Picking A Background for your Computer

Picking the right image for your background is a complicated and underrated task. A computer's background offers subtle yet important insight into the ego, interests and values of its owner. People take their image selection too seriously.

I pick very tongue in cheek images that allude to my interests. For example, I am into the outdoors and woods lore so a lot of my backgrounds relate to animals or landscapes. Instead of picking a serious landscape of Yosemite from Flickr, I prefer romanticized paintings of an Indian bow hunting or an excessive assortment of taxidermy animals. Here is an assortment of photos that meet the criteria.

Here are some others I liked.

Filson Store and their Art work

Filson has everything I am looking for in an American brand: heritage, US made quality, innovative products, timeless design, and a great story. Their wide assortment of vintage paraphernalia in their Portland store sheds light on the inspiration behind one of the most important brands in the Resurgence Movement (the recent popularity of American heritage brands). After my visit to their store and multiple perusals on their website, one thing is clear: Filson perfectly captures their heritage appeal and defines their story. If only their fits were a little better...

This is my favorite muse piece. Note the Field and Stream from 1925 (I think)

Edge's Landrover Defender 90

Few cars on the road today are as badass as the Land Rover Defender. The Defender has a certain purity and anachronism about it. The car itself could not be more minimal. Land Rover has made few changes to it since they introduced the new model in 1983. It is still assembled by hand in England. The Defender is one of those rare cars that seems to be at home no matter where it goes. The Defender is the car of choice in many of the problem spots around the world. It represents a symbol of colonialism, mainly because of the introduction of the earlier Series I and Series II models in East Africa by the British. Land Rover imported only about a thousand Defenders into the United States between 1993 and 1997. One of their appeals is the fact that they are very hard to find on American streets. Like a good dog, the Defender is an extension of a lifestyle.

Filson Store: Portland Oregon

Ever since the Filson store opened in Portland Oregon in early November, I have been itching to visit. Nestled in the Confectionery building in the vibrant Pearl District, the 2400 square foot store (one of three flagships) has four main sections: Men's, Women's, Hunting, and Luggage. The store has an awesome array of products with all of the staples you would expect from Filson, (however I did not see a Wool Parker Jacket).

On a side note, I talked with the store manager about my blog and about men's wear. He had some interesting things to say about bringing Filson to the Japaneses market and the potential problems with sizing. For example, the Filson Mackinaw Jacket (pictured predominately in the NYT article, The Fashion Report of 1920), starts at size 38 and goes to size 52. For reference, I am 6'3 and 175 and size 42. The Japanese market would need sizes down to 34 for petite men. Apperently Filson's Japanese distributer had been in the store earlier looking for ideas for a potential Tokyo store.

In addition to quality products, the store is decorated with awesome vintage magazines, pictures, and books documenting Filson's history and the foundations of its ethos. I will have a separate post about these pieces.

Here are some photos to give you a feel for the merchandising and products, if you don't already know them.

Luggage

Tin Jackets. People mainly talk about Filson's wool coats and often overlook their Tin Cloth Jackets. Personally, I like the heavy duty Tin Cloth jackets more than a comparable Barbour Bedale.
My Blue Alaskan Guide Shirt!

Womens Section.