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For the average non-Czech, you might be thinking, "Oh, but how can I look Czech for an outing?" The answer my friend is to head to your nearest REI and let them clothe you from head to toe. The Czechs love their outdoor clothing and they love potential utility as much if not more than Americans. The big difference is that while Americans want to have the ability to "climb any mountain", the Czechs actually do it.       Czechs love adventure and thusly, this is the reason that they sometimes die in the pursuit of said adventure. Regardless, they're ready for it. Just toss on a sporty backpack, some hiking shoes, or the ubiquitous padded-strap sport sandals and you've got yourself the Czech look. If the day is moving a little slow, then maybe toss on a pair of inline skates and whiz around town.       A lot of this stems from seemingly everyone having a cottage out of town that they all go to on the weekend for hiking and general outdoors business. But, they don't limit it at that. While sitting in a beer garden, I saw guys pulling out their mountain climbing picks and either comparing the length or the use with each other. I mean, why do you bring a climbing pick to a beer garden? Because you Czech and you never know when a mountain is going to come your way, that's why.

If there is one thing that is damned near a universal truth about the old men you see in the Czech Republic, it's the fact that they love vests. Man do they love vests, but not just any vests. They have to be vests with a bazillion pockets on them to store god knows what; perhaps the plan for world peace and a cure for AIDS, although they'll never let you know.       The first one was pointed out to me in Prague. Then I saw a few more and then a more than a few more until I realized that the fashion scene in the older men's clothing lines is dominated by the highly-pocketed vest. It's like one of these guys accidentally went to a fashion show once (thinking it was a free newspaper giveaway) and some nubile young model came out with nothing on but a pocketed vest and the fellow who was there thought to himself, "Why yes. While my hips aren't so slender nor my breasts so perky, I do love the idea of being able to have a place to put everything I don't want my wife to touch." And thusly, the highly-pocketed vest craze was born.       The vests are original unto themselves, but they are often seen in the accompaniment of sandals with socks, rather tight shorts that the owner has had since turning 25, and maybe even a hat if one was feeling "jaunty" that morning.       This fashion sense has been spotted in other regions such as Slovakia, Austria, and Hungary, but everyone that the original vesters were those in the Czech Republic. Truth.

Or at the very least, wear the sweat outfit-esque sari that would somewhat match these crappy hippie pants that everyone is wearing. And no dear friends in, US America, these are not coming our way. They're being sold by the fresh-from-China boatloads in Barcelona because poser hippies (crippies) love Barcelona. Too bad I love it more. All of you with your freakin' balloon pants better watch out...

I ask little of those who enjoy my blog. In fact, I ask nothing. It's a project that I create out of my own interest and enjoy maintaining. So, given that all I do is give to the net at large and have asked for nothing in return, I am now asking, not for some payment, but for help with a project.       For the last six months or so, #1 Fan and I have been working on a new venture together which will be a non-profit foundation called, The Maneno Project. This is still a work in progress, but it will be the parent organization of what are currently two other entities. One will be Afractal Magazine (again, another work in progress) and the other is Watotees, which is fully functional now. Watotees is striving to supply funds to the other two projects through a variety of means. This is where you, humble reader and photo viewer, come in.       We have created our first t-shirts to sell at Watotees which are all about Fufu, a ubiquitous root that is a food staple in Sub-Saharan Africa. They're funny. They're hip. They're tan and brown and they're available to buy. We have produced these out of our own pockets in order to generate revenue for the project and we are keeping no profit from the sale of these shirts. Everything is going in to providing capital for the project.       Why I bring this up right now, is that while I am probably running around somewhere in Madrid, Spain as you read this, I will be in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 10 days with #1 Fan, to start initiating this ground-up project and document the progress that we make. While we're still going to do this no matter how much Watotees makes in the next few days, every little bit of extra money will help to aid those whose living conditions have nowhere to go but up if giving just a little bit of aid.

The next time you're in oh... I don't know, anywhere that sells travel clothing, be careful. There are those in the US and elsewhere who want to sell you clothing that is based on solid utility. Such clothes are not good. You really don't use this implied utility and they mark you as a tourist to every pickpocket wherever you go. This type of clothing is something like the SUV. It allows people the ability to feel like they're ready for anything and presents the owner with some glossy sheen of control to their holiday.       The most glaring examples of these two types of clothing are pictured below. One is the convertible short/long pants. You know these I'm sure. They've got that zipper right above the knee so that if the need arrives, you can bust out the shorts. Just once I'd love to see someone stretching his arms by a fountain in Italy and think, "Ho hum, my but it is hot. Yes yes, let's unzip the ole pantaloons here. Ah, that's much better."       The other one that cracks me up are people wearing socks in sandals. Sandals are to let your feet breath. Socks are to keep your feet warm. Is there not some kind of conflict here between these two pieces of apparel? I think yes. Either go with shoes and socks or sandals and not. This is not a fashion limited to Europe I might add as I've seen it all over the place in the US by both Americans and foreigners alike.       Anyways, wear whatever fashion you like, just be forewarned that innate impracticality of implied utility could leave you without your camera or paying $10 for that crepe.

Seriously, I've been bombarded by this GAP advertising of "The Skinny Black Pant" for some time now in the Bart stations and it's pretty ridiculous. Really, what girl is going to look good in these? Not any girl I've ever dated because I like women with hips and an ass (see here). What spindly, starving everything away kind of girl could fit in to these? God, she'd look like death because these look like tights they've tacked a boot cut on to the bottom of. And hey, why is this a big deal? Oh yeah, marketing says it is. Stick with the denim ladies. It's your friend even if it does take you an entire weekend to find a pair of jeans that fit perfectly.       I suppose this is just more brilliance from the GAP in an effort to circumvent the ethics of cloning by just making everyone look the same on the outside. Bleah.