence. And then you get into stuff like the bracelet. The bracelet's just excellent. I mean, there are large Swiss brands that would not come anywhere near a bracelet of this quality in their $2,000 watch.
Unknown And I think with Manta too, what comes through for me is it feels like people behind the brand listened to not only their customers but also to kind of themselves and in terms of what you want in a watch in terms of size and thickness and dial colors and finishing and what type of bracelet do you want what type of strap do you want and they're able to actually put that into practice whereas a lot of us have long had these discussions you know whether it's in your local watch enthusiast group or in the forums or in comments and you're saying oh I wish I wish I could get a 38 and a half millimeter watch that was this thick and had this kind of bracelet And these dial features and, and Monta's able to kind of put that stuff together in a very direct sort of feedback to its customer base, um, which is something you don't get with the bigger brands.
Unknown Yeah, I agree. And you still, you're still looking at 150 meter water resistance, a screw down crown. Again, it's a Salida SW330. So it's a GMT movement that is in the collar fashion. You know, we always, or at least I always talk about GMTs as either being flyers as if you're actively traveling or a collar, if you'd like to track other time zones. And this setup is more designed for tracking other time zones. It works really well. And then, of course, you get your two-year warranty as well. So, I mean, it's a nicely backed product from an American brand that's producing really nice Swiss-made watches at, you know, attractive pricing, especially if you start to dig into their competition or their price point competition. And like I said, right at the top, both of us are just thrilled to have Manta as a sponsor. So the Atlas is still on pre-order, which gives you a shot at one of the first hundred and fifty in production and delivery should be sometime in August. So the earliest orders should be, you know, theoretically on their way by the end of the month.
Unknown OK, well, thanks again to Monta. And let's dive into our main topic, shall we?
Unknown Absolutely.
Unknown Yeah. So today we're for a main topic. We're revisiting kind of a topic area that we touched on once before back in Episode 76. We're calling it perfect gear or perfect products. These are you know, pieces of gear and equipment, kit, whatever you want to call it, that James and I both really rely on. Maybe a little bit more unsung than a watch or something. This is something like clothing or a bag or a pair of boots or something. And last time I touched on my Blundstone boots, and James, you talked about a Canon 50mm lens. So today we're shifting gears a little bit. You have Really core product today that I think both of us could have included and I'm glad you're you're bringing this one up And for me, it's it's something that I've relied on for gosh close to a decade I wear it literally every day or at least 300 days a year and I've never really talked about them before but you know I think a lot of people will be will be interested to hear about it So why don't you why don't you jump in with yours first because I think it's I think it's a really good one
Unknown Absolutely can. It's actually a really easy one because it's one we've talked about before. It's even made our Christmas, our holiday TGN buying guide. I believe you had picked this as your no limit option this past Christmas. Yeah. So this is the Patagonia Nano Puff Jacket. It also comes as a vest. I only own the jacket. I have one that I purchased and wore. It's in navy blue with what they call paintbrush orange zipper, which I think is really rather cool. And then I also have, and you do as well, a gray one that has some AORUS branding as it was the kind of press giveaway gift at an AORUS event. And to have the slightly more colorful one and the gray one is perfect. But this literally comes down to when someone writes me and they're like, oh, you know, I travel a lot. What kind of things do you always carry with you? And unless it's summer or I'm going somewhere where it's summer, this is with me. It's either on my person or it's packed into its own pocket and in a bag. These are... It's a product category that almost every outerwear brand makes. And by all means, if you don't like the Patagonia, you don't wanna spend the Patagonia money, I guess, look into other ones. But for me, if I lost or mine was ruined or destroyed to the point where even Patagonia couldn't repair it, I would just buy another one. The retail price on these in Canadian is 250 bucks. I think they're like $185 or $200 