Suits You, Sir.

I recently went to watch the new Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol film with a friend recently, and what a film it was. Even the addition of Simon Pegg didn't ruin it for me, in fact it made it better. I thought his comedic demeanour would destroy the uber-coolness of the film, but instead it gave it an uplifting twist. Top effort Pegg. More to the point though, whilst watching the film there is a particularly long scene where Tom Cruise is running through a desert in what appears to be the most immense suit ever designed. And this got me thinking- suits. I need a new one, I have a graduation to attend this year and don't need one other than that- but I just want an awesome suit. Here it is.

Not at all a homosexual scene

I wasn't even a Tom Cruise fan until I watched this film, he executes the whole thing perfectly and his suits definitely aid him in doing so. The suit in the image above is absolutely flawless, it was custom made for Cruise by a certain Michael Kaplan, who also led costume design in Fight Club. Kaplan stated that he wanted a '60s vibe throughout and this suit captures that vibe perfectly. It's made from blue mixed silk and has that absolutely awesome sheen. It's not even that formal- without a tie it still looks slick. This is my ideal suit, I'm probably taller than Cruise so if I had the money I would be buying it. Actually they might have some spares- for the scene alone they made 16 versions of the suit, 24 shirts, and 20 pairs of shoes. All custom made. Not a problem for a working class man like myself.

Even Cruise' tux is smooth- an Armani Midnight Blue apparently

Speaking of Fight Club, it's probably no wonder that thinking back, the suits in that film are pretty epic as well. I didn't know Kaplan designed these until now, and looks he did a decent job with that film as well. Brad Pitt has an awesome shirt/leather jacket combo, and also a few decent suits thrown in. Two films which really show my ideal suit designs however, are Miami Vice (the new one) and the Ocean's trilogy. Four films, then. Every single suit in Ocean's is slick as, defining the pinnacle of masculinity I aspire to have (as oppose the pot-belly masculinity I currently have). 

Danny Ocean- Suave

Crocket and Tubbs- Suave AND Dangerous

So, in summary, it looks like when I next have a spare £5000 I'll be able to buy that Tom Ford suit as worn by all the celebrity blokes. Or, I could put a deposit on a flat. Or buy a car. Probably a suit though.

Tom Ford Suits.

Who Knew?!

So there's me every day trying to avoid the crackheads on the streets of a capital city, and after being here nearly 18 months, I have finally been up Arthur's Seat! Me and my girlfriend Kerry decided to walk up on Sunday, it was decent weather and we'd been saying that we wanted to do it for ages. 

Leavin' tha hood.

We set off round a much nicer route than I thought (I couldn't be arsed walking down the royal mile yet again) and took an absolutely awesome shortcut which brought us out near Scottish Parliament. There was a Rangers game on at the time at the Hibs ground, christ knows how we managed not to get shanked. I'm not the biggest fan of english football, so Scottish football to me is literally the most ridiculous sport anyway. (Did I mention Scotland aren't good at any sports at all?)

Sneaky shortcut.

It took us about twenty minutes to get there, we traversed one side down to the royal mile, then started the climb up. We definitely took the harder route, we ended up walking up a near vertical shale path (which everyone else seemed to be coming down). So I say we went to the top of Arthur's seat- we didn't. Fear of starvation and a brisk wind meant we got about two-thirds of the way up and let me tell you, coming from Yorkshire I'd expect to find a pub which sells Timmy Taylor's Landlord up there, but we didn't. However the view more than made up for this (and I nicked Kerry's chewits to keep me happy). Got a cracking view of the city and I don't think I realised how small it is! Bless Scotland. Anyway I definitely recommend a trip up there if you've never been, and if you have already, you should go again, it's a decent bit of fresh air! Just not as decent as the Yorkshire dales.

I love Apple.

As this is my first post, thought I should talk about something I really love and have an interest in, Apple. Not the fruit, (although they are pretty awesome too, I love a decent Granny Smith) but the shinier one, the one and only Apple Inc! 

I now own three Apple products, an iPod, an iPhone, and a MacBook Pro. They have literally become part of me, I carry two of them around with me everywhere, and the third as much as I can. The reason I love this company so much is just because of how absolutely perfectly they executed their whole business. A share in AAPL now costs over $500. Apple as a company is now worth nearly $460 BILLION. Some interesting facts- Apple is now worth more than...

All the gold in the Federal Reserve, and then some ($350 billion)

All the illegal drugs in the world, and then some ($321 billion)

Six and a half years of global coffee consumption ($70 billion / year)

More than six years of U.S. beef consumption ($74 billion / year)*

More than five U.S. Civil Wars ($74-$84 billion each)

More than 2.5 Apollo space programs ($145-$170 billion apiece)

Three times the entire U.S. clothing industry ($150 billion)

* Although I probably still consume more beef.

They are almost worth nearly as much as Google and Microsoft combined! Why? Because everything they do is pretty much perfect, aesthetics, functionality, performance, compatibility... need I go on?! They have revolutionised the music industry, they invented 'Apps'. I'm reading Steve Jobs biography at the moment, and he is definitely edging his way into my list of idols. What an absolute lad, basically he treated people like sh*t until he got what he wanted, then told them they were amazing, it's a great read if you're a fan of biographies and books like that. It actually saddens me thinking of his death, I've never really been bothered about celebrity deaths, but I honestly think he made the world a better place. 

Anyway the question is, what's to be my next Apple product? Probably the iPad 3. Or maybe Apple TV. Or the new iTV. Or maybe all of them!

Apple.