A Deep Dive – Page 4 – adeepdive.blog

Review: Brooks Brothers Golden Fleece Captoes

I needed a casual set of oxfords and this light brown was perfect. I got the GF Captoes on sale for around $120 with a coupon. The oxfords feature a non slip sole and ortho insoles, great for a casual shoe I intend to be traveling in. These shoes are made in Italy out of calf skin. The sales rep told me that they were made on a Peele & Co last which is what sold me. Peele & Co is an old English brand that has since been taken over by Brooks Brothers and used as a logo for them to rebrand shoes made by other English shoemakers. As for which particular English shoemaker this last came from is up in the air. “Brooks Brothers has sold Cheaney & Sons, Church’s, Edward Green, Crockett & Jones, Alfred Sargent, and Loake Brothers shoes under the name Peal & Co.”

Here’s my greatest issue, these are by far the most difficult dress shoes I’ve had to break in. I’ve probably walked about 5 miles so far in them and the contact points at the base of my toes and heels blister upon extended use. I’ve never had a shoe bite into the top of my foot so much at the crease behind the toecap, it’s especially bad at the base of my big toe. I think I could be wearing a half size smaller to make this shoe a snug fit. That would only increase the problem but I would say the sizing runs slightly large. Even just standing around at the craps table the orthopedic insoles were not doing me as much good as I would’ve hoped. The description of these shoes promises a flexible, comfortable, shoe which has been the exact opposite of my experience so far.

At the moment it’s unclear what direction Brooks Brothers will take their shoe line, the shops haven’t had any shipments during COVID so I may just be beating a dead horse critiquing these oxfords.

I’m not giving up though, I did spend a bit of money on these. Hopefully, with a more break in, these will become a comfortable casual shoe for me.

Description: Brown Oxfords with non-slip soles and ortho insole.

Brand: Brooks Brothers

Line: Golden Fleece Footwear

Style: 100083732 (color: cognac)

My Favorite Spirits

Alexander Murray Benrinnes 23 Year Old 1995 » Get Free Shipping | Flaviar

Whiskey: Alexander Murray & Co. Single Malt Scotch Whiskey 23 years

Hakushika Junmai Sake 300ML

Sake: Kuromatsu-Hakushika Junmai Ginjo

Jinro Grapefruit Soju Price & Reviews | Drizly

Soju: Jinro Chamisul Grapefruit

Casamigos Blanco - Best Local Price | Drizly

Tequila: Casamigos Blanco

Tito's Handmade Vodka - Buy Online | Drizly

Vodka: Titos, cheap and clear tasting. Don’t need anything else in a Vodka. My favorite drink but I guess save the boring ones for last.

My favorite brandy, gin, rum, and cognac are to be determined. I’m not a fan of many of those right now, but I suppose all the other spirits have grown on me eventually.

A Visit to Keens Steakhouse

I was staying in Manhattan for the weekend and I’d been craving steak for a month. Steak is my favorite food next to sushi and on special occasion I often visit Maestros. It was my family’s restaurant of choice for many when I was younger, we often secured a private room for parties. I’m also fond of Ruth Chris and Gallagher’s, all amazing. In my search for Peter Luger I found that it’s actually across the bridge, a bit too far for me so I made a reservation at Keens.

We arrived at noon after finishing a few mimosas over a rowdy Sunday brunch. The restaurant was dim and the host was polite despite my friend and I being underdressed in our rain coats and jeans. The host of course was in a tasteful black jacket and bowtie. The restaurant seemed empty at lunch (COVID era) and there were plenty of open tables even though only the downstairs portion of the restaurant is open for lunch. Soft music played in the background; our waiter asked us what was for lunch in a hush voice. I ordered the mutton chop and my friend ordered the filet mignon.

The first thing I noticed about the mutton was its size, it’s a big cut. Though I slowly realized that there’s a lot of bone taking up that space so I was able to finish it, barely. I’ve never had mutton before, but I enjoyed it a lot. There’s some meat hanging off the side of the cut that has a really strong flavor. The meat is a little bit awkward to cut around the bone. It’s probably not going to replace my love for steak but I could see myself getting this whenever I’m in the area. If you haven’t tried mutton chop, I’ve heard this is the place to try it.

The fries were top notch: salty with amazing crispy texture and served at a perfect temperature. My friend commented his steak was the best he ever had. Though take that with a grain of salt because he’s an anti-foodie, adverse to trying new foods, he doesn’t quite like visiting a large variety of restaurants.

