Feldman's Faves: April 24, 2023

GOOD MORNING EVERYONE

For those of you that have hopped on the emotional roller coaster that is Leafs playoff hockey, welcome aboard!! It’s amazing how our city lives or dies by each game, which is why my stomach has been in knots for about a week.

And what a week it has been, with the worst kept secret in sports finally being made public - ending the Nick Nurse Era for the Raptors. Nurse is the best coach the Raps ever had and he will always have “Cito Gaston like” legendary status in Toronto. But to paraphrase what we used to say about poison pills as a takeover bid defense (pre-2016), “there comes a time when a coach must go” and this was probably the right time. Now off to the rebuild we go.

Just a reminder of our Section Lunch this week on Thursday at noon – I hope you will all be there.

No theme this week – just topics of interest.

THE KINGDOM OF PREP: THE INSIDE STORY OF THE RISE (AND NEAR FALL) OF J. CREW By: Maggie Bullock - For those of you who grew up watching John Hughes films you can appreciate the preppy aesthetic. My understanding of “cool” during that period was James Spader in Pretty in Pink and Andrew McCarthy in pretty much every movie he was in during that era. Over the years the preppy look has gone in and out of style and based on what I have been reading is making another comeback. The history of preppy fashion reflects an ideal of “old money” (think of Ralph Lauren ads with people playing polo) but has evolved over time. One of the brands that stands out in this space in a somewhat later era of preppy fashion is Abercrombie and Fitch that, during its peak, took this look (through its ads, catalogue, etc.) to a whole new level. In The Kingdom of Prep, Maggie Bullock does a great job of situating this fashion into American history and then goes deep in her discussion of the rise and fall of Abercrombie and Fitch. As one reviewer notes, “Maggie Bullock's cultural history is nominally the story of the rise and fall of one of America's most iconic retailers, but it's also a sociological text and a personal one, charting the brand's influence in popular, commercial, and deeply individual terms. Bullock, who has spent a large part of her career working in fashion magazines, is intimately acquainted with this terrain, not just as an editor, but as a former boarding school novice, transplanted to the Northeast from a decidedly unpreppy family in the South, forced to navigate the choppy social dynamics among her rollneck-sweater-wearing peers. Most everyone is familiar with the Jenna Lyon's era J. Crew aesthetic, which extended its influence to no less prominent spheres than The White House, but fewer people are familiar with the ups and downs of the brand before its hot pink, sequined phase. Bullock unravels it all in this lively, entertaining book.” For some reason, I suddenly have an urge to put on my duck boots, my Lacoste T-shirt and run to the mall for an Orange Julius…. Here’s a good review from Pure Wow - https://www.purewow.com/books/the-kingdom-of-prep-maggie-bullock-book-review

The Next Big Idea - READING: Are We Forgetting How To Do It? - In case it wasn’t obvious, I am a big fan of reading. Reading exposes us to ideas, stories and experiences that might not otherwise be accessible if we were just go about our daily lives. By reading and choosing to be a life-long-learner you get an opportunity to gain exposure, empathy and a better understanding of the human condition. Beyond the actual learning, is the enhanced cognitive function and ability that the actual act of reading does for your brain (a topic of interest to me), which is the focus of this PODCAST. As noted in the PODCAST itself, “Maryanne Wolf is a professor at UCLA and the renowned author of "Proust and the Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain" and "Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World." She says deep reading makes you a better thinker, communicator, and citizen. But what happens if you lose the ability to read slowly, patiently, and critically? Is there anything you can do to get it back?”: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-next-big-idea/id1482067226?i=1000604460827

Thank you for your ongoing engagement and participation.

And remember to stay safe, stay healthy and to docket daily.

Jon