aLOUD

I stayed to the large, and close-by, Eaton Shopping Centre. Curious mix of classes, some ethnicities and definitely visitors rom afar.

MEXX: Found men’s selection sharper, if no more compelling. Shirts = Lots of lavender, purple and some cranberry.

FC(UK): Liked the selection way more than London (off Oxford Circus), more energy and hipness here ; nothing I needed though

H&M: Women’s stuff quite hip (whether its their Trends or not); men’s included more ’street’ looks (downtown NYC if you will). Liked the fitted coat in men’s; was not a need, and felt a tad stiffer than I’d prefer.

GAP: the messy floor signage layout issue Pam and I tripped upon in NYC Herald Square Gap is definitely from Stores, as same thing occured for me, and several other guests. Liked some of the khakis, though price was nothing to jump up and down about.

SEARS: um, how come Kenneth Cole’s Reaction line is in here?! And it’s not looking out of place or style-wise, perhaps pricewise though. Sears = hip (in Canada)? Noted Mexx label (part of Liz Clairborne) has items in here too - different than the store.

BANANA REPUBLIC: Bored me overall, low energy. I noted 2,3 pullovers in great colors (including, my language here, tangerine sorbet) that USA won’t likely ever see.

TimeOutNY reveals in their What’s up with that column:

Question: What’s with Houston Street being pronounced "HOW-ston" instead of "HYU-ston" like the city in Texas?

Answer: When Houston Street was named in 1788, future Lone Star State governor Sam Houston was barely old enough to ask Pa if he could borrow the buggy. Now an eight-lane thoroughfare, the road was originally christened Houstoun Street, after Continental Congress delegate William Houstoun, by his son’in’law city planner (and major suck-up) Nicholas Bayard. The spelling was corrupter, but th eoriginal pronunciation remains - mainly because it’s the easiest way to root out recent arrivals.

Author Karen Russell (St. Lucy’s Home For Girls Raised by Wolves) confirms "Writing often doe sfeel like taking dictation from another planet, or a chorus of voices."

Brian de Palma shares with EW on his 1973 filme, Sisters, "I made a conscious attempt to learn how to tell stories with images, and Hitchcock is the master of that."

Nancy Sinatra offers in October ‘06 OUT:
Somebody called the ’70s the ‘me decade,’ but for me it was a time of change - the move from our 20s to 30s is huge anyway, that period when you look at your life and say, ‘What the fuck am I doing?’ I’m not doing anything important, I’m not getting anywhere, I’m not contributing to society in any shape or form’