I truly enjoyed another awards show season.  Sundday was no exception, I thought it was a great day.  Let’s hear it for June Squibb 85 years old God Bless her.  What is up with Liza Minnelli & Kim Novak? They should not make  public appearances anymore.   The only thing worse than Liza was the way Kelly and Ross reacted to her when she showed up.  Here are some of my Highlights and Lowlights:

Highlights:

• In Memoriam – it is always my favorite part of the show and Bette Midler was fantastic
• Jim Carrey – was hilarious
• The Diamonds – thought the jewelry was great
• Jared Leto – Acceptance speech, one of the best I ever heard
•  ABC Red Carpet Coverage – Tyson Beckford a male stylist who seems normal.

Lowlights:

• Ellen – while some stuff was funny overall I don’t find her funny and if she wants to dress and be a man so bad she should just become one.
• Pink – Judy Garland is turning over in her grave and I think if Liza was well she would of went up on stage and smacked her
• Kelly & Ross – they are idiots I hate them both
• Angelina Jolie – Can we all just admit she is an ugly She-devil and cast a spell on Brad Pitt because Jenifer Aniston on her worst day looks better than her on her best
• U2 & Bona – Lose the shades you Putz.  Can someone just shoot him please

Best Dressed Females:

1. Kate Hudson – I never expected this to be my number 1, but she looked amazing
2. Jennifer Lawrence – Shocking she was wearing Dior.  She is a star who doesn’t take herself to seriously, did you see the way she laughed when she fell getting out of the limo
3. Charlize Theron – still looks great
4. Jennifer Garner – I love the 20s look
5. Naomi Watts – Another big surprise for me

Best Dressed Men:

1. Kevin Spacey – Love the Blue – Two years ago everyone laughed that I said blue was an awesome tux, now everyone is wearing them
2. Ryan Seacrest –  The guy was put together, but he should have had a black pocket square
3. Leo – He combs his hair and doesn’t wear a skinny tux
4. Bradley Cooper – Nice Tux, but he needs to comb his hair
5. Brad Pitt – He took a shower for the event and put on a nice tux

Okay now for the fun:

Worst Women:

1. Ellen – she dresses like a man
2. Sally Hawkins – WTF she stole the curtains from my house
3. Glen Close – who died
4. Julia Roberts – I think she forgot she is a movie star
5. Margot Robbie – She was so hot at the Golden Globes, the hair makeup and dress just very disappointing

Worst Men:

1. Pharrell Williams – The Guy should have been thrown out.
2. Michael Strahan – Just God Awful
3. Will Smith – IT’S THE OSCARS WEAR A TIE
4. Zac Efron – if his pants were any shorter Pharrell would of worn them
5. Michael B Jordan – The shoes and what was that on your collar

Last week I checked out a new spot for Breakfast in Manhattan.  Davio’s on Lexington between 44th and 45th Streets is serving breakfast.  The menu is tiny but the food is great as is the service.  Just may become my new spot for breakfast in the City.  Good Bye Pershing Square.

This week I was attending the Context Summit in Miami (Congratulations to my Pally Mark for pulling off the near impossible).  At night attendees of the conference would head to South Beach and hit “The Clubs”.  Many of you who know me, know that i am not a “Club” person.  However, I decided I’m in Miami so I might as well go.  Naturally there is a line and a very large man with a clip board deciding who can go in or not.  Since I was part of the conference, I could get in.  I stayed inside for about a half hour.  That is all I could take.  First they served my drink in a plastic cup.  Really,  not sure how much that drink cost, but at the Blue Bar inside the Fontainebleu it costs $17.50 for a Jack Daniels.  The price doesn’t bother me so much but there too I was served in a plastic cup.  I am not poolside serve me my drink in a glass.

The we come to what they call the music.  It was loud and all you could hear was the pounding of the bass.  It all sounded the same to me.  I looked at the DJ and it appeared that he was mixing, but it never seemed to change just the constant pounding of the bass.  Just awful!!!

So I went out side to have a cigar with a Pally and they were pumping the music to the deck outside, but at least if I screamed into my Pally’s ear and he did to me would could talk to each other.  After my cigar,  I had a headache from the loud noise, so I hopped in a cab at went home.

During my cab ride, I couldn’t help to think, what in the world to people like these places.  They are loud, over priced and the MUSIC SUCKS!  Then I thought maybe its just that I am old and that may be true.  I am old, however those places suck.  Yet these Clubs have taken over,  Las Vegas, Miami, and New York have tons of them and people stand hours on line to get in to listen to loud noise and pay $1,000 for a $30 bottle of booze.