US, and they're worth absolutely every penny. So they use... It's basically a sweatshirt weight zippered jacket. It has a DWR coating, so it will shed a little bit of water, and it uses a synthetic down, so it's quite a bit warmer than you would expect it to be, and it would also function... The synthetic down functions when it's wet, whereas normal, like organic down, derived from an animal, will tend not to work as well when it's wet. As far as a layered or outerwear approach goes, this is an absolute necessity. I know, Jason, you all have the vest as well, I believe. And these are just really easy wearing. I like them because, you know, this is a role, a living where you don't ever want to look schlubby or kind of disheveled when you get somewhere. But you or I also aren't really the type to get somewhere and pull the suit out of the suitcase and get that ready and go. like for 90% of the way that you want to dress. It's like it's a pair of khakis or jeans, a clean shirt that doesn't, that isn't covered in wrinkles. And then something like this Patagonia, it looks professional. It looks intentional. It's not too sporty, but it's also not too casual. It just looks like you're kind of ready to work. And it also provides ultimate flexibility. So if I'm driving a car from one place to another, and during the day it's hot, and you're in the desert or something like that, it's perfect. You can use it as a blanket, you can use it as a pillow. It adjusts really well to different sorts of temperatures and climates, and it never really looks out of place, which is why I love it. And you basically get to pick the color based on how bold you want it to be. I think right now, puffy jackets are probably enjoying a two or three year real hotspot. And I'm sure that won't last. So maybe if you're buying one and you want it for long term, go with a low key color or your favorite color versus something that's maybe a little bit more trendy. But at any time, at any season, they're offering a variety of colors. And then there's last season's colors, which you can usually get for a bit cheaper. But it's everything from obviously black and grays and navy blues. And then you get into the bright oranges, the greens. I don't know what more to say about them. They're just like if someone comes to me and they go like, oh, I'm doing this or I'm doing that, like I very often I'm saying like, oh, if you don't have one of these, these are very helpful. You want to go tour a three month, you know, you're taking a little break from school or something and you're moving and you don't really want a huge pack and you're going to go travel somewhere, take one of these because it's a sweatshirt, but it's also a pillow, but it's also a jacket. And it's, you know, they're kind of subtle and comfortable and easy to wear and I've slept in them. You know, you can't say that for a lot of insulated jackets. I tend to sleep pretty warm. Uh, and they're just kind of clever. They fit really well. And I think they're fairly priced. They're not cheap, but they are fairly priced.
Unknown Yeah, I agree. I can't say enough good things about Nana Puff. And I think it's, it's a great choice for this episode because it's, it's just one of those vital pieces. I mean, you mentioned for travel and, um, you know, even if you are going to a warm place, it's, it's great. You know, airplanes tend to be kind of over chilled and, Mine always kind of lives in the bottom of my pack. I use it to kind of wrap around maybe a camera or lens if I'm just, if I'm not taking a padded bag. Works as a pillow. And the vest I have, it's kind of a gray silver color that I got a few years ago. And the branding is minimal enough and the fit, because it's not overly puffy, it's a very streamlined kind of fitted fit to it. So I can actually even slip it on under, you know, you can wear it over like a button-up semi dress shirt. You can slip it under like that Uniqlo comfort blazer that we've talked about or sort of a sport coat or another jacket and it layers really well. And to have like I love having the vest and the jacket. I don't know which is my favorite but it's just such a good looking piece and it's a little different than the usual puffy because it's not that the stitching that sort of breaks up the the filling that the insulation filling is I don't know how to describe it, but it's kind of offset. It's almost like a brick wall.
Unknown Yeah, it's like a brick wall.
Unknown Um, and it's such a, you know, you don't get big puffs, you know, you don't get big, um, big pillowy sort of sections of, of insulation. So it does wear streamlined. And like I said, the branding is so minimal that you can, you can really get away with it in so many environments.