After the meal, the waiter handed us off to the host who showed us the playbill President Lincoln was holding when he was shot, blood splatter, brain matter, and all. Keens has a history related to theater, it’s on the back of their menu. Also of interest was Babe Ruth, Pres Roosevelt, Pres Hoover, and General Douglas MacArthur’s pipes in a case. Some more modern pipe owner’s names were by the door. I was hoping to get my pipe up somewhere since I saw that they sold them, there was one missing above my table but I imagine the club is pretty exclusive. Lastly, I looked for Albert Einstein’s pipe but the host told me it was stolen. Whoever has Albert Einstein’s pipe comment below, I’d pay a pretty penny for it.

An absolutely hilarious superstition I read about stems from family members breaking the pipe of the deceased so that it could no longer be used. In a sort of reversal when a pipe falls from the ceiling the myth implies that a member has died.

I wish Michael Jordan’s steakhouse was still open in Grand Central but next on the list is Peter Luger!

Special relativity is relatively easy in general, and in general, general relatively is especially difficult.

Review: Ducky x MK Creator Mecha Mini

I bought the “Ducky x MK Creator Mecha Mini RGB 60% Double Shot Pudding PBT Mechanical Keyboard” because I needed a 60% for FPS gaming and I loved the look of the pudding keycaps. As it says in the name, it’s a collab with mechanicalkeyboards.com and was available for a limited time. For the premium you get the aforementioned pudding keycaps, a custom purple base, and a custom creator spacebar. It also comes with the standard keycap puller and cable.

There should be more available soon; “late March 2021” they advertise. But it’s March 21st right now and it’s still not available. I didn’t find this product during the retail window so I had to get mine off ebay. After a bit of negotiating the seller and I settled for $200 with shipping, about $80 over the retail price.

This is going to be an FPS only keyboard so I went with black switches. The size is perfect, giving me the most room possible so that I don’t run into my keyboard on long flicks. I don’t like linear switches nor 60% keyboards for typing so I keep another keyboard on my desk when I need to do some work.

As with the normal one 2 mini, the base is a high quality metal and the entire keyboard has a surprising weight. Opening and closing the feet gives the most satisfying sound, like flipping a switch on a piece of heavy machinery. I’ve been using this keyboard for three months now and I’ve seen no signs of wear, the finish on every part is just as solid as when I bought it.

This is all consistent with the standard Ducky one 2 mini. The things that make this keyboard unique, I’m not impressed by. I dislike the texture of the keycaps. The plastic is semi-rough and it dirties easily. You can also feel / see bit of plastic where the mold was injected near the top of all the keycaps (I think it’s called a sprue?). That part faces away from you when you’re typing so you’d never feel or look at it with regular use but upon closer inspection it’s easily visible. The custom space bar design is a low resolution. The lines in the design are imperfect and its noticeable even when just looking down at the keyboard. They include the pudding space bar in the box but I’m likely just going to replace this with an artisan. Lastly being a custom collab for mechanical keyboard enthusiasts, I feel like it’s missing an essential item we all purchase anyways, a custom cable. I would have loved a custom purple coiled cable even if we had to pay more for it.

So would I recommend the keyboard? For a $20 premium on the regular ducky one 2 mini? Yeah, sure. The keycaps look cool and you get a purple base. For a $100 premium, like you’d get trying to buy one new off ebay right now? Nah.

Shopping for a Ready to Wear Savile Row Suit

Perhaps one of the greatest aspirations for a fashion hobbyist is owning a bespoke suit from Savile Row in London. Nowhere else is quite as famous for making suits. This is perhaps because in other countries, the sartorial heritage is more spread out throughout multiple cities instead of located all on one street. The brand names that come to mind when I think of a Savile Row suit include Huntsman, Henry Poole, and Anderson & Sheppard.

All of these brands make amazing bespoke suits. Now we get to the sort of “work around” that I always love to talk about: Of these three famous brands, one makes ready to wear suits, Huntsman. (Aside: if you like the Kingsman movie series, they wear Huntsman suits and their set is based off the Huntsman store. Though if you want a Kingsman suit they actually have their own brand called Kingsman which can be bought from Mr Porter.) Now there is nothing like a bespoke suit but it’ll cost you thousands of dollars and four separate trips to London to be fitted. That’s a bit out of my budget range right now so I’ll settle for the next best thing, a Savile Row suit in name made ready to wear off the rack.

Huntsman makes 7 suits ready to wear, but really it’s 4 suits with the most common design having a few options. They basically make a “standard” suit, an evening suit with peak lapels, a tuxedo like suit with a shawl lapel, and a hopsack suit. Their standard suit comes in winter and summer weight, navy and grey, filling out the rest of the selection to 7 choices total. The two evening suits are pictured above and the more standard suit is below.

