How To Dress Like a Roughneck
For fall 2008, Style magazine and the eponymous website were singing the praises of “Labor Chic” for men. If you want to describe it in a sound bite, it is “Grunge: But Showered.” It had the plaid element and the work boot factor that the grunge movement of the very late 80s and the early 90s had, but with far less ennui and a bit of a better work ethic. In other words, you looked as if you were actually doing something. However, you didn’t have to break in a pair of denim for ten years; you could buy them sanded and painted to just the right level of fray. He looks a bit like a roughneck, working the oil fields of Texas. However, compared to the real ones, he looks like he is wearing a costume…a little too neat and tidy. So, how can you determine if someone is just being fashionable, or is actually in the oil industry by profession?
According to this clip from Black Gold, exclusively on truTV, our buddy would need fewer layers due to the hot sun and the weather. He would also need to dump a few cups of water on him to replicate sweat. Of course, some salty language and a hot temper wouldn’t hurt him either if he wanted to be one of the truTV BLACK GOLD characters. Of course, there are many roughnecks who are mild mannered and watch their language, but that would make an instructional video, not a reality show.
Black Gold does for roughnecks what Ice Truckers did for….well, Ice Truckers. The premiere episode ran last week with the second being featured tonight at 10:00 Eastern, 9:00 Central. I wonder if the guys on the show would care what Details magazine said that their attire was “in style.” Probably not. At any rate, the show not only runs on the pressure of a deadline, like Ice Road Truckers does, but on “personality” as well. To me, it is much more interesting filming people doing something that they have done a good part of their life versus auditioning people from all over the country and stick them in a house. I’m going to tune in to truTV BLACK GOLD tonight, how about you?
entertainment | Comment (0)They Mean What they Mean, No Mean Joe Green
In the past, I mentioned WaiverWire, the hub for your fantasy football league. I was just musing to myself the other day. Is that the correct usage of the vocabulary? Okay, I was musing. I wasn’t “musing to myself” because musing usually implies a private affair. I digress. Let’s get back on track.
Fantasy football is not truly fantasy. Yes, you can make your own team based on real players and their stats and challenge your friends or make it a test against your own instinct and wits. However, if it was truly “Fantasy” football, I could pick whomever I wanted for my team. If I wanted Doug Flutie, I’d get him. Joe Namath and “Mean Joe” Green would be two other legitimate selections. Sorry, I can’t choose anyone I can think of from any era. I could have Courtney Green or Justin Green, but no Mean Joes.
The main reason that you can’t use “anyone” has to do with not having real time stats. You can get all the stat reports at WaiverWire.com when you sign up as a member. Right now they are offering their basic plan, a Stimulus Package, free of charge, to get you in the game. I would argue that you could just use old seasons. Today, however, a different game is played. Guys just seem to be bigger these days, and they seem to be recruiting them younger and younger. (I know, I’ll pick “The Fridge.”) The game has changed, in a way. Also, if you could use former players, if you were quite the statistician in your head, you could cheat. I guess the appeal is that it is a little bit of a gamble and a risk that you see pay off or tank, rather than a matter of fancy math.
Are you a fantasy league coach, or should I say team manager? If so, how did you get into it? Does it exercise your mind, or do you find it is an all encompassing hobby?
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