Unknown Yep. Yeah. It's, it has one little badge on it and I see people take the badges off them. I get that. I personally, I love Patagonia. They're one of my absolute favorite brands. I love that they have this incredible, their ironclad guarantee for all of their products. I really like the brand's history. I like the way that they deal with their popularity. I think they're probably the finest American brand in existence, and I absolutely love their products. Anything that I have ponied up the cash to buy for, to pay for a product of theirs, has never let me down. And I love that you can get a lot of it repaired. They're making things that are meant to be used and abused and recared for and lived in and I guess sold, you know, people sell these used and that sort of thing. And I think all of that is great. Um, I can't, I, yeah, I can't, I don't think either of us can, but I certainly can't speak highly enough of the, uh, Nano Puff lineup. You'll be hard pressed from September to May to find me without one within reach. Uh, it becomes like, you know, that time where you're, you're just leaving the house to do something quickly. but it's kind of chilly outside. That's what I'm always grabbing. It probably just sits on the back of a chair in my living room or in the kitchen or whatever. And then it's kind of like you grab that, you put on your blend stones and you leave. And in 20 seconds, you're basically wearing shoes and a jacket that could deal with most things as far as temperature. And oftentimes I often find, maybe you do this two September rolls around and you're like, yeah, natal puff season's back. Right. And you throw it on like to go get the mail or pick up a package at FedEx or something. And like you get 30 steps down the street and you're sweating. Yeah.
Unknown Yeah.
Unknown And you're like, I guess it's not quite that season just yet. But they're much lighter. Like if you're used to puffy jackets, like I have a heavier one, an 800 fill from Marmot. And they're lighter than that, much lighter. They wear a lot like a sweatshirt. They're quite comfortable. And like I said, I think everyone should have one of these. And sure, maybe you don't want the Patagonia, maybe you want one from one of the other big brands. I like that it's a Patagonia. I like that you can really go whatever direction you want in terms of color. And then I'm actually really looking forward to both of mine getting repairs. Because every now and then, like when we were last in Colorado for the Oris event, which is where we actually got one of these jackets, you do actually see people who've had them for a long time. And and it was also something I commonly saw. You know, my my brother, he has a red one of the higher end version of these, the more mountain guide. So it has more of a shiny fabric. It's still nano puff, but it's a slightly different model. It's more expensive and it's meant to be like a legitimate like alpine layer, not not so much moving through the city or plains or that sort of thing. And he would like leave the house in the dead of winter in Squamish, BC, which is like it's a fairly cool winter. It's not crazy. It's not Minneapolis, but it's pretty cool. And he would leave that, you know, go outside for a cigarette or something and in a t-shirt, like, and he would go outside and he'd be outside for 15 minutes or whatever, come back in. And then eventually I would just watch him pulling a little bit of insulation out of it because the cigarette, the ash from the cigarette had burned little holes in it where the wind had kind of caught some of the ash and it'd come back at the jacket. And I mean, all of that, I think you put a little bit of time into these, they get a little bit beat up and suddenly they have a different charm. So they're not your trendy puffy jacket, they're your puffy jacket. It's like having a beat up backpack. And a beat up backpack never looks out of place. It always looks like, oh, this is the bag I carry all the time. Well, this is the jacket I wear all the time. And like you said, if you you throw this under like a rain layer, you're basically indestructible. Right. I mean, maybe maybe you're not climbing a mountain or something like that. But for day to day, you've got everything you need. It's warm when you want it to be warm. You can layer or unlayer as you need. And I think it's an absolutely like it's a perfect piece of kit. It is.
Unknown It's great. It is totally real gold seal TGN approval. I don't think either of us can say anything higher. or give any higher praise to any product, watches, cars, anything. The Nanopuff is truly, if you're going to buy one product that we recommend, you know, you can ignore everything else, but then get yourself a Nanopuff if you don't have one. And yeah, good pick.
Unknown Should I jump into mine? Yeah, let's do, let's, let's move on. I don't think I can talk more about the Nanopuff. At this point, people were either going to pick one up or they're rolling their eyes pretty hard. So let's, let's jump into yours. I'm excited to hear about this. Cause this is something that I, I, feel pretty strongly about this area of product. And I have my allegiances, and I know you'd wear this with quite a plum.