I just don’t get it.  Call me old, call me a nerd, but please don’t call me to go to one of these dumps.  Give me some live Jazz, my Jack Daniels in a glass and good conversation with normal people and I am happy.

American Hustle reminded us how awful the clothes were in the seventies.   The leisure suit??  The man (or women) who designed that should be shot.  The seventies weren’t the only period with questionable clothes.  Take the 80’s big hair, big shoulders and parachute pants.  (No I never wore or owned a par).  Then in the 90s we had Grunge (so pathetic I can’t even discuss).   The one thing this styles all have in common is when we look back it what we wore and say WTF were we thinking and laugh at ourselves.

However, when you look at men from the 20s, 30s. 40s, and even into the 50s and the start of the 60s you look back say “wow they had style and class”.  You watch an old movie and you notice three things (1) Everyone is always dressed up, (2) they always have a cigarette in one hand (3) a cocktail in the other hand.

What is the difference the late 60s, 70s, 80s, & 90s people wore trendy clothes, in the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, & early 60s (the 60s changed on 11/22/63) people wore permanent fashion (or “Classic”).  Permanent fashion is timeless where as trendy may last a year or two.

I know I have explained this on my Permanent Fashion page, but I really wanted to talk about the current trend in men’s suits (sorry ladies this “the gentlemen’s guide to the lost art of livin’).

Today I see more and more men wearing Skinny Suits.  For those who don’t know the Skinny Suit is the new trend (well it’s been around for a few years).  They have shorter Jacket than a Classic suit.  A Skinny Suit jacket goes to the bottom of the jacket sleeve maybe an inch longer.  A Classic Suit jacket goes to the bottom of your thumb.  The trousers are tapered and they are what I called in elementary school high waters.  Yes the pant leg come to the top of the shoe no break in the trousers.  The reason for the High Waters is so you can see the funky socks.  Funky colorful socks are also “IN” today, but in reality they look stupid.  All I will say about socks is that the world made fun of Donny Osmond for wear purple socks.

I strongly recommend from staying away from trendy business clothes.  You spend a lot of money on your business wardrobe and while it seems cool to be trendy you will be pissed when the tide turns and you just spend $1,000 on a suit and can no longer wear it.  Stay with permanent fashion and look at pictures of yourself 20 years from now and you can say “Man I had Style back then”

On Monday January 6th, my aunt Ja Ja passed away one day after turning 85.  Naturally my family was sad and the last real family connection to Germany was gone.  My mother spoke to her sister everyday and her daily routine will never be the same.  However today’s post is not meant to be a sad one, its meant to remember a special woman in my life.  I remember the summers of my childhood when she would visit us from Nurnberg or when we would visit her.  I remember her taking me on the trolly’s around Nurnberg and the walks we had to the castle.  In recents years I spoke to her about once a month and the last time we spoke we talked about my last trip to Nurnberg where we would stroll to the old streets.  It was awesome.  Now she is gone and all I have is the memories.  One memory is I was about 4 and I couldn’t pronounce her name and I just called her Ja Ja.  In October of that year my mother,  Tanzie , and I went to my Grandfathers birthday and when I got there and saw my aunt I could say her name.  She corrected me and told me call her Ja Ja!  From the time she returned to Germany and for the next 40 years she was known to everyone as Ja Ja!  Here are some photos of another great lady.

I will miss Ja Ja!

that’s me with the hat

Davio’s (Lexington Ave Btw 44th & 45th Streets) – Opened in October, you walk downstairs to a perfect blend of Old & New Schools.  The Bartender’s and staff are great, the make fantastic cocktails and the apps during happy hour are spectacular and complimentary.  This is a must go joint.

Every December I get my copy of Cigar Aficionado Magazine’s annual Top 25 Cigars and I turn to see who is number 1.  Last year 2012, there appeared a name I never heard of “Flor de las Antillas Toro” had the number one spot. I say who? Then I read the details and noticed that (1) it wasn’t Cuban and (2) it was under $7 per Cigar.  So I went upstairs to my computer and ordered a box online.

Two days later my box arrived and I called my Pally Don and told him to meet me on The Roof (That is the Roof at Aretsky’s Patroon) at 5pm for a special smoke.  When he arrived I presented him with the Flor de las Antillas Toro the top Cigar for 2012.  We cut and lit our cigars and were amazed at how great the cigars were.  I gave some cigars to other friends who were amazed as well.

My first box was gone very quickly so I ordered another for both me and Don.  When that box came I heard that the cigar was selling out real fast, so I quickly put another order in.  My friend was correct they were now on back order.  I tried several other sites and visited some stores and they were all on back order.

