Book of Revelations, Chapter 3: Footwear

MWUH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! THEY ARE MINE! THEY ARE MINE NOW!!!!

So I spent all day yesterday waiting for FedEx to deliver these, and the driver finally showed up at 6:23 last night. (The time stands out because I was smack dab in the middle of feeding the dog her evening treat of deli-sliced turkey. Is she spoiled? How deep is the ocean?) As I knew to begin with, the SL72's are pretty substantial shoes, and they are going to require some breaking in. They are canvas tops, but they were designed for an olympic park which-- if memory serves-- was structured mostly on concrete, so the under-sole is extra substantial, and is attrached to the upper via a leather under-cradle. Progress report: the right shoe is coming along nicely, after a couple of bouts of lace-adjusting. The left one, well, let's just say I'm still working on it.

Which brings to mind a couple of revelations:

1. I vastly prefer canvas top shoes, specifically nylon canvas uppers, and I tend not to like leather shoes as much at all. There are several exceptions to this rule, notably the 2 pair of Adidas Samoas I own, and two pair of Nike Oregon Waffles, one in black and grey suede with purple swoosh (the Batman shoes) and one in black leather with yellow swoosh (the Official shoes, Official as in referee).

2. I have no allegiance, when it comes to shoe brands. I own Adidas, Pumas, Nikes, and Tigers, all of whom were at each others' throats back in the 70's and 80's, when sports were becoming big business. Eh. I like 'em all, for completely different reasons, and they all have their own best uses.

3. I have been searching for the Ford Prefect quote "Never underestimate the value of good footgear" for ages, and I cannot find it for the life of me. (From, I thought, Douglas Adams' novel Mostly Harmless.) Perhaps I dreamed it.

4. These new shoes, although not entirely in blue suede, will henceforth in this household be know as The Ford Prefects. I am sure that, were he not fictional, Ford would entirely agree.

Department of Aquisitions

Gaze. Gaze upon them.

These are the SL72's Adidas developed specifically as a trainer for the Munich Olympics. I had seen them around in a couple of different color combinations, but not in my size. I ordered these from SportieLA for 65 bucks, free shipping via FedEx Ground. Which means I didn't pay the 90 bucks they were asking at Finish Line. Nor the 100 to 125 bucks I saw at other online outlets,-- plus shipping, of course.

On the down side, I will probably have to wait an entire week before they arrive.

Gonna be a long week, folks.

Brace Yerselves

The Wifey, who first saw this shot, remarked, and I quote, "Yikes! Those should not be put next to each other."

I have also determined, on reflection, that the amount of text I have above (and below) is not quite enough to keep the image from popping up (at least partially) in your browser. So, in the interest of full disclosure, or witness protection, or some such thing, I now present some meaningless blather. BLAH BLAH DE BLAH BLAH, TOWZOOOO YOWZOOO, DE-LA-DE-LA-DE-DA, VVVVRRRRRRRRRRRRRROOT! EESPAAAAAAAHHH!!!

Ready? Back to the text:

Which, point taken. And not that I would go out of the house thusly shod. But, in point of fact, a short time ago, and then again about twenty minutes later, this is precisely how I was shod:

'Cause, see, I wanted these new Tigers, so I had to try one on, just for the sake of form, never mind that I already knew from experience that the Tigers in size 11 would fit my feet like nobody's business. So for a fleeting moment (actually about 45 seconds) I was wearing one Onitsuku Tiger (in white on black with green stripes and yellow and red mid-sole foam layers) and one classic style Nike Oregon Waffle (in black on red nylon, which one of my bosses recently dubbed "Devil Shoes").

It was a significantly weird feeling. The Tigers in question are a re-issue of a model originally produced in 1981, but they are still palpably heavier than the Nikes. They also have a slightly more solid support platform-- thus the greater weight-- than the Nikes, which have all the support of a freshly cooked pancake. (Which is why I like them.) It all makes perfect sense in retrospect, but, still, it was really kind of weird.

This makes 12 pairs of shoes in my collection, an even dozen. If anybody asks, one day I'll post a picture of the entire arsenal.