Unknown Yeah. So my pick, it's more of a style of sunglasses. It's an identical glass that is made by two different brands. So about eight or nine years ago, I picked up a pair of Randolph Engineering Aviators. which is probably somewhat familiar to a lot of people. It's a very well-known brand. They do some good marketing. But what a lot of people don't know is that there's another brand called American Optics that also makes the identical glasses and made them long before Randolph Engineering. But it's the exact same pair of glasses because they were made to a military specification. And so I've got one pair of each. And kind of the reason I did that is because when I got my first pair, the Randolph Engineering, I got it in a, what they term, the 55mm size, which is kind of the distance across the top of the lenses. And, you know, I was wearing them, I love them, they're super bomb-proof glasses, but they just felt slightly too small for my face. And so I thought, I'm going to pick up another pair. But Randolphs tend to be a little bit expensive, so I started looking at American Optics after reading a few reviews and things. and I picked up the 57mm American Optics and I wear them interchangeably and in fact when you talk about interchangeability they're so identical that when the sort of clear acetate covers on the temples I was bending them to kind of conform to my head a little bit and I cracked one of the temples and so I was able to actually just take one off the American Opticals and put them onto the Randolph Engineerings and kind of, you know, mismatch or swap back and forth with the different components. Even the lenses can be moved from one to the other if you have the same size frames. So, you know, they truly are identical glasses. But I guess the reason I included in today's episode is because this is, you know, when you talk about a piece of kit that you use regularly, I almost think besides my iPhone, There's nothing I wear as often as I do these sunglasses. They literally go out the door with me every time I'm going anywhere, unless it's a dark and stormy day or I'm leaving at nighttime. But I keep a pair in the car, and then I keep a pair in the house that I either travel with or just wear if I'm not going in the car. And they have not failed me, other than my own little blunder with the temple. These glasses are just bomb-proof. Sunglasses are one of those products that people kind of are on two sides of the fence on. Some people are like, Oh, I lose my sunglasses or break them. I don't want to spend a lot of money on them. Um, cause I cycle through them, you know, multiple times a year. Um, I'm not that way. I, for one thing, I, I put, uh, prescription lenses in these cause I wear, you know, prescription eyeglasses and I don't wear contacts. So I've got prescription lenses in both. So I certainly don't want to break or lose these. Um, and I'm not prone to that anyway. I tend to kind of keep things close to me and don't, don't sit on them or lose them. But as a testament to their build quality, both pairs I've had for, you know, like I said, seven, eight, nine years, both of them wearing them equal numbers of times. I've had them everywhere from, you know, every single trip I've taken, I always take one or the other pair of these, whether that's, you know, skiing or on dive trips. I had them in Mexico on the Cortez trip I just did out on the boat, you know, Sri Lanka and Europe, et cetera. As well as just around here. I wear them biking sometimes. I wear them in the car. They just don't break. Nothing happens to them. You know, a lot of times with glasses, the screws come loose or a lens will pop out or they'll start to kind of corrode a little bit from sweat or just moisture. And these glasses, both pairs, have just been absolutely bomb-proof for so many years that they've just become absolute go-to gear for me. If you buy them directly from, in the case of, say, Randolph Engineering, they come in, as I mentioned, a number of different frame sizes. They've got 52, 55, and then the 58 millimeters. And they kind of have a little bit of a guide for, you know, like, if you measure your face and, you know, a certain number of millimeters across from temple to temple, they recommend you get a certain size, and you can certainly do that, or if you can find local retailer that carries them, the better choice is to just go try them on. But I've always been a fan of aviator style glasses and I guess the cool thing about the Randolphs is they don't have that sort of teardrop shape of the traditional, I guess, Ray-Ban aviators. They're more of a rectangular style, which is a little more to my taste. I mean, maybe it's a certain thing about, you know, the shape of my face or just my own personal taste. I tend to prefer these to the more traditional Tom Cruise Ray-Ban aviators or the Douglas MacArthur style original aviators. And these were developed, these are kind of a product specifically of the jet age, or so I've read. Kind of the old Ray-Ban style aviators were more of an earlier style aviator, but these were developed specifically for use with a helmet. the style of helmet that started to come into use once fighter pilots were flying jet planes at high altitude with oxygen masks and