By being number one on Cigar Aficionado’s list created a run on the cigar.  I waited almost two months for my next box to arrive.  When it did I was very excited, I called Don and we met on the Roof again to smoke.  Much to our disappointment, the cigar did not have the same flavor as the first box, it didn’t burn the same, the ash was darker.  It just wasn’t the same cigar.  Don agreed and said, that the reason is probably that there was such a run on the cigar that the manufacturer couldn’t keep up and the quality dropped in order to meet the demand.  It was the last box of Flor de las Antillas, I ever purchased and went back to my Padron’ 1964 Anniversary (Natural).

Yesterday, I received my copy of Cigar Aficionado 2013 Top 25 issue and I am sad to report that the Flor de las Antillas didn’t make the Top 25.  Last year it was number one and now not on the list.  It’s sad success ruined a great cigar.  So who made number one this year Montecristo #2 (#5 on my top 10 list) .  I have no concern that there will be a decline in the Monte #2 for two reasons (1) it has been argued by many as the Best Cigar Ever for the 25 years I have been smoking cigars and (2) it cost about 21 Pounds per cigar so the casual cigar smoker  isn’t running out to by some boxes (3) it is from Cuba and cannot be legally sold in the United States.

However I am very concerned about the #2 cigar on the list, the Aging Room Quattro F55 Concerto.  Don introduced me to this cigar over the summer and it was wonderful.  The cigar is from the Dominican Republic (Filler, Binder, & Wrapper) and goes retail for under $9.  I am just afraid that this fine cigar will suffer the same fate as 2012 Best Cigar.  I will keep my finger crossed.

In the meantime remember “LIFE IS TOO SHORT TO SMOKE CHEAP CIGARS”

Samuel George Davis Jr.  better know as Sammy! was born today in 1925.  Smokey was the name that Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra gave him.  He was called smokey because he smoked!  Sammy was one of the greatest entertainers  that ever lived.  It is hard to believe that he has been gone 23 years!

God Bless You Sammy!

72 YEARS AGO TODAY THE IMPERIAL JAPANESE EMPIRE ATTACKED THE US NAVEL BASE AT PEARL HARBOR.  LET US TAKE A MOMENT TODAY TO REMEMBER NOT ONLY THOSE THAT LOST THEIR LIFE THAT DAY BUT THOSE WHO SURVIVED AND FOUGHT IN THAT WAR AND ULTIMATELY WON IT FOR THE UNITED STATES!

HERE ARE SOME DISTURBING FACTS ABOUT PEARL HARBOR WHICH LASTED 90 MINUTES:

2,386 AMERICANS DIED

1,239 AMERICAN INJURED

18 SHIPS DESTROYED

JUST TO MAKE A COMPARISON BETWEEN 2003 AND 2012 (9 YEARS) THE US LOST 4,486

YES!! BUT IT DOESN’T REPLACE A SHOWER!

People ask me all the time should a Man wear Cologne?  I don’t understand why you wouldn’t.  A nice fragrance is a perfect finishing touch to you out fit.  For the most part I wear cologne everyday.  It doesn’t matter if I am going to work, out on the town or just going to one of my son’s sporting events I wear it.

For those that want to know, I wear three colognes

1. CREED – Bois du Portugal – My personal favorite, it is a luxuriously rich, warm and masculine blend inspired by fragrant woods of Portugal – the word “bois” means “woods” in French.
2. Lagerfeld Classic – When I started wearing this cologne in 1982 it was just called “Lagerfeld”  the joys of getting old.
3. Viktor & Rolf Spicebomb – I just started wearing about a year and half ago and I love it.

Those are what I wear and not necessarily what you should wear.  Cologne like everything else in fashion its personal and you need to find what works for you.  If you decide that you want to try and wear cologne, then go to Bloomingdales and sample.  One very important thing to remember every fragrance smells different on every person.  So just because you might like what a friend has on doesn’t mean it will work for you.  Once you find one that works it becomes like a good friend.

If you are like me and love to shop it can be a lot of fun picking out a fragrance.  I have worn plenty of colognes over the past 35 years or so and some I purchased only once others like Lagerfeld Classic 31 years later and I still wearing it.

How do you know if it smells good?  or if you have too much on? Sometimes it’s hard to tell if you like it on yourself.  So if that is the case watch people around you, they are usually rude and will let you know if you have too much on or if they don’t like it.  Another good way is ask your spouse, significant other or girlfriend.  If they hate it they will let you know.  If they do hate it it just may encourage you to wear it more often.

So go out this holiday season and try some colognes out, you will be glad you did.