If this is going to be my nicest suit, I’d like some versatility from it. I don’t think peak lapels are for me and a shawl lapel is really only for those late evening events. That standard look pictured above is what I’m going for, something I can wear to work and a wedding.

Their sizing goes down to 34 on the suit with the shawl lapel and 36 on everything else. I’m a size 35. Oh well, that’s the compromise with ready to wear anyways, they typically only have even sizes.

I prefer a black suit. Some people say it makes you look like a butler and it’s overly formal but it’s my favorite color. If I had a bespoke tailor I’d try to find a black fabric that looked more casual. For now with the Huntsmen suits, my choices are grey and navy. Neither would be a fitting color for black tie but honestly how many truly black tie events do I attend?

The worst thing about being in a suit for me is the heat. I have a nice selection of overcoats for the cold but in any heat I’m uncomfortable. So I prefer lightweight suits weeding out all but three choices, the navy fresco suit, grey fresco, or navy hopsack. The two navy suits are pictured above. The navy fresco and navy hopsack are sold out in size 36 so my decision was really made for me, the grey fresco.

They also make these suits made to measure for the same price but really it’s just a few tailoring options. The most dramatic change one can request is a different cloth but the rest of it is unimpressive. I couldn’t dictate a different size or a different fit. Just waist and sleeve adjustments. Next time I’m in NYC I’ll stop by their New York location to take a look at these cloth options (they have a location in Manhattan as well as on Savile Row).

Space Force FAQ

The Space Force is officially one year old and I’m going to write up a quick FAQ for those of you with questions. Information dated: 20DEC2020

Do we need a Space Force?

Yes. If you don’t believe in the branch’s necessity, you’re uninformed. A quick google search can direct you to write ups much better than I’d be willing to summarize here.

Why not keep the Space Force under the Air Force?

If you’ve done some reading on the topic you’ll learn that the Space Force, its jobs, and its members are just rebranded Air Force Space Operators. Why not keep it that way? Long story short, money for space turned into jet fuel money under the Air Force.

Why not just have NASA?

NASA is a civilian entity for science and research, not warfighting. You want to separate the two. Money for war is not the same as money for science… though the military does do a lot of science. (Honestly a good way to hide scientific spending in the budget if you were a snide science loving politician)

What jobs are in the Space Force?

I’ve heard that there will be 9 warfighting disciplines. The primary ones are:

1. Orbital Warfare: Flying satellites. But instead of being flown with joysticks they’re flown with physics and math. (Best discipline, cause I’m in it.)

2. Space Battle Management: Track space stuff with assets on the ground and in space.

3. Space Electronic Warfare: Jam satellites.

4. Space Access and Sustainment: Help launch rockets. This is the rarest of the primary space disciplines. It is a career broadening tour. So you can’t get this one out of the gate.

Other warfighting disciplines that as of now are scheduled to join our ranks but aren’t in yet: Cyber, Intel, Acquisitions… I forgot the rest of them.

Will support jobs be added to the Space Force?

Not for the foreseeable future.

How do I join the Space Force?

Get a space job with an Air Force recruiter. That’s 13SX for officer and 1C6X1 for enlisted. If you have a bachelors degree, go officer. We do the same job but officers get paid more.

How do you feel about “Guardians”?

It wasn’t my vote but maybe it’ll grow on me. I’ll give it a chance. I wanted astra, sentinel, or anything but spaceman.

What do your uniforms look like?

We use OCPs with dark blue lettering for our tapes. The flag and higher headquarters patch are on our left sleeve. (I assert this is the best side for the patch since we carry it into battle and you don’t have to reverse the flag.) Our unit patch and duty identifier tab is on our right sleeve. The tab isn’t official yet but many of us wear it to distinguish our discipline. Most of them are about the size of a flight suit morale patch. I’ve seen SEW patches the size of normal duty identifier tabs. Congress has banned the creation of new camos for each service to save money so we’re not gonna get that moon camouflage any time soon. Furthermore, space operators work on the ground. We do deploy for secret missions and we do need OCPs.

Are you against the weaponization of space?

It’s going to happen despite our good intentions of keeping as a scientific frontier. The number of nations that have access to space is growing. We may not be the first to employ kinetic space warfare but we’ll be ready when the time comes.

Where can one get stationed in the Space Force?