helmets. And the temples are designed, they're kind of a straight temple. They don't curve at the back so you can wear them. They don't get pinched behind your ears when you're wearing it under a helmet. That sort of cut off, sort of rectangular style shape is made to fit a little bit better with an oxygen mask if you're flying a high altitude jet. Neither of which I do. I don't wear a helmet when I'm driving and I don't wear an oxygen mask. But I just kind of think that the style is a little more appealing to me. You can get different frame colors. They've got, you know, sort of a gold color. They've got a matte chrome. They've got shiny, etc. And then they've got a lot of different lens colors as well. And if you want to be super traditional about it, you go with like a non-polarized, kind of a straight gray, which allows you to read instruments, you know, polarized lenses are great for use on water if you're fishing or on snow, but if you're driving a lot with them, um, it's really difficult to see kind of the instrumentation in a car or an airplane or whatever. Um, so, um, but I, like I said, I've got prescription lenses in both of mine, but, um, so yeah, I mean, I, you know, I, I can't say enough good things about these glasses. I occasionally I'll post a picture and somebody will write to me on Instagram and say, Hey, you know, those, those Randolph's and depending on which ones they are, I kind of give a little, you know, brief message like, Oh no, these are my American optics or whatever. But, uh, you know, you can't go wrong with either. If you want to be really hardcore kind of space nerd, um, the American optics flight goggle 58, I think they called it was the official issue glasses for the Apollo astronauts. So, um, I think there's a photo of Buzz Aldrin that's better known for the depiction of the speed master on his wrist, but he's actually tucking his, American optics glasses into the shoulder pocket of his flight suit. So, uh, uh, you can wear a Speedmaster on your wrist and a pair of American optics glasses. And you've got a little bit of the space program, uh, with you.
Unknown So that's great. I think they look fantastic. I've always thought of them as kind of your sunglasses. Uh, cause certainly as long as we've been hanging out and going places together, when you pulled your sunglasses out, that's what you had. And, uh, you know, in the last couple of years, I've become a very much devoted, uh, per sole owner. Um, I have a pair of the calligrapher edition and I absolutely adore them. They take it a very impressive beating for how kind of, um, minimal they look on, on your face. Um, but these are, these are a whole different, a whole different area and, and, and definitely into that sort of, you know, you're out of the Luxottica giant of, uh, of, of sunglasses into some of these like legacy brands that, uh, that really, uh, have some neat stuff. And yeah, you can, you can really go. buck wild with the lenses and colors and there's a lot here. I'm on their page. You get three sizes. I got to say, I don't know, 12 or 13 lens colors and then polarized, non-polarized and like looks like six or seven different, um, like metal finish, which is, uh, which is a whole different scene than, uh, than I'm used to with some of these other brands that I've worn in the past. Uh, And I mean, they've they have a bunch of other styles, but I definitely think this is the most attractive one. And it's interesting to hear that they've kept, you know, kind of held up that well for you for that long, you know, I have maybe two years on my persols. And aside from some, not too inconsiderable scratches, right, right in the eyeline of the lens. Otherwise, they've been great. And, and obviously, the scratches are my fault, not the sunglasses.
Unknown So yeah, you know, they're, And again, with sunglasses, it's definitely a very personal decision. I mean, sometimes a certain style just does not look right on your face, and I totally get that. But if these work for you, I'm just basically vouching for the quality of them. And in terms of Randolph Engineering, so I think kind of the back story, just to kind of put a bow on this, is I think American Optical, I guess it's American Optical, not American Optics, American Optical was an official supplier to the US Air Force or Navy pilots dating back to the 60s. And I believe, so Randolph Engineering was founded in 1972, and it's an American company. They're based out in, I think, Boston area. I believe they were probably founded by somebody that worked at American Optical, or maybe somebody that decided, hey, there's a military spec, let's just kind of make another company that sells these same glasses. But like I said, I've had nothing but good luck with both. I will say that Randolph Engineering has definitely done a better job of marketing. You see them in You know, style shoots with Men's Journal, Don Draper wore them in Mad Men. You know, you get just a lot more exposure, a lot more press, a lot more kind of style swagger with Randolph Engineering, but they're identical glasses to the American Opticals. The Randolphs are, I'm looking at their website, they sell for $219. Yeah. American Optical, for the original Pilot Sunglass, they sell for $109. So, half price.
Unknown Once you actually pick your color and your lens, it's 129 bucks. It's a hundred bucks less. Yeah. So, which is for sunglasses, 129 bucks for good sunglasses is a deal. Yeah. So, uh, Persols are several hundred dollars. The Randolphs are $700 or several hundred dollars. And then when you get into anything else, especially when you get into ones where you can have like a lot of say in the metal, the lens color polarization typically adds 80 bucks to a pair of Ray-Bans. Uh, so I think, yeah, it's, uh, these are great.
Unknown And they're both, and they're both, um, you know, one theory I'd heard was that, that American optical had offshored their production, but I'm looking at their website and, and it says for genuine made in the USA sunglasses, visit our shop. So, um, last I had checked and read about these, they're also made in the U S so, um, if that's important to you, you know, there's really, you, you, you can't go wrong with, with either choice. So, um, yeah, that, that's, that's my pick. I, Can't say enough good things about them. And I think along with a Nano Puff and a pair of Blundstone boots, good to go.
Unknown Yeah, we'll have to get into a pair of pants at some point and just kind of complete this outfit. But definitely from the waist up, not including something like a t-shirt, although I'll be honest, I've worn my Patagonia otherwise top look in a pinch, I have. Yeah, waist up, I think we've got you covered. A great jacket and an awesome pair of glasses. Uh, so that's Perfect Product 2. Thank you very much for listening. How about some final notes?
Unknown Yeah, let's jump into it. I've got a quick one. I can kind of go first here. It's, uh, um, I think a while back I had talked about a book, maybe, I'm not sure, but, um, if not, I'll, I'll mention it here. There was a book that was written back in the 1950s called First Overland. And it was about a group of college students from both Cambridge and Oxford universities in England who took two series one Land Rovers. and drove from London to Singapore. Land Rover provided these. They specially outfitted them. They were stock vehicles, but of course they added racks and interior sort of fittings for stowing gear and jerry cans on the front bumper, et cetera, et cetera. And these guys set off to drive overland from London to Singapore. Incredible trip. The book itself, First Overland, is a must read if you're at all interested in that sort of rollicking mid-century adventure stuff that really couldn't be done these days for various reasons. And lo and behold, both of those vehicles were actually found, and the one, I believe it was the one called Cambridge, they named each of the vehicles Oxford and Cambridge. The one called Cambridge was actually restored and is roadworthy, and they're actually repeating the trip, but they're doing it in reverse. These guys found this vehicle. I believe they had Land Rover Classics or somebody restore them to a high level of drivability, although they didn't like modernize it at all. And they've shipped it to Singapore. And these young guys sort of pitched this project and are making a documentary about it. And they're actually going to do the trip in reverse from Singapore overland back to London. So they're saying it's like 16,000 kilometers in
Unknown Wow.
Unknown In a four-cylinder vehicle with leaf springs and an 88-inch wheelbase. So, you know, I'm not sure at my age I'd be up for that level of beating.
Unknown Yes, I would go immediately. Yeah. Tomorrow. I'll meet you tomorrow. I'll meet you tomorrow.