80% of us are in Colorado, most of those in Colorado Springs. Generally OW is at Schriever, SEW is at Peterson, and SBM is at Buckley. There are many, many, exceptions to that, for example I’m OW at Buckley. There are also SBMs at radar sites, Beale, Cavalier, and Cape Cod. Then there are a few SA&S guys at launch sites like Vandenberg and Cape Canaveral but that’s a temporary career broadening assignment. And then there are the very few abroad in Thule, Europe, Asia, and those deployed.

July 2021 Updates:

How big is the Space Force in terms of personnel?

11,000 strong as of last month.

How many Space Force members have been to space?

We currently have two astronauts.

Nobu vs Matsuhisa

Everyone knows about famous sushi restaurant Nobu, a favorite of Hollywood celebrities and Roxanne. But few know about its sister restaurant, Matsuhisa. For those of you that haven’t made the connection, Chef Nobu’s full name is Nobu Matsuhisa and he’s given his last name to a few restaurants in the Colorado Rockies (there’s also one in Beverly Hills but it has its own website for some reason).

There are currently three Matsuhisa restaurants. One in Denver, Aspen, and Vail. Matsuhisa is basically a Nobu for your annual ski trip. Nobu’s are often found in affluent areas and Matsuhisas make no exception, Aspen and Vail are two of the nicest ski resorts in the country.

This past weekend I was skiing in Aspen, the restaurant is easy to spot from the street in downtown. The Aspen location looked pretty small, understandable because space in Aspen is very limited (Moncler even had to send a runner from their stock room three blocks away when we asked for different sizing). The Denver location was roomy, occupying the bottom floor of a building in downtown as seen in the featured image. I’ve seen pictures of the Vail location and that one looks the nicest to me. I’ll be going to Vail in a few weeks and hopefully will get it to check it out. Anyways back to Denver…

Denver is currently not allowing dine in because of COVID-19 but my friend and I stepped into their location to order. The door was consistent with the large wood designs I’ve seen at Nobus before and the interior looked upscale as well. The menu looked the same as Nobu’s but I only eat nigiri and waygu so I mainly payed attention to those sections. Matsuhisa Denver was really only missing the ocean views typical of the Nobus back home.

The host was polite and immediately came to help us. After we ordered he showed us a seat in the waiting area and offered us water. The food was nicely packaged making it look like we just finished shopping at a boutique. They even included an envelope with a letter thanking us for our patronage. The package included a few complementary cookies and more than enough soy sauce, both kinds, regular and low sodium.

I estimate that Matsuhisa is slightly cheaper than Nobu. Maybe 20% cheaper. 8 pieces of nigiri and a roll cost me about $70 before tax and tip. Comparing the same item on the menu, Salmon nigiri is $5 per piece at Matsuhisa Denver and $7 per piece at Nobu Malibu making Matsuhisa basically 30% off Nobu. Of course a restaurant on the Malibu coast is probably going to have more overhead costs. I know for a fact that Nobu prices vary depending on the location. Perhaps I’ll make a blog post later on the cheapest place to get Nobu; though I think I’ve already answered that, the cheapest place to get Nobu is at Matsuhisa.

I haven’t been brave enough to try other sushi places in Denver since it’s far from the water but I very much enjoyed the food at Matsuhisa. I think I’ll be visiting Matsuhisa more often because it’s basically a cheaper Nobu. I guess whether you’re wintering in the Rockies or you’re staying in Denver like me, Matsuhisa does the job of satiating that Nobu craving for high end sushi.

My Dream Watch: The Omega Speedmaster Alaska Project

I’d like to consider myself a watch enthusiast even though I don’t have the funds to support such a hobby. My very modest collection has a few mechanical watches, an apple watch, and a classic Movado (I know the stigma but I love their design). But the watch I really want is an Omega Speedmaster, the moon watch. I like to think of watches as a practical instrument and space is my profession. I guess in a certain way I work in the space industry. There’s a scuffed up example of a speedmaster I’m eyeing right now but I’d love to tell you you about the speedmaster in the featured image, the Alaska Project. It was designed to work on the moon and that bright red case was to insulate it from the harsh temperatures of space. I have a very slender wrist but I would wear that full case, what an amazing talking point.

Also on my list and at a much more attainable price point is the Omega Commander’s Seamaster. Wait that’s not a speedmaster you say? Actually speedmasters were all originally part of the seamaster line. I guess I’ll have to take up yachting if I get this watch. Most importantly though, it’s James Bond’s watch; he’s my idol.

Honorary mention is a digital speedmaster. It looks like a Casio! Imagine telling people you have a speedmaster and pulling this thing out. I think these may be oddly collectable.