Unknown That sounds like so much fun. Yeah, well, we'll do it across Canada in my old Series 3. But anyway, it's a great story. This is called Last Overland, so playing off of, obviously, the first Overland project And they're doing it reverse, and they're actually having one of the original team members, Tim Slessor, who's, I believe, 87 years old. He's planning on joining them for part of the journey. Amazing. Amazing. So their website is called lastoverland.com. We'll put a link in the show notes. And they've got kind of a cool teaser video that shows this beautiful, old, very patinaed Series 1 Land Rover. And Tim Slessor drives it around a little bit. And they talk a little bit about this journey, which starts on the 25th of August. And I believe their website's going to show progress and updates. And they've got a pretty robust Instagram presence as well. So you can kind of follow along there.
Unknown Well, we'll be sure to put that all in the show notes. And then I think it'd be cool. We should see if maybe we could get them on when they're done. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that'd be really cool. Come on and chat about it. That'd be super fun.
Unknown Well, as it happens, they've got a number of sponsors, of course. But one of them is Bremont Watches, which is really cool. I just learned about that last week. And so maybe Bremont can set us up with an interview. after they're done. We'll see. I don't know how long it's going to take them, but at 40 miles an hour. Yeah, right. Yeah.
Unknown Cool. Yeah. 40 miles an hour. That's going to take a little while. You know, it's funny you brought that up with this. You know, it's not entirely a similar thing as far as a product, but it's not that far off. I recently had a chance to, I went for, took my dad's, he has a 99 Wrangler, which is, it still feels like a tractor at some level. And I hadn't driven, anything like that in quite some time. And I had it out the other day. I was in their neck of the woods and he had said that he had tuned it up and it was running pretty well. And I took it. It was definitely running as well as it has in the span of time that he's had it. But that made me really want a kind of semi-agricultural SUV to kick around in. So I don't know. I've been watching the Toronto area Land Rover scenario for a while. And I don't know how conducive that scenario is to child hauling. Oh, yeah, right. Whereas the Jeep is just slightly more modern as far as seats and hard points and mounting options and that sort of thing. So, yeah, I don't know. I was not going quick, but I was having a good time, which I find pretty, pretty entertaining. And especially, you know, If it puts a smile on my face at 30 or 40 kilometers an hour, that's going to cost me a lot less money in tickets than the stuff I'm more used to driving. So maybe a Wrangler or something like that in the future. I think I probably need to buy something before the snow hits in Toronto. And it'll be good fun in the snow too. Oh, it'd be the best for sure. That's a tiny wheelbase and plenty of torque, no real power for sure. Yeah. Cool. So my final note is I can make it a pretty quick one. It's a podcast that I've Can you hear that? Yeah, I hear like a car.
Unknown Now it's gone, driving away.
Unknown I think they're leaving.
Unknown I heard it start and I heard it rumbling and yeah, it was perfect because it coincided with your Jeep discussion.
Unknown That car has now left, so it should be a little bit quieter. But yeah, mine is a podcast that I've really fallen in love with the last little while and I'm actually aping, it was a suggestion on Hodinkee Radio from Steven. And it's a podcast called The Rewatchables. And, uh, so what they do is they basically look at a movie that's, you know, maybe 10 years out. It's been out for a little while, long, long enough that it's become kind of something that shows up on cable TV. And they do like a deep dive, like, uh, like I think their heat episode was a few hours talking about the movie heat, which is a movie I absolutely adore. And it turns out the guys that do the rewatchables absolutely adore. But it's this fantastic podcast that I think you don't have to, like, if you're me, maybe you want to listen to all of them at some point. But I think to start, if you're into movies, and I'm assuming if you're listening to this, you are at some level, you know, we do a movie series as well. Go check out this podcast. It's an excellent kind of look at the movie as it's positioned, say, 10 or 15 or 20 years after it came out. but the people who are the hosts of the show, they have enough, they've been around long enough and been into movies long enough that they have the original context and they have the now context. And the whole podcast is broken into these little segments, which is our, you know, like a mostly watchable scenes. Um, they do this thing called apex mountain, which is like, was there somebody or an ad or, or an actor or an element of the film that this was their peak for their career? Oh, So the most recent one I listened to, and it actually kind of brought me back to a movie I hadn't thought about much since I saw it, was for The Town, which is a 2009-2010 heist film directed and starring Ben Affleck. Jeremy Renner was nominated for an Oscar for the film. I definitely saw it when it came out because I am absolutely obsessed with movies where people are stealing stuff. And I really like Ben Affleck. I know that that's not, he's not always the most likable guy, but I think if you look at his career as a whole, the fact that he came on to have a second act as a creator, I really respect. And I would challenge anyone who really doesn't like his work or his, or like, like watch Argo, watch The Town, like hugely talented dude. And the movie is incredible. It's set in Boston. And so as an example of that Apex Mountain in the rewatchables for this, they said that Boston was the Apex Mountain. This was Boston's Apex Mountain. This is as good as Boston had looked in a movie. It's super accurate. It's about this one area of Boston called Charlestown, where apparently, according to the film, most of the bank robbers in that area of the States lived and operated from. An old school Irish neighborhood with lots of unwritten rules and that sort of thing. And it's absolutely fantastic. I mean, it's a great movie. We don't have to talk about the movie. Check out the podcast. I would say go to their site or pull it up on your podcast aggregator. Find a movie that you know and like, download that episode, then go watch the movie, and then go back and listen to the episode. I think that's the way to do it. So for me, I got into it with Heat, and I absolutely love it. They're deeper into Heat than I am. um but things like the town or heat uh they actually did a really good one for like the notebook so there's a pretty wide variety there really is yeah geez pretty much any any comedy from the last 20 years that was really big so like if you know wedding crashers or uh uh you know any from that kind of team and ilk there's a lot there to pick so i don't think you have to love bank heist movies to find a really good episode of Rewatchables. And they have some static cast and some alternating cast from the Grantland masthead, all of which are fantastic and really funny. And it's just a, it's a, it's one of those extra layers. So if you really liked the movie and you know the movie and you could sit and talk with your friends about the movie, I think that this is, this is for you.
Unknown Yeah, this looks great. And talk about a variety. I mean, there's, there's a, the notebook and then you have and glorious bastards and top gun. And I mean, yeah, it's, it's amazing.
Unknown I'm going to feel the dreams was a great episode. I mean, I adore that movie. That was a movie that was very much important to me when I was in my teens. I liked a field of dreams quite a bit in the book. Of course, Jewish Joe's a great book. And, uh, uh, yeah, I think you can, you can go in any genre almost imaginable. They definitely love Tarantino. They definitely love heist movies. They adore Michael Mann. The one I listened to literally just this morning. Um, I woke up and wasn't feeling that well. So I stayed in bed for a little bit longer. And I listened to a little bit about a collateral, which is a favorite movie of mine, uh, that people don't often talk about a later Michael Mann, uh, one of Tom Cruise, best performances, uh, some, some really good stuff in there. But if you're, if you're digging movies and you, or even, even more so, if you, let's say you really, you, you get something from our, uh, TGN film clubs. maybe go back and cross-reference and find an episode that talks about one of those movies and dig in. Because these guys do it at a very high level. They're very talented. They know a lot. And it's a great lesson.
Unknown Nice.
Unknown Good one. Yeah. So there it is. Episode 87 in the can. Good deal. Let's wrap it. As always, thanks so much for listening. And a big thank you for Hodinkee for supporting the show. And an additional thank you to Monta Watches for sponsoring this episode. You can see their entire lineup at montawatch.com. And you can follow us on Instagram at Jason Heaton and at J.E. Stacey, and you can follow the show at TheGreynado. If you have any questions for us, please write TheGreynado at gmail.com and please subscribe and review wherever you find your podcasts. And a quick side note, a huge thank you to everybody who is actually reviewing the show. I recently found a way of seeing all the reviews and a couple of them are hilarious, like one stars. Generally a pretty positive thing. And Jason and I really appreciate anyone taking time to even type in a sentence to just kind of suggest the show to a wider audience. It means a lot to us. And lastly, Music Throw to Siesta by Jazzer via the Free Music Archive.
Unknown And we leave you with this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote, the health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired so long as we can see far enough.